XTN's garage

[Polarlicht]

Cool trucks. Yep you need a ton of the new 49.5x14 tires :D

[Samolot]

It is not easy on this scale to make nice-looking models. You succeeded. I really like it. If I was to attach to something, Then I do not like the front wheel arches in a yellow tow truck.

[XTN]

On 7/3/2021 at 9:51 AM, Polarlicht said:

Cool trucks. Yep you need a ton of the new 49.5x14 tires :D

That's true.

Here`s a collection of all my class 7 and class 8 trucks plus a school bus:

In the pic there are 10 front axles, 25 rear axles and one lift axle.
That means a total count of 122 wheels... 

Imho the biggest disadvantage of the narrow tires is, that in combination with the narrow rims, you can't keep the front wheel design with the two pulleys and the small connectors as wheel bolts.
Of course there are more options for front wheel design, but i really fell in love with the one from 42078 and 42128.

Another downside is, that you can't keep the rear axle design from e. g. 42112.
I first saw this concept in the Corvette. There you have got two cross axles for each wheel, while the inner one is locked and safe from slipping out, which is important, if you dont wanna lose the small beige bevel gears inside the differential.
I copied that design for almost all of my trucks.
Unike that, all Mack models and 42128 have only one cross axle for each rear wheel. If the cross axle slips out, you lose the corresponding bevel gear from the diff.
These trucks should be easily converted, like for example @Void_S already posted here and on rb for the Mack.

If I ever start converting from super singles to duallies, I guess my K100 will be the first one.

[XTN]

On 7/3/2021 at 11:55 PM, Samolot said:

It is not easy on this scale to make nice-looking models. You succeeded. I really like it. If I was to attach to something, Then I do not like the front wheel arches in a yellow tow truck.

Thank you very much for your kind words.

Indeed the front wheel arches of the yellow wrecker are not the best concept for a classic American long nose truck.
A truck like that needs to have a set-forward front axle configuration. 42128 does that pretty good, position seems ideal, but the huge holes in the fenders show, that it is really hard to find the perfect fender design.
The yellow wheel arches on my truck are basically taken from @Timorzelorzworz 42108 Tow Truck alternate build - LEGO Technic, Model Team and Scale Modeling - Eurobricks Forums. They cant be narrower, bc for steering you still need the 9 studs clearance between the attachment points of the panels. This configuration, especially with the headlights at the fender like Kenworth or Western Star, makes you lose two studs compared to the ideal position.
Im about to redesign the headlights and keep the wheelarches, but move them forward by one stud soon. Let's see if that will make a difference.

[XTN]

Here are some images of the yellow wrecker and 42128 side by side.
While taking these pics, I was really surprised how tough 42128 is. I expected it to be much weaker and way more fragile. Especially the underlift is something I might adopt for my own truck.
Both trucks are almost identical in size but their "faces" are completely different. The yellow one has a wider grille (like Petes have) and headlights in the fender, like on Kenworth trucks. 42128 has a more Kenworth-ish grille but the headlights saying Peterbuilt. That´s def something that needs to be modded :)

 

 

[XTN]

Here's my approach to solve 42128's fender gap issue.
It's really simple and mady by Technic bricks only.

The dbg cross axle 4M with end stop pushed in completely prevents the panel (the one with the "POWER TOW" sticker) from folding out.

[XTN]

On 11/7/2021 at 11:44 PM, XTN said:

Im about to redesign the headlights and keep the wheelarches, but move them forward by one stud soon. Let's see if that will make a difference.

Done.

old vs. new

Now there's a Kenworth and a Pete...

...pulling two broken down semi tractors over the kitchen table

With the reworked headlight design, I was able to put the front axle one stud forward, which is a huge improvement to the overall look of the truck.

 

[XTN]

During the holidays I found some time to take care about a number of issues I had with my tow truck.

1. Function

• underlift/towing fork... complete redesign with the following premises:
  - strong
  - simple
  - as thin as possible
  - long enough to reach the front axle of my trucks as in real life thats where the fork is fastened
  - allow driving corners while towing
  - allow expanding the telescopic boom even when the fork is folded up
  - pulleys to reroute the wires for different towing situations
   
• rear outriggers... needed to be added

2. Cosmetics

• light bar and light bar support... complete redesign with the following premises:
  - support with a forward leaned shape
  - light bar with a more modern look
  - connection points identical to 42128, just in case i wanna add those one day
   
• cabin roof... add orange lights in the classic o-O-ooo-O-o configuration as almost all US trucks have
   
• front fenders... rethink the usage of seat-shaped panels and replace them by sth else with the aim to move the front axle one more stud forward. (thank you, @Samolot )

 

Rear outriggers and towing fork:

Spoiler

 

Light bar old vs. new:

 

Fenders and front axle set forward:

 

Roof lights:

 

[Void_S]

It looks brilliant now, but the seat-made front fenders had more "its own recognizable style". New liftarm-made look... I don't know... Too boring? Just my personal opinolion.

Additionally, I especially like the under-lift towing arm, the steering rack nicelly fits here and makes specific "extendable" apperance even if really cannot be extended. 

[Samolot]

On 1/9/2022 at 4:02 PM, XTN said:

 

• front fenders... rethink the usage of seat-shaped panels and replace them by sth else with the aim to move the front axle one more stud forward. (thank you, @Samolot 

 

It's funny but I didn't like your front wheel arches so you corrected them. Meanwhile, I used one on my [TC21] school bus.

[TC 21] School bus rocket launcher - LEGO Technic, Model Team and Scale Modeling - Eurobricks Forums

Hmmm I have to think about it...

[XTN]

7 hours ago, Samolot said:

I used one on my [TC21] school bus.

Yeah I've seen them. And I'm happy they live on 

 

On 1/9/2022 at 4:22 PM, Void_S said:

It looks brilliant now, but the seat-made front fenders had more "its own recognizable style". New liftarm-made look... I don't know... Too boring? Just my personal opinolion.

Thank you very much. I'm really happy with the proportions now.

It was some kind of struggle for me too. In the pics you can see the fenders been the last thing I've changed, it was a last minute decision.
In the end it was the set-forward front axle that convinced me to do it.

 

On 1/9/2022 at 4:22 PM, Void_S said:

Additionally, I especially like the under-lift towing arm, the steering rack nicelly fits here and makes specific "extendable" apperance even if really cannot be extended. 

Thanks again.

These steering racks are sooo versatile. If I had to name one Technic part that I like most, it's probably that rack.

• First I used them for the steering, of course.
• Second I used them as some kind of flipflop beams (before we got flipflop beams), for example in the early versions of the yellow wrecker to hold the light bar support in position.
• Third was as the grille on the school bus.
• Fourth was the underlift you mentioned.
• Aaaaand fifth... (a little search image)

My current project: a light duty tow truck based on 42075.
More pics coming soon.
Man I still love that grille and headlight design... 

 

[XTN]

The modded Responder in Detail.

Still based on 42075, I kept the steering, most of the cab, the engine and most of the hood with the grille, complemented by some badass bumper.

There is also room for storing the original set's tools: axe, traffic cones, fire extinguisher.

The rear part is completely new, the towing arm can be lifted by using the lbg handle.
The fork can be folded up and down, in the upper position it supports itself to the car's frame. 

Spoiler

And here's the Red Rat Wreckers Crew - Light duty towing company 

[johnnym]

I like it. And I fully agree, the 42075 was a cool set and the main model had good looks. Making a wrecker out of it was a great idea!

One thing I noticed when loading this page: The pictures are only scaled down to 1024x768 for display but actually still have a resolution of 4032x3024 for the last one for example. So loading this page takes quite some time if the pictures aren't already in my web browser's cache. See, on BrickSafe for example you can link to lower resolution versions of your pictures which would make this page load much faster. Isn't something like that possible on imgur, too, maybe?

 

[XTN]

On 1/19/2022 at 2:26 PM, johnnym said:

Isn't something like that possible on imgur, too, maybe?

You're right, there is such a function in imgur to scale the pics to 1024x768 when uploading. Gonna use that now.
Thank you for that hint.

If someone knows a [quick and easy] way to rescale already uploaded pictures in imgur without compromising the direct link, pls feel free to share. 

[XTN]

Friday I bought the new polybag Volvo. I did this just to get two yellow 5L half beams for my yellow wrecker's A-pillars - please don't tell my wife. 
Additionally I bought another one and a bottle of wine - just in case she finds out. 
After sacrificing the Volvo, changing the A-pillars and reworking the roof section of my yellow wrecker, which took some more of the yellow parts from the polybag, I took a look at the leftover parts and another look at the parts I still had in my boxes... Then I had an idea and spent the night bricking. 
Here's the result: Go-karts!

 

[XTN]

After buying few new sets, sacrificing or overhauling some of my existing models and building a few new ones, it's time for an update of the list shown in the OP.
What hasn't changed is that all the vehicles share the Mack scale (more or less) and are operated manually.

Here is the updated list:

Semi Trucks and Trailers

• Mack Anthem with Flatbed trailer [MOC, alt of 42078]
• Kenworth K100 with Log trailer [MOC]

Service and Industrial Trucks and Busses

• Mack LR garbage truck [42078 B]
• Mack Granite snow plow [alt of 42078 by M-longer]
• Heavy duty rotator tow truck [42128]
• Heavy duty tow truck [MOC]
• Holmes tow truck [MOC] [WIP]
• Heavy duty rollback tow truck [mod of 42098 alt model C by LoMaC]
• Light duty tow truck [mod of 42075 A]
• Mixer truck [mod of 42112]
• MAN TGS tipper [mod of 42098 MAN TGX dump truck by technicprojects]
• US school bus [MOC]

Passenger Cars On-Road and Off-Road

• Hot Rod [mod of 42093 B]
• Hot Rod Van [mod af 42098 B]
• Red Shark [MOC]
• Hummer H1 [mod of Hummer H1 by Efferman]
• Escape buggy [MOC]
• Police buggy [MOC]
• Killer Bee [MOC]

Other

• Telehandler [MOC]
• Forkliift [42079 A]
• Snow groomer [alt of 42098 by Tomik]
• Lawn tractor [alt of 42102 by 13neat8]
• Ultralight helicopter [42057 A]
• Police dinghy [MOC] [WIP] 
• 2 go-karts [MOC]

----------------------------------------

By sacrificing a second 42128 I was able to do some color change and to tweak some of my existing vehicles:

• Tomik's groomer: color change from yellow to orange which freed a bunch of yellow parts
• Yellow wrecker: smoother cab and sleeper, steps made of Technic bricks, new light bar, big fat exhaust pipes [1]
• School bus: partial color change from black to yellow, which freed black bricks and makes it look more like a school bus now - less like a yellow zebra
• Red rollback: simplified cab, bulkhead and catch mechanism for the winch [2]
• K100: new fuel tanks
• NEW: Hummer H1 based on Effe's Hummer H1 which was based on some chinese Hummer [3]
• NEW: Holmes tow truck (WIP) [4]

----------------------------------------

[1] Yellow wrecker: smoother cab and sleeper, steps made of Technic bricks, new light bar, big fat exhaust pipes

----------------------------------------

[2] Red rollback: simplified cab, bulkhead and catch mechanism for the winch

----------------------------------------

[3] Hummer H1 based on @efferman's Hummer H1 which was based on some chinese Hummer 

[MOC] - Vom China Klon zum Lego Hummer | Doctor Brick (doctor-brick.de)

My version has:

• suspension on both wheels in the rear
• pendular front axle
• trunk with cover
• HOG steering
• four seats and openable doors 

I fell in love with the new-ish flipflop beams. 

----------------------------------------

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by XTN

[XTN]

[4] Holmes tow truck (WIP)

I always wanted to add a Holmes wrecker to my fleet.

After checking a bunch of them here and on RB to get inspired, for example this awesome one LEGO MOC Holmes Tow truck - Cabover by Superkoala | Rebrickable - Build with LEGO by @Superkoala, I decided to create one by myself.

The demands for chassis and cab:

• American style, classic truck from 70s or 80s
• three axles, set-forward front axle
• preferably cabover
• HOG steering
• openable doors
• fake engine (optional)

The demands for the wrecker:

• operated manually
• two booms, operated individually, swing out and in, locked together with a pin
• boom raising with winch, driven by worm gear (no lock needed)
• two-winch-system with security lock for main cables
• side outriggers as simple as possible, position and shape close to the original

So here's the WIP...

Cab and chassis:

The cab now is heavily inspired by a Mack Cruiseliner, the roof features the classic light-horn-configuration.
The base color will be white, but I wanna add some color accents. Maybe there's some work to do to get the needed parts from hidden sections of my other models.

Wrecker:

Yellow parts mark control levers and stuff.
The gears on top control the main winches.
The gears on each side control the security locks for the main winches.
The yellow 2L connectors on top without gear control the boom elevation.
The other yellow thingys are used to flip out the side outriggers.
The brown 3L axle with stop is used as a bolt to lock both booms together. I guess should add a yellow bush there... 

When you swing out the booms, the spool for boom elevation swings out too as both are connected via cross axle.

I almost went crazy to find a solution for the wire routing and wire guiding for the main winch.
I wanted to create a replica of those wire guides from the original. They can swing in and out freely, following the wire. The wire runs vertically through the pivot point of the guide, so I had to fumble it throug the beige 3L pin without friction.
Because of the swinging booms, I struggled hard to find a good spot for the manual drive for the main winches. You can see the result in the pics. The beige 20T gears are used for transferring the rotation but also for the locking mechanism.
Check out this pic to see the magical wire routing.

The cab needs gap-filling and details.

The wrecker still needs some reinforcements and obviously some recoloring.

All functions work fine so far.

Thanks a lot for scrolling through this picture-heavy post. 

[1980SomethingSpaceGuy]

Great job! These trucks really look nice! I especially like the 42112 mod.

[Jurss]

This is good! Technically interesting with those ropes.

[XTN]

[4] Holmes tow truck (MOC)

The Holmes tow truck has been finished (almost).
I've added rear outriggers and a tow bar and I refined the wrecker and the cabin.

Now it's supposed to resemble a Mack Cruiseliner chassis with a Holmes 750 wrecker mounted in the back.
More pics added...

The POWER TOW crew has got a new member.

And if i ever get a fourth MACK badge, it might look like that:

 

I assume there will be different opinions about the use of stickers...

Well, after building the cab in pure white it looked really plain and boring. I added the blue and orange accents, bc those were the parts I had in my inventory.
The issue was the big panel on the side of the sleeper, which sets an abrupt end to the colorful livery. Continuing these lines vertically looked kinda weird, so I decided to put 42128's stickers on both sides of the sleeper.
They continue the colors blue and orange and this way the classic Holmes can join the 24-7 Power Tow Crew.

In this case I'm totally fine using stickers, bc classic tow trucks often have colorful liveries.

I would love to read your opinion here. 

Edited May 8, 2022 by XTN

[XTN]

Big Update for the Holmes wrecker:

Tilting cab and fake inline 6 cylinders Diesel engine.

It looks so simple and it should have been, as almost all of my trucks have it.
Even my K100 has it, and that's a cabover truck too.

But there was a big challenge:

To keep this badass look in the front, this truck has a rather high front bumper with a lot of ground clearance. So the steering rack cannot be in front of the front axle pivot points. So I had to either raise the crankshaft or fit six cylinders in front of the pinion - which I did but which also made difficult to create pivot points for the tilting cab without limiting the steering angle. but it worked.
The first option was no option at all, because I wanted to keep the back wall of the cab intact and there had to be the connection point for the HOG steering too.

The HOG steering connects via tooth gears when the cab is closed.

The pictures below show the challenges and the solutions.

The last picture shows how clean look of the front axle is as well as the bumper, even though the height of the bumper and the set-forward position of the front axle.

And I was able to add some simple interiour too:

 

[XTN]

In the last weeks I had to say 'Goodbye' to one of my vehicles and created some others, I'll give a brief update.

The telehandler is gone, even before I posted it here. I had to sacrifice it for a medium LA. The pics show it when it was still alive.

But there's no need to be sad, the medium LA is in a better place now. 

The better place is my yellow wrecker, which recieved a major update:

1. The rear section was too low, it looked skinny, so I raised it by one stud.
2. The boom elevation was too weak and too low, it was realized by rack and worm gear, I changed this to a classic layut with two medium LAs.
3. The mirrored gear racks from @suffocation's tow truck blew my mind as I've been his thread, so I had transfer this solution to my truck too.
   You can see his awesome work in this thread: 

Here's the result:

Check out these GIFs too, if you like:

https://i.imgur.com/AGOidy2.gifv

https://i.imgur.com/YGrRRLF.gifv

 

Here's a new addition to my garage: It's not based on any real vehicle, but it takes some influences from classic muscle cars.

The axle in the back is for the HOG steering, it can be removed when the car is displayed.

Check out this GIF too, if you like: https://i.imgur.com/FuObdZg.gifv

 

[XTN]

Here's a new addition to my garage: It's not based on any real vehicle, but it takes some influences from classic muscle cars.

The axle in the back is for the HOG steering, it can be removed when the car is displayed.

Check out this GIF too, if you like: https://i.imgur.com/FuObdZg.gifv

 

Another update, I reworked the cab of my rollback truck, it was too massive for a class 6 or class 7 truck.

After the update, turns the diesign is kinda close to an International 4900.

 

[XTN]

Updated my red Light Duty Tow Truck (former Responder):

1. Toolboxes on both sides. Red panels in front of the rear wheels can be opened now. Had to modify the framework a little.
2. Dollies. Dollies and bars are storable in the back, easy to attach and to detach, easy to assemble and to disassemble. A significant improvement to the playability :) 

It's finished. For now.

Edited January 21, 2023 by XTN

[Void_S]

Nice! Is it an alternative model or a kind of modification on the Responder base?