Erik Leppen

Now you're just mocking us with complexity for complexity's sake, just admit it Kidding, just kidding

I wouldn't narrow the width for the whole thing, but maybe you can reduce the boxiness a little by having some elements mounted at angles and adding a bit of greebles and detailing here and there. Some suggestions: Maybe the dark gray ladders at the rear can be mounted at an angle. Maybe that part of the red bodywork doesn't need to be rectangular all the ay to the rear end of the truck (I don't kjnow how much of that rear end is filled by the internal gearing/structure. But maybe make that section a bit less wide and put the ladders at an inward angle, more like "stairs". Also, maybe you could have some kind of rack at the rear that has a bumper and the lights and allows firefighters to climb the truck more easily. The rear end corner of the white bumper looks like a #6 angle connector; maye use an elbow cylinder piece to make it just slightly more "rounded". Also maybe you should not do everything in red, but have a few details in, for example, light gray or dark gray. For example, I really like how the white 7x11 frames show at the top, but the rest of the top, especially at the rear half, is almost completely a red plate. Maybe have slightly more color variation there, and continue the "gray center, then a white 1 stud stripe, and the nred on the sides" theme that you also used at hte central "engine bay". make part of this plate gray or dark gray. Another one could be the handles on the 5x11 panels that cover the gearbox selectors. Maybe use a black or light-gray long axle as a handle instead of those two red ball-pins. That might "break" the big red surface a bit.

I like this. Outriggers are nice, and everything looks nicely compact. There's not a huge gap between them and the wheels, I assume just enough to allow the steering. It makes the vehicle short but functional. I like that. I like the symmetry it all has, and the coherence in color due to everything just being plain red. Easy on the eye :)

I have progress! I added the wheel arches, and the driver's seat (blue of course). And I added two HOGs: yellow for steering, and red for gearshift (only 2 gears). Also there's some stuff going on in the front: I connected the steering wheel at the driver's seat to the steering system, and I added a gearstick (orange). I have found no place for the HOG for the doors yet. Here's another view of the front section. There's a lot of stuff going on in a small space, it was really fiddly to put together and everything just fits. Also, the whole model isn't really the epitome of structural rigidity. It's all very bendy. I hope the roof wil compensate for that a little, but it probably won't be up to the standard you're used to from sets :) It won't be compensated, becaus ethe vertical motion is very limited, so the play in the frictionless pins allows this movement without any problems. Technically it's not correct, but it works. And yeah, this whole model wouldn't work as a set, it's all too wobbly anyways :D Here you can see the linkage for the doors from below. The red bits stick out a bit at the bottom, but it's only about 0.3 studs below floor level, so it works without problems.

Nice start. There seems to be some kind of sliding mechanism with the tilted bed. This looks interesting, and I can't remember having seen such a "double action" system before, where you first raise the bed, then use a linkage to slide the top part off. Just asking, but have you seen the current competition [TC27]? It looks like this should fit the requirements! :)

I think what Fabulous Fox meant is, how smooth are things when rolling the car over a flat surface and seeing the engine pistons move. Do all the gears run smoothly and does the engine run well in the lower gears? I'm also curious how much play there is: how much distance do you need to roll the car before the engine starts running along?

I like hwo compact this looks. I hope everytying works as planned in the physical build, but I like how you get all-wheel suspension and a fake engine, and a connected steering wheel in a model of this scale. It also looks the steering wheel is easy to switch from right to left :) Yep, for us Technic heads that is the hard part... curious to see how this will turn out, also color-wise. :) With the short length, I'm thinking of some sort of buggy, maybe that's not too difficult :)

Now this looks very promising indeed. Love the tight steering radius. In fact I like how the rear axle steers a bit more than would be "correct" because then it's more "visible" and I think that's an important aspect of a Lego model - that you can see the functions working. That "thing" with all the gearing below the turntable is precisely the type of things I like about Lego Technic :) It's funny but I just recently built a similar fire truck in a larger scale (haven't posted it yet), and I think this somewhat-smaller scale is actually cooler, because the model doesn't become unwieldily large. Even with a densely packed function box like this, it is still all sort of "manageable". Love what I see so far. Also, yes, trucks like these are super impressive and I think too few people build fire truck MOCs :) That said, your bodywork sketch looks like a missed opportunity to use the new vibrant yellow ;)

I think I have found a vehicle type I haven't built before and that is perfect for this competition. My goal is not to win, but to build a nice Technic bus with basic functionality and a nice color scheme. Interestinga bout a bus is the doors on one side which makes the build asymmetric. Brickshelf folder once public: Brickshelf Gallery - Bus for Eurobricks Technic competition TC27 Progress so far: Width is 13 studs, height will probably also be 13 studs. As you can maybe see, I'm going for the "low floor city bus" type, not the "long-distance travel coach" type. I think this is a more interesting type because it has less room for stuff so things need to be more compact. Of course, because this is Lego, some compromises will be needed for the low floor. Shot of the bottom, where the door linkage can be seen. Also notice how I used the new 19x3 frames to create a bit of rigidity; in this case using 7x11s etc doesn't really do it, so I'm really happy with these new long frames. I have the following functions planned and already started: Steering: I'm using virtual pivot as the default option for this scale nowadays. I'm planning to have a HOG somewhere on the roof (don't know where yet). Goal is to not have axles run through the middle of the walkway, so it's a question where the HOG will be. Drive: a basic differential between the wheels (no double tyres at the rear), driving a fake engine at the side. I have actually seen city buses that have the engine at the left side, and I like this asymmetric layout because it makes for less "mirroring" in the model. By not making the engine too large, I have room for a very basic 2-speed gearbox. I have room at the bottom and between the steering arms to run an axle all the way to the front so I can have a simple gearstick at the driver's seat. Doors: At first I thought of having gearing at the top, in the roof, but I'm happy I managed to find a linkage system that can run along the bottom. As always with my models I use red/yellow axles for functions, so I used red for the door linkage. I have begun a bit of bodywork at the front. I selected green as a color for now, but I don't have that many parts in green so we'll see how it goes. Roof will probably be white (one of the few colors I have enough large panels). Windows might be yellow to match the doors. The side without the doors is a bit less exciting, but I might have different window heights left and right due to the engine/gearbox stuff at the left.

Use two normal black pins and a 4L bar. Really, bars are the most underrated pieces in Technic, as they fit into both pins and axleholes, and even allow the axlehole connection to be rotated.

Spur gears (straight gears) are less likely to click than bevel gears, so if you need gears to change the speed, I would suggest using spur gears. If you want to keep the current situation, then maybe you could replace the red beam by a 15x11 frame (surrounding the motors) and change how the current gearing is connected. Use the vertical holes in the frame to connect everything securely.

This contradicts itself. I assume you meant: "You need to count the wheels. Axle with dual wheels therefore counts as 4 wheels"

This seems to be a rather open-ended theme, so I look forward to the variety of entries. Also it's a rather low barrier of entry, so I hope to find the time to build something. Entries don't have to be big, so that's good. I have at least 6 of those wheels lying around, so that's a good start :) Also, some ideas pop up in my mind right away, so that's also good. Don't know if I go "fantasy" or "realistic" yet. I assume both are allowed, right? Just for clarity: the rule "These wheels need to be used to drive the vehicle." doesn't mean the vehicle needs some kind of (fake) engine or drive system, right? I assume it just means that the wheels must be used "in the normal sense", is that correct?

Check out the Context Index. That's a list of all themes of previous Eurobricks Technic competitions. Lots of ideas there! Contest Index - LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling - Eurobricks Forums

I'm going to give this opic a massive bump, because: 1. I noticed this topic doesn't include a solution 2. I ran into this problem again (yes, I still use MLCad and LPub in 2024), but this time I seem to have found a solution, so I thought to post it here. Partly as a note to self, because I predict that next time I will face this problem I'm going to search for this topic, but also in the hope that it's useful for others. I have found that LPub takes its parts from a separate "complete.zip" in the LPub installation folder (LPub3d -> libraries -> complete.zip), so when you replace the parts library inside LDraw/MLCad, you should also replace this complete.zip file.

I'm bumping this topic, because I decided to give in, and finally bought this set. It's a neat set that does something different, and it offers a nice range of new parts, including some frames, a few panels, and parts in reddish orange. I really like the functionality it has, even though the set is still mostly empty (not even counting the space around the handle, which serves a clear purpose). It's mostly a few large frames, connected by pins and then clad with a few blocky panels. And then a whole lot of parts are spent on detailing, including the engines which aren't even visible in the end result. The result is that it doesn't feel like 1300 parts. But it has some really nice and original mechanisms that score big points for me: The folding legs are nice! The bottom gripper is nice! The fact that everything is controlled by a single hand using the handle is nice! The rotating thrusters are rather basic, but still nice. I also like that it's really efficient with parts. Similar to for example 42070, it doesn't feel over-engineered. The big frames and panels make it rather sturdy with only a few large pieces. That has a certain elegance. The downside of this is that there are relatively little medium-sized parts. It's a few large chunks, connected by tiny pins. The fact that it's mostly empty means it's a great base for modding. So I'll be modding this and doing my own take on it. (not a B-model of any kind.) I did this before with 42064 Ocean Explorer and 42083 Bugatti Chiron and even with 42025's B model Hovercraft, and it's a fun way for me to play with a Technic set, beyond just building it.

Actually it does! In the instructions, it's step 51 and 52 where the magic happens. The idea is that the knobs on the roof of the cabin operate the steering (8460 style), but here the left and right knob are independent. One knob operates the steering of axle 1, and the other operates the steering of axle 5. Then, these inputs are the interpolated via a long beam running under the whole chassis. (yes I know the arrows are off) I see all links in the opening post are outdated (I changed my site between 2016 and now, and apparently something went wrong with the automatic forwarding). Here's a link to the new page, that also hosts the instructions. Mobiele kranen – Erik Leppen

Love it. I like the 3-fold symmetry, that's hard enough and it shows almost no gaps anywhere. The color scheme is very coherent and I like the subtle use of yellow and orange as accents. I think it has just the right amount of studs visible for it to work as "nuts and bolts". I especially like the red and gray stacked wedge-plates creating angles around the cylinders. Having the whole thing supported by a Znap is a wonderful idea and sounds like a great way to use those pieces for what they do best. I saved a few pictures to my local inspiration folder to look at for ideas for future spaceships. Little things such as the use of sand-blue grille tiles add a lot of detail. I hope to do SHIPtember one day.

Maybe, but the Arocs was a way cooler model, regardless of price. I believe both sets are in the 2000-parts range, so I think it's fair to compare them, model-to-model. Also, affter seeing the prelim image, I noticed why the final set looks meh to me. Changing the color of the trailer from red to dark gray makes the set look so dull to me. I thought Lego was a toy. Toys need color. The red trailer popped. And the side panels just finish it off so much nicer, and it's basically 4 parts (plus a few connectors/pins). Why has that been recolored?

The only thing I can think about right now, is this, in black: Bar with Light Bulb Cover (Bionicle Barraki Eye) : Part 58176 | BrickLink Edit: by the way, that crane looks like a really nice set.

I have zero interest in this set. I hate to see a big set being spent on small vehicles. Big sets are the only opportunities for big vehicles, while small vehicles can be done in small sets as well. This set has the features of a small set and the price tag of a big set. That's a shame, in my view. The truck would have been a nice 60 euro set, the trailer is something people can make form their own pieces (it doesn't seem to have any noteworthy functions), the excavator would have been a really nice 70 euro set, and the "generator" simply doesn't belong in this theme at all.

For people that don't know all part numbers by heart: @SNIPE is talking about this:

Numbered bags haven't always been the default voor Lego sets. In fact, it has been on and off multiple times in the past (talking from memory here though) 42096, according to Bricklink, is from 2019 (5 years ago) and the bag numbering that seems default now everywhere, probably wasn't used for all themes back then. You probably won't get much response when asking about a set from 5 years back, since the shelf life of sets is usually much shorter than that. I expect that 42096 is already out of production for a while and simply not the focus of attention anymore. So, just sort the parts, I guess :)

There's only one way to find out... ;) And yes, a place to put "builds that are just short of desevering their own topic" also sounds like a great place to get inspiration :)

Exactly what I was thinking.