Frequency

Like the style of the outside weapons systems - very reminiscent of the Phalanx CIWS just using a couple of pieces

Very awesome. Almost would want to lay the transforming sound effects over the stop motion one :)

one problem with the linear actuator - wouldn't the rotation of the turntable moving whatever the end of the actuator is fixed to cause the actuator itself to wind in and out, this would only be with a very large amount of rotations though please forgive me, I'm terrible at spotting the negatives in things

this is truly awesome the additional explanation and modelling of the functions really helps in appreciating the scope and attention to detail involved in building a model of this scale i see looking at the underbody shot that there are some small half bevel gears just rear of the front axle and just forward of the rear axle after trying to track back their function for a while i can only guess that they're there to prevent the axles they are on rotating? so that you could use long axles as the pivot for the lower suspension arms? the back ones i'm still not sure

more info and LDD in this old thread http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=43992&st=0&p=772662&fromsearch=1entry772662

Good to hear you and your family are fine, I am up in Palmerston North and spent most of yesterday afternoon glued to facebook and cellphone waiting to hear from friends down in Chch also good to know people's thoughts are with you

That's awesome, I especially like the use of the minifig hands in the railings

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=45509&st=0&p=795976&fromsearch=1entry795976 here is the thread on that model

Mine is from back when i was working as a car audio installer I wanted to get something to go on my personalised plate that was related to my long standing interest in car audio so i came up with FREQNC But i like to use the unabbreviated form as a nick as it's just easier I also use it as my airsoft callsign because it's hard to confuse with anything else over comms

Cheers i will have a look into that I'm near Palmerston North so yea wellington would of been my next option there store is the Toyworld PN

Absolutely gutted with my dealings today with my local shop regarding the 8043 This shop has been around for 30+ years as THE place for Lego (only place that sells flagship models locally, next closest would be a city 200km away) but I will not be shopping there again. Went in in June to inquire about the release date of the excavator and they had just got the new catalogue which had "on sale from September" in it, however the manager i spoke to said they had been told it would be more like end of sept / start of oct. "No problems," i said "can i pre-order one" sorry but they do not take pre orders "Ok then i'll come back and check in on it then around the release date" So, august rolls around and there are all the problems with the 8043 and so i decided to go in today and see if they have revised the release date because they will want to ship it with the service pack when it's sorted So i ask this and get told: "Sorry it's been and gone we only got 2 units and they both sold the same day they went on the shelf and we don't know if we are going to be able to get more if we can it won't be until prob december. what i can do is take your name and number and give you a call then if we get any more in" "also the price is $400nzd" in today's exchange rate that's: $287 USD 187 pounds 225 euro seems a lot compared to 8258 which retailed for $300nzd suffice to say that if i wanted to artificially increase the price of something i knew i had plenty of demand for then i would just limit supply I have always been a big supporter of local business but i imagine i'm going to just do my lego shopping online from now on edit: ok so Lego shop at home lists it for $400nzd, but only: $199 usd 139 pounds 189 euro (it almost seems like they are using out of date exchange rates as traditionally it was $1nzd = 0.5usd and $1nzd = 0.33 pounds, but we have had a much better rate this last 3-4 yrs at least) "expect shipping end Oct 2010" ummm. seems like getting the short end of the stick here?

some of TLG's descriptions from the old catalogues 1989 - "These big models are specially designed for expert Lego builders who want the utmost in reality. They are the most life-like models ever made from Lego bricks" 1992 - "These big models are the most realistic ever built from Lego System bricks. The details are stunning and the models' sheer size makes them a collector's item" 1994 - "The big models do not only impress with their size. The many details are also astonishing. These models can really get construction going. For hours and hours" 1995 - "It doesn't matter if you are wanting a beauty or beast. In Model Team you can get it all. These models not only impress because of their size - the details are just as astonishing. The biggest problem? Which one to choose!" I think the big differences have to be the use of bricks and the detail and scale of the models that define it from both technic and minifig building

hmmm, that's strange maybe got sent out before the full extent of the problem had become apparent?

It is interesting someone mentioned a drivetrain flaw which i think is addressed in Mr Krooshoop's "ultimate 8043" designs where a drive gear is held only by a tan half pin/axle (not sure of the correct description for this part) anyway I was remarking to one of my friends today who is also waiting to buy the 8043 (we were going to get it late here in NZ anyway) about this and by chance he had handy a 8265 which we both own copies of http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=45259 this gear with similar building technique can be seen close up in the last picture of the first post in the review as i recalled that these were on the drivetrain that operates the LAs to work the loader To my surprise the 16 tooth gear had HALFWAY worked itself off of the pin from the load caused by normal play with this function so still just enough to still mesh with both other gears (the other side is unable to do this due to placement of 2L friction pin w/ stop that attaches the steering) I suppose where i am heading with this is that i am surprised that TLG would consider this an acceptable building technique in both 8265 and 8043 given that it could cause gears to strip their teeth if it were to work itself loose? and also as a side not people may want to check their 8265s too edit: found the post i was thinking of

Those look really good I was thinking about this a while ago and contemplating making one what i did consider was using a technic turntable at the cab end of the drum and driving that with the motor and possibly having one at the the other end too as the opening that way you can get around the problem of the stress the drum would create on just supporting it with an axle through the middle except maybe the angle might create too much friction in the turntable part i don't know.

down in New Zealand still getting to grips with studless building when trying to build MOCs but at the moment but mostly is suffering from a lack of different parts suffice to say imagination exceeds inventory right now lol will come right eventually

i agree. was having a go at building this from the pictures last week and got as far as the shifter and driving ring mech when i felt it just wasn't working for me that lack of a gated shifter really caused problems with the dog sliding off the rings and even trying to mock up a gate was going to add issues due to the gearstick's angular as opposed to linear movement also that lower section continues to puzzle me - i feel like i must be missing something obvious why the half stud offset? just to allow the different gearsets to mesh correctly? and why the universal joint when i see other pics with it as a 3L axle connector w/ pin hole?

looks awesome the only thing i wasn't sure of after the story and video was is there another controller for controlling the two XL motors that run the tracks? as the two controllers in the diagram run 4 functions (slew, bucket, dipper, boom) leaving left and right tracks would have to operate seperately

i wonder if by having that slot there that the amount of material comprising the cleft would be the same as 1 mini bevel gear therefore ensuring more even mass around the axis of rotation

i don't think so it looks like the are some LAs in the superstructure of the bridge to hinge it in and out and these are driven by a disconnectable linkage at each end of the bridge which the tank slots into to transfer the drive so all the motors and batteries stay inside the body of the tank very very cool

agreed. for me the crane is the pick of the sets, plus i've been toying with the idea lately of building a larger version using one of the bigger sets of balloon wheels (already sorted a prototype outrigger using the LAs and motorised stabilisers - none of this manual stuff!) I'll get the excavator anyway cause it looks nice and big but also cause I missed out on the IR parts of the bulldozer and this will be a good chance to get them and plenty of extra M motors

my guess would be similar to Jennifer Clark's excavator as seen here http://www.jenniferclarkbass.com/lego/js22...rs_mesh_lrg.htm as suggested above this uses clutch gears a driving ring to pass two drivetrains through the turntable (similar to the hiab on the 8258 crane truck) this still seems to be the best way to drive two sets of tracks independently while retaining the motors inside the superstructure also interesting to note that the end of the boom of the new mobile crane looks identical to the old 8421 mobile crane which i noticed cause i have mine on the desk next to my computer monitor lol

I found the same problem as well when assembling my 8421 yesterday, with the clutch gear slipping even trying to extend the boom with no elevation. Fortunately i did remember reading this thread a while ago and swapped it out for a spare bley 24 gear i had and problem solved. as an aside i had a play with the clutch gear side by side with one from my brand new 8258 and the older one is slipping with far far less torque applied to it (with my torque ratchet and a calculator it is about 1.8Ncm) so i'm just putting the problem down to the age of the gear itself as opposed to with the design of the crane boom

Hi all, my name's Sean and I'm from New Zealand where I'm currently at uni studying economics I was into mostly Space as a kid - classic space, Blacktron I, Space police I and M-Tron I've always been a fan of flicking through MOCpages and doing image searches for lego but just recently I've found myself properly rediscovering Technic (my one and only technic set was the 8035 universal set from 1986), kicked off buy an impulse buy of the 8258 crane truck which i saw on sale for a largely reduced price after xmas. Since then I've managed to pick up the 8265 loader, 8292 cherry picker, 8263 snow groomer from one of my local shops, and the 8421 crane and 8285 tow truck from trademe (NZs local ebay type site) so I'm finally starting to feel like I have enough parts to have a proper play around with some MOCs cheers