howitzer

Thanks! The panels can be moved only 1 stud backwards at most, or the propeller will strike at them, unless I limit the steering angle more. I would also have to move the engine blocks higher up or they won't really be visible. It's a good suggestion though, I will have to think about this. Unfortunately I don't have the fin part, and I don't think I'm prepared to buy those just for this model... also I think the tail fins should be connected at the tips so I'm still thinking about other solutions.

That's my guess too, and making a lifting axle that's connected to drivetrain while on the ground and not connected when not would be pretty challenging too. Also, I don't think lifting axles on real trucks are driven either so my guess is that here we have similar build, two driven axles and a third lifting one. I can't think of a Technic truck in this scale which didn't have a drivetrain and fake engine, so that's what I'm expecting here too.

I rebuilt the mechanism to fit in the fake engine and it was surprisingly easy. Then I had to redo most of the structural work around it and I added some paneling, and now I'm not sure if it's better than earlier or not. Some photos: The rear wheel choice may seem odd, but I needed a wheel that is smaller but only slightly smaller than the front wheels, and those very old solid rubber balloon tyres are the only thing I have that fits the size criteria. The original 8824 included one of these as a steering knob. As you can see, the fake engine isn't really visible so I'm not sure if there's much point in it, unless I open the paneling so that it could be seen while playing with it. On the other hand, many official models include fake engines which are not at all visible either, so maybe it's not a problem that it's hidden.

Copy the direct link to image file from Imgur (the one that probably ends with .jpg), then you will have the images in the post and not behind a link.

The more I think about this, the more excited I get. So many functions! One small oddity I noticed, there appears to be the very first of all liftarm parts, 2825 used to hold the mirrors. You don't see those parts used too commonly in Technic sets nowdays. I also counted panels, and I found at least the following: - 2 pairs of 21/22 wedge panels in LBG and one pair in orange, - 2 of the small wheel arches in orange - 6 of the 3x11 panel plates in orange and 4 in blue, maybe also in white behind the cabin but that's just a guess - 2 of the 5x11 panel plates in white - one pair of the 5/6 wedge panels in white - one 11x3 curved panel in white And then there's of course the mystery part below the cabin door and the numerous pneumatic parts we're getting. All in all, this set seems to be also a great parts pack, in addition to the build and play value.

There appears to be windshield wipers. Maybe they are motorized?

It's definitely the frontmost of the three rear axles that can be lifted. The sticker is clearly visible in the photo, and also there's two knobs there, one of which controls the axle lifter.

My Imgur-links are converted to pictures automatically, as long as I link directly to the image file.

That would be so cool! And yeah, I have no idea what that part might be either.

Looks great. Even if TLG is discontinuing B-models, I'm happy to see them being made by AFOLs!

I also first thought about doing an Octan truck, but didn't have the green parts and I couldn't decide the scale so I went for something else. Yours are looking really great so far, I'm excited to see more!

Does the crane sits strangely high up? Anyway, looking good, it appears we have a winner for this year. I just bought the hovercraft, so getting this will add a lot of orange paneling and other parts to my collection too.

Doesn't look too bad, but I hate the stickers, they add a lot of business to already quite a busy bodywork. Luckily, stickers don't need to be applied though. Anyway, I'm going to leave it to shelf because the price is much too high for this level of functionality. Edit: unless something truly stellar shows up in the reviews (not holding my breath).

They say that you should never make your hobby into a career, if you want to continue enjoying the hobby. I wouldn't apply myself, even if I had the skills necessary and I could move to another country easily. The salary of 5000€/month seems pretty acceptable though, from where I'm looking from. Denmark has probably about equal public services as Finland does, and I like that I don't have to pay much (if anything) for things like healthcare, education, children's daycare, or countless of other things that are provided for me or anyone with minimal or low cost. I know I'm paying for them in taxes (no free lunches after all), and I believe that's the way it should be too.

Yep, I'm having the most fun for a long time. It's nice to design something relatively small and simple for a change, as I generally have the tendency to try building large and complex things, which then end up unfinished because it's hard to apply fixes or change plans with them. Anyway, I'll try to find a way to make the fake engine work without compromising the exterior and then concentrate on finishing touches. Your suggestion with the panels for the rear wings definitely deserves a try and I'll have to see also about the paneling behind the seat if there's some improvements I can make. Hopefully the B&P order will come in time so I can try the new panels out also.

I like the solution, triangles are naturally the best way to make a rigid structure. Depending on the stress applied, there might be a problem with the banana gears which are attached to anything only from the thin axleholes at the ends, which is notoriously weak and might break under stress. But I believe this could be solved by using the axleholes at the middle of the gear racks for bracing, and joining the ends with just 2L axles, not attached to anything else.

Yep, I like how they repeat the colours of the accents and the seat, giving the set just enough additional colourfulness. --- As there is considerable amount of empty space between the seat and the steering/propeller mechanism, I thought I'd try to cram in a two-cylinder fake engine. Not sure if I'm able to do it (I decided that it must not affect the location of the propeller or the seat and still allow the steering to work with maximal steering angle) and also I'm not sure if it's within the spirit of the contest. Here's a photo: I feel that if this was an official set, they wouldn't just have this big empty space inside so a fake engine would be logical addition but on the other hand, it was previously stated that adding functions just for the sake of adding them isn't within the spirit of the contest, so I'm unsure if this is a good idea. On the other hand, the model is only slightly larger than the original and couldn't easily be made smaller either (maybe the length could be reduced a bit with another short panel on the side instead of the current short+long and by switching to 16T idler gears, but that doesn't feel right) and I'm not going to expand it just to add the new function so I feel the fake engine would add significant value to the model. I also like the challenge of making it work so I'm going to build it for now, and see how it goes, maybe taking the engine away before submitting my entry if it doesn't feel right after all.

Nice find, though too bad it's this particular axle-pin as they are already commonly available in black (the best colour for pins) and its generally the least useful part of this category. Getting 2L axle-pins or 3L pins in other colours would be great too.

Thanks! I didn't want to use the old crown gear that mates with the 16T gears in the original so I needed a double bevel that is also an idler gear and the 28T differential seemed like a logical choice as I happened to have one of those available. I already built another version of the rear stabilizers, which is better but I'm still not sure if I'll keep it or not. The rear doesn't have too many connection points which wouldn't either get in the way of the fan or make ugly connector-tumours on the outside of the skirt, so I'll have to think about it. Yeah, the original windshield was probably a compromise caused by the available parts of the time, so I'm not sure I'll keep my interpretation because it's faithful to the original but on the other hand it's also possible to do much better with modern parts. I made an order to B&P to get some of the new 71682 panels for additional decoration but they promised delivery times of something like 5-7 weeks so I'm not sure if my order will make it in time for this contest. We'll see.

Thanks! Yeah, LBG would be better in the windscreen-thingy but unfortunately I don't have them so I had to settle for DBG. Maybe I'll bricklink me some of those LBG ones, they might come handy elsewhere too...

The project has advanced quite a bit, to almost complete stage: The mechanism is faithful to the original, which I think was quite a clever and took advantage of the new idler gears. I chose different gears but beyond that it works exactly like the original. The rear fins are somehow problematic, as there aren't much of thin Technic parts suitable for this kind of thing. The flex axles capture the shape well enough but are really flimsy so I might have to think something else. Beyond that, the rear section aesthetics might need some additional work, and the numerous exposed holes of the liftarms on top aren't exactly eye-candy either so I might have to think of some ways to cover them up. The original had also exposed studs around the mechanism and minimally built rear section but my aim is of course to create a modern interpretation of an old set, which means using panels and other parts for finishing touches as much as possible. Thoughts?

If I need only a few parts, I will attempt to either find a single BL store with reasonable postage that can deliver those, or work myself around them so I don't need to make order at all. When needing more parts I've generally made a BL list and used the find store-feature to get a reasonable deal but if multiple orders to multiple stores are needed, the delivery costs can quickly get out of hand. Customs fees is also a significant consideration, so I try to make all my orders within the EU. I've been building a large enough Technic collection for several years now, mostly by just buying sets. I'm still missing a lot of panels and liftarms in some important colours (most notably yellow and red) but otherwise my collection is pretty much complete for whatever I might want to build.

Well, I'm not surprised to see some of them already made

While I have chosen my model for the contest and many great models of the past have been started by others, there are still few which I'd like to see remade: - 8852 (Transforming robot) - 8850 (Rally offroader) - 8839 (Supply ship) - 8872 (Forklift transporter) - 8858 (Rebel wrecker) - 8460 (Pneumatic crane truck) - 8443 (Log loader) - 8459 (Front end loader) - 8462 (Tow truck)

Couple of progress photos: I decided to add controls to the cockpit, as modern sets in this scale (and even smaller) generally have those and the original emptiness in front of the seat just didn't seem right. I also had to use DBG connectors for the windshield as I don't own enough of the correct parts in LBG but I think this minor divergence from the original colour scheme is acceptable. The front wheels I positioned a bit further forward, as I couldn't find a way to fit them near their location in the original. The scale matches the original quite closely, it's going to be 1 stud wider (at 15 studs) and maybe 2 studs longer (at 24 studs) at the skirt.