Splat

Wow. It looks like thirdwigg/thirdwig has rebuilt the entire chassis, and only kept the outer shell/bodywork the same. I think this set provides a great potential for tweaking and modifying.

I just got an email from Lego stating that the 10230 Mini Modulars are now available. You have to be a VIP member to get this exclusive, and you have to be logged in to see the page (otherwise you just get redirected back to the S@H homepage). It is selling for AU$99.99, which I think is cheaper than the original reported price of AU119.99 (link). Of course you have to add shipping to that price too (an extra AU$30 for orders AU$100 and under). So AU$129.99 for a set with 1356 pieces, which still falls into the 10c/brick price range. Keep in mind that most of the pieces are small though (eg. there are 244 1x1 plates of various colours, and lots of other small plates, tiles and bricks - Bricklink Inventory). Since I was in my dark-ages when the full-size modulars started to be released, and I can't justify buying them all off Bricklink/ebay now, I have ordered this set for myself as an alternative to the real (full-size) sets. Now I just have to wait the estimated 13 business days for delivery...

Just letting you know that Amazon.co.uk is able to ship some of the new Star Wars sets and Technic sets (and maybe others) to Australia. I ordered: 9390 Technic Mini Tow Truck 9391 Technic Tracked Crane 9392 Technic Quad Bike 9395 Technic Pick-up Truck 9492 Star Wars TIE Fighter 4433 City Dirt Bike Transporter Unfortunately the 9394 Technic Jet Plane couldn't be delivered to Australia, and 9397 Technic Logging Truck isn't available yet. Shipping works out to be about an extra 11.3% of the item costs (which is a little steep), and I'm getting the order in 3 separate packages via UPS with tracking (one from the UK, one from Italy, and one from France). Even with shipping costs, I should be saving about 37% off Australian RRP, which is still better than any of the Australian 20% off or '3 for 2' deals. I guess the key is to order in bulk (I ordered multiple of some of the above sets) so the shipping costs aren't a huge percentage of the overall costs. Edit: Amazon.fr will ship the 9394 Technic Jet Plane to Australia if you really want it now, but they are asking EUR 50.36 for it. That is EUR 42.11 after VAT is removed, but after EUR 23.92 is added for shipping, it comes to EUR 66.03, which is AU$81.80, plus international transaction fees. The Australian RRP when it is released here should be $69.99, and if I wait for a 20% off sale, I should be able to get it for AU$55.99.

I went past Target Melbourne CBD Bourke St today. They had the new 9493 X-Wing, 9492 TIE fighter, 9490 Droid Escape, and the 3 Planet sets. They may have had others, but I wasn't looking that hard. I didn't take notice of the prices, except the Planet sets which are $16 ($12.80 with 20% off). Myer Melbourne Bourke St had 3843 Ramses Pyramid reduced to $22 (from $39.95), and until the 29th of Jan, they have the 3 for 2 deal, so you can get 3 of these for $44 – that's a saving of about 63%. And yes, both deals work together – I bought 3 myself. They are a good way to get tan baseplates, plus a variety of other tan pieces.

I just noticed on the Mr Toys Toyworld site that they have some of the new Technic sets and prices listed, although not for sale yet: 9392 Quad Bike - Due 15/4 - $34.99 9394 Jet Plane - Due 15/4 - $69.99 9395 Pick-up Tow Truck - Due 15/4 - $89.99 (save $10.00) 9397 Logging Truck - Due 15/4 - $169.00 (save $20.99) They also have the 2012H2 sets listed: 9396 Helicopter - Due 14/9 - $119.00 (save 20.99) 9398 4x4 Crawler - Due 14/9 - $269.00 (save 20.99) - This set may have a new type of motor for drive, and a new servo motor for steering, as reported here. 9393 Tractor - Due 14/9 - $49.99 - We haven't seen photos of this set yet, although this price point suggests that it will have 300-400 pieces, and one or two functions - probably steering and power-take-off (PTO), perhaps with some sort or farming implement attached to the rear. - Edit - first pic over at Technic Bricks ('The green spot... between the Jet Plan and the Qaud Bike, in the picture.') There are no images or further details, and the 9391 Tracked Crane isn't listed either. Brickset lists all of the 2012 Technic sets that we know about so far (link). Time to start saving some money

Nice work. I really like the way the 'suspension stabilizer' helps the rear axles get over the obstacles (tip: watch the video to see it in action).

I go by the alias 'slfroden' on most other sites: Brickshelf: slfroden's Gallery YouTube: slfroden's Channel Flickr: slfroden's Photostream Brickset: Technic sets owned by slfroden Eurobricks: Splat's Profile

Nice work Sariel I look forward to reading your write-up on your website.

Just letting you know that Series 6 CMF have landed in Target Bourke St (Melbourne CBD). They had half a dozen boxes, but they had all been filtered through already. I managed to 15 out of 16, but just couldn't find the last one. It looks like the Roman is going to be hard to find, as it is a good 'army builder'. They also had some new Ninjago and City sets, but I didn't pay much attention to them.

My minifigs (Prize A) arrived today. Thanks again CopMike I hope you (and everyone else) had a great festive season.

Thank you so much. That video is perfect at showing me what is going on there. My requirements are slightly different (I only need one axle to go through the centre of the turntable), so I can reduce the size of mine a little bit (I only need one differential). As I am only using one axle, I can use the 24 teeth inside the turntable rather than 56 teeth on the outside. I have seen someone else use the 56 teeth on the outside before (sorry, I can't find the link at the moment), but they used the old 14 tooth gears to mesh with a 12 tooth double bevel, and this gave them another ratio to play with. I would agree with your definition of 'studless' and would consider your MOC to be termed as 'studless'. I think 'studless' has a slightly different meaning in Lego System vs Lego Technic.

Nice Work on your first studless MOC I'd like to see how you have done this. I'm facing a similar situation at the moment, so any further info/pics/vids that you can provide would be great.

Hi Surly. You might be interested in Sheepo's Porsche 911 (997) Turbo Cabriolet PDK. His MOC features a camber angle of about 2 degrees at the front, Ackermann steering, and a caster angle of about 3.36 degrees, among many other features. See the Eurobricks post and Sheepo's Garage for more information. This MOC also won the 2011 AFOL Lego Technic Challenge [link].

You could download the Lego Technic Tora no Maki book by ISOGAWA Yoshihito which has lots of examples of little constructions. Perhaps you can find some inspiration in there. You can download the book for free in PDF format, but if you like the book, remember to make a payment of US$10.

I primarily use MLCad and LDView, but in different ways at different times: If I'm at work (where I don't have my Lego), and just need to work out if a few pieces will fit together, I will open MLCad to find out, but often I won't even bother saving the file. If I want to preserve an idea (of a gearbox, etc), but not tie up all of my bricks by keeping the model built all the time, I'll recreate the model in MLCad for future reference. If I need to order parts to build a MOC, I'll make it in MLCad first so that I get all the part quantities correct, and refer back to the MLCad file once the parts have arrived to build the model. When using MLCad, I usually have an idea of what I want to do - I usually don't 'fiddle around' in MLCad like I do with real bricks. I find that building a drive train in MLCad can help me work out how all the mechanics (axles, gears, etc) fit together, without having to build a frame around it to support it and make it strong. Similarly, I can move big chunks of the model around without having to rebuild the frame all the time. I can then open the file in SR3D and use the animation mode to see some simple movements. Once the mechanics are sorted, I'll design the frame and shell, which is a combination of MLCad and real life bricks. When building Technic models in MLCad where bricks aren't always at 90 degree angles, I usually create a sub-model for each new angle. This results in lots of sub-models, but I find that easier to work with as you can then move the bricks around and still have things like up properly. For the latest MOC that I'm working on, I found a 3D Studio file on the internet of a real life model, and was able to open it in AutoCAD, export the co-ordinates, and create an MLCad file that had all the line work in it to use as a reference. Now I am building the exoskeleton in MLCad to match the line work, then I will build a supporting frame and add the mechanics to fit inside it; so I'm sort of working from the outside in, but the shell will have the exact same proportions as the original 3D Studio file. I hope everything fits, otherwise I'll just have to scale up the model in AutoCAD, and start over. I'm still not too familiar with the characteristics of the PF motors, so I'll usually have to mock something up in real life to make sure I don't have too much friction or not enough torque in my drive trains to avoid stalling the motors. I never know where the best place to put a 24T clutch gear is! Building in real life also helps to work out if the motor cables will be long enough, and how to route them so that they fit nicely. MLCad is also good for working out how the shell will fit, as you can have multiple pieces floating in mid air to get it looking right, and then put supports in afterwards. You can do this in real life too, but you just need a lot of hands to hold everything in place For something simple like a System model where you build from the ground up I can build it all in MLCad first, then in real life. But for Technic where there are weird geometries and angles, I'll go back and forward between MLCad and real life until things are working properly.

Another long post... It seems that Australian Customs has their own figures for the exchange rates, and it is based on the date of export, not the date the goods arrive in Australia. Their figures definitely don't match the figures at Google Finance or XE. For the 3rd of Jan, 2012: Google: 1 AUD = 0.7919 EUR XE: 1 AUD = 0.7947 EUR Customs: 1 AUD = 0.7766 EUR Also remember that in addition to Australian GST (10%), there is also duty and charges that may be applied. From what I can tell, the duty for Lego would be 5% (but books look like they are 0% - hopefully customs will get confused, and treat all items from Amazon as books ). Customs also have a Import Declaration Processing Charge that may need to be paid. This is an example of a calculation on the Australian Customs website: Customs value converted to Australian currency = US$1274 / 0.9100 (0.910 is the exchange rate on the day of export in this example) = AU$1400 Postage and insurance converted = US$118.30 / 0.9100 = AU$130 Duty (amount payable) = 5% of AU$1400 = AU$70 VoTI (Value of the Taxable Importation) = customs value + duty + postage and insurance = AU$1400 + AU$70 + AU$130 = AU$1600 GST (Australia Goods and Services Tax) = 10% of VoTI (amount payable) = 10% of AU$1600 = AU$160 Amount payable to Customs and Border Protection = Duty + GST = AU$70 + AU$160 = AU$230 Plus import declaration (lodged by document) processing charge of AU$48.85 Total payable = AU$230 + AU$48.85 = AU$278.85 So something that cost A$1530.00 (item + shipping) ended up having A$278.85 in Australia duty, taxes and charges applied. That's an additional 18.23% in this example. Ouch! That's pretty much equivalent to adding the French VAT (19.6%) back onto the order. Still cheaper than the Lego's Australian RRP though. In my previous post above, Amazon only figured on a 15.41% import fee: EUR 196.40 (Repository Import Costs) / EUR 1274.10 (article + shipping) = 15.41%. And Amazon said that they will pay the difference if the fees aren't enough, so ordering from Amazon could actually save you a bit of money on the import fees! I guess the moral of the story is to stay under the AU$1000 threshold so you don't get Amazon Import Fees or Australia duty, taxes and charges applied, and allow a bit of room so you don't get caught out like BrettBrick did by going just over the threshold when Customs does their calculations. If you go over the threshold (either intentionally or accidentally), just be aware of the charges you'll likely have to cough up via Amazon or Australian Customs directly. Don't you just love the tax system?

I have taken a look at Amazon.it to investigate this 'Deposito dei Costi di Importazione' (translation: 'Repository Import Costs'). I added 5 x 8043 and 5 x 8110 to my cart and went through the checkout (up to the last step before completing the order): Articles: EUR 1254.10 Shipping costs: EUR 20.00 VAT: EUR 0.00 Repository Import Costs: EUR 196.40 Order Total: EUR 1470.50 Then I slowly removed items until the 'Repository Import Costs' disappeared: At Articles + Shipping Costs totalling EUR 737.14, there was no 'Repository Import Costs'. At Articles + Shipping Costs totalling EUR 830.29, there was 'Repository Import Costs'. So somewhere between EUR 737.14 and 830.29, Amazon.it is adding the 'Repository Import Costs'. I did the same on the Amazon.fr site: At Articles + Delivery totalling EUR 709.82, there was no 'Import Fees Deposit'. At Atricles + Delivery totalling EUR 757.88, there was an 'Import Fees Deposit'. So somewhere between EUR 709.82 and 757.88, Amazon.fr is adding the 'Import Fees Deposit'. The 'Repository Import Costs'/'Import Fees Deposit' seem to be added at about the EUR 750 mark, and the fees vary depending on how much you have in your cart. Sorry greenpaw, it's not just Amazon.it adding this fee, Amazon.fr is adding it too. It looks like Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (and probably other Amazon sites) may also have a similar 'Import Fees Deposit', and I would guess that all Amazon site are doing this now, but I haven't investigated any further yet.At the moment, we (in Australia) only have to pay the Australia duty, taxes and charges on consignments over AU$1000. The current exchange rate is AU$1000 = EUR 801.19. So if you order over EUR 800 worth of articles from Amazon, you would have to pay the Australian duty, taxes and charges upon import anyway. Normally you would have to pay this to Australian Customs before your package can be released, but you can also have a licensed Customs broker do this for you (link). I guess that Amazon is just acting as a licensed Customs broker so that your packaged gets released and on it's way to you, hopefully quicker than if you had to lodge the import declaration yourself. So this isn't a new fee at all, but it could be annoying waiting for any refunds that can take up to 60 days from the dispatch date to be processed. Hopefully Amazon get the cost of the fees close to the Australia duty, taxes and charges, so little refund will be required. If Amazon underestimates the fees, they state that they will pay the difference, so they won't ask you for any extra money at all. I actually don't see this as a bad thing. We would have to pay the fees anyway, and this way we don't get a surprise letter from Australian Customs asking for more money and holding our Lego for ransom before releasing it. I guess Amazon might be doing this because if a customer refuses to pay the fees to Customs, then the parcel might get returned to Amazon, and all the headache and paperwork that is involved in that (return shipping fees, refunds, restocking items, etc), and if the package gets damaged in transit (which we all know can happen) then they can't resell it. Interestingly, on the Amazon.it site the shipping stayed at a constant EUR 20.00, whereas on the Amazon.fr site, the delivery fees varied depending on the quantity of articles in my cart. PS. Sorry for the long post. Hopefully someone finds this information useful.

Thanks DLuders. I've seen that one before, and it is a great piece of mechanical engineering, but a bit big to squeeze into a MOC. I'm looking for something just a little bit smaller

If you wanted to have a working water canon, you could use a set-up similar to ricardocrl's vending machines ( and ). Instead of pumping water, it pumps air into the top of a water tight container, and because of the pressure, the liquid is forced out of the container via another hose. That way, the liquid isn't coming into contact with any of your pneumatics (so they won't rust), and it should minimise leakages (only one hose gets wet). You do have to use a (non-Lego?) water tight container though.

I agree that the shifting mechanism is just as important as the gear system, and this is something that I have been trying to work on lately. I have been developing a gearbox with a linear selector that is remote controlled, so I have been playing with linear actuators, worm gears, gear racks, and even chain links to move the gear selector back and forward. The problem with my gearboxes is that the axle on the gear selector has to move back and forward out of the actual gearbox. This takes up a lot of room, and means the axle can also flex quite a bit, causing teeth to jump and grind. If anyone else has interesting ways of shifting gears (preferably remote controlled), then I would love to see some examples (pics/vids).

A little while ago, I came up with these two gearbox designs: These were designed for a specific purpose: 3 speeds plus a second output (PTO). You can read more about these in my original post. I have been playing with some other gearbox designs too, and I hope to document and post them soon.

Hi DLuders, I think you meant 'less than'.

I thought that I would put together a proof-of-concept to see if I could get something working. Here is a quick video that I put together, and the description that I wrote on YouTube: A proof-of-concept to see if I can replicate part of the Faller Car System using Lego Technic - http://www.faller.de/App/WebObjects/XSeMIPS.woa/cms/page/pid.14.17.109/lg.en/... All parts are 100% Lego, except for the strong magnets at the front of the vehicle, and the track (made out of a bent coat hanger, cardboard, and packing tape). As the vehicle drives forward, the magnets at the front are attracted to the metal track, which steers the vehicle accordingly. Ideally, the metal track would be built into the road surface and be invisible. Only one of the rear wheels is powered by the Lego Power Functions M-Motor, and is fixed to the axle using a 24 tooth crown gear that grips the side of the rubber tire. The wheel on the opposite side can spin freely. Although the video shows the vehicle going fairly slowly, it also works surprising well at faster speeds and stays on track, but I dodn't have a long enough track to show this. One of the key design decisions was to make sure most of the weight was towards the back of the vehicle, so that the drive wheel has enough grip, and so that the steering is light enough to move freely. Some additional notes: My vehicle is a bit wider than 6 studs, but you should be able to reduce the width if you make the steering mechanism a bit smaller and use skinnier tyres. The length could also be reduced by using a 9V battery and adapter, as DLuders suggested above. I had to use a number of strong magnets to get my vehicle to follow the track nicely, but I don't think that Lego makes anything that strong. My wire track was above the cardboard base, so there was a bit of problem with the clearance between my vehicle and the track at times. If the track was under the road, then this shouldn't be a problem, although you might need to adjust the magnets again. Unfortunately I didn't have any Lego road baseplates to test with. The turning circle of my vehicle is quite large, but that is mainly influenced my the length of the wheel base and the steering geometry I used. Play with these and I'm sure you could get the vehicle to have a tighter turning circle. One thing that I noticed on some of the Faller vehicles is that they have the magnet out in front of the vehicle quite a bit, which might be something to consider. As I don't have many Lego system parts, I haven't put a full body onto my vehicle, and this might make it behave differently. One key thing that I found was that most of the weight has to be over the back wheels for it to work properly. I had my battery box set to the slowest speed, so the motor didn't have very much torque. By incorporating a worm gear, you could have the motor spinning faster, but still driving the vehicle at a reasonable speed, and be able to carry a heavier load (eg. the weight of a Lego body). As Philo mentioned in this post, the 9V battery should be able to power the PF LEDs or PF motor in addition to an IR Receiver, if it is wired correctly.

I just received my Amazon.it shipment via UPS - ordered late on Friday night, arrived on Thursday afternoon - Imperial Shuttle 10212, Motorised Excavator 8043, and 2 x Extreme Cruiser 8081. The outer box looked like it had something heavy placed on top of it, so two sides of the outer boxes were split open, and the corner of the Imperial Shuttle box was a little bit squashed, but not too bad (I plan to build the set, not keep in MISB). At least it wasn't pancaked or saturated at all.

It looks like Amazon.fr has run out of the Millennium Falcan (7965). The ones that are listed on their site now are "Ships from and sold by Peek and Poke", which is probably why it doesn't ship to Australia. Usually you have better luck getting Lego shipped to Australia if they are sold directly by Amazon.fr, not a 3rd party reseller.