Pictorial Review 8446 Crane Truck

[Lost_In_Noise]

Been building this one yesterday, and took some pictures.

This odd-looking crane truck was released in 1999, and contains 582 pieces. It has metallic wheelhubs, and a dark green body, which makes it stand out in my collection.

Okay, on with the build.

First we build the front pair of axles, which is steered at different angles.

Gear racks added, and connected by these axles:

The truck now looks like this:

The instructions has a double-page showing how the steering works.

A damped shock absorber will lift the truck cab, and is mounted right in front of where the seats are placed later.

The seats are constructed next, with the Hand Of God steering passed betweeen them.

Very nice:

Now the chassis looks like this:

Edited June 1, 2012 by Lost_In_Noise

[Lost_In_Noise]

Next is building the crane base, which holds the arm extension, and the turning of the crane.

Finished:

This gear rack controls the crane movement.

Placed on top, along with a turntable:

Together the back end looks like this:

Another double-page picture in the instructions shows how this works:

Adding control knobs for the crane next, using these bionicle pieces:

Completing the crane base is similar the the 8480 model. Compact and sturdy.

The special gear panel is used to tilt the crane outwards.

Finishing the tilting mechanism:

Placed on the superstructure, along with the control knobs:

Another double-page picture shows how the knobs work:

Lastly, addding an aesthetic soft axle in the back end.

Now for the crane arm itself, it utilizes a shock absorber to keep a tight grip at its cargo/victim

It uses these two bionicle pieces for scoops:

Adding the grabbing 16T gears, along with some green bent axle connectors for that special look.

Shock absorber added, along with a liftarm to attach it to the rest.

Mounted on the superstructure:

Edited June 1, 2012 by Lost_In_Noise

[Lost_In_Noise]

Some more studded beams makes out the rear end of this odd truck.

Both added:

Some panels cover up the dangerous areas of the crane:

The cocpit is made as a single unit, and placed on the crane truck afterwards.

Some flex tubes finished the front part. It looks very good IMHO.

The finished cab almost looks like a hovercraft of some sort.

Attached to the damped spring and some liftarms.

Lastly, adding front lights.

The finished truck looks very good;

Fully opened;

Crane arm extended;

Back end;

Time to get to work.

You gearhead! Go-karting at work hours again, come here.

That'll teach him. Thanks for watching. Any questions, feel free to ask.

For more pics, check my Brickshelf

Edited June 5, 2012 by Lost_In_Noise

[Lost_In_Noise]

Some comparison shots with other Technic cranes (8053 and 8421) to better get an idea of the size:

You can see it slightly shorter than the 8053, but that has 1200 parts.

The size is almost the same as the 8435, even though it has 200 more parts.

Edited June 2, 2012 by Lost_In_Noise

[DLuders]

@ Lost_In_Noise: From Blakbird's Technicopedia, one can see other Technic cranes (except for the 8258) next to the 8466 8446:

Edited June 2, 2012 by DLuders

[timslegos]

I have never seen this set before so thanks for the review!

tim

[Lost_In_Noise]

@ Lost_In_Noise: From Blakbird's Technicopedia, one can see other Technic cranes (except for the 8258) next to the 8466:

*snip*

The off-roader?

Edited June 2, 2012 by Lost_In_Noise

[Erik Leppen]

This was one of those sets I always wanted (mostly because of the green though) but never got. Nowadays I'm not very interested anymore because of the old dark gray it uses, and besides the green there's not very much in terms of interesting parts. But I still think this set is in some way special. I think a lot of people hate the futuristic look, but I think it has a certain charm (same as with 8462) and I like the design of the cockpit and seats with headrests. Thanks for the pictures!

[Zerobricks]

I think the set is from time, when designers were experimented with futuristic models, like the year before with the blue tow truck, bike and the racing car. I actually like its looks and double front axles and the use of slizer parts.

[captainmib]

Thanks for this picture intense review!

The time this set came out i entered my dark ages. I remember the pictures of this set, but never really saw it well.

So thank you for this nice review.

I agree with Zblj (you have a hard to spell name dude(?))

Futuristic, standing out from the crowd.

If there are people around here that have more of these old, but nice sets, please do a review!

[Lost_In_Noise]

Thanks for this picture intense review!

The time this set came out i entered my dark ages. I remember the pictures of this set, but never really saw it well.

So thank you for this nice review.

I agree with Zblj (you have a hard to spell name dude(?))

Futuristic, standing out from the crowd.

If there are people around here that have more of these old, but nice sets, please do a review!

There are many more pictures in my brickshelf folder. I've got lots of other sets, so if you want more reviews I can do another one.

[Phoxtane]

There are many more pictures in my brickshelf folder. I've got lots of other sets, so if you want more reviews I can do another one.

Please do. It's a treat, since I haven't even heard of these sets up till now

[DarkShadow73]

I have a lot of old Technic sets from the late 80's and through the 90's...pics are the problem...but I can do reviews of the sets below...

I have 8837, 8437, 8408, 8462, 8466, 8286, 8428, 8443, 8460(the original, not the re-releases), 8853. Most are still sealed, some taken apart, some bought used but in excellent condition.

[Someonenamedjon]

Nice review! Very detailed and throughly thought, adding just about everything a review needs to be a good review.

BTW great set, love the green.

[Lost_In_Noise]

I made one for 8462 here and 8437 here, but the others I do not know of. Oh, and 8286 . I would like more reviews though. The more the merrier. I usually judge my models pretty harsh, so you may have a different viewpoint than me.

Edited March 5, 2013 by Lost_In_Noise

[DarkShadow73]

I made one for 8462 here and 8437 here, but the others I do not know of. Oh, and 8286 . I would like more reviews though. The more the merrier. I usually judge my models pretty harsh, so you may have a different viewpoint than me.

When I get the time I will review the other ones you don't have listed here. I just happened upon this thread in Google. I'm no less harsh, I'm critical of certain points of a model, but I bought the other ones starting last September, just wanted a piece of 'old' Technic...got some pretty sweet deals on most of them, except the 8466, MISB, had to have it, even at $400 USD.

Edited March 6, 2013 by TechnicFreak

[Lost_In_Noise]

I'll be keeping an eye out then. It's been some time since I last reviewed any set, because I'm considering selling all the "lesser" sets I have. When I'm done indexing the parts, I'll be back reviewing:D

[DarkShadow73]

That is 1 thing I'll never do that I stupidly did in the past, sold off or gave away most of my pre-2000 sets. Now I've gathered up most of what I gave away, at a much higher cost of course, but I won't be selling any of these, they'll go to my grave in time. Only have life expectancy of 45-50 yrs old because of health issues, and I'm closing on 40 now and have a lot of trouble assembling, but I try darn hard. That's what nice about vintage models, not as many pins and pins w/ stop bushes, but I've got a few vintage sets that have a lot of pneumatic tubing, that's a hard go, but I've heard dipping the ends of the tubing before installation makes it a lot easier to push onto valves, cylinders, etc.

On the other hand, on Brickset, even at MSRP, I've got an inventory of $15,880 worth. Might open an Amazon store to get rid of a lot of the newer (2003-up) sets that I've acquired on deals, sales, etc. I've had a few sells just by meeting people on the forum and I am thankful for that, but I've got tons of sets in multiples that would kill the competition on Amazon, probably piss off the competition, but hey its my say what I charge, and it will be MSRP.

[Lost_In_Noise]

Yeah tell me about pins, I just finished indexing the 9397 Logging Truck from last year, and I think almost half of the pieces are pins/bushes/connectors. I'm sorry to hear about your health issues, but it seems you are still able to enjoy your hobbies. For a long time I thought about not selling any of the sets, and getting all like BlakBird. But I don't have the space for it anymore.