RohanBeckett

Amazing creation... and just as amazing filming, and editing... love the behind the scenes video that follows it.... unbelievable how much work goes into something like that! (Just a *bit* more complex that the original Ideas book Lego clock, and the one that popped up here a month or so ago!!) RB

2 RC buggy motors oughta fix that! ;) very clever! (been a few walking things lately! are people tired of wheels and tracks? haha) RB

nice reflections in the hubcaps! awesome model.... makes me sigh... as I know TLG will never produce anything like this for sale.. ..and if they did, I couldn't afford it... ....and I just don't have enough spare time to build one myself!! RB

Build a few more, and you can re-enact the awesome tuk tuk chase scene from 'Ong Bak' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x58QctN0aaA&feature=related :) RB

I doubt you'll get much accuracy inside... GPS is GPS.. and to get more accuracy, you need to rely on other sources of co-ordination (iphone uses mobile towers + GPS, to be more accurate) My 4-yr old Magellen Outdoor/Hiking GPS used WAAS, where available, to improve its positioning. When that symbol appeared on the GPS, I could see that accuracy got much better, but still.. outdoors, on a cloudless day, the best I ever saw was 3metres accuracy. RB

But still... seven whole steps just to make that little crankshaft and conrods? Really.. step 7 could be just ONE step! Look at those parts! If you were given those parts, and told to build the image in step 7 or 8... There's only one way that you could do it! The only tricky bit is the hidden-from-view red 2x axle in the middle Anyway.. maybe that's just me, an AFOL, outside the target audience having a little gripe at the world being too easy for the next generation! ;) RB

although, yes.. I'm an experienced builder.. I can't see what's so complex about the first 2 steps in 8865! You have a box telling you all the parts you need to collect for each step It's a symmetrical build It's easy to see how many pegs you need, and where they go (counting holes from the end) The colours are clear - there's no black on black all the axles are numbered with their length The only thing that could have made it easier, would be a 1:1 side-on picture of the beams and axles. I do like those, as it makes it quick to check you've got the right size piece, without having to count studs/holes And I very much doubt a set the size, and price of 8865 would be a childs first technic set. SURELY they'd get a few smaller ones first! And if they've played with regular Lego before, studded technic isn't that much of a change oh.. and sets naturally have a higher piece count these days... since Studless Technic has a bucket-load more friction pegs now, since there's no studs on beams to connect all the parts together! I do think that recent instructions have gone a little overboard, in the almost '1 piece per step' If they do insist on doing that, I think they could save paper, by having more steps on a page... maybe cropping/zooming in on the part of the model that you're building on. RB

What did you do to your big Red 40tooth gear?? all the outer holes look chewed, or bent and damaged! I remember building the Clock in the old 8888 Ideas book! (or rather.. part of it, as I only had 4 40t gears at the time! RB

what a tease! only seeing a few seconds of that christmas tree at the end! can't wait to see a time-lapse/sped up version of something being built! RB

in the first video, there was the motor-pack.. needs a 3rd video that shows it being modified with the motor/compressor! :) RB

off-topic... but how the hell have you managed 5200+ posts in 12 months??? RB (melb, australia)

wow... it certainly shows how far you've come in skill, and modelling techniques! I remember seeing some of your early ones, and was quite impressed.. but now, compared to the last couple of tanks.. they look very 'simple'! the early ones were just all studded plates everywhere, hiding complex mechanics.. the new ones are a mix of studded, tiles, greebles, and details (while still hiding complex mechanics! :) I'm following you on facebook.. always good to see a nice pic every week or so! (occasionally I get my Polish-born wife to translate the Polish 'gadu gadu' in the comments!) RB

which is why I've only bought from Australian Sellers... yes.. you have to convert to $AUD.. but at least postage was reasonable. That said.. currently.. 1 USD == 1 AUD! so it's not a bad time to buy stuff from the US right now! :) RB

I've been buying Technic sets, both new and old for about 6 years now... so I guess I've amassed enough parts to build nearly any other set that I don't own, as well as make modifications to models. That said.. I have done a couple of bricklink purchases, when I needed some spares.. particularly for sets I buy off ebay, that have a few missing bits One I've dealt with in the past is Technic Wreckers: http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=praetorian Unfortunatly, it looks like his shop is closed for the time being.. but you can unlock it and browse... it was definitely one of the biggest bricklink stores in Australia (670,000 parts!) (although I bet 1/2 of those are black friction pins! :P ) I guess, like ebay, you can only go on the reputation of peoples' feedback... but I would wager that the larger stores are probably safer to deal with RB

Good luck with your display! I just found this before.. you might be interested in: http://www.battlebricks.com/makerlegobot/ Neato way to pickup and place bricks... and I see he uses a flexible Znap axle in there too... RB

Searching Youtube/Google for 'Rubik Cube Solver' brings quite a few.. I hadn't seen this one before this one is pretty quick: quite a few use a 'brute force/flip' method of one axis of rotation, as opposed to a proper grabber/rotator why just do a standard cube? and plenty that use other devices/brains and I'm pretty sure this the original RCX-based Cube Solver (I think it's the best looking one, but then, I'm more of a stud-fan, than studless!) http://jpbrown.i8.com/cubesolver.html (no video anymore that I could find) RB <edit: booo.. I'm only allowed to [media] 2 youtube videos :(

It puts it into size perspective, when the oldschool 'HUGE' wheels from 1983's 8847 Dragster model are the FRONT wheels on this monster! :) oldschool driver too! ;) RB

I exhibited at a small Lego Exhibition at a local Scout Group last year.. and I made a point of letting as many people touch, and play with my models as possible! Technic (esp. the studless ones) are really pretty robust... (unlike normal system lego models), so I had people from 5 to 55 playing with them.. operating gears/levers, etc.. no issues at all! I was also the only one with the RC Racer cars too (which look pretty technic anyway!).. so that was loads of fun racing them around We also had 3 PF Bulldozers... and it's quite funny to have 3 of them lined up, side by side, all on the same channel... 1 remote controlled them all simultaneously! looked like synchonised dancing!! hahah RB

Although I love the Shuttle, and Air-Tech rig.. and Backhoe too... it's definitely not always the big sets that amaze me. (although those 3 are certainly in my top 5!) When I was young, I loved the 8860 Car Chassis, and dreamed of it for many a decade.. when I finally got it, I was slightly disappointed (call it the rose-coloured glasses effect) But another set from that era that made me go 'wow' when I finally obtained and built it, was the 856 Bulldozer It's not a complex set by any means, but has a VERY nifty mechanism, and even more so - the timing and angles of the arms are perfect, so with one operation, the bucket scoops, then lifts, while keeping the bucket level! (oh.. and with that amount of studs... the 8868 feels SO strong and rigid... not to mention surprisingly heavy! Not going to get any flex with that subframe!) RB

Just saw this linked via Videosift... pretty cool: http://www.youtube.c...player_embedded http://www.youtube.c...h?v=-V2_LEi0cS4 besides the coolness of an automatic transmission... has anyone else ever used a treadmill to test Technic vehicles? :) RB

the rear spoiler seems to be 2 separate 'wings' I'm wondering if they come together, to fit in between the rear 'window'? the other option, is that they 'slot in' between the gap just above the rear brake lights? it's going to be nifty to finally see the drivetrain, and all the mechanisms that operate all the features! I kinda agree with some of the other posts.. regular 4 speed gear boxes are a bit boring. (even to me as an adult!), when the only 'visible' difference you see are pistons moving a bit faster! (and it's mechanically wrong anyway... driving the engine via the wheels!!) and we've had gearboxes in every other technic super car since the original... so it's good to see something new here Would be nice if they provided 'alternate' instructions to add in another couple of motors + IR, so we can drive it around AND operate all the functions! although, I'm sure, within a week of someone getting this set... they'll have modded it, with an 8043 style gearbox! ;) RB

Slight thread detour... I just had a look at the instructions for the 7998 truck.. and I'm curious as to what the yellow 3L technic liftarm, used on step 5 does? Occasionally you get that in Lego sets... a part that seems to have no real use, or is placed in a strange way. Sometimes you get 2 pieces, where one larger would have sufficed.. Often, you find out at the end of the build what it was for... or that the 2 pieces have a use in the B-Model (in the case of Creator/Technic sets) But in the 7998 truck.. I really can't see what it's used for! (I don't own the set!) RB

Wait until he does all the primary models first! ;) that's several years in the making as it stands! 2 years ago, I sat down and rebuilt ALL my main Technic Models... but in the last 6 months, I've pulled nearly all of them apart.. over the next year, I might build all the alternates... especially since there's a few I've never built before! RB

Grohl: Seriously... Lego should give you one of their 2011 sets (similar sized to the 8271) and get you to make, say 20 alternate models (you could do that in a few days! ;) Then, they add a few extra pages to the instructions, with all your ideas! It's one of the things I love with a new Lego set... no matter how small... is to build as many alternates, with the same parts, before the pieces eventually go into the 'big bucket' I used to love studying all the designs on the back of old Classic Space models, and trying to build them myself. If Lego don't ever produce another 'Ideas Book'.. then surely this would be the next best thing. Everyone needs some ideas to get kick started! and your amazing 8271 creations are testament to that! RB

It can't get out anyway... I'm just trying to get rid of the 'error' message that pops up when it can't connect: Especially since the dialog is sorta confusing to kids... if you hit 'cancel', the program quits! And retry is useless... if the program can't access the internet at launch... hitting retry 5 times ain't gonna magically make it work! ;) RB