allanp

Power much! I think this was it's lifting limit when built as stock, because this pin broke. I was gonna add another pump because of how it performed in the toy fair videos, but I really don't think it needs it. The new turntable holds up great as well.

Just finished it and I love it even more! The crane is way more impressive than I thought it would be. But nothing can be perfect, that's impossible so here's a couple things worth noting for any of you who are going to build this milestone of awesomeness! I found some of the blue hoses that supply the valves to be too long which when installed as shown in the instructions, there was a chance of kinking and preventing it from working, so I cut them a little shorter. Cut hoses at your own risk. The end result is nice and tidy and with no chance of kinks. Pneumatics work perfectly! But there are some things to be mindful of when routeing hoses. After a test fit I found there is a gear that fits right here when installed onto the model: So be careful when shoving hoses through the base that no hoses end up here..... ....otherwise it will rub against the gear and potentially stop it turning, which would prevent the arm from slewing left or right. There is a lot of hoses to pack into a tiny space, it's definitely the most packed part of the model. All of the hoses shown here (which in the picture I've already shoved up inside the turntable)..... Have to fit into this tiny space here, without rubbing against any moving parts like gears. Hopefully this will help somebody

Probably but it is mechanically authentic with it's pneumatics, live axles and steering linkages (only could be improved with leaf springs), it's complex and the build is interesting. It doesn't feel like your just endlessly placing pins into beams like most other sets due to there being steering/suspension linkages, lots of gears and pneumatics, so lots of mechanical variety to keep it interesting, it's also very well engineered so far, I haven't finished it yet though and there's lots of new functional parts, like the pneumatics and stronger turntable that many of us have requested. 8455 is great, and for awesomeness per piece it is the king. At less than 800 pieces it beats flagships twice it's size and price. But it's unfair to compare it to the Arocs. At around 4 times the part count, it's better than 8455 but I can't say it's 4 times better, is that even possible?!

You'll probably beat me to finish it. I'm gonna take my time a savour this build . Those legend like 8880 and 8868 will always be great, but looking at it objectively and without nostalgia, the Arocs is the best thing ever released by Lego in my opinion, better than the unimog, better than 8868, the best of all time.

Good deal.

£170, and don't regret it, it's worth every penny. Haven't got through bags 1 and I'm already impressed. The engine is geared up 3:1 after the diffs so it's nice and fast, the steering works great and it's solid as any studded build so far.

They only had one in stock. The new cylinders look great. the ports make it easier to attach the hose but also for the hose to pop off under high pressure, but the hose the set comes with also looks different, with a larger outer diameter giving a thicker wall thickness. this seems to keep the hoses on well enough and may also help prevent air bleeding out the system.

Well lads, despite it not being on the website, I just got back from Argos with a 42043! Yup, I was gonna try to wait till Christmas. I couldn't even wait for the official release date!

I can't find it on the argos website.

Well, when I say "should", I don't mean they are obliged to do it, but that's how the pattern of the past few years has gone and seeing as it's the 40th anniversary, I just suspect it's gonna be something special. If it's going to top the Arocs, it'll have to be something really really special. What about a one off special to celebrate technics past, a set that is 12 years and up, 3000+ pieces with great new functional parts and with the old school golden era packaging from the late 80's/90's with the blue box and the blueprint of the set in the background and the flip up lid to see all the parts inside, just as a one off or a limited edition. It would be a new supercar as a homage to the original auto chassis which started it all. Other second half sets could include a helicopter, a tractor and a forklift (just like the original 1977 line up), all with special edition versions. #daydreamer!

2017 should be interesting! it's the 40th anniversary of Technic and it should be a nice big more teen/adult orientated complex set if the pattern if the previous 6 years are anything to go by.

If it has to be RC, an RC gearbox on a supercar or RC control for pneumatics would be pretty awesome. Point is, i'de like the model to be good even if you removed the RC aspect of it. If you removed the RC element from 8043 you'de still have some pretty complex geartrains at least. If you remove the RC from the crawler, the volvo or the bulldozer you got nothing!

Another update? I like it. :thumbup:

what I said was this: This means that I get the need for colour co-ordination but maybe it could be done in a better way. Whilst I may have expressed my dislike for colour vomit before I do do not remember specifically saying that proposal for less intrusive colours before but if I have please accept my (in)sincere apologies and no, it's not whining. Hey, I got my longer pneumatics didn't I, that look very suspiciously like my design that I proposed so who says you can't change anything. You are such a pessimist .

I wasn't the one who invented the term "colour vomit". I only used it because we all know what it means. When I say a view point, I don't just label it as something bad and leave at that. I try to explain why I hold that view point. I might do a crap job of explaining it but I do try . That's true. It seems like overkill to me. I honestly can't think of any mistake I made as a kid that would not have been made had the parts been colour coded like they are today. They even have 1:1 drawings of many parts on the page you need to use them. Though I do remember building 8868 when I was 9 and putting one of the diffs in backwards.

Whilst I recognise andythenorths comments as sarcastic British humour, I don't think expressing a dislike for colour vomit is equal to "the fandom trend of whining". You can't oppose a different view point by just labelling it something bad.

I have 4 of these in black from an early 8880.

I get the reasons behind it, but red, blue and yellow/tan like colours are not neutral, they clash with everything making the finished model not look so pretty. So I propose this: tan pins = friction less : These should be light grey blue pins = friction : These should be dark grey. With instructions that use black with grey outlines for black parts, like 42043, there should be no mistakes. These should be black. Being so prominent in every Technic set and being a different length to the 2M pin makes me think it needs to be a more neutral colour than blue. light bluish grey axle = odd length : I think with instructions that have a 1:1 drawing wherever an axle is used couldn't these be made black also? black axle = even length : Correct. These should be black. You physically can't put a black friction pin in a + hole and a black axle will just fall out of a O hole so it should be obvious to spot if this has been mixed up with a regular friction pin. Red gear: sliding / clutch : Light grey, along with all other gears except for those which slide/are clutch gears/have an O hole, these should be dark grey. I wonder if it was necessary to re-colour the clutch gear to red when as far as I know, no single set has come with both kinds of gear in the set. hard to confuse this with any other piece. Light grey. Well, I guess yellow pistons do look more striking when they are moving. Again, like the lever that moves it, it's hard to confuse it with any other parts. As i've suggested clutch gears be dark grey make this light grey. I do feel these colour changes to more neutral colours would be for the better as it would make the finished model look more appealing both in life and on the front of the box/in catalogues. There are many parts in normal Lego that are very similar yet they can come in all colours. No colour coding is required there, only in Technic which is supposed to offer a greater challenge. But as always this is only my opinion, I have not done the research Lego has into these things.

well, is Lego Technic like a teletubbies show, or is it like a pixar movie? Both movies are for kids except one is only for kids and the other is for everyone, and Pixar is much better off artistically and financially for it. I don't think kid friendly and family friendly are the same thing. Lego is family friendly.

It's not bad to point out things to improve but you did sound a little harsh to someone who is not a TLG designer who gets paid 10 hours a day to design things.

Oh master builder, teach us your ways.

Or instead of punching a hole, you could sent it to another valve which you leave in a finely adjusted place. You could connect the valves lever to a 24t gear which is then adjusted by a worm gear.

letting the air out slowly via the valve is the best way. You can do that by hand or by making an adjustable limit stop which mechanically limits how far the valves lever can move in the down direction. You can control the valves using servo motors and have a compressor that turns on whenever the pressure drops below a certain threshold.

When I get one I'll give it a go, and I will succeed. It'll take some practice for sure but that's part of the fun . We all have different tastes and whilst the challenge may not seem fun to you it does seem like fun to me. Technic models come in a variety of "difficulties" for playing with and building, just like computer games and I am glad they are not all super easy. I also wouldn't underestimate the ability of a 12 y/o to get the hang of it very quickly, their brains are like a sponge at that age, at least more so than us adults. It just needs to be something they are genuinely interested in and they will get it. I have played some computer games that are really difficult in parts, like killing the wither in minecraft, then you go an youtube to get some hints and see some 12 y/o blaze through it like it's nothing! Using it properly? Controlling it correctly? Is that to the standard of an adult trained operator as your sequence requires? It's not like the kid playing with it is on the clock to get the job done. If a kid is just having fun with just fooling around with all the different controls then it's being used properly. If the kid wants to really operate it in a precise sequence as you describe then he can accept that challenge if he wishes, and really it's not that difficult, it's just memorising a new sequence which is something kids can do better than adults.

In my opinion difficult =/= unplayable. Quite the opposite actually. If they made computer games too easy to play then they would become boring to play very quickly. It's not like the arocs is very difficult to play with, it just requires a bit of skill which for me is going to make it more fun to play with, not less. And besides, despite the fact that for me the arocs looks to have a ton of hands on play value, far more than any hands off, boring RC thing, as far as I am aware/concerned, playability has never been one of the main requirements of a Technic model. It's all about the authenticity, complexity and challenging building. Playability is nice to have but it shouldn't come at the expense of any of those things. From where Technic was in 2014, the arocs is as close to perfect as you can get. To move on from here will take even more new parts and I look forward to it. Although, if tradition holds true, next years flagship will be an over priced under performing RC thing that's mechanically uninteresting. I'll buy another arocs