Riley-NZL

i understood using a train remote, and have the same solution myself. Just didn't get the bit you added on top of the train remote, but that makes sense, although looks like it might be a bit awkward to control?

What does that do, obviously the right side is steering, but what is the idea behind the whole bit moving back and forth?

The lighting seems a tad dull, is it lit from the front quite high? The front edge is also out of focus which annoys me a bit, I'd move the focus forward a bit as having the front edge sharp is more important then the back of it (or stop down and get both). Any chance you shot in RAW and would mind If I had a bit of a play with it?

Got my set on the 30th, took me an evening and half to build. Pretty happy overall with the design and build, I'm using a spare Train RC I had for the steering and and forward, reverse. I find the steering pretty good with it, and think using the servo was the right choice by LEGO, however they should have included one of each remote, the Train one for steering and forward/reverse, and the Technic one for the LA's as they don't really need multiple speeds. I haven't tried, but I would have thought an LA for steering would be a pain, not being able to easily/quickly centre the steering. A few questions: Has anyone had a go at improving the look of the front end and/or the liftarms? Does everyone else's model have a lot of slop in the bucket tilting, mine can easily move about 40-50 degrees of rotation without the LA moving (The LA's themselves have quite a bit of slop in them). Is the clicking sound when hitting the LA's bad for the gears, and could clutch gears be added to this somewhere to stop it?

Yes: https://www.google.co.nz/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=42030%20c%20model Looks like an Telehandler (Glorified forklift)

That makes me feel a bit better, still a bit cheaper than what they are selling for down here (~$300NZD instead of $400) If its 180 Euros without electronics, that makes it pretty expensive doesn't it?

Please tell me you are joking, converted to NZ $, that's 1/3 what I paid for mine ($400 NZD ~€244)

Whoop! mine just arrived four weeks early, not sure if Berlioz approves..... I had a spare train RC remote and pretty happy with the steering using that. I'm fairly happy with the looks of it, but might try tidy the front section up, and definitely want to add some lights to this.

I'd hate to image the price of an Rechargable 6xAA battery box from LEGO......

Would be happy to sub if the price was right. Assuming an digital model, I think $3-5USD an issue would be pretty fair. The downside being you would need a pretty decent subscriber base to really pay for anything, but to get an subscriber base you would need to keep the price low. In this day and age, it's all about getting an following through releasing small amounts of free stuff, to get the hook in. Maybe starting a youtube channel and releasing some free videos to get an following, and advertising the magazine there? I'm an photojournalist by trade, but am a terrible writer, would be happy to submit photos from local events etc, and maybe a few words that someone could turn into an article/story.

Have to agree, the pins are no less a piece then any beam etc. You can't make these sets without them. Just purchased the 42030 which should arrive at the end of April, hopefully that will tide me over until this set is released :P

And I thought I was crazy pulling a simple trailer..... :P To be fair it was over some pretty rough terrain: Riley-8013 by Riley Baker, on Flickr Like the MOC, pity there aren't any thinner profile wheels (that I know of)

What batteries are you using that are 1100mAh? I used to use the Energizer rechargeable as I found them good as well, but have found they are selling for about 30-50% more then Eneloops where I life. I just scored 12 AAA Eneloops from Dicksmith's which is closing down for 50% off....might even grab some more. Ans yes, I'm aware fast chargers reduce battery life, I have one fast charger that I only use my older Energizer rechargeables in as I'm not to worried if they eventually die, but have a nice 12 battery microcontroller controlled slow charger for everything else. Thanks for the Greenmtvince, a decent bit of an increase on the LiPo, but still not worth the price IMO.

I personally only use Eneloop (AA's) for my camera flashes, although I've never seen the Eneloop AAA's for sale here. Didn't think to look for them though :P

Hi guys, do the the PF train have any issues with using Rechargeable AAA's in the battery boxes? Is there any performance issues with the lower voltage, and would there be a change in how long they run for compared to non-Rechargeables? The ones I'm looking at are rated for 900mAh, previously I have been using no-brand alkaline (which for some reason manufacturers don't give an rating for non rechargeable.) And lastly, are the 8878 LiPo battery boxes worth their high price> From what I can tell, they are 1150mAh @ 7.4v vs rechargeable AAA's 6x 900mAh @ 1.2v, = roughly 15% longer run time on the Lipo, doesn't seem worth it's very high price, I could buy an extra AAA battery box, and two sets of 6x AAA rechargeable batteries for the same price ( not including the extra charger for the LiPo).

Why can't LEGO design sets like this? Well detailed and functioned, in a set size that would sell at a marketable price. I see a lot of MOC's and think "That's awesome, but would never sell", I honestly think this MOC is both "Awesome" and would sell well as a LEGO set (Probably minus the RC). Please submit this on LEGO ideas :P If I was to be really picky, the trailer could do with a bit of work.

*drops the mic* Very cool, any video of that? Did you do any tests to see what it could lift?

I'd like to see a powerboom built, or any of the dual boom cranes around. I'd like to building something like the Mammoet PTC 200, using lego train tracks/boogies as the base, but I think something that big is beyond my wallet: Update on my build, some 1x16 beam things arrived (still need six more):

Plenty enough to weld metal, I've welded before by connecting a couple car batteries together (to be fair that's a bit more then 60A current) Great to see you've made a solution that works, could you half the amount of caps, and thus the amount of resistors, and create a bit less heat if it only runs for a few seconds at a time?

Interesting design, I assume this is just to power it over the non-powered sections of track, rather than continuous power? Not many downsides other than taking up a fair bit of room, have you tested how long this runs for just on the cap's? Also any failures would be quite spectacular due to the high current these can discharge, although probably wouldn't be any worse then a failure with a LiPo battery.

Very cool. I think the jerkiness of the slewing comes from the boom/hook creating a kind of elestactic effect. You might be able to reduce it by changing how the main boom is connected to the base, but I think it's partly just because of the slight springiness of the plastic.

Yup...constant back and forth slewing.

Would an LA at each end of the arm work? But yes, it might require to much pressure to be able to be done with lego. Possibly using something rubber as the contact surface might require less force to hold it? Either way, it works pretty effectively as it is.

It kind of depends on the mine, if they are doing long straight sections, then yes the tracks would be moving along with the head, but in corners/curves it wouldn't, it would be moving along with slew. There would also be times, that it would be stationary, and using the head while lifting/lowering the the arm. But in pretty much all cases, something would be moving as well as the bucket.

Cool! Would be even cooler if you could get a cab on it. Another thing you could try, is having pressure/friction grabbing system rather then the hooks at each end, so you could have flat sided containers?