Erik Leppen

In my humble opinion, stickers are the abomination of recent Technic. The last few years, sets became so reliant not only on panels but mainly on stickered panels it's not funny anymore. I find it a worrying trend that designers rely on stickers rather than actual detailing. I think if a model doesn't look right without stickers, the design is sub-par. Fortunately, I think most sets look perfectly fine without stickers. 42069 looks great without stickers (much better than with them). Now, off to reading the review

I'm not a fan of the sporty wheels / wheel covers. Are there other options there? All the rest looks amazing, and I like the uncommon subject matter. Keep up the good progress!

Another point I forgot to mention and that actulaly I only discovered quite recently, is: you don't have to put all of the same part in the same bin. For exapmle, I have collected quite some Technic sets over the years, and one part that is used a lot in almost all sets is the black 2x4 L-shaped liftarm. I have over 200 of those. I never need that much. I decided that about 40 is all I need in almost all cases, so the other 160+ are "overflow", so to say, and are stored further away. I do the same thing with all parts I have many more than I need (almost all black, gray, red and yellow thick Technic beam, all common pins and axles). The idea is that if it's, say, 5 years from now. and there are still parts I haven't used all that time, I may decide to sell them.

I have thought about this a lot. And one of my conclusions is that whatever categorization you settle for, there are always pieces that defy categorization. There is a continuum going from one type to another type and it's hard to say where the line is. For example, the new pin joiner 1L is simply a bush with a round hole. So I categorize it as "bush". MLCad calls it "Technic Beam 1". I don't know why, because it's not a beam, but apparently someone there decided it was. Yet others call it a "pin joiner round 1L" because it looks exactly like half the pin joiner round 2L we have known for years. But ironically, it doesn't join pins. Same goes for the pin with pin hole - people classify it as a pin. But there's also a version with axle instead of pin. And there's a version with two axles (both angled and straight), but that's called "Hub with 2 axles". The axle pin is classified as a pin. But is the new black 3L axle pin with 2L axle and 1L pin, a pin? It's more axle than pin. There are axles with stops, but there's also a tan 4L axle with a "stop" that only stops axleholes, but that goes prefectly through a pinhole. Is that a "stop"? We have gears, but is a knob wheel a gear? It doesn't mesh with them, but it has the same function, so what to do? As you see, every classification brings up questions. (And every new part can challenge your categorization) I think if you want to sort your elements, it's better to make it useful to you, than to make it logical. ()Believe me, I have tried to make it logical many times, and every time, there are parts that stop you in your tracks). Because in the end, you'll be using it to find stuff, right? Here's some tips. Tomorrow when there's daylight I can shoot some pictures of how I do it now. Put elements you use often, close by Put elements you use rarely, far away Don't put large and small elements in the same bin. The small elements will sink to the bottom. Don't put elements you use often and elements you use rarely in the same bin. The elements you use rarely will lie in the way. Wide bins work better for finding stuff, but take more horizontal space. Tall bins use little space, but are harder to sift through. Find the balance of bin width/height that works for you If you put elements you use very often together with elements you use rarely, the elements you use rarely will lie in the way of those you use often. Put items you use often, together Putting too many elements together mans you can't find your stuff. Putting too few elements together (using too many bins) means sorting takes forever To give a practical example of that last point, I see pictures here above me where all axles and pins are sorted. I hate sorting axles and pins; sorting axles and pins takes forever. I don;t have them sorted, and I can find them right away (they're color coded, remember? :wink: ). So sorting them doesn't make any sense. If a part is very rare but you use it very often, find a way to prevent it from getting lost in the heap (for example, a new type of pin) For elements you use often, it's most important you can find them fast For elements you use rarely, it's most important that it's stored efficiently. (Personal example: all my wheels are thrown together. I have to search for wheels only at the beginning of a model. I don't mind having to search for a while; it's only one time. So I packed them so they use the least total space.) Put elements you use together, together. (For example, if you use worm gears, you always also use gears. So I put worm gears with other gears. However, gear racks are apart, because they are larger and I use them less, so they would lie in the way.) Try to sort elements by "how you use them" rather than "how they look". For example, I use the technic tooth 1x3 for bodywork, similar to panels. So I decided "this is like a small panel" so I put it with panels. Also, I use panels by color, so panels are sorted by color. I use gears by function, so gears are together. As you see, a lot can be said.

New progress! I think this is the last one before finishing. And I think the body is done - I don't see ways to improve it further. Also, interest is dwindling, I feel like I'm ready for a new project. A lot has happened over the last week. More precisely, a lot of small changes have been made. I didn't change the roof, but among the things that have changed, are: No pop-up lights anymore. They didn't work and I couldn't get it to look nice. New headlights! This was the hardest part indeed; I tried 4 versions or so and picked the one I liked best. It may not be your taste, but it was the best I could do. I tried lots of versions for the front wheel arches, but in the end nothing looked nice, so I kept the flex axles. Side mirrors. Also, in that area, some parts have been connected. It's not an exact fit, so parts are stressed a bit, but it works. The rear lights have changed, so they don't point downward anymore. The battery box has been put in its designated position, with a switch sticking out the rear. The top white panels at the rear are now connected to the rear window for a little bit of extra strength. The rear spoiler has been added. As dark gray is light on panels, I went for slopes and tiles. The front: The rear: Last picture from the side: Digital file is now 99% complete, and it has about 3000 parts... I now understand why supercars on Rebrickable have so many parts... A lot goes into all those details. Also, it's quite heavy. Much more than I expected beforehand, and much heavier than my 1:10 scale cars. In fact it's not 100% finished, because the HOG problem is still not solved, but this is so deep in the model and probably requires such a small change that I think I wll only do this digitally, when I do instructions. IF I do instructions, because the software I use starts to give bugs over about 2000 parts (I had some problems with my recent orange moblie crane). Interesting or surprising part counts: about 80 gears. Less than 42070, but more than many supercars because it has a gearbox and electric functions. 130 pins with pin hole... 100 axles 2, 80 axles 3, 400 black 2L pins 240 System parts 70 panels I'm not sure yet what I will do with the digital file. Properly submodeling this beast will be a whole lot of work. Here's again the Brickshelf folder: Large supercar in 1 to 8 scale, started in 2017.

That may be true, HallBricks (about the 24t gear redesign). I know I sometimes use the white gear in places where the 24t just rubs a beam or other part, because the whtie gear's teeth are just a liiiittle bit shorter. Also, I had the feeling the 24t's in my 42066 were redesigned (the edges of the teeth felt sharper) but it didn't come to my mind that this could have been a reason. Edit: I just checked a few 24t's and they still slightly rub the connector, just as Jeroen Ottens and HallBricks describe. I'd say if it happens here, it should also happen in the set. It fits and it can rotate, but it does touch. Maybe the other 3L cross block is deprecated?

I'm not sure what you mean by this (first of all, 42024 is an extreme example. There's no other recent set with that many vibrant colors in a single vehicle, except, eh... 42070)). Are you implying kids prefer bright colors? Or the contrary, that kids will love black-purple? (And if so, why is 42070 blue-red-yellow?) All kids? What about Technic-loving kids? Are you implying that smaller sets should have bright colors, and larger sets shouldn't? Is black-purple more "adult" or more "serious" than blue-red-yellow? (And if so, then why is 42070 blue-red-yellow? What does the colors say about these two sets?) Is it good that 42069 has dark colors and 42070 has bright colors? Or is that bad, or neutral? Lots of questions to be asked...

It's speculation nonetheless. Hardly "discussion" yet.

Inreresting how in the conclusion of your review you mention that all functions work, but as you found out and can clearly see in your "driving" video, you need a living room the size of Australia to make a full turn. In the video I'm not seeing you drive the truck - I only see you trying to turn it. Seriously, the crop-circle-sized turning radius is laughable, and kind of reduces "driving" to "manoeuvering tight spaces" all the time. Unless you're outside of course, but we have seen that if you're outside, you can only control it if you're sitting on it. So yeah. Anyhow, your review is of the high standard we are used from you, so kudos to that! The pictures seem to get better with every run, they are a joy to watch. Even watching pictures of bags of parts is a delight. But many thanks for the good write-up as well, your outcome seems to support the consensus - it's not a bad set by itself, it's just priced as if it were made of diamonds. (Although your view on medium azure and medium blue are just your taste, which I don't share. I like both of those colors a lot, and I expect to like dark azure as well... but part availability stays a problem and I hope with you that 2018 will bring more of it, as well as bright green and dark purple.

In a live suspension, the axle itself is a fixed unit. In independent suspension, there is no separate axle unit, because both wheels connect to the chassis. Independent is what supercars have, like 42039 or 42056. Live is what trucks have, e,g. 42043.

I really like how it turned out! Especially knowing it's a C-model. It doesn't look like any compromises were taken, and I like the original subject. I think you should try to get it on Rebrickable if you have the time to do instructions. Somehow it inspires me to try a similar type of truck one day. I might, some day... :)

It would have been technically much less interesting though.

Not a good sign for me. You liked the 42039 a lot too, contrary to popular belief, and I ended up getting that set. But that had a price nowhere near this one... :D But your picture looks great. Lookimg forward to the rest.

Google "strangest vehicles" for inspiration ;) Jokes aside, what I do is, whenever I see a photo of somrthing thst looks interesting, I save it on my PC. Someone was building a catering truck here, so I saved the reference image. Sometimes I check Techlug and find things there. I have hundreds of photos, of monster trucks, buses, fire trucks, construction equipment, lots of supercars, everything. My most recent find is a youtube channel called something like "ten fold" which is about desings of folding structures. I suffer from choice paralysis more than a lack of ideas ? Other ideas: If there's a set you hate, try to build your own version of it (I did this with the ocean explorer, but didn't finish) See what others are building Join competitions :) Check youtube for lists, top-tens of vehicles ("largest trucks" for example (For vehicles) grab some wheels and lay them out pn your desk and see what type of vehicle comes to mind But others certainly have other ideas. Rather than a list of ideas (everyone can make a list using the internet) I 'd propose to share ideas on how you get you inspiration and from where, and how you choose from your list. I.e. let's share idea-generating methods, rather than merely their results. The methods are more general, while the results depend more on personal preference :)

Well, is it a model of something in a certain scale? I say that is the criterium. Whether or not the modeled thing is real or fsntasy (e.g. something from a movie). As long as it has pictures, blueprints etc. that can be scaled. Whether it is a good scale model, is another question (I say it is, by the way). But quality standards are inherently a slippery slope. A bad scale model us also a scale model and should therefore be allowed. The model's quality can be discussed in its topic.

I think paper is a good idea here. (I consider myself very purist ;) ). Panels are very ugly for such large flat surfaces because of all the holes and stripes and other texture (but that's my personal taste). And paper is super lightweight. The best purist solution would be to use 8x16 tiles, but I don't think they exist in white. You could maybe also print a nice logo.

Or maybe, you could wait until 42069 is reviewed, and if that is to your liking, put your Claas tyres on that :)

I saw it on Sariel's video and I can't imagine it has any other use than prevent people from installing it the wrong way. The different coloring on the steering is maybe meant to "give a hint" for when the rear axles are installed, so that people install it with the same color on the same side as the front axle.

@DoomedACE You might want to fix the spelling error: setnumber should be: set number (two words). Also, if I'm going to be really picky, then I'd say if you do a list of specs, then I'd keep the same style for all titles. If you say "designer" or "set number" (which are both quantities as nouns), then I'd also go for "piece count", and "release date", not "pieces" (that's the unit, not the quantity) and "released" (that's a verb, not a noun). Also, is Anders Gasendal the same person as Anders Gaasedal? If so, which of these two is his actual name?

I'm afraid these are almost all flex axles I have in white, so that won't be possible right now... Yeah, maybe. The hard part here is that usually the front should be as low as possible above the wheels. This is hard in panels because panels are large unbendable things. But I'll see if I can come up with a solution. Because I do agree that the flexes in only one place are a bit out-of-style. The reason for this was that I wanted the windscreen to increase rigidity, like in reality, but it didn't work because it was too flimsy anyway. So I changed it now. So, there's again some progress. First, there are some small changes to the upper door connection and the windscreen. The windscreen is now done with axles, so it's less bulky and doesn't hinder the view. I think it's better this way (thanks @Meatman). Second, the light gray part on the door hinge has gone. It's now done with dark gray connectors. It's slightly less strong but not noticeably. Third, I added the switchers in dark gray so they don't pop out too much, and connected them to the rest. At the front I added lights, under the large white panels. I'm not entirely happy with them though. The connection is a single stud, whch is very weak, and I'm not sure about the style either. Maybe I should ditch the pop-up lights (it's not connected to any HOG) and add nice fixed lights there. But I'd hate to lose a function, even if only a small one. It's Technic, after all. The biggest change/progress is, I changed the rear. I was very unhappy about the old rear with all the stacked panels, especially the trapezium panels were very ugly, so I designed a "grille" using beams and black grille tiles. Personally I think it's much better. But again, the lights bug me a bit. Also, the large top panels are still connected only in one place, so it's still a bit flimsy there. I haven't yet found a solution to that. I did change it so that the spoiler stand is connected to the frame a bit more, rather than on the paneling. So the modularity of the build is a bit better.

Great review, Sariel, thanks for making it! I think you cover all aspects very well. There seems to be a lot of complexity inside, but it all doesn't work out as we (as fans) would have liked. It's too bad. I think this could have been a great set. The lack of any front suspension is a big let-down, and in the rear, springs would add to the suspension too. Also, the price is outrageous. I really feel that 2 stars for "value" is too much; this should have been 1 because, well, is there any set of worse value? I also feel that "functions" should have been 2 stars instead of 1, because the outriggers work, the crane works, so 4 out of 6 functions work pretty fine. You seem so let-down by the drive/steer (rightfully), but seem to forgot that this rating is a rating of all six functions. I really think one star is too harsh here. I guess you can't expect a set that's both very big and great. Good to see you mention your worries about the again new color. I do think you could also pay attention to what kind of pieces you get in the new color and how useful/versatile you think they are. As I complained about in the other pictures, all you get are thick beams and panels. Personally I think this deserves a mention (idem for 42069). Looking forward to your other reviews. Curious how 42069 will fare, and whether 42068 has any surprises. And I think @allanp sums it all up very well.

Seriously, is that the whole range of the steering? That thing can't even do a full circle in my garden. And dark purple has the same problem as dark azure - no connectors. One straight beam, two non-straight beams, some plates and slopes and all the rest is panels. Why, TLC? Also, I counted the gears using the part lists: 42068: 3+2+1+4+8+1+6+4+3 = 32 gears 42069: 1+11+1+4+9+1+4+3+2+1 = 37 gears 42070: 1+3+4+7+3+10+13+1+21+1+12+13+2+13 = 104 gears To be honest, 42069, the set I considered the most interesting, really disappoints here, and 42070 comes out much, much better here. (I may have miscounted, but even as an estimate it's interesting). Also, a misprint in the BOM of 42068, where yellow axles 7 have a (5) marker. Also interesting: instructions for 42069 and 42070 have nearly the same number of pages. Their prices are almost a factor 2 apart. What's going on? But many interesting things are to be found in all those part lists. Many of the new parts, many brown axles with stops in all sets, lots of the very rare yellow 1x3 xox cross block. Why ten U-joints in 42069? Also, in all three sets, to my disappointment, Lego apparently has lost the ability to work with the numbered panels, in favor of large plate panels. Lots of strange yellow stuff in 42070; why? Large amounts of red and yellow axles. 27x 1x5x0.5 gray xooox beam in 42069. Many things to observe. Im still very much looking forward to the reviews that are coming upon us in due time :)

Inventory contains some nice surprises, but I'm a bit disappointed with the dark azure. As you can see, it's only beams and panels. Not a single connector (which makes it worse than bright green). Also, only 11 different pieces; where even 75532 apparantly affords 13 different pieces in reddish brown. Also, the most useful panels (the numbered ones) have the lowest parts counts (just one of each, seriously?). I'm starting to hate all those large flat panels; they're good for crane booms, but for sculpting, the smaller round panels have many more interesting uses. Just check your average supercar around here on EB. That's why the 42070 looks like a square box. But at least they're there... Also, there are only 2 lengths of straight beams, where even bright green has 3. Fortunately, dark azure has the 2x4 beam which is very welcome; but again this has a very low count (why?). I'm afraid it will be hard to use the color for anything right now, until another set comes out that uses the color. But given how bright green hasn't yet reappeared, I'm not very hopeful for that. Let's hope we see a return in 2018. For now, I still think they should have gone for medium azure instead; to make that color much more useful.

Edit: Sorry, wrong topic

I also think there are too many parts missing from too many colors, but on the other hand I also kinda like all those new colors. The more colors there are, the more variations a single new added color will bring. This new blue can be matched with all kinds of other colors. I look forward to trying out all kinds of combinations. Let's just hope that there's enough different parts (in enough different categories) in the color for it to be usable. So I hope it's better than what 42050/42059 brought us in medium azure. Edit: but I have to say, the difference between dark azure and medium azure seems really hard to see! (to a lesser extent, dark azure and medium blue also look very similar). Is the difference easier in real life, Sariel? And with artificial light (in the evenings)?