Blakbird

Wow, that truck sure looks great with a big trailer hauling heavy equipment. Now 8258 just needs the dual rear wheels upgrade to make it look even better (and match the trailer).

If you have come up with a correct scale counterweight, by all means please include it in the instructions.

There are plenty of MOCs that do this using rack gears, so it is certainly possible.

Not that I know of, but you can "follow" a thread and be alerted any time there are new posts in it.

There are, of course, hundreds of worthy MOCs that are not in the book. Choosing the models was a difficult process. Among the criteria were not just that the model is great, but that there be high quality pictures available, that the designer be reachable, and that the model represent something different so that the book would have a wide variety. As a commercial product, the book also needs to appeal to not just EB Technic contributors, but to people who have not given much thought to Technic before. I think this last criteria is why you perceive that there is an emphasis on looks. We die-hard fans are drawn to function over form, but most of the rest of the readers are not. It's hard to please everyone! Personally, I'd avoid phrases like "winning entries" which tends to suggest that the book is/was a popularity contest or that designers provided their work for consideration. It was nothing like this. The models were chosen to cover a broad spectrum and appeal to as many people as possible. They are not necessarily superior to any other models, and the book is not a Hall of Fame.

There are plenty of old Racers sets that count as Technic with nearly 100% Technic parts. I am including those in Technicopedia on a selected basis. (8145, 8146, 8386, 8461, 8649, 8653, 8674, 8682) Quite a few UCS sets have a large Technic core, including the ISD, the Death Star II, the Falcon, and the Imperial Shuttle. I was amazed at how much Technic there was inside the shuttle, yet it no way would I call any of these sets Technic. Of course, there are a dozen real Technic Star Wars sets from 10 years ago, but these actually say Technic on the box. (8000-8012 and 4481) A few of the early Bionicle sets were almost entirely Technic. I'm not talking about the figures, but the larger models like 8538 or 8539. In the Creator line, the 4958 Dinosaur is all Technic and Power Functions. The modern studless Technic parts don't mix all that well with System, so I don't think you are likely to find many System models that you would consider Technic. i seem to recall that we've had virtually this same topic before but it was a couple of years ago.

The topic you were looking for is this one. However, I cannot use LDD files, only LDraw files. The conversion does not work reliably. In addition, I'm not including the Cybermaster stuff in Technicopedia at this time so I don't need 8450. Thanks for the offer though!

Space is one consideration, but dynamic balance is another important reason for cylinder arrangement.

9: 10 33: 6 6: 4 1: 3 21: 2 43: 1 Jim, I hope your vote counting software works. A lot of people did not follow the instructions to use a colon as the delineator and used something else instead.

Yes, the number is the number of cylinders. The "V" means that the cylinders are arranged in two banks in the shape of a V. By comparison, most 4-cylinders are "inline" meaning that all cylinders are in one row, and some six cylinders are "boxer" or "horizontally opposed" which means that the two banks of cylinders face directly away from each other. There are a couple more rare and odd configurations like "W" or "H". Most modern 4 cylinders are inline, most modern 6 and 8 cylinders are V.

I'm not sure why that would be an improvement. The L motor was developed with this application in mind and it works perfectly. The crawler has the power to go over anything reasonable. An XL motor has more torque but I don't think you'd be able to use any of it, and it would take a lot more room.

The stack of tubing you see on the table in my photo is all I had set aside for this project, and I did not even need all of it. I would estimate 1 meter each of black, gray, and blue which will leave enough for scraps as you cut.

I think the black top looks good. I agree there can be too much yellow otherwise. Do you have any pictures of your new superstructure installed on the crane?

In most cases I leave everything together, although I am completely out of room so I have started to take apart a few MOCs here and there. Here is my "truck wall" from more than a year ago. Even if there was an empty space, the shelves are not big enough for Lucio's truck so I don't know where I am going to put it.

I like it! I it is much more enclosed and attractive than the original. You have to love this project and what a community effort it has turned into. Every time we think we are done there are still more improvements to make.

No, I was there in non-corporeal form hovering outside the window.

I can remember when Alasdair was born .....

Sorry, I don't understand those words. There is only LEGO. Seriously though, I forgo sleep for long periods when building. Either I forget to go to bed, or even if I do go to bed I can't sleep because there are parts turning around in my head so I just get up and build again. This was a 4 day holiday weekend in USA so that gave me lots of time to build. Plus, my wife starts getting agitated if I take the whole dining room table for more than a couple of days! I'm afraid I have no idea. I just attached a long tube to each component and then cut them to length on installation. I never measured them.

After a marathon weekend of building, I have completed this truck and thought I would share a few pictures. First I'll show the pile of parts. There are a lot of panels and a tremendous number of liftarms, but surprisingly few "general" parts. There are about 2000 pins! These next images show the chassis. You can see the pneumatic suspension in back and the massive pile of shocks in the front. The second image shows all the rear fairing installed. In the close-up you can see the lower I/R receivers and the small channel where all the pneumatics and wires come out to be joined into the function compartment. Next comes the function compartment. Inside this is another battery box and I/R receiver, a switch for the lights, a pneumatic compressor and pressure regulator, a switch for the cabin tilt, an autovalve for the fifth wheel. and a switch for the PPTO. In the second picture you can see the fifth wheel which is locked and unlocked with a small pneumatic cylinder. Now I'll work on building the cabin. Unlike most Technic models, this is not full of holes. You can see that the entire cabin floor and back are covered with gray panels. The second image shows the interior with a full control console, air-ride driver's seat, and even a folding bed and fire extinguisher. Now at last the model is completed. I knew it was going to be huge, but somehow I was just not prepared for how truly massive it is. Only a comparison can do it justice, so I took a picture next to Jurgen's Kenworth which was previously among the biggest trucks I had. Bigger versions of all photos at my Bricksafe.

I agree that it looks a bit out of scale with the 42009 carrier. Hopefully it will look better on the Grove with the larger boom. Efferman, looking forward to your boom test!

Wow, you have really made some huge changes! This superstructure looks incredible. Have you built it in real bricks to see how well it works, or only in LDD? I am interested to see how it integrates with the rest of the model and how well the actuator works. I think I will have to paint my actuator to look good with the model. Now how long until afol1969 makes instructions?

That's a very nice truck. I like how he uses the old Technic tires like Dennis Bosman does:

There aren't any. Most MOCs don't have building instructions, and any that do will always have a link highlighted.

I prefer the single books, but I can't say exactly why. Perhaps it is just because they feel more substantial and now do not have breaks in random places.

Short of step-by-step instructions, it is pretty hard for anyone to tell you exactly what you'll need. Your best bet is to have a wide selection of parts on hand, and the way to do that is have a big collection. If you bought one of the big motorized sets you'd almost certainly have enough of whatever you needed to motorize 42029. Apart from that, you could try building digitally. Download Lego Digital Designer first. If you are really feeling ambitious, build 42029 right there in the computer to familiarize yourself with the software. Otherwise just download the file from the database here on Eurobricks and then take it from there.