Blakbird

Incredible work! I am very interested in getting one of these. Do you think the design is refined enough for purchase or do you still intend to make some changes to optimize it? In your demo video, did you gear down the motor or are you driving the actuator at 1:1?

I'm glad to see that you decided to do a manual version after all, because I think I will build that one this time. What differences do you expect the manual version to have? Will you remove the transmission like you did with the Mustang? I think I will also try building this with red pneumatic tubing instead of flex axles and see how it works.

I know I didn't ask for any B-models, but as I go through all the category pages in Technicopedia I'm realizing that there are a couple of exceptions. Has anyone ever seen the 8480 submarine or the 8862 combine? I wasn't able to find either of them. I also realized that I forgot a few Technic models that are not part of the Technic line including some Racers and some Star Wars models. Of the 18 total I was able to find 13 of them so that leaves me only needing 5: 8000, 8007, 8012, 8146, and 8682. I have LDD files for 8007 and 8012 that could potentially be converted. As for the original list in the first post, we are down to only 7 models! Thanks for all the help everyone.

While I agree that the steering angles are not right, I don't think there is any easy solution. There are no gears with the right number of teeth to allow the right distribution, and you can't just use different length steering arms because there is no room. I think it steers well enough given all the constraints. The belt is not synthesized, I just used MLCAD's rubber belt generator. You can just double click on the belt and type in a new diameter for the upper pulley. I had to stretch my belt a lot to install it, so you may not have to use a smaller belt for the smaller pulley. I think I did make changes, yes. I can't remember exactly what they were, but there were a lot of little things that were not quite right in the file which I fixed as I went along.

True, it would be better if they were symmetric. I've seen the same issue with various wheels, and it always bothers me when they are rotating the "wrong" direction. I guess as long as you are doing doughnuts while skid steering, then everything is OK.

Yes. I think those are the ugliest! To each his own.

It's funny how different people have different opinions about appearance. I hear that many people think these wheels are ugly, but I think they are the best looking wheels LEGO has ever made.

I have completed Draft 4 of the instructions incorporating issues I found during the build. At this point, my part in the instruction creating process will be ended. I've uploaded both the "final" draft instructions as well as the LDraw file to my Bricksafe. The model is buildable and playable as is. However, I know there is a desire to "perfect" the instructions and I believe afol1969 is planning to undertake this project. Good luck! The LDraw file is 7273 lines long and many hundreds of those are LPub meta-commands. The photo below shows my final build incorporating any minor changes I made. If I were to recommend any further changes to the model in the future, it would be the following: 2.5L axles (which don't exist) for the drive axles to prevent them from falling out into the CV joints. Much longer stroke boom lift actuator (which doesn't exist). Possible non-LEGO options are Firgelli or the new actuator being designed by Efferman. More counterweight. It has been a great project and this is a great model. I hope everyone has as much fun with it as I did! Since this review was spread over many pages, if anyone wants me to go collect all the updates and put them in the first post, I'd be willing to do so.

To finally finish up my review of the Grove GMK6400 crane, I'll show some modifications I made to the superstructure. I was getting a lot of gear grinding sounds when luffing the boom, and it took me a long time to figure out what it was. If you look at the following image, you can see that there are a whole bunch of axles which stick out 1 stud and never attach to anything. The result of this is that the L motor is not supported very well and tends to sag. At first I thought maybe this meant that the 8 and 24 tooth gears were slipping, but they are actually locked together by a connector so that couldn't be it. Finally I found the problem which is that the 24 tooth gear was scraping on a long pin with stop bush beneath it. I have color coded the image below to show the offending parts in green and red. I removed the green pin with stop bush and the problem went away, but I still wasn't happy with the sagging motor so I added some parts to support it better. Here it is with the 5x7 frame attached. At this point it is very solid and I have no further issues. Once I finish adding these couple of parts to the instructions, I'll publish Draft4 and also the source file and others can take it from there.

Omikron actually never asked for advice on whether or not to sell his collection, he asked for advice on how much he could charge for it. Seems like 95% of the responses are about the question he didn't ask. I have no idea what is going on in his life, but I understand there are things that are more important than LEGO and times when selling assets may be the only way to get by. I had to do it myself at one point and I'm sure he has already weighed the options and didn't come to his decision lightly. Good luck Omikron!

No, I don't think so because there is no controller in the CAD file. I haven't seen any special controller designed for this model.

That was an intentional change. The original file had those parts in dbg, but they are very rare and the color is irrelevant given where they are placed so I changed them to lbg in the instructions.

If you are willing to do LSynth work, there are certainly a bunch of files that need it. I didn't consider pneumatic synthesizing to be a big priority, but it is nice to have! I have plenty of models that need flex axles, ribbed hoses, or flex system as well. One of the problems is that when people build their models in SR3D with splines, none of that data is readable my MLCAD or LDView so I end up having to make the flexible parts from scratch.

Bingo!

It has been a marathon day for LSynth. Anyone know what it is? That's some more incredible rubber band work. Thanks for all your help.

Philo analyzes the battery boxes on his page. The short answer is that the difference between the 9V standard box and the 7.2 Li-Po box is mostly an illusion because the voltage of AA batteries drops off so quickly. In practice you get about the same power out of each. You must buy it separately.

In general you can expect to get much less money per part when selling a large lot than by selling individual sets or parts, but you will also spend far less of your time doing it. The "average" Bricklink prices are only a general guideline. For example, I've never been able to get even average prices for parts I sell on Bricklink because I don't have a large enough inventory to attract customers. The theoretical value of those sets if you sell them individually and are willing to wait for buyers is probably $1500-$2000, but I'd be willing to bet you'd get about $500-$600 for them in the short term selling as a lot.

Impressive. Many of the pneumatic files in the collection don't have any tubes modeled at all, so you've gone above the call of duty. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

For me personally, these are the Racers sets that I consider Technic (and which will be included on Technicopedia), but many others use Technic parts to some degree. 8145 Ferrari 599 8146 Nitro Muscle 8386 Ferrari F1 Racer 1:10 8461 Williams F1 Racer 8649 Nitro Menace 8653 Enzo Ferrari 8674 Ferrari F1 Racer 1:8 8682 Nitro Intimidator Edit: $%^! I just realized that I didn't put these on the list of LDraw files I need.

A lithium battery that has swelled has been either overcharged or overdischarged. Either way it should be considered ruined. I'd ask for a refund. If whatever fault caused the condition is in the battery and not in the charging system, then it could in fact explode when it is charged.

They look fairly similar to the tires I put on my 41999: But not as big as the tires on my Revo!

3 std remotes plus a speed remote is a good option because then you can make a controller that works with everything at once without changing channels.

I'm not quite sure what you are going for with this project. "Proper" R/C motors and batteries will instantly destroy all your LEGO gears and axles. Even if you used R/C for the entire drivetrain, you wouldn't want to use a LEGO PF remote. The IR signal will be out of range outside almost immediately. R/C receivers typically use a +/- 5V signal to communicate with servos and the speed controller, but they need to be made to work together. The LEGO I/R receiver already has the speed controller built in and is already sending out modulated power (PWM), not reducted voltage, so I don't think you could make them talk to each other.

I don't think you are going to get too many complaints if you try to talk about Racers, but you also might not get as many replies as you like. I think it depends on the context of the discussion. There are plenty of Racers sets that are made mostly of Technic parts, and there are plenty of Racers parts (like the R/C motor) that get used in Technic MOCs.

Those are custom made at Shapeways (3D printed) and designed by Efferman. You can order as many as you like.