Blakbird

Tough call. Like nychase, I have built Han's Prinoth Leitwolf, and it is indeed a superb model. However, in terms of sheer complexity I guess that dikkie klijn's model wins out. Han's model has 4 motors (2 XL and 2 M), 2 IR receivers, and 2 pneumatic actuators. Dikkie's has 10 motors (2 XL, 8 M), 4 IR receivers, 20 LEDs, and 8 pneumatic actuators. It is crazy complicated and therefore awesome. I'd love to build one. There are 50 pictures on his photostream, but even so it would take a lot of effort to reverse engineer it. I'd love to do instructions for it....

Actually, slicks were banned in F1 from 1997-2009, so when these LEGO tyres were introduced on the Silver Champion they were accurate. You can see it clearly in the picture below. But they are no longer accurate in 2012.

That was the first thing I checked, but it is not used in the B model either.

I can see that this uses the F1 tires on the front and I see your dimensions listed in studs, but I'm still having trouble picturing just how big this thing is. Do you have any pictures of it next to something we can use for scale, like a minifigure on another model?

Every set which uses linear actuators should have the option of motorization, and thankfully most do. LEGO seems to have some aversion to re-introducing this part. There is a spot in the dipper of the 8043 which really obviously should have been a 6L, but they used 7L instead (see below). The extra pin length is useless and just hangs inside the bracket. What makes this so odd is that this part is NOT out of production. It was in 8110 this year in LBG and in 8067 and 8109 in LBG and black respectively last year. Why not yellow, especially when yellow is otherwise so common?

The definition of "golden age" is bound to be a highly personal one. For most people, their selection of a golden age will be based more on nostalgic reasons than technical reasons. The sets we grew up with or the ones that most inspired us are most likely to be associated with a golden age. For example, I'd wager you will find almost no one under the age of 20 who feels that the golden age was any more than 10 years ago. This is partially because they have never seen or built the older sets. As someone who has built all the Technic sets, I guess I'm in a good position to look across the entire product line. I also did not have any Technic as a child, so I don't have any particular nostalgia associated with any of them. Personally, I think the golden age was 1994-1996. This is based not only on the fact that I like the models, but the fact that Technic had a strong identity. When you bought a Technic model, you knew what you were going to get. It would be a highly functional model with function over form, using the parts to their fullest extent in unusual ways for unusual models. Later, starting about 1998, Technic lost its way. Micro models, Tech Play, and competition models were an attempt to branch out and make Technic appeal to a wider audience. Later, this went even farther with Roboriders, Slizers, and then Bionicle (which was originally Technic). While these are arguably all good products, they diluted the Technic brand to the point that it was no longer clear what a Technic model was supposed to be. I do think that we are entering another golden age. The focus on function in recent sets, the willingness to make bigger and more complex sets, to introduce new parts, and to reuse old systems (like pneumatics) have made for some really tremendous models the last few years. I will always have a special place in my heart for studs though, and I miss them. I understand the reasons for studless building and I enjoy it, but its weakness is stiffness. Take any studless chassis and put it in torsion (twist it), and it bends like crazy. If you happen to have 8436, it is one of the worst. You can bend the rear of the chassis to a 45 degree angle with the front. Studded chassis never had this issue. The best combinations of the two systems were 8466 and 8457.

Technic bricks can be joined end to end without lapping them by using plates. Beams can't. This can be a big space savings for cranes.

You are in a real conundrum here. While there are a wealth of good pneumatic sets out there, most of them are older, larger sets and are therefore reasonably rare and unreasonably priced. If the cost of 8110 is a significant barrier, you may have trouble finding a pneumatic model much cheaper. For the old style pneumatics, I like 8851. It is not too large so you can get one at a reasonable price. For an older model with the double acting pneumatics, I recommend 8854. Fantastic model and fun to use. 8862 was an older flagship but can be purchased quite reasonably. It is distinct enough from your 8069 backhoe that your wife won't compare them. Trust me, I know. There are also a couple of good sets which were released repeatedly. 8460/8431/8438 is a wonderful pneumatic crane. If you search carefully for any of the 3 versions, you can probably get a good deal. Likewise, 8459/8439/8464 is a pneumatic loader with an air tank that you can pick up for a reasonable price. 8868 is fantastic but probably out of your price range. Same with 8455. 8421 isn't really even a pneumatic model; it only has a single function. However, if you go for one of the smaller models above, you won't be disappointed.

Yes. If you really want it to be realistic, you'll put little "remove before operation" tags on the lock links. These really exist.

Although it is unusual for a biplane to have the upper wing aft of the lower wing, they do exist.

This has been proposed from time to time, but LEGO has not really shown any interest. Note that years when this has previously happened were the "dark years" for LEGO when they were losing money, almost going out of business, and trying to save money on development. I doubt they are going to want to repeat much that occurred during that period. Personally though, I like the idea. I think there are a few "classics" that many would love to have. The main problem would be that parts have gone out of production and the lack of current molds would probably make the idea impossible.

Any pneumatic system under load will bleed pressure over time. There is nothing wrong with your parts. Hydraulics will eventually do the same thing, it just takes longer. There is nothing you can do to the pneumatics themselves to make them hold over time. If you want to lock your model with the boom raised, just make the axles at the end of the actuators longer and attach some Technic beams to them to hold the length (see image below). If you don't want to make the lock link so long, just attach it further back on the boom instead (2nd image). I just thought of one final solution which uses the pin holes on the sides of the pneumatic actuator brackets. I like this one the best. Unobtrusive appearance if you use yellow.

8462 is an awesome set for quite a few reasons. It has 6 of those super rare low profile silver wheels and tires. It has 2 pneumatic air tanks. It has lots of rare blue parts. 3 pneumatic functions + HOG steering. All of the sets of these years had a ..... unique look to them. You've probably never seen a real tow truck that looks like this, but I personally like the styling. $190 is a little high but it would be worth it if it was new with no shipping.

It should not need any rubber bands or weight to retract if connected properly. These old single port actuators have no check valve to they are capable of extending due to positive (blowing) pressure gradient or retracting due to negative (sucking) pressure gradient. But only the valve block will allow the latter to occur. If you just connect it to a regular pump directly, it won't work. Read a bit more about it here. The 2nd generation pneumatics (which we still use) work quite differently. You can read about those here. Sounds like you have the old pneumatics so you have to make sure you only hook them up with the valve block in the circuit.

I drove real cars on real lakes all the time when I was younger. Of course, the ice was 2 meters thick... This looks like just as much fun as I remember!

The point is the same as any other function of a Technic model: to be as realistic as possible.

Consider it an excellent parts pack then. At the time, the tires and the 3x3 T liftarms were very hard to get, and of course there are those yellow 5x11 panels. I'm not sure about worst of all time. There are plenty of other models that don't do much of anything such as the Throwbots, RoboRider, 8277, 3057, and 8433.

Sadly, because it would require LEGO to negotiate a licensing deal with Honda, this cannot be approved as a CUUSOO model. It would have to be a generic motorcycle.

As gross as it sounds, house dust is mostly human skin cells. Therefore, rooms with a lot of human traffic in them tend to gather a lot of dust, and rooms you never go into don't.

Cool idea! The one drawback I see is that the torque of the drive motor will tend to backdrive the servo. This means that the servo needs to react the entire propulsive torque. I could imagine that a high torque motor like an XL, when under load, might force the servo out of gear. If you used the train remote, at least you wouldn't have to hold down the button to position the servo. You could dial it to where you wanted it and it would stay there.

I mostly use the dining room table. The more room, the better. I usually do a basic sort into panels, liftarms, and "other". It is helpful to remove the large parts so you can more easily find the small parts. I never use bins because it is too hard to see the part you are trying to find. You can see my basic sort and build layout here. Sometimes for a very special project or a review I will do a much more thorough sort like this. Sorting takes a long time, but it makes the build go much faster.

I think you are the first person to get an actual, physical copy. I know I am eagerly waiting for mine!

I just finished building it last night. It is really a great car with amazingly dense functions and it looks superb as well. The instructions are very well done and easy to follow. Jurgen obviously put a lot of work into this.

Looks like a wheel loader to me.