Tag Archives: Articulated Hauler

Komatsu Krusher

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This TLCB Writer was having a peaceful day scrolling through the delightfully tedious entries our Festival of Mundanity competition in collaboration with BrickNerd. There’s a bar of soap, a rental car lot, a white Toyota Corolla… and the sound of Elven screaming. Sigh.

A wearisome trudge to the corridor revealed the culprit, and the vehicle under their jurisdiction; this huge BuWizz-powered Komatsu HM300 6×6 articulated dump truck.

Discovered on Brickshelf by the jubilant Elf at the controls, gkurkowski‘s creation had churned several of our smelly little workers into the carpet, before – admittedly rather cleverly – deploying the linear actuator controlled tipper to dump a load of glitter on them. How it got into the stationary cupboard we’re not sure. And why is there even glitter in there anyway?

Whatever the reasons, the result is a very sparkly mess, which this writer now has the pleasure of tidying up.

Whilst he gets on with that you can check out gkurkowski’s seriously impressive build at the Brickshelf gallery, which includes extensive imagery, renders, close-ups of the 6×6 drivetrain and tipping mechanisms, plus a link to building instructions should you wish to create the Komatsu HM300 at home.

Click the link above to make the jump and here to read more about the awesome third-party BuWizz bluetooth battery that’s powering it

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 →

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!