Jeroen Ottens

My bad, it is 7L

At the back of the cabin

Nothing to be seen here

In the headrest, but to me it looks like 3x3 T beam plus two 2x1 panels on the side. (Nice solution BTW)

Yes it has, at the rear. The red bionicle eyes are attached to it. And in the middle, and in the front. BTW, is there a new inverted panel in the top-middle (fueltank area) or is that a trick of the light?

Incredible model. Fantastic mix of looks, features and rigidity. Technic doesn’t get better than this

Final (hopefully) update on the function selector gearbox. I was still unhappy with the previous iteration. It felt overcomplicated and too finnicky. So I made yet another set of iterations. Advantages of this version are: - Less gears due to simpler routing of the axles (especially the dark azure outrigger function is gone from 14 gears to 5) - cleaner packaging with better bracing - on the top side it is narrow enough to add the plating for the central rasied element and even cover most of it - room for fake hose connectors on one side Disadvantages are: - The two selectors are now on both sides of the vehicle - The Control+ hub has to move one stud closer to the superstructure (which is only an aesthetic change) - The operation of the main function selector is done with a 12T bevel gear, that is close to fast spinning 16T gears, I might have to change that to prevent my fingers getting chewed off

Here are the promised photos of the completed model before I take it apart to solve all the issues: You can clearly see the problem with the outriggers not holding their position when not in gear. The ladder is brick-built, I have contemplated to use the frames of the Liebherr crawler for the sides, but they are yellow, which I think really clashes as a colour. And I don't have them (and they are pricey). I use a chaindrive to extend the ladder. I am still doubting whether I should try to use the new 6L wormgears. I do have those lying around. At first I didn't want to use them because I feared it would be too bulky, but I actually use quite some vertical space as it is now, so that may not be that strong of an argument. It is not self-braking, that is a bigger issue, it would require another wormgear in the drivetrain to solve that... The reach is 60 cm when fully extended, which is slightly more than the 56 cm the model is long.

Thanks for all the comments. I stuck to the 15 wide body. I did some work on a 13 wide body, and it is doable, but with the ladder mounted is is indeed less boxy as @CK28 predicted. I have no photos yet of the model with ladder as it is too dark now for photos. @Erik Leppen thanks for all the suggestions to break the boxiness. The ladders must be mounted straight, also that area is pretty much filled to the brim with the gearing for the winch, but changing the colour of the openable panels is something I will give a try. The corners will become macaroni pieces, I didn't have them in my collection at the time of the photo. I am also tempted to add a stripe of neon-yellow, but also those pieces I only have a few of. @Ngoc Nguyen: that is a very generous offer to make instructions. I'll keep that in mind. @pleegwat: Good point, I will see if I can add some accesories or extra hatches. Now for the update... I did finish a first version of the whole thing and a few things really need to change: The speed of the functions is totally unbalanced. The ladder functions are about 10x slower then the rest, so they are basically unplayable. The bidirectional switches don't make the play experience better. In fact they make it worse as they are on both sides of the vehicle, so you can't see them all at the same time. All functions can run in parallel, but there is actually no need for that, I never felt the need to extend the outriggers and rotate the superstructure for example. And switching direction is much more natural done with the switch on the batterybox. So I have decided to completely redesign the function selector mechanism. I use a waveselector to choose between the four main functions (rotate superstructure, raise ladder, extend ladder, deploy outriggers). I then have a second selector that is in front of the waveselector that switches the power to the waveselector functions on or off. The winch in the back has it's own DNR switch and is always powered by the motor. Here is an early iteration of this concept: There are now 9 functions routed through an 9x9x9 box: red: selector to switch power to the main functions on or off orange: selector for the 4 main functions pink: motor output going to the back for the winch and to the first selector dark grey: motor output going to the four main functions black: drive to fake engine yellow: steering axle for rear axle light grey: raising ladder blue: extending ladder dark green: rotation of the superstructure dark azure: deployment of the outriggers (going to both sides of this gearbox as the outriggers are both in front and behind the gearbox) Unfortunately when I tested this configuration I found out that when driving the outriggers, the dark azure axle in the front rotated contrary to the pink 20T clutch gear causing a massive friction. I also didn't like that I had to move some of the dark azure gears backwards to make space for the motor that will sit on top. So back to the drawing board for iteration number thirty or so: As you can see all the functions are now within the 11 studs length of the frames. As a bonus I was also able to squeeze in a friction clutch gear in the motor drive chain. The function speeds should be more comparable now as there is a wormgear for the turntable. The outriggers will also get a wormgear each (still to be designed) and the winch will get some downgearing along the way. I'll post some photos in the weekend of the completed model before I take it apart to install this new gearbox.

Thanks all for the comments I did a crude geometry check and it is actually not too overarticulated. In fact, the rear inner wheel shifted off the axle when running in circles for some time, which I think means it is even not steering enough... I personally also love this supertight, dense structures. Here you can see how it unfolds further down in the structure: So far so good, but when I mounted the bodywork and tested the functions I didn't like the proportions. I know the model will be quite boxy, but it feels the whole model is too wide: It is a 15 stud wide body, but I cheat a little with the white stripe at the bottom, that is actually 17 studs wide. So the wheels can be 12 studs apart. It actually means that there is quite some space between the central frame and the outer shell. Which feels like waste. So I think I will redesign it to a 13 wide body. That will have some challenges of course. Especially at the front wheels that will only leave 3 studs width for the central frame... What do you think? Another point I found is that the outriggers fall to the ground quite easily when not 'in gear'. I didn't use a wormgear to have a self-locking mechanism. So that'll have to be redesigned (the worm gear will also help in slowing down that function to the same speed as the other functions. And finally the dual direction switch setup (where each function has a switch that can select, forward, neutral and backward, feels a bit redundant as the knob on the batterybox is almost better accessible then the switch on the sides... So I am thinking of using the function selectors to select the functions and use the switch on the batterybox for switching forward and backward. On the other hand, the switch in the back for the winch would still be a forward, neutral, backward switch... So that would make it inconsistent. Any thoughts?

This weekend I took some time to build with real bricks. Here is the result so far: Maneuverability is very important for firetrucks (I assume) so I wanted to have an a bigger steeringlock than usual on this model. It took some tinkering to get the ratio between the front and rear steered axle right with minimal gearing in between to prevent slack. It is pretty simple now. I think the rear is steered a tad too much, but within the limits of LEGO I think it is quite OK. Next step will be working out the cabin layout and the routing of the HoG for the steering. I don't think it is possible to get a working steeringwheel unfortunately. This bigger steering angle is eating away all the space in the front. Plus the inline 6 cilinder engine is sitting right in the front, so that blocks a lot of space as well. Here is a close up of the area below the turntable: This will probably be the densest part of the build. There are five functions routed through a cube of 5x5x5 studs. The axles in the front sticking out drive the following functions, starting from left under: black axle is for lifting the ladder brown axle is for the winch in the back yellow axle is for the outriggers behind the turntable brown axle sticking upward is for the slewing of the ladder grey axle is for extending the ladder It is a very satsisfying design experience I must admit. It is a nice change from building supercars .

There is indeed a lot of space inside... Then again, those Control+ batteryboxes are always bigger than expected Here is a picture of the current state: I squeezed in an extra function (winch in the back). I am not too happy how crowded the area near the winch is, so I will probably redesign the outriggers so that they are more compact. That should create one stud extra per side, which should simplify the winch significantly

Great model with a great finish. any chance for some interior mechanism picture?

Hi, It has been a long time since I joined a contest, but this one I just couldn't pass up. For a long time I wanted to build a fire truck and this was just the perfect excuse to do that. It will be a ladder truck with a double cabin. Something like this: Not much physical building yet, but here is a first sketch of the model with a rough indication of how all the functions are routed inside: I went back a forth a couple of times between a fully manual, a pneumatic or an electric model. I finally chose the electric functions with manual drive and steering. It should get the following functions: - steering with HoG, last axle steers with a small angle counter to the first axle. I try to get a significant steering angle on the front to get a really tight turning radius. - drive with fake engine (I hope to find some space for the engine, that might be tricky) Electric functions (each operated with their own switch that switches between turning left, no drive, turning right) - outriggers - rotation of the ladder - elevation of the ladder - extension of the ladder (I hope I can devise a not too bulky version of a two (or three) segment ladder) Next step is to design a stiff frame that leaves enough space for all the functions.

Balance is tricky on such a spindly leg vehicle. Can you use an internal (boat)weight that moves left and right for balance? That will sacrifice some internal space of course, not sure if that is compromise you are willing to make. I would love to see this thing walk