Blakbird

The box is meaningless, so it doesn't matter if it has that or not. What you want is the model. I bought mine back before Bricklink was around and paid almost $300 for it. I've never regretted it.

I also always open them, but I agree with the video idea. Since no one may find one of these unopened again, it is your duty to record the state of the unopened packaging for posterity.

I have a Windows XP machine that will run the software. You can also download a disk image from which you can extract all the MOV files. It's getting them in order and converting them to still images that's the trick. That video you found would at least allow you to build the model. Resolution is not too good (not as good as capturing the source files), but it does the trick.

You can't print out the instructions. The reason no one has ever posted them is that the only way to see them is to run the software that comes on the CD. The instructions are animated, and each step is an individual Quicktime movie file. You can't print a movie, and you can't even tell from the file names which order they go in. The only way to properly "export" the instructions would be to go through the animated instructions on CD and then take a screen capture of the static portion of each step, then name these files with sequential numbers. You could then convert these image files to PDF. It would be a huge project, but there is no other way to preserve these instructions. Eventually, no one will be able to run that software.

And now in white.... (with a dark bley interior)

The top is really low because it is supposed to be. Look at the pictures of the real Countach at the beginning of the topic. There is enough slop in real LEGO construction that you can get pretty close and bend things into shape if they don't quite fit. But in the computer, those little errors add up. On the windshield the angles in the corners don't all quite add up so it is impossible to connect everything perfectly. In real life it would look fine. You looked pretty closely if you saw the gap in the bottom of the window because I tried to put it somewhere that would not be noticeable.

For those of you wondered what this would look like in orange, I have just completed my CAD file and answered that question. It looks fantastic. Sadly, the parts to build it in this color do not exist. It may be possible to build it in white though (which I will render next).

No, I did not get a PM. Sadly, no. Bricklink does not remove the items from your wanted list when you buy them. You have to do that yourself. This would be a great feature that would save me a lot of time. Not exactly. If you get an account on Peeron and then tell it which sets you have, it will keep track of how many of each part you have. By looking at the inventory for 8069, you could compare with your parts, but it is not automatic. There's another new inventory website (which I can't recall at the moment) which may do what you want. The 8069 Backhoe has unique actuators though, so there are no other sets you could use to build that one.

Not yet. I'm not entirely sure what they are until I have built the truck to see. 2LEGOornot2LEGO seems have removed the detail internal photos from Brickshelf, so there aren't any images that show the steering any more. I'm not sure why he did that. You could try asking him directly. He is a member here at eurobricks.

I'm curious as to how you know that the 8043 sells better than cars. Do you have access to some kind of sales figures that we don't?

True. That steering wheel is for the alternate model (truck), so it is not a difference between the main F1 models. Correct. The metallic green panels in NKs Supercar come from the 8466, not from the 8458. Both models are needed to make the Supercar. I just changed the silver to blue and the green to white, so it is not surprising that there is not enough white to complete the car in the 8641. There are some other anomalies. The holes in the smooth panels are not big enough for the ribbed tubing to fit, so the tubing in the picture cannot actually be installed. It is only there through the magic of computer rendering. In a real model, you would need to replace them with flex axles. I also changed some of the angle connectors to blue but I am not 100% sure that all of them really exist. This was an imaging exercise! You could probably build most of it in real life though.

To be clear, it DOES have a transmission. However, that transmission is not used to change the gear ratio between the drive wheels and the engine, rather it is used to route the power of the electric motor to different functions. There is no fundamental difference between these two uses of a transmission. From a LEGO perspective, I'm sure they chose the latter simply because it offers more play value to the set's target demographic, 10-16 year old boys. While I personally appreciate the older supercars with gear changing transmissions because of their accuracy with respect to the operation of a real automobile, the actual play value of that feature was rather low since all it did was make the engine move at different speeds. I thought the place it was best implemented was in the 8448 Super Street Sensation if the optional electric motor was added. In this case, a pair of yellow liftarms were used to raise the rear wheels off the ground. You could watch the engine turn at a constant speed while shifting through the gears and watching the rear wheels speed up. Contrast this with 8880 where you simply had to push the car along the ground and shifting gears just caused the engine to turn at different speeds. There is already a limited number of kids who can afford (or whose parents can afford) a model of this size, so the more they can do to make its play value attractive to these kids, the more of them they will sell. My two cents.

The first two main models you can get instructions on Brickset. For the third alternate, if you search here on Eurobricks you'll find a post with a PDF of the instructions. For Nathanael Kuipers models, look at his Brickshelf folder. Nathanael made his own instructions for the first. None for the GT Car, but you can build it from the CAD file. For the Supercar, NK did not make instructions, but a third party did using his CAD file. I can't remember where I found them, but you can probably find a link searching Eurobricks. I built my copy before the instructions were available directly from the CAD file, so I don't know how good the instructions are. Obviously, there are no instructions for the new blue version I posted.

This line of thinking got me curious, and I wanted to know what the Nathanael Kuipers supercar would look like if made from 8461 instead of 8458, so I decided to answer my own question. The answer: it looks awesome:

It's not quite a metachronal rhythm, but it is really cool to watch.

I've never tried it, but yes you should be able to build the 8458 B-model "silver truck" with the 8461. I have built the silver truck several times and really like it, but I've never tried it with the Williams Racer. It would certainly look different. Of course, that's not all you can build. Beyond the main model and the silver truck, you can also build a 3rd alternate model, the "silver sportscar". The instructions were only available in downloaded form. I've built it, and it is not very good compared with the other two models, but it is worth trying. Then, of course, there are Nathanael Kuipers models you can build. There is a "Sportcar" using only the parts from 8458, then the "GT Car" and "Supercar" also use the parts from 8466. The last one in particular is fantastic. I've never seen one built in Williams colors, but it would be fascinating. A Model Silver Champion B Model Silver Truck C Model Silver Sportscar D Model NK Sportcar E Model NK GT Car F Model NK Supercar

They are virtually identical except for color. Among the differences: 8461 uses the newer panels which are smoother than the old ones. The old panels have holes for tubing to be inserted. 8461 has a flatter rear spoiler wing to allow for placement of the large sticker. 8461 has a lot more stickers overall. 8461 has some rare parts including blue pistons for the engine and white flexible axles. That's about it. Chassis is identical, body construction is identical except for what I listed. The parts list has only a few different parts to account for the spoiler. You can generally pick up 8458 for less money because it is more common. The choice really comes down to color and whether or not you like stickers. The 8461 stickers get easily destroyed by UV and then it looks terrible. By the way, 8674 is the same physical size and is also an F-1 car, but the construction of that one is totally different. It is all studless and has very little part commonality with the others.

I like the one with turntables in the hubs because it is a unique solution and because it looks kind of like brake drums. That old bevel gear driving the ring gear of the turntable will probably break, but if this is just a model and not for a competition, then that doesn't matter. If you really want it to climb obstacles, then that part probably needs to be stronger.

I'm almost done collecting the parts to build his US Truck. Haven't built it yet though.

You've already done the hard part in putting together the list. Now: Create a Bricklink Account Go to the "Wanted" tab to make a Wanted list Choose "Parts", and start adding all the parts you need to your wanted list. Once the list is complete, click on "By Store". Bricklink will list the stores which have the greatest number of the parts you want. You may want to just look at stores in your own country. Click on a store name, and Bricklink will bring up a list of all the parts that store has on your list. Click "Auto-fill cart min" and Bricklink will choose the right number of each part. Checkout and buy your parts. Repeat if you didn't get everything you need. If you want to check prices, you'll have to look at more than one store to see how they compare.

Quick conclusions: "Goose" likes tracks. Otherwise 8043 and 8263 are actually quite different. 8043 is a gear system marvel, while 8263 has barely any gears at all. It uses all linkages. Markus favors construction equipment. His builds are very sturdy and well thought out. There are often modular components to the build. The 8284 "Dune Buggy" designed by Markus is actually a tractor. It was just marketed as a B model in the USA. This is the same as the 8063 tractor listed by Markus and Alfred, so we have to assume Alfred designed the trailer. Alfred's designs are all over the map, but he tends to utilize complex linkages instead of gear systems. He has a lot of functions that "tip". Uwe obviously likes trucks, and I assume he used to work in the "Racers" division. His work on the Ferrari racers that use Technic components is probably what resulted in him getting transferred to the Technic team. Nathanael is a perfectionist. His models are very carefully engineered. Every part has a purpose. Olav's 8435 is a unique model. I just rebuilt it, and many of the specific build techniques and steps do not appear anywhere else. Even the colors used in the chassis are very unusual. The engine block is dark gray, the only place that happened.

FYI Jurgen and Jovel, I have your Little Devil and Black Dragon cars sitting next to each other on my shelf right now. Good work coming out of Lowlug! Keep it up.

The digging speed is really good, but the slewing speed is WAY faster than scale. The whole superstructure jerks and recoils every time is stops. This must be another 11.1V LiPo model.

Actually, that is a good point. TLG uses Maya for instructions, renders, and animations (I've been told). So all of the animated parameters need to be set by the animator. If the animator forgets to tell any of the components how to move, they won't. SR3D is a kinematic package, so all connected parts move together automatically. Doesn't make the same quality renders though...

It would take many hundreds of hours to create instructions for a model this complicated, so I don't have the time. However, I'd be happy to share my CAD file as long as it is OK with Jovel. I also have a Brickstore file with a parts list. The differences in building style have nothing to do with the panels. Just the overall approach is different. Crowkillers uses mostly studless beams and pins. Jovel used a lot more triangles and L-brackets and angle connectors. I just rebuilt Grazi's monster truck, and he used literally hundreds of angle connectors. Each method is totally different, but fun in it's own way.