Model Team: Coca Cola Truck (video & pictures)

[Brickthus]

Here it will differ considerably from the one I will use. It will also have a 32L cross axle, but with only a single cog that moves along and engages different mechanism (at most 10). Another 32L axle will move a sled with the cog... I think it's easier to explain by showing it once finished

With the scale I simply meant about 14 studs wide instead of the more conventional 1:13 that many truck builders go for (it gives great realism, but the models are often too heavy for a motor to drive)

With the cab of a typical truck (Scania R-series) being 243cm wide, and a brick width of 0.8cm, we get the following scales:

12 wide: 243/(12*0.8) => 1:25

14 wide: 243/(14*0.8) => 1:22 - almost Miniland size!

OK. So the lever can stop and lock before the position shown in this picture? Now I think I get it, soon...

My crane gearbox uses a single cog moving along an axle. The worm gear moves a shoe that pushes the cog in each direction. I found that a 20-tooth cog slides easily enough without modification and engages with 12-tooth and 16-tooth cogs in convenient positions. Seems similar in principle but, as you say, the difference may be more obvious once it's built!

Outputs from such a gearbox, that disengages the unused functions, need latches for each function that carries weight. On my crane all three string functions are latched with worm drives. The turntable function is deliberately not latched so that, with the crane jib resting on its match wagon, the match wagon can go round the curves, turning the turntable as required, without the crane derailing. I just have to remember to engage another gear before moving the train!

Now that we have PF XL motors I'd like to see moving trucks in larger scales! I once tried a 12x12 crane made from 3 8880 super cars but the drive and steering was difficult to co-ordinate along the length of the chassis and the 3-metre crane job was too heavy for pneumatics to lift An XL motor will do up to 1.7 Amps at 9 Volts - 15.3 Watts each or 5 times the previous Technic gearmotors. I think a motor on each wheel would be required to avoid twisting all the axles in the transmission! I haven't yet seen an 8x8 with 8 XL motors. Of course one PF IR receiver can only drive 2 XL motors, so it would need four set to the same channel, and multiple battery boxes. By the time that's done, there is noting to be gained in power to weight ratio, so 4x4 is a practical limit unless the power source can violate the current protection philosophy.

I think Technic figure scale is about 1:20. So far I only built a Naboo Star Fighter in that scale.

Mark

[LEGO Guy Bri]

Truly awesome!! Really great work on this one!

[AndrewH7]

Had a go, Nano blocks that = 1/2 width but about same tall as Lego plate, ran out of green.

[Lasse D]

This is not a thread I expected to see pop up!

Making the mosaic look good in this size is truly a challenge. With the nano blocks it almost seems like the color differences are adding detail!

In 2011 I updated the mosaics to look like this:

And in 2020 I built another trailer with new graphics:

This latest version even has building instructions: https://brickhub.org/i/607 (2871 parts)

I wanted to build a new truck as well, but never cracked the code on that one.

[AndrewH7]

Short of fleshy colour of 1 shade, & red mixed from different brands on Nano Blocks. Did try doing Lego 1, short of green & tan plate.