doug72

Your ship models always amaze me as to the detail you achieve. Having worked on similar vessels, your models are instantly recognisable to me as a medium size Product Tankers. Given the scale, the deck fittings are very accurate. You have the inclined rails on the port side stern quarter but the lifeboat that is launch from them seems to be missing. The craft on the other side is a rescue boat.

GBC Square Drive Module without reversers (WIP) Following the success of my vertical tower ball lift which did not use a reverser or reverse the drive motor, I am making an attempt to build a Square Drive GBC module as shown in image. IMG_8462 “It has taken a lot of time & effort to get the ball carriage to traverse around the circuit without jamming as it is attached to the chain belt. Various guides & supports were required to keep the ball carriage hanging correctly orientated. L motor drive with 20:1 reduction & module can be be run in either direction.. Now the difficult stage - how to arrange the ball loading and discharge points. Comments and sugggestions welcome.

Great Ball Pit 2021 Contest entry. Fiilmed using a hand held camera

Thanks - I hope to make a new video tomorrow and will post it here.

Mark 3 Vertical Ball Lift Further Improved. Ball Carriage :- Slope too shallow to discharge all balls in time before lift starts to lower. 3L extension on ramp removed and slope increased. IMG_8439 Input Box:- 3L extension to added to the 16 X 8 tile. Slope slightly increased to make balls roll faster. IMG_8440 Additional parts added to prevent balls escaping sideways as they roll out of the inbox. Now able to carry 33 balls per trip and with XL motor speed at max and transfer balls between Input Box and Discharge in 33 seconds. Had a spectacular crash when the swing arm came loose from the track, result rapid descent of ball carriage and balls all over my Lego Room !!!!! Can you spot the green ball ? Fixed and after a 30 minute run time all OK carrying 36 balls per trip.

Mark 3 Vertical Ball Lift Improved. Power Function XL motor used with 20:1 reduction. Lift height 71L, timing adjusted by using s PF Train Controller. From inbox to discharge point at 71L height is approx 60 secs per trip cycle. Balls cascade back to the in box but could be altered to pass onto another GBC module in box. White balls are no longer used as tend to bounce or settle on the hole. Think I I have found all the gaps that balls escape through !, Video:-

It’s probably poor contacts on the plug which need easing out a bit.

Using the L motor with 40/1 reduction meant it was too fast & could not achieve the 1 ball contest rules. Now change to an XL motor with 24 / 1 reduction to drive the chain, more power and is smoother running with less shaking of the tower. Can now adjust speed and set it move 30 Balls in about 60 seconds. I will make a new video. I have joined discord on GBP but not yet found how to post my entry.

Thanks for your comments, it’s taken 2 weeks to build and test. The Batteries last OK, If you need to run at 1 ball per second all need to do is slow the L motor to suit. I tried using the old large Lego chain links but unable to keep the swing arm on the chain studs unless glued. Think I will enter into the GBP contest.

Vertical Ball Lift MK 3 Completed and tested ( see Images and Video) Time to transfer 30 balls is about 36 seconds. On past GBC builds I have found reversers to be a problem to get them to work OK. So I set out to eliminate the them or the need to reverse the motor drive. IMG_8412 The lift raises 30 balls per trip to a height of 72L and is driven by a constantly rotating PF L motor, which rotates the 5L chain links forming a vertical loop between the upper and lower sprocket wheels. IMG_8413 The chain was tensioned slightly by by using Lego legal spacers at the top sprocket. Thus alternatively raising & lower the ball carriage can be done without the need to reverse the L motor or by using a trip to activate a gear reverser. One 5L track link has has a beam connected to it by two 2L black pins with friction which are locked in place by short lengths of 1.5 mm black rod. The end of this beam has 2L axle/Pin without friction, to which one end of a 5L beam is connected, the other end of the 5l beam is connected to the ball lift carriage. IMG_8401 Thus as the lift raises the chain loop rotates around the top sprocket, the swing link rotates around the sprocket to the other side and lift descends. As lift frame reaches lower level it releases 30 balls per trip from the in box, the swing link rotates about the bottom sprocket wheel and the lift frame then raises again. IMG_8416 As lift frame reaches max height it hits a stop which raises the release bar to discharge the ball back to the in box via a zig zag ramp. IMG_8414 The descending balls return to the in box but could easily be sent on to the another GBC module if required. Video:-.

Thanks hope to take photos tomorrow plus a make video. Fine tuned today to stop balls hanging up after balls discharge at the top and in the return via a zig zag with ball retarders to slow the balls. Still hunting for lost balls !!

Seen this today on display at the Lego shop near me. Looks very detailed but I spotted a big mistake. The centre propeller is the same as he wing props with three blades each. The Centre prop should have four blades. The two wing props were driven by the two 4 cylinder engines, the centre prop used the exhaust steam to turn a turbine for the centre prop when at full speed.

Thats a brilliant concept turning it on its side. Looks smooth running and reliable. Looks very much like a real train Coaling tower. I to have been building a vertical ball lift with 70L height and almost completed and yet to decide wether to enter the contest. It uses a single L motor with PF control to raise & lower the ball platform without the need to reverse the L motor or using a reversing unit. Fine tuning & busy making sure balls cannot escape !!!!

Thought the crows nest was missing but now found as it lende into the white background !,

http://kanatta.com/GBC/TheSuna/ Parts list @ end of instructions.

Sounds like the connector pins on the PF RX red side need easing out a little bit.

Read through this post from page 1, You should be able to see the original version & the improved version along with links to instructions & part lists. can you describe the missing part or post an image.

Try the LEGO Mindstorms and Robotics Forum.

I like the Single bucket ring module and possible I could use one of my broken ring segments which have cracked ends

Mk 2 version not finished yet and will be stand alone driven by PF L motor. The ball release at top has yet to be made & installed with a return for balls vis a zig zag chute. A video of the Mk 2 version will be made when completed & Tested. The train version got me thinking how to increase the lift height.

GBC Vertical Ball Lifts without using a reversing unit. IMG_8365 ====================================================== It proved not possible to increase the lift range by using longer crank arms as it would put too much side thrust into the tower guide beams causing jamming. How to increase the lift height ? Another way of raising the ball lift box had to be found. Mk 1 version with higher lift range. A vertical tower was built to give a lift range of 57 L. Old Lego large chain links were used in a loop with 9T chain sprockets at top & bottom. IMG_8399 IMG_8400 The ball lift frame is connected to the chain by a 3L beam & a swinging link, with the chain driven by an L motor to the bottom sprocket wheel. Testing proved that the ball lift frame Raising & lowering OK. When tested with a 30 ball load the 3L beam kept disengaging from the chain. The 3L beam is a push fit onto a the two studs of the large Lego link. IMG_8398 One possible option was to glue it to the link but instead I decided to come up with another better solution. So Mk 1build abandoned. Mk. 2 Vertical ball lift (WIP) A more secure way of connecting the lift frame to the chain was needed. This time I used Lego 5L wide chain links with medium sprocket wheels top & bottom. Also required to be able to lift 30 balls per cycle. Lift range now 66L The arm with the swinging link was much easier & stronger to connect to the chain using two black pins inserted into the link with two short black rods pushed into the pins to lock them in place. IMG_8401 More progress to follow and a video once completed.

My post was not about a competition, more an idea to get more interest in GBC & easier to find GBC new posts.

Agree with your observations, GBC tends to get swamped out very quickly by the predominance of Cars & vehicles. It would be better if a grouping all GBC topics could be created for a New Forum called:- GBC General, GBC Train, Kinetic sculptures, and Automata, which all use Technic parts.

Can this be moved to:- [GBC] Akiyuki Train System: Type 2 mods and improvements on the LEGO Technic, Model Team and Scale Modeling Forum. T/Y.

Wrong forum.