Splat

Looking good. I recently got my hands on 8480 Space Shuttle, and thought that it would be cool to build the fuel tank and rockets, and a crawler, but that is about as far as my plans went - just thinking about it. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this creation.

Nice work I like how you have used the different panels to turn what is basically a big square box into something that looks great. I wish that you could do something different with the M-motor on the elevated extinguishing arm though - it looks like it was just added at the last minute. Can you run the axle down the boom and hide the M-motor in the chassis?

Nice tank I like the 'gutter' that you built for the treads and how you used the hubs to connect to the sprockets.

@TheLegoExpert - are you able to give us some more information about what you are trying to create? Do you want the raising and lowering of the suspension to be fully remote controlled (compressor and pneumatic switch)? or Do you only want a motorized compressor, and you will turn the motor on and off manually, and move the pneumatic switch manually too?

Clarification: The 'valve' is the pneumatic switch. In the video that you posted there are two things going on. The motor is turning a gear, and attached to that is a pneumatic pump (compressor). However, using the same motor it also turns a worm gear that changes the direction of the pneumatic switch. This allows a single motor to both act as a compressor as well as extend or contract a pneumatic cylinder via he switch (valve). If that is the functionality that you need, then you need each of those components shown in the video you posted. If you are building this into a larger model (truck), then you can use some of your chassis to hold these components in place, but you still need all of those components. You may also be interested in these threads that show 'autovalves' that are functionally the same, however they look a bit smaller: http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=87307 http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=77468 Sariel also has an 'autovalve' that you can see here: http://sariel.pl/200...atic-autovalve/ If you are going to use two pneumatic pumps, you would want to run them 'out-of-phase'. That is, while one pneumatic pump is extended, the other should be contracted. This will put the least strain on the motor. See here: http://www.brickshel..._compressor.jpg

Welcome to Eurobricks! The chassis from 41999 is 99% the same as the chassis from 9398, but there are a few small differences. To see the differences, you could try downloading the building instructions for 41999 from the Lego website, and use them to rebuild the chassis again. You can also use rebrickable.com to see which extra pieces you will need. Example here. If you only have 9398, and you want the colours to match exactly, that will give you 65.9% of the parts that you will need to complete 41999 (chassis and body). Please note that 41999 uses Dark Blue panels and beams, some many of which are exclusive and aren't available in any other Lego set. From here you have two choices - either use a different colour, or buy the required panels from bricklink.com (or similar) if they are available. And of course you won't get one of the exclusive number plates, or the wheels with the white stripe around the rim, or the stickers. Edit: This article on TechnicBricks may also answer many of your questions.

Great write-up Blakbird As with most others, I have been mesmerized by Akiyuki's GBC modules, and would love to make some of my own at some stage. I think one of the main thing stopping me is the amount of system bricks needed to build the supporting structures - as I primarily collect Technic I don't have too many system bricks at all. The other thing stopping me is the genius that goes into designing these modules!

Great work getting the truck to be controlled manually, yet remote controlled once the trailer is attached

Nice work I saw a while ago, and wondered how I could incorporate it into a Lego contraption, and it looks like you have done exactly that!

@DrJB - Um, that is my video, the same one that I posted above, they just embedded the video in their webpage. I'm happy to give credit where I can, and mentioned both piterx and yourself in the video description. On Eurobricks I go by the alias 'Splat', but in most other places on the web I go by the alias 'slfroden' - see links in my signature.

I like this. Good work. I hope you get to take it out in the snow soon.

41: 10 26: 6 37: 4 6: 3 33: 2 17: 1

Great looking model. I agree that the only thing out of place are those square rear fenders. Fix those and it would be perfect.

I needed to get a gear ratio of 7:10 for a MOC that I was making. I used two 14 tooth gears mated with a 20 tooth gear (see images below). This worked perfectly fine for me, however I didn't have much torque going through this gear train so I'm not sure how strong it would be - I was just synchronizing the rotation of a turntable (56:8 = 7:1). The same can be done with a 12 tooth bevel gear, however you need to introduce a half stud offset between the 14 tooth gears and the 12 tooth gears. You also have to be careful with the orientation of the 14 tooth gears so that they line up properly. As shown in the pics below, the 14 tooth gears aren't half a stud thick - they are closer to a third of a stud. If you push the 14 tooth gears together so that there is no gap between them, then they don't mate with the 20 tooth or 12 tooth gears very well. Under high torque this 'might' be a problem as the gears 'may' slide along the axle a little bit (maybe?). I haven't tried to get the 14 tooth gears to mate at a right angle at all, nor have I tried to mate the single (half stud thick) 12 tooth gear with a single 14 tooth gear, so I'm not sure how that would work out. I suspect that the gears would skip though. If you are breaking gears with your drive train, I would look at ways to redesign it rather than looking for stronger alternatives.

I know that this is getting a bit off topic, and has been covered in the posts above, but I first noticed the alignment of the U-Joints when putting together the Motorized Excavator 8043 from 2010 () where the alignment of the U-Joints would make the bucket shake as it moved up and down, but changing the U-Joint alignment would stop the shaking. I created two videos as an (extreme) example of what happens when the U-Joints are aligned differently. I just thought that it would be good to demonstrate with some videos. Enjoy.

I tried connecting a servo motor to a pneumatic switch (see below). As allanp mentioned, I have the servo geared down using 12 and 24 tooth gears. I made that video about 2 years ago so I'm trying to remember how easy it was to operate. As Blakbird mentioned, it was still difficult to get that sweet spot where the air is just seeping - one step of the servo motor too far, and the switch opens up too much and air rushes into the cylinder. Having a system of course adjustment (with the servo) and fine adjustment (with a worm gear), linked together with a differential is an interesting idea, although I'm not sure how practical it would be to operate, and it would use 2 motors and two remote channels. Watch on YouTube for additional annotations:

Yes, I tried killing the app and restarting it. Sometimes that works, but sometimes that isn't enough. I have also tried just turning off Bluetooth and turning it back on again, and I have also tried uninstalling and reinstalling the SBrick app. My phone has no problem connecting to other Bluetooth devices, such as my car stereo, speaker, other phones, etc. I also haven't had any trouble communicating with the SBrick when using the nRF Master Control Panel app (as detailed here and shown ).I haven't taken the time to investigate exactly what triggers things to stop working so that I can try and fix it, I am just trying to let everyone know what my initial impressions are of the SBrick and the SBrick Android app.

Having received my two SBricks on New Year's Eve, and having just over a day to test them out, I wanted to share my initial thoughts... Packaging and Shipping: My two SBricks were shipped in a bubble wrap mailer, and by the time that they got to me the package was pretty beat up. There was even a bit rip in the bubble wrap, but luckily I don't think anything went missing. The SBricks themselves come in their own little boxes, but these boxes were squashed too, however the SBrick themselves seem to have survived. Included in the package was a sheet of stickers, however these were bent and creased so much that they really cannot be used. It could be argued that the condition of the package is due to the shipping companies handling, however Vengit could have shipped the SBricks in better packaging to protect them better. Injection Moulded Case: The case that the SBrick comes in... well let's just say that it isn't up to the standard of other official Lego pieces. The release of the SBrick was delayed due issues with the case (see video below), however I feel that there are still a number of issues. Firstly there is a noticeable draft angle on the two halves. This means that when two SBricks are placed side-by-side, or an SBrick is placed next to Lego pieces, they do not sit flush together like Lego bricks would. Secondly, the pin holes are too tight, causing pins without friction to behave like pins with friction. I couldn't pull all of the axle-pins that I inserted out by hand and I had to resort to using a pair of pliers. The SBrick will connect on top of other Lego bricks/plates ok, however it feels as if the SBrick always wants to pop off. The SBrick just doesn't have the same 'clutch power' that official Lego pieces do. Lego bricks and plates fit ok on the top square studs (where they can), however due to the square studs you cannot attach any brick or plate that has the 'tubes' on the bottom of them (eg. 2x4 brick). Power Function connectors seem to fit ok on the top of the SBrick, but unfortunately the SBrick keep popping off the Power Function connector of the extension wire that is used to provide power to the SBrick at the bottom. Sometimes it pops off by itself, other times all it takes is the slightest touch. Obviously as soon as it does this all power to the SBrick and attached motors is lost. Seeing something like this really makes you appreciate the consistent quality that Lego put into their pieces. Hardware: It is difficult to assess the hardware itself, but my phone (HTC One) has had no trouble discovering the SBricks, and when it did work I had no trouble powering a variety of Power Functions and older 9V devices. Android Software: What a piece of crap! Sorry to be blunt, but that's the first reaction that I had, and even after using it for over a day, I still have the same reaction. I have read that this app is still considered to be in Alpha phase, but this has to be the most unintuitive app that I have come across. Within 2 minutes of using it I managed to get it to crash, and it has done so about a dozen times since (I haven't isolated the steps to recreate these crashes yet). On the plus side, the app is a small download (about 3.5MB), which is good because I have had to reinstall it about half a dozen times while trying to get everything to work. Even when the app does work, I often get stuck on certain screens, and even using the main navigation menu doesn't do anything - I have had to force quit the app and start again. The app seems to discover the SBrick consistently, however it sometimes seems to have trouble controlling the SBrick, even when just using the 'Port tester' functionality. In fact, something in the software seems to lock up, requiring me to restart my phone just to be able to access the SBrick again. After setting up a 'set' and linking a 'profile' and 'SBrick', I can finally get to control my devices. I have no idea how some of the 'profiles' are supposed to work, especially the ones that use the gyro sensor in my phone. All other apps seem to be able to use the gyro sensors just fine, but this app seems a bit chaotic - maybe I just need to spend a bit more time 'learning' how to use these features.. When using the sliders, I've noticed that they never return back to 'zero'. That is, LEDs remain on just a little bit, and motors emit a constant hum - I don't know if this is bad for the motors, but I'm guessing that it can't be good. Lastly, I cannot work out how to control two SBricks at the same time as nothing I do seems to work. So my first impression of the SBrick is not good. The good news is that a lot of the issues revolve around the software, and I'm hoping that as the software gets updated all of these issues will get fixed. To be honest, I'm hoping that they just scrap the current Android app and start over. I will continue to test the SBrick, and hopefully discover some of it's strengths rather than just the weaknesses, and I reserve the right to change my opinion at a later date.

For Power Function information my first stop is always Philo's Home Page. The information on this page should help you work out which wires are which in the PF cable.

I wish Peace, Love, and Classic Space for all. Is it ironic that the peace symbol is made with a crossbow? Thanks CopMike and Eurobricks

Use a tripod, and a remote shutter release (you can get free smartphone apps for this). Your photo already looks sharp, but make sure you use manual mode or AV mode, and set your aperture to get everything in focus. eg. f/8 or f/11 usually work well. Keep your ISO at 100. As long as you have a sturdy tripod, don't be afraid of long shutter speeds. As others have mentioned, set your white balance. Make sure you include the entire model in the shot. In fact, leave some extra room and crop in Photoshop. Diffuse the light - either bounce it off some white card, or put some tracing paper in front of the light to make a cheap 'light tent' effect. This will get rid of the hard shadows. On the opposite side of the light, use some white card to bounce the light back into the shadow areas. In Photoshop use the Levels and/or Curves features to blow out the background. If you join the Eurobricks Reviewers Academy, there are some great tutorials for photographing Lego there. Join here.

@Appie - As others have mentioned, it is one thing to make a large model with lots of functions, but it is another thing to make something small and compact. Very nice work.

Great work Sheepo I love that you have reused the same chassis, and the T1 and Beetle look great side-by-side, sharing a lot of design queues, such as the panel work, the bumper bars, and the headlights. Very nicely done.

Great work Madoca Everything on this model looks great, and it has a great 'stance'. Very impressed by your work, as always.

Hi Victor, it was great to meet you at BrickCon, and congratulations again for winning the Most Complicated Technic award. - Stephan