Tag Archives: 42114

Game of Bricks – Light Kit (42114 6×6 Volvo Articulated Hauler) | Review

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It’s review time here at TLCB! The guys over at Game of Bricks, makers of bespoke LED lighting kits for LEGO sets, offered us a few of their products for review, and because either a) we’re awesome, or b) this site is too incompetent to be sent sets from LEGO, this time we’re handing over to our readers!

Wojtek Hildebrandt was one of the readers to respond to the offer of a free lighting kit (via our Facebook page) the fastest, and fortunately for us he’s a throughly good reviewer too. Check out his thoughts on Game of Bricks’ lighting kit for his recently reviewed Technic 42114 6×6 Volvo Articulated Hauler set below! The answer was (b) by the way…

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They see me hauling, they lighting.

The LEGO Technic set 42114 6×6 Volvo Articulated Hauler is a big and very yellow piece of equipment that I really like and that’s hard not to notice. That is of course if there’s light outside. But what if you need to haul whatever it is you are hauling around when it’s dark? The Game Of Bricks lighting kit comes to the rescue and frees you from filling in endless Health and Safety forms so I’m glad that TLCB together with GoB came up with this review idea. The kit I got is the full version – lights and sound with remote control. How does it look? How does it sound? What about installation and control? First things first.

The package comes in a nice black box with components divided into steps and packed in separate string bags containing required wiring, boards, and LEDs as well as any additional LEGO pieces needed to install it. Depending on the version of the kit – standard, remote, or remote + sound – there are different motherboards and additional equipment like remote or speaker. There is also a user manual, but it’s not the one that gets the user through the installation. It’s rather a general description of components and how to handle them. An actual step-by-step instruction is available on the Game of Bricks website, which is mentioned both in the user manual and in the order confirmation email from GoB. For the 42114 lighting kit, it is a series of pictures showing where to put which components, how to route the wiring, and sometimes what to remove from the set and when to put it back. Some other sets get video instruction – perhaps this one will get it too at some point.

Read twice, place once.

Before you start your installation or even before you open the bags, have a good look over the entire web instructions. Twice. Game of Bricks’ pictures are usually rather clear but not as much as LEGO’s own instructions. Black wires can sometimes hide in the shadows, other times some important details can get unnoticed as there is no description to point it out – this is, in particular, the case for rear lights that have two different LED colours. Still, I was able to follow the instructions with only a minor slip so I guess everybody should be fine. But knowing what to do is one thing and knowing how to do it is another thing entirely.

Do you fancy some knitting after a day of hauling? Have I got news for you!

Installing the lighting kit is a totally different experience to building the LEGO set itself. It feels more like knitting or sewing – at least I guess so. LEDs and wires seem fragile (even if they aren’t, excuse me for not running the stress test) so be gentle and patient. Get a pair of trusty tweezers, maybe even a magnifying glass, and make sure you have a good strong light on your workplace. You’re thinking of a headlamp? Why not. It takes light to install the lights, let’s call it a “circle of light”.

As for the LEGO set, you will need to remove or collapse the side mirrors to be able to lay the hauler on the side, and some wheels will need to be temporarily removed too. The beacon can be a problem when the hauler needs to be put upside down, so prepare for that as well. I need to say it quickly became tricky to handle this heavy set with an increasing number of wires leaving less and less space to firmly grasp the vehicle without worrying. The wires are a bit springy which is both a blessing and a curse. You will need to force them to your will, but eventually, they will obey. Connectors are tiny, they need to be put into ports precisely and with a click. Motherboard, extension boards, and optional speaker are attached to the set with double-sided adhesive tape. It seems to keep things together well, even the big speaker sits firmly in place. My only fear for the future is how to uninstall the lighting kit when I’d like to disassemble the set – will I be able to put it all back together?

Anyway, slowly but surely – like the hauler stuck on the first gear – you will get to the final step of the instructions; plugging in the power source. You can choose either the battery box that’s included in the lighting kit or any power bank – power goes through a USB connector so there are plenty of possibilities. Where to store it? If only there’d be a vast free space on the rear part of the hauler… Finally, the set should be ready to shine… Continue reading →

Technic 42114 6×6 Volvo Articulated Hauler | Review

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It’s review time here at The Lego Car Blog, as we add another LEGO set to the by now pretty huge Review Library! This set review comes from one of our readers, who dons the Reviewing Anorak (which may or may not be a real thing) and takes on the enormous remote controlled LEGO Technic 42114 6×6 Volvo Articulated Hauler. Wojtek Hildebrandt is the reader in question, and so good is his review that TLCB Team are frankly a little worried for their jobs. That’s not true of course, as they don’t get paid… Anyway, over to Wojtek!

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LEGO has a long-standing tradition of recreating dominantly yellow construction equipment in Technic sets. This is rather a grateful theme for construction blocks after all – simple shapes and function over form. Recently these have mostly been Volvo licensed vehicles; wheel loaders, excavators, and haulers with different degrees of motorisation – from full (as in 42030 loader) via optional (to power 42053 excavator pneumatics) to none (for endless knob spinning fun with 42081 concept loader). The time has come for a fully remote-controlled articulated hauler – a Volvo A60H with the Control+ app.

Beauty is in the eye of the behauler.
First, let’s have a look from the outside. This is a looker, at least for a construction machine. We can see it already on the box cover, where the hauler is put in some blurred quarry environment. It fits well, but then the same image is sometimes used without the background, which makes the chassis twist look weird, like doing some unlikely stunt.

Speaking of weird: LEGO’s previous attempt to minify a Volvo hauler – the B model for 42030 – had it all wrong (even with the number of wheels), but if you’re generous enough, you can say it was a tribute to vintage, skeletal Technic sets. If so, then 42114 is more from a bloodline of Model Team or recent adult Creator sets, even if it uses mostly Technic parts. Of course, the pins and holes are there and some proportions and colors are off, but both overall shape and some neat details are very true.

Let’s start from the business end; the dump body – we’ll call it the body from now on – has a complex shape with clever usage of tapered panels (which are flat on both sides, unlike straight panels) and very few empty spaces. I guess you couldn’t haul sand in it, but it should be perfect for some beans or potatoes. Or lemons to match the colour. The driver’s cab is correctly centred and surrounded by a proper, orange safety railing as well as accurate big mirrors. There is a slightly surprising mudguard serving as a dashboard, my favorite seat made of a single curved panel 3x5x3 (which seems to fit the same purpose regardless of model scale), and a warning beacon on the roof that twists slightly to turn the Control+ hub on or off.

Further to the front, we have one of the best-looking parts – a nicely sculpted bonnet. The impression is improved by a few stickers, but even without them all the angles and curves feel just right, even if they’re not entirely true to the original, e.g. with headlights. One curved panel covers the limits of the other and everything works together nicely. It’s wobbly during construction but becomes solid enough eventually. The front bumper on the other hand is no match for a durable look of the original, but to me, it doesn’t harm the overall impression too much.

Green energy
Now we get to the hardware. Both real-life and miniature versions of the Volvo hauler are powered by six cylinders. In full scale, they are six, famously green inline cylinders of an internal combustion engine. For the set, they are 6 AA/R6 batteries. Which one is “greener” energy depends probably on whether your batteries are rechargeable and if so – how you recharge them. Continue reading →

My Other Piece of Earthmoving Equipment is Also a Volvo

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Not our snappiest title. Still, we don’t mind, because this 42114 B-Model from Marek Markiewicz (aka M_Longer) is absolutely marvellous.

Built only from the parts found within the official LEGO Technic 42114 Volvo Articulated Hauler set, and utilising its Control+ app profile, Marek’s wheel dozer is packed with motorised functionality and looks so good it doesn’t appear like an alternate at all.

Three motors provide all-wheel-drive, articulated steering, and blade elevation, whilst a gearbox  not only provides three forward or reverse speeds, it also connects power to the rotating cooling fans and working six-cylinder piston engine when the model is either driving or positioning the blade.

It’s a superb model, and one you can build for yourself as Marek has produced instructions for his Volvo Wheel Dozer 42114 alternate too.

Full details including that link to building instructions can be found at the Eurobricks forum here, you can watch this brilliant B-Model in action via the excellent video below, plus you can find an alternate alternate for the 42114 Volvo Hauler set via a similarly titled past post by clicking these words.

YouTube Video

My Other Car’s Also a Giant Piece of Earth Moving Equipment

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Not a particularly catchy title, but accurate, as this ace mining truck is indeed constructed only from the parts found within the LEGO Technic 42114 Volvo Hauler set.

Redeploying 42114’s ‘Powered-Up’ motors and Control+ bluetooth control, builder Eric Trax has built an excellent companion for the enormous LEGO Technic 42100 Liebherr R 9800 set, with remote control drive, steering, and tipping bucket, plus – ingenuously – a three-speed automatic gearbox.

Whilst the scale is much smaller than that of the donor vehicle – as evidenced by the ‘steps’ leading up the front which give a clue to how massive this would be in real life – Eric’s creation still requires a hefty 1,700 pieces (around 80% of 42114), and can tip an impressive 2kgs of load.

A complete gallery of images, including a few of the truck alongside the official Liebherr R 9800 excavator set, can be found on Flickr by clicking here, where you can also find a link to building instructions should you wish to turn your own 42114 Volvo Hauler set into this mining truck yourself.

Cleverly, Eric’s 42114 B-Model uses the same Control+ profile as the donor set, so if you do make the switch you can drive it straight away using your familiar Volvo controls. Take a look via the video below to see Eric’s alternative in action!

YouTube Video

LEGO Technic H2 2020 | Set Previews

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Summertime is here at TLCB Towers, when skirts get shorter (the pedestrians outside, not TLCB staff), it doesn’t get dark until 10pm, and a select group of Elven ‘volunteers’ are fired over the walls of The LEGO Group’s HQ tasked with bringing back the second half of the year’s new Technic sets.

Those that successfully dodged LEGO’s guard dogs (who surely look forward to this biannual event), have returned with their finds which – thanks to the magic of the internet – we can share with you today! So here they are; the three brand new for H2 2020 LEGO Technic sets…

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42112 Concrete Mixer Truck

The first new addition to the Technic line up is an interesting one, being hefty eight wheel concrete mixer truck that adopts Technic’s recent more detailed aesthetic and includes a brand new bespoke mixing drum piece. Whether this giant single part is a welcome addition or is at odds with the very point of LEGO is open to debate, but the model itself does look rather excellent, with almost Model Team levels of detail yet also retaining decent Technic functionality.

The front two axles offer mechanical steering via a roof mounted gear, whilst that new mixing drum can rotate either as the truck is pushed along or via a gear on the side, allowing it to ‘unload’ its contents all over the kitchen floor. 42112 also adds a few more dark blue pieces to range, with its attractive colouring enhanced with a few neat decals, and it’s expected to cost around €100 when it reaches stores in August.

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42113 Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey

The second set to join the 2020 Technic line-up is as interesting as the first, and it adds another officially-licensed partnership to LEGO’s impressive list to date. It’s also a partnership we never expected, as this awesome looking tilt-rotor aircraft is based on the real (and amazing) Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey.

LEGO have dabbled with tilt-rotor aircraft only once to our knowledge, back with the 8082 Multi-Model Control set from 1993 (come to think of it, why don’t LEGO make multi-model sets anymore? They were great), making 42113 one of the most unusual and original Technic sets in years.

It’s also the first set to feature LEGO’s new ‘Powered Up’ battery box, which when combined with the ‘Powered Up’ Motor drives the set’s two rotors and (we hope) the tilting mechanism that converts the V-22 Osprey from helicopter to plane. An opening cargo door and working landing gear also feature, as do a few orange panels to break up the military grey.

42113 will place towards the top end of the Technic range upon its arrival (although the mid-point definitely seems to be shifting upwards), is aimed at ages 10+ (as per the 42112 Concrete Mixer Truck above), and is estimated to cost around €130 when it reaches stores later this year.

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42114 6×6 Volvo Articulated Hauler

The final new addition to the 2020 line-up is another complicated and expensive set, meaning that all three of LEGO’s H2 sets cost upwards of €100. 42114 sits at the top of the trio, costing an enormous €250. It is itself rather large though, which helps off-set some of that eye-watering cost, and it brings an old favourite back to the range; Volvo Trucks.

Often the ‘B-Model’ (which is ironic, as all three of the new sets don’t seem to offer a B-Model at all), articulated haulers have appeared a few times in the Technic range, but never on this scale. The 42114 6×6 Volvo Articulated Hauler is huge, and packed with LEGO’s latest components, chief amongst which is the Control+ bluetooth brick, which enables the set to be operated remotely via a mobile phone or other bluetooth device.

42114 includes three of LEGO’s new ‘Powered Up’ motors, which deliver the all-wheel-drive, articulated steering, and power the massive linear actuator-driven tipping bucket. High levels of visual realism are present once again, with the set enhanced by both accurate decals and a level of detail that was only present on Model Team sets not that long ago. It’s an impressive combination, and one that has created a set that looks to be both a fine display piece and gloriously playable. But it still looks mightily expensive…

42114 is aimed at ages 11+ and joins 42112 and 42113 in stores later on this year. Better start saving. A lot!