Ivan_M

Regarding the point 7) about the gearbox - This kind of gearbox with electric switch to select rotation direction is in my opinion better for such model, because the main play feature of it is to push it around on carpet, occasionally stopping to play with crane. Because the motor runs only when actually engaged, you save batteries. On the other hand, play value of BWE without motor switched on is very limited. Otherwise very nice writeup, I'm periodically checking rebrickable if I already have all the parts for this truck and I'm getting close, I miss no more than 10 parts, some of them crucial tho.

The complete range of 7-11-12-14-16 and 19 is available in red and black only, that is why I avaoid them. They are scarce and expensive. Luckily they are only cosmetic and easily replacable with custom pneumatic hose. I think panels are the biggest issue, new cool panels are released in weird colors and some basic colors appeared once or twice in past ~7 years (like yellow #5 in 3 sets in 2010 and 2011). Lego used to release suplemenary packs of usefull parts (like styling pack 5220), it would be cool to see them again.

I disagree, because for serious MOCing you need much wider parts pallet. Take a look at medium blue - it is missing some crucial liftarms like 4x2 and 9L. It would be cool to see some suplementary sets released with new colors - a pack of complete range of liftams in large quantity, the same with panels. Otherwise the mocing potential is very limited. I think the 42070 would look good in regular blue as well and it would nicely expand blue panel range as it is very limited.

No 42050 and 42059 are medium azure, i believe dark azure on 42070 is first appearance in technic VTOL jet 42066 is medium blue, just like 42022 or 42036

I don't think we will see smaller diffs ever. It would mean either making smaller gears that would fit inside (not imo possible as 12t half bewels are already very small and fragile) or making it as closed system without possibility to dismantle (not likely as it would be expensive). With or without diff, I will probably buy the fire truck anyway - it is in basic colors and I don't have these baloon tires yet.

The engine is at the back of the truck so the position of the bewel gear makes sense. I really hope the diff is there...

There is tan 20t bewel gear visible in this picture: it is placed exactly where differential would be so I guess there is one. I don't see why the ground clearance would be an issue, diff is OK even with 49,5 tires

Cool, it is very exciting to see people inspired by it, good work!

and red dog bone after all.. maybe we will see 5x7 and 5x11 frames in other colors too

Sorry for bringing this topic up but I have just finished this crane and I have to say WOW! The steering is so awesome that I had to play with it for an hour. I have build it in blue/black/white colors because I don't have other colors available, making color compromises here and there. The finished model is very nice. I have also added some details like steering wheel and mirrors and I had to make some tweeking because of lack of some parts, but that is half the fun. I have question about the counterweight - I don't have any boat weights and the boom is very heavy, almost tipping the undercarrige. Is the weight of 4 boat weights enough to significantly improve the stability? And just curious - why don't you put it on rebrickable? I would miss this wonderfull creation but @Thirdwigg mentioned it as his favourite. Checking the inventory was quite a challange because some black parts are not clearly visible in your parts list. I think it is shame not to share it more widely, especially with such perfect instructions. The same is with your other truck with crane, I liked it too. Anyway, thanks again, I like your building style! 20170528_095030

Thank you everyone for your input, I have found very good deal for new sbrick for 48€, that is almost the same price as IR (2 receivers+2 controls) so I will go for it!

Well that is the question mark in topic title. I have thought about it many times but I have decided to avoid it: - It is awfully expensive when you want to control more than 4 motors = I would need at leas two units (220$) - the app is more like beta atm and so far I'm not convinced it will move forward much, it seems to me the time between updates from buwizz team is getting longer and longer - space demanding when more than one used in model Maybe I'm wrong in 2nd statement, I don't have it obviously, maybe the app is much better now?

I have only recently came from my dark age and I don't have many PF components so far, but I would like to make full RC models. So far I have 4L motors, 2M motors, switch, extension cable and both sizes of BB. I also have micro motor, old 9V motor and some old parts from my yought. I prefer to build complex models with many motors (cranes, excavators etc., 5-8 motors) IR: +Cheaper (V1), physical control, no setup time, more versatile*, purist solution - Limited to 8 channels, control range/visibility, overcurrent protection too low, another batteries for remote controllers SBrick: + Smaller, large range, many channels, can supply more demanding motors - Much more expensive, touch screen control**, long setup time, less versatile*, not purist * I have figured that I might need up to 3 Sbricks where 4 IR conrollers would be fine - for example tracked crane - one IR in base and 3 on roataing superstructure. I know this can be avoided etc., it just bugs me. ** Or gamepad, I know, but its another device to setup, another app, more problems? The question is simple, where would you spend money if you didn't have any means for PF RC yet? Thanks

I have finished .io file and put it on Rebrickable, you can check it here: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-8225/Ivan_M/rope-shovel-excavator/ rope excavator by Ivan Moc, on Flickr

Thank you everyone for kind words. I have taken pictures to show you internal gearing 20170515_181940 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr This is the most simple reversal distribution gears, the motor is mounted in front of the gearbox traversally with 12t and 20t bewel gears reduction. Since almost all functions of the excavator requires worm gear I wanted to keep gearbox spinning at higher rpm. It has only one flaw, there is no clutch gear to protect the motor. 20170515_182010 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr In picture above you can see 1st shaft from gearbox running worm gear with matching 24t gear, 16t with 20t gear and 20t bewel gear mated with turntable. The second gearbox output is also visible there, it is also spinning worm gear and 24t connected to winch that elevates boon. 20170515_182029 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr Looking at the other side you can see pair of 16t gears followed with worm gear and 24t gear. There is another 24t gear on same shaft that mates with 20t bewel gear on pivot point of the boon. 20t bewel gear mates with 12t bewel and the shaft runs to the middle of the boon where pair of 20t bewel gears are. This drives the arm extension. Only this function is problematic due to three reasons - gearing up, high load on pivot axle and slight bend of the boon. It creates quite a lot of friction. The second output from gearbox is going to worm gear and 8t gear for arm elevation, I have choosen 8t as I wanted some speed and it is powerfull enough. 20170515_182436 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr Two middle outputs from the gearbox are for drive. There is an old differential for turntable passthrough, so the setup from gearbox is: pair of bewel gears for 90° turn and then 12t bewel mating with 24t gear or 24t side of differential. 20170515_182156 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr Undercarrige is self explanatiory, there are three pair of 12/20t gears. It is quite tight fit everywhere. I hope you like it!

Hi everyone, I would like to present my latest excavator (I guess I'm obssed with them). This time it is rope shovel excavator loosely based on Menck type Mc (1,6m3 volume of bucket). Such excavators were common till the hydraulic excavators started to rule in 60-70'. The larger types were mostly used in mines (and they are today used as well), but smaller types were used in all sort of works in constructions. My model is equipped with one L motor and gearbox with 6 motorized functions: 1 - boon elevation with rope 2 - arm elevation with rope 3 - arm extension with shaft drive 4 - rotation 5 - left tracks 6 - right tracks Emptying the shovel is done manually. I wanted to build the machanical aspect of the machine as closely to real machine as possible, however the arm extension was not possible to recreate. On most excavators the extension worked with third rope drum and the rope for extension and elevation was shared. This system worked in lego only for substraction and not extension as this was usually done by the weight of the shovel. Some excavators (mainly steam and electric) used another motor directly on arm for forced extension/substraction. However I wanted to stick with one motor only as it was my intention to see how complex gearbox is possible to make. As you can see from the video the L motor has no problem to drive 2-3 functions at once. The movement of tracks is very poor, but that is given by usage of small wheels that are not really suitable to serve as the only wheels driving the tracks. The smaller tracks would be better, but I don't have them. This time I really didn't bother much with aestethics so it is just bunch of panells, my main focus was on function. IMGP4995 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr IMGP4993 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr IMGP4992 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr IMGP4991 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr

I believe this was mentioned by TLG staff in some kind of interwiev and you can also see reply on this matter above in similar manner - yes they follow up MOC community and take inspiration from it. To what extend, I don't know.

So basicly the color vomit is because kids are not patient enough to follow instructions properlly and parents are even more dumb because they rather spent time complaining on support than helping kids. I think the main problem here is that people in general want results fast, without much effort. If they hit some obstacle they rather leave it and go somewhere else. Sophisticated toys and games are not for mainstream anymore. Not to be totally off topic, I have a question too about play testing by kids - do they evaluate only build/functions or aesthetics as well? I aim particularly at 42069 with purple parts. I mean is it more appealing than some more traditional color? Look at 8297 - if I put it on table with 42069 I'm sure most boys at target age would grab all black car because "purple is for girls".

Not likely at all, I wouldn't expect it next year either. First of all, it would mean reduced sales of Porsche, second, the development time of Porsche was ~4 years and TLG needs to be sure that such project is vital before another developement is started.

Funny, I have recently build an UDS, you can check how I implemented rotating bucket here:

I have made a .io file for stud.io so everyone can build it. You can download it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_52o8Yjx1kuZTU3QS0zQjdJaVU/view?usp=sharing I have discoveder during dissassembly that whole build would benefit from many optimalizations - the excavator base is just bunch of liftarms, the backbone of the truck is quite complicated too without reason (and better bracing as well). But I want to move on to another project, once I consider build "finished" I cannot work on it anymore as I have already full mind of upcoming project. i will also put it on rebrickable so you can check inventory (approx. 1850 parts). Tatra 815 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr

I would suspect piston rods to be mounted wrong - this part:

I have made video: It is such a pain to make video of manual model, but I think you can get hold of all major features from it.

Hello everyone. I would like to introduce my truck with excavator. It is loosely based on Tatra 815 with UDS 114 (universal finishing machine). The real thing looks like this: I really like this type of excavator, its main advantage is high mobility because it can even go on highway. It is mainly used on road building and terrain shaping. My goal was to make pneumaticly operated truck, preferably playable by kids. I started with some blueprints and decided to use 49,5mm wheels that set my scale to roughly 21,5:1. I wanted it to look like an older truck, with low cabin and boxy design. The model features: - HOG steering by spare wheel at the back of cabin - Openable doors with decent details in interier - Fake V4 engine that is connected to rear axles, each with differential and with shock absorbers (~1 stud travel distance) - Pendular unsprung front axle with ackerman steering (~3 studs travel distance) - Pneumatic stabilizers that are able to lift the whole truck - Pneumatic jib with manual extension from ~40 to 68 studs - Manually operated bucket with 360° rotation The above is a result of many compromises - like V4 engine instead of inline 6 etc. It is not possible to fit larger engine into this scale, I tried mini fake engine but I didn't liked how it looks. What is most satisfying for me is the front axle with ackerman steering and pivot point nearly in center of the wheel. That allowed me to build very nice fenders close to wheel. The wheel doesn't touch it even in full turn radius and fully compressed. The rear axles are by Efferman, he used this design in his Kenworth crane. I really like it. Enough talk, some pictures: IMGP4963 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr IMGP4964 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr IMGP4965 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr IMGP4966 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr IMGP4968 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr IMGP4969 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr IMGP4970 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr IMGP4971 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr IMGP4973 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr IMGP4974 by Ivan Moc, on Flickr The weight of the fully extended jib is pushing the thin pneumatic cylinders to their limit. I wanted to keep thin ones at all cost because they look much better. I have redid the jib like 15 times, ending with studded one that prooved the best abilities in terms of rigidity, weight and looks. The battery box is there as counterweigh only. I had several versions with PF - to run compressor (not enough pressure to lift fully extended jib), motorized jib extension (took too much space from the extension),.. so in the end I threw PF out, leaving all functions as manual. The stabilizers were also quite challanging due to the angle and size, at least they have no problem lifting whole truck. I hope you like it.

Thank you!