bonox

Noting that the video doesn't work on my device, the current catalog https://catalogs.lego.com/BrandCatalog/2hy2018/aus-nz/?page=86 shows the trains as having PoweredUp with App and bluetooth connectivity, but the technic units show Power Function, also with "Download the App". Does this mean technic uses this WeDo 2.0 thing? Are they still calling it power functions or not? Given that they've also swapped descriptions on the pump and valve on page 88 i'm not sure i can trust what they've put on the site. Crikey, "Articulated Stering"! Who on earth spell checks and proof reads their advertising?

also many of these things are used in areas where the road gets washed away every year in the wet season. For the mass of cargo carried, plus the distances involved, rebuilding a one or two lane dirt road is a lot cheaper than rebuilding a railway. Keep in mind that this country is the size of western europe or north america, but has a tiny portion of the population of either of those and in the time it takes me to get between major cities I can cross multiple countries in Europe. We do have rail for major transport tasks - but really only between major population centres and between major mining/farming entities and ports. That probably covers less than 1% of the major transport routes. oh, and the only real reason to use a road train is to reduce payroll costs. Everywhere else in the world would just run three trucks instead and put up with paying three drivers. There is a small maintenance and fuel advantage but mostly it's about the pilot.

Trailers are of two basic types under Australian (and international) regulation. These are type A and B. The difference is that a B type trailer is coupled to a rigid turntable on the leading unit (be it a prime mover or another trailer) and an A type trailer is coupled to the leading unit by a drawbar. Often for road trains, this means A trailers are constructed out of a classic 40 or 50 foot semi B trailer connected to a 2 or 3 axle converter dolly and the dolly has the drawbar connected to a pintle on the leading unit. ie like this: Now a road train is typically made up of at least one A trailer and a total length under 53.5metres. The ones that track perfectly are the B doubles/triples. That is, trailers conneted with only turntables - no drawbars, as below: There are limitations here on where you are allowed to run road trains and B doubles/triples, and there is a wide arc around every major city where you are NOT permitted to bring a road train. This means that you have not seen a road train in a city. You've probably seen a multiple B type setup in cities, and generally only two trailers (a B double), but there is opening for B triples in some places. As a rule, because of the rigid forward attachment of a B trailer, they track much more accurately than a standard A trailer, but B only configurations are not generally regarded as road trains. Suggest you find some background reading here. http://www.truck.net.au/sites/default/files/TAPs - description of truck configuration September 2016.pdf Some update info: The north americans refer to the trailers similarly, but the lingo is a bit different - they have terms like Super B. And I said as a rule, "A" trailers don't track as well as B trailers, however there are in development "smart" trackaxle converter dollys to improve tracking of multiple A trailers like an A Double setup (a classic road train). Refer to the pdf above for a bunch of lovely pictures describing the different trailer and primemover configurations.

full marks for ambition. Be a heck of a vehicle in real life :D

read forward in the instructions first so you know if there's room to put the middle 2x2x1.3 'brick' in the middle of the first case, or the lump of wire in the second. This model is probably fairly forgiving in that regard - the 8480 wasn't.

if you go back over what I wrote, a plowed field doesn't constitute rough terrain - it's merely soft, and again, it's the tyre pressures (matched hopefully obviously) to the pressure that the ground can support, that gives you a the difference between a truck based crane on high pressures and a rough terrain crane on lower pressures. You still won't be climbing hills that would cause the crane boom to crash into the hill before the front axle started to climb it, which is fundamentally the point i was trying to get across to gvo25 about the boom being too long on the model. Loads on ground are all about pressures - the total weight doesn't matter. And if you don't believe me on that, think about what skyscrapers are built on and what the function of foundations is. The difference between a crane on 50psi and your pickup on 50psi is pretty much nil in terms of sinking into the ground - it's the higher mass of the crane that results in much larger tyres than your truck. The only other bit in play is tractive effort, which you noted in the difference between your 2wd pickup vs the awd crane.

and check out the retracted boom length on this kobelco rough terrain unit http://www.kobelco-cranes.com/en/wp-content/themes/kobelco/pdf/wheel_old/RK250-5_2000103TF.pdf

Really? What's too long? rough terrain is a bit of a misnomer. No crane is made for crazy terrain - that's why they build roads to get them in if required. You need a fundamentally flat(ish) and firm surface to put them on. You can use the crane to modify the surface somewhat by outrigger jacking to level a surface, but you still need to key the mats to the surface, otherwise they or the strut sitting on them will slide down the hill. Rough terrain, in crane terms, really only means a dirt surface, which in turn means nothing more than low pressure tyres. 40/50PSI tyres are the only thing separating a 'rough' terrain crane from a city crane with 120psi road truck tyres. You won't be off-roading any of these things in the sense of a four wheel drivers version of rough terrain - their centre of mass is far to high for reliable safety. You might find this interesting reading http://www.cranestodaymagazine.com/features/rubber-matters/

it's coming along epic-ally. Really looking forward to seeing all the major components come together.

oh generous TLG overlords. Please send us proper involute gear profiles and roller bearings such that we may appease the evils of those who oppose the practical implementation of the edict "as it is in reality"

i wonder how big the market for these things really is. Surely the market is becoming saturated.

Wow - very impressive carrier so far. You certainly have my interest - they other models i've bought from you have been very impressive - this is shaping up to be equally amazing. Please stick with it in amongst your other works. I've no doubt it will be as exciting as your other works.

Both motors function the same - the newer one was just an internal production modification. Pick the one you can find or is cheaper. You can glue the cable into the end fittings - any ABS plastic cement or superglue will work. I was under the impression you were trying to glue the little broken end onto the inner flex cable (the milky coloured bit). If you are happy to glue, you can use the old one and just glue it into the end fitting if it's only the end that has come off the flex cable. Obviously if the flex cable is broken in the middle somewhere you'll need to replace it.

Very nice design - but i really love its use as a bike carrier - it works really well i'm not sure you'd want to be using the handbrake with that load on board though :) Love your leaf spring analogue too

also be aware that there are two motor alternatives called older heavy and newer light

the PF extension cable is one direction only. You can connect a PF battery box to a 9V motor, or the other way. You're after a cable with a 9V connector at both ends. In other words, the conversion between old and new is at one end of the cable only. You can remake or shorten the cables, but you'll find the insulation on the old rubber ones will perish and fall apart, creating short circuits. You can replace the wire with new stuff - I ended up soldering mine. The connectors can be a little tricky to get apart without breaking them but it can be done. Once pulled apart, the 'how' should be quite obvious. Checking switches can be done using a lamp/light, or with a continuity meter or multimeter to check resistance falls to nothing when you push the sensor button. The flex cables are tricky. They have a notch in the end - gluing them together probably won't work, but you might get lucky. If you buy a bit of plastic, you'll have to make the notches yourself which will take some care, but go for it.

wow - amazing effort! I like the way you decided to build an amazing car just to demonstrate your new gearbox :)

I'm only a technic buyer so the movies don't influence me one way or another, but anecdotally I and many others i've spoken to though that Batman was a very poor lego movie. It was a kids story using batman characters, but from a lego perspective, it was just a movie where most of the bits had studs. Big deal - meh! The lego movie on the other hand was all about the lego - the different themes, ideas about instructions versus doing your own thing, part identification numbers, seeing 'the matrix' of lego parts around you, and ultimately a battle of creativity between generations. That, at least to me, is what made it a lego movie and not a movie about a kid and his dad, and what encouraged lots of people to go and buy stuff - both kids and adults reliving their own past experiences on their own and with their children. The batman one was just a crap tie in, selling stuff to kids who'd probably go after anything related to a theme, whether lego or not. But in terms of the first lego movie, the merchandise was not only not substitutable by other types of toys, it was substitutable across the entire range of what TLG makes. You weren't restricted just to TLM branded sets, but the entire shelf of stuff at the local shop. It's not surprising to me that the focus on those movies with intent to sell merch may not have been particularly successful.

did you look at Barman's like originally suggested? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8ut5ND3agI

Barman drags his masterpiece out.... "here's one we prepared earlier" with the lift the cam part provides, it's going to be a big model! There are plenty of working twin cam per head models about. Example: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-5880/NikolayZubov/instruction-v-8-engine-32-valve-lego-technic/#comments

The ship is impressive in its own right, but I love the attention to detail in the support equipment for manufacture. Bravo sir!

very nice. Not too complicated to transform. Masterpiece would be proud :)

the stock image even shows them - the two lugs that split the curved slots appear to have the function of locking a bush to the axle if you don't want the wheel to spin freely. A close-up photo of the wheels of the 8880 will show the grey little lugs of the inner mount poking out of those slots in the white wheel.

Welcome back (with a bang :))

perhaps but they won't have a job anymore ;)