BrickRandom

Neat!

Nicely done!

Thank you. Yes, moving the arm down is just gravity. There is indeed some room for improvement on the tube routing. The pump is attached with two pins, but has some wiggle room. I may try to improve that on a new version.

Inspired by LEGO 8292 Cherry Picker, I've created a pneumatic rendition of that model as an alternate build of LEGO 42128 Heavy Duty Tow Truck. Pneumatic Cherry Picker by Brick Random, on Flickr My Pneumatic Cherry Picker has the following functions: steering (turn the knob on top of the cab) raise arm (pneumatic) extend/retract arm (pneumatic) turn arm (lift and turn the knob on top of the cab) open doors (manual) 4 cylinder engine driven by the four rear wheels A video demonstrating the functions: The basic shape of the original model is still visible in the final build of the Pneumatic Cherry Picker. However, the internal structure is almost entirely new, as a result of changing from mechanical to pneumatic operation of the arm, adding the engine (with two differentials for the four rear wheels) and the availability of parts in 42128. Instructions The model consists of 900 parts (all from 42128 Heavy Duty Tow Truck). Building instructions (a 215 step PDF document) are available on Rebrickable: https://reb.li/m/123565 More pictures are available on Flickr: Pneumatic Cherry Picker by Brick Random

Thank you!

Inspired by some tiny cars I saw on Flickr and Rebrickable, I decided to make my own series of compact cars. The result: Compact Sports Car by Brick Random, on Flickr Compact Familiy Car by Brick Random, on Flickr Compact Police Car by Brick Random, on Flickr More pictures are available in my Flickr album. I've also made step-by-step PDF building instructions for these cars, These are available for free on Rebrickable.com: Compact Police Car Compact Family Car Compact Sports Car

I finally got the parts in to finish the real life build: Galactic Plastics Volkite - real life build by Brick Random, on Flickr In the real life build, the pilot is quite well visible in the cockpit. Better than the renders would suggest. Galactic Plastics Volkite - real life build by Brick Random, on Flickr

I didn't see that until you mentioned it, but without the top fin is does a bit indeed! Yeah, the shape is pretty interesting, it also took me a second look the first time I saw it. I like that it is not something you see every day!

The Galactic Plastics Volkite is a LEGO spaceship originally built by Nick Trotta (galacticplastics.com). As with all creations by Nick, the Volkite uses clever building techniques to achieve unusual shapes and angles. I have now created a digital version of the Volkite: Galactic Plastics Volkite - starfield by Brick Random, on Flickr In addition to rendering the above pictures, I've also used to digital model to create step-by-step PDF building instructions and a full parts inventory. My next step will be to actually build a real life version! The free step-by-step building instructions and the parts inventory for the Volkite are now available on Rebrickable.com: Galactic Plastics Volkite

You can also export the PDF instsructions in parts straight from Stud.io. On the export page, simply select the pages you wish to print. Do for example page 1 - 50 first and then to a seperate export for pages 51 - 100, for example. That is the method I used for my most recent instructions, see here for the result: instructions in two parts. No PDF editors used for this.

Then that function has definately been improved in my version. The changeover now runs smoothly due to the use of smooth driving ring connector, rather than the ridged connector used by 8043. Adding a clutch gear and additional down-gearing has also eliminated the grinding of teeth on the changeover.

Yes, I built it for real first and then created the digital version. Here's a video of the functions in action: It does work and the small linear actuators don't seem to have a problem at all. Movement (driving and rotating the superstructure) isn't always super smooth, I think it's due to the weight and I'm wondering how well the original performed (as the original has M motors and I'm using L motors).

8043 Motorized Excavator is by some considered the best Technic set of this century. As the set has been out of print for over 10 years, it is now hard to find and pretty expensive. So, I've created my own version. After substantial modifications, it is built almost entirely from parts available from 42082 Rough Terrain Crane. The result: More pictures available on Flickr. Origin of the project A couple of months ago, I came across a comment somwhere refering to set 8043 as the best Technic set of this century. This piqued my interest. It was also one of only three Technic sets to almost make it into the "What's the best set released this millenium?" contest on Brickset. I didn't know the set, as it came out during my (very, very long) dark age. Looking the set up on Rebrickable.com showed I owned some 83% of the required parts. Color swapping the yellow to red improved that a little bit yo 85%. So, not enough to fully build it, but enough for me to give it a go. I figured I would just work around the parts I didn't have with other parts from my collection. It took me several weeks to complete my version of the excavator. Some parts were easily replace with others, but more often I needed to create substantial modifications. Typically, creating a solution in one step created new issues in later steps. During the proces I realised I was mainly using parts from 42082. I added an additional challenge to myself: create this excavator as much as possible as an alternate build of 42082. Of course, 42082 does not have all the necessary parts. Some are obvious and can't be built around like: additional motors, RC units, track links and sprocket wheels. Many are less obvious, but can be worked around, for example: lack of a 12L axle, to few 20 tooth bevel gears, to few 20 tooth bevel gears with pin hole, to few of of part 87408, only two large linear actuators, etc. In addition to 42082 lacking certain key parts, other parts have been superseded in the 12 years since the release of 8043. For example 50163 Technic Turntable Large Type 2 has been superseded by 18938 Technic Turntable Large Type 3 (which is of a slightly different size), 6539 Technic Driving Ring 2L has been superseded by 18947 Technic Driving Ring 3L, etc. All of the above has required substantial modification to the original model. Result The result of my work can be seen in the above pictures: a red version of 8043, built almost entirely from parts available from 42082. All functions from 8043 are re-created in this model (video): RC diving/turning RC turning the superstructure RC changing functions RC operating of the digger (arm up/down, bending the arm, tilting the bucket), but upgraded to use PF L Motors and a clutch gear added to the function changer to protect the motor and gears. The main aspect that I have not been able to fully achieve, is the paneling on the excavator arm. Set 42082 simply doesn't have the necessary panels to re-create this aspect of 8043. Apart from the color, this is therefore the main aesthetic difference, together with having to create a brick build digger bucket. If you have 42082, you will only need the following additional parts to create this model: 88323 Technic Link Tread Wide - 76x 57519 Technic Tread Sprocket Wheel Large - 4x 99499 PF L Motor - 3x 58123b IR Receiver Unit - 2x 3673 Pin without Friction Ridges - 18x 42610 wheel 11mm - 6x 32000 Technic brick 1x2 w 2 holes - 4x 32187 driving ring extension - 3x 32905 worm gear - 1x 32056 beam 3x3 L shape thin - 4x (on the model I've used black, but red, LBG and DBG will also look good). Instructions For anyone who wants to build this version of the Motorized Excavator, I have created step-by-step PDF instructions that will allow you to build this Motorized Excavator. The instructions are available for free at Rebrickable.com:https://reb.li/m/103609 The 1242 parts are put together in 218 steps. So, you get slightly more parts per step than you do in typical LEGO instructions.

Impressive! Did you consider using tan/dark tan instead of grey for the stone work? From the picture of the real thing, it looks like that would have been a more accurate colour, but I can imagine availability of parts could be an issue. The model looks good with grey stone work anyway.

This looks great. The mix of different building styles, the use of colour, the details!