DLuders

@ Legodac: Does your laptop computer meet the Minimum System Requirements on the LDD.Lego.com download page? What is your Operating System on your laptop? 32-bit or 64-bit? "Minimum System Requirements for PC Operating system: Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. CPU: 1 GHz processor or higher Graphics card: 128 MB graphics card (OpenGL 1.1 or higher compatible) RAM: 512 MB Hard disk space: 1 GB" "Minimum System Requirements for Mac Operating system: OS X 10.5.8 or higher CPU: Intel processor Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce 5200/ATI Radeon 7500 or better RAM: 1 GB Hard disk space: 1 GB" Note that "LEGO Digital Designer version 4.1 is not available on PowerPC Macs. To allow PowerPC users access to their models, we have made a special version of 2.3.20 available exclusively for that architecture. This version will not support the option of buying through Design byME, and it is not supported by LEGO. It can be downloaded here: LDDMacInstaller.zip ."

boyboy25boy added this latest Lego Technic Mountain Bike on . He wrote that "The frame had to be modified due to the smaller wheels - aiming to capture the original scale of a mountain bike."

On his Brickshelf gallery, miami/ miamipl posted 11 pictures and a of his Lego Technic Supercar with Power Functions (PF) remote control (RC). It has gullwing doors, 2x2 LED lights, a working steering wheel, fake V6 engine, and a 4-speed gearbox.

Once you are in LDDextended mode, press Edit-->Preferences. There is a little slider bar at the bottom of that screen to adjust the Compatibility Mode Level. Mine is slid all the way to the left (off). Since you seem to have a capable computer, try setting the Advanced Graphics while you are on the Preferences screen. You can outline the individual bricks in white outlines, and set up high-quality rendering and shading.

By far, the cheapest way of obtaining Lego Power Functions items is to order directly from Shop.Lego.com . Here is the link to the Power Functions items; you can change the country and language at the top-center of that webpage to match your needs. The Power Functions Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs) webpage has a lot of good information.

I followed Paul Boratko's advice, and telephoned Lego Direct (Customer Service) to order some of the 8110 Unimog's new parts (pictured below). I could order up to 10 different part numbers over the telephone. On his Brickshelf gallery, cooooooool posted the two Parts List pages (from the 8110's official instructions), and concentrated on these NEW parts (most of which I just ordered): To order from Lego Direct, mention the long code numbers from the instructions (reprinted in parentheses below). Here are the prices in the USA (already noted by Paul Boratko): New Technic Shock Absorbers (4619319) = $1.91 ea. New Hub piece (4610378) = $1.04 ea. New Portal Axle housing (4610377) = $2.08 ea. New 94.3 x 38R tires (4610381) = $4.54 ea. New C-shaped pivot frame (4610379) = $2.25 ea. New cup to fit on above pivot (4610380) = $1.02 ea. On Bricklink, I ordered BLACK 44772 "Wheel 56mm D. x 34mm Technic Racing Medium" (to match the real Unimog's wheel color), since Lego Direct only had Light Bluish Gray wheels (4211845 @ $2.50 ea.). I plan on fiddling with these new parts while I'm waiting for the ~August 2nd US release date for the 8110 set. I didn't inquire about the ORANGE parts, but I'm sure there are plenty available....

@ Jack-Jedi: Instructions for Atr's Willys Jeep is on his Brickshelf gallery.

The 8295 Telehandler (pictured below) has some parts that could be used for a RC Jeep or Trial Truck. The 8297 Off-Roader is probably closer to what you want. It can be fully motorized by modifying the design a bit. I would actually recommend buying the parts you need from Bricklink to build Sariel's Jeep Wrangler Rubicon or Sariel's Land Rover Chassis. Nico71's yellow Trial Jeep is also great.

@ Audosoft: Welcome to Eurobricks! I pressed the UK flag at the top-right corner of your website to read the English narrative of your software (P.S. When one places the mouse over that flag, it mistakenly says "French"). I looked at the "CGV" (software license agreement) page, and pressing the UK flag does not translate it into English. I used Google Translate to do this for me, by copying the French text reading the English translation side-by-side. Recommend that you enable an English translation of the license agreement automatically. Your introductory, special offer to purchase the unlimited version of your software (for $37 during the month of July 2011, instead of the regular $45) seems OK for a product of this quality. However.... I downloaded your free (4,000-part) version to see how it works. Before I installed the 58.6-MB executible file, my Norton 360 antivirus software automatically scanned the file, and indicated this alert: "Very Few Users -- Fewer than 5 users in the Norton community have used this file. The file risk is medium. Threat type -- Insight Network Threat. There are many indications that this file is untrustworthy and therefore not safe." Norton 360 subsequently removed my .EXE download file to protect my computer.

On his Brickshelf gallery, skorupa posted 11 pictures of his Motorized Insect Powered by a Lego solar panel:

On this Lego Technic Designers Blog post from June 23, Ricco Krog recognized the AFOL winners from the previous three months of the 2011 Lego Technic competition. Be sure to click on the link to see the pictures; congratulations to the AFOL winners. There may have been a reduction in the number of AFOL entries this year (since folks noticed that TLG had not acknowledging entries built by older people); submit your "Summertime Sport Vehicle" ideas! Ricco Krog wrote, "Just as last year, we have received a number of AFOL (Adult Fans of LEGO) creations. As always, these adult models, and others will be selected for a full round of voting in a pure adult-submission finale which will run after the grand finale in October - the winner will receive the same grand-prize as for the current competition, which is the full LEGO® Technic 2011 product assortment (all new models in 2011)."

Aw, c'mon, could you tell us what the error is so that folks don't have to rip their Unimog apart to fix it? Is there an error in the official INSTRUCTIONS, or just in the way you built the two axles? Maybe TLG will have to publish a CORRECTION SHEET, so that they are not inundated with complaints about the performance of the set. Recall the 8043 Motorized Excavator fiasco from last summer....

I like Grumpy's eyebrow movements!

@ Mego: Welcome to Eurobricks! Your pictures are HUGE; they need to be resized so that they load much faster. On his website, Sariel posted these solutions for his customized Power Functions Handsets, and he has a link to this TechnicBRICKS post with additional solutions.

Yes, but if folks are limited to a quota only 150k of Attachments, Zipping the LXF file will save some of the allocation. I've attached (perhaps 8) small .lxf files on various posts, and only have 2kB left to use. Will Eurobricks ever increase this 150kB allocation?

I wrote an e-mail to Lego911 (a master Lego car builder who works for Ford Australia), and got this reply: "I looked at the Superkalle steering challenge link. It looks like they are almost there. "I have a relatively good solution. More importantly, it solves the question people are asking - 'How do you make a steering mechanism that does not drive the wheel fore and aft under steering lock?'. "There is an implication that 'real' cars do not do this - this is incorrect, most do. They can play with the king pin inclination angle by moving the upper pivot inwards. Though this creates the point of rotation of the tyre on the ground, in the centre of the tyre face, it still allow the entire mechanism to more backwards and forwards. For very wide-wheeled cars, they attempt to mount the pivot points within the wheel volume, as close to the hub centre as possible, but very rarely is it in the centre axis of the tyre. "BMW, Audi, and Ford Australia have a system that can achieve this. It is called a 'double, virtual pivot axis'. It achieves the effect by having two lower suspension links, at an angle to one another, and with their outer end pivot points offset from one another (as viewed from above). This creates a virtual pivot axis at the wheel end (on the lower link plane). The angle of the arms, along with the linear displacement of the ends, defines the 'virtual pivot point'. That is, in the plane of the lower arms, the virtual pivot point is the point described by the point of intersection of the two arm axes. This point will actually move through the suspension movement (not by much) and will actually drive the hub forward and backwards. The tyre contact patch will be centered on the rotation axis of the hub. "This particular steering arm type was selected due to the steering performance requirement, along with a need to package front drive shafts for the four-wheel-drive installation in the CUV (Ford Territory) model. The drive axle mechanism prevented the fitment of arms close within the wheel volume. "The LDD Lego model attached illustrates the mechanism. Instead of two lower pivot arms, I transposed the second arm to provide the top link. As seen from above, you can see the angle positions and the linear (hub) offset. The virtual pivot is created by the intersection of the arms as seen from above. I have copied the mechanism, and steered the wheel hub. You can see that now, the arm's angles have changes, and that the virtual pivot point has also moved forwards (or backwards). However, the centre of the tyre is still in the same position (fore-aft). Although there is not a massive amount of lock available, the wheel still stays centered in the wheel-well. The mechanism is strong enough to support the vehicle weight of the cars that I design - though it is not very play-robust. "As a comparison, I have created a similar dimensioned, single pivot axis assembly for comparison. The lock angle is similar, but the wheel/tyre volume moves a long way forward and back, into the body work. "Although my design does not meet the criteria of steering 'control', and at this scale, does not fit in an 8-wide (I can make an 8-wide systems that compromises the geometric purity of this model) - it does answer one of the discussed fundamental questions of real auto-design steering mechanism geometry. "Feel free to pass on to the Eurobricks form if you like. For builders who want the steering effect but not the 'playability', this mechanism might be exactly what they are after." Double_Pivot_Steering_Lego911.zip

Here is my LDD steering solution for a 5-studs-wide Lego car. The wheels pivot on the wheel hubs' true centers by rotating the central gear, but I admit that the assembly is a bit tall. Perhaps somebody knows how to make a lower version. Here is my LDD .lxf file: Mini_Steering_3_DLuders.zip

On his Flickr photostream, />ylan/>. posted 17 pictures and a video of his Lego Triacorsa Concept Car. It uses Lego Technic Flex Cables for seatbelts and an airbrake rear spoiler. He wrote, "Originally conceived as an Alfa Romeo concept from numerous sketches in my math notebooks, the Triacorsa is a high-end, high class performance car. Style and driving pleasure in perfect harmony. I later ditched the Alfa Romeo idea, but decided to keep the V-shaped grill. Please enjoy! This was a very frustrating car to build!" "Butterfly doors. When they are closed, they match the angle of the side walls, but then are tipped inward to rest vertically." "Rear hood and roof scoop. It looks like the roof is hovering, but that was to give the illusion that there is a rounded glass rear window and no rear window pillars....The hood slides open and the roof scoop raises. Shiny supercharged V8 underneath!"

On his Flickr photostream, Veeborg posted 12 pictures of his Lego 1938 Opel Blitz truck. He wrote, "It's not just another car. It's a truck. Actually a 1938 2ndWW German Opel Blitz… the civilian version. I thought I'd do a truck no one thought of doing in this scale because, well this one is one of the best looking classic trucks in my opinion. Anyways I've been building it for a while. I could have ended it sooner but I was busy building another 2 models at the same time. This one was a treat to build. I found some old blueprints of it and it was fun all along. The detail that pretty much decided on wether I'd continue building it or not was in fact the front hood. It had to look and act like on the real truck. In other words it had to open. Right after I dealt with that little problem everything else was a piece of cake. As for the presentation. I thought it would be funny to make it look like an old school LEGO model so there it is." "Like many of my models this one also has a double steering. You can steer from the wheel in the cockpit and you can also do it on the back on the truck. There is an axle under the towing hook on which you can attach a steering wheel and play." "A view from the top shows the exact shape as the original truck has and the view from below shows some details the real truck also has - like exhaust pipe, fuel tank etc." "When it was time to do the engine I wanted to make it like the one in the real truck and then I came to understand that I can't actually do that so I kind of improvised. I think it turned out alright." "On the right side of the truck there is something the real truck has. It's a fuel tank pipe right under the seat. The 1x1 rounded plate is actually a cork."

On his Flickr photostream, eszx posted a few pictures of The Love Boat at Brickworld 2011 (held near Chicago, Illinois, USA a few weeks ago). It's a LONG WAY from Australia to the Great Lakes! I wonder how it survived the long journey....

@ martinnygaard: I liked seeing your Lego model next to the real 9210 Harvester on your Brickshelf gallery, where you wrote "i bring the case to the local Case pusher, and took some pictures." I know that English is not your native language, so I should point out that it is more appropriate to say you brought your MOC to the "Case DEALER". We all know that the Eurobricks Technic AFOLs are "Lego pushers", hooked on Lego for life! Seriously, though, your MOC is excellent. Did the Case employees want you to build one for them?

On his Flickr photostream, legorobo posted 17 pictures of his Lego Technic MT-H1 Gigante creation. There was no description of the model (which uses Power Functions elements and Power Miners drill heads). Does anybody know legorobo, to find out more about this beast? His website (legorobo.com) is in Chinese, and the English translation does not mention it....

On his Flickr photostream, Latvian AFOL Rolic (Rolands Kirpis) posted 12 pictures of his Lego Jaguar XJ220 supercar. He wrote, "It's time to move back to smaller scale... and to supercars. As once I had an obsession with rare cars, I searched again for some rare beauty. And I succeeded. This is Jaguar XJ220. Accordin to wikipedia - only 281 of these where made during 1992 - 97. At the very beginning this beast was made with V12 engine at the rear. But as at the early ninties there were too strick emission regulations, the manufacturers replaced it by V6 and the car become a mid-engined beast. But despite that it still hold a speed record till the McLaren F1 was born. So behold of the British angry beauty - Jaguar XJ220."

Conchas added his Part 6 of the 7-part video review of the 8110 Lego Technic Unimog U400. YouTube (available in High Definition) deals with the "Main Model":

@ alienwar9: I opened up your latest LDD .lxf file for Building 31 above, and like the new color scheme. I used LDDextended's Enhanced Graphics mode to see everything in sharp detail. Since most building materials (steel, concrete, and stone) are gray, I like your Dark/Light Gray primary colors with the subtle vertical stripes on the big cylindrical tower. Your building is group of individual shapes (tubes and rectangular blocks) that emphasize the VERTICAL nature of the skyscraper. I would not add a horizontal stripe; that would be more suitable for a low, wide building. I like the sloped building element over the front entrance carport (on the side not visible in your screenprint above). I like the curved windows on (what seems to be) the two exterior elevator shafts. If you ever build this 11,900-brick creation with real Lego bricks, it will be most impressive to see! :thumbup: