N-4K0

Maybe. IMO it comes down to just how much chrome is used. I've seen pics of various American trucks, and be it my taste or whatever other reason, I always find most of them to have way too much chrome. But then again, I don't see the grand fascination with chrome.

Personally, I'm not a fan of chrome parts, I find them being too shiny and reflective. Flat silver or something with a less reflective finish works much better IMO. I'm excited to see if the Porsche will be orange.

This link shows all the (presumably) known colors of axles on BrickLink: http://www.bricklink...P&catString=134 It seems the only axle that exists only in one single color, according to BrickLink, is the 5L dark tan axle with stop. On the other end of the scale, the pole reverser handle exists in 16 different colors. I don't have so much against it, but I do agree that having so many different colors is a bit overwhelming. In particular when they include new colors for specific axle lengths in random sets, one can wonder why, but IMO it doesn't matter too much at least if the new colors are used in hidden places or in sets where they correspond with the major color of the exterior. About the prices - wouldn't the yellow and red axles get cheaper if TLG simply produced them in a large quantity? Yellow is probably mainly meant for the Volvo excavator, but if they make too many yellow and red axles and solve the problem by spreading them over random sets to use in more hidden places, it's not that much of a problem IMO. Also, I suppose the main reason they use so many yellow axles in the BWE, for railings as well as power transfer, could be due to the mentioned cost reduction by spreading the color.

I'm not an expert on this, but 4-wheel drive on a car in the (digit x digit) number setup is given as 4x4, so your illustration of 6 wheels with 4 wheels driven would indeed be 6x4, I assume. As LucyCol is also referring to in post #647, total number of wheels + number of driven wheels.

I counted 12 on the most recent posted pic, but I expect a lot more, hence the + behind it

The white dump truck is just accessories, man, the main set ain't got no tires Dang, imagine how many tires the real machine would need if it had tires, just to bear all that weight. Speaking of parts, I bet the total number of pins, all types included, will be at least 1500. I don't remember which set it was, but I think the Arocs had close to, if not just above 1000, and the BWE will have like 1200 more parts.

I don't mind the color vomit with red and yellow axles. One of the things that makes me excited is the 13 dark blue 3x11 panels on the sides of the conveyor belts, and I can count at least 12 of the 5x7 square frames. Dang, what a parts pack this set is! 13 dark blue + at least 1 DBG 3x11 panel 12+ square frames 4 LBG 5x11 panels 8 buckets 2 yellow + 2 white of the new tipper bed panels A load of track links 14 of the new curved yellow quarter circle, whatever it was called, gear rack? And then comes who knows how many pins, beams, axles and what not. Man, just the complete pack of parts itself is almost a good enough reason to buy this set.

Isn't the easiest way to just mirror everything right from the start?

Toyota Yaris also has the gages/indicators in the center of the dashboard, turned a bit to the side to be clearly visible for the driver. I'm familiar with that as my sister has one. Speaking of mirroring, I did that with the cab on the 42042 when I built it, having the cab on the left side as that feels natural to me. I also mirrored the gearbox setup on another 42042 body I made recently for a MOC.

I remember someone wrote not long ago that the reason they stopped making the Technic figure was that having no driver made it easier or whatever for kids to imagine themselves driving the model. I would think kids could just as easily imagine themselves being the Technic figure driving the model, so if this was the main or sole reason they stopped making them, I don't really get it. Could be a cost reducing thing for all I know, I don't know how expensive those guys could have been to make. Personally I don't feel a need to have them, but I wouldn't mind it if they brought back the Technic figure, maybe also redesigning those old seats they sat in with some kind of pin hole connection on the underside instead of the plate underside for attachment.

I suppose that's the reason(s). Even without the fire truck, 4 2H sets is more than we've seen the last years. I've only been back into Technic since early 2012, but as far as I've understood, 3 2H sets is the usual. I just find it strange that they would cancel a set many people here seem to want, and not the BWE which is a less known machine and which many seemed to dislike at first, but I guess a lack of enough functions is the main reason why the fire truck was cancelled. Even as it is, the BWE is to me quite an interesting set, and also seem to be fairly well made in addition to being quite the parts pack. The fire truck seemed pretty alright to me, so I wouldn't think they would cancel it for good, I guess an improved version for 2017 is possible. Maybe it will be released as the biggest set of 1H17.

The BWE isn't cancelled, yet I'd think far less people would buy that than the fire truck. So I don't see the logic here

Happy birthday Alasdair!

Nice one, you don't even need to imagine, you can almost see the students and teacher on yet another usual school day in this classroom.

True, I forgot combines and backhoes, but backhoe is technically some kind of tractor When it comes to graders and wheel loaders, I've never seen them with this kind of tire, though. I blame that, lol.

Now that they take the effort to actually make proper tractor tires, I can't imagine it will be only for this set and then never again. But I guess it requires more actual tractor models if they're going to release more sets with those tires in the future. There's not many machines except tractors using that kind of tire.

Really big crane you've modded there, looks cool. Mine's just the standard 42042, but I wouldn't have anywhere to put it even if I wanted to make it as tall as yours

This set appeals more to me now. Damnit, my bank account

I've been looking at that. I am more of a fan of moving axles sideways with gears than using U-joints, really, but I'll see which method works the best when that time comes. I replaced some of the axles with longer ones when I built the gearbox, so I already have the axles from the 3 remaining driving rings sticking out in front of the gearbox. When I built the gearbox, I also moved the whole thing 2 studs up, primarily to fit the battery box under the gearbox instead of behind it. I also moved the L-motor 2 studs up, but it's kinda in the way now, so I think I'll try move it back down.

I'll just ask here since it's related to the set: I've built a second version of this, with the undercarriage and motor/gearbox setup ready so far, which I intend to turn into an excavator more or less based on Hitachi EX1900. I'm not too experienced with gearboxes and transmissions, so I'm wondering if anyone has any tips on the routing of the axles from the gearbox and forward to the boom and lifting cylinders, which will be placed where the crane arm is on the 42042. I've ditched the crawler drive, so with the one driving ring connected to the turntable, I have the other 3 free to run the cylinders in the arm, which will be based on the 8043. I have 2 cylinders set up for lifting the boom, which I'm looking to run from one of the driving rings. I have also mirrored the gearbox, leaving the 2 original left driving rings on the right, which are free for the stick and bucket cylinders. This might be a confusing mess of an explanation. If anyone who could potentially give me tips, wants a pic or two to make it easier, I guess I could try to upload some. I haven't tried that yet though, so this whole thing could take some time Thanks in advance, any help appreciated!

What's this rant about? As far as I understand, it's all just for the fun of it, if it's about the jokes about selling family members to afford Lego sets. Don't take it so seriously. I mean, who the hell would actually sell their wife or kids for the sake of Lego sets anyway?

Ain't got no wife or kids? Sell your car

TLG's official models would be a bit boring if they were already perfect and we couldn't improve them, only "edit" them. Of course, had 42055 been marketed as UCS or otherwise "ultimate" of sorts, then we could have (rightfully?) asked for more. The construction looks kinda odd to me with the frame holding the entire arm, but otherwise I think 42055 is alright. Lots of modding potential adds to the plus side IMO.

We would need actual cranes to assemble it, just like in real life with such enormous machines

Imagine if we had to save up to buy a 1:1 scale version oh jeez, that would take forever and beyond!