Posted November 8, 20159 yr P1050532 by Andy, on Flickr I first started this about three years ago, played around for a few months building a cab and a basic chassis with the rear axles, and a boom, which is where I really got stuck and at that point I shelved the idea and went off and built a huge castle. (http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/320146) Then another. (Not yet published) A few months ago I came back on here and spotted the blue masterpiece of Dikkie Klijn. It inspired me to look again at the whole towtruck idea and really looking to enhance my building skills I purchased Dikkie's instructions and with those, and much more research online looking at various expert technic builders creations I started again. P1050533 by Andy, on Flickr P1050538 by Andy, on Flickr P1050570 by Andy, on Flickr Whilst I make no qualms about having copied various construction methods and design aspects from a number of builders, Dikkie, Sariel, Marek, Ingmar and of course TLG themselves, I believe that overall there's enough of 'me' in the model to warrant showing it. My truck isn't based on any particular truck, however I hope it's clear that Peterbilt's featured highly in my. Basic specs are as follows: 5 axles, the front two steer together, the middle axle can be lifted and lowered, the two rear axles are driven. Both the two front axles are independently sprung, as are both the rears. The front axle design is based on that of 42043, the rear axle's I certainly copied from someone else, and added springs, but it's so long ago I'm not sure who. I'd like to know in order to give credit. P1050573 by Andy, on Flickr P1050572 by Andy, on Flickr P1050583 by Andy, on Flickr The crane's roots were taken from the blue truck of Dikkie Klijn, however it's modified in various ways, not least of all the main body below the boom which is all scratch built. Just one cable travels through the turntable to operate all the booms functions, this does mean that the boom can slew over 360 degrees. Within the main body is an IR receiver, a position switch and a extension cable allowing me to use an old style 9V cable to operate the emergency flashing light bar on top which contains 4 pairs of 4771. The only issue I have with the crane part of the truck is the time involved in lifting the boom, it works fine but takes a ridiculous 4.5 minutes to elevate fully from the down position. I've tried gearing it to speed it up, but then it can't lift at all and just crunches gears. P1050562 by Andy, on Flickr P1050563 by Andy, on Flickr P1050564 by Andy, on Flickr P1050565 by Andy, on Flickr P1050551 by Andy, on Flickr (Yes there is an errant black bent liftarm in there, awaiting a Bricklink order to rectify.) The forward outriggers were of course influenced by Marek's, but without instructions I was on my own with the actual mechanism that extends them from the body. The rears are very simple pneumatic rams, hidden within the tail section of the truck. P1050560 by Andy, on Flickr P1050561 by Andy, on Flickr The rear spec lift is again based on Dikkie's design, but heavily modified. P1050570 by Andy, on Flickr P1050556 by Andy, on Flickr The compressor for the pneumatics is within the sleeper cab, as is the L motor for the steering. P1050543 by Andy, on Flickr Drive is by 2 x XL motors,spec lift by one M motor. Cab slew is an L motor, boom lift is an M motor, 3rd axle is lifted by an M motor, forward outriggers are extended by an M motor, Boom extension and winches are also both run by M motors. Two pairs of PF lights are used for the headlights, one for the tailights. P1050536 by Andy, on Flickr P1050569 by Andy, on Flickr Overall it is 85cms long and 19cms wide, and weighs just over 6kg and here we have the bane of my life for the last three months and the reason I've only just bothered to show my creation, the thing is just too heavy for it's own good. Whilst the drive and steering work fine as mechanisms in themselves, once the weight of the truck is on the ground, they just can't cope. Drive just creates lots of clicking from the geartrain and the clutch pulley just spins on the steering. The limitations of Lego. Despite the obvious failure in the drivetrain as mentioned above, I'm still very pleased with the truck, I've spent a huge amount of time getting the details and style right, and I'm very pleased with it. I'd love to see it working fully though, so welcome any discussion on improvements that can be made. I can in due course add more detailed pictures and information about the various mechanisms involved. Thank you for all those inspirational builders that have provided ideas and techniques that have helped me in this build.
November 8, 20159 yr Yet another? Another? BEAUTIFUL ! I'm looking at it as at next entry in HoF !!! Tow truck with everything it should have and in beautiful white... Max... Edited November 8, 20159 yr by MaxSupercars
November 8, 20159 yr Author Yet another? Another? BEAUTIFUL ! I'm looking at it as at next entry in HoF !!! Tow truck with everything it should have and in beautiful white... Max... Wow, thank you very much. The white has been a burden, some parts have discoloured before my eyes it's been that long on the bench! Sorry the photo's are not so clear. As for HOF, I think I've got a way to go yet. But thanks anyway. Perhaps when every feature works 100% Amazing tow truck! Love that brick-built shell and technic inside Thanks, I did a four axle fully studless truck a few years back, getting a more realistic look was paramount with this one.
November 8, 20159 yr Author Some more pictures, this time of it semi naked. P1050579 by Andy, on Flickr P1050580 by Andy, on Flickr P1050581 by Andy, on Flickr P1050582 by Andy, on Flickr The rear suspension: P1050584 by Andy, on Flickr P1050585 by Andy, on Flickr And front: P1050588 by Andy, on Flickr P1050589 by Andy, on Flickr
November 8, 20159 yr I don't think that you should be so hard on yourself saying that 'this bit was from him and this bit from her'. It's beautiful and because it isn't all copied from other builders and the bits that are are so varied and adapted you can definitely call this model your own.
November 8, 20159 yr Author I don't think that you should be so hard on yourself saying that 'this bit was from him and this bit from her'. It's beautiful and because it isn't all copied from other builders and the bits that are are so varied and adapted you can definitely call this model your own. Thank you for the kind words, in truth I don't feel I'm being hard on myself, I just feel that credit should be given where credit is due. But let's face it, there's not much in the way of entirely new ideas in life, it's just how you put them together I guess.
November 8, 20159 yr Pure eye candy. The colour sheme makes it look really elegant. I think the white body with the red pin strip stretches it optically. Your first photo makes it look like its not LEGO at all (for the unexperienced eye).
November 8, 20159 yr Author Other than being totally impressive... whats up with the steering... ? The issue with the steering is that the sheer weight of the truck creates enough friction between tyres and ground to overcome the clutch, replace the clutch with a normal gear and it crunches the gears. Pure eye candy. The colour sheme makes it look really elegant. I think the white body with the red pin strip stretches it optically. Your first photo makes it look like its not LEGO at all (for the unexperienced eye). Thank you. It was my intention to make it look as little like Lego as possible.
November 8, 20159 yr Great model! It looks huge and strong and still quite elegant. I usually dislike stickers, but in this case I think it could improve the model further.
November 8, 20159 yr Author Great model! It looks huge and strong and still quite elegant. I usually dislike stickers, but in this case I think it could improve the model further. Stickers isn't something I'd even considered, I shall have to give it some thought. I think you might be right that it could add something aesthetically. How would I make custom stickers that look good?
November 8, 20159 yr Wow, these kind of Tow Truck MOCs never seizes to amaze me! Great job indeed! I can see that you have drawn inspiration from some of the other great ones, but this is definitely your build! Deserves to have some proper high quality photos (not meaning to offend your photo skills here ) taken of it (proper lighting and background and possibly some post-editing to really capture it on its best!
November 8, 20159 yr Author Wow, these kind of Tow Truck MOCs never seizes to amaze me! Great job indeed! I can see that you have drawn inspiration from some of the other great ones, but this is definitely your build! Deserves to have some proper high quality photos (not meaning to offend your photo skills here ) taken of it (proper lighting and background and possibly some post-editing to really capture it on its best! Thank you for your kind words. I'm afraid taking pictures of small stuff indoors is not my strong point. Landscapes, cars, all OK, but models, no sorry. I did have a friend with some professional photography kit take some pictures a while back, but I don't want to push him timewise, I know he's very busy, and since those pictures were taken I've changed quite a bit, so they're not really relevant. If I can figure out improvements to the drive and steer functions they'll be more rebuilding.......Is a project ever really finished?
November 8, 20159 yr This looks very nice! Although the influence of other builders can be seen, it is clearly your own MOC :thumbup:
November 8, 20159 yr Utterly, utterly gorgeous. I like your fusion of new and old Technic, it looks wonderful and it is YOURS. I hear you about the weight - there are ways to make it work. This ( http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/420995 ) weighs 9kg and is driven by 2 XLs. They do one axle each so you don't have huge torque going through one output, and it's geared to drive quite slowly. Otherwise it wouldn't move at all.... as it is, it doesn't like thick carpets but it does go. Steering works (again slowish) with one L motor - the only failure here involves a cardan joint occasionally popping out under the stress but sometimes something has to give! Does yours work OK if you steer it while it's moving ? That should help a bit. Models of this size are way bigger than PF was designed for so you've done well.
November 8, 20159 yr Author This looks very nice! Although the influence of other builders can be seen, it is clearly your own MOC :thumbup: Thank you. Your comments are appreciated. Utterly, utterly gorgeous. I like your fusion of new and old Technic, it looks wonderful and it is YOURS. I hear you about the weight - there are ways to make it work. This ( http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/420995 ) weighs 9kg and is driven by 2 XLs. They do one axle each so you don't have huge torque going through one output, and it's geared to drive quite slowly. Otherwise it wouldn't move at all.... as it is, it doesn't like thick carpets but it does go. Steering works (again slowish) with one L motor - the only failure here involves a cardan joint occasionally popping out under the stress but sometimes something has to give! Does yours work OK if you steer it while it's moving ? That should help a bit. Models of this size are way bigger than PF was designed for so you've done well. Thanks for the compliment Nick. From you it means a lot. I've always enjoyed your work. I think your last comment is the crux, PF just wasn't designed to do this. I have tried the steering, on the move, it makes no difference. The earlier set up I had was fine as long as the truck was rolling, but the two axles weren't syncronised enough due to play in the various joints, and there was no front suspension, something I really wanted to add. When I saw the 42043 steering I figured that would fix both problems, but it's created another. As for drive, well separating the two axles isn't an option, although I see how that should improve things. I've tried looking at changing gear ratios, but I'm so confined for space I keep coming up with dead ends. Maybe one day I'll have a brainwave and come up with a solution.
November 8, 20159 yr This looks great! im very pleased that my build was able to inspire others to build something totally there own :).
November 8, 20159 yr Author This looks great! im very pleased that my build was able to inspire others to build something totally there own :). You came up with some great ideas that helped me fix issues I'd been working on for way way too long. So thank you.
November 8, 20159 yr Having a look at your steering again - pretty sure good old fashioned rack 'n' pinion would solve your problem. Those ball joints introduce a lot of play that's exacerbated by the weight. There is a view of the front axles of mine if you scroll down on the link above if that helps. Edited November 8, 20159 yr by Nick Barrett
November 8, 20159 yr Author Having a look at your steering again - pretty sure good old fashioned rack 'n' pinion would solve your problem. Those ball joints introduce a lot of play that's exacerbated by the weight. There is a view of the front axles of mine if you scroll down on the link above if that helps. The earlier steering set up was rack and pinion, getting two working in unison and with suspension was the issue for me, I ended up with about six UJs, play was a big issue.
November 8, 20159 yr The earlier steering set up was rack and pinion, getting two working in unison and with suspension was the issue for me, I ended up with about six UJs, play was a big issue. Did you use cardan joints ? One of those and a UJ (better still two CJs) per steered axle reduces play quite a bit.
November 8, 20159 yr Author Did you use cardan joints ? One of those and a UJ (better still two CJs) per steered axle reduces play quite a bit. Do you mean http://alpha.bricklink.com/pages/clone/catalogitem.page?P=32494#T=C and http://alpha.brickli...age?P=92906#T=C Edited November 9, 20159 yr by beelzibus
November 9, 20159 yr Looks awesome! The only minor problem is that the rear axles look a bit bent/stressed. But I guess that is to be expected of such a large model. The flashing lights always seem to entrance me!
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