DrJB

The early TLG official sets were literally 'skeletons' of car/vehicles meant primarily at showing the inner workings of those vehicles (steering/suspension/gears). However, lately TLG has been using more panels and very dense build techniques and thus put more emphasis on aesthetics, in addition to function. Two vehicles come to mind, that perfectly illustrate such paradigm shift: The iconic 8448 and the recent Arocs. I for one never cared much for the 'many panels' many MOCers insist on putting, but I've had a change of heart and yes, it's ok now to merge art (looks) and engineering (functions). Your thoughts? vs

Was that a lizard at the very beginning of the video?

That is sure a beauty! Can you share a bit more details on the construction/features?

Of course. I never said or implied it was an easy thing to do. LA's tend to hold their position when power is switched off. With pneumatic cylinders, you have to actuate only one cylinder at a time, otherwise those supporting higher loads will give in, this is especially true if the cylinders do not hold the same air volume. With the 8455 this was not the case. With both the Unimog and Arocs, you can only operate one function at a time. Not to re-open the debate of LA's vs. Pneumatics, but one must be cognizant of such 'limitations'.

Though highly unlikely, you could have two defective/damaged receivers . Do the receivers work with other motors or the same issue with the servo?

Here are screenshots for the final (above) LDD/LXF files

One comment though. A while back I started a thread asking why the many MOCs out there were primarily black/red, and the recurrent answer was simply that many more parts were available in black/red than any other color. Apparently, and per the photos we have so far, it seems TLG Technic designers too have more balck than anything else. That, and also possibly that black is well suited for hiding details, especially on prototype vehicles.

I got this recently and just finished assembling it. It took few days and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by the build techniques and parts assortment. However, I felt the set had weaknesses regarding the pneumatics. Thus, the MODs I see useful would be: 1. Add an air tank, so the boom does not fall if you switch a pneumatic function.that once 2. More ambitious: for the large cylinders (supporting higher loads), it might be better to use LA's.

How come we have not seen a reverse-engineered version by dokludi? I'm sure efferman can generate files for 3D printing the curved gear racks ... hmmm, unless that's a 'patent/copyright' violation :(

It is a clutch gear, to prevent the motor from stalling, overheating, and destroying itself.

While I certainly see your point, I've done many statistical analyses as well, and the devil is in the details, the assumptions you make, and the metrics you use for cost of living. Salary increases in the US for one have not kept up with the increased cost of living (unless you work in very 'special' sectors) ... When you compare the price increase of Lego vs other things you use at home, does everything have the same trend? This discussion can go on and on for a while with many 'valid' opinions and arguments. I am not here to bash TLG or complain, and still admit that I'm here (like many) by my own choice/will.

Here is a very simplistic LDD. Please note that the part is not availabe in LDD and as such, I used 3 yellow connectors to represent it. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/djamil/R2CSteering/r2c_steering.lxf

Not sure doable at this scale, but Burj-El-Arab in Dubai would for sure be a good candidate for the series. It, along with the London Spire.

A beauty, isn't she? I wonder, could you have used the parts below as headlights? ... available from the Elves sets.

Correct, I assumed the build was 'basic'. Putting Caster and other tire angles in a lego car is not 'easy', though for sure doable.

Not sure there is enough torque in it to bring the motor to zero (those L/M motors have gears inside, that require moderately high torque). Also, you need to use a clutch to make sure you do not burn the motor. So, one way to connect this is: Motor -> axle -> clutch -> gear on clutch -> axle -> spring (one u want to use). I'll try doing an LDD later tonight.

If you search on bricklink, it is used for some hockey players, to throw pucks. People have used it in cars to force 'return-to-center' of the steering system. In a real car, the tire geometry/angles force the tire to 'self-align'. Essentially, if you move the car forward, the tires would 'automatically' line up in the fore-aft direction. With lego tires, this is not possible, and that is why some MOCers use such part to force steering to go to zero. Side note: I have 14 of them :)

Seems like I need to switch hobbies, or cut down on other commodities/addictions ... ;)

Nicely done ... from just one picture???. This somehow reminds me of 8454, which looked very 'futuristic' when it came out.

That's around US $350. This hobby is suddenly getting very pricey ... :( ... It has evolved from toy to collector's items.

This is a beautiful machine. I do like the 'realism' such as recoil spring and equalizer bar. WOuld be nice to put a planetary gear redcution in the final drive, but that is not feasible with the current lego assortment of parts. Are you planning to publish instructions?

One more (last?) update, for the orange vehicle. Both the LXF file and an LDD screen-shot. Enjoy, and all the credit goes to scynox. PS. Some minor alignments I could not do in LDD. Anyone willing to give it a try? http://www.brickshel...borderlands.lxf

Thank you for the additional photos, and sorry it's been a bit busy here. The Runner is complete (I think). Somehow I was not able to place 2 cardans and left them in the workspace. Here are 2 screen-shots for such beautiful vehicle. Borderlands Runner 2 - 13apr2016.lxf

Sorry for reviving an old thread but ... has anyone succeeded in reverse engineering this beauty? I'm willing to give it a try with LDD but there is not sufficient information from the photos for a complete model.

I've seen some of these before. I think you and I discussed them in a separate thread and after our discussion I went ahead and bought enough yellow samsonite gears (you had advised the larger/red were much more difficult to get). Though, the one above (I call it tree branches / bonsai), I like very much. In fact I have collected many connectors/parts (such as those below), specifically to reproduce such art/sculptures. Bucky-balls and truncated icosahedron, here I come. Someone is trying to 'up' their posts' number with short answers ... I wonder why.