14 hours ago, fongalv said:

Personally, this is my first foray into pneumatics and that's why I'm willing to put in a little more effort as it will be a good chance to learn about them. As I already have battery packs and motors around, I just had to get a couple more pumps(ordered an additional manual and small pp), some tubing and an air tank. Kinda overkill I know but it's part of the fun(for me anyway). I also ordered some additional cylinders for upgrading the 42053 so I should end up with 2 souped up models at the end of the day :-).

Looks like you're all set! Have fun! :)

Alright, so I have been tinkering quite a bit the last week since most of the BL orders are slow to arrive, here are some of the things I've explored.

1) taking out all the gears and drivetrains can be quite liberating. these really took up alot of space!

2) have fitted in my current 2x11 cylinders into the lift arm and also the tipper so that I can achieve the same extension/full movement as compared to the large LAs.

3) gutted the counterweight including the 13/14L  gear rack which gives the counterweight abound 9L of movement latitude. Since a 2x11 cylinder extends only 6L, it is not really possible to achieve a similar extension with 1 cylinder. Will look further into this once I get the tank.

4) Was trying really hard to keep the original form and have the manual pump concealed and operated with a lever. While this works for me, my kid struggles to operate the pump without stressing the counterweight portion which is now much weaker without its guts. I have decided to further modify to simplify to a vertical pumping motion with the semi exposed pump.

5) as the additional hoses, air tank and some misc parts haven't arrived yet, I've started doing some research on a motorised compressor and have tried putting together an auto compressor thats as compact as possible. While this was a pretty educational experience, I've since realised that no matter how compact I make it, it will unlikely fit into the counterweight. After relooking at mpj's photos, I've realised that its probably best to fit the motorised pump into the existing frame of the counterweight.

Edited June 17, 20195 yr by fongalv

Good job so far! I think you are doing a very professional job, looks like an official set.

Concerning the manual pump, consider an extension hose, so you can handle and operate the pump "far away" from the model.

And concerning the motorised pump... the counterweight is the only place! Try and retry, until it will fit. You can maybe enlarge the counyerweight a little 

Gee thanks for the encouragement! Its probably because I was trying to restrict myself to keep at least the shell of the counterweight intact by fitting everything within. Most of the functions are still not installed yet(hoses/switches/etc) so I am not sure if the final model can retain this look.

I did think about having an external hand pump like the one here, but since this was meant for the kids to play with, I thought it would be more authentic(and durable) if everything could be contained within the model. Ultimately I still aim to motorise it so it can be operated/played with more effortlessly. Have to admit though, I tested running 2 small pumps off an L motor and it still felt a tad too slow to raise the main arm and I'm now considering ways to improve this.

Its actually quite clever and interesting how you attached the motorised pump to the existing internal beams of the counterweight. I intuitively removed the unnecessary long beams to free up as much space as possible, only to find that a standalone motorised compressor will unlikely fit inside due to the extension beams holding the counterweight to the main body. I do think that a manual pump system should be quite easily achievable now, and targeting to fit 2x 11L pumps and an air tank within the counterweight. 

I've read somewhere that air tanks are more suitable for manual pumps while a motorised system works better without a tank(something about a tank taking longer to pressurise with small pumps after depleting vs the much larger manual hand pumps). I've come across quite a few automatic motorised compressor systems that automatically switches on/off the motor to maintain pressure and have been quite fascinated with them. I hope to achieve something similar for the final version of this model, any thoughts on this?

 

9 hours ago, fongalv said:

I've come across quite a few automatic motorised compressor systems that automatically switches on/off the motor to maintain pressure and have been quite fascinated with them. I hope to achieve something similar for the final version of this model, any thoughts on this?

 

Looks interesting, but maybe it requires some more space?

I'm more interested in keeping "unalterated" the external look of the model, that was my task in this MOD!

On 6/19/2019 at 12:17 AM, mpj said:

Looks interesting, but maybe it requires some more space?

I'm more interested in keeping "unalterated" the external look of the model, that was my task in this MOD!

The "unadulterated" look is also my starting point, especially since I find the model really futuristic and cool looking.

I've now tried to attach the counterweight back to the main chassis and I do think that there will be less space than expected due to the way the counterweight slides open. Without doing extensive re-modelling, the only effective space that can be used are the 2 sides of the counterweight(where the decorative engines were in the original model). I now see why you mounted the pump and motor there.

I have since rotated the pump so that the piston is exposed outside the counterweight body. It is now much easier to operate, at the expense of the thick piston sticking out(I am planning for 2 of them later). With the drone sitting atop, I think it is still not that bad?

 

Also subsequently tried locating the switches similar to where you have put them but couldn't really figure out how the 2 switches can be securely fastened underneath the 5x7 frame since there are only 3 pin holes on each side. I have originally wanted to install the switches at the top of the counterweight but with the pistons changed to the top, I do not think there is any space left without compromising the drone fixing. I think I found the next best location at the back of the counterweight(I actually prefer this location now). While it can only fit 2 new style switches, it almost blends in seamlessly and all I need to do now is to create more clearance for the hoses on the interior. The construction of the original rear almost seems to be designed/built to integrate the new switches!!!

I intend to keep the 2 old style switches up front(where you had them) to operate the 2 front functions while the rear 2 switches will operate the 2 rear functions. This should make it more ergonomic/intuitive for the kids with this layout.

Meanwhile, the wait is still on for the BL parts!

 

Edited June 20, 20195 yr by fongalv
reduced size of photos

Really not bad!

It looks the correct place for the pump.

I also like very much the position of 2 valvles (you have the new style valvles and they fit perfectly in the rear grille)