SaperPL

Looks really good and nice photos :) One thing that I'm not sure about is the crane attachment feeling just a bit oversized to a point the model feels like a manga style "chibi" oversized. Not sure if this is good or bad though, just getting those vibes.

Yeah, I went ahead of myself there with this 1L liftarm, forgetting that I put it there as a placeholder for the looks. So still I have to figure something out here on how to assemble this area. Thanks! It'll get even better :) I was thinking about something like this: But the problems are plenty: doors are opening below this black bar, it hangs on just that single point of attachment to the panel and on the other side I need to put the axle through for the platform operation.

Thanks! The last two challenges are the sides of the cab that are now in red, where I'm not sure whether to go after yellow connectors like this and call it a day with liftarm 1 in yellow in the gaps, or whether to try using some panels or liftarms there. Noteworthy is that the doors end behind the seat which means that I either could try making the fake battery thinner and move the seats back one stud, or try to fill that one liftarm thickness at the edge of the door, but opening the doors would mean having them cut into that edge. Btw, I've got the sheet of stickers for 8109, will have to cut them down to size, but only after all colored parts are there. I also solved the roof headlights: And that's a really tricky assembly to hold that black liftarm there: Not ideally same as in original as those will be spread apart, but I rather have something solid than loosely put together. My guesstimate now is that the *new* parts for this MOC might get to around 75 EUR or maybe more. The part that annoys me is that our local marketplace is really quick to get the parts in comparison to getting them from Lego and also I feel like I'm in better control to know what I've already ordered then when I went with pick-a-brick from Lego. But each order has some markup and separate shipping fees and it's about figuring out how to optimise what to get from whom. And those last few pieces right now look like I might be getting few pieces from one reseller and paying that extra for shipping. Custom MOCs in pefect colors are expensive :|

Update on the looks. My wallet hurts. And there's still more to get and getting everything from single reseller is annoyingly hard. Total bill on this project is already getting too big... Also instead of getting two different/symmetric wedge plates in red, they sent me the same one twice :| Also the plan on roof-front headlights didn't work and I need to figure out something else.

I don't see the problem being the difference in photoshop skills - you know that presentation of the photos matter when people vote, so their setup, their camera and the skills will matter. Why being able or not being able to photoshop the stickers be the reason where we have corresponding reasons with the photos themselves. The problem lies in stickers potentially masking complete mess of liftarms stacked together with stickers :)

I wouldn't see this being the problem here. The problem is that with stickers you can easily cheat and make something look really good even when the paneling is a mess, especially something like a race car. Stickers of headlights, tail lights, mirrors, wheel rim covers, door knobs etc could easily make a model feel more representative of the original without actually building it.

Really nice progress and awesome photos. Is the worm gear stuff on the sides about opening up the engine cover? Are you going to make instructions for this or at least share the studio file?

Thanks for this tip. this is exactly what I was looking for, it's so obvious now :D Now I just need to figure out how actually make those mirrors. I'd prefer if black plate was representing the mirror surface so it'd have to be perpendicular to what it's there now.

I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it. Note that on the other side there is an axle coming out from the lowest pin hole with the knob for platform actuation. I was thinking about using the new? yellow frictionless pins there, but that's still a messy surface. It's better, but like I said, I don't like that it's really fragile and turning around a different axis. edit: I think the valid mechanically solution would be doing this: But it's messy and blocks the door opening.

Thanks for the tip, but I think they would stick out too much: I feel like I need something that would be at half stud offset from the pillars, not a full stud offset. At the same time using simple clips will mean it'll be really easy for them to tilt or fall off when they touch anything.

Just to make sure it makes sense - cutting them down to size is okay when we're making a shrinking contest?

Interview with RacingBrick where we discuss how we would like the Technic issues to be solved or something like that. I think the problem with the current topic is that it may indicate that you're explaining what's wrong with Technic to the audience that isn't knowledgeable enough to come up with same conclusions, or even worse, explaining to Lego what they are doing wrong, rather than just discussing the problem stating your opinions on the topic (which actually happened in the video).

Verified that this will work: I just have to figure out the dashboard, mirrors and maybe the sides of the cab if I can figure something out there, and I should be able to start thinking about ordering the parts for the final build.

I think I've figured out how to handle the construction of the front and windshield. And it's more resembling the original set now as well with windshield pushed back one stud. Mirrors are still huge though and I need to figure out some neat trick to make them somehow 1.5 stud wide. The inner structure of the front got really complex to hold two parts of the front offset by one stud and still hold the doors and windshield pillars: Will have to see if this thing will assembly correctly and if doors will be closing properly...

I really like this video because for the most of the time, most of the videos reviewing sets from Lego are focusing on specific details of those sets and not the issues with Technic series in general. And that's a kind of weird niche where reviews are always or mostly about one brand of the product (like with Apple products for example) and there's hardly ever comparison to competition doing something better or just different, it's mostly comparisons to previous sets or from time to time to some custom MOCs. But it creates that feel that there's rarely any constructive critique towards the whole product lineup or the company itself. And if it's not there, we don't really know if our annoyances with the product lineup are just ours only or is there someone who might be in contact with Lego giving them feedback about such issues. And if topics like this are brought up, it should spur discussion on them among community and hopefully it'll get more attention from the company. That's why I feel like videos like this are really important. And that was a really good talk. I especially liked the part where you made a division of where gearboxes make sense and where they don't as it's often just about squeezing more features into the build even when those specific features are not that playable, especially when they'll end up on a shelf in a display piece set.

Yeah, it looks really good apart from it leaning forward. Maybe you could use a boat counterweight piece?

Interesting choice at this scale. what about the fake piston engine? Are you connecting it to the third axle?

Try to figure this out. There's still a lot of time to do so. Try getting some morning light or go outside in the morning to do the photos. Also some photos in the natural background may look better as well if you don't have a good studio background.

The 11 wide is something that allows use of gear rack for steering and sometimes 11 wide panels and flipflop liftarms where applicable. I think if I went with 9 wide scale, I wouldn't fit the tow bar because to have the frame connected properly between front part of 15L flipflop liftarm and rear part of standard 15L, I need the width for it. But without that tow bar at the back, I think it should be doable, but I don't want to loose this feature, especially if in 9 wide with those wheels I'd have to handle more cumbersome steering mechanism.

Nice pick, I had this set ages ago. I don't like how your lever is oriented though with that connector on the side. I would either plan to have it oriented outwards or close it behind something and make a proper lever outside. Anyway it looks really good, but you should make better photos because there's a lot of black coloured parts together and it's hard to see some details there.

Why would releasing instructions be connected to type of voting? Do you imply that letting people have a look inside how things are built and let them potentially build it themselves affects their voting?

I don't want to cheat by cutting them down to size, unless there's an actual one with specific length

Played a bit with the front layout and I think I know the look that I should be aiming for: The problem is that I need to figure out how to make the windshield pillars with half stud length while angled.

Yeah, that's why I like the rear part. The chassis dropping/wheels kneeling function is almost the same geometry as the original one, with two changes - distance between wheels is smaller and the pivot point is attached more to the inner side, while the wheels of rearmost axle are on liftarm attachment points ticking down from the slide platform. This was made so the tow bar could fit underneath the rear bumber/lights bar, so the pivot point was moved to the middle for the sake of that. It's an interesting fidgeting toy :) Yeah, but I didn't expect this to get this complicated when I was playing around the rear...

I checked with Jim and he said that for this set, it's acceptable. With that said, if possible, I'd like to try and make something that's not a full system assembly at the front because it feels like uniform almost flat surface. Compare the last studio screenshot with some of the first ones where the bumper and windscreen line were made with Technic pieces. There's still a lot of time till the end, so I'll try to do my best here. Yeah, I know. but I've seen people doing magic with those in various orientations. But more importantly, while the grill will probably be better made with some system tiles and slopes, I think the edges may need some Technic pieces to round this up. Thanks, will do!