42054 - CLAAS XERION 5000 TRAC VC Video review by Sariel

This time I present to you the epic story of a tractor I fell in love with (even though it's not perfect), a hamster having a bath and one mean turkey.
But seriously, that thing makes 42056 look ugly.


Pros:
- real beauty, IMHO can rival the 42056 Porsche
- excellent big new tires, exquisite stickers
- great modding material thanks to standarized PTOs; you can make custom attachments for it
- brilliant steering system and cabin rotation mechanism
- best source of new and recent pieces in this price range
- reasonably priced for a set with PF and many new pieces
- very easy to control
- lime is love, lime is life

Cons:

- the cabin and the hood are pretty flimsy
- no actual B-model, just another attachment instead
- very complex internal construction and steering system leave little room to mod the actual tractor
- only one attachment with motorized functions
- the crane seems rather crude compared to the tractor and can barely lift anything

## Source: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?s=f718dac78d356dcfc3811f5bee344ea4&showtopic=137548

42055 - Bucket Wheel Excavator Review & Speed Build by Sariel

Here it is, the biggest - and surprisingly cheap, given the size - set in the Technic history so far. It's just recently been beaten by Cinderella Castle when it comes to pieces count, but oh well...


First impressions: it's enormous, it's slow, the new annular quarter-gear piece is awesome and the truck is strongly different from the 42035 set, regardless of what some people claim (you can see it next to 42035 in the video).

Pros:
- enormous, the biggest Technic set in history, over 1,100 pieces more than in the second biggest one (42043 set)
- reasonably priced: costs actually less than the 42056 set which is much smaller
- fantastic source of pieces, including many great new pieces
- superb lesson of structural engineering
- comes with a nice truck
- both A and B model are unusual machines
- pleasant, straightforward build, took me actually less time than the 42043 set

Cons:

- digging, the primary function, is almost useless because the bucket wheel stops on anything
- most children will be adults by the time it drives across the room
- mastering the control gearbox isn't easy
- plenty of backlash because of all the gears; the accuracy of lower belt's lock function suffers in particular
- doesn't look like any typical bucket wheel excavator
- very sparse selection of spare pieces

## Source: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=137515

The Inventory for the Claas Xerion 5000 set 42054

Photos by: Jim van Gulik

Jeep Wrangler Rubicon by Sheeop's

One of the icons of USA cars the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (JK), a real leyend still alive.



It is built in scale 1/10. With an overall size of 23x52x25 studs(18x42x20 cm).



It weights 2.7Kgs, and has around 2700 parts



It is powered by 5 PF motors, 2 IR receivers and one PF AA battery. 

- 2XL motors for drive
- M motor for steering
- M motor for sequential gearbox
- M motor for drive mode and range gearbox



As usual 5+R speeds sequential gearbox (4th GEN).

2-speeds range gearbox and 2WD/4WD modes.



Also its has an important feature of the Rubicons versions: lockeable front and rear differenfials.

Realistic drive modes, you can select sequentialy between 4 drive modes: 2H, 4H, 4L and 4L with lock diff.



I know many people like the Wrangler looks more extreme, for them I have built a second pair of axles. They include portal hubs and an extra 3:1 gear reduction.  They also add 2 studs high and 2 studs wide of each side

Important note: even with trial axles this car is not a Trial Truck, you can not expect Trial Truck off-road capabilities...






As always a complete video:

https://www.youtube....h?v=V0VT8ImOXAs

This time the instructions comes together with the car, in RC and MANUAL versions.

To know more or buy the instructions go HERE

Studless Remake for The Legendary Classic Set 8860 Car by Crowkillers

Avtoros Shaman 8x8 By Madoca

Hello everyone!
Since TLG released 76023, I had been waiting for affordable Technic set which includes so-called Tumbler Tires. So I jumped at 42050 Drag Racer. I also bought some extra tires separately, then revived old project which had failed three years ago.

Avtoros Shaman 8x8



Weight: 2550g
- 4x L motor for 8 wheel drive
- 2x Servo motor for 8 wheel steering
- M motor for switching steering mode (AWS and crab)
- M motor for winch
- 3x LED for front and rear lights
- 2x SBrick powered by 2x 8878 rechargeable battery box
- Independent suspension for all wheels
- Working steering wheel
- Openable hood, doors and roof hatch



Back in 2013
As you may know, real Shaman is Massive Russian ATV which can go through almost any kind of terrain.  It has three steering modes and can scale 45-degree incline. On top of that it is amphibious. Seeing pictures and videos, I instantly fell in love with it.
When I started the project, I was too ambitious to realize all features above. Sadly I could not build even steering mechanism while keeping all wheel drive and independent suspension. So I changed the project to building another 8x8 vehicle. It ended up as my Tatra 813 Trial Truck, but that is another story.



Focus on characteristic features
Two months ago, I suddenly came up with an idea that enables both normal AWS and crab steering. In the case of four-wheeler, you can do it by switching rotation of second Servo motor for rear axle. But in eight-wheeler like Shaman, you should change turning radius of second and third axle.

In normal mode, the steering angle of inner two axles is smaller than outer axles.


But in crab mode, all axles should be steered at the same angle.


This is the basis of steering idea. I used the way of fixing/moving pivot of steering linkage.


A: There are two 7L steering racks connected to 7L beams. Front rack is connected in the middle of beam, rear is one stud backwards. Both ends of beams are connected to steering arms of each axle.
B: In normal mode, rear rack is fixed by 12T bevel gear. So the fixed pivot of 7L beam is its 5th pin hole. Which makes front end of beam moves twice as rear end does. That means the steering angle of 1st axle is twice as 2nd axle.
C: In switching crab mode, 12T bevel gear moves one stud forward and fix front rack. Fixed pivot is 4th pin hole of beam. Which makes both ends of beams move equally. That means the steering angle of 1st axle is the same as 2nd axle.
And there is one more twist.
D: I put main steering rack (moved by pinion gear) on one stud forward of 7L beam's front-end (which means 9L beam’s front-end). Seeing from the pivot point, this rack is connected to farther than the point of front steering arms connected. So front steering arms always move slightly shorter than main rack does. When Servo fully turns 90 degrees, pinion gear moves the rack in one stud sideways. Steering arms move less than one stud. This was necessary for keeping CV joint (connected to steering hub) rotate smoothly even when fully steered.



Challenge and compromise
First of all, this MOC is NOT amphibious. It is too heavy to float. And because of driving motors of low position, chassis is not waterproof at all. So it is not recommended driving it through even shallow water pool. My aim was to achieve decent crawling capability. But I had to lower the bar because there was no room left for portal/planetary hub reduction. Without them, heavy load from 81mm tires directly goes to 12T half bevel gears.
First attempt was using two XL motors geared 25:9. I put each motor for left/right side of axle. The result was unsatisfied. Even when climbing over small obstacles, bevel gears often slipped and got damaged.



So I replaced them with four L motors geared 3:1. Each one drives a pair of half axles. Thanks to their good speed and smaller torque, new drivetrain proved to be more reliable.  Although bevel gears were still slipping a bit, I accepted overall performance.



The picture above shows two L motors for driving right side of axles. The power functions switch for changing rotation of rear Servo motor is synchronized with moving steering pivot mechanism. In crab mode, rear 4 wheels steer opposite the same direction as front wheels.



As always I used few of non-Technic parts. Big roof tile was used for saving weight, curve slope parts were better choice for filling the gap. LBG axles sticking out the roof are visible indicator for steering mode. They are mechanically connected to switching mechanism. In the video you can see how they work.



Instructions of white version will be available. (Building it in red is possible by using red parts instead of white.) It will take more than weeks because building process was complicated. So please wait.
















Original Topic: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=137034