[MINI] Truck with Trailer and Wheel Loader

[Appie]

I like to present my Mini for the contest, it is a truck with trailer and a wheel loader:

After finishing my little dump truck last week I came up with this idea instead of trying to cut down the parts of the little dump truck from 350 or so to 200. And to be honest I am glad I went with this idea. Was alot of fun and it provided alot of challenges, but I got everything in the model that I wanted with exactly 200 parts. A total of 9 functions (10 if you count adjustable seats in the truck) I managed to put in this entry. One function actually shares his with another and came to be by chance actually. I didn't plan it, it just happened when I placed a part for which all I had to do was turn it around to make it even more functional, but more about that later.

Allow me to go over each part seperately:

1. The truck with a total of 97 parts. Could be a considered a "Mini" on its own I suppose.

It has the following functions:

- HoG steering

- Rear suspension

- Fifth wheel lock

2LegoOrNot2Lego actually inspired me for the fifth wheel with the version he has on his awesome US Truck T1 MkII. I wanted that on my little truck, but I had to do it on a much smaller scale so I didn't fully look at how his worked, just knew it had rubber bands.

My fifth wheel requires a little manual assistance to function (don't have to open them this far to get the trailer in there).

Trailer uses a technic crankshaft to lock into the fifth wheel

And this is how it looks attached.

The suspension on this model is actually an improved version of the one I made for my little dump truck.

Originally the truck for this had a 5 stud wide chassis like the little dump truck, but after making the wheel loader this 7 stud wide body looked too big in scale (and had a wooping 135 parts). So I made a 5 stud wide truck, which means I had to refine the suspension from the little dump truck from 5 studs to 3 studs. This was a challenge, but making the centre of the rear chassis from connectors instead of liftarms made my day. But Appie this truck is 6 studs wide? Yes, the 5 stud wide truck looked too slim so I tried a 6 stud wide body while keeping the chassis 3 studs wide for a better look (works better with the tires too in my opinion).

2. The wheel loader with a total of 57 parts

It has the following functions:

- Articulated steering through gear on top of the cabine

- Bucket lift through control at the rear

- Bucket tilt with hinge

Added bonus for me personally is that it uses less parts than Lego's smallest technic loader, but this one can steer

Can't wait to see how it looks besides the 42030

3. The trailer with 46 parts. This was a real challenge. Before even starting this I remade the truck like 3 times to get the parts down to what it is now. I took apart the wheel loader for the same reason, but 46 parts is what I had to work with and I managed to get the functions in that I wanted to. Though they are a little simple in execution (as in: very direct), but that also happens in "Mini" Lego sets, so I guess it fits

It has the following functions

- Ramp that can be lowered

- Stand that can be lowered

- And the double function: the stand also functions as a lock for keeping the wheel loader in place during transit. The ramp at the end provides this feature a little too of course, but the stand really locks it into place, it can't move at all. I call it "the hook"

Let me explain the hook with some pictures.

This is how the stand would be during transit. When the stand is deployed the wheel loader can move a little, but is quickly stopped by the ramp at the end, so no crazy stuff will happen when standing still

The wheel loader has an open space behind its front axle, the 2x4 liftarm fits perfectly in this space.

Here you can see how it looks on the model:

Thank you for your time and I hope you all like it. Big thank you to Eurobricks for this fun contest.

It's alot of pictures, hope you don't mind. I like showing stuff

Photo of the parts will follow soon (will have to disassemble it first).

[jorgeopesi]

3x1 a good entry :thumbup: .

[Edwin Korstanje]

I think the same as Jorgeopesi 3 mini's in one :thumbup: stunning entry :thumbup: .

[Lundgren]

Damm good entry!

Seems so very playable!!!

[pigpen]

You win (between us) as I was nutting out the same thing in LDD to make. great entry.

[Appie]

Thanks everybody and yeah Lundgren it is very playable I have been playing with it since I finished it yesterday basically

Pigpen, sorry to hear that, but if you're confident about yours, you should follow through with it. I was debating with myself if I wanted to wait making a topic for it, but I felt very confident about how the model is now so I made the topic. And maybe it inspires some others in their builts, like I have been inspired by other builders in general, may the best one win

Edited June 28, 2014 by Appie

[Lakop]

Great entry. This is proving an interesting competition.

H

[Erik Leppen]

This thing is brilliant. I particularly like the little loader, that has only twelve yellow parts (including the rims) yet it looks really good.

[aol000xw]

Great entry, the front loader is an amazing creation.

[captainmib]

That is one three really nice entry's you made. Really good that you squeezed in so many functions and kept it good looking.

[Zerobricks]

And we have a winner...

[imvanya]

The truck is really cool. I really like the suspension and the fifth wheel, both easy-to-build, yet very functional add-ons. Will definitely vote for this one!

[4umaher]

OMG this is realy cool!

[2LegoOrNot2Lego...]

Yes, this really is cool!!! Nice to see that you are also into using Rubber Belts. I do so myself a lot!!! :sweet:

[grum64]

Brilliantly playable. I love it.

[Rishab N]

Great work! I think its the best entry so far. It could have even worked for the triple contest

[drakmin]

Really good entry! If you still decide to work on it I would suggest trying to make the truck cabin taller if possible. Cabins proportions are the most unrealistic aspect of this otherwise perfect model. Good job!

[_Cookie_]

I think that's my favorite MINI so far

The Frontloader looks great with that small count of parts.

[TomasHubik]

This is my favorite mini! Looks really playable and 3 in 1 is awesome!

Good job!

[Appie]

Great work! I think its the best entry so far. It could have even worked for the triple contest

After I looked up that contest I suppose it could have worked for the triple contest, but I wasn't a member on this forum at that time. Nor did I have the parts or ideas to make something if I did know, since that was like a month (I see the contest was in november) after I came out of my 'dark ages'

Really good entry! If you still decide to work on it I would suggest trying to make the truck cabin taller if possible. Cabins proportions are the most unrealistic aspect of this otherwise perfect model. Good job!

I will try this thank you, but would like to add that making it taller would make it even taller than the wheel loader. The truck is at this time 1 stud higher than the wheel loader. While I haven't looked at pictures of average truck heights and average wheel loader heights, my aim was to keep them close together in height. I could also try to make the side of the truck cabine 4 studs instead of 5, that should make it look taller too. I'll see what I can do. Thanks for the tip.

And of course thank you everybody for the kind words

I hope it does well in the contest.

edit:

Not sure if I am allowed to double post, especially since my original post was a few hours ago and considering this is a contest, it might be looked at as "bumping", but the reason for this edit is that I gave Drakmin's suggestion a whirl and these are the results:

This is the original besides the wheel loader, they actually differ 1/2 stud in height, not a full stud:

This height looked pretty solid to me in scale. Decent sized wheel loader besides a decent sized truck. I chose the slightly smaller tires (24mm) for the truck on purpose too, so the slightly bigger ones (30mm) of the wheel loader would pop more.

This is the 1 stud higher cabine, ignore the rough edges (like the long pin with axle), it's just to give you an idea how it would look:

This is how it would look besides the wheel loader, now 1.5 stud taller than the wheel loader:

And here's my idea of making the cabine look taller than it actually is with a 4 stud long cabine instead of the original 5 studs:

Again, just to give you all a rough idea of how it would look. I personally think it completely misses its goal. I think it makes the truck look longer, not taller and an obvious problem with this one is the wheelarches for the steering and the fact I need the liftarms (doesn't have to be 3x5 bent liftarm obviously) to the rear wheels for structural integrity or you could easily rip off the rear of the truck by the connectors in the centre of chassis.

I am still leaning towards the original version, but what do you guys think?

Edited June 30, 2014 by Appie

[Appie]

Sorry to be double posting on my own topic, was expecting some responses on my last edit, in the end I decided to stick to the original. The reason for this post though is that I took photos for the parts and the promo picture . As far as I know we are allowed to have small images highlighting the functions of the model in the promo picture. So I tried it in true Lego style with some white arrows

Had to make a new icon for Lego to use on their boxes to explain the trailer stand locking the wheel loader into place

And the parts picture:

Exactly 200!

[TomasHubik]

This looks really nice. It´s clean and playable model! Nice job!

PS: I like the higher version of truck mode.

[GoldVillage]

gotta love this! very nice idea

[anton1678]

This model has so many capabilities in less than 200 pieces! Great set, you put a wheel loader, a trailer, and a truck in one set, when there are sets that contain each one, sometimes with less functions than here.

[skriblez]

Great work. Reminds me of the small truck and trailer with a helicopter on it :)