aminnich

I have not been in here for awhile... glad I came in to check out what is new. As always, excellent review Jim, you never disappoint! As for the model, I am buying this ASAP, great looking model for sure!

Looks like I have a lot of settings to mess around with when the printer is delivered. I better schedule a week off from work so I have time to dial in the machine

So printers dont supply a print tolerance? That sucks. Would be nice to know that for modeling a component. Ya well I had looked at resin printers, but I read that they smell awful and did not want that in my house haha. I am hoping that I do not need to print my models in half and glue together, that sounds like it could be a challenge to get right. Thanks for the tips! I wonder if there is a way to reduce that pressure when a layer is done being printed? Would reduce the amount of "blob" and help reduce the seam buildup. I will for sure look into moving the seam to a desired location when starting to print. Thanks!

Thanks for the advice. I knew that LEGO is made with ABS and the fumes are not something to mess with. I was also looking into PETG because of its strength, but I am worried about it's possible lack of flexibility. Something to try out I guess. The printer I ordered is an Anycubic Chiron. I will give the Polymaker filament a try, thanks for the suggestion. I read a little bit about the horizontal expansion. I will need to look further into it to really get a feel for it. Thanks for all the helpful tips! I am glad to see printing holes is not a huge issue, just takes some trial and error to get right. Also nice to see once you get it dialed in, repeatability is there. I use CAD for my work and work closely with the machine shop. I know all about tolerances and such. I figured machining tolerances are going to be a bit different than on a 3D printer, so I was planning on making my own chart for reference. This would be specifically for my printer, which by the way is a Anycubic Chiron. It has a print accuracy of 0.05-0.3 mm with a 0.4mm nozzle head. I may change that to a smaller nozzle if I get into higher precision stuff. How do you reduce the number of seams for a hole? I would think the number of seams is minimized by the number of layers, not? This printer would be used specifically for custom parts. I do not see any reason to print existing parts when bricklink.com is a thing haha

I ordered a 3D printer this past week to experiment with on some other projects I have been working on. I thought about printing Technic parts, but I figured the tight tolerance of the injection molding would be much higher than an additive approach of 3D printing. I have read a bunch of the threads on here and watched videos on other people's experience with printing, but I do not seem to get a straight answer. Is 3D printing Technic parts worth while?? I have read that axle holes do not print well and most of the time require some sanding or polishing to get the hole in size. @896gerard was clever to incorporate an official LEGO piece to supply the axle holes for his wheel sprocket. https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/172067-more-opinion-about-custom-3d-printed-technic-parts/ Has anyone had luck direct printing axle holes? @efferman has an entire thread dedicated to custom parts and has them made by shapeways. Does anyone know more about the process shapeways uses to print models? Do you they classic printing, resin or other? For those of you that purchased from shapeways, were you happy with your parts? For me, I have CAD software that I can model my own parts and I have a lot of experience with modeling. I do not see that as an issue, I am just worried about the precision of the printing. I ordered a Anycubic Chiron printer. If anyone has any advice or comments on the matter, please let me know. Thanks

I think posting something on the "for sale" select of the forum would be easy enough. I am always checking that forum for technic stuff for sale.

I have been thinking about getting a new Technic set recently and I keep looking at 42100. It is worth $450? A few things hold me back from getting it The transition from Power Functions to Power Up, I did not really want to get into the new function stuff. I do not typically build with white, so that bulk of the part count would just sit in the collection The longer LAs and black ring gear would be nice. Maybe someone has a different recommendation of a set to get? Or something to convince me 42100 is the move.

I have suggested this a number of times. If people want a different type of build contest... this is it.

Having another contest soon would be great. It would give us a reason to stay inside and healthy.

What about changing it to a lego traditional independent front suspension? I think this would help you a lot. When I tried to make 42043 RC, I too had a lot of trouble getting a servo attached properly with ample ground clearance. I ended up redoing the entire front of the chassis to implement independent suspension.

Thanks for the comment Mechbuilds! This axle could be changed to add a driven aspect, but I think it would have to be scaled up to the Unimog wheels and tires for additional room for the diff and gearing between the axles. Doing this would also make the air bags more "to scale" for the model.

That will be addressed when making version 2. Thanks for pointing that out!

I thought I would share the axle I made today for a build I have been working on for awhile now. The axle is not driven and does not have steering, but the suspension is unique. It simulates air ride suspension with bags. The bags themselves on the axles are not to scale, but I worked with what I had in lego parts. The axles have not been tested under heavy load, there is a good chance I will be making a stronger version 2. I hope you like, comment if you have questions or concerns. Thanks!

The picture was changed since I made the remark. The entire front end of the car was brick in the original picture. Edit: original picture

I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but by the looks of it so far, this model does not follow the rules of the contest

Come on, how did Volvo approve of that model? The proportions of it so so off. Why couldn't it look more like this MOC... with the new fender flare panels and the longer LAs.

Having an encoder in a LEGO motor is going to be a gamer changer for the GBC guys

I was expecting this model to be the Volvo branded model, not the offroad hauler. Either way, hopefully its a good one!

3rd iteration of an articulated offroad dump truck, hopefully this one stands out from the rest. I also think the new model will use the new longer LAs.

Here is my take and I know I am not going in the same direction as you, sorry. We can all agree EB members make incredible things, if we all listed our top 5 creators I think we would see a lot of repeats. They make new and exciting models all the time! Sometimes we get to see the progression of the build, including the failures along the way. Engineering design is bound to have failure, but from those failures you find solutions and move on. We see this a lot with LEGO building. Where my gripe starts is with TLG, the models are not what they used to be. LEGO is a creative toy, so when a model is released without a B-model, it (to me) tells a kid that you can only build one thing with this collection of parts and pieces, have fun with your new crane (42108). It does not push that creative thinking into the kids. But as always we can rely on our amazing EB members to come up with some fantastic C-models that most of the time look 100 times better than the A-model. Another thing with TLG that bugs me is the constant repeat of models. I know cranes are very popular, but I think they have done enough of them, lets move onto something new and exciting. Just in 8 years, we have had 6 cranes; 42108, 42097, 42082, 42042, 42009, 9391. TLG themselves are lacking in the looking ahead at some new creative ideas. Sorry I did not really go along with your topic, but I thought it may add to the conversation. I have been keeping quiet in the 2020 2H discussion, but at this point TLG will just disappoint with another version of an old model, just like a lot of movies lately. No creativity anymore.

Update #4 I got 7 of the 8 functions filled. The final part will go on the front. Then I will be cleaning it up for final pictures.

Dangit, that is going to make things way more complicated. Thanks for letting me know!

Hi, I was working on making some auto valves for pneumatics today using this creation... I have the 2015 pneumatic switches and they do not work with this design because of how stiff they are. Are my switches stiffer because I do not use them often OR are they just stiffer than the old ones from factory?

I have a question regarding Mad Max in general, I did not see the movies. Are the vehicles weaponized or are they just a weird combination of vehicles to make a more capable vehicle? Depending on the answer, should this contest focus on a true Mad Max style car OR a general post-apocalyptic vehicle?

Little bit of an update, Removed the winches for now, I can use the function for a better purpose. Added a mount on the front. Changed the location of the motors for more ground clearance. Then added the rear body portion to the cab of the cybertruck.