8043 - The Bucket that Never Was

[LennyRhys]

So in my extended wait for the arrival of 42030 (which I'll be picking up later today) I decided to break out the styrene tools and build a bucket for set 8043.

This is very much a prototype but I would like to consider taking it further if there is sufficient interest. I know that many people were surprised (and a little saddened) that TLG used the wrong bucket for the excavator, and I think that the model would both look and function better with a purpose-built bucket.

NB: I don't actually own set 8043 but bear with me!

Now I'm afraid white stuff (especially sheet styrene which really is white) doesn't photograph all too well but the bucket will be painted eventually... matte black would be in-keeping with TLG's latest buckets, however I'm open to suggestion - dark grey (or dark bluish grey) might look really nice as well.

Fairly standard excavator bucket with some Lego-esque styling and five evenly spaced teeth.

The bucket has a nominal width of 9 studs (72mm) making it exactly half the width of the existing bucket.

Being designed specifically for 8043, the width between the mounting ears is 3 studs (24mm).

It's MUCH bigger than previous backhoe buckets, but has a similar mounting arrangement to the smallest one.

Althought it's larger in profile than the original bucket, the aperture is a very similar size.

This is the mounting configuration that the bucket was designed around (this was the very first thing I did, before I even started designing the bucket itself). Again, the dimension used here is three studs (or holes). This arrangement allows for a very good range of movement however it does require parts that are not included in the set. Because of this, I put an extra mounting hole beyond the existing one so that there are more options for mounting. The two holes closest together are exactly two studs (or holes) apart which allows for further modification/development.

Family photo!

[Alasdair Ryan]

That's a really cool bucket,I have dabbled with the stuff my self too but have never thought of making a bucket.

[Karle]

Very nice! I'm gathering the parts now to build the "ultimate" version of the 8043 and very interested in your bucket. What are your plans for it?

[dr_spock]

Very nice scratch building. How does it compare with the new bucket from the Mercedes Arocs?

[LennyRhys]

Thanks! First things first - I basically need somebody (from the UK preferably, like myself) to effectively "road test" the bucket on the model, and take some pics as well to see how it looks.

Provided it looks good and functions well, it can then be used as a master for molding so that it can be cast in resin, which would be the easiest way to reproduce it. I have built a number of things from styrene but have not yet done any castings, so we'll see how that pans out!

Resin casting would give a number of colour possibilities too. I'll probably paint the styrene bucket either black or dark grey.

Edit: @dr_spock, Thanks! I'm not sure on the exact size of the Arocs bucket but this bucket is considerably bigger for sure.

Edited July 15, 2015 by LennyRhys2

[Alasdair Ryan]

Very nice scratch building. How does it compare with the new bucket from the Mercedes Arocs?

I was actually thinking about that,Jim or Sariel will be able to tell you what size difference there is but I think it is smaller.

[Freekysch]

Wow, very nice bucket I think it would be the perfect size for 8043.

[thomol]

It looks nice, but I think it's a bit too large for 8043. I have fitted my 8043 with the bucket from 8851, and it looks quite well (and proportional). Your bucket must have twice the volume. For me an 8851 bucket with teeth and better geometry would be perfect.

[Blakbird]

That's some amazing styrene work. You are a master.

[LennyRhys]

Thanks Blakbird.

I don't think it's too large for 8043 - I spent some time working on the proportions in Photoshop and the final design is actually smaller than the original plan.

For a very small excavator, the bucket from 8851/8862 might be OK (even though it is a very old part and looks dated IMO); 8043 is not a small excavator though as you can tell from the size of the cab in relation to the superstructure, so the bucket would not be so small on a real machine.

This - to me - does not look good, which is why I designed my own bucket.

Pictured below (photo by Out of Sight) is a better idea of how my bucket will look when attached. It has a similar profile to the 10x18 bucket, but doesn't have the cutout or lip at the back/top. What you see here in terms of attachment point or height of bucket is basically the same as my bucket. An LDRAW file of 8043 would be very helpful at this stage - does anybody have one?

I think that the profile of the 10x18 bucket still looks small for the excavator, which is my reason for making it slightly larger.

In reality, this excavator would be comparable to 50-ton class, so basically a Liebherr R954. If you look at pictures of the R954, you will see that the bucket is not small.

Edited July 15, 2015 by LennyRhys2

[mortenm]

Very nice scratch building. How does it compare with the new bucket from the Mercedes Arocs?

As you can see in Sariels video at 6:46, the Arcos buckets are 7x5x5:

- not that big again

[dr_spock]

As you can see in Sariels video at 6:46, the Arcos buckets are 7x5x5:

- not that big again

Thank you for the link and time point. They are 7x5x5--two studs narrower than the styrene bucket.

[LennyRhys]

So I finished building the bucket, which involved reinforcing the main seems with 0.75mm styrene rod, and also some minor tidying up. I then rubbed the entire bucket down with 1200 grit sandpaper so that the paint would key, and proceeded with four thin coats of Plastikote Matt Super black. I'll check it again tomorrow morning to see if it needs another coat, but I think it's fine and I'm happy with how it looks now. I may give it two or three coats of matte varnish for extra protection...we'll see.

I've also included a pic showing the side elevation dimensions in studs, roughly 11 (L) x 9 (H).

[Patman]

Very nice indeed! How do you work with styrene?

[OzShan]

This is fantastic. It looked good before but now that it's painted it looks properly finished. Looking forward to seeing it mounted for a test drive.

[kabelbinder]

Oh, i love this bucket! :wub: :wub:

It seems so it has the right dimensions for the 8043 or jurgen krooshoops Link Belt 250 X!

(Is there an ability to get one?)

Edited July 16, 2015 by kabelbinder

[LennyRhys]

Thanks everyone. :)

@Patman, styrene is a wonderful craft medium. I use a craft knife to cut it and solvent cement to weld it together. It's a bit like woodworking in that there is a lot of sanding, but it's more precise than wood because there's no grain or pores in the plastic.

@kabelbinder, I hope that some day this bucket will be available but this project is at a very early stage just now.

I'm still waiting on paint to dry (painting always presents challenges of some sort) and once the paint dries I'll be looking to send the bucket out to someone to test it and provide some photos of the fitting and functionality.

Stay tuned!

[Rockbrick]

And there we all thought 3d printing would kill off ancient sculpting techniques like these...

Edited July 16, 2015 by Rockbrick

[gevans12]

I'm still waiting on paint to dry (painting always presents challenges of some sort) and once the paint dries I'll be looking to send the bucket out to someone to test it and provide some photos of the fitting and functionality.

Stay tuned!

I have a version of jurgens link belt which is currently fitted with the four tine grab from the 42006 I would be happy to put it on and test functionality for you (I am in London too). Send me a pm if you want me to help out :)

[dr_spock]

And there we all thought 3d printing would kill off ancient sculpting techniques like these...

I think you can make this and resin cast a bunch of them for less than the cost of a 3D printer plus material.

[LennyRhys]

I have a version of jurgens link belt which is currently fitted with the four tine grab from the 42006 I would be happy to put it on and test functionality for you (I am in London too). Send me a pm if you want me to help out :)

Thanks for the offer. I don't think the bucket will be ready for a few days yet - I want to be absolutely satisfied that the paint has cured 100% before it is used with Lego elements. Once that's done, I'll start properly looking into test fitting solutions.

I think you can make this and resin cast a bunch of them for less than the cost of a 3D printer plus material.

Yes and no - pressure casting requires a pressure chamber and they can be prohibitively expensive; and there's also the consideration of casting something complex like this which will require a multi-part mold, and perhaps some minor assembly of cast parts (I still have to figure that one out!). But I would argue that the final result will be more pleasing than what can be achieved with even the best 3D printers.

[John Daniels]

Top notch styrene work here! When painted it can almost be mistaken as a real LEGO element.

Excellent work,

~John

[Milan]

I dont like nonLego in Lego, but this bucket is really awesome and made to fit to Lego scale. hope to see you produce few more of these and made them available.

[Moz]

casting something complex like this which will require a multi-part mold

I reckon you could do a 3 part moving mold if you drilled the holes afterwards by making the base thicker (or extend the teeth back) so you don't have that lower concave space. Or cheat and make the roof thicker too so you only need two parts. For a short run that's pretty do-able, and no-one is going to be putting pins in there so the exact size is not too critical. I'd be tempted to make a jig and move the part rather than the drill, but whatever works. If you went four+ part and molded the holes maybe add reinforcing rings around them at least on the outside surfaces?

The mold cost is still going to hurt though.

FWIW this does look like a part I'd buy (if it was molded rather than printed).

Edited July 17, 2015 by Moz

[LennyRhys]

Thanks folks!

@Moz, interesting to hear your thoughts. I think a two-part mold would work provided I used appropriately flexible silicone that could be pulled out from the cavity of the bucket.

You're right about the cost of molding too - I'd say at least £25 for good quality silicone and then there's the cost of the resin too. I know a couple of people who are very good at resin casting so I may outsource this part just to make sure it's done properly.

I'm suspicious that the back of the bucket is not thick enough to mold... it's a single ply of 0.5mm styrene. I may double it up if that needs to be done.