LennyRhys

Hey folks, I've been slowly working my way through various projects (which have been on-going for several years) and I've found some time to complete this project, another large construction vehicle in minifig scale. This particular truck is designed as a competitor for sets 4202 and the older 7344 which uses a ghastly one-piece tipper body. I originally used the old Technic 20x30 wheels in the prototype but the 62.4x20 wheels look a lot better... although they are very expensive to obtain, sadly (about £4 per wheel generally). Anyway, I have already put this together in LDCad with stepped instructions and will upload the file once I have made a few final tweaks. (Also, for some reason I only just discovered the Neon Yellow colour, which is perfect for these models, so I had to buy some!)

Hello everybody. It's been a while since I've had a chance to set aside the time to complete a project like this, and I wanted to continue with my established theme of large construction / industry vehicles in minifig scale This forklift first existed as a very large (and fully motorised) technic model that I posted to the forum a few years ago - click. (My other two large scale projects are on the shelf above me as I type: the Monster Miner and Large Excavator, in case anyone is interested.) This particular model has the following features: Three-stage telescoping mast Auto-locking mast tilt Adjustable fork width - 4 studs to 7 studs Steering via knob at the back Cab shift, also auto-locking Double front wheels for heavy loading Engine detail accessible via opening door / hood Concealed storage compartment for tools Please excuse the quality of the photos; I had to take these with my phone in natural light as I currently don't have access to a camera. All functions are (of course) manually operated, so I had to use extra pieces to fix the mast in the fully extended position. This model is A LOT of fun to play with, and the mast extends very high... around 25 studs fork height.

This is breathtaking. I love the simplicity of the studs on the roof - they actually fit the aesthetic of the building really well. Fatnastic work!

@Jubuilder thanks for the comment. I really like the other tractor too, but I think it's too big for this "set" and wouldn't fit very well in a city diorama. I'd like to see the truck on some Lego roads! @La Chupacabra heh - I will definitely work on them, maybe a Christmas present this year! @Ragana9289 purely accidental - I actually did build an Octan truck a few years ago because I really like the colours! I'd like to come up with my own company & livery for construction vehicles.

Thanks - that seems to work! There are over 1,000 parts in the excavator, many of which are very small (the track links alone make up 120 parts). I'm still waiting on some parts to arrive but I was able to build the new bucket and I think it looks great... possibly even better than the other one. Sadly the teeth aren't available in yellow, but light orange looks OK. I also scrapped the prototype tractor unit and have put together a new one with smaller wheels. I'm hoping to have an entire "set" when this model is finished, so that if people wish they can use it as part of a Lego city/town display.

@Fuppylodders the pillar pieces are 3L inserts for Technic gearbox shifters. I noticed them right away and thought what a fabulous idea! Some lovely techniques in this build, especially the tiled roof. I also like the subtle half-stud offset for the top of the shopfront. Great work.

Thanks supertruper1988! I have to agree that the brick solutions (if they work well) are always the best way to go. The bucket will be a bit fragile because the teeth can only connect on a 1x1 plate, but for display purposes I can't complain. I also put in some Lego cylinders that are in a fixed position, so the model is 100% rebrickable. I have a question regarding LDCad: how do I find out the total number of elements in the model? I'm pretty sure that with MLCad it was always displayed, however in LDCad it doesn't seem to be as available. I can see individual pieces in the source file, but not a total number of pieces. I can now start work on the instructions PDF and will hopefully have them ready soon. I've also ordered parts to make the yellow bucket so will post pictures when I have it built. Latest render (minus hoses):

I've finished the bulk of the machine in LDCad and only have the boom and stick left to do, which won't take too long. I took a break after doing some renders and worked on a brick-built bucket, and it's actually not too bad... maybe a bit fragile, but it's better than the old yellow bucket for sure. I might order parts to make this and see how it looks on the model.

I decided just to knuckle down last night and see if I could figure out how to do all the hoses, and it was actually pretty easy - the nested editing feature is really nice when working with flexible parts. In the meantime I've loaded up POV-Ray using an old lighting configuration and it looks good, but it will definitely need some quality tweaking. I might still change the placement of that grey flexible hose beside the blue tap but I'm happy with everything so far.

With the monster miner I figured out how to script a chain, but that was pretty easy as it was going between two points on the same plane. The hoses are extremely complex geometrically with all the twists and turns, but I'll see what I can manage (I'm a digital artist, so I don't really have an excuse!). So here's my progress from this evening - the undercarriage is finished including all steps and submodels. I think LDCad is difficult to learn, but it's extremely powerful once you get the hang of it. I could have scripted the tracks but honestly I figured it'd be quicker just to place the links manually on one track and make the other track a submodel.

Thank you arealhuman and bramn! Just out of curiosity - what is people's choice of Lego CAD software? I used MLcad previously and it was very easy and also powerful enough to create quite complex models. I'm currently using LDcad and I just can't seem to get into the groove... it's not very intuitive and there are simple functionalities that I can't seem to find (like importing one completed model into another file). It's nice having the steps for instructions, but how on earth the submodel setup works is beyond me!

I worked a little more on the instructions this evening. The counterweight is done and I've been doing some tweaking to the internals of the machine before I finalise it for the LDCad file. I think I'll have to use photos for much of it because the hoses will be too complex for the digital file (unless I import it into Maya or something). Here's a quick pic of the internals as they are at the moment - there's a lot going on in a little space!

Thank you so much for the lovely comments everyone. As supertruper1988 said, the new Technic tracks would be much too big even for a very large minifig scale excavator. Real excavators have quite narrow tracks, especially if they work in hard rock environments. I'll see if I can put a small video together this weekend. I'm also slowly working on the instructions using Ldraw, which is new for me, but I'm getting there!

Toastie, thank you so much for your kind words. I find Lego a great creative medium and it's nice to be able to make custom parts that I used to imagine when I was younger. I always used the helicopter window (2483) as an excavator bucket... it's actually the perfect shape but has no sides. Now that I can build buckets myself it's nice to see how they look on custom Lego models. I've been doing scale model making for some years now, which is where I learned to work with styrene. It comes in really handy when prototyping Lego parts!

Thank you very much for the kind comments folks. @DanOfBricks, yep I've also done many backhoes over the years, and shared one here a while back: I've been working on the model some more, as I thought it might be nice as part of a larger set. I put together a prototype haulage truck and multi-axle trailer specifically for this heavy load. If it were up to me, TLG would release more models like this which are for the advanced builder, but not Technic. First, here's what the excavator looks like with the 8851 bucket and without the cylinders. It's OK I guess, but not as good with the custom parts - for starters, I can't pose it! Here it is on the trailer. There's no way a standard plate-style City trailer would take the weight of the excavator, so I made it with the dolleys and beams. Lego is always going to bend a little bit, but it takes the excavator's weight no problem. And the prototype tractor unit (I used some of my son's Lego for this...!) Finally, a shot of the bucket for @jpx - it's made from sheet styrene, cut with a craft knife. I did my best to mix up acrylic paint in DBG and brushed on a couple of coats after priming in red.