SaperPL

I just check two models and they had issues, so maybe not all of them.

Looks really good. I would try to get rid of the blue pins sticking out though - for 3L pins you could just get black ones, but for 2L axle-pins like the front edge of the roof you'd have to go for red 3L pins with pin hole in the middle and connect them with 2L pin connectors.

Note that there are bigger sizes of this wheel arch, but I'm not sure about colour availability of those.

For gears that you have used already - you could do a setup that has two 12 tooth gears to angle this and 12 + 20 tooth gears vertically. The 12 tooth gear that is used to angle would be on the same axles as the 20 tooth gear, and it would be that axle that you have a 3l axle with stud in tan. For steering reaction - just angle the steering axle with two thin gears (12+20), the original model had to do the same thing, but with different gears, unless it had a steering knob at the back. Note that keeping it close to original is the part of the contest. Unless you want to make it smaller than original for some reason, I'd try to make mechanical features laid out the same as the original one, just with modern gears.

For one, this is really random for people who didn't see your MOCs. Keep stuff like this in your MOC's topics or make a single thread where you keep track of what you are doing. Secondly, you can upload studio models to bricklink and it even supports showing assembly steps. Finally, your models are not assembled correctly - pins are misaligned against liftarm pin sockets.

I think it would be better if you tried to use the currently manufactured pieces as much as possible so the gears and wheels would be current ones.

Those three times where rules state that are about: scale (don't make supercar scale model out of city car set), features (adding more features/mechanical functionality to set shouldn't matter in this contest), colour (you should try to make the colour scheme somewhat similar to the original set). None of it is about building techniques. With that said, the top of the contest info states: The idea behind the contest is to replicate the chosen set as close as possible And this gets really interesting when you look at this set - while I understand that making some structure with liftarms is different than with beams, I still think it's really easy to make a big model like this that is just about the edges built with beams.

Update on the project:

I wouldn't touch the forklift, because it looks good and it's not really about being that pedantic, I think. The gap over the wheels is right in your face and probably some more modern Technic approach should be applied there. I would consider adding details like mirrors and lights in places where current Technic sets would have them. Maybe adding 1L liftarm/pin bushing on the cranks instead of bare pin connector?

This looks really good. Now I wish I picked up a slightly bigger model for contest entry. With that said, I think those short panels in front of wheel arches on the middle axles are breaking the effect. I don't think that is required, maybe using the same thing that is between the arches would do or the one over the headlights. The current pieces stand out too much. Also I still don't like the use of original seats - there are different solutions to making seats in current technic sets, and I would rather see it being made mostly with pieces that are present in current sets where it is possible (you can't replace the tank obviously). Also the seats in original set have additional head rests. Apart from this, the design is top notch.

I think the shape of the windscreen frame is wrong. it should be, how should I say it, concave, meaning the curve in front and above the dashboard should be more level while the rest is more steep. I've checked that against this photo: take a close look at the point where two parts are anchored together near the mirrors - there is small angle difference. This is something that I too wonder how should this be treated. For smaller builds where you really need to figure out how to assemble it to make sense and be true to original, it seems okay to do so, but for big builds, especially this one, you're simply making a compatible chassis with all the modern solutions to the mechanical problems presented first in this set and simply rebuilding the body which seems kind of easy to do this way. This way, it's just about who can sink more money into the bricks of matching colours for bigger model with more features. At the same time, I feel like this is something that makes this contest a bit flawed. On one hand, since there's no specific limitation, why not pick something like that if you have means to go through with it, and people will be voting on bigger models even if they weren't really that challenging to do, regardless of what admins will write in the voting rules, like "you should take things into account in this order and the size shouldn't matter". On the other hands, admins arbitrarily affecting the verdict when something was done by the rules doesn't seem fine either. Anyway, I think that @Samolot's contest entry is something that's a perfect example of how I see the bigger models being remade.

It says in the rules that custom stickers are allowed.

Can you post which hub are you using? I'm having weird jitter on that small 88009 hub.

The right one feels more like the original, the roundness of those technic panels is breaking the effect on the left one. The right one also feels more like the moon base equipment to me where you see whole frame and there's no need to hide internals behind the panels to make it look good.

This is starting to look really good. Shows your experience with the panels. I would suggest moving those to big curved panels at the back a bit forward to close the gap that is showing the pneumatic pump. I'm not sure if I like the fact that you are stacking translucent pieces for the headlights as this makes them inconsistent with the side ones. Maybe putting non-translucent ones behind the front flat ones would do the job. Also I feel that using the classic seats is against the spirit of this competition and you should build something that is matching the nowadays approach, either with the fender/seat curved panel or like in the bigger car models with those small curved panels on the sides that you're using on the dashboard. I'd like to see how it looks with some currently available wheels as well although I understand there are no such wheels matching this theme as of right now anymore. Seems like a strong contender to the first place if everything works out feature-wise.

@Jim This might be a stupid question or I'm just blind, but when does the entry topic open up to allow placing valid entries? I assume there may be people that could be already ready to submit their entries, but the entry topic is closed for commenting. Additional question, to be on the safe side: I don't have an original round tile with a grill/mesh print and the only resellers that had enough of those had pretty high MOQ for me. I 3d printed the grill mesh (2 layers, 0.2 mm) to act as a sticker/imprint. It's practically just a slightly thicker sticker than paper and mechanically works in my build the same as the original one. I assume this should be okay.

I've made the first iteration of instructions. I made them in portrait mode like the original ones, not sure if that's the good choice. https://www.dropbox.com/s/xrz2zn2qvt0icv0/8816 Studless A Instruction.pdf?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/4w538xilqe36b5v/8816 Studless B Instruction.pdf?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/sy2xikg2uqj1g7r/8816 Studless C Instruction.pdf?dl=0 The interesting use case is the C-model where you have to disassemble the back of the B-model first. I will have to go through the parts lists to make sure what the final parts list will be before submitting this to rebrickable. And of course some video is a must...

Really cool model - great job. The tipper mechanism tilting is an interesting idea.

I think you should be able to get the old wheel rims in that yellow colour. Did you figure out the steering mechanism?

Got some missing parts delivered. Sadly I couldn't get my hands on original light tiles with that mesh printed without greatly overpaying so I had to improvise a bit. Also I couldn't get the LBG liftarm 7L and I got very light grey? ones hoping these were going to be really close, but they are significantly lighter. I shifted the shock absorber positions from the original one for it to be softer - the liftarms are not as rigidly connected as the original beam and plate connections and they started twisting/bending significantly at original shock configuration with slim wheels used in the prototype. The difference is slight, but after changing the wheels to the baloon ones, it works properly. And the B-model: Here's what's left after taking apart the A-model to make it into B-model (the original also had significant amount of leftover parts, even more than this) I had to add the 12-tooth gear, two short stud-pins, two 3L long pins to complete the B-model from the parts in A-model. I potentially could use the grey 3L pins somewhere to reduce the required added parts.

Nice one :D Yeah, I would just go with few shots, but my submission will be about the set that has A, B and C model. So I'll have the reference image from original box/instructions + one of each models from this set. Not sure which way should I go though, but when it's about voting, if that's a fair game and it works, then why not ? :D

@Jim are gifs allowed for the entry post in the thread (that is closed for now)?

I think the nose was better on this version - currently the drop/angle is too big and it looks bad from some angles. The original set had it elevated as well.

Go check out my crane instructions here: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-72143/SaperPL/mini-mobile-crane/#details (page 85 & 89/step 149 & 158) I used the small rubber band to make a spacer that's like 1/5~1/6 of a stud where I wanted to precisely position the differential between the floor and the steering shaft above it. But I did that on two axles spread apart, so if you do it on one, the loops may take a bit too much space. But the competition rules allow for non-lego rubber bands, so you may be okay even with something resembling an o-ring, I think.

How about putting a lego rubber band on the bottom distance to act as a spacer/washer?