[CADA] CADA General Discussion Topic

[Polarlicht]

Alright Cada... I have the red 4x4, Brunos 488 and also Tjis de Boers blue Lambo. Iv'e build that Lambo yesterday and i can agree on what people have said. It was the hardest set i have ever built!

And i can agree that Cada needs to work on their clutch power of parts. They are way to loose, compared to Lego and others! And that doesn't help with the already hard to build Lambo!

I always watch Held der Steine (German Youtube channel about brick models) And he always praises other brands (than Lego) for their great quality and everything is fine in his eyes, apart from Lego which are evil and have low quality and such...

Rubbish! They are not all great, and he also shows some stolen stuff (like the other brands 488 convertible i've mentioned) and doesn't even say that, nor does he say that Cada has less quality. He says they have good maybe even better quality than Lego... Yeah right..

I watch him to see what there is on the market and some sets are great. But sometimes there is a good reason why Lego is more expensive.

But the sets himself look great and work. I have yet to build Brunos 488 and i think it will be a great build and all, but i doubt the parts will have better clutch power... So these 3 sets will be my first and also my last Cada sets, at least for now...

This is a gear from the blue Lambo, which has clearly not moulded very well, and that wasn't the only weird part in the set!

Edited August 9, 2022 by Polarlicht

[Gray Gear]

@Polarlicht Well if you know the past history of the "Held der Steine" it should be no suprise he is pointing out every flaw of a LEGO, while overlooking flaws of competitor brands. He has a massive grudge against TLG (and for good reason). But with competitor brands he is a lot more lenient. He is a entertainer, look for other sources if you want a comparison based on facts.

CADA brick quality is good, but there is still some room for improvement. Have you tried messaging them about the damaged parts? 

[Polarlicht]

Yeah, it's not bad quality material,... but as i said, parts are waaaay too loose, all of them, with no consistency in that! They need to work on that.

Edit: i mean Technic parts ofc

Edited August 9, 2022 by Polarlicht

[brickphisto]

22 minutes ago, Polarlicht said:

... but as i said, parts are waaaay too loose, all of them, with no consistency in that! They need to work on that.

Well, that might be true for Technic parts especially for older sets like both of which you have built. I have built several CaDA sets so far and yes, I had some issues with clutch power for a few parts, too. But on the other hand CaDA's system parts are at least on par with Lego's. I built the Buckingham palace some weeks ago. The parts were perfect plus there were only two (out of 5000+) parts with obvious colour inconsistency. I cannot remember having built a Lego set with such high parts quality in the last 10 years or so. It seems CaDA have improved their parts quality and hopefully they will continue to do so.

[langko]

Well in my experience I must also admit that the part quality is terrible. Parts are way too loose, friction pins may as well be non friction pins they have such poor clutch power... The 3x13 curved panels are horrible, see the photo below. I have 3 of them lined up with the LEGO tapered panels on the end for reference, none of them line up... I had 1 especially that was so twisted it couldn't be used. Part tolerances with the connectors aren't great either and its quite common to have things out of alignment. All parts shown are from the "Ferrari", and the "Lamborghini" parts were not any better. Overall the parts quality is one of the main reasons I have refused to work for them.

 

[keymaker]

I also heard a lot, that those other brands are so great and the quality is at the same level as LEGO, it isn't. I perfectly aware, that LEGO some times is crazy with prizes, especially lately with those all rises. As the result, I am choosing new sets more carefully. And I must say, that in this year there were more interesting sets in Creator Expert line than in Technic line.

[aFrInaTi0n]

@keymaker I don't want to start a discussion here but you have to differentiate... GoBricks parts for example have a great quality. And I can tell this from my own experiences.

[Toastie]

26 minutes ago, keymaker said:

I also heard a lot, that those other brands are so great and the quality is at the same level as LEGO, it isn't

Well, it isn't across the board. I have some non-Cada sets from the apparently "same level quality brands" - and no, some (and only some) pieces are "off". Color-wise, I am out, a) because I like weathered looks and b) my red/green equipment in my eyes is totally underwhelming. Well, I also don't build shiny super cars, but (usually) dirty trains or buildings.

The thing though is: These sets come with absolutely non-crazy charges (I'd say 1/2 to 1/4 of what TLG would ask for, depending on set/piece) - and at that point I must say, I am really cool and calm. I simply don't expect to have all the pieces at the same quality level, as TLG has. Again, very personal reasons: I mostly build with brick/plates and use Technic parts basically for reinforcement - or when I need holes - or both. And on the brick/plate side of things, I did not have any issues (yet).

For the parts I do have issues with (usually 0 to 4 in a set of >1000 pieces) - I simply swap them with premium overpriced pieces without even thinking about it. Or I actually change the design.

In the beginning - 5 or so years ago - that appeared to me like the worst thing that I have done - ever. 5 years of experience really told me: Relax, dude. You know what you are doing. 

And finally: I try very hard to figure out, whether a design was stolen or not. And for my personal taste, that is very easy: When comparing what some brands have in stock train-wise - chances are approaching zero that the design was stolen.

But that is only my experience and my take and my conclusion. Others will have others.

Best,
Thorsten

[Polarlicht]

1 hour ago, brickphisto said:

Well, that might be true for Technic parts especially for older sets like both of which you have built. I have built several CaDA sets so far and yes, I had some issues with clutch power for a few parts, too. But on the other hand CaDA's system parts are at least on par with Lego's. I built the Buckingham palace some weeks ago. The parts were perfect plus there were only two (out of 5000+) parts with obvious colour inconsistency. I cannot remember having built a Lego set with such high parts quality in the last 10 years or so. It seems CaDA have improved their parts quality and hopefully they will continue to do so.

Ok yeah i mean Technic parts. These sets also came with a handful of system parts and they were fine.

[keymaker]

@aFrInaTi0n, @Toastie I use over 90% of technic elements in my MOCs, so the quality and tolerance are crucial here. And fortunatelly I feel I reached the amount of bricks (>40k, but some of them are locked in "shelf models") that I do not need to force myself any more to expand my technic collection of elements. I feel I can build anything I want, so the price of LEGO is not so concernig for me as I do not need more elements.

[aFrInaTi0n]

@keymaker Keep on guessing on quality without having own experiences please - the internet definitely needs more guys of that kind... 🤦‍♂️

Edit: I wont drop any more posts for discussions with you here, its just not worth it... you build with LEGO and I don't blame you for this anyhow - re-read your post and think why you are giving others the feeling you are not knowing what you are talking about. your answer just verified that. So please troll another person with your nonsense, idc :)

Edited August 9, 2022 by aFrInaTi0n

[keymaker]

2 hours ago, aFrInaTi0n said:

@keymaker Keep on guessing on quality without having own experiences please - the internet definitely needs more guys of that kind... 🤦‍♂️

But do you realize, that I can tell a lot about the Moon even if I have never been there? Or about dinosaurs without ever meeting a single one. And i do not know why you assumed I have never had other brands in my hands...

 

You sound like you being offended because someone dared to tell something bad about you favorite brand. Most of non Lego brands, especially in technic elements have shitty tolerance and quality. It is the fact, grow up and deal with it. At the same time LEGO sets are often overpriced and TLG is messing with us not letting us to buy new parts on their official website. It it also the fact. That's life.

Edited August 9, 2022 by keymaker

[Toastie]

1 hour ago, keymaker said:

I use over 90% of technic elements in my MOCs, so the quality and tolerance are crucial here.

See, this is what I was trying to say - it really all depends. Same with the size of your collection (nice, BTW!) and the aftermath, i.e. not needing much more pieces.

As this is the Technic forum, we should stay on Technic issues. And to be honest, there I can't contribute much - Technic-wise, I had some Technic bricks in these models, other than that all bricks and plates. And they're fine.

The two other issues I have with TLG is their crazy price politics - which to me more and more looks like - well I should not say this ... just look at their revenue/gross earnings numbers. Which is good for them, hell no offense here, we are living in a 100% profit oriented world

And secondly, the fact that others are offering simply >way< more appealing sets to me - a train head. But that as well does not belong here, so I'll stop it 

Best,
Thorsten

 

[Polarlicht]

Does somebody have the instructions for Brunos 488? I need to see how the motor dummies look like.

Can't find anything on the cada official site, nor in here

 

[Polarlicht]

Also good news and bad news.

Found the metal joints, and also a 5x7 frame-n't

[amorti]

I did have a few short shots from cada. Nothing big like that yet, though!

[LvdH]

The cat’s out of the bag…

This is totally not a Koenigsegg Jesko but it is designed by Dugald Cameron  

 

Featuring 9 speed gearbox, 4 wheel steering depending on what gear you’re in, everything opens up with gears, removeable roof (can presumably be stored in the frunk), and the usual suspension, fake V8 and hog steering.

Edited August 9, 2022 by LvdH

[langko]

Maybe this is why the instructions for the Regera got removed from rebrickable? Looking at the video the chassis looks very very similar if not identical in some places, just with the addition of the gearbox/4 wheel steering (there was plenty empty space in the Regera chassis to fit that it). Most of the other functions: door mechanism with folding mirrors and selection stick in the center console, front flaps synchronized with the front suspensions, external tool in the rear to control the clamshells... all look the same.  I must confess I prefer the look of the Regera, it’s just appears a lot cleaner/smoother. It’s a shame the curved wheel arch panels won’t used instead of the straight top ones, that could’ve looked a lot better. 

Anyways I definitely look forward to the reviews on the this one! And seeing how it compares to his Regera I have.

[BevHillsTrainer]

Ok my curiosity got the better of me so I tried one of these, the $79 F3 electric.   Assuming I did it right, the build and instructions were good, one place where the pressure seems a bit high.  I was missing one of the tube parts.  As far as the bricks themselves, I’ve got to say they were in some cases better than Lego, they have more variety/shapes.  For the money this set really is a bargain, I’d definitely build another as I’m running out of technic kits to build, already chasing a couple retired sets and that gets too expensive  🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️🤣

 

 

[howitzer]

7 hours ago, BevHillsTrainer said:

they were in some cases better than Lego, they have more variety/shapes.

Is it that they have some parts which Lego is lacking, or is their own total parts palette really wider than that of Lego's? I find the latter hard to believe, considering how long TLG has been producing stuff and how big their operation is.

[LvdH]

8 hours ago, langko said:

Maybe this is why the instructions for the Regera got removed from rebrickable? Looking at the video the chassis looks very very similar if not identical in some places, just with the addition of the gearbox/4 wheel steering (there was plenty empty space in the Regera chassis to fit that it). Most of the other functions: door mechanism with folding mirrors and selection stick in the center console, front flaps synchronized with the front suspensions, external tool in the rear to control the clamshells... all look the same.  I must confess I prefer the look of the Regera, it’s just appears a lot cleaner/smoother. It’s a shame the curved wheel arch panels won’t used instead of the straight top ones, that could’ve looked a lot better. 

Anyways I definitely look forward to the reviews on the this one! And seeing how it compares to his Regera I have.

Quite possibly. The chassis is indeed incredibly similar. Some bodywork components also look near identical. 

Imo I think some of this car looks better, but also some things look worse. Like the Regera this also looks a bit “puffy”. A bit like a blown up balloon if that analogy makes sense . 
I had a look at the rear end and it looks very off. The real car is incredibly sleek but this one seems almost twice as tall. Whether this is a render issue, a distorted picture or something wrong with the proportions or even a combination of those three, I don’t know.

Compared to the real car:

 

Anyway, I am looking forward to building this. I can’t wait to see how he designed the 4 wheel steering and the 9 speed gearbox. 

I’m also extremely curious if this all works with the CaDA pieces. As discussed yesterday by some the CaDA parts are not quite perfect. The Regera had some minor issues with the opening doors. These seem to have the same mechanism.

Edited August 10, 2022 by LvdH

[langko]

1 hour ago, LvdH said:

Quite possibly. The chassis is indeed incredibly similar. Some bodywork components also look near identical. 

Imo I think some of this car looks better, but also some things look worse. Like the Regera this also looks a bit “puffy”. A bit like a blown up balloon if that analogy makes sense . 
I had a look at the rear end and it looks very off. The real car is incredibly sleek but this one seems almost twice as tall. Whether this is a render issue, a distorted picture or something wrong with the proportions or even a combination of those three, I don’t know.

Anyway, I am looking forward to building this. I can’t wait to see how he designed the 4 wheel steering and the 9 speed gearbox. 

I’m also extremely curious if this all works with the CaDA pieces. As discussed yesterday by some the CaDA parts are not quite perfect. The Regera had some minor issues with the opening doors. These seem to have the same mechanism.

Yes I know what you mean with the "puffy" comment, although I think the proportions are blown out way more in this Jesko. Check this comparison of the side view.

The entire model looks wayyy to big for the wheels. The front and rear overhangs are too long, and as you mentioned the rear is much higher (use the location of the rear lights as reference). The real Jesko has 265/35 R20 (693mm diameter) front tyres and 345/30 R21 (714mm diameter) at the rear. Average that out to 703.5mm and compare to the CADA tyre size of 80mm: Scale = roughly 8.79 if using those tyres. If the above length of 62cm is correct the would translate to 5452mm using the mentioned 8.79 scaling. The real cars length is only 4610mm... (hopefully all my math and car/tyre research is correct haha). As a guess the newer Ferrari SP3 tyres would help a lot, either that or the bodywork needs to get a lot smaller (Smaller rounded wheel arches from the Batmobile/Ferrari 488). I feel like Pvdb nailed the proportions a lot more with his smaller 10:1 scale model.

I also have the same curiosity to see if it all works with the CADA pieces... I don't think this is even possible to be built out of genuine LEGO... Only colours with those wheel arches are orange/dark blue/dark azure. Orange would be the closest but I spy panel 24116 in the rear there which doesn't come in orange. The other 2 colours won't even come close with all the missing panels/connectors.

[astyanax]

5 minutes ago, langko said:

I feel like Pvdb nailed the proportions a lot more with his smaller 10:1 scale model.

Let me just link this for reference:

 

 

[Gray Gear]

@langko Thx for that side by side comparison. The wheels really do look small.

I like the functions if they work as advertised, but I am not a fan of the looks. The real car isn't pretty imo, but this version...idk.

 

[Polarlicht]

Not only are the wheels too small, but also the rear side profile (shoulder) looks like from a sedan. Overall the brick built version isn't the prettiest!