DLuders

@ Jakon:

Thanks, Jernej, for your LDD Christmas gift! "The Black Wolf" has got to be the most-hairy, most-spiney Lego Technic creation ever made!

@ Solscud007: Rien posted his test results of using an 11.1-volt LiPo battery in his Power Functions creation, with (apparently) no ill effects: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=59506&st=0&p=1061034&hl=volt&fromsearch=1entry1061034 . On that post, there was extensive back-and-forth pros/cons of using this setup. If I were you, I WOULD TRY using three of the 3.7-volt batteries to power your train! In regards to your question about motor torque, you will enjoy reading Philo's excellent "LEGO 9V Technic Motors Compared Characteristics" and "LEGO Train Motors Comparison" articles. Yes, the 8882 Power Functions XL motor has roughly twice the torque (but ~half the speed) of an 8883 PF Medium Motor, but that varies with voltage as shown on Philo's graphs.

Here is that that Zblj mentioned: @ Zblj: Nice MOC! Is this the fastest Lego Technic car that you've made? Are you planning on making an LDD file for it?

@ Tomik: I downloaded your PDF instructions for your 8068 alternate, and they are very well made. Thanks for sharing them!

I think that the lack of "slits" (as you call them) indicates that TLG is STRENGTHENING the Technic Liftarms. In this Eurobricks topic, lt8 (Australian AFOL Tristan Lostroh) published his "Lego Technic Strength Testing" results (in a 1.2-MB PDF report) that showed that Technic Liftarms cracked in the weakest area -- the "slits". Adding material there will allow for Technic Liftarms to be used in higher-stress applications. The added cost of the few grams of ABS plastic is minimal.

@ Jurgen Krooshoop: There is already a Trains Forum topic about Barman's Container Crane here, with mention of your new Building Instructions. People really like it!

Building a Lego Technic "flagship" like the Unimog should be savored like fine French wine -- "taste" the quality and take your time!

Yes, and Conchas has made it really easy to access those 1H2012 Technic Building Instructions on this TechnicBRICKS post. He has all of the hyperlinks all set up.

Yes, but Rebrickable allows people who don't own the 6745 set to see if they can build Zblj's MOC with the spare parts they have on hand, or with parts from other sets they own. It also has a nice visual Parts List for those not aware of LDD Manager or Bricklink's 6745 set inventory.

The renders are by incomparable Blakbird. Thanks for the PDF Building Instructions and Brickstore XML file! This Container Crane is also posted on Rebrickable.

[bUMP] Zblj has posted his LDD file of this 6745 Jet (alternate build of the 6745 Propeller Power set) on Rebrickable. There's an easy-to-understand Parts List there, in case you wanted to use your spare parts or wanted to make the jet in another color.

[bUMP] Jurgen Krooshoop (with help from Blakbird) has made PDF Building Instructions for Barman's minifig-scale Lego Technic Container Crane, and posted them on Rebrickable. There is a Brickstore XML file available too (to help you automate your Bricklink parts needs)!

@ Nick Perto DK: Welcome to Eurobricks! On this Eurobricks post, P4trickvH also wishes for the 32195b "Technic, Steering Arm 6.5 x 2 with Towball Socket Rounded, Chamfered" part in LDD. The different suspension arm you show isn't available in LDD. The x873c01 "Technic, Steering Gear with 4 Ball Joints, Complete Assembly with Black Base" is not available in LDD either. Perhaps they will be available on the next LDD update on January 17, 2012....

@ Splat: On his JurgensTechnicCorner.com website, Jurgen Krooshoop has (25-MB) PDF Building Instructions for his Lego Technic 4-Speed RC Gearbox that utilizes Power Functions:

OK, we all know "less-fortunate families" in our neighborhoods. If we contact them and enter their "essay" into the Bricklink Forum on their behalf, maybe they can win the set. By the way, I'm not "Eezo" -- he lives in California. I only know him via his occasional posts on the Eurobricks Technic Forum. Nice fellow....

Nice MOC! It looks a lot like the real thing:

As stated on this Bricklink Forum post, a Lego 8053 Mobile Crane set will be given away to a family with kid(s): "Hello all, "Taking a break from the hussle and bussle of the holidays. All of us know that the economy has not been great, and most of us have been affected. Myself included. "Lego has been a part of my and my daughter's life for as long as we both can remember. Some of you know that I and my daughter have been selling toys and items online for a few years, and lately on Brick Machine Shop"]Brick Machine Shop[/url] here on Bricklink. "At this time of year, it has been a usually occurence for us to open a couple of nice Lego sets Christmas morning and spend hours putting them together. We even have put together creations from parts that are only individually available here on BL. One year we made a 5 foot tall walking dinasaur. It only took two steps and fell and broke into many pieces. Thinking I would see her sad, I was surpise to see my kid laughing her heart out at our fiasco. Those are the priceless moments that Lego has given to us. "Over the years, Priscilla and I have gone from the Duplo, City, Creator, and recently to the Technic kits together. We never made it to the Taj Mahal, mainly because she grew so big and so fast and is 16 in just a few weeks. She probably wouldn't want to take that on with good o' dad anyways. "This year, she decide not to receive a Lego set from me, rather for us to give a couple of sets to a family less fortunate. So, from now til midnight December 24th [2011], we would like any family who has a kid to submit a small essay to be read on the Bricklink forum about how Lego has affected their lives, or just why they would like one of the two sets we are giving away. "The winner will be announced December 26th [2011]. "The sets are the 8053 Mobile Crane and the 4184 The Black Pearl. They are brand new and unopened and just purchased this morning in the galleria. The essays will be judged without any specific criteria from friends and esteem members of the BL forum. All the judges need to do is to read as many essays as they can posted in the "General" forum under "Free Lego Set Essay" and pick any two that they feel deserving. A consensus will be taken and the top will be given The Mobile Crane, and second place will be The Black Pearl. We will ship these two after Christmas, about the 27th, worldwide and we will pay for shipping. "If you would like to be on the judges panel, please contact Brick Machine Shop. Please submit your votes for the two essays by midnight December 25th. "Merry Christmas, Regards, Eezo and Priscilla, Brick Machine Shop"

As stated on this Bricklink Forum post, a Lego 4184 Black Pearl set, or a Lego 8053 Mobile Crane set, will be given away to families with kid(s): "Hello all, "Taking a break from the hussle and bussle of the holidays. All of us know that the economy has not been great, and most of us have been affected. Myself included. "Lego has been a part of my and my daughter's life for as long as we both can remember. Some of you know that I and my daughter have been selling toys and items online for a few years, and lately on Brick Machine Shop"]Brick Machine Shop[/url] here on Bricklink. "At this time of year, it has been a usually occurence for us to open a couple of nice Lego sets Christmas morning and spend hours putting them together. We even have put together creations from parts that are only individually available here on BL. One year we made a 5 foot tall walking dinasaur. It only took two steps and fell and broke into many pieces. Thinking I would see her sad, I was surpise to see my kid laughing her heart out at our fiasco. Those are the priceless moments that Lego has given to us. "Over the years, Priscilla and I have gone from the Duplo, City, Creator, and recently to the Technic kits together. We never made it to the Taj Mahal, mainly because she grew so big and so fast and is 16 in just a few weeks. She probably wouldn't want to take that on with good o' dad anyways. "This year, she decide not to receive a Lego set from me, rather for us to give a couple of sets to a family less fortunate. So, from now til midnight December 24th [2011], we would like any family who has a kid to submit a small essay to be read on the Bricklink forum about how Lego has affected their lives, or just why they would like one of the two sets we are giving away. "The winner will be announced December 26th [2011]. "The sets are the 8053 Mobile Crane and the 4184 The Black Pearl. They are brand new and unopened and just purchased this morning in the galleria. The essays will be judged without any specific criteria from friends and esteem members of the BL forum. All the judges need to do is to read as many essays as they can posted in the "General" forum under "Free Lego Set Essay" and pick any two that they feel deserving. A consensus will be taken and the top will be given The Mobile Crane, and second place will be The Black Pearl. We will ship these two after Christmas, about the 27th, worldwide and we will pay for shipping. "If you would like to be on the judges panel, please contact Brick Machine Shop. Please submit your votes for the two essays by midnight December 25th. "Merry Christmas, Regards, Eezo and Priscilla, Brick Machine Shop"

Technicmad mentioned the "New User Profile" feature in this Rebrickable.com Blog entry:

Thanks, Han! Merry Christmas to you too! May Santa bring you many presents! Are you going to add your Articulated Hauler to http://www.Rebrickable.com/mocs , to join the MOCs by many other accomplished Lego Technic builders?

Well, there's no video of this MODEL, but James May (of "Top Gear" fame) has this YouTube video about the real Citroen DS car's functions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gpUHtRVBn4

Yes, the scale reads 7 kg (that's over 15 pounds for us backwards Americans who won't adopt the Metric scale!)

On MOCpages, Barney R posted his Lego Technic Citroen DS 1/8th-scale model. There are 50 pictures and EXTENSIVE discussion about the pneumatics packed into this 7-kilogram studded vehicle. Its features include: "* 4 cylinder in line engine, linked to 3 speed and reverse (in real life should be 4 or 5 speed). * Gear shift is entirely pneumatically operated from dashboard lever. * Front wheel drive with independent suspension, pneumatically-controlled and height-adjustable. * Rack and pinion steering with very good turning circle, linked to set of front lights which turn with the front wheels. * Working [swiveling] lights front and rear, operated from dash mounted switch. Battery box under rear bench seat. * Opening doors (with handle mechanism), bonnet and spring mounted boot lid. * Fully sliding and reclining front seats (raising up in hight as they slide forward) with removeable arm rest. Rear bench seat has folding arm rest. Glove compartment." "Lots of pumps. One for each wheel (with large spring for overcoming sheer weight), a hand pump on the left for suspension, then 2 dual pipe pumps for the closed gear system. One under the dashboard leading to one moving the actual gears." This Wikipedia article has a good description of the real car's hydropneumatic suspension, directional headlights, and other Francophile design elements!

From these clear Bricklink pictures, we can see the 1x1 square opening in the center of these two parts: 99010 "Technic Turntable Small Base": 99009 "Technic Turntable Small Top":