LEGO’s huge 42082 Rough Terrain Crane is one the largest Technic sets the company has ever created, with over four thousand pieces. That’s a whole, lot of bricks that can be, in the very best traditions of Lego-building, repurposed.
And that is exactly was previous Master MOCer Nico71 has done with this incredible 4×4 Crane Truck, constructed only from the parts found within the 42082 set. Nico’s B-Model (in fact for Nico this is an ‘E-Model’, as he’s constructed several alternate vehicles (and all of this) from the Rough Terrain Crane set already) deploys the set’s single motor to perform a scarcely believable six separate functions, thanks to a pair of gearboxes that multiply the motor’s outputs.
Before we get onto those though, there are a host of mechanical functions too, including leaf-spring suspension, a V8 engine driven by all four wheels, opening doors, functioning steering, and the boom’s final extension.
The single motor delivers just as much on its own, thanks to those two gearboxes, powering the crane’s two-fold unfurling and rotation, the outriggers, and the truck’s tipper, which can tip both to rear and side of the vehicle depending upon which gear is selected.
It’s a brilliant feat of engineering and one that you can explore for yourself if you own a Technic 42082 Rough Terrain Crane set, as Nico has made instructions for this unbelievable B-Model available via his excellent website. Click this link to head over and take a look at the complete build description, the full gallery of images, and to find a link to the building instructions so you can build this amazing model for yourself.
The LEGO Technic 42082 Rough Terrain Crane has the highest piece count of any Technic model so far (although check back here later to see what’s about to eclipse it…) including multiple motors, linear actuators and gearbox parts, making it the perfect set for repurposing into something new. LEGO offer this themselves via the ‘B-Models’ that can be built from most Technic sets, and TLCB Master MOCer Nico71 has gone two steps further by designing both ‘C’ and ‘D’ Models from the parts found within the 42082 inventory.
Nico’s 42082 ‘C-Model’ appeared here last year and he’s now designed a further ‘D-Model’ that can be built solely from the parts found within the Rough Terrain Crane set.
Nico’s heavy duty forklift includes as many functions as the set from which its parts are taken, including a motorised tilting and raising/lowering fork, powered adjustable fork width, a tilting cabin, V6 piston engine, pendular suspension and working steering.
It’s a brilliant build, made even more so by the parts restriction inherent with being built from an existing set, and you can see full details, the complete gallery of images, and find building instructions at Nico71’s website by clicking here.
Take four of the most inventive Lego builders (including one TLCB Master MOCer), twenty-five 42082 Technic Rough Terrain Crane sets, and inspiration from Honda’s ‘Cog’, one of the greatest car commercials of all time, and you get one heck of a cool video.
One of the four builders behind LEGO’s brilliant piece of marketing is Nico71, who has also taken 42082 and repurposed it to create an excellent telehandler/wheel-loader ‘C-Model’ using only pieces found within the set. Nico’s model features a motorised tilting and raising fork via LEGO’s Power Functions system, mechanical steering, rear suspension, and all-wheel-drive linked to a V6 piston engine.
There’s more to see of Nico’s brilliant telehandler at his website, where if you own a 42082 Rough Terrain Crane set and fancy building this C-Model for yourself you can, as Nico has made instructions available too. You can read full details of the model, view the complete gallery of images, and find building instructions via the link above.
It’s that time of year again! With LEGO’s H2 Technic sets on the horizon the survivors from our crack team of Elves – sent to infiltrate The LEGO Company’s HQ – have returned to TLCB Towers with this summer’s bounty. So without further ado, here are the brand new Technic sets due to reach stores on August 1st!
42081 Volvo Autonomous Loader
OK, let’s get the weird one out of the way first. This is a Volvo autonomous loader concept and it is, frankly, one of the oddest Technic sets to appear in recent times. Continuing LEGO’s successful line of officially-licensed vehicles the new concept loader joins the previous (and excellent) Volvo Technic sets, but differs in that it isn’t a replica of a real-life Volvo at all. This makes it – in our eyes at least – utterly pointless.
Like many of LEGO’s recent Technic sets 42081 straddles the Model Team and Technic themes, bringing increased visual realism to functional models (only 42081 can’t be visually realistic because there is no real-world equivalent). All-wheel-steering, a mechanically raising and tipping bucket, and – for reasons we simply don’t understand – a model of a quadcopter drone are all included.
Expected to cost around $140 there are probably better ways to obtain 1,167 yellow and black pieces for your collection…
42080 Forest Harvester
This is more like it. Aimed at ages 10+ LEGO’s new 1,000-peice 42080 Forest Harvester set is the first to include Power Functions 2.0 (which may also mean the possibility of App control). We’ll have to wait until we get our hands on the new components to test out the upgrades, but the fact that the set also includes new pneumatics is cause for celebration!
We expect 42080 to use the new system to drive a pneumatic compressor that powers both the raising/lowering of the arm and the grabby/rolly/cutty thingumy on the end of it (which also looks to feature some new spiky round bricks). Mechanical functions are likely to include centre articulation and working steering, plus a little workbench and brick-built chainsaw are thrown in (somewhat unnecessarily) for good measure too.
We expect the brightly-coloured 42080 Forest Harvester set to cost around $150 when it reaches shelves later this year, which makes it $150 better value than that Volvo…
42079 Forklift Truck
A staple feature throughout Technic’s long history, we’ve lost count of the number of forklift trucks in LEGO’s back-catalogue. The new set does appear to be one of the best though, and it could very well be the sweet-spot in the H2 Technic range. With Hand-of-God rear-wheel steering, a tilting fork, and an interesting-looking rope-activated lift mechanism, 42079 includes just enough mechanically-operated functionality to be interesting.
We think it looks rather nice too, with well-judged Model Team detailing, a few stickers teamed with a nice colour choice, and a bonus mystery barrel containing something dangerous. Aimed at ages 9+ 42079 is constructed from just under 600 pieces and is expected to cost around $70 when it reaches stores in August 2018.
42082 Rough Terrain Crane
Now for the big one. This is 42082, LEGO’s 4,000+ piece, $300 flagship, and it’s massive. With the highest piece-count of any Technic set to date, plus Power Functions, 42082 is set to lift (hah!) the top tier of LEGO Technic even further towards engineering for adults.
An enormous extending boom (and it really is huge – the picture above shows it in its most compact setting), superstructure slew, boom raising/lowering and winch control are all driven electronically by LEGO’s Power Functions system, plus there are working outriggers, steering, and a V8 piston engine.
As with all of the new Technic sets 42082 will include instructions for a B-model, and it also features a wealth of stickers (each new set seems to include decals denoting the set no.) as part of a trend towards increasing the visual realism of Technic.
