Blakbird

Cool! Your design leads me to a couple of questions: You are using two dithering mechanisms which are out of phase, presumably to help with dynamic balance. Since these are belt driven, what is the chance of something slipping and changing the phase offset? Have you plumbed your drive cylinders to be compression (push) only, or do they both push and pull timed with the rotation of the wheel? I followed most of the technical stuff, but you lost me here. In this picture there seems to be a problem. The 2L dark gray support at the black input lever is tipping and coming off. This appears to be due to the fact that you have two pivots. One pivot axle is on the main structural longitudinal black beam and the other is on the dark gray support. It is not possible to pivot on the non-concentric axles which forces the whole support to tip when the input tips. Perhaps this is intentional and is designed simply to help hold the lever in it's prescribed position.

If you are really a perfectionist, you will notice that the 8258 wheels have a slightly shorter hub than the older version which looked almost identical, so you can really only use wheels from another 8258 set. I love Han's revisions, but for the dual rear axles, I think I like this one even better because it adds dual rear differentials as well.

The 4.5V motor is similar in that it a high speed / low torque motor. I've taken them apart and it is simply a motor will no internal gearing. It has a smaller footprint than the 9V motor and that, together with the lower voltage, gives you less total power. If it able to accomodate the 8888 crane, but the gear reduction is extreme. I haven't worked it out, but it is at least 1000:1.

I have built the programmable crane from 8888 as seen below in a render. I haven't taken any actual photographs of it. Amazingly, it runs all 4 functions (drive forward/back, slew left/right, hoist up/down, feed programming sled) from a single 4.5V motor which does a decent job of it. I highly recommend this model. BerndasBrot has created the "Aliens" like pneumatic walker from 8891 so perhaps he will talk about it. He has also built the plotter virtually (in LDraw) from 8888.

I'm not sure that limited edition means much of anything. My 8146 Nitro Muscle set says that on the box as well.

Looks like "Limited Edition", whatever that is supposed to mean. Here's the alternate model: There are some good things here including the new large panels in black.

Finally another racing truck so I have something to sit next to my lonely Silver Champion alternate model on the shelf. I quite like it. It has the same Rhino logo as the 8285 tow truck, so I'm guessing this is a Uwe Wabra design. It is hard to tell from the picture, but I am hoping that this thing has the slighter fatter tires from the Nitro Muscle set. Nowhere else to get them. They are practically the same size as the 8880 tires, but not quite.

There is an application called "Brickstore" into which you can put your part inventory (want list) and it will find all the prices on Bricklink for you. Then, if you want, you can export directly to a Bricklink wanted list to go find and but the parts. It is quite useful. If you happen to have an LDraw model of what you want, it will also make a parts list from that.

Without going into details, I will just say that he and I have worked out the arrangement.

I understand the sensitivity of this topic and I thought about it quite a bit before coming to a decision. You could make the same statement about TLG. Lots of people say they wish models were cheaper. Or if you look at the survey results you will see comments like "I wish the UCS Millenium Falcon was $20". Well sure, I wish that too, but in the end TLG is a business and if they did something like that they would cease to exist and we wouldn't get any LEGO at all. I am NOT a business and I believe in giving as much back to the community for free as possible. My Technicopedia web site is free despite the considerable time it takes to write it and the considerable bandwidth required to host it. I don't even have ads. I've also made a number of free instructions before. But I can only spend so much time on this hobby before it becomes a financial problem to the rest of my life. I can't keep doing something which takes as much time as instructions unless I get some kind of return. I'm not looking to make money, just cover the time. This is why I posted this topic to see what people think. If people think it is wrong to charge for instructions, that's fine. I can respect that opinion and it just means I won't be able to spend the time making any more. If people think this type of project is valuable enough to pay for, that's great too and I'll likely take that queue to make some more in the future. I also think instructions are different than MOCs. When you make a MOC, you are making it for yourself for fun and it is no problem to share pictures of it with others and answer questions about technique, etc.. But when you make instructions, they are NOT for yourself and you investing time ONLY to show other people how to replicate something. This is only valuable if people WANT to replicate it and really has no value to the author. I'm keeping track of the votes.

To clarify, what I would be offering is a link to my server where you can download the file. This way I don't need to make CDs and bother with shipping. Just send me a message whenever you are ready.

Some of you may remember the thread about the modern looking Lamborghini Gallardo created by Crowkillers. Some others of you who were paying very close attention managed to notice that I posted some computer renders of this model at my Brickshelf page. It doesn't take a huge leap of logic to realize that this means I reverse engineered the model from Crow's photos and built an LDraw file from scratch (with some help from Paul himself in a few areas I couldn't quite make out on the photos). A few others guessed that I had actually created full instructions for this model, which I have! This is now obvious since Paul is selling kits of his model on eBay along with the instructions. I've received a couple of queries about the possibility of buying the instructions and, having discussed it with Paul, I think I just might do that. I know some people will disagree with the prospect of making money on LEGO, but given the hundreds of hours needed to make the LDraw model and instructions do people think it is reasonable to charge $25 for a set of instructions for a model of this size? Anyone who might be interested, feel free to send me a PM. The Gallardo model itself is fantastic and easily a match for the Ferrari Enzo and Fiorino models officially released. There are about 1500 parts and the instructions are 67 pages.

Care to share any more photos of your pedestal? I have been planning to add one of these to my own 3451 set for a long time, but there's no need to re-invent the wheel if you have already done it!

You can't just say something like that and then not tell us what the project is.

I'm guessing the last one moves the bucket arm side to side like the pneumatic cylinder on 8455.

I just thought I would write a quick message to update the current status of Technicopedia. I am going to be moving to a new house in the Spring, so I have started the process of taking apart all my LEGO for the move. This process takes many months with a collection the size of mine. The effect of this will be that I won't have any models available to document more model years for Technicopedia until after the move is complete. However, 1995 is well under way and I should have that complete beforehand. Those will be the last models I disassemble. I decided that I didn't just want the site to sit idle for all that time though, so I am working on some other things that I can incorporate into the existing site to improve it without access to the physical models. The first thing will be the LDraw model repository. I had originally planned to have a master repository where I have copies of LDraw files for every model in one place, but now I'm thinking of just having a link to the file for each model on that model's page. For example, the page for set 850 will have a picture of the LDraw model and a link to it for download. This will allow closer inspection of every model virtually for those who don't have access to the real thing. Since I've been doing so many renders lately, I'm also adding at least one high resolution render of each model. The next thing is just a general improvement. I've become much more competent at LDraw in the time I've been working on the project, so I'll be going back to some of the original pages and improving the quality of the computer images. Finally is my most ambitious idea. During Brickcon this year, I attended (and helped lecture) a class concerning the basics of how gears and mechanisms work. This was one of the most well attended classes at Brickcon, and this reveals that there are a lot of people out there who just want a basic tutorial on gears, mechanisms, linkages, and the like. Many of these people are not Technic builders per se, but could still benefit from the knowledge for adding features to their System models. Even for Technic builders, not everyone may have the technical background to know exactly how or why certain things work. For this reason, I am developing a "Technical Fundamentals" page to describe some of these things. Then, when I talk about something like a differential in the text, I'll be able to link to a "how stuff works" type page describing the concept for those interested. Here are some animations I've done so far to help make things easy to understand: Spur gears (parallel axes) Bevel gears (non-parallel axes) Differential gear (animated both driven and locked) Rotor (Helicopter rotor swashplate) this one was a little tricky Ackerman Steering (it took an entire day to derive all the correct equations of motion to allow this to animate automatically; it was the most fun I've had with math in a while!) Here are some other things which I have planned but I haven't completed yet: 4 bar linkages worm gears (screws) rack and pinion driving rings LEGO reciprocating engines (old and new style) Trailing arm suspension Double Wishbone suspension U-joints Some of these involve springs changing lengths, so I'm hoping the rumored new version of LD4DStudio will make this type of animation possible. Please let me know what you think of this idea and if you have any other ideas for concepts that should be covered in this kind of section. And thanks to everyone for your continued interest in Technicopedia!

What an amazing first post. Let me start by saying that this is one of the most impressive MOCs I have ever seen. Firstly, your ability to combine Model Team type looks with full technical functionality is very impressive. Next, it is astounding that you managed to pack so many powered features into a model at this scale. I would never guess by looking at it that there were 6 motors, 3 receivers, and a battery box hidden away inside. As if that wasn't all good enough, your photos with the black background look spectacular and your video synchronized with the music is just perfect. This is the type of model I would gladly buy if it was available for sale. If you ever decide to post detailed photos of the build, I'd be happy to make an LDraw file for you which you could use for instructions. Great job and welcome to Eurobricks!!

I am saying that the Technic line is valuable to TLG even in the event that the Technic sets themselves are not very profitable. It enhances other themes. A single model is different than an entire theme. TLG isn't going to spend the money developing a 5,000 part truck if virtually no kids will buy them. But they may develop 4 small models with modest sales figures which will, in turn, supplement the possibilities of all the other themes. So I'm not saying that sales and economics don't matter at all, but I am saying that the value of the Technic line extends beyond the immediate sales numbers.

By now, this rumor has been thoroughly debunked, but I still thought I would offer some thoughts. In the USA at least, it is clear that Technic does not sell nearly as well as the other lines. If you go to the big toy stores like Toys 'R' Us, Technic represent only a couple of percent of what you see on the shelves. Some of the other stores like WalMart or Target sometimes don't have any Technic at all. So why is Technic still worth it? I'll tell you. For comparison, think of NASA. There are some people who think that spending money on space exploration is a waste because it doesn't provide anything for normal people. But I disagree. Getting the smartest people in the world all together in one place working on a project has tremendous value. Whether you like their stated goal or not, those people come up with various and sundry ideas which would never have been imagined otherwise. Those ideas filter into the technology that all of us use every day. We all benefit from their work. I think of Technic the same way. Technic is the flagship LEGO line. They are at the forefront of new functional parts, assembly methods, and ideas. Even if you have never purchased a Technic set, you have benefited from this development. How many Star Wars or City sets have moving parts and functions made possible by Technic parts? A lot! And think of large models like the UCS Millenium Falcon. The entire inner structure is Technic; the only system strong and light enough to make it work. No matter what your LEGO theme of choice is, you will find Technic parts hidden away somewhere making things better. So in my opinion, Technic as a line will and must continue no matter what the sales figures are. It is a driving force behind the advancement of all of the other LEGO themes. As for the complaints about the repeating model themes in Technic or the lack of more complex models like AFOLs make, I think sometimes we forget that these products are made for children. A 14 year old is perfectly happy with a new wheel loader not simply because it is good, but because he/she has no knowledge of those which were made 10 years ago for comparison. It doens't matter that the theme was done before because he/she hasn't seen it and, in any case, it is no longer available. The sets which are released provide the parts for AFOLs to make the MOCs we make. As much as I would like to see CP5670's Annihilator released as a set, there's hardly a kid in the world who be able to afford and/or build it. Certainly not enough to justify the development cost. So take heart, Technic fans. Things will continue as they have. And I think we would all agree that the products in the last few years have just been getting better and better. Long live Technic!!

Probably because that pin (Technic pin with friction and slots) is the primary method of attaching LEGO parts together other than using studs. Many System sets, including Star Wars, use a Technic frame for strength on the inside of the model, or use a few Technic links to have moving sections of the model. Invariably, these are held together with the part you mention. By way of comparison, Peeron says I have over 50,000 of those parts.

Thanks, that makes a lot more sense now. What size and type of servo did you use? I've got a whole bucket of pico, micro, and sub-micro R/C servos laying around that could be used for something.

OK, I can see that you are controlling an R/C servo with a Lego I/R transmitter. You are using the servo to turn an axle. What does this have to do with pneumatics? There are no pneumatics in your photos. There are some in the video, but I can't see how your system interacts with the pneumatic system. Does it simply move the existing LEGO pneumatic valve? If so, can't you already do this with a LEGO motor (even though it would be much bigger)?

Hmmm, I wonder what Blakbird and Crowkillers are up to? I guess we better keep watching to find out.

That implement is called a "ripper". Yes, this is normal. Remember that a worm gear moves in a transverse direction across its mating gear. In this case, when the driving worm gear starts spinning, the sideways friction combined with the inertia of starting the gear train in motion causes this sideways oscillation. Since the whole assembly is cantilevered off the back of the chassis and is not very stiff, this motion is quite noticeable. No problem. On the other hand, with any Technic model it is always a good idea to make sure that none of the axles have too much friction and can spin freely. Bushings should not be squeezed tight across liftarms, for example.

I think that is one of these: Cool!! That will be a useful part. I also noticed that they are again using the linear actuator bracket as a gearbox. If you look closely, it appears there may be a new gear. From looking more closely at images of the buggy, I can't imagine any way that the rear suspension is actually independent. Looks like a solid trailing arm that the engine sits on. So this is just a bad description on Amazon. Also note that they wrote "pneumatic-like" switches for the loader. They're not "like" pneumatic switched, they ARE pneumatic switches. I don't know if Amazon wrote this or if the words come from Lego. If from Lego, they need to revise.