Blakbird

Excellent. Update this thread with progress so we do not duplicate effort on the same sub models.

Those parts are not missing in my model. I can see them fine. You must not have those parts in your library. The part is 33299a.dat. It is a variant of 33299 (I don't know the difference).

I don't see anything missing, can you send a picture? Are you getting any errors when you open the file? Maybe you don't have the part in your library.

I've posted it on my Bricksafe page. I'm sure it would be possible, but I think the flexibility of ABS would start to become a problem and this may interfere with smooth traces.

Yes, you only need one copy. Of course, you can only build one of the models at a time because they all use the same parts.

Publisher No Starch Press recently released two "LEGO Build-It Books" entitled "Amazing Vehicles" and "More Amazing Vehicles" by Nathanael Kuipers and Mattia Zamboni. Regular readers of the Technic forum here on Eurobricks will be familiar with Nathanael Kuipers and his work. As a former Lego employee and designer, he is responsible for such sets as the 8292 Cherry Picker and the 8674 Ferrari 1:8 F1 Racer. He's also the designer of a number of incredible Technic MOCs such as the Jeep Hurricane, the Concept Car, and the Pony Car. The latter two even have full instructions available. All of this surely qualifies Nathanael to be considered an expert designer. The Book Each soft cover book is 130-150 pages. The content is all full color and printed with excellent resolution and contrast. In fact, it is somewhat better than the quality of real LEGO instructions. I can't miss the opportunity to compliment Mattias' amazing renders of each model. For a long time I was convinced that these were very crisp photographs. Eventually, I realized they are computer generated. As a long time renderer myself, I can appreciate the incredible amount of work that went into these photo-real images. The Content I should start with a caveat. I am almost exclusively a Technic guy, so those funny little round studs are a bit of mystery to me. Sure, I've built the Architecture, UCS, and Modular Houses so I know how they work, but I am hardly an expert in the genre. With that in mind, I found these books quite refreshing. Each book present instructions for 10 models which can be built using the parts from Creator set 5867. The instructions themselves are every bit as simple and detailed as you might expect of the alternate models in an official set. Now, given a fixed pile of parts I could cobble together 10 models which are vaguely recognizable, but I'd not be able to come up with these even with an infinite palette. Granted, that is partly because I don't know what I am doing, but these are no kludges. Each model is well thought out and feature rich. Frankly, I am astounded that so many high quality models (20) were produced with such a small number of fixed parts. Although all are vehicles, there is a lot of variety here from cars to motorcycles to trucks and even a baby carriage. The building techniques are varied as well. Some are traditional, others are filled with SNOT. The chassis of the classic car is even built upside down. Expert AFOLs may not find anything they don't already know here, but the rest of us could learn a thing or two. My favorite thing about this book is using it against my son, age 11. Nearly every weekend we have a discussion that goes something like this: Me: You should build something with your LEGO. Him: I wish I could, but I don't have any parts. Me: What are you talking about? You have a giant bucket with thousands of parts. Him: Yeah, but none of them are good. I can't make anything out of them. Me: You have examples of almost every kind of LEGO part in your bucket. Him: Yeah, but not enough of them and they are the wrong color. At this point I am usually becoming highly agitated. Now I simply plop him down in front of Nathanael's book with a tiny pile of parts and say, "Here, build these." The book dispels the idea that you need a huge collection of parts to make excellent models, and teaches you some great techniques in the process. If there is one criticism I have of the book, it is the choice of model used for the parts. Set 5867 has been out of production for a couple of years and it wasn't very popular in the first place. I confess that I knew this book was coming in advance so I went on Bricklink and got a copy of the set to use for parts. Even at that time, pre-book release, there were only 4 available in the world. I imagine they are all but gone now. Adult collectors will no doubt have plenty of these parts, none of which are particularly rare, but younger readers will have a harder time getting their hands on the parts needed to build these models. In the author's defense, the time it takes to design these models, make instructions, and get the book edited and printed is surely longer than the release cycle of a LEGO set so there is little that can be done about it. In conclusion, I really enjoyed these books and learned a lot from them. Proving to my son that he can be more creative is easily worth the price.

I like the collaborative effort here. I have taken the SR3D file and created an MPD for MLCAD. I've broken it into a few logical submodels and added some rudimentary building steps. Anyone want to take it from here and add more building steps? I've also completed a Brickstore parts list file if anyone is interested. 764 parts with an average value of about $108 USD. That could be reduced by using an M motor instead of an L.

??? There are no 16 or 24 tooth double bevel gears. Did you mean 12 tooth and 20 tooth, or are you referring to spur gears? Whatever gear set you use, the one in the middle has to be a clutch gear which is free to spin on the axle so an independent function can run through.

Thank you for the effort in converting the file. It should be reasonably easy to build from LDraw. I am surprised to see the L motor since I wouldn't think that much power would be required. Welcome to Eurobricks! Wonderful creation you have there and I look forward to building it.

I found this Technic Spirograph on YouTube and was really impressed. There is a thread about it on TechLug (formerly SeTechnic). The designer, PG52 posted an LDD file at Dropbox but it is no longer there. Does anyone know if the file is still available somewhere? Anio? I'd love to build it. Such a unique creation.

I just finished building Nico71's Trophy Truck with CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission). This thing is incredibly cool, but I can't find any evidence that it was ever presented here on Eurobricks. I highly recommend building it. It is really fun to watch the gear ratio changes happening in action as you encounter obstacles. He has full instructions available for download.

Just wanted to mention that I finished building the model this weekend (took a long time to get my hands on some more L motors). Although I knew immediately that I wanted to build this MOC, I have to admit that I did not really appreciate from the pictures just how awesome it is. I've built a lot of excavators and at first glance this doesn't look that different. In fact it is kind of just a big block with an arm on the front. But that subtle exterior masks and interior masterpiece. This things has 8 motors and 10 motorized functions! It also has 7 linear actuators. As I built, I continued being amazed that I was adding even more gears and even more functions to an already glorious machine. A normal excavator has 6 functions: slew, boom, dipper, bucket, and left/right skid steer. This one has different driving functions with drive and 4 wheel steer. The excavator arm has the same 4 functions: slew, boom, dipper, and bucket, but then adds an additional two. The boom has an additional axis of articulation and the whole boom can also pivot side to side without slewing the entire superstructure. As if that all wasn't enough, there are also rear outriggers and a front blade. All motorized! This thing is so fun to use. I've gotten pretty good at operating traditional "CAT controls": two sticks with two degrees of freedom each. However, I have no idea how a real operator runs something this complex. It takes a lot of thinking to dig with it. Anyway, thanks very much to Guillame for this wonder. I did make two very small mods. There are a series of rollers under the superstructure which serve to help support the turntable when slewing. The one on the right side was cantilevered from the body and was really too springy to provide any support. By adding a 1L longer axle on the body I was able to support that roller on both sides and now it adds much more support. The second very minor mod was to the front railing which wasn't connected to anything on the top. I added a couple of 2x2 round plates to make it look more "finished". For the most part, everything works as designed. All the LAs have plenty of power, even the main boom lift. The only technical flaw is with the slewing. Although there are Bionicle teeth on the chassis to act as ramps and help support the superstructure as it rotates past the frame, it consistently gets stuck and makes horrible clicking sounds. Luckily the boom also moves side to side so slewing is not always necessary. Here are a couple of photos of construction. Much more at my Bricksafe. The model is very well sculpted. The only single thing that I wish was different is the exposed electrical connectors that you can see in the last photo on the side of the boom. All of the other copious amounts of wires are well hidden.

Yes, I will Bricklink the parts, but I think I will build the manual version which will help keep the cost down. I can still convert it to use PF later if I win a bunch of money.

Where are you getting this information? I need to know how long I have before bankruptcy.

I remember seeing that as well, I think on YouTube, but I can't find it at the moment. Let us know if you find it. It is pretty important because even if you have the CD (which I do), it won't run on any modern computers. Edit: Found it!

Excellent MOC! I'm not sure I have seen a Z06 before although Jurgen's Sunbeam is a type of Corvette. Eurobricks image size limit is 1024 pixels, but I recommend using Bricksafe for your image hosting. It has an option to link to its images at whatever size you want, so you could easily post them here at 1024 or below.

Moving this to "LEGO General Discusssion".

Good work Ingmar! Once again I can see the effort and quality you have put into your work. Your MK II truck is next on my list of models to build. I am very interested to see all the upgrades in detail. Now if only I had a trailer.....

I did have some trouble getting it to shift properly with the body on, but that had nothing to do with the weight. There was an interference between the body and some of the wires that created binding in the shift mechanism. The same thing could happen to a model at any size. Personally, I have been advocating a 3K-4K part UCS Technic set for years. All the concerns brought up in this thread are valid. It would have to be done right and have to be reliable. I think what would set it apart from other sets is that the build could be very complex and have a high age rating. The problems with heavy models are mostly related to having self propelled. I have no need for my UCS set to be motorized at all, much less drivable. Weight is a big problem for driven models which is why we almost never see them in official sets (with the exception of the very slow crawler). I just want to see something insanely complicated. The assembly line machine from the 8888 Idea Book comes to mind. Barman's container crane is another big, complex, unusual model. Dikkie Klijn's and Grazi's tow trucks both have almost 5000 parts and work great. Another way to get the part count up would be to "shell" a big Technic model in System parts for a detailed Model Team look. This thread about the Liebherr crane is a great example.

Stunning model. The first photos make it look like small City model, and only upon further inspection do you realize how large it is. It is amazing that you have managed to hide all those real technical functions inside such a perfect shell.

I could use those new blue 5x11 panels right now. Glad they found an excuse to put some blue in the model. You might argue it is too many colors, but for a parts pack it makes the set more valuable.

I've deleted the duplicate images, and some of the original images are also larger than allowed by site guidelines. Especially when it is not your own MOC, it is better to post only one or two images and then link to the rest. OP updated.

Does that imply that perhaps the conductive broke down over time due to thermal cycling? If so, the switches may be very hard to repair. If I were to alter the switches to use direct metal-to-metal contact with minimal resistance, could it damage my electronics?

It is a little tricky but I have never damaged a joint by disassembling it.

As the suspension for the forward axle compresses, the axle which drives the steering linkage needs to change length. The worm gear has a loose fit so it is used as a telescoping joint. The rubber band is there to keep the joint from falling apart when it extends. In order to install the rubber band, you must disassemble the u-joints. At the time this model was created the CV joints did not exist. However, the CV joints also have a loose fit and a long overlap so they could be used to update the design if desired.