Jeroen Ottens

Really, really beautiful. The longer I look the more details pop out. Perfect blend between technic en system elements! And the colours are great.

4 motors can be used to power 12 functions... See my Liebherr MOC thread for proof of that. So a 6 function limit is not really due to the motors. Pricetag might become an issue though. You'll need a lot of gears & axles to bring the functions to the right places in the model (I used 176 gears in the superstructure+boom and I really tried to minimize the number of them). But suppose you would use the functions to operate pneumatic switches... Twelve independent RC controlled pneumatic functions... Still a huge pricetag though

I built a SSD myself some time ago, albeit on a bit smaller scale (1.30 m I think). The key is to use all the height available for your inner structure. Bending stiffness is proportional to the third power of height, so the thicker your central beam is, the less bending it will show. Making a studded technic beam frame is the way to go. Stacking a beam, two tiles and another beam on top will give you a spacing between the holes of the two beams that is exactly 2 holes (measured center to center). You can then use a 90 degree rotated technic beam as a side bracing to connect the two main beams. Using that trick you can build beams that are as thick as you want (in multiples of 5 tiles), but can't fall apart because the side-bracing holds the top and bottom beam connected. If you download the instructions for the official LEGO SSD model you can see the central structure they use. Just scale it up two times . I'm interested in how you want to achieve the slopes though. That requires some nice constructions as well...

Amazing as ever! Great model. If I would have to take out one detail: I love those yellow wheel chocks (chucks?) on the side of the trailer.

Thanks for your commentary. Especially the one on the looks coming from you means something! You build some amazingly realistic trucks! As for the missing functions: I do have some tricks in my sleaves yet, so keep your hopes up.

Hi, Happy New Year! After all the encouragment I received last week I have decided to continue my design. And not without succes : - I have been able to strengthen and gear down the geartrain for lifting the boom: it now can lift itself (but only without the extendable sections). - I built a rollerbearing for the superstructure and redesigned that geartrain: rotation works very smoothly now - I strenghtened and geared down the geartrains in the truck: driving, steering is going well - I strenghtened the geartrains for the outriggers: extending the legs is OK, spreading the outriggers works better, but is still not good enough, extending the outriggers is impossible . I made a thinking error in the way the axles should turn. The left outriggers want to extend, while the right outriggers want to contract at the same time. More redesigns needed here... I shot some videos, but the quality is really awful , so I haven't uploaded them. Sorry. I do have some pictures of the gear trains though: These are all the functions in the superstructure: They are colour coded (blue, yellow, red, green) for the 4 groups of each 3 functions. I have now tested 10 of the 12 functions (extending boom & extending boom legs excluded) and they are working fine. I changed the order around a bit. The cable drums now are in the same group as extending the boom. This way you can extend the boom at the same time as rolling out the cables to keep the hook at the same height (assuming gear-ratios do match). And this is the geartrain of the truck, with only the steering & driving parts: The pink stuff is used for the switching between the steering modes, the dark purple is the steering. The medium purple is for driving the two wheels below the turntable. For the clever ones: there is a special relationship between the position of the grey axlejoiners and the 12T gears for the steering. So thanks again for the support and I'll keep you updated on any progress (slow probably, because holiday is over for me). Jeroen

I love those barrels. I've been tempted to do some cementtruck myself, but I never figured out a way to do a decent barrel in technic. You may have persuaded me into the modelteam world...

It's looking good so far, however you have to make sure that the swashplate and the rotorhead keep the same rotation. Otherwise your 6L linkages will wind themselves up.

Thanks. The operator cab is lowered halfway in picture. It can lower to the ground, or raised to above the superstructure level. I'll try to make a video of that function tomorrow to show what I mean.

Thanks for the encouragement , it is indeed a great goal to have it all in working order . Pneumatics will not do the trick I'm afraid. I need a stroke of 14 studs, that requires 4 cilinders in series. I see no way to combine that into the volume that I have available (4x4x27 studs) When I assist the boom with my hand I can make it raise. Lowering it can do all by itself (although it takes >5 minutes). I hadn't thought of these ones. Even though I have seen them come by in this forum. I need a stroke of 14*8=112 mm. That is close to the max stroke they offer. It would be a small compromise. Then again I would like to first try to solve the challenge with all Lego parts. So I'll keep this in mind. Thanks for the link. Thanks for the kind words. This is indeed a very positive minded forum. I like the smaller crane idea, however it can't be a too small crane: the top of the first section is ~80cm above the ground when fully raised and it would still need to lift a considerable mass.

Feel free to steal , that's what this forum is for. It is a tricky system though. I use two gearracks in the front and the back of the model to push the axle either way. However the sum of the axle lengths is not equal to the length of the model (each axle is o so slightly shorter than an integer number of studs and when you have so many connected the total length is significantly shorter, in this case ~0.5 stud). If you're interested I can make a picture of just the steering mechanism. The boom is a few kg's and 70 cm long. It is geared down with a worm gear * 24T and then it uses a wormgear to drive the gear racks in the pistons directly. However the power of the motor is not the problem. The amount of torque in the piston is so great that the elements are pulled apart. I can reinforce that part of the piston even further, but it will compromise the looks.

Hi, I would like to present to you my latest MOC. It is a scale model of the 9 axle Liebherr LTM11200 telescopic crane. It is fully remotely controlled using all 8 channels of the Lego RC system to control 20 (!) functions. The truck contains 7 functions with 4 motors (1 XL, 3 M) and 2 IR units: 1) Drive (and engage the 8 cilinder fake engine) 2) Steer 3) Switch between crab steering & normal steering (with ackerman geometry) 4) Rotate outriggers outwards 5) Extend outriggers 6) Lower outriggers 7) Switch between 1,2,3 and 4,5,6 (just like 8043 switching) The superstructure contains 13 functions with 4 motors (1 XL, 3 M) and 2 IR units: 1) Spread guying arms on boom 2) Raise boom 3) Raise contraweight 4) Extend boom (4 sections) 5) Rotate superstructure 6) Raise guying arms on boom 7) Rotate operator cab back to front 8) Raise operator cab 9) Tilt operator cab 10) Cable drum 1 11) Cable drum 2 12) Rotate and extend optional legs on boom 13) Switch between 1,2,3 and 4,5,6 and 7,8,9 and 10,11,12 (using a nifty mechanism to engage only 3 functions at a time, thus enabling 4x3=12 functions with only 3 motors) The boom is detachable by pulling out 4 axles. In theory it can than stand on its own legs (function 12) and the truck can drive under it. The superstructure is also detachable by pulling out 4 axles. Aproximate piece count so far is ~6000 pieces. Here is an image of the gearbox of the superstructure: And here is an image of the underside: The green lines indicate where the gearracks are located. Each axle has a 13L gear rack at the front side and a second 7L gear rack at variable distances at the backside. One long axle with multiple 12T gears on it can be moved 2 studs. This way either the front racks are engaged (crab steering) or the back racks are engaged (normal steering). A mechanical lock is used to ensure that the switching movement is only possible when the axles are at 0 degree turning. However, the sad part is that a some functions do not work . Lifiting the boom is impossible due to the weight. Rotation is impossible with the Lego turntable that I used. Functions that do not work, but that can be fixed: all outrigger functions (I need to reduce the play in the gear train at some critical points, but that seems to be doable). the switching mechanism in the truck (it works, but it is not foolproof) the steering needs to be geared down Giving the fact that I'm pretty sure that I can't solve the boom raise issue I wonder whether or not it makes sense to go through another design iteration to solve the other issues or that I should leave it at this. What is your opinion? Jeroen

Great MOC. It drives really smoothly for such a heavy MOC. Very nice finish too. A very good blend of technic and system. Well done indeed.

14 : 5 11 : 3 22 : 2

Instantly recognizable :) Nice model

Wow! What an amazing and detailed model. I love the smooth lines. I also like the studded internals. Brings back good memories (I went to the studless darkside a few years ago and probably won't return )

Great model I love the mix of technic and minifig and the absolut craziness of the whole idea

Gefeliciteerd, congratulations Jim. I always suspected that Ted was not your real name, but you looked more like a Richard Krajicek to me...

Nice design. I've been studying this topic as well lately. I found the use of the 3x11 panels for the outer shell very useful. That way you can even satisfy the studless purists + you get a rounded under (or top) side. It does come at the expense of a 4 wide cilinder though.

Very nice truck. Beefed up model team. Do you have any pictures of the suspension?

Amazing creation, such clean lines! You managed to cram a lot of functionality in that model!

42009 for 144 euros

Great model. How many motors have you hidden in those arms?

You mean something like this: Or this, if you're more into Russian fighters or studless lego: Sorry, I couldn't resist

Very cool model!