2GodBDGlory

Another option, at least if you're on Android, would be to install an APK file for the app, from somewhere like here: https://apkpure.com/sbrick/com.vengit.sbrick I've used files like this to install other apps that have been removed from the play store with good success, so you could give this a try!

Huh, that's pretty interesting! That seems strange that they felt a need for such a specialized pin, and I can't think of many places where I'd want to use one, but it's always good to know about options for such fundamental parts!

Me neither... Luckily, even if nobody makes a backup on purpose, the Wayback Machine always makes backups! https://web.archive.org/web/20250210061347/http://www.technicopedia.com/ Sometimes their backups are slow and missing features, but this one seems to be working quite nicely, including animations!

Looks fun and fast, with a lot of power to a relatively low weight!

That's great!

No images for me (Canada, tested on Firefox, Brave, Zen, and Chromium browsers)

I had to hop on the hype and build a cute little guy for myself! It's pretty fun! I ended up sticking an axle with 24T gear into a cordless drill for super fast rewinds, which worked quite nicely!

We can dream! I doubt we'd see it, when it's functionally not really any different than a neutral gear, but you never know! They did put the DNR gearboxes in a bunch of the supercars, so I suppose things like that are possible

Ooh, very, very nice! I loved seeing the RC version before, with its combination of looks and performance. This more polished model is also very nice, though, and has a pretty significant amount of functions for the scale! Of course, the looks are the highlight, and it really excels there! Cool to see the renders of the newer one with it!

To be honest, I feel like it might be better for that! To me Lotus seems like a bit of a "thinking person's" exotic. Not the same power levels or track times, but a focus on handling and general fun that makes it more enjoyable in most situations. Transverse is something, at least! I did notice that the real car has both automatic and manual 6-speed options for the V6, so there's a chance they give us a proper joystick-operated manual instead of a sequential box? That would be something different, though not necessarily more advanced. (Though if they did build in a true transverse manual transmission, getting a linkage to a shifter in the cabin would be pretty challenging)

Today I was doing some research on the '90s era Toyota All-Trac AWD system, which was designed for transverse engines, and incorporated a central differential (unlike a lot of transverse AWD systems), and was having a hard time understanding the layout. Eventually I ended up the factory service manual, looking at scary pictures like these! I eventually was able to figure out how it's working, and it involves a whole bunch of concentric shafts! That got me thinking it would be interesting to try to build the system in Technic, so I did: The 56T turntable is the input to the system, and is the carrier for the central differential These two 28T turntables and the 12T between them are the spider gears for the central differential (Even though the one on the left is kind of outside the housing of the differential). The 28T on the left then runs a driveshaft to the rear differential. The 28T on the right is fixed to the 28T on the far right of the model, which is the carrier for the front differential: The right black 12T gear in there goes out to the right front wheel, while the one on the left goes through the middle of everything out to the left front wheel! It's pretty weird having three things rotating on the same axis (56T turntable/central differential carrier, front differential carrier, and front left half-shaft), and obviously it's enormous and inefficient! I guess theoretically you could put something like this in a model for realism's sake, but it would require a LOT of other compromises!

Alright, the model is done, so here's the final presentation! Aesthetics: The body is fairly gap-free and smooth (except for the boom, where weight was a bigger consideration, but it seems perhaps vanilla-to-a-fault. I didn't particularly care, though! The model is about functionality first, anyways Functions: Manual Track Tensioning via small linear actuators moving the front sprockets forward and backward. Nothing complex, but helpful for tuning Opening Body Panels. These used a knob on the rear to run this weird compact linkage setup to pull axles out of the panels to unlock them! I-6 Piston Engine driven by a PF M motor. This is a fifth motor, and was never in the original plans. TC29 had a four-motor limit, so back when I was thinking this model would be entered there, it wouldn't have been legal. Honestly there's no way I could have made this model contest-legal anyway, since I ended up needing piles of my 3rd-party U-joints, and a 3D printed bucket. This is a super simple function I tossed in at the end, just because I had the space for it 9-output, 3-input Distribution Gearbox controlled by a PF Servo motor. Each position of the servo motor connected the three PF L motors with a different function, giving three distinct control modes (Similar to the 8043's 3x2 setup, but in a 3x3 setup). This worked really nicely, and made for quite convenient control for the number of motors! Gearbox Mode 1: Right Track Drive & Left Track Drive. Power wasn't great, but it could move, so that's really all I needed! Superstructure Rotation. This one also worked surprisingly smoothly, and had unlimited rotation capability Gearbox Mode 2: Boom Lift. This was a bit slow after all the down-gearing that was needed, but managed to get by with only one linear actuator (Two would have been more realistic once I pivoted from the "Mini Excavator" plan to a more normal excavator, but it would have been tricky to incorporate). I think the range of travel was pretty impressive, with a lot of reach below it! Boom Articulation using another linear actuator. Bucket Scooping. This one made a lot of noise while working (Probably because of the absurd number of U-joints in its drivetrain), but worked fine! As mentioned in the WIP posts, the bucket is a 3D-printed copy of the one from the big Volvo excavator. Gearbox Mode 3: Front Blade. This function was an interesting one to design in, since it required transmitting force from the superstructure to the base, despite there already being both track's drivetrains going through the turntable! In the end the solution was to use the inner drive axle as a sort of rotating pushrod, with a worm gear mechanism pushing down on the top of it, and then pushing down on the (spring-loaded) blade to push it down in turn. That meant that the same axle that was transmitting drive rotationally was also running the blade linearly! It wasn't an ideal way to run the blade, but it worked well enough, and could provide real support to the front of the machine. (Though it was front-heavy enough that it was pretty much always leaning on the blade one way or another) Claw using a small linear actuator. This was a simple function, but worked as expected Accessory Attachment. Like that Lego Volvo set, I wanted to have RC control of implement swapping. I used a couple black Bionicle ball socket parts on the bucket, which would slot over a couple black 1L liftarms on the boom. The bucket stub on the boom end would then rotate into place, and then another linear actuator controlled from my gearbox would pull on a spring-loaded axle to lock or unlock the bucket. I never managed to do a full bucket swap remotely, but it was a fun function to include! Not complicated in implementation, but complicated to run a driveshaft to, for sure! Anyways, I'm pretty pleased with the combination of interesting techniques, high functionality, reasonable reliability, and reasonable looks in this model! More than that I'm just glad to have it done, after a very long development process, where I would work on other projects for long enough that this one would start to look abandoned... Now that this is done I'm going to try some tuning of my DIY multicolor system on my 3D printer, but hopefully that doesn't take too long, and I can get into the excitement of a new Technic model soon! More images at: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/tc29-mini-excavator

Wow, that is one clean MOC! Nice work!

Not a part I was dreaming of, but I can imagine it being pretty useful! That particular situation feels like one that doesn't have many good existing solutions

Hey, I think if you want to upload more images, the usual way is to upload them to an external website (Flickr, Bricksafe), and them embed links to that website in your post. I hope that helps!