2GodBDGlory

Yeah, weight definitely hurts speed, but not as much as a gearbox does, in my opinion

It was pretty cool that you could do that! I believe there was also the possibility for remote control with the right Mindstorms accessories?

I was pretty skeptical too. I've designed a 1:7 supercar using Unimog tires, and as you say, a seemingly small scale difference ended up with a far larger model! I looked up 1:6 cars from that Taigaole brand @Satisfied mentioned, and found models of a Porsche 911, Mclaren W1, and Lamborghini Revuelto. After calculating scale for those cars, they came out as 1:6.8, 1:6.3, and 1:7.3, respectively. So they definitely seem to be exaggerating the scale, but at least in the W1's case, not by as much as I expected. (Though it could be their listed dimensions are wrong, the real-car dimensions I looked up are wrong, or the proportions are off in a way that maximizes length?) At any rate, those truly are massive, and it's interesting to see commercial takes on at least 1:7 supercars

That's better than it could be! Hopefully that works for you. Were there any Vietnamese stores you used that would be entirely shut down?

I'm not familiar with the mechanism, but it seems that it could easily be accomplished with a gear on a friction pin, or just having enough gears involved that they have enough friction on their own I'm not familiar with the mechanism, but it seems that it could easily be accomplished with a gear on a friction pin, or just having enough gears involved that they have enough friction on their own

After TC30 got me back in the Technic habit, I've been plugging away some more at this model. I've now got three L motors installed to drive the functions, and a servo motor to shift between different modes. So far all the installed functions (drive/steering, turntable rotation, front blade, and first boom segment) are working satisfactorily, so hopefully they all keep working under the model's full weight! There's a lot of complicated gearing going on, so there are a lot of potential failure points. I ended up having to use chain for a both the drivetrain from the servo to the shifter (probably a good solution), as well as from one of the L motors to the gearbox (a little scarier to have transmitting that torque), so hopefully that keeps holding up. I've also pivoted from the original contest-legal solution of using a 8878 rechargeable battery and two IR receivers, to using the much nicer MouldKing 6.0 battery. Furthermore, the more I look at the model, the more I feel like its proportions match a NORMAL excavator, rather than the MINI excavator I was planning on building. To do a proper mini, I'd have to push the cabin further back into the section occupied by the mechanicals, but everything should work fairly nicely with a normal excavator, so I think I'm going to move to that. It'll still have the front blade and the claw/thumb by the bucket, which aren't nearly as typical on full-size excavators, but probably exist somewhere? It feels like most of the challenging parts have come together, so hopefully I can have a finished model to present before too long!

Looks very impressive! This looks to me like the best LOTR set since Rivendell, with more impressive scale than The Shire, and less ugly source material than Barad-Dur. So it checks Faramir off the list of most-wanted minifigures, but we're still waiting on Eowyn?

That is a real shame about Bricklink! So are you thinking you can just use a VPN to get into the website, and then hope the seller doesn't care what country they're shipping to?

Thanks, it feels like it's coming together nicely! And yeah, it is nice to build in an actual color this time! I felt like the backhoe should have been small enough to do in a different color. Looking at it now I think I could probably recolor it into red (if I tore apart my Airbus set for a few parts), but the wheels would still be grey, it would be the same color as the truck, and all the LBG worm gears would still stand out. I don't hate the LBG too much, though!

I like the use of the connecting rod for the collective!

I've made some good progress on the truck now! The bed has been fleshed out, though after exploring some different options, I decided there was no reasonable way to add a load-cover function. Following that, I got a hood built, which is able to open (though probably not in the most realistic manner, with the grille, fenders, and headlights staying behind) I'm also trying to decide between the street-tread tires on the left side and the chunky ones on the right

Cool stuff!

Wait, what are those? Is that a new part I missed?

You'd have to upload it somewhere else (YouTube, etc.), and embed the link here. The same goes for any images, which would be to be hosted somewhere else

All right, the dump truck is well under way now! I feel like it's probably at a somewhat smaller scale than the backhoe, but I think the difference is no greater than it was between the truck and the loader in 42023: So we've got steering on the front axle, and a micro V6 driven by the two rear axles (no differentials at this scale, but it doesn't seem to be a problem) Then we've got a tiny 4-bar linkage to raise and lower the second axle: And that small linear actuator to raise and lower the bed: I had considered such wild ideas as trying to get some kind of suspension or gearbox installed, but I don't think those are particularly realistic. Functionally it's largely done, but I was thinking it would be really cool to add some kind of mechanical cover for the bed to prevent the load from flying out on the highway Like the bars on the side of this truck's bed However, I'm really not sure what I could use for the material for the cover. A real truck appears to be some form of fabric that can roll up, but that's not really an option for a purist, contest-spec build. Maybe I could figure something out with chain or track links? Or a flexible construction of liftarms? I'm not sure if I'll be able to come up with anything workable, but it would be cool if possible!

I managed to move the bucket two studs back, so I think the proportions are working properly again! Thanks for the feedback

Looking good!

Thoughts on the bigger bucket, @Jundis?

Yeah, it did feel like an imperfect solution. I don't have the 7x10 bucket, but I do have the older 8x10 one (https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2951&idColor=11#T=S&C=11&O={"color":11,"iconly":0}), and I recall thinking it looked too big. I think the width from one front tire to the other is about 10 studs, which would make the larger bucket as wide as the model. I didn't think that looked right, but I could look at whether a change would be better! Looking at blueprints of backhoes does suggest that buckets should be as wide as the model, so maybe it would be a good idea!

I too like the color scheme! Nice work!

At least for the size, maybe! I think there's 7 different worms/functions in it Thanks! Yeah, yellow would be more fitting, but I still have virtually no yellow. Rebrickable tells me that (aside from axles, bushes, shocks, pneumatics, and pistons) I have only 157 yellow Technic parts, from only 15 types of elements... Thanks, I appreciate it!

I guess we're done! Got the cab and some details added, and I think I'm happy with the result! Weighing in at a comfortable 254g Now to build the second model!

I've made some good progress over the last couple days! The rear arm has been finished, with worm gears for the joint and bucket, and the front arm has been added. A worm gear lifts the 4-bar linkage, and another worm gear runs the bucket. I also added some simple outriggers to the rear, and got gearing for the steering set up. Really I've just got to do a little bit of bodywork and interior, and this model should be done!

[EDIT: Finished model presentation on page 2] Well, I just got back to my apartment (and Lego) for my next semester, and conveniently, I've got a much lighter class schedule than last semester--plus my 3D printer projects are winding down! Altogether, I might actually have some time for Lego this time around! For topic, I decided to go with a backhoe, since they're infamously function-heavy, and I was curious what I could do with that at a small scale. For a companion model, the obvious choice seems to be a dump truck that it can load up, but I haven't actually started that, and I suppose it could change if I think of something better This is what I've gotten put together in my first night of work. I'm not sure the wheels match each other too well sidewall-wise, but otherwise I'm quite happy with the combo; mainly since I think I've only used the front tires one other time, and the rear ones never! We've got basic steering on the front: And a basic, compact worm-gear traverse for the rear arm: There's also a worm gear and 20T gear for the first stage of the boom: Finally, we've got another worm gear meshing with one of those weird 12T gears with an axle sticking out of it, to allow for boom rotation: That's the last part I built, and I'm not 100% happy with the worm gear mesh there, because it's technically 1/4 stud too tight. If I could move the worm gear downwards 1/2 stud to have it mesh with the beveled part of the gear it would work better, or if I could drive it with a 1L worm gear at a half-stud offset longitudinally. Unfortunately neither of those options appears too easy at the moment, and it does work as is, so we'll see what happens. We're currently sitting at 110g, which seems like a good amount for this stage of progress I've quite enjoyed the work so far, and am glad to be back into the Lego!

In my opinion, 3D prints are pretty self-consistent. If you print the same thing several times on the same machine, it should be the same size. However, there can be inconsistency between different printers, so any parts would have to be designed for your printer's tolerances. It does sound like a realistic option to me, though! TPU is a rubbery material that can be printed, and I believe it works well for seals. It's also not a grippy rubber at all, so maybe there wouldn't be too much resistance to motion, either?