Review - 42009 Mobile Crane MKII

[Rishab N]

Great video Sariel!

[Sariel]

Thanks. It has to be great, it's got hamsters in it ;)

[FuzzyBallz]

OMG, I just placed my order through S@H this morning. Should have it by next week. I'm so excited to build this monster!

[N-4K0]

I hope to get mine for next weekend.

[EyesOnly]

Take it from someone who's currently building it, this will take time. Lots of time. I take many breaks to rest. Still i really hate that most steps could have been a little more complex and have more parts mounted. Now i regularly see a part mounted to another part added a few steps ago and can't help but wonder why those parts weren't mounted at the same step. I mean this set isn't 42001 or 5 for crying out loud. A few more sub-steps wont kill anyone. Now i have a few more forum threads to check out then it's back to building until my back tells me to rest again.

[paul_delahaye]

I picked up 3 crane trucks in the Argos 3 for 2 on toys weekend deal, this year Lego is extracting all my money :-)

Now I have to wait until Christmas to build the set :-(

[FuzzyBallz]

Take it from someone who's currently building it, this will take time. Lots of time. I take many breaks to rest. Still i really hate that most steps could have been a little more complex and have more parts mounted. Now i regularly see a part mounted to another part added a few steps ago and can't help but wonder why those parts weren't mounted at the same step. I mean this set isn't 42001 or 5 for crying out loud. A few more sub-steps wont kill anyone. Now i have a few more forum threads to check out then it's back to building until my back tells me to rest again.

Sounds like back when I built the 8043. Even though it only had 1123 pieces, building the superstructure where all the gear shifting happens was really draining.

[N-4K0]

this will take time. Lots of time..

Excluding breaks, I spent about 12 hours building the Unimog. But I usually go on and don't take a break until I feel my back starts to hurt from sitting bent over the instructions

[JF8]

I picked up 3 crane trucks in the Argos 3 for 2 on toys weekend deal, this year Lego is extracting all my money :-)

Now I have to wait until Christmas to build the set :-(

Yeh I was tempted by the offer on all lego, but the unimog didn't seem to be included in the offer also they didn't seen to reduce the price of the crane to 149.99 till after the offer, still a good deal though

[paul_delahaye]

Yeh I was tempted by the offer on all lego, but the unimog didn't seem to be included in the offer also they didn't seen to reduce the price of the crane to 149.99 till after the offer, still a good deal though

I was more lucky than that, ordered them into store on Friday night, the 3 for 2 offer ran until Tuesday. They reduced the price on the crane to £149 from £179 on the Saturday, so I picked all 3 up for £298, saving £149. Probably my best lego saving ever! but with the 3 for 2 deals and the limited crawler, my wallet is in a bad way this month.

[EyesOnly]

I would like to thank TLG. Thank you for making black and dark grey look almost identical. This is because of the half hour at least i just wasted correcting a mistake that could have been avoided if colors were easier to tell apart. More specifically i saw when i was gonna start step 115 on page 17 in book 3 that i was missing one dark grey liftarm 15L. So i started to look to see if i could find a place where i had used one instead of a black one. I couldn't so i had a look at the outriggers and sure enough the liftarms used opposite of the gear racks was supposed to be the same color as the gear racks (black) which mine clearly wasn't.

After much struggle i finally got everything together again and i have tested both extending and lowering the outriggers and it appears to be working in sync as it should. The rear one was easier to remove than the front. In the front i had to realign the front steering axle since it became disconnected from the others. I've hated this bley stuff since i first heard of it and now more so. This model is wearing me down enough without mistakes. I sure hope the finished model is worth it.

[Kronos]

I would like to thank TLG. Thank you for making black and dark grey look almost identical.

I have had the same problem on more than one occasion. I was also very impressed with TLG.

[N-4K0]

I was more lucky than that, ordered them into store on Friday night, the 3 for 2 offer ran until Tuesday. They reduced the price on the crane to £149 from £179 on the Saturday, so I picked all 3 up for £298, saving £149. Probably my best lego saving ever! but with the 3 for 2 deals and the limited crawler, my wallet is in a bad way this month.

You killed your wallet

I was tempted to wait until I could find a discount on the 42009, but I would've probably had to wait for a long time, and I didn't want to wait

[technicmad]

I would like to thank TLG. Thank you for making black and dark grey look almost identical. This is because of the half hour at least i just wasted correcting a mistake that could have been avoided if colors were easier to tell apart. More specifically i saw when i was gonna start step 115 on page 17 in book 3 that i was missing one dark grey liftarm 15L. So i started to look to see if i could find a place where i had used one instead of a black one. I couldn't so i had a look at the outriggers and sure enough the liftarms used opposite of the gear racks was supposed to be the same color as the gear racks (black) which mine clearly wasn't.

As annoying as it is to mix up the DBG and Black beams, I would hardly call that time spent "wasted"!

[EyesOnly]

Why not? This is taking long enough and i have other things i want to do so i don't want to spend more time then necessary building the crane. It also makes me more tired having to constantly wonder if i have collected the correct pieces.

[LegoSjaak]

Currently building the lift-arm... so i'm almost done.. the two pieces of string, used in the liftarm seem to be used a little bit complex.. but i did not have time to take a closer look yesterday... but i expect some difficulties tonight... ...

It was my first Technic model in about 25 years... The last model was the agricultural tractor, 8859 set... I was surprised by the variety of parts and by the many new parts...

Must say that the 42009 is pretty complex.... some things i have to go through, to get to know how they work... was surprised that every function can be controlled by one motor only...

So i'm almost finished... it was a great build and the thing is really heavy... it is full of parts, heavy parts.. When i got the box, i was surprised by the weight of it... must be about 2.5 kg when i have to guess it....

Till now, it is the only Technic model i have.. i would like to stay with City stuff... but is it hard...

Greetz, LegoSjaak

[Taiphun]

Ordered this (and 41999) at the same time.. they're all shipping to Canadaland from "SOUTHAVEN, MS" - first time I've seen things come from there.. even the Theatre modular didn't come from there.

[skriblez]

That string trick was new to me to. Not been out of the dark ages for more than a couple of years but haven't seen it before now.

[EyesOnly]

Set 8421 used the same trick, but yes other than that it has not been used on official models. Most cranes have been single stage and then such solution is not necessary.

[skriblez]

Set 8421 used the same trick, but yes other than that it has not been used on official models. Most cranes have been single stage and then such solution is not necessary.

Sadly i don't have that one yet.

[EyesOnly]

I first built a 3-section boom based on Jennifer Clarks work. Look here for info. http://www.genuinemodels.com/ideas.htm Scroll down a bit. It uses an ordinary thread or string instead of the special pieces the official cranes use. Might be helpful if you ever feel the need to make your own crane in a size that wouldn't work well with the strings from this set.

[jadedomg]

Was given this for my birthday and can't wait to start it. I didn't know what it was because the box was so heavy and I had no idea it was lego let alone this set.

Now I just need to clean up my lego table so I can get started on it this weekend as I think I am going to need every inch of space for it!

[Alasdair Ryan]

Was given this for my birthday and can't wait to start it. I didn't know what it was because the box was so heavy and I had no idea it was lego let alone this set.

Now I just need to clean up my lego table so I can get started on it this weekend as I think I am going to need every inch of space for it!

Happy birthday.

I will need to buy this set soon...

[EyesOnly]

You will need a lot of room for this set. Even if you usually i really recommend that you divide the pieces in several small compartments or whatever you have available. Makes things easier in the end even if it takes longer before you start to build. I have built other sets by just tipping each bag in its own pile but in this time i didn't. Also don't open all the bags at once, just the ones for what you are about to build. So first open all the bags marked 1, then 2 and so on.

[LegoSjaak]

You will need a lot of room for this set. Even if you usually i really recommend that you divide the pieces in several small compartments or whatever you have available. Makes things easier in the end even if it takes longer before you start to build. I have built other sets by just tipping each bag in its own pile but in this time i didn't. Also don't open all the bags at once, just the ones for what you are about to build. So first open all the bags marked 1, then 2 and so on.

I just emptied the bags in the box... in this way i wouldn't loose them and it is easy to store everything when you stop building for a while..