grum64

Laurel & Hardy's The Music Box. It's an oldie but a goody. Watched it with my 3 Grandchildren 11, 7, and 5 & they loved it.

Build Day 9 - Building time 1hrs 50mins - Total build time 27hrs 40mins It’s that time again when I have to say goodbye to another build. It’s been a really enjoyable building experience helped by it being one of my top 5 sets. As BusterHaus pointed out a few posts back, the artwork on the box gives little idea of the finished models size. It’s much bigger than you expect it to be, it has real presence and an air of solidity about it. It looks quite imposing sitting on the table. As for the functions, the blade and ripper work well as does the drive but because the XL motors are connected straight to the drive spocket it has a turn of speed that comes as a surprise. Having built this before you’d have thought I’d have remembered this and to be fair I did, just as it sped towards the edge of the table! I managed to stop & catch it in time but not before all but the ripper was in mid air. I only just caught & held on to it in my less than vice like grip (there's a reason my Daughter in Law calls me noodle arms). The ripper catching on the edge of the table was the only thing that stopped it heading for the floor. I was so relieved, I didn't want a repeat of the BWE digging arm incident. On the subject of functions. I've added a second controller so diffferent functions can be operated together. It makes Bully so much simpler to control. With just one it's drive, stop, switch channel, blade down, stop, switch channel, drive, stop, switch channel, blade up etc etc etc. For the life of me I don't understand why LEGO didn't include an extra controller. It wouldn't have added much to the overall price. Speed aside, the 8275 has got a bit of grunt. On the carpet in my shed it pushed a plastic box across the floor with two 500ml water bottles in it. Pushing the same on the wooden floors in our house it just resulted in the tracks spinning. I have load of 24375 rubber studs that I meant to fit on the tracks before fitting them but I clean forgot. The set's far more playable with them on as they really improve its grip. I'll fit them soon. Not sure what my next build will be yet. We're spending the next week or so rearranging my shed so I'll have plenty of time to decide. As always, a big thank you for you kind comments and support.

As my 'chair's propelled by wheels I don't have much call for the changing of tracks etc. There are a few 'chairs with tracks. (Google Tankchair) Good for the wide open spaces of the US or suchlike but not really suited to the streets of Cambridge. My Dad worked in a lime quarry for several years driving a D8 loading his truck and then taking the load to a cement works a few miles away. He never spoke well of the track changing process. Thanks for the picture.

.

Where as I find building quite easy I find taking models apart extremely difficult. The only models I've taken completely apart were the 8674 Ferrari F1 and the 8110 UniMog. Each took me longer to dismantle than too build.

Disassembly? You realise there are rules about using such language

And more often than not expensive.

Love this. It looks great, especially the cab and has great functions that all work well. I think it's your best yet.

Build Day 7/8 - Building time 3hrs 40mins - Total build time 25hrs 50mins Build time was interrupted yesterday so this post covers two days building with the time for both combined. Most of the building over last few days has been studded which although not being my favourite style has been very enjoyable none the less. With me now building at my table putting these parts together is easier as the solid surface means the Grum Knock has been employed to good effect. Doing so has taken a toll on the side of my hand which is now sporting a multitude of cuts and grazes which is small price to pay for a few afternoons of fun. I bought this set used and the previous owner had very carefully disassembled everything but the tracks so yesterday I spent 25 minutes taking them apart, had a quick coffee and spent another 55 minutes putting them back together. Yes, I could have saved myself a lot of time and would likely have finished the build today had I used them as I found them but everytime I looked at the finished model sitting on the shelf I'd have thought 'I built that... with the exception of the tracks'. I just couldn't do it. If I'm going to build something I'm going to build it all.

Love it! Totally unexpected design with great performance and it wheelies! How cool is that. I wish you the very best of luck.

I like your design very much, who doesn’t love a hot rod. It goes well, but not as fast as I’d have expected in Ludicrous Mode but as you say, you’re working to the constraints of the predetermined chassis spec. I wish you well in the competition.

It’s a fine looking model even at this stage of the build. I think LEGO are overdue bringing out a decent bulldozer. I didn’t like the 42028 very much, to me it looked half finished in places. I’d like to see a bulldozer as a flagship set but I doubt it’ll happen. It’s a shame you weren’t able to get one when it came out but should you see a good used one at a price you’re happy to pay I recommend you buy it. It’s an interesting build, is fun to play with and if you display your builds it does look great on the shelf. If nothing else you can entertain your cats with it

Build Day 6 - Building time 1hrs 20mins - Total build time 25hrs 10mins I had hoped to have much more time to build today but just as I was getting into the swing of things I was interrupted by the ever lovely Mrs Grum offering to sort my table out for me. It took well over an hour but thanks to her efforts I’ve now got a much better background for photos with the plethora of bits & pieces sorted out or moved out of the way. I’m not saying that the quality of my photos will improve, we all know that’s not likely to happen, they'll just be glare and clutter free. More time was lost trying to fit the seat. It’s placement was difficult due to the receivers, cables and rear of the cab all being in the way and once I had gotten it past this mini obsticle course trying to line it up and fit the 6536 Axle & Pin Connectors up with the two pins was a pain & consumed a ludicrous amount of time. I couldn’t get to the seat at the right angle to push it on without it coming off or getting it on one pin but not the other. It took 1hour 40minutes!!! Like I said, ludicrous. I seem to remember it being just as difficult when I first built the 8275 way back in 2011. I’d like to think it took much, much longer, if it didn’t it doesn’t say much about any improvement in my building technique. Sorry there’s not much progress in this post but if I don’t post it when I do it I’ll forget to and post the next days instead. Todays pictures:

There are plenty of videos demonstrating funtions etc but sadly very few showing the design process. Personally I prefer the latter but having said that I like the idea of a video combining both.

Thank you Bart. For the time being I’ve junked the curtain idea in favour of one of Mrs Grums big ‘ol art boards & I’ll see what difference it makes. Fingers crossed it’ll do the job. It can’t make things any worse. You’re very kind. As for wiring looms, I can only imagine the complexities and difficulties of what you’re doing. A clever bloke like yourself should get it sorted but I wish you luck all the same. Thank you Jeroen. I planned on using an Sbrick buried in the body of the build which would have saved me all that grief with the short wires but the more I thought about it the more I thought it best to keep Bully original. Thank you. I’m building the original Technic 8275. The designer drew inspiration from many makes and models of bulldozer, it’s not based on any one in particular. Here's a video of the designer, Markus Kossmann, talking about the design process. If you've not seen it before it's well worth watching.

Build Day 5 - Building time 4hrs 55mins - Total build time 23hrs 50mins Before going any further I feel it only right to warn you that this post contains more ramblings than usual. If you’ve not got the spare hour or so needed to read it and then re-read it to try & fathom what the heck I’m waffling on about I recommend just scrolling down (a long, long way) to the photos which if I’m honest aren't very good at all but more on that later. You have been warned. Any way, for those of you brave or foolhardy enough to ignore the above advice, read on. I'm very happy to say that at long last I'm back building at my table. It's been over two years and what with 3 breaks to my legs and a new, slightly higher 'chair I haven't been able to sit at the table. Instead I've had to sit alongside it building on my laptray. As of today though it's goodbye Mr Laptray, you've served me well. Once I gotten used to building on a solid surface again I quickly realised how much difference sitting at the table makes to the speed I build. This is partly because it's easier to fit parts together (the Grum Knock is back!) and also because previously, to get the parts I needed, I was having to lean over the side of my ‘chair and with a pair of 18cm surgical forceps, pluck them out of the sorting tray on the table beside me and onto my laptray to assemble. Anyway, enough of all that. The build's been going well with each subassembly being easy to build and fit. The only problem has been with the cables. When the two drive motor assemblies were fitted together I was careful to route the cables correctly but unfortunately between then and today they seem to have gone where they liked so when it came to connecting them to the receivers they wouldn't quite reach. Using my forceps to thread them through gaps in the build took the better part of 40 minutes (I can't be alone in thinking LEGO cables have a mind of their own). Once the re-routing was done the plugs (the correct name escapes me) had to be fitted to the receivers. Whether it be onto a battery box, receiver, Sbrick or Buwizz I've always found fitting PF plugs difficult but due to how the receivers are mounted on Bully there's nothing solid when pressing the plugs down so it's a job to get the plug to fit firmly in place. As I found out on numerous occasions, press down just a little too hard and the receiver flies off. After just over an hour all four plugs were firmly in place and I was a happy Grum. As good as it is to be back at the table there is however a big downside. As you know the quality of my photos has never been great but I do think they'd improved a little bit when taken on the laptray partly because of the white background but mainly because I could get away from the glare from the windows. All this is a rather longwinded (oh there's a surprise!) way of apologising for today's pictures. I'm not at all happy with them but I can't go back and take better ones because the build has progressed. I'm looking into getting a white curtain or something similar that can easily be pulled over the window when I'm building. I'm sorry to say that until then the pictures might continue to be rather ropey. Again, my apologies. Todays pictures:

Very nice. Looks great and has good funtionality. Were it in the shops I'd buy it.

Completely unexpected and completely brilliant. Great work.

It boggles the mind how you manage to build what you do without first constructing and refining it in CAD. Your projects have always been both awe inspiring and inspirational but with Game Changer you surpassed anything you’ve built previously.

Thank you for your very kind comments Edwin. As for build progress. I’ll keep posting mine if you keep posting yours

Build Day 4 - Building time 3hrs 15mins - Total build time 19hrs 5mins With the second subassembly of the day built it was time to fit it. The first (pic 1) had gone on with no trouble but this one, its opposite number, turned out to be far harder, very frustrating and consumed a great deal of time. It appears that when building this subassembly and holding the 2905 Liftarm Triangle Thin in my teeth to fit it I'd bitten down a little harder than usual causing a burr that unbeknown to me covered a tiny part of an axle hole. When it came to fitting the assembly to the main build the top axle it was to be pushed onto wouldn't go right through. I thought that as it had to go through the 6632 1x3 Thin and then the 2905 that the end of the axle was catching on the latter as has happened when pushing axles through multiple thin parts on other builds. Try as I might it wouldn't go through. I must have taken it off and tried it again over 50 times when, in my frustration and being far too heavy handed, the top of the assembly came apart. Bugger said I and proceeded to put it back together. It was then I noticed the burr, obscurred as it had been by the 6632. It wasn't much but was just enough to stop the axle going through. I don't recall this ever happening before. It's so frustrating as I lost most of the afternoon's building time so not very much progress was made, not as much as I'd have liked anyways but any progress is a step in the right direction so I guess I shouldn't be too disappointed. I'll need to be more careful in future. Todays pictures: Yellow frames are for support only.

Back to back they faced eachother, drew their swords and shot eachother

opps

I’ve built the 8043, 8053, 42009 (in both original and Jurgens Ultimate version) and have the 42030 sitting on a shelf awaiting my attention. Until I saw the picture I didn’t realise quite how big the 42030 is in comparison to other sets. I must get around to building it soon.

Thank you Bart. I agree that the official box pictures don’t give much of an idea of the models true size. At 18" (46 cm) long and 7" (18 cm) high the 8275 is a good size and makes for an impressive display piece. In it’s release year (2007) it was the flagship set but with today’s ever increasing part counts and models getting bigger and bigger I don’t think one 18” long with 1300+ parts would ever again be considered, or for that matter be accepted as such. I had a quick furkle around the ‘net and found this pic which (if you can see through the sea of yellow) gives an idea of the 8275’s size.