allanp

In the designers interview they talked about using black pins in place of blue pins to cut down on colour vomit. And in the case of the 42009 boom you must admit that it looks much better with the black pins than it would have done with a load of blue pins.

The BWE is currently £134 in the UK from Toys r us, Argos and Smyths, has been for some time while the older Arocs is still at or very near RRP. They are practically giving it away. I think this is more evidence that you MIGHT not have to pay the silly high price for the 42070.

Ah, sorry, by hubs I meant the actual wheel rims. Silly me

Well done, fitting those black parts aren't much fun, which is a pity because they are so useful!

So guys, I thought I would start this topic to gauge your opinions on this set now that it has been out for a while. I think it is necessary because I feel that when it was first revealed we may have placed unfairly high expectations on the set, and so when it was released there were quite a few voices of disappointment. But now it's been out a while and those expectations are no longer there, maybe there is a more objective view? But first, a brief history lesson as to why I think expectation were so high, from what can tell . 42056 was the first "UCS" Technic set aimed squarely at the AFOL, or was it? To me, that title actually goes to 8110 Unimog. It's a big, ugly looking thing that focuses mainly on all the things that Technic is supposed to be about, challenging building and mechanical authenticity, and to achieve this goal they released a whole host of new parts. The portal hubs, the torque tubes, the new pneumatic pump and connector pieces, the wheels and many new parts in orange as well as having pneumatics which at that time was very rare in a Technic set. It was the first truck to combine live axle suspension, 4 wheel drive and motorized pneumatics in a single model, the first Technic set to cross the 2000 piece barrier and the first set to have portal axles and PTOs and PPTOs, which required the use of many new parts to achieve. It feels to me like this was the first test to see if a technic set aimed squarely at AFOLs could be profitable. I can't say if it was the major success that they hoped, but it does have a lot of love and admiration from the AFOL community, was that enough to make it a financial success? Following from that came it's spiritual successor Arocs, a massively authentic set filled with functionality and the necessary, good kind of complexity that comes with it (as opposed to just having complexity for complixitys sake, the bad kind which just leads to unreliability), as well as many new parts to achieve those dizzying heights of authenticity. A fully suspended live axle truck with 12 wheels on 4 axles, inline 6 engine, new stronger turntable and many new pneumatic parts to bring authenticity and finally some real lifting power to it's large crane. Even the telescopic boom section was powered by a pressurized fluid (air is a fluid!) contained within a cylinder, just like the real thing, and require 3 new parts to pull off as authentically. Authentic enough to make a child feel like he/she owns a real Mercedes arocs, only smaller, and with many new parts to make it all possible, it was even better than the Unimog, the best Technic set ever! And now, finally we come to the GT3 RS. The first pictures from the toy fair reveal a gorgeous black supercar, better looking than any MOC, better than thought possible out of Technic pieces, bringing back memories of seeing 8880 for the first time, with new parts previously unavailable to MOCcers to pull of it's beauty. With the age range printed on the box, now we are in adult only territory! We could see what looks like brake calipers behind the new deep wheels hubs. But nothing is said about it, no functions are revealed to us. It was shrouded in lots of secrecy, I loved that! However, of course this lead to lots of speculation. We can see they are bringing out new parts for this set, the new wheels, new wheels arches, new panels, what new goodies must lie waiting inside to bring us new levels of mechanical authenticity like the unimog and the arocs before it? New gearbox parts to finally replace the system first released with 8880 released 22 years before it? Maybe a new differential with a realistic gear ratio and layout? Steering arms with authentic geometry? Do those brakes actually work? It seems to have a rather high price tag, but hey, new parts need new molds and that costs money, so there must be loads of new parts right? And so it'll be worth it the cost, right? And then came the release of more info and finally the release of the set, and the subsequent disappointment at finding out that no, there are no new parts to be found on the inside that opens up new possibilities for mechanical authenticity. Oh no wait, I tell a lie, there was one new part. It was a slight variation of an already existing part that allows driving rings to be shifted without much force, and that's it. The entirely unrealistic basic gearbox layout with 4 equally sized clutch gears in 2 side by side pairs making the 4 corners of a square is still the same as it was 22 years ago (but this time in the wrong order). The differential is still massively incorrect as well as the steering geometry. It would seem then that the new parts where for improvements that were only skin deep. And that high price tag? No, not for new parts, but for a snazzy hand packed box which didn't even have a flip up lid and a rather large book for instructions with lots of nice glossy pictures of the real car. It's a nice touch, but did anyone ask for any of that? Not that I can tell. Would it have been preferred if the revenue from a set of this price tag be spent on new functional parts instead? And maybe on a style of packaging that was a throw back to the 90's sets most AFOLs grew up with, with the flip up lid which allows you to see all the parts inside a nice tray, with all the new special parts in there own separate display tray? Heck yeah! Ok, so there was much to be disappointed about at the time of it's release. But, is that the set's fault, is it TLGs fault, or was it ours for having those lofty expectations? Could a set actually reach those expectations? Of course it could! But the fact that this set didn't surely wasn't the fault of the designer. Afterall, despite the hideous bright orange colour it still looks gorgeous. And it does have a new function for any official Technic set which was the flappy paddle gearbox, though it was less of a flappy paddle what could be moved via your finger tips and more of a pair of bloody great big levers no scale human would be able to move! But then I think back to building other sequential gearboxes from various other talented MOCcers and if I'm totally honest, non of them are any more reliable than what was found in 42056. Maybe there are others out there that are better, but the solution found in the GT3 RS still deserves respect. You also have to remember that unlike a design made by a fan, an official design from TLG has to work out the box without any tinkering or modification. It is mechanically inauthentic to be sure, but it's not as mechanically inauthentic as many other cars released from TLG. And in terms of the main function of a supercar, they have actually nailed it very authentically. If the main function of a supercar was to go fast round a track, then it would NOT look like a Porsche and have it's engine dangling out the back behind the rear axle. No, the main function of a GT3 RS is to be a thing of beauty, an object to be desired. You see it, you want it, even though you can't fully explain why, you just do. It does this by looking like it does. Similarly the Lego version does the exact same thing. And it does it in the exact same way as the real thing, by looking like it does. So while the mechanics maybe inauthentic, if the main function of a supercar is to be a thing that you want to buy for reasons you can't fully explain or justify, then the Lego version authentically recreates the main function of the real life GT3 RS. Of course, that only works for Supercars. You could not apply the same excuse for not being mechanically authentic to anything else and as good as it is, I can't help but think how much better it would be at being an object of desire if it was also as mechanically authentic as I hoped it would be. So, even with the benefit of 3 years design time and the revenue from a slightly inflated price, it didn't meet the lofty expectations of many of us here. This of course may lead to some not liking the set at all, but this I think is unfair. It didn't meet the expectations of many but that does not mean it is a bad set. For the reasons listed above I'de say it's a very good set and for those who were disappointed the first time round, now that your expectations have been altered maybe you should give it a second look and see the set for the good it actually is, and not for the good we would want it to be. And who knows, maybe the next one in the line will be more in line with the initial expectations many had for this set. I can only hope so, but for now rest assured there will be another, the GT3 RS sold very VERY well

Nice project, the 74 dodge Monaco is a car I've started to build many times, but never got as far as doing the bodywork. I really want to build a 1:8 scale one eventually because a police 74 Monaco is what the bluesmobile is built from.

YAY its always good to see a new build from you has begun.

That small amount of bending could even be barrel distortion of the lens of the camera. In any case, like I have said before, this is an RC model driven by a single XL motor so they will want it to be light, hence the low piece count relative to it's size. This may have lead to compromises being made in terms of the rigidity of the model.

It suits hamsters pretty well!

Personally I don't like ANY shade of light blue as it looks like a babies toy! Regular and dark blue is all you need.

Many years have had missing numbers, this is nothing new or unusual and I'm kinda surprised it has caused so much discussion. But now Jim has me intrigued by the meaning behind the number 067. Anxiously awaiting Jim's report!

The mouth of a giant beast!

Nice idea, though I would like to see it totally pure, meaning absolutely no 3rd party elements (including s-bricks and tires) allowed. Also, no altering of motors, and no buggy motors/RC units. Maybe there could be 2 classes, so one class with all the rules (another rule could be that it has to look like a formula E car), and another class where anything goes. Only rules are that it must be 80% by weight Lego, and the motor must be Lego and unaltered. maybe a formula P (purist) class and a formula 3 (3rd party allowed) class. I think in this way, most people can feel accommodated without feeling like others have an unfair advantage. So for example: Formula P Must be 100% unaltered Lego, no s-bricks, 3rd part tires, buggy motors or RC units allowed (S bricks are about as expensive as a buggy motor, so if cost is the reason for not allowing buggy motors then S-bricks should also be excluded, I like s-bricks and will likely get one, but this is just for consistency and fairness), must look like a formula 1/E car, must be roughly between 1:8 and 1:10 scale. Formula 3 Must be 80% or more by weight Lego, must use unaltered Lego motors

This is normal for the 2M worm gears. The new 1M worm gear however has friction with the shaft and the now rare 3M wormgear can't slide at all as an axle won't go all the way through. 2M through hole without friction. 3M blind holes either end. 1M through hole with friction.

I do remember there was a tremendous amount of stress (the full torque of the XL motor) put onto a single 12t single bevel gear and it was before the gearbox so it was used to drive every function.

I tend to think the double bevel gears have the least back lash. Also agree with the BWE quarter gears suggestion, however drive them with a large gear to minimize the small jump you get when the gear drives over the gap between the 1/4 gears, as I have found that the teeth are spaced just slightly too far apart which is partly the cause for the jerky movement of the wheel on the BWE. In the upcoming Lego creator expert carousel, it is driven by the BWE quarter gears which is driven by a 36t double bevel gear (as opposed to the 12t double bevel gears of the BWE) and the rotation is much smoother. It also has it's gearing down much closer to where it is needed avoiding twisting shafts which also causes jumpyness as the axle springs back.

Those turntables would have too much fiction, especially when you squeeze them together when you hold them. maybe try something like this? http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/radbot/online/img_20170525_112035323.jpg For some reason I don't seem to be able to embed images!

I don't own this set, but I was board one day and decided I'd build it in a different colour scheme. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/radbot/online/img_20170525_101723558.jpg

I guess being remote controlled they had to be careful of the weight.

If you want to machine out of raw stock I would use delrin as in my experience it is a good strong plastic that can be machined easily to a high tolerance and good surface finish much better than any acrylic I've machined.

My choice of background! EDIT, did someone remove the image?

Can I have the prototypes that you throw away?!

Actually I have removed the internal gearing from an XL motor (by removing the outer ring and gluing the planet gears solid) so now I have an ungeared XL to play with. I've also put water in pneumatics to make them hydraulic. Should that be on sariels deadly sin list?!

Very true. 42070 has less PF parts than 8043 but much more regular parts that happen to include 6 huge tires, many large panels and four of the telescopic pieces. That's bound to effect the price. It may just appear more expensive because it doesn't have much appeal for many of us.

I have used third party tires and hoses and for a tower crane I used fishing line. I probably would use 3D printed parts if the quality was up to Legos standard. Can't bring myself to cut or glue pieces though. But is it cheating when an official Lego designer uses 3D printed parts for prototyping? I think not. The part itself still had to be designed.