nerdsforprez

Beautiful crane. Functions well. Great job.

Yup. I may do something similar to what I did with 8110 - the Unimog. Which would mean rebuilding/designing the whole drivetrain. But yes, your point is well taken

Not so much a complaint as an observation. As I mentioned before... I am ending my complaints about the Raptor. Lego can't be expected to knock it out of the park on each set (or at least out of the infield) I am just happy to have two sets I actually am interested in purchasing. I don't know if I will build the actual sets, but they sure sound fun to modify at this time. Eager for all the reviews bound to come out soon...

Thank you everyone for the speedy replies!! I am thinking about giving a go at at least one of these models with the parts I already have and then purchasing the new parts on BL or other medium later. But, as we all know, a new part can easily cost up to a fourth or so of any given set... so I have to consider all this. As appealing as the new tires for the Zetros are if I do build it I will try to modify things to handle larger tires. I will want to make other modifications as well. But, these sets may have too many new parts. It may just be better to purchase the whole set(s)

Can anyone summarize the new elements for sets 42128 and 9? New elements period... not old elements just in new colors. For now what I am tracking are: 42128 = New alternating liftarm beam (alternating pinholes) - (9L?, 7L? - I can't remember). Pneumatics are the newer valve and long cylinder, but not brand new right? 42129 = obviously the tires are new. PU motors/hub rather than PF. I know we get the newer planetary gear hubs, newer CV joints. Anything else?

Great build! I agree... smooth, clean and accurate build. You also got the angle at which the boom can be lifted correct, which does not always happen. Great job. A video of seeing this thing in action would be really nice....

Awesome.... thank you for the answer everyone....

Great! But on what exactly? Is this when @Sariel and others can release any reviews they have done on the Zetros and American Crane Truck? Also, and I know all this information is elsewhere, but after mining the forum for the past 20 minutes I cannot seem to find it... when will be the release dates for the MB Zetros and the Semi Crane Truck. Are they they same or different?

I have original copy and there are no stickers

I have posted my critique 'a plenty regarding the Raptor. Now its time to be positive. I don't see models as static models, rather, what I can turn them into. With this in mind I am please with both the Zetros and the Crane Truck. I have not bought official sets for a while, and it looks like I will be getting both. They are not perfect, but IMO don't need to be. Just provide good bones for me to build around. Excited to modify.... Way to go TLG!

Agreed. Good point. I was thinking the same thing...

I know there was chatter a while back about the poor ground clearance for a trial truck. The retort was that it was not officially labeled as a trial truck. Well... I guess it is after all...

Ahhh!!! resist the urge! Like product quality, not product packaging quality!! Kidding. I get it. Most are leisure builders out there so all the technicalities we get hung up on are not a thing to them. Still.... if as much went into set production as marketing production well perhaps Lego would really still be a head above the rest....

Good points and well said. But at least for me, the main gist of no correlation between political standing and quality does not seem to hold up. But, I qualify my statement with really I have only been a fan of Lego, or at least a "re-fan" since around 2010. Huge fan as a kid (like in the 80's) but for the following two decades Lego was lost on me. In the past ten years, here are at least my humble observations. 8070 was the set that brought me back. Nothing great, sure, but at least there were functions. No ackerman, etc. I get it.... but at least it had more than steering, suspension and a moving engine. Unimog was inaccurate in terms of steering and suspension but again it had functions. 42009. Not great, but not bad. Lots of functions. Perhaps now I am more seasoned technic consumer, I dunno, but nearly all sets released now are mechanically uninteresting. And the motley of cars TLG releases are nearly non-functional. The only thing (and this is with the UCS cars) that really they possibly can be released with that may have some interest is the gearbox which in the majority of the UCS cars HAVE NOT EVEN WORKED PROPERLY. Shelf queen is a good term for them. And here we have a truck whose real counterpart is known to possess some of the best an off-road truck has to offer and what do they come up with? 2WD and stickers. In fact, as others have pointed out, the front bonnet is so bad without the perfect stickers to bring the Raptors identity I am not sure we would be able to tell this is a Raptor. FOr me at least, sets are becoming progressively worse. Or perhaps, I am just getting more particular because I have been a fan now for some time. Perhaps it is the natural progression of things. I cant' really find a set that interests me. I still buy them ... b/c I need the parts, but its been a while since I have even built an official set. Of course the two trends are separate and mutually exclusive, but one cannot fault folks if that is the conclusion they rest upon nonetheless. The oats are looking heavily salted in that direction. And its not just regarding the non-traditional characters thing... the point I made was about introducing politics, or their concern for being politically correct, no just regarding non-traditional characters thing. The cancellation of the Osprey is a whole other can o'worms but pertinent to this issue.....

As others have said, I don't think this is a good move for Lego. I still think they offer the best product for this market (plastic building blocks) but IMO I believe they are losing their identity and the margin between them and their competitors is shrinking. I have been open about this in the past; I still buy Lego but I am looking into other products as well (CaDa, etc.). Many of their sets are becoming visionless and clear attempts to just raid our packets. I think the days of caring for education and product quality are over. The poor quality or pandering of their sets I guess is not totally their fault. After all, people will buy this stuff. Actually, I think this set will be a huge hit - and unfortunately I think that says as much, if not more about us (not here on this site but consumers overall) than it does about TLG. But they eat it up. The money and attention. TLG has become your typical Westernized mega-business who gives up quality for quantity and shareholder attention. I think the image above says alot. Certainly a political statement. When did TLG get into making political statements? When it become popular to do so - thats when. A genderless, or at least gender-neutral individual playing with their product. Which, don't get me wrong, I have NO problem with gender-neutral or trans individuals but pasting such an image up there, to sell a truck (stereotypical male thing) during a time that it is exactly popular to do so (and really has not been done in the past) really shows me what TLG cares about. It places appearance and market perception clearly above the product it actually puts out there. So much time was probably spent on marketing this thing that not enough time and resources were left over to actually do it right.....

Thxs for the update. I know for me I will pass for now. I think it all depends on how badly you want to sell. These are all BL prices (like you mentioned) but still well above RRP. I do not know about others, but I never purchase old sets unless I am getting a good deal, not their current value or even RRP (unless I am dying to have them for some reason)

Yes, that is a good application. Outriggers too. Again though, probably not going to be exposed to the forces that will twist axles. Unless we are talking about @Jeroen Ottens's large mobile crane... or something similar. But any vehicle with extending something... outriggers, boom, etc. would be a good application. NP

Yes, exactly, that is what I mentioned in my last post: Admittedly this wasn't an experiment for practical purposes. Or at least not typical purposes. Rarely are there applications where there is an exposed/unbraced axle of any real significant length. Especially ones that are subjected to the amount of force needed to damage. Fun to do nonetheless. Got the idea from the Brick Experiment Channel, which really isn't into doing things for practical purposes anyways

Oh this is interesting. I did not know about this video. Thxs for sharing. This set-up is much more scientific than mine... though the use of a 32 inch axle surely makes them less robust. Perhaps one additional iteration I should have done, or someone else, is like 3L or 2L connecters all linked together by 2L axles. I am sure there would not be any twisting, but they would disengage at some point. Be interesting to know what that point is....

By now probably pretty much everyone is familiar with The Brick Experiment (TBE) channel on YT. This little video submission is in no way supposed to copy that, only to extend one of the channel’s popular videos a little further: As can be seen in the video, Lego axles begin to experience permanent damage at about 180 mN m of force applied in twisting motion (axle length of 10L unbraced). My little video replicated this, which is fairly remarkable given the variance in motor productivity, battery power, etc. Also it should be noted, which was not noted in TBE channel is that axle durability is a function of its length. A longer axle will twist with less force, a shorter one with more force. So, in keeping with this I used the exact same length of axle as TBE channel, although the braced versus unbraced length was slightly different at ~180 mN m of force (we both used a slightly different configuration). But these differences are so slight I believe any effect is very small to negligible (TBE channel’s exposed axle length was ~2 studs shorter than mine). In the TBE video at 300 mN m the 16L axle twisted so much it began to curl and eventually pulled from the fixed end (opposite from motor end). At this point there was extreme twisting of the axle but it also was no longer even straight. Unrecognizable. Looked like black licorice. In my little experiment at this level of force, but with braced axles by 1/2 bushes there was slight damage to the axle but it was very mild and the overall shape of axle was not compromised (it was still straight). The extreme difference between the braced versus non-braced axles at 300 mN m of force is probably the most significant part of the experiment. I did not go further than 300 mN m of force. As can be seen in the video, looks like the method of bracing axles indeed does strengthen axles, surprise, surprise, right? I saw the same amount of damage (actually a little less) at 300 mN m in my experiment (braced axle) as was seen in TBE video at 180 mN m. So, I guess one could approximate that the method of bracing axles with Technic bushings roughly doubles their strength. Certainly an approximation, but it is something. Hope you enjoy!

Ha! Had to go back and re-read but yes... I like it. Well done MOC....

Hey Dr JB - I saw this on the Technic forum... almost wish it could stay there because i do think it would get more traffic. This area of the forum is fairly dead. I would be interested in some of the sets. Certainly not all. It may help to also post the expected prices you wish to sell for. I know I would be interested in this.

Ummm.... still processing..... I will return and post a better comment when my tiny brain comprehends this better. Which may take a while. I think I have a better chance of wrapping my head around the beginning of the universe than this project....(meant in positive tones)

Awesome job guys. This is really great - what a way to step up. @Wilm112 - and kudos to you too.... trying to tackle this project at 71 with PD I can only imagine this is quite a feat. I hope you get the help you are looking for and your problems solved.