DLuders

It's refreshing to see that Technic AFOLs are being "open minded" about using non-Lego parts in their models. When one buys a Jeep from the dealership, it may come with small Michelin tires but if you want to increase the Jeep's PERFORMANCE, you may get some specialized Mickey Thompson offroad tires. It's still a Jeep either way. Even though The Lego Group is the #1 tire manufacturer (by volume) in the world, they don't have that great a selection of large tires. There are MANY alternatives out there!

Cool pneumatic "octoped" walker! Do you have any of the 45590 "Technic, Axle Connector Double Flexible (Rubber)" to put on the ends of each leg? They may help with the "grip" on smooth tile floors....

@ Costas: Welcome to Eurobricks! You're not too old for Lego -- you're as "young as you feel"! If you intend to keep your sets BUILT and sitting on a shelf, then yes you should keep track of any parts "borrowed" from them for your MOCs ("My Own Creations"). If you want to build the sets and then later dismantle them to make something else, then you should sort them in a "generic global parts inventory". You probably will end up doing both.

That's useful to know. I just checked the 60 ea. "5.5L Technic Axles with Stop" that I have in my Parts Bin. I had 72% (18/25) of the longer, "strong" Dark Bluish Gray axles and 28% (7/25) of the shorter, "weak" axles. All of my 13 ea. Black and 22 ea. White axles are the "weak" kind.

I ordered a set of Rok Lox 1.9 Comp Tires for future use on the 9398 4x4 Crawler, and will let folks know how they fit on the 9398's 44772 wheels when they arrive in the mail. The Rok Lox 1.9 Comp Tires (pictured below) are reportedly "The most detailed, scale looking and tallest 1.9 tires available to date, manufactured with advanced rubber mold technology and compound." SPECIFICATIONS •Outer Diameter: 4.5" (114mm) •Width: 1.75" (45mm) •Inner Diameter: 1.9" (48mm) •Advanced X3 Compound[/b] They are a full 1/2" taller than the Lego Power Puller tires.

[bUMP] Since the new 2H2012 Lego Technic sets are now on sale at the German Shop.Lego.com website, there should be some "closure" to this topic. Recall this Feb 23, 2012 topic about POTENTIAL U.S. PRICING for 2nd Half 2012 (2H2012) Lego Technic sets. At the time, Mo_ predicted these prices for the 2H2012 sets (in US Dollars): 9398 4x4 Crawler: US $218.04 9396 Helicopter: US $105.26 9393 Tractor: US $37.59 The actual prices (in Euros, converted to US Dollars) are: 9398 4x4 Crawler: 169,99 € [equivalent to US $212.92] 9396 Helicopter: 89,99 € [equivalent to US $112.71] 9393 Tractor: 29,99 € [equivalent to US $37.56, only $0.03 off the prediction!] Mo_'s predictions were actually pretty close!

Here's an example of "Studded" style of Lego Technic construction (using Technic BRICKS and plates): Here's an example of "Studless" style (using Technic LIFTARMS and Technic Panels):

@ efferman: I looked at your Flickr photoset, and like your 9398-C model. When a truck like this rolls down the hill, the roll cage will keep the driver well protected! Were there a lot of extra parts left over?

legotruck59 posted (a slightly different perspective of the SeTechnic / Fana'briques indoor "torture test" of the 9398 4x4 Crawler):

@ Surly: Have you seen Sariel's "Scaling Tutorial for Vehicles"? It's got some great tips.

Sariel, I politely disagree. On Philo's "LEGO 9V Technic Motors compared characteristics" webpage, one can see in the graph below that Voltage DOES have a great effect on Load Torque and Mechanical Power. The graph is for a PF M-Motor, but if the new Power Functions L-Motors have ~150% the torque of the PF M-Motor, why wouldn't higher voltage to the L-Motors improve Mechanical Power? Also, in your posts above, you discuss having fully-recharged batteries. Can you confirm that you have new 1.5V Alkaline batteries (as specified in the Building Instructions) instead of rechargeable 1.2V batteries?

On this LUGNet review of the 8475 set, it says: "The remote control does NOT work like a conventional 27 MHz R/C system. The communication protocol works in a similar manner to the IR remotes used by Bionicle Manas and 4589 RC Nitro Flash. The 27 MHz carrier is pulsed in a short burst encoding the settings of the two joysticks and the finger paddles. The bursts contain different address bits and have different repetition rates depending on the channel chosen, so the main carrier frequency of 27.145 MHz is the same for all channel settings. The transmitted data bits use the pulse length scheme rather than the standard async serial data standard used by Manas and Nitro Flash. "Control is pseudo proportional, there are three “values” in each direction for the steering and three speeds in forward and reverse for power." SO, it does not appear that there is "return-to-center" steering capability. However, I don't own one of these -- does anybody have one?

On that same Doktor Brick Community topic, The Mind posted this picture of the new Lego Tail Rotor parts: http://www.technicminds.de/9396/35.JPG

I don't know. The 8475 RC Race Buggy set was one of several that used the RC steering module, shown below in the 8475 Building Instructions. In that set, the 6272c01 "Black Electric, RC Race Buggy Battery / Receiver Unit with Auxiliary Output" mates up to the 6282 "Electric, RC Race Buggy Steering Unit":

[bUMP] The Lego Group's LEGO VIP Newsletter has posted these PDF Building Instructions for this cute Olympics Torch. Download them by July 31st, 2012!

Yesterday, LUGPol AFOL Makorol posted this of his Lego Technic Caterpillar 963D Crawler Loader -- a "Remote controlled Lego model of CAT crawler loader. The model has 4 PF Medium motors, 3 mini linear actuators, 2 IR receivers and a rechargeable PF battery box." See more pictures in his Flickr photoset (11 pictures) and in his Brickshelf gallery (23 pictures).

@ grum64: If you put your stuff up for sale on eBay, be advised that there are Seller's Fees involved. If the buyer uses PayPal, then there are PayPal fees. If you could find a buyer within the UK, you would possibly save on these fees (and the buyer would not have to pay large Shipping costs). Is there a website like Craigslist.com in the UK, where people buy/sell items? It acts like the "Classified Ads" in the local newspaper, but is online....

For the greatest VISIBILITY, you can't beat eBay. It will get HUNDREDS of looks by Technic AFOLs worldwide. I would recommend splitting up your Technic-for-sale items so that potential buyers don't have to use hundreds of British Pounds from their cookie jar!

There is some nice functionality in your model! The old-fashioned "studded" body panels makes it look like the Racing Truck is dinged-up with rock dents!

Han's Lego Technic Prinoth Leitwolf Snow Groomer has been added to Rebrickable. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG41DjtNWpQ

Perhaps The Lego Group anticipated their customers wanting to use LARGER TIRES (Power Puller, Unimog, or 3rd Party). Did TLG design it this way so that larger tires don't touch the chassis?

Fernando Correia (Conchas) just posted the YouTube videos of his Lego 9398 4x4 Crawler Review, which he wrote will be posted on TechnicBRICKS soon.

@ Erik Leppen: Have you seen this Eurobricks topic about making LPub "Tree Steps"?

From the link that efferman provided above, "The Mind" posted this picture of the new blade part the on The Doktor Brick Community forum. He said (in a rough German-to-English translation) "The length of the blade itself [is around 25 cm]. The black ends are rubber BTW, is not a decal, but a plastic sheet bonded with the rubber end!" The Mind posted this short AVI video of the 9396's rotor head functions. He also posted this picture of the B-Model pictured on the box: http://www.technicminds.de/9396/37.JPG

The Lego Group has released the PDF Building Instructions for the new (2H2012) 9393 Tractor set (both the "A-Model" and the alternate Buggy "B-Model). Download the PDF instructions on this Technic.Lego.com webpage, and post your impressions of the set here. There are several 9393 sets available in Germany (where Lego Technic is #1). Has anyone bought one yet?