Erik Leppen

Opinions, opinions... About the too low roof - that might be a thing, indeed. I'm not sure though about heightening it - the 4x6 beams for the doors work really well now, so having a good replacement for that would be the main concern about raising the roof. But it might improve things elsewhere. @Meatman: what exactly is "rough" about the roof and what exactly is "odd" about the windscreen? @Didumos69: you're compareing to a specific real car, but this isn't a real car. I'm not sure how your critique matches earlier critique about the rear window being too long. That can't be both fixed. So I don't think I'll be changing that. Anyhow, I'm working on a new front. I think it's better than the old. The old (both have one pop-up headlight as example): The new (the wheel arches with the #3 angle connectors are pointing the wrong way): Installed: (All #3 connectors should be white, but I don't own many in white)

@Kumbbl I appreciate the criticisms, because that's what we need to improve. I do not agree on everything you say (personally I like it, but I do see many areas that can be improved) but certainly on many accounts I think you are right. (You are certainly wrong on criticizing jotta93, because everyone is entitled to their own opinion and yours is not more valid than theirs :) ) As I said, I'm better at mechanisms, and I didn't build in this scale for quite some time. :) But I really appreciate your critical and detailed view. As for your points: I won't change the wheels. I agree it's not what I jad hoped, but I wanted to try it, and also I think it gives a kind of character. Also the scale is built around them. My next car will certainly use other wheels (I ordered the Porsche ones). I agree on the problems with the front. I think the blue part will not change, but I don't like the front white part either, so I'll see how I can improve it. I'm thinking of using large panels #17, #18. The 3x11 panels above the rear wheel can't be lowered, because then the wheel will touch it. It can't be inverted becuase the thin end fits nicely beside the wider part of the dark grey beam. Shorter panels don't work, that will leave a gap that eill be hard to fill. Using flex axles would be good to add 'flow', but I don't have many of those and I'd rather not do another bricklink order... So I agre it's not optimal, but I don't see ways to improve it at the moment. I disagree about the sides. I think it's fairly gap-free and flows nicely (at least the blue/white part. The grey part could be better maybe). Having people dislike the colors is the inherent risk of trying new combinations... I think you will have to get used to that in my builds, because I love all those silly colors and trying to combine them in unusual ways... I'll see what I can do with the front (that's I think the worst part (@IA creations, indeed)) and if Ican find ways to improve the rear wheel well. But I won't redo the whole bodywork, so I don't think it will be to your tastes this time... But, again, I really appreciate your feedback, o thanks for writing it out. (I dare to think Eurobricks could use more of this.)

Good idea to taje puctures from more natural angles. I did so, but manipulating them on a ranket us super tine consuming :p

I like it, but the wheels seem a bit on the small side. I don't see many other options though. Curious how this will progress further. Dark blue is a hard colour, but I like the choice.

I almost forgot that there would be reviews, but of course there will be. Looking forward to them! As for order, I'd say, just do it in the same order that Lego chose, so 42068, 42069, 42070. That would make the most sense to me. That way we get the best for last (I mean, "the best" as Lego considers it). Looking forward to all reviews, both Jim's, Sariel's, and those on techlug.fr (those are always very thorough), but I'm the most curious to 42069. I'm sure that we don't know everything about that model yet, it seems packed with nice details and moving parts. I hope the A model for 42070 will still have some surprises for us as well, but that one has been scrutinized a lot more, also by dokludi and his (?) reverse engineered build.

What I lik eabout the new 2L black pins is that bars fit inside (for example, the flex axle's ends). I sometimes use this. I never felt the need to add gray pins.

This is great to hear, because that's actually one of my dream cars to build one day I always considered it very hard to build It's good that you bring this up, because these aren't connected to anything yet. Yes, there's a mechanism, but it's not linked to the dashboard and I very much doubt this is still possible (the steering HOG is in the way). I might just use a HOG on the front hood for that, so that at least it's there, because I think it has enough functions already so I don't have to be ashamed :) Anyhow... there's progress, again! :) It's actually two stages of progress in one go. The first: everything is mirrored, so it's symmetrical again, and there's some paneling on the back. The panel on each side is held up by a pin, so it accidenally hangs down on one side. I have yet to find a nice way to increase the structure a bit there (the whole back is only connected at the very bottom with 4 red pins with bush). Also I wanted to do white grille tiles but I ran out. Also A lot of surface has been covered by the large panels in the back, but a difficult gap remains between them, where you see the battery box. Also I changed the roof to black. I still dislike the light gray pieces, but the 1x5 steering arm doesn't exist in other colors and the 2x4.8 steering arm I only have in white If you carefully follow all axles running from the gearboxes on the side (red 16t gears) then you will see that one of each goes to a door, a third one goes all the way to the front (lifting the hood), and the fourth one is now routed to the back. I'm not entirely happy with the way this is one, but there was just enough room for everything to fit. I'm thinking of trying out improvements digitally, but I'm not sure there's much to gain. They're light functions so the U-joints are no problem. You might wonder why there are lime pieces, but these are actually key pieces that secure the gearboxes, so I did them in a special color. Unfortunately the 3x3 T beam doesn't allow much color. The second part of this post's progress is smaller, but important just as much: At the front, the hood has been added. I ran out of 5x7 panels so I had to replace those on the very front. Not sure whether this change gives some opportunities for connecting things better there. The triangular gap in the hood itself probably stays there; the HOG for the headlights may fit there (I hope). At the back, the gap between the panels is filled with a smaller panel that fits nicely, and an adjustable spoiler base has been added. I'm not sure about the spoiler itself yet. I think 3x11 panels are too big but at least they exist in dark gray. The only other solutions I see are liftarm stacking, or plates/tiles. I'd like to hear your ideas about this. OK, so it looks like it's almost done now. But there's still a lot to do: fixed headlights and indicators pop-up headlights rear lights and indicators fixing the HOG slipping problem adding HOG for pop-up headlights rear spoiler adding BB, finding a way to switch it on/off, and hope it fits and I can tuck away the wire somewhere fixing the sides of the windscreen (this is still very weak) add mirrors add something to secure the switches (green 1x2 cross block in rear side window) improving some bits and pieces in the chassis and anything else I may come up with Also the chassis right now is two-colored (black in the middle, light gray at the axles). I'm not sure I like this, because black also returns in the body itself. I prefer to use a non-body color for the chassis so that people who see the BOM can know which parts are for where. So I might want to make it all light gray. But I'd like to know how others see this. All feedback, critique etc. is welcome.

I think this only happened in the last few years, with the introduction of the new 1L pin joiner, which is basically a bush with a round hole. The disadvantages of the round-holed bush are: it doesn't crack; it takes less force to use; it's easy to slide an axle through many of them during build or disassembly; it looks nicer. The only disadvantage is that it can fall of the axle during the build, but this is usually only a problem while building. The main use of the bush - keeping axles in place - is needed less and less because of all the axles with stops we have seen the last 10 years or so, and the tendency of Technic to connect short axles with axle joinres instead of using long axles. Older sets used more long axles; ever since studless, most axles are short and axle joiners act as "bushes".

I'm considering doign instructions, but the model is over 2000 pieces already so I'm not sure my LPub can handle that. And apart from the rear, it's not very modular. Thanks. One of the reasons I think is that over the last few years I backed quite a collection of white panels. So I don't have to do many concessions due to lack of parts there. It looks fast, because basically I built whole days the last two weekends and sometimes whole evenings through the week. Let's call it enthousiasm, because IMO, things are going great :) And yes, when I started the topic, everything that was built in real I had built digitally as well. Also, the rear axle was basically a copy of the front, with the steering removed, so that was a quick change. So the build started longer ago than the topic (otherwise I wouldn't have anything to show in the first post). Also, it's not based off a real model, so it's easier :) There will be progress soon. I did the door mechanism (was simpler than I expected), added more paneling to the rear, and mirrored the one-sided bodywork so its symmetrical now. It's starting to look like a finished car, but I haven't yet fixed the HOG problem. Pictures soon :)

I believe one of the reasons to "split" parts in two smaller parts is to decrease the total number of different parts in a set. If a 1x8 plate is split into two 1x4 plates, it's probably true that the 1x4 plates are already needed somewhere else in the model. My guess is that not requiring a separate new part (the 1x8 plate) reduces packaging costs. In Technic, you see this with coloring. The 42066 Air race jet has 1x11 and 1x15 beams in black, and 1x13 in gray. This is both easier for builders and requires fewer part-color combinations to be packaged. As inflated part counts go - anyone who thinks sets have too many pins should really check out some MOCs on Rebrickable. You will see exactly the same thing. It's just needed for pure studless Technic models to have half your parts be pins and axles. That's pretty much a given these days. And with the recent pins with pin hole, you see that pins are even used to connect other pins, so the ratio of pins will climb further. (But one of the reasons for this is that we decided to call the pin-with-pin-hole part a "pin" at all. You could also call it a connector.)

I think it's good to show failures too. I think we are led into thinking building is easy, because almost all you see here are the successes. It looks like it always goes right. All the misbuilds, the failures, the experiments, area often much less visible. That's why I like those WIP topics so much, and I think even "failed" projects should get some attention. Every "failed" project is a learning opportunity. That's what Technic is about - trying out things, building and rebuilding, learning from mistakes. And yes, building Technic is hard. Especially with studless I think, because so much is possible, and because you build from the inside out, rather than from bottom to top like you did in studded. I think I have only learned building good studless models the last few years, while studless Technic is around since 2002. It's a process.

Ah, is that the magic trick, @Jeroen Ottens? That's a really helpful tip! All the time I wondered how people create these flowing curvy looks, but your description sounds so logical and practical. I read your reply yesterday and the first think I did after that was rotate a beam that was straight so that it's slightly running outward, and I think that single move was an improvement alraedy. I will point to the beam in today's progress. Because quite a lot has been added since my last post! The color scheme is now really taking shape: (Yes, I only do the left side, because everything is in draft anyway, so I'll mirror everything when I think it will be almost final or when I need it to test structural things (beacuse at the moment, the windscreen part is really weak) Personally I find that the color scheme works quite well. I personally really like the Lego white, and the match with medium blue looks pretty cool I think. The dark gray top seems to work well too, but I find dark gray to be a bit of a hard color to work with because it doesn't have everything. (For example, no panels except large flat ones, no flex axles, and it seems the axle/bush connector is missing too in my collection). So the top will be a bit of dark gray and a bit of black. I try to have the lines in dark gray and the details in black. Unfortunately the ball joints for the doors had to be light gray. Jeroen, the beam in quetsion is the dark gray 15L that forms the side of the rear window. My first instinct was to have it run straight to the back, tapered verticall but from the top view it was horizontal. I rotated it a bit to create a more curved line. I think it works really nicely. Also I try to let beams run with the holes horizontally, so you get the smooth side up.This does make it a bit harder to connect them. Those that don't work, get some tiles to cover them. My current goal is to do Ferrari Enzo-like doors, using the same linkage as set 8653 where the doors are ball-hinged at the roof and at the front. The system does not work yet (it's held up by a beam in this picture). I hope I can get it to work, that would be really nice. Fortunately I don't use the damped spring, so I don't have to ensure "push-to-close" functionality. So this makes it a bit easier. Also, I'm lacking flex axles in white, so I'm afraid these four plus maybe one or two somewhere will be all. I'm in doubt about whether it adds or detracts. I mean, if there are so few, could it be "out of style" in a way? I will happily continue building, and hopefully get the doors to work soon, and find a way to use the unused fourth motorized function to do something useful (right now I'm thinking about an adjustable spoiler. The spoiler itself will probably be dark gray with two 3x11 panels.) It looks like it's pretty far on its way, but a lot has to happen in the details. Also I noticed that the HOG and steering wheel are slipping, so some reinforcement is needed somewhere deep inside. So, a lot to do! :)

I know what you mean. But your picture is a different truck than the one I'm building. I know I have outriggers and the original doesn't. I use a bit of artistic freedom to add more technic to my models. But I based the dimensions and axle configuration off my reference picture, and I won't change that. But your picture is definitely interesting, so I saved it for another time. Maybe some day :)

I had an idea. I don't know if it's possible, but I'd like to throw it out there so people in charge can think about it. When a topic has, say, 30 pages, in the topic list it has buttons behind the topic title like so: Topic title [1] [2] [3] [4] ... [30]. But I'm much more likely to need pages 27, 28, 29 than pages 2, 3, 4. After all, I read the first few pages when the topic had 4 pages, and page 4 of a 30-page topic rarely contains anything of particular interest. Page 29 however, is recent, so may contain posts I haven't read before. After all, the topic may have 30 pages, but it may have had 29 last time I visited, and I'd like to pick up reading from there. Currently, there are two ways to reach page 29: Click page 30, see some replies to oposts I haven't read yet, and then go to the previous page from there Click pgae 1, and use the "go to page" function and type 29. The first option has the disadvantage of reading replies to unread topics, throwing the chronology upside down. The second option has the disadvantage of requiring many clicks. I think it would save time and hassle if I cold go to page 29 directly, and even 28, 27 because some topics can grow very fast. Would it be possible to implement this? Does the software support this? And how do others see this?

I see a few things have happened since my last visit. @Didumos69, thanks for designing that rear suspension unit. I like it, but I don't know whether I'll use it or not. I'll test it out to see if I like it enough. Anyhow, there's quite some progress. Not everyone is going to like it maybe, but a start has been made to the body. The lower part of the body will be medium blue (from the 42066 jet). It may not be everyone's taste but I like it. Above that, but not displayed yet, the main part of the body will be white (some of the current medium blue will be replaced by white, as the medium blue is meant to be only for the lower part). The top (roof, windscreen etc.), now dark gray, will be either dark gray or black, whatever looks best. It's a lot of colors, but I like playing around with colors, and look for combinations that I haven't seen used before. Also, I recently got the 42066 and ordered a bit of medium blue over Bricklink, so I wanted to use the new parts. As you can see, there's also some gearing around the engine and on the sides, behind the seats that you may wonder what that is for. What I am planning to do is have gear-driven opening doors and front and rear hood. I understand the pictures aren't the best, but hopefully you can get something from them. The tan axles are meant for those same type of pop-up headlights that 8880 has. They're not yet connected to the dashboard yet, that's a challenge that remains. Also I want to add fixed lights between the panels. The rear. Not much to see, except a better view on some gearing, and an empty space. I am planning to have the gearing motorized, so I need a battery box somewhere. I'm personally not happy with the design of the rear yet, so I will probably try different versions to improve it. It's a bit of a hard color to work with because only a few types of parts exist. Fortunately I got some connectors from Bricklink, becuase the sets only contain panels and beams. So, what do you think? :) As I said, I'm more of a chassis person, so I am looking for advice and feedback. Be honest, also if you don't like it, I'm looking forward to tips about how to improve :) More pictures, as always, on my Brickshelf folder: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=570177 Next up: the door mechanism. I'm not sure how to do those yet, but the leftmost tan 20t gear you see in the last picture will drive the left door.

I had another theme idea. "Build your own version of an existing set, in another scale". That is: pick any Technic set you like, and build your version of it. It has to be the same vehicle, but you can change the colors. The only rule I'd like to add is: your model must be another scale than the set itself (either smaller or bigger). The reason for this rule is to prevent copying too many parts from the reference set - I wouldn't want to have a "mod" contest. Of course changing the scale also means changing the functionality, especially the motorization aspect. Bigger usually means more functions and smaller often means fewer functions. Also I think we should do actual Technic models, so no micro-builds. I'd say minimum size is about 150 pieces. The different-size rule could be defined by: "don't use the same wheels", or "your model must be at least 20% longer or 20% shorter than the original", or "the wheels must be at least 20% bigger of 20% smaller than those of the original". The details can be devised later. The inspiration for this idea is @Ivan_M's great military tow truck, inspired by 42070 but smaller. That got me thinking: there are a lot of sets that we have had critiques on, often rightfully so, and many recent sets have had a "Ultimate" version topic, showing that it's possible to improve on even the great sets we have seen, like 8043. Another reason for this idea is that I think this makes it easy for people to choose a model and get going, and it's possible for almost everyone to enter. It's not limited to PF, pneumatic, or a specific type of vehicle that may not interest somebody. There's a lot that you can do, but it's also a clear goal and a good reason to build something else than you normally do (which is what I like in competitions).

I don't think that's possible. There's a gearbox in the way. Also, it's not needed. I based mine on this picture I found: Thanks for the comment on the exhausts. I was quite unsure of them. They're actually a secondary solution, because the battery box had to fit between them.

Lovely! What I like most is the scale. It's actually not very big, but the proportions are so good on this. Really good job. I also like the high ground clearance. The dark gray works very well too. Much much better than the set. (What I find ironic is how the model is so much smaller, but does kind of the same things. It's only less "awesome" for the stereotypical kid, because it's not huge and sky blue...) I'm not fond of the liftarm stacking in the at the rear of the sides of the cabin though. But I understand there's little options there. Also, the outriggers have a bit strange configuration, because they don't seem to lock. When extended, they don't look convincing. Maybe the higher connector (5L thin beams) should be shorter than the lower (5L thick beams). But I understand a lot of vertical travel is needed to maintain the ground clearance so it's hard to find a good geometry for them.

That said, this car deserves to be bumped, because it's awesome! I don't know the original/reference, but I love all the curves on it. It all flows very smooth. Clever part usage on the wheel arches. I also think this would fit great in the Scale Modeling board.

Looks like a nice start. I like the scale. Front suspension looks simple and clean. Could you show a few more pictures of various angles, and of some of the techniques? One without wheels, to show the suspension? How's the steering rack connected? From the side, so the proportions can be better seen? It does look like there's some room between the front axle and the dashboard, and the actual driver's seat may be a bit cramped (steering wheel very close to chest), but it's hard to see from this angle. Curious where this project will go. I like all those WIP topics, it shows so much more than just a finished model - you get a sense of how people build, I like that. Keep up the good work, looking forward to other updates.

Today's progress is a little bit more modest - I reinforced the structure and added details to the interior. The steering wheel is now finished and some panels added to the interior. There is a beam over the engine that connects to the frame, so that is now sturdy chassis. I replaced the dark gray 1x2 cross blocks in the rear axle by 2x2 bent pin joiners which can be reinforced, thanks to @Didumos69's advice. Here's another picture of our favorite side: Next up: starting with the body. I usually start with the lower front (the nose), the lower rear, and the sides. I have some ideas about the color scheme, which you will see in due time :)

That's a good critique, @Didumos69, about the linkage of the rear axle. Indeed I notice sometimes the dark gray 1x2 cross block has slid off a little (a quarter stud or so). In fact they are "form locked" in that sense that if one axle joiner is moved outwards, it moves the other inwards via the two steering links, but I agree it's not optimal. However, if they don't slide there's very little play, and after looking at it a bit I notice that I can replace the 1x2 cross blocks by 2x2 bent pin joiners, which have a third hole that can be connected securely, to the 5x7 frame (if pointing down) or, of pointing upwards, by replacing the 5L axle with 7L. So I'll be changing that (at the expense of having to use a rarer part, but oh well).

Why are people here giving those copycats free links to their videos, with their ads so they earn more money? Isn't that exactly what they want? Why not link to the original, giving that extra views, and put the link to the tcopy in a spoiler so the author can use it to report the copycat?

Not in the latest pictures; there it's light gray as the part has always been.

Wow, that's a lot of replies so quick. I see there's a lot of discussion about the springs. Let me clarify what I meant. See also the attached image at the bottom of the post. The spring has a fixed strength. If the attachment point is far away from the hinge, it has a large arm of momentum, meaning each millimeter of vertical travel will compress the spring by a large amount, which requires a large amount of force. In the left image, 1 mm of vertical travel may compress the spring only 1/3 mm, which requires little force. In the right image, 1 mm of vertical travel will compress the spring 1 mm, which requires 3 times as much force. So it holds 3 times as much weight, but with 3 times as little travel. @PorkyMonster: you're right that springs compress linearly, but the spring in a Lego shock is pre-compressed. If you would dismantle it, the spring would be longer than in the part. The precompression force will be about 500 g or so, so that's why 25% is about 700g, because that's 25% on the way from 500 to 1300. (numbers are approximate for clarity). Also, as a Lego shock absorber has only two pinholes, it's a two-force member, so it's always in "direct compression" (if it's free to move). The only place where force can be lost, is friction. Anyhow. Progress! I copied the front axle, but replaced the steering by fixed links. I could have used non-steering hub parts, but I liked the similarity between both modules. Engine is placed, @Lipko, between the gearbox and rear axle. And I found a way to connect the seats unit to the front axle unit with much less distance between. The central console has been widened to 7 to allow the two long green beams to run through to add strength. These have to be lengthened in some way to the back (over the engine probably) to have a continuous beam from front to back to add more stiffness. Also, HOG is added (12t gear behind front axle), and steering wheel is added (white beam is temporary). It's an easy change to put the steering wheel on the other side. If the front axle is one of the best you've seen, than you haven't seen very much, because it's nothing out of the ordinary. No camber, no caster (whatever those are), not even Ackermann steering. Just the same properties as that of 8880. Lots of axle modules by other people are much more imaginative and interesting than this. There's even a bit of play in the steering rack because it had to move out of the way of the differential and the support beams (so it's "["-shaped). I'm not entirely happy with the steering rack, but I don't think there're many better options. Also, no problem you don't like the color. It's unusual, that's why I like it, but it's not very realistic Does this help? But again, I don't think it's my design. It's a while old already, I don't know where I saw it first. I don't know if you can see it, but the 16t side of the diff drives 1st, 3rd, 5th gear 16t clutch gears. The 20t (on the axle of the 8t gear) drives the reverse-gear. Because it's 3x as fast as the diff, reverse gear has similar speed as first gear. The other 20t (on the same axle as the whtie gear) drives the 2nd, 4th gear clutches. The level above it, with the clutch gears, is the same as in set 8448 (directly next to the 5x7 frame you see the two pairs of 12-20). Does this help? The 2L axle at the bottom holds two 2 x 0.5 beams and the hinge axle has a 2L beam too. Some more images: More on the Brickshelf folder: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=570177 (not public directly after any uploads)