allanp

I usually don't like tow trucks, especially when they are the flagship cos there are more interesting things to be made into a flagship, but 9395 is just the right size for a towtruck and looks to be quite complex, I like it very much. However It maybe my only first half purchase. 9397 looks to have a decent amount of complexity I guess. I'll have to think about that one, i'm not sold on it at the moment. Seems inspired by the 8868, but it's not even close. I know 8868 was a flag ship and 9397 is NOT the flagship of 2012, but 9397 is kinda priced like a flagship. Hmmmm.

I saw this video a couple of days ago and kept pressing replay a few times after I figured out how it worked. Micheal Bay? Who's he?

I like how the blades slow down like they do in real life. Good job

Yeah, look up pictures of real cars until you find one or several that you like, and then break it down into smaller chucks. Concentrate on how you are going to re-create each line and curve of the car.

Yup, me, my servos and my longer pneumatics Sorry for going off topic guys

Oh wow!, can't wait to see some video

That would be great to see but I think an NXT motor and NTX brick would be way too large and expensive. The servos that you find in many non lego RC models are much smaller and very powerful and accurate. Something like that with a PF like outer casing would be perfect.

If you want truely proportional and accurate RC control of a pneuatic switch, then we really could do with a proper servo motor. This would do the job of controlling the valve and a lot of other things too making it more useful than a specialised all-in-one RC valve unit.

In very early releases (unlikely this is yours but just something to check) there was sometimes a problem with the small cylinder (the one that operates the grabber) leaking air. Isolate it by having it's control valve in the middle position and see if the remaining functions work consistently. You may also want to try raising the arm up as high as possible and leaving all valves in the up position (if that was the position needed to raise the arm). If the arm drops after about 30 seconds or less then it looks more likely that you have one of those earlier versons. If you still have a problem then it may be the pump that is faulty. Whatever it is, TLGs customer services are excellent and they will replace any defective parts quickly. The guys at the Lego store should be able to give you a better answer as they can see it in person.

Rams my friend, rams!

Humans invented plastic + God invented the atoms = God > humans.

Yeah, "somebody" mentioned a ripcord somehow in reply to my highly intersting post as of which no-one seems to have been able to get to the end of said post without falling asleep And you know it's funny, every post since that video has somebody commenting that she is in fact a lady, probably why they don't post here that often She does look fit tho!

I guess you know he meant longer rams right? Are you reading this TLG?

I've loosley attached the same propeller to a 9v ungeared motor with a 3:1 up gearing and from the floor the propeller would just skim the ceiling, and it's surprising how stable it is.

WOW this is epic! I've been thinking of building a pneumatic crocodile among other things when I get back to building lego, now i'm inspired!

Ah, ok, now I understand. Thanks

It would sure be appropiate to give the proper credit for the design.

Looking at the comparison web page, it seems to me that the buggy motor is the most power as it delivers the most mechanical power (at 9 volts) of 2.38W as compared to the NXT (2.03) and the XL motor (2.21W). There is an even greater power difference at 7 volts. It has lower torque that the other two but a much higher speed meaning that with efficient gearing down (no worm gears but as few gearing down steps as possible, ie using only 8t to 40t gearing) you should get the most power, especially running at around 7 volts, from the RC buggy motor. However it is very power hungry, so be sure that you have the power source to run these motors at their full potencial. I find using the rc reciever unit (like the one that came with the RC buggy) with 6 rechargable 7.2V NiMH batteries works best, the power is increadable! As an unrelated note, it's interesting that the old 9V ungeared motor delivers far more mechanical power than the geared motors that replaced it in 1997, and almost as much power as the PF-m motor. I always suspected that was the case!

Just to clarify, is the seller making and selling copies of your instructions, or is he selling copies bought dirctly from you? Maybe my morals are a bit screwed up, but in all honesty i'm not that clear on what the problem is if he is only selling copies that he bought directly from you. Isn't it just like selling a car second hand?

Maybe he has permission and is paying some kind of royalties perhaps? At least I hope so anyway.

But.....how the fu......RIPCORD?!?!!!!!......Yup, you fell asleep alright! I meant flywheel, or gyroscope to be more accurate

I think a flying machine made with 100% lego (no balloons, no non lego powersource or propellers) may be possible, but with a catch. It's not with todays technology, or is it? Anybody heard of Eric Laithwaite? If not then search on Youtube for Eric Laithwaite Christmas lecture. It's in several parts, should total about an hour in length. In short his ideas about gyroscopes, precession, angular momentum and so on may lead some to believe that a spinning flywheel being moved in a particular way could generate a linear force, maybe enough to lift something off the ground without the need for propellers, jets or rockets, it would just seem to whirr and hover inside a completely self contained box. Now, most people in the scientific community still laugh at this. Eric himself was treated very badly and "cast out" as a heretic for this lecture. After all how can you generate a force in one direction without touching anything or throwing something out very fast in the other direction? Sounds like it shouldn't happen, but then there are one or two things that he demontrates in those lectures that shouldn't happen, like a skinny boy of primary school age lifing a 20lb spinning weight on the end of a pole at arms length. Now based on these ideas me and a friend built a device that generated up to 30 grams of lift. It's just a pity a couple of powerpuller wheels and buggy motors weight more than 30 grams but as a proof of concept, it makes me wonder if there really is something to this.

IMHO I think new parts are more valuble to us that new sets. I think you all know what I want by now, if so, then you can skip the rest of this post. If not, then here's a list of my most wanted new parts: Longer pneumatic cylinder (double the stroke of the standard one, a range of lengths going up to really really long for making telescopic booms/large forklifts would be even better) PF servo motor (for precise remote control of steering, pneumatic valves, gearboxes, etc) PF-L motor (between the M and XL motor, this motor could actually have more power than the XL motor, but with NO internal gearing it would have massive speed and not as much torque. Ideal if you want lot's of power or speed or if you like to construct all the gearing down to suit your MOCs needs or if you want to protect geartrains and the motor using the white clutch gear or belt drive or just like the satisfying sight of lots of fast spinning gears an axles) Synchromesh gears (the dark grey 16t clutch gear) in more sizes for more lifelike, stronger, more intuative and more power efficient gearboxes. Rotary pneumatic actuator planetary gear reduction parts suitable for use in steered/suspended wheel hubs Differencial gear using a 36t double bevel gear for drive (enableing it to be driven by a 12t bevel gear as a bevel gear or a 12t double bevel gear as spur gear, also giving a higher reduction ratio of 1:3. The ability to house 4 internal gears instead of three would also be nice as well as being able to use the 20t bevel gears as the internal ones that drive the wheels, effectively enableing it to handle 3 times as much stress without breaking anything). Suspention springs with ball sockets on the end that can be pulled apart and reassembled in different configurations and lengths of travel (by using a different length axle and number of springs) allowing the sockets to face any direction with a resolution of 90 degrees Electrical and pneumatic slip rings to allow the transmission of electrical and pneumatic power though a rotating plane (for example a turn table). The pneumatic slip ring is probably the least feasable of these ideas tho.

Personally I think the pneumatic pump is designed to act as a crude release valve as it seems to allow leakage past the seal before anything pops off. Problem solved!

You could try www.bricklink.com If you have not heard of it, it's an Aladins cave of parts! http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?colorID=11&itemID=37546 http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?colorID=11&itemID=45832