D3K

Hi all! I finished this build yesterday, and am quite happy with the resulting model, so I took it out for some pictures today. Unfortunately the batteries in the model died out before I had a chance to film it, so I'll have to do that tomorrow (feel like I need to prove that all the functions actually do work on this one ) So here it is, the Tow Truck Mk II, a combination of a European truck with a typically American "rotator crane"(??) on the back (a Eurotator?) First some information regarding this MOC (of course, you don't have to read it ) As many of you might know, I built a pneumatic tow truck/recovery truck roughly two years ago, and a lot of you even seemed to like that model! When I finished that model, I wanted to make an RC PF version with the same functions and body, and I also wanted to make one powered by just one motor, with function switching gearboxes as the ones you see in most of the official non-RC PF sets released by TLG. Well, it only took about to years to get around to actually doing it! Due to the fundamentally different techniques building with pneumatics vs mechanical functions, some compromises had to be made, and some features could even be added! Firstly, this model has no suspension. The back of the model is pretty densely packed with axles and gears and functions, so fitting live axle suspension while maintaining a somewhat acceptable overall rigidity in the model was deemed impossible (for me) very early on. Also, du to the various functions going to the front, suspension there was not worth it either. Secondly, the swing-out outriggers of the original model from 2013 needed to be unnecessarily complicated, bulky, and not very strong, so I opted for an alternative solution. However, I did manage to make the fourth axle steered, something the 2013 model did not feature As you can see, it uses the genreal colour scheme and a lot of the stickered pieces from 8109. The model was initially all yellow, like the last one, but I wanted to spice things up a little, and am very happy with the resulting colours Okay, enough babbling, here are a couple of more pictures: In the above picture, everything is deployed/opened. The motorized functions are: 1. Tiltable cabin (small LA) 2. Front stabilizers/outriggers (small LAs) 3. Front winch 4. Middle outriggers (worm drives, self locking geometry) 5. Rear stabilizers/outriggers (small LAs) 6. Wheel lift elevation (small LAs) 7. Wheel lift extending (large LA) 8. Wheel lift tilting (small LA) 9. Crane rotation (worm drive) 10. Crane lifting (large LA) 11. Crane boom extending (worm drive/z8 gear/gear racks) 12. Crane winch Other features are: -Openable doors -Working V8 engine -Openable side- and rear panels (to access battery box, as well as some chains and attachments for the towing fork) -Proportional steering with Ackermann geometry on axles 1, 2 and 3. The crane superstructure has two gearboxes for the three functions up there. That means there is a constantly running single axle going through the turntable, and the cranes functions are selected up top. This allows for infinite rotation, with none of the cranes' functions being affected. Yeah, I know that bull barmight be ever so slightly overkill, but IMO it's not too bad It can even lift things directly in front of it Lastly, the underside shot: Also, for those who haven't seen them yet, here are a couple of quick renders showing the internals of the model: And with colour coding for the various functions All pictures and renders can be found in higher resolution in the appropriate Bricksafe folder. Overall I'm quite happy with the resulting model, but even though all functions work, at least one of them is not ideal (cabin tilt; I'm looking at you). Also, I feel the crane superstructure could be made more elegant. Anyway, hope to be able to make the video tomorrow! Comments, thoughts and criticism is as always appreciated!

14: 10 4: 6 10: 4 13: 3 20: 2 9: 1 14 - Moby Brick - Hands down the best entry in my opinion. Super smooth two stage transformation, and very sleek looks! 4 - Blightmaw - This one had me from the start! The transformation is so simple, yet so brilliant. It's not a Technical masterpiece, but great colours, and very toy-like looks make this a winner in my book. 10 - VIP transporter - When it comes to LEGO, I'm usually not a fan of "bigger is better", but this entry resonates so well with the type of model I myself pictured this contest was all about (I'm unfortunately not familiar with M.A.S.K). It's obvious that a lot of work went into this, and it paid off! 13 - Valuable Transport - Sleek, good looks in normal mode, and an elegant (albeit slow) transformation. Just don't like the batterybox, but that's a necessary compromise at this scale 20 - Masticator - Very toy-like functions, but they seem to be so perfected. Very awesome model! 9 - Hellhound - Great looks (in battle mode), and very smooth and simple transformation. Honorable metions: 16 - The Sandstormer - Fantastic model! 17 - Jurassic Revenge - Great pictures, made me laugh Allocating the points was (as usual) much harder than expected!

Hello again! Been a lovely summer, the few days that have had good weather, I have spent camping in misc mountains, and the bad-weather days have among other things been spent building and designing. Have made quite a few MOCs as of lately, most of which I have already shown (Swingloader IV, White Excavator, and the Midi-Scale Crane Truck), and there was even a very nice contest! The last couple of nights I have been working more on my revised Recovery Truck, and am in the process of putting the finishing touches on it (cab interior, some exterior details, etc). Most importantly, I have successfully made the crane as I intended, and all the functions are working smoothly (to recap, it has now a total of twelve (12) motorized functions, all driven from one PF L-motor. I'll show a couple of quick renders of the internals here, and hopefully the actual model will be finished over the weekend! All pics clickable for higher resolution

Yes, 8420 it is And yes, the B-model (assuming that's the chopper you meant?) of this set is pretty nice as well, however I think the B-model of 8051 is better! Don't have that set though, but I want it for the B-model! EDIT:

If you read the posts in this topic, you'll find your answer! :thumbup:

Ah, copy that! Yes, that is definitely something that is over due!

I'm glad you seem to like it! I, for one, am currently displaying it in a shelf First set to be on display in my home! Yeah, ideally I would have made two of them, but that was my whole supply of cam pieces I'll try to remember to order some more on my next Lego haul Definitely, especially the tank area IMO needed some major refinement My version is by no means perfect, but given my limited supply of modern studded (normal) parts, I'm quite satisfied Also something I noted when building this, is it uses a lot of techniques I'm pretty sure we'd not see on a set released these days. Especially the steering wheel area uses a lot of half beams and not exactly sturdy builds, no doubt to give it the sleek look, but at the cost of rigidity. It's interesting to see how for example they attached both side mirrors, with only one pin in a #3 connector, etc. Like I said; techniques I don't think we'd see today. Overall, I still think this is the best Technic motorcycle they ever released, and quite possibly one of the best looking Technic sets ever!

Wow, that is one of the simplest, yet most ingenious roller coaster tracks I have seen! Very cool!

What the hell is perfect geometry tires?

I'll wait with uploading it until I have fitted the parts myself, I think, at least the pneumatic ones, as the hose ends need to be connected to the cylinders.. Unless you have started using LDcad yourself?

If someone uses a solution I came up with to good effect, then that just makes me happy. I don't claim any ownership of a given assembly of bricks, and for all I know someone (probably) have made this particular solution before me. It has happened before that I have come up with a nifty solution to a problem, and then been told afterwards that someone else already did it, which just goes to prove that the idea in question may have had some merit! Erik even improved upon my design, so his solution is something I plan to use on a future MOC I have in mind As for the "with his permission," I don't really concider it necessary to ask for permission to use a solution that is openly shown to anyone interested, as the intention (at least my intention) by showing it is to say something like "hey, I made a nice working contraption here, check it out (and try it yourself!)". Erik actually asking is of course a nice gesture, but not really necessary. When showing off a new MOC, giving credit as to where and from whom you got the idea, is even nicer But again; I don't claim ownership at all, and I don't think anyone else should either

From experience; manual pneumatic pump on a truck with all wheel suspension is not the best combination, unless you have very solid and stable outriggers/stabilizers close to where the pump(s) will be mounted

Not quite sure what is going on, but that is one damn cool excavator! First dual backhoe I've seen at least! Like it a lot!

That's nice and all, but couldn't you get any smaller images?

I made a quick LDraw model of the internals, and did a couple of quick renders: Steering Front wheels retracting Nose landing gear Main rotor lift/deployment Rear wheels retract/deploy rear landing gear Tail boom extend/retract Rotors power EDIT: 10 gears to get to the steering rack.. new personal record i reckon

Same here, but I guess some things are practically impossible to do without some kind of intelligent input, and this is a good example of this. I can see Mindstorms being used as a form of "short cut" in GBC contraptions, to achieve the wanted goal simply, however I don't think Akiyuki is one to take the easiest way, as you can see in his Invisible Lift and obviously Ball Factory, just to mention two Deepest respect to Akiyuki, he comes up with mechanical contraptions even the best among us others can only dream of

One of my favourite entries! Love the super quick transformation, so simple, yet so cool!

I just made it, except for the new parts. I'll upload the LDraw file when they have been released, feel free to use it as you see fit

Haha, this is great!

So, I wanted to have a display model in a shelf, and I asked myself; "what is the best looking set I have that is not too large?" The answer was obviously 8240 8420 Street Motorcycle However, as i finished building the model, I must admit I wasn't as impressed as the last time I built it. Some things had to be improved.. I'll just show the pictures of my modded model, and list the changes at the bottom. Hope you like it! Pictures are clickable for much higher resolution, or you can check out the Bricksafe gallery As was the case with the original; this is IMO the far worst angle to view it from So the most obvious visual changes I made were the following: -Sprung suspension on front wheel, while maintaining the dimensions of the original -Radiator in front of the engine -Some more panelling for the body, filling in the huge gaps there -Long, sleek panels along the seat area -Gas tank that doesn't leak as bad as the original -Large rear chain sprocket -More realistic and better looking exhaust (at least IMO) -Filled in the seat with some tiles -Reorganized the rear lights

This is a truly epic entry indeed, love some of the seemingly heavy duty engineering that went into it! The normal model looks very post-apocalypse-y in shape and form, and the colour scheme is very good, not looking messy! Love the small details like the chains here and there, and the hydrogen bomb (Bandits now have this H-bomb dropping flying nightmare, in addition to Milan's SCUD-launching log cabin, as far as I know, Enforcers don't have any WMDs (yet)) This is definitely a strong contender for the first place in the contest. Not too sure about the legality of one->two models though, but I hope it's OK!

New module from Akiyuki, EV3 Ball Sorter

Last I checked, I was still human Thanks! And the front axle solution was kinda tricky to get right, but there are compromises, like the steering angle isn't very good. Things could have been made easier and more compact if I opted to go without steering.. Thanks! The inside is indeed pretty full, I'll try to remove the entire body and take a picture of it before complete disassembly Thanks! I felt it was pretty important to have the van recognizable as a van, and the helicopter as a helicopter. That's why I chose a van, as the front and body can be (somewhat) similar to that of a cargo helicopter. Making it so was easier said than done though The windscreen I'm not happy with either. I was meant to mention it in the topic, but simply forgot. Like most other things, it was a hasty solution, and could unboubtedly have been made a lot better However, the cab is full of gears and mechanisms, and even the front of the main rotor assembly, when in van-mode I got the idea for the self-deploying rotor blades from a small PiccoZ RC helicopter I had a long time ago, that used the same concept, probably to prevent them from breaking when crashing.. there was a lot of crashing.. It takes a second or two for them to be properly deployed though, you can see the whole model is shaking pretty badly in the video before the blades are in their proper position! I wouldn't use this system on a real life helicopter!

Looks superb, and great choice of scale! Also; smart solution with the steering system, I can imagine that helps a lot with the "wobbliness" I experienced! ...folding the walls down seem to take well over a minute Maybe you should implement a "combat override" button, in case of emergency! Picture this: The truck is cruising along in normal mode, nothing special happening, then it rounds a corner, and BAM! BANDITS! Run? Or stay and fight? "Hang on guys, I just need to bring down the walls, should only be a minute!".. Or: COMBAT OVERRIDE! The walls come crashing down and the guns are ready before the bandits even know what happened! Preferrably this would be combined with a hand brake turn Nah, just kidding.. would be cool though

Thanks guys, I'm glad you seem to like it! Thanks, and that is very true Everything was rushed yesterday to finish the model and have time to shoot the pics and make the video, as I don't have more time till the deadline on Sunday. Especially the entire rear of the body is pretty much just a patchwork of panels to cover things up, and the nose wheel mechanism definitely needs a redesign, as the model turned out quite a lot heavier than first envisioned, so it barely holds the nose up! I now wish I started this earlier, as it would have been a lot of fun to go "all in" and perfect the model.. oh well, perhaps later All in all, for three (or was it four?) days work, I'm pretty satisfied! Main goal was to make the functions work as intended, and fit it all in.