P6tu

Busy, busy time in real life and on-going Lego projects have kept me away from this forum for a while... As I wrote previously, then the sole purpose of those adventures in the first place, was to gather and collect crystals, diamonds that posessed an unearthly power. Now we had the truck with the vehicles to search the areas for those rocks and means to pinpoint and to obtain those crystals and rocks. But there was an issue - the trailer didn't have any means to actually transport or to do anything with the crystals once they were gathered. And there came the need to have a capable offroad truck with a lab on it: From the front the truck is identical with the towing truck and trailer truck. While the towtruck was 1 stud longer compared to the trailer truck, then this one is two studs longer. This is in my opinion the maximum reasonable length to still kind of fit in the Lego City scale (eight studs wide speedchamp cars are not for Lego City - my opinion). From the equipment perspective the fundametals remained the same: winch at the front, bushbar, branch protectors in front of the windshield, full range of lights (including glow in the dark ones), deflatable/inflatable tires, tow hitch at the back, snorkel, fire extinguisher, long range antennas, fuel cap, exhaust pipes and big horns on the roof. Back of the cabin there is a little storage box for a single crystal or multiple diamonds. The roof of the cabin is simply removable as always. The first fire extinguisher is also located back of the cabin alongside with a wrench. Above those we have some working lights that are attached to the roof. Those provide visibility to work with the bike crane and anything else between the cabin and the lab. Since the truck is somewhat big by it's size, then it has a motorbike on it that can be taken down by operating the crane (controls visible on the other side of the truck) and that motorbike can be used for quick scouting or short trips between other truck in case there is a need. And then we have the lab. The lab is quite packed, but fully usable. There is no conventional removable roof as is accustomed for Lego and instead the access is from the sides by simply tilting the walls up. This gives plenty of access actually and it isn't that dark inside as it looks. Inside the lab we have everything necessary for a little R&D or science stuff: - digital microscope - powerful PC for processing info - bed - a little cornerdesk next to the bed. For minifigs we also have an additional fire extinguisher, torch, camera and a satellite phone. Usually the night time is the best time to work on such desk and investigation jobs since during daytime the adventurers dig up the crystals, then the lab also had to be equipped with good interior lights too - therefor we have two rows of ceiling lamps in the lab. Sometiomes there are also some rivers that need to be passed to get to some distant villages to ask for tips about the crystals or simply a shorter way from one dig site to another, then there is also a canoe on the top of the lab roof. The canoe has also a machete on it to hack through some vines if needed. Also there is a small beacon at the back and a small light at the front. In order for the minifigs to get the canoe from the roof, there is a ladder and a pole next to the bike crane control lever. This is how the truck looks fully equipped =) and it's full glory: Again, there are instructions, but not for free :( : ReBrickable link to this MOC . A little bit of trivial info about this truck. This was the first MOC that I published and I actually asked around for feedback about the build. Therefor I find it nice to give credit to few people who gave quite good feedback and this feedback was well received by me and my son - many improvements were done due to that feedback. Therefor I must thank for the warm feedback these users in BrickOwl forums: Brandish_Jaye , Calibrick and Mariehollands. And even special thanks for giving some direction of ideas to Brandish, who commented that the truck looks something like from Snow Runner (videogame). Thanks to that comment the lab truck was not to be the last one and two other truck ideas were given into production/development by my son :P - about those I'll write next time =). To be continued...

After this trailer truck was completed, then the need for additional trucks grew. The next truck wasn't that much of a need based, but more of a need to just have any other truck that would look almost the same and would be just as capable conquering the lands as the trailer truck. So with the next truck I just asked my son, what are the most interesting Lego City series trucks and the answer was 60056 (tow truck). While the first truck was mostly my son's idea, then with this truck I just had a goal from my son - to have a similar truck for just towing. So I started building... Firstly I just made the front hood part that was 1:1 with the first truck. With the cabin it started to change. At first the cabin was also the same, but when I added the rear boom, the truck got insanely long in my opinion. I know that in U.S.A. they are known to be so long, but it was not to my liking and you want to have as short truck as possible for harsh road conditions (and for playing since long trucks can't take turns as well as short ones). The general build was completed and now it was just about the details. The end result was this: About the features. At the front we have the same winch, bushbar, branch protectors, snorkel and glow in the dark pieces as lights, long range antennas and etc. Since it is dedicated recovery truck, then changes start already from the fire extinguishers - there are two (one on each side). This truck needed a lot more tools by default, so there is the regular full set of tools. There are also two toolboxes that can be removed with ease (connected by one stud only). Near the cabin there is a big wrench on one side and an even bigger on the other side. At the rear there is a crowbar and a hammer. We also like to keep everything clean and tidy after recovery jobs, so there is a showel and a broom also. In the cupboard near the cabin can be found a torchlight and an oil can. As it is a recovery truck, then beacons were also necessary on this truck and I wanted to have something a bit different from simple beacons on the roof, so I made the roof different overall and I really like this "dual sided" beacon outcome: It makes taking off the roof very easy and it also was a good means to have a long rear light also at the top rear side of the cabin. There was plenty of space below the rear boom, then I used it for a spare tire. Near the rear of the cabin I also used that space to attach the rear winch. For easier operation I added the gears to have a better grip. About the boom itself - nothing really special about it in my opinion. Quite standard thing compared to usual Lego towtrucks. The rear part is not extendable and the rear hook has two chains also just in case: The wheels are all deflatable/inflatable (just one of the imagination jobs =P), the third axle is similar with the first truck with the fake suspension (also helps to steer during playtime when there is another truck being towed). We also have the hitch at the rear. Ouh, and we can not forget the fuel cap - every car has a fuel cap. So that is about that truck. Kind of have to admit that it was done in a haste and doesn't seem to have a lot of functions when you compare it to the first trailer truck, but then again, it does give a lot of playvalue and introduces a lot more scenarios in the big wild Lego wasteland =). The build is very sturdy and it is quite hard to "break" it while playing. Only things that seem to come off by mistake, are the tools attached to the rear. Like with the previous truck, the instructions are for sale only and no free passes :( - sorry. Link to ReBrickable site: Offroad adventrure truck for towing (ReBrickable). Next post will be about the last truck (was planned to be the last atleast). This was much more dedicated to the actual "business" in mind in the whole Lego wasteland scenario. Hopefully that would be much more interesting to read about ;). To be continued...

In this post I'll give a somewhat short overview of the additional vehicles =). On top of the living quarters roof we have a little bit souped up dinghy. It can accomodate two minifigs and it has a a small double propulsion engine. It is operable via steering wheel. It has a spotlight (another white glow in the dark round stud :P ), side markers (proper red and green light) and also has a beacon at the back to be visible from far away. There is also a lifevest hanging on to it. On the lowbed (middle section of the trailer) is a quad/ATV. It is a small simple build, but I'd like to see it is a bit bulkier thing when compared to usual Lego ATV-s. It has the smaller balloonish tires on it and the back is a bit more builtup to give a somewhat sportier look. There is a small bushguard at the front and a towhook with chain at the back. There is also a red tailight as it should be and again - two white glow in the dark studs at the front: Third vehicle is the biggest one on the trailer. It is also most detailed. With the helicopter the story is even a bit longer actually. My son used a helicopter from set 7686. So if you compare the two helicopters, then they are quite similar and I can't take proper credit for that helicopter. It is just a little bit modified version with another color scheme of the set 7686 helicopter. The biggest difference is the big rotorblade. In set 7686 there is a brick built one, but I have used a one piece unit. It looks better in my opinion and is also much sturdier. For the additional light there are again those white glow in the dark studs. PS! On the pictures the helicopter is not properly built. The landing part should be one stud towards the rear. The helicopter is the "black sheep" of the "set". It isn't as tough as the other things and tends to break apart a bit, when played. Three things almos always break apart from the helicopter: the black landing part, front windshield and the red light on the tail rotor. I don't mind to share the building instructions, but we have a deal with my son and everything related to this series is for a fee - so if there is someone truly interested in the build, then the instructions for it can be purchased on ReBrickable: ReBrickable site for this MOC . Regarding the parts, then there obviously was a prebuild with more common parts and the first prototype of the final build was mostly of white, black and red parts. The final build has quite a few rare blue parts that might not be cheap so how it goes from the parts perspective, then it can be done quite cheaply by another colorscheme. The reason, why I chose to go with black/blue, was simple - my favourite color is blue and my son likes black :P. Also, there aren't that many blue vehicles in Lego City sets and blue isn't any specific City subtheme color and why not have a style in that direction =). To be continued...

It does offer a lot of playtime and keeps young ones busy =). Thank you =).

Had a busy couple of days, but now, let's continue this storyline =). About the trailer. At first, the trailer was a lot shorter and only had a spot for a quad/ATV and a helicopter. At some point it got a crane for lifting the quad, but then this was not enaugh. It needed more. The journeys in the Lego vast wasteland were long and there was a need for a place to sleep, eat, live. A concept for living quarters was made and a final result is this: The livingspace got equipped with: - bed; - cupboard with drawers that has toy cars (orange and red rollerskate :P), utensils and a letter; - cocoa maker; - heater (not very well visible, but it is left of the cupboard); - radio for entertainment; - little white sink with a tap (left of the desk); - desk with PC and a tablelamp; - two plants; - fire extinguisher. There are also two ceiling lamps to have good lighting in the room and they do not interfere with minifigs - the ceiling is high enaugh to keep minifigs happy even with hair =). It is cramped in there, but enaugh for play. Due to the openable roof on the hinges there is plenty of access to everything and you can pose your minigs in there with ease. There are also some equipment for minifigs: mini pickaxe, camera, torchlight, satellite phone. For access to the cabin/living quarters there are two doors and there is a ladder that can be used to climb in. The front of the trailer compartment was used for tools that were missing from the truck. For such a big trailer and for so many machinery and vehicles to take care on long trips there was a need for more tools: In the front tools compartment can be found a crowbar, axe, hammer, disksaw (or something like that for cutting steel and etc.). To have internet and tv reception, then there is also a long range antenna for the trailer too. There are also two smaller antennas on the roof. Behind the living quarters was a perfect place to have some heavy machinery attached to the trailer frame. Since there was space, then a simple crane was not enaugh and a big drill was also placed =). Then there is empty space for the quad/ATV, but you could also fill it with something else - there is enaugh room for stuff =). And then there is a big floodlamp or a big workinglight for outdoor activities/works attached permanently on the tip of the third crane. There is a lot of articulation for all of those machines: Behind the machinery there are two cupboards. One is with drawers that have some additional tools and the other one with enaugh space for a helmet that is meant to be used for driving the quad/ATV. Between those cupboards is also another fire extingushier. And at the end of the trailer is a dedicated space for the helicopter. At the back is just in case a chain to fix some things, if needed. Now, as can be seen on the above pictures, then there are also some more tools next to the low bed (middle section of the trailer). There is a proper pickaxe and also a big wrench. On the other side, as can be seen in the below picture, there is a shovel and a broom. Also the ladder for the living quarters can be seen on this picture: On the right side there are also controls, a lever and pressure indicator for the machinery. On the left side that space is used for a small ladder. About the underframe: At the rear there are a lot of lights and at the front it is the same story. For more excitement, the trailer is also equipped with glow in the dark lights in front and in the back. Since the trucks third axle came out good and it is also good to have all four wheels on the surface all the time, then also the trailers rear axle has independent "suspension." To be able to leave the trailer without the truck, then it also has support legs in front. For fixing those supports in their place, then there is a chain attached to the end of the support legs. When they are in the deployed position, then the chain can be easely attached to the front part of the middle section and when they are in the "travel" position, then they can be fixed to the underside at the middle of the living quarters. For better visibility to work with the support legs during night time there is also a worklight at the middle of the underside (sorry. no pictures of it =[ ). Next post will be about the few vehicles that can be placed on the trailer :P. To be continued...

Ouh, a thing that I forgot to mention, the third axle (the last one at the back) has a fake suspension so the wheels can move a bit up and down independently. This wasn't only about the feature itself, but it helped a lot to tow the heavy trailer. Without the moving third axle turning the truck on flat surface was a bit too disturbing and there was like a small need to lift the front a bit during play. Since the fifth wheel is located behind the second axle, then it was a perfect way to go. It make the front light enaugh to stay on the ground, but with a little effort the front of the truck loses traction in to the ground in play perspective and it is very easy to maneuver on laminated floor, carpet and any other surface that you could think of. The visual perspective was, let's say, a positive side effect when driving over some Lego pieces =).

I have the pictures hosted in multiple locations and this is not an issue. This I read out loud and clear that there is no option to upload the pictures here. But the thing is that according to the instructions about how to insert the pictures to posts - it is a bit different for me and I do not have any insert image button at the top of the post editing tools. I only have a button at the right bottom corner of the post editing window, so to say, where I can select to insert other media from a drop-down menu. Anyway - first pictures added ;).

Now to explain and give out the backstory of how this truck came to be in our Lego universe =). Due to natural causes the Lego land is filled with leftover bricks - the land is covered with them, they are all over the room and yeah, there is a way around the bricks from one end of the room to the other end, but why take the long way when you could drive straight over those obstacles with those huge tires. As the set 60044 had small wheels, then those were in desperate need of upgrade and wheels from the arctic truck 60035. But on the way all kind of issues may happen (wheels coming off, tires inflating, engine overheating and etc.) - so a proper cabin with the most basic tools is needed and rear of the cabin was the perfect place by using the big door at the back and having the roof to be removable to have additional access to the tools by BIG fingers :P : Now, as the tool issue was solved, then I stepped in to add some basic offroadish features to the truck and most noticable things are: - front winch (which isn't used much in the Lego wasteland since it is mostly just like a desert looking place with those leftover bricks and no big stones nor trees to attach the winch); - bushbar; - snorkel (you know to drive through deeeeep water); - branch guards infront of the windshield (again a bit useless feature in our Lego wasteland due to the lack of trees in general). All those mentioned features clearly visible here: Since the moonlight isn't very much illuminating then a full range of foglights, highbeam lights and all other types of lights is very cool according to my son, then that was an easy task to fulfill. Big loud horns was also a good thing to already add to the roof beside the foglights - made the roof to look quite a proper unit =). TO even add more exciting features, then the roof foglights are combined with the white glow in the dark 1×1 round plates and for sidemarker lights I used at the bottom those transparent glow in the dark cheese slopes. But overall the truck is filled with every light that there should be also in real life (reverse lights, directional lights and etc.) as can be seen on the above picture and as well in the picture below: Now, as some may have noticed, then for some reason the usual known Lego universe didn't have their vehicles equipped with fuel caps. My son always added those silverish 1×1 round tiles to all kind of vehicles to use as a fueling caps - therefor the same thing was added to this truck and to the future trucks also. Due to the big vast empty Lego wasteland had no antennas nor other communication means, then the truck needed to have it's own long range antennas and those were firmly added. Another thing to mention, is the exhaust pipes. Originally they used to be in upright position, but that made the rear tool compartment a bit too cramped, then those exhaust pipes were router in a horizontal way. They fit very snuggly to their designated places. Since overheating and the somewhat unconventional location of the exhaust pipes may cause fires then as a general thing - fire extinguisher is a very common thing to have. Lego is used to use yellow extinguishers, but in my and my sons experience - red is much more common color for the extinguishers. As deserts and other such vast wastelands are usually with a softer terrain, then it is very common to have an option to deflate and inflate the tires of vehicles to provide better traction. To have this automated feature, then proper pressurelines were router from the wheel center hubs to the tires (to all six of them). Last, but not least - a simple tow hitch in addition to the fifth wheel (which was necessary to tow all the required equipment and stuff) was also included. SPOILER: At that time there was no clear or certain future use to that trailer hitch, but for now it has change and there are specific use for those trailer hitches =). So that about the trailer truck itself. Next thing would be to write about the trailer - and ooh, that trailer is FULL of sooo many features =).

As a member already mentioned, then people want pictures. So instead of surfing in some external sites, here are the pictures of the final build: Truck in it's whole glory:

For some reason I do not have the embedded option to add pictures to the posts. I can only add them as attachments. Maybe that is one of the limitations of newbie members =). Only few more posts to go to be able to show pictures. I did add links to bricksafe pictures, but I have plenty to show =).

Got the anwer to the second question already... THe middle section is too wide :(...

Just to give some background information of the imagination world, then basically it was a Lego wasteland where there were two "cities" on either side and also a "secret" area where diamonds and valuable rocks were to be found that had unearthly powers. To navigate that Lego wasteland, there was a need for a beefed up Lego truck (initially the customized 60035 set truck) and a trailer for carrying a helicopter for surveillance and a quad for quick trips for scouting out the areas where those precious rocks and diamonds could be found. As a heads up, this whole thing got more and more complicated and multiple other trucks were built afterwards. I also have to admit that this imagination world has kind of faded and my son has gone into his own things and builds at this time, but I have been continued with the "theme". I still use my son to test the play features, durability and also to get some improvement ideas. But to keep things interesting, then I'll just update the topic properly according to the actual timeline of the development =). Next time I'll try to post the details of the finalized truck with the trailer. I'll try to explain the needs of all the features also according to the imaginary Lego world =). Maybe that gives some ideas for their own builds (and maybe even play ideas with their child or children). To be continued...

Those were different times indeed... By the way, I figured that there is no separate topic for MOC-s and all are mixed up, so I started to unwrap my latest Lego journey in the Town subtopic =). Hope that it is an interesting read for AFOL-s :P.

Hello, Where to begin... I am very proud of myself and my son for just fiddling aroud with bricks to actually "develop" so to say a whole theme almost. I think I can say that it all started actually about five years ago already and I can say that the fundamental or the the base of this whole thing was my son's mashup of sets 60044 and 60035. I didn't pay much notice to his creation at that time and I was, so to say, busy with my Technic creations... But then, COVID came and like most of us, I was at home much more and well as I was working and then thinking by myself about work stuff and at the same time looking at what my son was doing (playing), then I fixated to the monstrous truck that he had created and played around for a long time already and well - it got my creativity going. When the workday was over (almost), then I didn't care about anything else and I got into the imagination world of my son with all the surrounding things. The mashup truck from sets 60044 and 60035 had some durability flaws that I needed to help my son with and then the building (development) started =). I think it took almost a year to get some actual result and I think I did my first order of spares for specifically for that MOC. Prior to that I had only ordered some missing parts or replacement parts for exsiting sets, but nothing else. The result was basically a tractor truck with a crane, a quad and a helicopter. I must admit that this was mostly my son's creation at that point and I only guided in making the beast of a truck sturdy and strong. When all the required spares were there and the actual build was, so to say, finished, then with a quite detailed conversation of the imagination world, the situations and ongoing things in that imagination world, I found that the truck lacked a lot of things - my road to improvements started. At that point I made myself aquainted with LDD and afterwards with LeoCAD or something similar - few months and multiple spare part orders, play trials, durability/playability test the result was this: LEGO MOC Offroad adventure truck with a semitrailer by P6tu | Rebrickable - Build with LEGO . To be continued...

Oh, how I dreamed of those light and sound sets :D. I wished for one space police set for Christmas, but I got a small space police car =(... But to be honest, then I was a very lucky kid to even get that since at the time the economi wasn't that good (Estonia was part of Russia basically and yeah... that says it all... )...

I haven't given up on that yet and still seems to be achieavable thing to do to get that Lego room :D - and maybe even not in that far future... So yeah, we might be around the same age :D. Just in case, my first Lego was not Duplo. It was the TV car (set 6661). While we are chatting already here - is there a MOC section in this forum or it is one of those things that isn't visible for new members?

We have a dedicated table for the CIty builds, but that is mostly my sons playfield =). We have dreamed of a separate room to have our City builds with our custom things with all the trains, but unfortunately our apartment isn't big enaugh and the master bedroom is offlimits due to my partner. Only time when we can use big bedroom for Lego builds is prior to one specific ESTLUG event, where we can prepare our display ;). But yeah, I need a house :D. At this moment there is one custom build with MILS plates that is about 1,2m × 1,5m in area dimensions, but I have no place to fully assemble it... And that is just the size of this custom build. If we would build all the City theme sets, then we need a very big empty room :D. But it would be awesome =). PS! Kudos on liquorice :D.

Hello, Since I do not have this specific part and it is not available in Studio, then I thought of turning to this audience. I hope that this is the correct place to post this topic. I want to attach this mountain bike to one of my own creations, but I do not know exactly the options that I have. Maybe someone can tell me: 1. How wide the handlebar is (3 studs or wider)? 2. is the middle section of the frame also connectable with a clip or is it too tight? 3. How many studs long is the mountain bike with wheels and without wheels? Thanks in advance =), P6tu

Hi, My nickname is P6tu. I got my first Lego set around 1989-1990... In the beginning of the "dark ages" I lost interest in Lego. In 2012 my son was born and in 2013 one of the first things I did for my sons birthday, was purchasing almost a full set of all current City sets at the time (yeah, got a bit wild :D). After that the Lego bug and fan in me was resurrected :P. By now me and my son together have over 900 unique sets and in total about 1100+ sets with about 24 000 extra parts. About five years ago or so I started to actually create some not so random City builds with my son and this has lead to the development of a somewhat specific line/theme of builds. I will create a separate topic for that City custom theme. Those builds are also the reason why I have finally registered here to get some help. Prior to that I was more into building custom Technic sets. While that theme is still lucrative, then I am finding myself a bit estranged with the new type of bricks (I'm from the era, where Technic builds were done with Technic bricks and Technic beams were not a thing at all. A little bit of trivial information about me and myself: - I'm a fan of cars and I own few classic American cars with the oldest from 1958. - My favourite Technic set: 42128; 42070 (classic sets: 8880; 8868 and 8858) - sorry, there is no one special favourite :D. - List of my sets (not very up-to-date): LEGO Owned by P6tu | Brickset - My MOC-s: MOCs Designed by P6tu | Rebrickable - Build with LEGO - I like liqurice candies (yeah, some hate them, I like them). - I don't drink beer.

Yay, after too many years of just reading this forum I finally registered myself... And this is my first post =).