Paul Boratko

Nice to see that we finally have a 12 tooth clutch gear. The final piece to the gearbox puzzle.

I still build, but rather than daily, it's maybe been weekly. And it's not because I don't have the time. One of my biggest turn-offs right now with Technic building is the poor quality of parts. I am mainly talking about the plastic around the thin axle holes of connectors. These parts are way outdated and need revamped with thicker plastic. Universal joints should have ends like a #1 connector or even a CV joint opening. There is no reason why I should have a bowl of 100's and 100's of broken parts that have either never been or barely been used. I was rebuilding a rear suspension just the other day for a new moc, and I needed two 3L universal joints, so I went into a bin of old suspension concepts and decided to tear into one and harvest the joints. Every single universal joint was cracked on both ends in all 3 of the various modules. This is inexcusable. I'm so frustrated over this universal joint issue that I don't even feel like ordering anymore of them because I know they are eventually going to break as well. And I am not talking about breaking form being over used, I am talking about them breaking from just having the stress of an axle being pushed through them. LEGO building shouldn't be about having to replace your parts every week. I can't tell you how many common perpendicular connectors that I have that are cracked and they are brand new and never used. You can tell they've already failed as soon as you push an axle into them. I am actually finding myself trying not to use these weak connectors in models just because they are notorious for cracking. And this problem isn't something new, this has been bothering me for many years. It's time for an upgrade.

I do as well. People being able to see more clearly how things are built helps me to not answer as many questions.

I work on cars for a living. While gears and such are not color coded since they are noticeably different, other areas must be color coded to help prevent disasters. Such as fuses in a fuse box or wires. LEGO uses various colors for this same reason while also making the build easier for everyone. I know people who are highly intelligent who have completely botched official builds with the instructions being made as easy as possible...

When I see mocs using obvious questionable building methods to achieve their goal, I tend to not take them seriously, while many will say "This is better than anything LEGO can do" or "This should be an official set, you should be working for LEGO" I look at everything through a different set of glasses than most people do, but that's just me...

What I find somewhat bizarre is that they made these new style curvy panels to get the proper shape and then botch it right here. Also wondering why they are not using a traditional steering wheel. The real car doesn't have a Knight Rider style wheel...

If they really wanted to make it realistic to the cars in the movie, they could have included a 20 speed transmission..

Perhaps this set will actually be a 2 pack of smaller scale cars like the Corvette.

Lego even threw a clue in the promo as to what the model is going to be. Very clever...

This is exactly what I am referring too.. I have also noticed while monitoring my wife building the new Defender set that the 90 degree limiting arm is ever so slightly rubbing the tan gear because the white rubber band is pulling it towards that direction.. This is something that I would have avoided by having the band on the opposite side pulling it slightly away from that gear.. Those tan gears can be quite fickle..

I don't really build sets, but I've noticed working with this gear over the years that sometimes it seems to work smooth and sometimes it doesn't. I could build 2 of the exact same gearbox and one would work nice and smooth while the other didn't, and that gear was usually the culprit..

This is 100% correct. I have been telling people for years(I am certain I mentioned it here several times) that it is better to try and build their Gearboxes using liftarms rather than connectors or ever a mixture of both because the connectors on the axles simply are not true and will cause some friction. If you place 7 perpendicular connectors on a 7L axle and line it up with a 7L liftarm, you will see that the holes do not line up and it doesn't take much difference to cause serious binding. Not only that but placing gears or bushing too tightly against what is supporting them can also cause grief. This is most likely the cause why some builders are experiencing friction issues and some are not.. And of course the fake engine(depending on how large that it is) that you use will also cause friction... This is why you can have 2 people build the same exact model using the same instructions and get different results... If built correctly, you should be able to roll a model containing a simple 4 speed Gearbox across a table in 1st gear(which should have the most resistance) without any cracking or grinding. If you hear cracking or grinding, then there is an issue somewhere that should be resolved, and most likely it is something basic that was overlooked.. The main key to having a smooth running Gearbox is keeping everything uniform and true.

I like to think that gearboxes in the 853 and 8860 helped mold a 5 year old child into the man that I am today...

On a somewhat related note.. I had released a set of free photo-sequence instructions for a C-Model of the 42077 Rally Car set, and someone used those instructions and made digital instructions on how to build the model.. The best part is that they asked me if I wanted to buy them.. You get that? They wanted me to buy instructions for my own model..