I'm just curious to know if folks have particular working styles/techniques and favourite parts that they find they use a lot of when working on a MOC

I tend to find that I tinker with various individual elements to refine them and usually build several self-contained sub-structures which I connect together, rather than very interwoven designs.

My personal feeling is that this is more like the way real vehicles are constructed, plus it means that some bits, like the planetary geared wheel hubs, often get transferred between builds relatively intact.

One off my favourite parts is a Bionical part 50904 which I find really very versatile in technic builds

I bought some of those (bionicle part) but have yet to find a good use for them. To me, they seem 'too' specialized, but I'm curious to see how you've used them.

DrJB those parts were used as a bracket for M - motors. Is also mentioned on the first page of General parts discussion, sorry, do not know how to post a link.

Edited April 23, 20159 yr by vliet

I have accumulated two of them, and also have yet to use them!

My building style: figure out where I want mechanisms/motors to be, then kludge connections around them until it all stays together.

Favourite part: Pin with hole. The pin holds very tight, which can be useful or irritating.

Thirdwigg used that part as a portal hub in one of his recent trial trucks. I generally build modules and connect them together, but my favourite solution that I came up with was this:

*The steering part*

Edited April 23, 20159 yr by Nalyd997

I bought some of those (bionicle part) but have yet to find a good use for them. To me, they seem 'too' specialized, but I'm curious to see how you've used them.

As frame part for loaders:

As frame part for loaders:

Thank You. I've seen that MOC but never noticed. Neat!

Edited April 23, 20159 yr by DrJB

Yeah, I use that part all the time. It's great for all sorts of portal axle set ups.

I also love the mini Linear Actuators. I use them everywhere.

My preferred building techniques is to start with a studless suspension, then build a studded lower hull to house studless PF gearboxes. Then build a studless turret ring traverse, and finally mount a studless turret mechanisms onto the hull, then the studded structure is built around the turret and hull.

my favorite parts would be, as I use this in almost every suspension setup I make

and this piece too

Edited April 23, 20159 yr by Tommy Styrvoky

My favorite building technique revolves around the Axle connections. Probably the most versatile style of building and most ornate. Building with axle is difficult because a whole host of problem can come up like if the axle is not perfectly straight or parts not center along with parts sliding around on the axle or even sliding off. Perfection is key when it comes to building with Axles and a real eye for details must be used. Axles have something most LEGO parts don't and that is Free Play. This adjustability is what I love about them. Axle is the lock and key for Technic. The axle has it strength and weakness. Its strength is that is very customizable and its weakness plays off that being the unwanted disconnection somewhere.

I think my favorite build so far was the gearbox of 8043. Oh, and the suspension of 8461.

I think my favorite build so far was the gearbox of 8043. Oh, and the suspension of 8461.

You should compare against the gearbox of 8258, that was fully 3-dimensional.

I use this part all over the place. The two fixed 'ears' make it great at firmly locating other lift arms. I am currently using them on either side of my axle center section to connect the 5x7 frame to the portal hubs. I have about 24 of them in my most recent crawler.

v/r

Andy

I don't have any style but I do seem to use a lot of pins and axles.

My style tends to be more focused on machines that move or function like the real thing, and I focus less on accurate looks, and more about plausibility. A lot of my creations are absolutely insane from a mechanical standpoint. My favorite parts have to be Technic frames. Not specific ones, just all of them. Having a dedicated frame part can be very useful.

In some ways I see style as very different to technique. I like to start with a few different sub-assemblies, front suspension, drive, gearbox, but in connecting them I always find something that needs to be more compact, or routed a different way and my sub assemblies turn into one big complicated assembly. I also seem to go through fads where I see a particular piece and because I have I find lots of uses for it.

Perhaps these are both consequences of building by hand rather than digital.

Oh, yes, so much. My most recent model (linked below) has 28 of these (in a nearly-1500 part model). They're wonderful.

Also what I notice is that I tend to use half-width beams much more than many Lego sets do. Often, sets use whole beams for everything, and half-beams are very often used in pairs to form a "whole beam". I think this is a pity, really. Working with half beams enables more compact constructions and it just opens up more possibilities. Just compare the suspensions of my Le Mans model with the suspension of 42039, and see which is more compact.

The result of this is that my models have usually more axles (especially 2 and 3 long) and fewer pins. Indeed, the model linked above has about 100 3-long axles.

The new pin with hole is also a lovely part, and there's a short pin with hole upcoming that will add further possibilities.

And, indeed, the 5x7 frame. Makes it so much less trouble to have a strong structure and still be able to connect in all three directions to it. I have about 70 of those, of which 50 come from a bulk order and I had a moment where I had only about 20 left and the rest was all in use. I also like the 5x11 frames, but in practice I tend to use them much less often.

Also what I notice is that I tend to use half-width beams much more than many Lego sets do. Often, sets use whole beams for everything, and half-beams are very often used in pairs to form a "whole beam". I think this is a pity, really. Working with half beams enables more compact constructions and it just opens up more possibilities. Just compare the suspensions of my Le Mans model with the suspension of 42039, and see which is more compact.

Half beams are great. I use them alot as well even that part AndyCW shown. What I like about half beams is that you can fit them on studds and additional you can invert the studd over on a studds with them and this can create unique gear distances. I did this inverted studd technique for a W8 vacuum engine design where I had to join two seperate crankshaft gears together to a central main gear. If you click on this small picture below you can see a much larger image to see the teal half beam I used for this inverted studd join around the two 40 tooth gears with a 36 tooth gear.

Edited April 24, 20159 yr by Boxerlego

I think my favorite build so far was the gearbox of 8043. Oh, and the suspension of 8461.

Then i would like to suggest you building the 8674 Ferrari F1 racer. It has the best suspension of all F1 models ever released by TLG... A really awesome designed model!

You should compare against the gearbox of 8258, that was fully 3-dimensional.

Built that too, but overall I still like better the one from 8043 (maybe because I am o big fan of excavators )

I have accumulated two of them, and also have yet to use them!

I've found they work well as part of a planetary geared hub, and another can be used to brace a beam to produce a shallow but very stiff structure.