Little Excavator

[Appie]

Yet another little excavator. Jono Rocky's model was great, but one main thing I wanted to add to that model was some functions to the undercarriage. Then Efferman started his Liebherr Compact 926 project and figured I could add another cylinder to Jono Rocky's arm. This is the result:

As you can seen, also used the standard Liebherr colours. Yellow and DBG just happened due to the panels at the rear and the colour of pneumatic switches and I figured I'd use white for the cab instead of "yet another black cab". It isn't scaled to existing Liebherr though.

Functions:

- Full functional pneumatic arm

- Pneumatic dozer blade on the undercarriage

- "L2" engine (let's say it's a little "out of sync" though more on that later)

- Full 360 degree turn with controls at the rear

I was pretty surprised the blade holds the entire model up, especially after every single cylinder on the arm nagged about hoses not being the right length or in exactly the right position. If anybody has any suggestions to make the hoses less stiff (some kind of oil?), I'd love to hear it, because this was just stupid.

These panels just screamed: use me here and never ever remove me from this place

I added a second pump to the undercarriage so the superstructure could turn 360 degrees


1millmeter of play between the gears+axle and hoses

I actually wanted to add another function: cabin lift, but besides having a lack of space behind the cab for this (hoses) it would have a serious negative effect on the support of the arm. So I dropped this idea.

I didn't really like having the controls for the turntable stick out at the rear so much as this, but I had no room for other solutions. I tried lowering the "knob" one stud so it wouldn't have to be that long (it's this long so it doesn't collide with the superstructure while actually turning). I tried looking for a way to make a sliding mechanism, but there was simply no room. So I settled for this third option: removable and click it elsewhere on the body.

I didn't try to close up the whole rear with tiles, mainly because the hoses ruin any type of mounting points available. On the other hand I like seeing a bit of "the guts". Especially when I spend quite a few evenings on these "guts" (hoses) to get it to work properly

The L2 is poorly tuned In the space available my options were limited. I used @Attika's half pin solution for the fake engine, but these pins won't work with plates with a clip on top, because they can lock up on these pins. So I needed parts that were round on top. I could only think of this crankshaft part in the 2x2x2 studs space available. In this WIP you can clearly see the current situation:

I added the 2L thin liftarm for the simple reason that I like the engine more going 2 up> 1 up> 2 up etc. than 2 up > nothing > 2 up. Neither option is realistic, so I chose what was most fun for me

With his other pneumatic buddies:

Some WIP pics

That moment when you realise that your superstructure is 1 stud too long or your undercarriage 1 stud too short...

I tried making the superstructure 1 stud shorter, but that would really hurt the rigidity of the arm. So I made the undercarriage one stud longer, which funny enough was a bit of a puzzle to make it bigger, but in the end it turned out better (mounting of the blade didn't stick out on top anymore for example) and the whole undercarriage is stronger than it was.

No idea how much hose I used. Jono Rocky was at 1.3m of hose iirc, with 2 more pneumatic functions I am probably closer to 2 meters.

There was an attempt to add a diff to this model, like the previous models I made. However due to the size of the diff and the ground clearance it would turn out something like this:

As we all know from Sariel's gear calculator, there isn't a combo of gears for 1 stud down+1 stud right, but these bevel gears with half a studd offset, work pretty well for this purpose (though I doubt it would play nice with torque from a motor). It even has that, as @Didumos69 would say, "sweet Lego gear rattle".

It's probably common knowledge, but it was funny to stumble upon this during the build and something I might find another purpose for in the future.

I decided to drop the diff from the model in favor of the dozer blade function.

I also dropped the scale of this diff concept, because the bucket would be too big.

I didn't want to build a smaller bucket or use one from normal Lego, so I decided to scale up to the normal Technic bucket.

In case you wonder why there isn't a video of the pneumatic functions. I tried, but my big paws block alot of the model when operating the functions

And here's a video of the pneumatic functions, don't ask me why I didn't think of holding it this way yesterday...

Thanks for reading yet another too long post from me

Edited May 8, 2017 by Appie
added video

[Leonardo da Bricki]

 Wow... I didn't think it was possible to do this... Amazing excavator!  And it is worth reading your "too long post."

[Jurss]

Nice!

[Attika]

 "keyring excavator"  You are a real specialist of these microscopic creatures. There is a serious performance behind this build.

About the hoses: Different colores has altering rigidity as I've noticed, however maybe an aftermarket product would be the best, what is soft enough and can be cut to size. I suppose you don't like thede sort of solutions, but I thing for something remarkable like this cutie it could be forgiven.

About the "poorly tuned" engine: First thanks for crediting. Same as above, due to the size I guess irregularity must be accepted as compromise. I'm just editing my first video about the pickups in which this type of engine (in my case "irregular V6") I've been using. Despite I expect a certain number of critics about it after I'll publish it, there is not much I can do about it as we reached the indivisible size with this building technique. There is still an option to cut the pieces, but then the world goes loud from sreaming purists...

Anyway it is an excelent build. Hat off.

[J_C]

Brilliant is huge understatement!!! Absolutely fabulous. 

[Appie]

Thanks everybody! 

1 hour ago, Attika said:

Different colores has altering rigidity as I've noticed

Hmmm, now that you mention it, I remember the dark grey hoses of the 90's being less rigid I think. I chose all black hoses for this, because I didn't like Lego's regular colour coding for this model. I wouldn't mind third party hoses, but how it is now, it works pretty well, so there isn't much need for it anymore. 

[syclone]

Wow, the amount of hose inside is unbelievable 

Amazing work.

[Attika]

7 minutes ago, Appie said:

but how it is now, it works pretty well, so there isn't much need for it anymore. 

 I don't belive you, proove it by a video. (I just wanna see it working, so take it as a compliment)

[kieran]

How you got that lot in there is beyond me. Well done 

[Appie]

Thanks all, the amount of hose used surprised me as well. For the hoses of the bucket cylinder my mock up used the longest hoses from the Volvo, which were only about 10cm too long. 

38 minutes ago, Attika said:

 I don't belive you, proove it by a video. (I just wanna see it working, so take it as a compliment)

 the main issue with the hoses were with the hoses of the bucket and the one from the second section from the bottom of the arm. These had to be guided properly and have enough length to make the full motion (as seen in the photo on top of the box).

The ones from the bucket were extra annoying, because the cylinder before the bucket is mounted with a little play. This play in the system is helpful when the arm is fully upwards, but also only when the hoses are just right. This then had to be combined with 'just right' from full down motion of the arm where the play isn't really a plus. In the end the DBG hose connectors you see near the base of the arm provided the play where I wanted it and firmness where I wanted in this setup. 

To be honest when all was done, I was quite surprised I didn't have to remove/toss entire hoses because I cut them too short for this sweet spot. 

I'll see tomorrow if I can give a video another whirl though. 

Edited May 7, 2017 by Appie

[WvG_853]

Wow! A nice addition to your great collection of small functional Technic models. They are ideal for display purposes.

Are you considering making instructions for them? I'm sure they would be big hit!

Next an articulated hauler?

[1gor]

Wow very nice little excavator with maximal features included in this small size...even pneumatic hoses look very big compared to model 

[Appie]

Thanks guys!

8 hours ago, WvG_853 said:

Wow! A nice addition to your great collection of small functional Technic models. They are ideal for display purposes.

Are you considering making instructions for them? I'm sure they would be big hit!

Next an articulated hauler?

Yeah, added bonus of building small, they are awesome to display anywhere.

Next up is probably Lego's other trademark in this workvehicle segment: a mobile crane, so a baby 42009 (I want to use the 1x11 cylinder for this).

I'll keep the articulad loader in the back of my head though. All these digging vehicles need something to dump their dirt in after all :)

As for instructions, there's an LDD for the wheel loader, as well as a couple of photo's in its topic to show the hoses (topic also has the LDD, made by VKTechnic). I never bothered making a LDD for the bulldozer. I could obviously, but I didn't want to take it apart back then to look at the lengths of the hoses and make pictures to show how to route them. This excavator is the same story, except a little worse in the hose department than the bulldozer. I am not sure how to translate this to pictures for instructions.

And finally here's a video of the pneumatic functions:

 

[Attika]

It's soooo cute . Thanks for the video.

[evortigosa]

Wow, really nice and so cute :)

[Jeroen Ottens]

You just keep amazing me... Be careful you don't create a mini black hole with the density you achieve in your builds

[Appie]

Thanks guys!

3 hours ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

Be careful you don't create a mini black hole with the density you achieve in your builds

[move5]

wow. just wow. it is really amazing how you put all the mmechanisms in such a small size! it's so cute

[Qukie]

I am not a fan of miniature creations but this one is super fantastic and it blows my mind how you managed to squeeze all these hoses and functions into something this small  I personally believe this could very much end up as a future technic set if you submit it to Lego Ideas. 

Edited May 9, 2017 by Qukie

[1gor]

On 5/8/2017 at 4:48 PM, Appie said:

Next up is probably Lego's other trademark in this workvehicle segment: a mobile crane, so a baby 42009 (I want to use the 1x11 cylinder for this).

that would be very interesting usage of thin cylinder. Perhaps you give me some idea how to integrate it inside boom to make it look like real one 

Edited May 10, 2017 by I_Igor

[Appie]

I am not sure atm if I am going to be using one to extend the boom, but to raise the boom I definitely will.

Thanks again guys for the compliments

Edited May 9, 2017 by Appie
typo

[nerdsforprez]

I saw this when it first posted but have only recently been able post my
thoughts.  Incredible project - and although not the beginning of a trend I
think this may be the real beginning of popularizing a trend. 


I have commented on this in the past but we are seeing some really great,
small or micro projects that are yet packed with some great functions.  I
kinda see micro builds yet with tons as functions, such as this one, an area
that is somewhat untapped in our community. 
Although this project is really great, it will likely never be something
that is voted or even nominated to the HOF.  Not even saying that it should
be, but.... wondering if it is worth discussing a HOF for small projects
such as this.  People usually don't think of HOF for really small projects,
but if there were a HOF for small projects then they would have to? 

Thoughts?  (and..... if this discussion gains any traction then I can create
a new thread to discuss.  If it does not then there would not be a need)

[Appie]

The wheel loader from the 'family' photo in the opening post is actually in the HOF. So the staff already considers little models for the HOF.

I guess the rest of this discussion would be better off in the HOF discussion topic 

[1gor]

20 hours ago, Appie said:

I am not sure atm if I am going to be using one to extend the boom, but to raise the boom I definitely will.

Thanks again guys for the compliments

That's something 

[nerdsforprez]

3 hours ago, Appie said:

The wheel loader from the 'family' photo in the opening post is actually in the HOF. So the staff already considers little models for the HOF.

I guess the rest of this discussion would be better off in the HOF discussion topic 

Hmm.... I did not see that.  Thanks for the heads up....