GBTechnic

Extremely well done renovation, videos and post. I delayed buying the Porsche while I buy up older sets I still love but your instructions are likely to speed up when I buy this model. Two thumbs up! ????

Thanks for the quick response. I'm intrigued by the minizip for the same reasons. Now the real question is if it is unsafe or crazy for a non electrical engineer/electrician to try and make this themselves or play it safe and buy it from the minizip seller.

Do you like the minizip 9v adapter? Do you use rechargeable 9v batteries as well or is the power consumption reasonable? I'm thinking about making a 9v adapter or buying the minizip so any feedback by a user is appreciated. thanks.

Cravings are unpredictable lol. With family life what it is during the school year I haven't had much time to build all of the sets I own. I'm still waiting to build 42039 (and all it's C models), 42043, 42054 and 42042. When I received 42039 for Father's Day I couldn't be distracted by any other sets... but here we are four months later and 42039 is one of four unbuilt sets but 42042 will be my next build. All the mods, adding a Jib & other improvements I've seen here and on YouTube and it's high playable factor are irresistible. Lastly, when I caught onto the Lego Technic world late last year, all I cared about was RC and power function models. Now a year later I am still a RC/power functions fan but I am more impressed these days by complicated models that are achieved (mostly) without motors like the Porsche and 42009.

I love the non-vehicle creativity. Is the length of the "arm" for looks or mechanical reasons? I also agree that a motorized pump would be a simple addition/extra option given the size of the model. It would also be cool if the arm could bend to give added flexibility for grabbing stuff. Just my thoughts but I still love the model as it is now!

Excellent work and thank you for the extremely well done instructions! Is there a Rebrickable or other parts list that details the extra parts (other than motors) used? I delayed getting this set while I pick up older sets I like but this may put the Porsche higher up my shopping priority list!

I am not sure if this is trial-truck specific engineering as I am still a newbie, but I like how you setup the suspension and gearing for the rear four wheels. It's isn't like any technic models you can buy off the shelf. Very nice!

If you use Rebrickable.com to inventory all the parts you own from your current sets, particularly 42030 and 42042 you'll see that these two alone provide 75-77% of the missing pieces to build 8043. However, buying the missing pieces costs roughly $230 USD which is essentially the same cost as buying the whole 8043 set used. Unless the other sets you own have enough parts to drive down this cost, I would simply buy the 8043 set used for a similar price and have fun playing with the 8043, 42030 and 42042 sets all at the same time. I have the 42042 and 42030 sets and will still be buying the 8043 set when my wife let's me! For some reason she thinks that buying 23 sets in less than a year is excessive.

Absolutely... buy a used one on Bricklink from a seller with a lot of positive reviews. I bought a 41999 used and while the stickers were already added and the pieces were packaged in zip lock bags, the experience was great. 8043 and 41009 (in that order) are the two retired used sets that are on my list to buy next. 42055 will be out for a while and it'll get cheaper over time... so I would follow one of the rules I have seen listed elsewhere on this site... buy the older sets first, especially if they'll be retired soon. You'll save on the older sets, buy a retired one used and then at a later date pick up a current set for a discount (hopefully) once it has been around for a year or so. Following this rule, I got 42030 30% off and 42043 35% off.

That's a good mix but unless you want a ton of parts the 42055 set doesn't appeal to me. For the price I would rather get the 42009 MKII Crane Truck or 8043 (motorized excavator). Both are retired sets and cost more than they should but they are awesome and I wish I had them both... but make no mistake 8043 is the best of the two.

42038 over 42029 is a good and cheaper option which has suspension, tracks, orange color and is very cheap these days ($65 USD on Amazon.com in USA). All you would have to do is get some tires from 42037 or Bricklink to build a 4x4 and there is already a C-Model tank out there. Having said that this assumes you only like Tanks and 4x4s. If you are at all interested in cars I would choose 42039 for roughly $102 (Amazon.com in US). It has a lot of RC potential, has a truck/SUV B-Model and quite a few C-Models that are available on Rebricable and other places.

For what it's worth these are some sets that I have bought since they were relatively cheap which I would NOT buy again if I could make the decisions over again: 42035 - mining truck 42048 - Go Kart For a small set the mining truck is nothing special and is extremely boring as it isn't "cool" to me nor my seven year old son. I don't regret the purchase but I would willingly give it away or take it apart and never build it again. The worst set I own and the only set I regret puchasing was the Go Kart. It's scale is oddly too big and it's functions are too few for its price. Add I the weird color scheme and the A model is terrible. The b model is far more interesting, "cool" and playable to my son and I. Skip both sets and you won't regret it.

Aside from 42039 which you already own, I think that these three will become valuable over time: 42042 - crawler crane 42043 - Arocs 42040 - Fire Plane The Arocs because it's the flagship model and it is a great parts pack for newer AFOL folks who don't want to pay high prices for the Unimog. I have been into Lego Technic for almost a year and I would strongly recommend the fire plane and crawler crane as the two to get aside from the Arocs and 24 hour racer. Cranes are extremely popular and blue parts are rarer but it is also a very excellent build and is a ton of fun to modify/improve. i now own about 23 sets and the fire plane is easily a top 3 model for me. It's an ingenious build, very playable, has a lot of panels to give it a great finished look and it's probably the best bargain of all the 2015 sets aside from the Crawler Crane. I think 42042, 42030 and 42043 are the perfect starter trio of sets that are not yet retired. One is full RC (Volvo), one is an excellent parts pack and has pneumatics (Arocs) & plays well with the Volvo, and the third is the most ingenious and fun to play with. Now you just need to add 42039 (king of C models) and 42040 (fire plane) and the essential 2015 sets will all be yours.

I've been reading the posts here for a couple of months and decided to join a few weeks ago. I did not grow up with Lego... I was an action figure loving kid. My two sons, however, are both Lego lovers and I got exposed to it through them. Fast forward about a decade and I have been trying to convince my youngest to use his Gift cards to buy the more intricate looking Technic sets. He of course only wanted comic or tv branded stuff but he finally got one as a gift a few months ago. Long story short, I fell in love with Technic sets while helping him to build his and started off 2016 the right way by asking for Legos for my 40th birthday! 42029, 42027 and 41999 and I'm already planning to buy more. Anyways, glad to be among this AFOL community!

My son turned 7 this past fall and had a Lego birthday party. One of the sets he got was 42027, the Desert Racer. It's small and was the first Technic set he ever had despite my attempts to get him to built a Technic set the few times he went to TRU looking for other Legos. He needed my help a bit to build it and I loved how durable it was and the more intricate build vs traditional Lego... but heading into the holidays, I felt guilty about wanting to buy a "toy" for myself with holiday spending coming up. Long story short... 42029, 42009 and 42030 continued to catch my eye all thru December. What pushed me over the edge was 41999. It was out of production but when I won my fantasy football league this year, I took the winnings and bought 41999 on bricklink and was truly hooked. For my 40th birthday I got two more sets and I won't be looking back. 41999 is a show stopper and it's the only set I cannot see myself ever taking apart and using for Mocs or general parts. Now for the long wait for the Porsche!