grum64

Build Days 28, 29 & 30 / Building Time - 12hrs / Total Building Time - 94.5hr Hello again Cooler weather and scribble free days on the calendar mean I've been able to have a few more afternoons in the shed this week so the Merc's coming along quite nicely, better than I expected. With the reddish orange body slowly enveloping the largely black & grey chassis it has more of a presence on the table. It's certainly taking up a fair amount of real estate. It's got some heft to it. It's not an easy thing to drag about and to handle. Today I had to fit the front wheelarches and the only way I could do them was to tip the model on each side which is easier said than done. Fitted the rears and running boards at the same time. During this exercise I lost, yes lost, a 6536 Axle & Pin Connector with attached blue 2L Pin with Axle which fell into the chassis. Despite my vigorously shaking it, as vigorous as I'm ever likely to get anyways, and whilst there was rattling nothing was ejected however a wing mirror did liberate itself. This isn't the first time a model has consumed parts intended for its being. I lost a 2x4 L Shaped Liftarm somewhere in the Chiron and in the Extreme Adventure a 12 Tooth Bevel Gear 2L Axle Connector were ingested and never seen again. Who knew Lego models had cannibalistic tendencies.

Thank you. It's getting there helped I'm sure by leaving the doors & dashboard attached for more than 5 minutes 🙄

Build Days 25, 26 & 27 / Building Time - 13hrs / Total Building Time - 82.5hrs Hello Again This is now two updates in a week which is almost unheard of. Mind you because all went as it should there's not too much rambling to wade through (I can hear the applause 🫤). In previous posts I've touched on how different the colours of parts appear in my photos. It seems to be more noticeable with this set, there's hardly been one photo where the parts look anything like the Reddish Orange they are in the brick. I thought it might have been something to do with the changing light levels outside so I had the windows covered today but it made no difference which is really annoying. I now think it might be the fluorescent tube lights so I'm looking into getting them replaced with daylight tubes. Fingers crossed will make the difference. I hope so because there doesn't seem much else I can do about it. Any help or advice regarding daylight tubes, specs etc would be very much appreciated because I know nothing. Surprising? I think not 🤡

I’m highly unlikely to win awards for build speed but I have been told I’d do so for stubbornness. Although I like to call it determination 😬 Thank you for your kind words.

I’m amazed you managed to cram so much into something of this size. Very impressive.

As you well know, I do have an unbridled enthusiasm and an eagerness to build but there’s no getting away from the fact that the whole doors & dashboard saga was anything other than farcical. As always, I appreciate what you say about perspective and of course you’re right but I’m jnot expecting a call from MENSA anytime soon 🤡

Opps...

Build Days 20 - 24 / Building Time - 17hrs / Total Building Time - 70.5hrs Hello my Friends I usually go out to my shed with a rough idea of what I want to get done in the time I have and more importantly, an idea of how I'm going to go about it. As I’m sure you already know, I go through the (digital) instructions to work out how I’m going to build a model, switching the build order to suit the way I need to build. Almost every page will have pretty detailed notes typed on them. Imagine then if you will what went through my mind upon I realising I’d accidentally deleted said instructions and then in an act of stupidity matched only by VW's decision to take the ‘what bad emissions’? approach to business, I then emptied my Goodreader Trash Bin. The stupidity doesn’t end there though, oh no, because after downloading the instruction book again I decided that re-annotating would take up valuable building time. Surely I'd remember what I'd written . All too predictably I was wrong in this assumption. A prime example of why I don’t rely on my sieve like memory soon presented itself. The dashboard. It was a right royal pain to fit as I couldn't get around it very easily to fit it. After much phaffing about I found the best way to do it was by removing the front doors. Once in place it was on with the doors and on to the next step. At this point I found that the A Pillars were also an absolute pain but no worries, I had a solution. Remove the front doors & dashboard. Once this was done in went the dashboard complete with newly attached A Pillars and on went the doors. I've just spent the last week annotating the newly downloaded set of instructions hopefully lessoning the likelihood of something similar happening again but... there's no preventing stupid. Apologies for the colours etc. They appear different depending on sunshine/brightness levels through the windows. The cake testers have again been put to very good use. You can see from the screenshot below that there are 2 x 3L Pins to fit in the top of the two liftarms peering cheekily from behind the engine. I thought I’d annotated to fit them much earlier in the build and after looking back through the first instruction book I had. At step 51. This would have been easy but for some reason I didn’t do it. Remember what I said about being unable to prevent stupid? Speaking of stupid. Before any of this could be done the doors and dashboard had to come off. Again. Threading the tester through the Pin & the Liftarm enabled them to be held in place and with a little jiggling about and using my clamps the Pin was in place. I used the same ‘procedure’ to help the Pin complete its journey through the 1L Spacer and 13L Liftarm and refitted the doors & dash. Done. Oh, and then there were the windscreen wipers and guess what? Yep, doors off, dashboard out etc, etc,... The humble cake tester.

Thank you for your comments. You're always very kind. As for my posts. I'm not sure about them being a journey and if they are I'm not sure to where. Madness probably 😵‍💫

To be honest I wasn't aware there was a problem with the steering 🤔. Whatever it is it's too late for me to do anything about it now but thank you for taking the time to let me know 👍

Build Days 17, 18 & 19 / Building Time - 13hrs / Total Building Time - 57.5hrs Hello my Friends The unholy heat of recent weeks has now gone and been replaced by cool, overcast & wet weather aka perfect building conditions. With the doors & rear seats assembled and ready to fit it was on to the front seats. All was fine until I had to fit the ‘side bolster’ assemblies to the seats. This didn’t go well, didn’t go well at all. In fact fitting just these four little assemblies took almost 8 hours over two days. Embarrassing or what! As has been so many times, the problem was the 15100 Pin with Pin Hole. When trying to fit the assembly to the seat they just kept swivelling around the mounting pins. After an age trying to fit the assembly as per the instructions I tried fitting a 15100 to the seat and building the rest of the assembly to it but no joy, just like everything I tried. I had a go at fitting it without the wings attached but all this did was present me with the exact same problem just somewhere else. After trying every which way eventually and with way more luck than any amount of intention or judgement, they were all fitted but not without casualties. At least 9 15100’s ended up with either the pin split or pin hole reduced to a less than perfect circle so they’ve all been replaced. They’re an oft damaged part so I keep a good stock of spares. Unfortunately all 4 of the Panel Fairings, or wings as I prefer to call them, were scratched/had teeth marks so need replacing but I’m going to leave them in place for now as I’ll likely damage the new ones trying to fit them. I spare one’s that I’ll get bagged up and put in the box for when (read if) the set’s dismantled. Oh, and I also broke a light sabre. Obviously the Force wasn’t with me. In anticipation of what some might be thinking. I know I could have asked Mrs Grum to help and she, bless her heart, would have been more than happy to do so but that would mean it had beaten me and that just wasn’t going to happen. PS My shed has a couple of new residents built during the hot weather. Terrific little sets, just the right size to build on my laptray. I’ve got the Racing Driver also but he’ll have to wait until the Merc’s finished.

Build Days 14, 15 & 16 // Building Time - 7hrs // Total Building Time - 45.5hrs Hello Friends With with there having been no real let up in the hot weather and my shed still too hot to be in I've been in the house building what assemblies I can on my laptray. I can then fit them to the the model when the cooler weather comes. Before you say it, yes I have been building stuff on my laptray for some time now to help my coordination etc and yes I could have done the same with the Merc but that would be to credit me with a level of sensible thinking that clearly I don't appear to possess. A revelation? I think not. Anyway, a few pictures for your perusal.

Thank you so much for this. I've wanted to build this since I saw the first pictures but with Lego caving in to a few twits throwing hissy fits it wasnt to be. I've been tempted to buy one several times but just couldn’t justify paying what was being asked. Trouble is had I have done I'm not entirely I'd have been able to open it. Thanks to you it's no longer a dilemma I have to face.

Thank you Jerry. I agree that the boxy, slab sided design makes the G Wagon the ideal vehicle to build in Technic. It’s a joy to build or at least it is when I can get in my shed to do any building… This is with an outside temperature of 30°C but it’s been 29°C+ since 12:30. The forecast says it’s going to be 33°C tomorrow 🥵and no cooler than 27°C for the next 4 or 5 days 😵‍💫

Build Days 12 & 13 // Building Time - 4.5hrs // Total Building Time - 38.5hrs Hello my Friends Just a very short update today as the weather here in the UK has been ridiculously hot 🌋 for a few weeks now making my shed far too hot to be in. Thankfully last the last couple of days have been cooler so at least I've been able to get some building done albeit not as much as I'd like but it’s progress nonetheless. I've not been idle when the shed's been too hot though. Just right for building on my laptray 🙂 (apologies for the rubbish pic). It might be a while before my next post as the forecast is for more very hot weather for at least the next week or so 🙄.

Thank you very much for the advice. I'll remember to use it next time I come across the new diff 👍 Not entirely sure I'm due any credit for resolving the issue but if you insist I'll take it. Reluctantly of course 😉 You're welcome. 41yrs and we're still together. More surprisingly Mrs Grum still has her sanity. Me, doubtful I ever had any 🤪

I bought the Icons Defender a couple of weeks ago but had I seen this beforehand I might have saved myself a few quid and made it. It's a brilliant rendition of a brilliant vehicle. Great work.

Build Days 9, 10 & 11 // Building Time - 8hrs // Total Building Time - 29hrs The last few of days I've been building the Mercs’ rear axle & suspension. I had a couple of frustrations I could have done without especially as they were of my own making the first of which was with the new style diff. I'm pretty sure most of you are familiar with it but in case you're not here's a screenshot from the instructions. Either way you’ll likely need it to help decode the explanation that follows. The first time I first saw the new style diff was a ‘hallelujah’ moment and this was to be my first encounter with it ‘in the brick.’ It looked much easier to assemble than the now ‘old style’ one(s) with which I’ve had problems of varying degrees since I encountered them on my very first Technic build, the 8258 Crane Truck (which sits on a shelf with peeling stickers faded beyond easy recognition. I have a couple of genuine new sets so I could get them removed & replaced but they're the originals and despite their unfortunate condition are part of my Lego journey so can’t do it). Anyways, I digress. Back to the diff. The new design has a slot at the bottom to slide a 12 Tooth Bevel gear into and 3 individual sections for 3 more of the same. This way they’re held nicely in place meaning no more chasing the little buggers around the shed for time beyond reason. Once in place they’re joined by another sat, face down, on top and they’re all held in place by a 28 Tooth Double Bevel Gear capping off the assembly. An axle is then shoved into each end and hey presto, you’ve got an easily assembled & fully working diff. So far so good. Or so I thought. While I was sat marvelling at it (and wondering why on earth it took Lego so long to come up with it ) the bovine of doom flew over and deposited a large steaming pat of reality upon my head. The axle wouldn’t rotate, at least not easily. It was really stiff. Thinking I'd done something like put one of the 12 Tooth’s in the wrong way round/up I took it apart and all was as it should be. I reassembled it and there was no change, it still felt really tight so I repeated the process once again and this time it was absolutely fine. Don’t figure. The only thing I can think of was the 12 Tooth Bevel gear that sat on top of the others wasn't quite centred or level, I can’t think of anything else. It’s been bugging me so I’d be really grateful if someone can shed some light on what might be going on. The other ‘problem’ was caused by my own stupidly and consumed an embarrassing amount of time. Stupidity might be a tad harsh but how else would you describe trying to fit the hub assemblies when they're the wrong way up (shown in pic 6) and spending almost 30 minutes trying to push axles through holes that weren't there! The only problem not caused by myself was here: Keeping the assembled part in place while trying to push the axles through to connect to it was maddening. Supporting it was difficult because the relatively confined area made it hard to get to and as it was axle hole/pin hole/axle hole/connection I couldn’t push my usual kebab stick through to help. I'd been trying for well over 40 minutes when Mrs Grum arrived with a cupcake straight out of the oven. Whist munching through said cupcake I told her about the problem. Hang on says she & dissappeared out the door returning a few seconds later with a smile and a cake tester, the thin stainless steel needle type. Being very thin & super rigid it passes through the axle holes nicely & proved to be the ideal solution to the problem. Thank you Mrs Grum.

Thank you. As for what it'll be. My apologies for not replying sooner but it seems my good friend Igor has beaten me to answering your question. Thank you Igor 👍

Build Days 7 & 8/ Building Time - 5hrs / Total Building Days 8 / Total Building Time - 21hrs With a few days respite from the overly warm spell it’s back out to the shed to make the most of the cooler conditions. The build’s still going well with just a couple of minor difficulties one of which became a very time consuming frustration. This was Step 219, fitting the Light Grey 3L Axle Connector which I just couldn’t keep steadily in place while trying to push the axle into it. The solution, so simple when I think about it now, was to just build a few bricks up to the required height and rest the Connector on it. Done. As I said, so simple. I used the same solution for the same reason (after almost 20 minutes of trying everything else ) at Step 223, getting the axle to pass through the white 1L ‘Spacer’. I enjoyed building the gearbox, a rather colourful assembly that, had it been around at the time, would’ve been worthy inspiration for a certain biblical garment. The good thing to me, and bear in mind I’m the furthest person imaginable from being an expert on anything let alone gearboxes, is the colours make it easier to follow what each gear does. There’s probably a big announcement or very authoritative article from Lego Group somewhere explaining this as the reason for the multitude of different coloured gears that I’ve missed Oh and one last thing. I went to a lot of trouble building the engine. Imagine then the look on my face when, a few pages later, after putting together another pile of parts & found that the resulting assembly was to cover the engine up

Build Days 4 - 6 / Building Time - 5hrs / Total Building Days 6 / Total Building Time - 16hrs With the unseasonably warm weather heating my shed beyond what’s comfortable to work in building time has been somewhat limited so this is just a quick update. Progress, I think anyways, has been pretty good with no difficulties to speak of. Even assembling the diff was straightforward. Parts being dispensed where intended helped thanks to my agreeing with Mrs Grum that she open the part bags in future. See, sometimes, just sometimes, I can be sensible. Who’d have thought it!

Build Days 1 - 3 / Building Time - 11hrs / Total Building Days 3 / Total Building Time - 11hrs Hello again my Friends It’s been a few weeks since my final CAT post but the weeks, like many before them, have been put to good use. As you know the rate at which I build has never been what you’d call speedy but after the 'problems' I had last year what speed I did have was greatly reduced mainly due to associated memory problems. Amongst other things I just couldn’t fathom how to do something the way I’d spent years devising a how to do it (if that makes sense). I was told it wouldn’t be permanent and thankfully time has helped. What has also helped is sitting in the evenings with a large tub of assorted parts and putting stuff together. Nothing in particular, just little assemblies that then get put out of sight and the next evening I either try to rebuild the same assembly again from memory or I try to put something together that I can attach to it. Sometimes I got things right, more often I didn’t but practice, far from making perfect, has helped and my success rate has improved greatly. As a result I’ve noticed my build speed has definitely gotten better so I’m happy about that. Also the removal of a few models (8461 Williams F1, 8674 Ferrari F1 & 8458 Silver Champion - B Model) and the rearranging of several others means the CAT now has a place on the shelf, albeit a temporary one as there's more sorting out to do. While we were at it, my table’s now been decluttered so the 42110 Defender, 42069 Extreme Thingy & 42064 Tracked Racer amongst other things are now on the newly rearranged shelves so for the first time in a very long while, I have a table with ample space to build on. As the shelves are again pretty much full it's unlikely to stay that way. I’m building the 42177 Mercedes Benz G-500 4x4 this time, a set I was given for Christmas and have been eager to get stuck into it ever since which is strange considering I’ve never been much of a fan of the G Wagen but having said that (and I’ve only seen of it on the box, online etc) I really do like how the model looks. It was the same with the 42056 GT3. Loved the model, dislike the 911 (oh, the howls of disapproval…). Anyway, things started well and then I got to bag two. Opening bag two. Mrs Grum opened the first and was on hand to open the second but no thinks I, Lego uses paper bags now so surely it’s something I can do. You're probably familiar with the saying about not being able to fight your way out of a paper bag. Well, I couldn't fight my way into one! Honestly, I tried for 15, maybe 20 minutes but try as I might I couldn’t open it and I’m sorry to say frustration got the better of me. With one corner of the bag held in my teeth and my hands pressed hard against eachother to grip the opposite corner I pulled hard as I could & yanked my head round at the same time. Upon reflection the head flailing might have been a tad too much because as the bag was torn open the contents were ejected the length and breadth of my shed. Think farmer spreading seeds and you have the idea. It would appear parts had also made their way out of the open door and into the carport because the next day when Mrs Grum was washing the car she found a Blue Thin Liftarm 1x2 in the tread of one of the tyres. A Black 2x1x2/3 Slope with Grille has gone AWOL, its whereabouts are still unknown. A furkle through the spares tubs produced a replacement.

And there was me about to reluctanntly get my Pimped Chiron dismantled and packed away. Now I'm happy to get it taken apart so I can upgrade it to this new version 😃. Thank you jb70 👍

Oh my. A simply stunning recreation of a true American icon of the highways 🙂

I really like this, it shows great creativity. I wish I had the ability to look at a set and see something other than what the designer intended.