Ah, 24. A brilliantly innovative TV show that started out superbly and then went on for much, much, too long. With the ‘exciting’ news that Fox are commissioning the show’s return as a spin-off (sigh… seriously, just make something new you lazy feckless uninspired f…), we thought we’d jump on the bandwagon and post something 24-related, because we’re cynical and it’ll generate extra hits.
This is a 24 wheel Mercedes-Benz Arocs SLT and Nooteboom trailer combination, and just like the TV show it looks ridiculously, unnecessarily, long.
Unlike the TV show though, it’s superb all the way along. The truck is the work of newcomer JLW Bricks, and it’s very loosely associated with LEGO’s official 42043 Technic Mercedes-Benz Arocs set. With no Power Functions motors in (or out of) sight, JLW’s truck relies on some good old-fashioned mechanics for its functionality, and we like that very much. There’s working suspension on all four axles, Hand-of-God steering on the first two, and a replica straight-6 engine under the cab.
Attached at the rear, and adding another sixteen sets of wheels, JLW has recreated Jaap Technic‘s brilliant eight-axle Nooteboom trailer, making this one of the longest models that we can remember featuring.
There’s more to see of both the truck and trailer at the Eurobricks discussion forum, where there’s some excellent outdoor photography in evidence too. Click the link above to make the jump. Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…
Following the launch of LEGO’s 42043 Mercedes-Benz Arocs set earlier in the year the online Lego community has been churning our new variants at a prolific rate.
The latest to feature here comes fitted with a giant piece of Agrar agricultural equipment on the back which is remotely controlled by a Power Functions motor, with another powering its all-wheel-drive, a third controlling the steering, and a fourth operating the transmission.
No this isn’t a review of Lego Technic’s monster machine, we’ve already done that. This is a review of Andy L’s mini version, which packs almost the same functionality into a chassis that is just 8 studs wide. It steers, has fold-out stabilisers, it tips and has a very manoeuvrable arm. Andy has also made his own grabber bucket, rather than use Lego’s ready made part. Watch the stop-motion video below and then click on this link to MOCpages to see all of the details.
The Mercedes-Benz Arocs creations keeponcoming! The latest to grace these pages comes from Eurobrick’s Samolot, and it’s one of the most impressive developments of LEGO’s 42043 set that we’ve seen thus far.
Featuring remote control drive and steering, suspension and pneumatic outriggers, Samolot’s Arocs truck includes as many functions as the official set, and that’s before you get to the junk in the trunk…
Mounted over the rear wheels is a platform suspended by six pneumatic cylinders (controlled via a Power Functions electric compressor), which can raise, lower, pitch, and yaw. Insert some patrons into said platform along with a large TV screen and this Mercedes-Benz Arocs becomes a flight simulator ride!
Samolot’s creation is one of the engineering highlights of the year so far, and includes five Power Functions motors, three Power Functions switches, ten pneumatic cylinders and sixmeters of pneumatic hosing.
You can see all the details on Eurobricks by clicking here, alongside a full description and, best of all, a video of the flight simulator in action!
LEGO’s Technic Mercedes-Benz Arocs set is currently generating a huge response from the online community; we’ve publicised four home-built variants in the last week alone! This one, suggested to us by a reader, comes from previous bloggee Krzysztof Cytacki, and it’s so far the most similar build to the official set. But don’t let that fool you – it’s far from a minor modification.
Krzysztof’s Arocs truck loses the official set’s 4-axle configuration in place of a 3-axel with rear-steer set up. It also features a grab arm, pneumatically operated stabilisers, and a hook-lift roll-off container, which is also powered by LEGO’s neat pneumatic system.
There’s lots more too see at Krzysztof’s Flickr photostream via the link above, and if you’d like to read more about the official Technic set that started the current trend you can do so via TLCB Set Review Library – click here to make the jump.
Home-designed variants of LEGO’s own official 42043 Mercedes-Benz Arocs truck set are popping up all over the place at the moment, and this absolutely enormous 4-axle concrete pump is easily the biggest, the most complicated, and probably the most amazing variant we’ve seen so far.
Built by Brickshelf’s waler, this remarkable Technic model faithfully replicates the huge truck-mounted concrete pumps that regularly service the needs of entire construction sites*.
Featuring remotely controlled Power Functions drive and 4-wheel steering, LED lights, a tilting cab, a V6 piston engine, motorised out-riggers, rotating pump arm, and pneumatic compressor for the pneumatically raising and extending boom, Waler’s Mercdes-Benz Arocs is one of the most technically advanced builds of the year.
There’s an extensive gallery of over 40 superb images available to view on Brickshelf – join us there in amazement by clicking the link in the text above.
LEGO’s latest flagship, the Technic 42043 Mercedes-Benz Arocs set, is currently generating a bit of a buzz in the online Lego Community, and Polish Lego group LUGpol has tasked its members with diversifying the official set by building a new vehicle from the original cab.
We featured a superb remotely controlled Arocs flatbed rescue truck here earlier, which we thought would be tough to beat, but Brickshelf’s GIJack might have taken the lead with his excellent 3-vehicle car transporter. Yes, you can fit not one, but three broken Fiats on-board. Or some nice shiny new cars of course.
There’s a full gallery of high quality images available on Brickshelf via the link above, plus you can read our Review of the official 42043 Mercedes-Benz Arocs set by clicking here.
It’s time for another TLCB Set Review! But this time it’s one of our readers – the winner of TLCB Summer Building Competition – Thomas Graafland, who has picked up the Reviewer’s Pen. Thomas has got his hands on LEGO’s 2015 Technic flagship set, the 42043 Mercedes-Benz Arocs, and he’s joined us to explain all…
Browsing on Flickr a while ago I noticed this neat looking Mercedes truck displayed at a Lego fair.
Thinking at first that this was a MOC I was quite shocked that this was actually an official set. The second big shock was the €170 price tag. Normally there would be no chance of me spending that much on a single set, but being a fan of both trucks and LEGO, I knew this was THE set for me.
The box is as per usual with big Technic sets: large and decorated showing the model and the systems used; in this case both Power Functions and Pneumatics V2, and the cover folds open to reveal the model’s functions and some specifications of the real truck.
The box feels heavy, which is always a good sign. Inside are lots of plastic bags, each numbered from 1 to 6, except the one containing the pneumatic parts. The battery box is not in a bag and just slides around in the box between the plastic bags. Instructions are in a single book of 470 pages and the instructions booklet is packed in plastic too, so no folded pages.
The building process is lots of fun. You start off with the chassis, working from the front to the rear. Then comes the cabin, next the crane, and you finish with the bed. The building is very straight-forward, until you reach the crane, which requires some intensive studying of the instructions to get the tubing through the turntable right. It’s not like the instructions give you no clues on how to do it, but it does require a bit of extra attention. The finished truck is not huge, being similar to the 8285/8258 in terms of size. It is heavier, though!
The trucks cabin looks very neat and it definitely looks just like the real deal. The overall shape of the cabin is very smooth, and the cab doesn’t lack detail either. All mirrors, lights, horns and whatnot are present, showing that LEGO went quite some attention to getting the cabin right. I personally really am a fan of the way they did the front grill. I do think it would’ve looked better if the middle part of the grill would’ve been angled too, though, because it just looks a little odd to have only angled the lowest part. The doors open up, to reveal a very, very basic interior. The white colour of the cab looks very clean, but it doesn’t really stand out, which is quite a shame – it doesn’t do justice to that good looking cabin. The ever-boring dark bluish grey doesn’t help making it exciting either.
Steering is done with the two orange beacons on top of the cabin. The steering system works very well, but you have exactly zero grip on those slippery round beacons. There is some slack with the gears too, which only makes steering more difficult. The two front axles steer and turning feels very smooth thanks to the different steering locks on the two axles.
The truck features live-axle suspension all-around. The suspension is a bit on the hard side, but it works very well apart from that. One big downside of the suspension is that the truck sits really high on its wheels. This would’ve been no problem if the suspension travel was as big the gap between the wheels and fenders, but unfortunately it isn’t. Even when fully compressed, there is still about 2 studs room above the wheels and I feel that lowering the truck would actually have been quite possible. However, the suspension will be a very good base to re-use for Model Team MOCs.
The drivetrain is simple and smooth. The two rear axles drive the engine, which is hidden underneath the cabin. The inline six turns at reasonable speed and especially at higher speeds it makes that nice rattling sound. It’s bit of a pity that it can’t be seen from outside while driving it around, because it is completely hidden by the cab. The cabin folds forward neatly, but even then you can only see the first four cylinders. With some effort you can see the fifth one under the battery box, but the sixth cylinder is completely invisible underneath the crane.
The battery box is hidden very neatly in the rear part of the cabin and is easily replaced. The Power Functions L-motor that drives all the functions resides somewhere in the middle of the chassis and has no trouble driving any of the functions. The gearbox that is driven by the L-motor uses the new driving rings and gears and it drives four functions in total; Continue reading →
There’s been much excitement here at TLCB Towers today. Following our preview of the 2015 Technic line-up some time ago, the final piece of the 2015 jigsaw has been found! We’ve had a few images of the missing 42043 set sitting in the office for a while, but unfortunately they weren’t of sufficient quality for us to share here. And we forgot. But let’s go with the quality control aspect as it makes us look more professional.
Anyway, thanks to an intrepid troop of Elves we now do have images of a high enough quality to publish! So this is it – LEGO’s new 2015 Technic flagship, building further on their partnership with Mercedes-Benz, the 2,800 piece 42043 Arcos crane truck.
Based on Mercedes’ real 4-axle tractor unit 42043 surpasses even the previous standards set by the incredible 8110 Unimog set. Featuring both Power Functions electric motors and the next generation pneumatic system (containing all-new components), 42043 features a huge range of functionality.
Three new pneumatic cylinders are used to move the crane arm and grab, with a fourth employed as a pneumatic compressor. A gearbox allows the Power Functions system to perform a variety of tasks, including powering the aforementioned compressor and tipping the bucket, whilst unpowered mechanics take care of the steering, piston engine and suspension.
We expect the new 42043 flagship set to cost upwards £165 when it arrives towards the end of the summer, and if one of TLCB Team saves really hard we’ll be able to bring you a set review. In the meantime you can read our reviews of LEGO’s previous releases, including the Arocs’ predecessor – the 8110 Unimog – by clicking here.
