P6tu

Ouh, the squirt thing - it is a mess! Yeah, it was fun for a while. My son actually replaced it with a ladder afterwards (we have the set 60214 with the squirt thing).

Haven't updated this topic for a while again. There have been few updates to the existing trucks (nothing noticable), but as my son has gotten older, then there has been a new need for different types of trucks. PC games (car games mostly) is the biggest influencer at the moment in our Lego world. Also, I have received few requests from WWW too and therefor, there are three trucks and three trailers on the way. The base has also been extended a bit with more bedrooms and more leisure locations =). About the trucks. The first truck was supposedly not powerful enaugh to pull the huge trailer - therefor a new 5×5 truck has emerged which is very high powered and can pull the trailer very well and is also highly manouverable despite the axle configuration. It is also the first truck with a combinaton of steerable axles and a middle joint :P. Then there are two more trucks with fifth wheels. A double cab and a single cab version. Both are quite simple and fit very well with the rest from design perspective. Double cab is obviously just to fit an additional minifig for some heavy hauling and the single cab is the shortest truck of them all for best manouverability with a trailer. Not as powerful as other offroad trucks, but still a perfect machine for it's thing. Regarding trailers - all are semitrailers. From WWW requests there were wishes for some trailer to pull standard Lego containers. Now, I had some base for one container trailer from the beginning of this project anyway and after a little conversation about the ideas of a container trailer in general, we have created a semitrailer with a powerful crane for handling containers (with a closed spot for the crane operator) and three small 10×6 containers or for two 14×6 containers. The second trailer is also for containers, but this is just as simple trailer as it could be with just space for containers (either four 10×6 containers or one 10×6 container + two 14×6 containers). The third trailer is a simple massive fuel semitrailer and that is it without any special features in that sense. It does have a fueling hose attached to it, but I wouldn't say that it would make the trailer special. It will take some months to finalize all those above trucks, but I will sure share them once they have been built as designed and approved by my little tester =).

In Estonia, most of the ambulances (including new) are still red on white. Police cars are mostly blue/white. Fire trucks and fire department, yeah - those have a lot of variation from white to any kind of neonish or bright color. But the base color is always still red for fire dep. vehicles. But this is for Estonia...

All golden words. In my mind, 4-stud wide cars or 5-stud wide cars are Lego City and 6-stud wide trucks are also Lego City scale. Occasional 6-stud wide cars like the earlier Speed Champion things - I can accept that, but the nowadays 6+ studs wide cars and 8+ studs wide Speed champion things are way off already and do not fit in a Lego City scaled things - even the streets are too narrow for those to look proper. Colours - I don't get the neonish colours also. The classic black-blue-white for police vehicles and white-red for ambulance vehicles is proper. Nowadays colours look soo unrealistic or over played. I mean, for example the set 60418 - this looks like a full-size campervan with a paintjob. And not because of the build, but just because of the colours. That is not a police truck. These are my thoughts and opinions on the matter =).

Very good looking build ! Thumbs up for this one =).

Finally the final truck has been published and I finally have time to show the pictures here too =). Since I don't have a proper camera set then phone pictures will have to do. I did some renderings also. Lo and behold: The truck is a simple thing in itself with the glow in the dark lights, sidehorns and load of lights in the front. There are also hidden beacons inside the grill which aren't that visible. The flatbed has a spare tire for those offroad trucks and some cupboard space under the spare wheel that is accessable via doors from both sides. The flatbed is equipped with a winch and also few simple tools. The truck cab has also some minor things at the back like a showel and two fire blankets. The ramps are fully usable due to the low nature, then it does not scrape the nose of most of the Lego cars for that matter. I haven't made any real life pictures with the ramps lowered, so here is a rendering: Last, but not least, I don't have any real life pictures at hand at the moment with any offroad adventure truck on it, but I did make a rendering =). Instructions can be obtained from ReBrickable for a fee, as always. Next thing that I will probably introduce and start showing step-by-step, is going to be that base. I have most of it already finalized virtually - BUT I must emphasise that it has not been built in real life, so I am not very sure about all the functions and stuff, but in Stud.io, it looks good and promising =). More on that later :P.

Since the offroad capable trucks still tend to be quite fuel hungry on long paved road stretches, then last wheeled vehicle for those trucks was needed - something to haul them on the highway. That was the last truck that I made for this series. It is very different from the previous trucks and few weeks ago last tweaks were made and our mandatory childproofing. The truck is a bit part heavy as all those builds have been. I will make some pictures with my phone soon (hopefully in the upcoming week) and I'll post it up here with all the details and stuff =). A little glimpse of that truck can be seen from a teaser post where I had the whole theme in one render. Since then, the truck has received some minor changes and upgrades. In words - it is a COE (cab over engine) or EU style trailer truck with a lowbed trailer that could fit any of those offroad trucks (or any other vehicles for that matter).

Finally - the last trailer for those offroad trucks. This was done specifically as an add-on for the offroad tow truck. First thing the offroad tow truck was missing and was needed on the trailer was a place for the minifig to sleep - so a bed was necessary. Secondly, the offroad tow truck does have a good selection of tools, but it does not have anything to do some heavy repairing. Only thing that is missing, is some sort of a welding kit... Last big thing that was necessary for this challenging environment, was an all terrain vehicle. A simple quad did not suffice, so a 6×6 ATV was born =). I do not have any actual pictures sadly of the trailer coupled with the tow truck :(, but here is a rendering (with an older unverified and unchlidproofed version): The biggest feature of the trailer is it's bulit in heavy tools (a drill, vice and grinder+polisher). It has some inspiration from an existing Lego City garage set that just needed a bit of improvement :P. It can be either totally pulled out from the trailer or it will also be stable in the trailer: The ATV was a second thing requested by my son at the time - the tow truck was a bit too big to go somewhere tight where the offroad scout may be stuck and it was even more difficult to manuver the trailer. Therefor an ATV with a small bed for carrying spare parts, wheels, tools was made. While the ATV is a nice thing, then my son isn't very fond of it for one reason - it doesn't always roll freely due to the rear wheels being very close to each other. But do not be mistaken - they aren't actually rubbing together all the time =). One challenge in designing this trailer was having all those things on the trailer and keeping the trailer also balanced at the same time. A double axle desing would have looked a bit too overkill... At the end, the sloped flatbed with winch grew out and the trailer is very well balanced with slight weight on the nose of the trailer =). The bed for minifig is the same as with all the previous trailers so nothing new there in that sense: Also regarding the lights - same all around worklights + glow in the dark rear and front lights. It also has a fire extinguisher as a standard and also a helmet is included for safe travels with the ATV (stored in the cupboard underneath the ladder). If someone is interested, then instructions are available in ReBrickable for a symbolic fee here: Offroad trailer 3 . Next and last thing in regards of wheeled vehicles in this line would be a trailer truck for getting the offroad trucks quickly to far-far lands where you can get by roads (you know - from room to room :D).

This is really good for 6-stud wide design =). I like it =).

This month I finally published the revised and child proofed version of the second trailer. Instructions can be purchased here: ReBrickable offroad trailer 2 .

Thank you =). It was fun and intense process. Unfortunately it seems that the base was a bit too much to chew and now the process has halted quite a lot :(... The energy crystal adventure has somewhat faded to the past and now he is more into other builds. In addition, I'm not being informed very much about his Lego city ongoings at the moment, but I have noticed female minifigs appearing to the city. Concidering the fact that my son is nearing to that 12+ age, so there are probably some other backstorys developing that do not want me to interfere that much any more :D.

I have been in a very tight schedule and also some other IRL events have happened, so I've been "away" from Lego for a while. I haven't been able to create any proper pictures (photographer is refusing fighting back a bit), but I did get the build and the instructions proofed (long time ago actually). I've also uploaded the instructions (sorry, premium again) to ReBrickable: instructions for the first trailer for the trucks . I'm trying to get back on track with publishing this series, but please be patient =). To be continued... Ah, forgot to mention that during this proofing the trailer got some changes to the build and final look, so there are up to date pictures in ReBrickable. Most noticable changes are the way the beds are colored and also how the access to the top bed has beed modified to match the rest of the trailers (and to be a bit more sturdier).

@Aleh, are there more pictures of it? Some instructions? This seems a very interesting built. I'm gathering thoughts on my next truck project and that scale looks something I'd go for the next few years :D. Maybe more to the COE style as is common in EU, but who knows... Impressive collection!

Another nice Technic MOC =).

That is a great MOC and I don't say this often :D.

Yea, the 5 stud wide city cars are good. They match with the City scale and give a bit more detail compared to the 4 stud wide counterparts =).

Yes, indeed. The winch can be moved from left to right and the bigger yellow structure can be moved from front to back. I'm a bit working on it and on the picture it is not quite final. I'm trying to develop some chain mechanism to it to be able to move it by a crank from front to back. Also, the doors are currently manually openable, but I'm trying to fit some mechanism to those too - but it might be in vain, since there isn't enough room for some mechanics there...

I was on a vacation abroad and didn't have any time to place into the offroad adventure theme. So I did the least possible - I had my son proofbuild and play around with the smallest thing (besides one simple bike) - the little support 4x4 offroad pick-up truck with a simple support trailer: The 4x4 pick-up is quite a simple build actually and it has all the proper offroader features like the front bullbar and a rollcage with roof lights. There is also a wrench for quick grab and on the other side there is a walkie-talkie. It is a lifted truck, so the ground clearance is appropriate =). In the back trunk there is a box with a drill, extinguisher and a torchlight. Now, the trailer is a bit more complex in terms of equipment. The main features are the two tanks on the trailer - a water tank and a fuel tank. Both have their own nozzle and area also equipped with level indicators and pump pressure controls, cauges. There is a conciderable variation of tools also for those simple off-site repairs and jobs: disksaw?, crowbar, adjustable wrench and spanner wrench. In the cupboards you can find an additional fire extinguisher, torchlight, oil can and another smaller drill. The trailer is also equipped with external worklights and supports so it will remain level without being attached to a car: So far this is the only build where the car has no glow in the dark lights. Only the trailer is equipped with those glow in the dark lights in front and in the back =). Sorry for the poor quality pictures. Did them again with my phone, but I will update them with better quality pictures =). I've made the instructions also available at ReBrickable in here . To be continued =)...

Just a little "teaser" on this whole project with all it's things... You can spot some things that I haven't even mentioned (all are still work in progress things). This is the base that my son and even I am very eagerly waiting to build - just need to get the pieces somehow... :

I still haven't finalized the first trailer yet. I have the instructions and I have made the improvements, but I am still waiting on few parts to make it 100% complete and then I can take proper pictures of the first trailer too and publish the instructions. So, just to keep this topic still a bit interesting then I did some pictures of the second trailer (also not 100% completed nor has it gone through the child proofing phase :P. But never the less, here it is attached to the small scout truck: Sorry for the bad picture quality again and the bad lighting. The second trailer was desperately needed by the scout truck for covering more ground and quicker. One thing the scout truck was missing was a bed to sleep in. So the first thing was to have a bed in that small trailer: Second thing was the distance - BIG improvement in distance is always the fuel that it can carry, so the second thing was actually implementing a big fuel tank to the trailer. Now, the liquid tank was divided into two sections. Obviously when you are on a long trip with a car without any civilication, then you need to wash yourself and groome yourself, so a shower, sink and toilet was needed and also another half of the tank was filled with water: While the fuel can be pumped from the hose on the left side of the truck, then water can be either taken from the tap next to the sink or there is also another option outside - a tap with a red button near the bottom of the ladder =). A list of other features and stuff of that trailer: - bicycle for some physical activity (helmet included in one of the compartments on the left); - showel for whatever situation; - stands for the trailer to be stationary on it's own; - big axe for camp firewood or safety?; - crowbard just as standard; - sattelite phone; - glow in the dark lights in front and in the back; - external surrounding lights to lit up the world =); - ceiling lamp inside the shower/toilet room. As stated, it is still missing some parts and hasn't been "verified" by my son yet, but it is played with so it is a work in progress =). But I will get this trailer also completed eventually and also make better pictures and instructions available for that trailer too =).

Thank you =). For all five trucks there are plans/instructions available on ReBrickable in here: ReBrickable user P6tu . You can see all the MOC-s what I have published so far. Regarding the color scheme, then yeah, you can make most of the blue parts into bright light orange to match the Jungle Explorer theme =).

Since I've been busy with build that use a lot of string, then I just took the string from set 42070 and went to a fabric shop. I am not very sure on the terms, but supposedly it is a simple braided nylon string and they had a myriad of colors to choose from and decent options in thicknesses. I think I could say that it is as good as the original. Due to the cheap price, I also tried the waxed one since it felt a bit smoother, but in reality, when using the small dark bluish gray City scale hook, then the string was too heavy so to say. Anyway, maybe this helps a bit to show pictures from the link to those fabric stores: https://coolcrystal.ee/tootekategooria/tarvikud/niidid-noorid/page/3/ . The ones that states "Nailonniit" are the ones that you are interested in. For City builds 0,8 mm seems to be the best (0,5 mm tends to curl too easily). For Technic builds I'd opt for 1,5 mm string - that will make the "reels" move and the string isn't just slipping on it looks in scale also. But the 1 mm string will also work =). Lego string in set 42070 itself is 1 mm.

Thank you =). I can't take the whole honor on the world, but I just like the approach of my son. Lego Cities are quite "standard" in that sense and I have not seen nor noticed something similar to post apocalyptic or similar Lego landscape or idea for that matter. Mostly there are ports, houses, warehouses, construction sites and that's that. The reason most probably might be that there is a lot more going on in such cities than there would be in the wastelands where our playground is :P. But yeah, landscape - will see. The MILS standard, is in terms of brick consumption, quite thirsty, but there is no limit in the virtual world. But the idea itself already to build on MILS standard kind of begs to be used in real life =). For the vehicles there is a home base and that is something that I will bring to life - just time and financial resources are holding back with that base at the moment. In time I will share the base with it's details also (and there are MANY action features and details). Right now I'm trying to get some proper pictures of the trailers and after that I'll go with introducing the base build. I've noticed that it isn't that much frowned upon, if someone presents just a virtual creation. I may be a bit old school since with virtual world there are no limitations in terms of weight, count of parts and somewhat hinder the brain to find alternate ways to improve and develop the builds. That is why I just make something basic or fundamental in the virtual world and then the real building and "development" in that sense starts afterwards. But after this base has been introduced, then there are few more different vehicles (already built) which complement the whole scenario even more =).

Did some R&D with my son on this big trailer and needed some improvements. So in the pictures above is not the final thing - yet.

This really does look nice. I'm looking for some inspiration on garden section ideas myself too and you have some very good things going on in there - I also like the grape looking things :P. Not for me, though, but they look very authentic for your setup and scene =).