Kumbbl

I disagree. White and chrome does not harmonize - IMHO the original rim design looks way better... Just my 2ct

Thanks to you too for clarification. Now the missing 3% parts are ordered. Will be my easter egg ;-) Thought ordering right now would be a smart move... Before some parts will become rare ;-)

Anio, thanks a lot!

i have two questions about a part in the part list: 1. Rebrickable says that 6 x technic Link 1x6 WITHOUT stoppers are needed (32005a). Now my question: is it important that the links have NO stoppers or will links with stoppers work too? Thanks a lot. 2. There are needed the following rims: 56x34 with 6 pin holes (15038). my question: would the 56x34 with 3 pin holes also work (44772, as e.g. part of 8653)

just paid... now the game can begin... ;-) Paul, thanks to you for hosting instructions of other builders like Jennifer or Nathanael... Without people like you the lego community would not be what it is...

I hope your account is able to handle millions of requests? ;-)

IMHO Nat Kuipers is the best lego designer of the universe. Not one of the best but simply the best! And this is not meant as devaluation of other very talented and admirable designers of MOCs or official models (e.g. Crowkiller, Han, Madoca, andrea Grazi, Jeroen Ottens, Uwe Wabra, Markus kossmann and some others) but it is meant as: Nat plays in its own league... I have build more or less all official technic sets and many of outstanding MOCs and of course most of nats models (a.o.: Official ones like 8674, c models like 42000 hot rod, combined c models like the ninja supercar and full MOCs like the Concept Car): this elegance of design, this purity and cleanliness in design and part usage is absolutely outstanding and unique. I am sure he is building with a fully thought out plan from first part on with clear and well thought design targets for each of his models. IMHO this is art. Even Not build the new predator i'm sure i will fully agree with your judgement above when i have built it. ;-) TLG should hire again Nat Kuipers as freelancer or consultant and should give him the mandate and contract to design every two (or maybe five) years a real technic UCS model for men. Or at least such models at every senseful anniversary dates.... This could/would be a win-win for all... I am awaiting eagerly the release of the BI of the predator

AFAIK the instructions are only available at mocplans.com... There they cost 1$... Therefore i can not send you the BI...

Grum, i really admire you - i have build the ultimate too and yes, the instructions are very very good but i can't imagine building this without using two hands... keep your building :thumbup: :thumbup: BTW: maybe my posting about my building experience of the ultimate 42009 could be helpful for you: http://www.eurobrick...50#entry2084368 especially for the superstructure there are some hints and fixes....

Hmm, now as you ask me, i have to admit i do not know - somehow i had in my mind that i saw posting from him here - but now... hmm, maybe i'm wrong.... anyway: there is already a model of Nathanaël listed in the HoF, his Concept car: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=91953&st=25#entry1907893 So it can not be a big issue if he isn't a member here...

another proposal: Nathanaël Kuipers 2015 Predator Supercar Topic: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=106316&hl=predator Nathanaël is an Eurobricks-member, there exists a topic and i forecast that it will sit on blakbirds shelf in not too distant future ;-) And - btw - it is an outstanding model of an outstanding designer...IMHO

AFAIK Grazi is not a current member and i do not know if he was a member in the past (Blakbird, do you know?) But i checked the initial post of this discussion topic and its rules: I can not see that Grazi Tow-truck violates any of these rules or with other words: it seems to fulfill all relevant ones: Possibly some older iconic MOCs: it's iconic in every aspect When it fits the "Could this be sitting on Blakbirds shelf?!" criterium: It sits already MOC needs to have it's own Eurobricks topic submitted by the builder of the MOC: I have created one yesterday: http://www.eurobrick...howtopic=107317 MOC needs to be Technic, Model Team or Mindstorms: it's Technic AND Model Team ;-) Anyway, i do not want to debate about adding the model or adding not - i gave my voting for this marvelous and well known model here - it's the decision of the HoF jury if it should/can be added or not - and i will be fine with the decision.

Indeed - attaching all the hoses onto these short rigid hoses of this christmas tree (you named it tower) was really a pain in the megablocks... because 1. you have to connect all hoses at the cylinders and then route them guided trough the model to this "tower" 2. cut them to the exactly needed length, unmount the tower hold it in your hand and press always so strong that no 1x1 plate falls apart and push the hose onto the small rigid hose which is often really hard - if the tower falls apart, then stack together all these small plates again and try it again, and again and again - believe me, no one would like to hear my cursing during this task ;-) 3. build the valve-panel, connect the valves to hoses with correct length and play the game again with the tower, no from the other side and with aleady connected hoses coming from the cylinders which makes the task even more .....<please choose an expression for yourself>....;-) But overall i have succeeded and overall it is part of the building fun and challenge... Two remarks: The tower will be fixed on top later on when mounting the panel with the pole reverser switches and here it i very important that this connection is strong. Therefore i have added some black tiles on top of the left side panel which holds together the pole-reverser panel and the outer shell-panel. Also important is to give the hoses between tower and valves exactly a length which doesn't have any tension and forces to this tower, neither when opened nor when closed (the valve-panel)... BTW: one other real challenge is mounting the rear-axles-modul with the suspension onto the chassis-frame: for mounting the rear suspension on the chassis you need a "tool" build from a 3x5 L-liftarm, a 1x3 and 1x7 liftarm to prevent some inner 1x2 thin black liftarms from being pushed from red axles by pushing other red axle from outside... a fiddling job... but as already said: a really interesting and challenging build... they were good enough and a great help but you are right: they are not suited for beginners and newbies in building large complex models... but on the other side this is the reason why the build is very intersting and not so straight forward (and sometimes boring) as with todays BIs...

I would like to propose to add the awesome tow truck of andrea Grazi to the Hall of fame - topic: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=107317

Thank you - but i hope you saw the following remark in my review: "One important remark: The two pictures above are the only ones made by myself. Reason: The brickshelf folder of Grazi (http://www.brickshel...ery.cgi?f=74562) contains so many good photos for all purposes so i decided to reuse them for this "review". So i mostly "compiled" already existing informations and pictures... another guy asked this in another thread too - see above in my review, there i wrote: "...you need eaxctly these wheels (of 5571) because: a) the truck will look out of scale and would loose some of its really boss look if buld with current wheels - the modern tyres will be too small for the mudguards... b) even more Important: the ground clearance of the two rear axles and their suspension System ( BTW: this truck has the best and niftiest truck suspension i ever saw in a huge truck lego model - on all 4 axles!) would be too low ie. more or less zero." so cause of b IMHO the tow truck would not work with the smaller current 62.4x20 tyres ...it needs the big 68.8x24

I have just finished Andrea Grazis Tow Truck - a model which belongs a long time on my must-build-list. I would like to share some impressions about this outstanding model - mainly to give this quite old model the attention it deserves still today BTW: second reason: This topic should fulfill one requirement for being added to the Eurobrick Hall of Fame: The existance of an own topic - well here it is ;-) IMHO this model should be part of the HoF... here for a size comparison side-by-side with the 8285 Tow truck: IMHO the 8285 looks like a toy beside the Grazi boss ;-) One important remark: The two pictures above are the only ones made by myself. Reason: The brickshelf folder of Grazi (http://www.brickshel...ery.cgi?f=74562) contains so many good photos for all purposes so i decided to reuse them for this "review". Facts and feature list: First some facts - for this i use Blakbirds very good readme.txt (from his brickshelf folder - thank you for this good writing up) about this model - text in italic (where necessary i have added an amendment - to each feature i have linked the related module from the brickshelf folder of Andrea Grazi): This magnificent Tow Truck MOC is the work of Grazi. It is clearly based on the general look of the 5571 Black Cat rig, but it expands on the original in every way. Besides being much bigger, it is packed with Technic functions. It is even larger and more functional than the 8285 Technic Tow Truck and has many more pieces. The list of features on this is long: Front Wheels: Steer via HOG through several u-joints. Entire front axle is pendular from front ball joint and sprung in the rear allowing for both vertical motion and roll. Steering linkage telescopes to accomodate the suspension travel. A u-joint is used as a slip fitting. A lateral link is used to prevent rotation of the entire assembly. Rear Wheels: Dual rear axles each with dual tires. Entire 8 wheel assembly is pendular front/back and side/side. Each individual corner is also sprung on a longitudinal swing arm. Two rear differentials. Amendmend Kumbbl: IMHO the whole suspension setup on front and rear axles is one of the best and niftiest i have ever seen for heavy lego trucks Mid Wheels: Can lift or deploy via pneumatics. Two sides share a common pneumatic source so they are self-balancing. Amendment Kumbbl: Has an implicit slight suspension, both wheels can swing up and down independently. the wheels are castered and can turn with a rubberband based return-to-center-mechanism Engine: V-6 located under opening hood. Connected via drive shaft to rear differentials. Drive shaft takes a circuitous non-linear path through the body to avoid mechanisms in the way. - Crane: Lifts via 4 pneumatic cylinders arranged in pairs end-to-end. Telescopes via an electric motor geared down immensely. - Winch: Dual drive winch driven by an electric motor. 2 hooks. - Rear Pad: Liftarm raises via a pair of pneumatic cylinders. Pad folds out via pneumatic cylinder. - Outriggers: Dual rear outriggers deploy via pneumatic cylinders. Powerful enough to lift rear of vehicle. - Compressor: Driven by dual motors and dual cylinders hidden in sleeper. Power cut-off by pressure regulator using a cylinder and pole reverser. Compressor feeds hidden air tank. - Body: Hook opens by pivoting forward. Doors open. Cab includes coffee maker, television, gauges, steering wheel, and seats. Sleeper includes tool kits and skylights. Fuel tanks hide the battery box. - Control Panel: Left side contains a hidden control panel with 2 pole-reverser electrical switches and 5 pneumatic switches. Amendment Kumbbl: The control panel is hinged so it can be "closed" when not needed so both sides of the truck look equal - Statistics: Over 4000 parts. 12 pneumatic cylinders, 2 pneumatic compressor pumps, 5 pneumatic switches, 1 airtank, over 20 T-fittings. 4 Electric motors (2 high speed, 2 low speed). 12 rare Black Cat wheels and tires. --- end of Blackbirds readme.txt ----------- Now some own impressions of the building experience and the whole model: Looks: The model is a perfect blend of a model team shell with a wagonload technic inside and belongs concerning this to the top models out there. This render above is made by blakbird - you will find some very impressive renders at Blakbirds brickshelf folder (http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=372128) like the following one: Pneumatic marvel: The model is an pneumatic marvel above of the level of the 8455 TLG backhoe. But the most impressive fact is not the shear number of cylinders or valves but the oustanding guidance of the air flow from the compressor to the tank and from there to the valve-panel and from there to a dispatcher and from there to all the pneumatic functions - and the > 5 meter hoses are not only squeezed into the free spaces but are very carefully and professionally routed and supported by rigid hoses - just as real machines! And this is really outstanding - so overall for me this is the best pneumatic model i know (better than 8455 and 8868) and a MUST for each pneumatic lover. One remark: Most photos here show the oly cylinder style of 8868. But apart from the compressor air regulator the instructions of blakbird are based on the modern type of 8455 - so for the boom you need the rare and expensive cylinder brackets. But it is also no problem to build the whole model from the old-style cylnders... so the model is also very impressive without its shell, s.a (for me one of the best model shots) - which is also not self evident. Building experience: The feature list is quite impressive but what have impressed me even more is the oustanding modularity which is not self evident for the studded area of building - as you can see here very well - http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=121602 - there is really for each function or encapsulated building block an own modul with an own ldr-file... so you can build frist all modules and then when all modules are ready you assemble the full truck - it is a very very good design of a very experienced lego builder. The full model is about 70cm long, consist of more than 4000 parts and is quite heavy but the inner structure is very stiff and doesn't bend which is achieved by a very professional usage of studded technic beams reinforced by liftarms. The overall building experience is very challenging - well, Blakbird has made professional stepped PDF-BIs which were available for free a long time (now for 1$ at mocplans - http://mocplans.com/...71towtruck.html) so building the modules is not really difficult (but sometimes it is very helpful to use the ldr-files to see hidden parts where the placement is not clear in the BI - anyway: Big big thanks to Blakbird! Remark: I have added a lot of comments and explanations to the PDF which corrects very few mistakes/errors and makes some things clearer - if anybody is interested in this commented PDF do not hesitate to ask. Blakbird, if you are interested i could send you my version so maybe you could make public them. Eurobrick member EdmanZA has compiled a pneumatic landscape available here: http://www.eurobrick...75#entry1724680 - it is a helpful indicator but in my experience often it is better to find the routings and then cut the hoses to the needed length. And finding the routings of all the hoses and electric cables and putting together all the electrical and pneumatic models in the right order is the real challenged which gives you a great building fun! Overall you have the impression during building that this model is designed by an expert who nows exactly where to put each part regardless if a small 1x1 plate or a pneumatic cylinder - the whole design breathes to be very well thought out and mature - despite the fact that the model has an extremly high detail level there are no superflous parts - kudos to Grazi. back to BI: There are a handful outstanding tow trucks out there in the same league of Grazis (from Sariel, MLonger, Dikkie Kjiln and maybe one or two more) but apart from Dikkie Kjilns model this truck is the only one where stepped BIs and full detailed photos are available so at least an experianced builder can rebuild the model. Costs: This model is very expensive because you need as starting point 2(!) sets of "Black cat" 5571. Reason: 12 rims/tyres of these unique and very rare and expensive wheels (just these 12 rims+tyres would be cost ~ 250€ at bricklink): and you need eaxctly these wheels because: a) the truck will look out of scale and would loose some of its really boss look if buld with current wheels - the modern tyres will be too small for the mudguards... b) even more Important: the ground clearance of the two rear axles and their suspension System ( BTW: this truck has the best and niftiest truck suspension i ever saw in a huge truck lego model - on all 4 axles!) be too low ie. more or less zero. I addition the model uses a bunch of parts which were unique at 5571. So a good starting point is: 2x 5571, 1x 8448 (contains a lot of needed parts), 1x 8868, 1x 8455 (for pneumatic) and 1x 8275 (for 4 cylinder brackets) - these sets contain about 3000 of the needed parts of the Two truck - then you need 2 of the quite expensive geared motors of 8479 and 2 ungeared old motors - finally you need some bricklinks orders for about 1000 parts (in germany i have paid about 180€ overall for these bricklink parts)... Conclusion: This model belongs easily to the absolute Top-MOCs out there and plays in the champions league. Believe me: The real live model looks even better than on these pictures and the building can keep you busy over some weekends with hours over hours of building fun. very expensive but IMHO worth every cent. Kudos to Andrea Grazi. And here again my suggestion of adding this model to the HoF. PS. All links at one place: Rebrickable: http://rebrickable.c...Grazi/tow-truck Grazis brickshelf Folder: http://www.brickshel...ery.cgi?f=74562 Blakbirds brickshelf folder: http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=372128 Mocplans: http://mocplans.com/...71towtruck.html

IMHO no - reasons: A) the truck will look out of scale and would loose some of its really boss look - the modern tyres will be too small for the mudguards... B) even more Important: the ground clearance of the two rear axles and their suspension System ( BTW: this truck has the best and niftiest truck suspension i ever saw in a huge truck lego model - on all 4 axles!) be too low ie. more or less zero. I have finished the build today and later on i will write an own praising topic...

Unfortunatelly not - only one button is accessible when the battery and all other components are installed... on button is completely hidden by the cabin and the exhaust pipe base... therefore switching on the battery is no problem but switching off is impossible without uninstalling the battery --> this is indeed quite annoying...

i have a question about the fake engine and the hinged bonnet: IMHO you can not close the bonnet if these (lime marked) engine decorations are applied - then the whole engine is too tall ... if you remove the lime marked parts then all is fine - Grazi has in his brickshelf folder only an engine without decorations. But Blackbird, you made the BI - and there the engine is with decorations: How have you managed to apply the bonnet and how have you managed that the bonnet is openable and closeable... i have build all as described in your BI but then the bonnet does not fit anymore... have i overlooked something? Thanks for any hint! Nevertheless: great BI - without it would be very hard to rebuild this outstanding MOC.... many thanks for your effort!

In the meanwhile you play in the same C-model league as Natanael Kuipers and Tomik - really - and this is the highest praising i could give you...

Indeed. Best looking studless Truck chassis and cabin i know

wow, these are great news! thanks a lot in advance! already put on my MUST-Build list...

The website owner has just reorganized his site - i have corrected the link in the first posting - now it works again...

well, forget it - i found it - i have downloaded the ldr-files from here: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=121602 very helpful! and by rotating you can find the placement of this part....

enyibasr, why do you just copy this remark from the posting of Edman ZA?