Lego Maker

Cargo Carrier

2016-01-23T13:48:00.001+00:00

Lego 9397 Snow Plough and Tipper Truck

2013-01-19T15:43:00.000+00:00

The Lego 9397 has a set of alternative instructions on-line at the Lego website for a Snow Plough and Tipper Truck. This took me a good four hours to assemble and probably contains over 1200 Lego elements.

The design incorporates a 4 selection gearbox that powers the opening and closing of the cab, the raising and lowering of the snow plough and the rear tipper and also the rear wheels that can be raised and lowered to turn the truck into a 4 or 6 wheel vehicle.

The front snow plough can be rotated to tilt to the left or right via a worm gear assembly; it is a little bit wobbly but is a fairly sturdy design.

Construction of this truck was a little more enjoyable than the default logging lorry design, my only complaint is that the instructions for this second model could have come with the kit rather than having to download it as a PDF.

Tipping in action

The underside, showing gearbox and differential gears

Powered opening and closing of the cab to reveal the engine

Rear wheels can be raised and lowered by the gearbox

A rather realistic looking vehicle

Lego 9397 Logging Truck

2013-01-06T16:23:00.001+00:00

I've recently been assembling the Lego Technic 9397 Logging Truck which turns out to be a monster of a kit. This set contains 1308 Lego elements and no less than 3 instruction books, so be prepared for a lengthy build!

This set comes with a Lego motor to drive a rather complex gearbox that provides power to the mechanical grabber arm and the extendible outriggers. Three gear shifts provide control the rotation and arm lift motion; controlling the arm is a little tricky as one has to also combine the motor forward/reverse power switch with the gear shifts. The grabber claw can be rotated on its axis as well as opened and closed, so one has full control to pick up and drop the thickest of logs.

The engine has 4 working pistons that send power down the chassis to the back wheels via a differential gearing. The engine cover opens up to allow easy access to the engine.

The cab has working doors however the steering inside the cab is just for decoration and the rack and pinion steering is controlled using a small wheel on the top of the cab.

One has to go online to fetch the plans for the container truck and snow plough as these plans are not provided with this set.

I took a leisurely 5-6 hours to build the trick over Christmas and it was a fairly challenging build. Recommended for the more advanced Technic Lego builder.

The completed truck

Looks rather realistic

Not exactly a small truck

Engine hood down reveals the 4 cylinder engine

Engine hood, engine and cab

Differential gearing to first set of real wheels

Four selectable power controls

The electric motor is hidden inside a fuel tank

Powered outriggers stabilize the vehicle

Lego 4204 Mining Set

2013-01-05T20:26:00.000+00:00

My son received a Lego 4204 Mining Set for Christmas - the set is simply packed full of features that can keep kids amused for hours. A mining machine with a spinning drill can be driven into the cave to extract rock and nuggets of gold. A small gauge railway carries ore from deep within the cave to the surface and the ore can be picked up from the truck and dumped onto a hand powered conveyor belt using a crane. The crane has a sprung loaded rock grabber and can swing on a sliding base to give it all the mobility required to move ore around the mining site. The conveyor belt moves rock into the large tipper lorry so that it can be transported off site.

The set comes with four mining mini figures to help keep the mine busy. Any gold that is found is placed in a secure safe room to be safe from criminals. Also included in the set was a wheel barrow, some sticks of dynamite, a sign, some suitable mining tools and some large rocks that can be opened up and filled with small rock and gold elements.

The set was easy to assemble and came with some large rock elements to enable the cave and mine to be quickly built. Combined with the Lego 4201 tipper and loader set my son now has a fun active mine with plenty of play potential.

Mining machine spinning up for action

Tipper lorry taking away some rock debris..


..and tipping out the rocks at the destination.

The completed mining set.

Drilling into the rock face with the mining machine.

A busy day at the mine.

Train bringing some rock to the surface.

Lego 4201 Loader and Tipper Set

2013-01-05T19:30:00.001+00:00

My son received a Lego 4201 Loader and Tipper Set for his birthday from his Grandparents to complement the Lego 4204 Gold Mine Set. This set comprises of a loader to pick up rock and a tipping lorry that carries and dumps the rock. Also incorporated with the set are two miners with tin hats and also a large rock, some gold nuggets, a stick of dynamite and a warning sign.

Loading up the lorry with some rocks

Miners with their golden bounty

So much rock to shift with the loader

Watch out for explosives!

Dumping some rock and picking them up with the loader.

Lego 850 Fork Lift Truck

2012-12-16T21:21:00.000+00:00

My original 850 kit.

Last week I ordered quite a few old technical Lego elements so that I could finally assemble a complete Lego 850 Fork Lift Truck set. With the arrival of the elements this weekend I set about rebuilding this classic kit.

I purchased this original kit when I was 10 years old for £7.50 which seemed quite a reasonable price over thirty years ago. Ironically, I nearly spent that much on all the spare parts to resurrect this set as quite a few pieces were broken or missing.

The 850 sports plans for three models: A fork lift truck, a road leveller/grader and a wheeled platform lift.

Fort lift truck with forks lowered

..and with the forks elevated


Road leveller/grader

Wheeled platform lift.

All the kits make good use of the rack and pinion to convert rotatory movement into linear movement for the lifting mechanisms as well as for the steering.

All three models contain some rather fiddly steps; the forklift and the road leveller/grader need some special care to ensure the rack and pinion align on the 8 tooth cog to cover the full sweep of the steering. The wheeled platform lift required some careful placement of the small cogs and bushes that keep the lift vertically aligned.

The box also contains a few photos of some additional models that an inspiring Lego builder can construct - a rather neat looking dumper truck as well as a small truck with a articulated arm lift mechanism.

As kits go, this was probably my most used kit as it contained enough interesting pieces to make many different wheeled vehicles that could use working steering and some form of mechanical geared movement with the rack and pinion. So it worked out as excellent value for money!

Lego 7696 Commuter Jet

2011-12-29T17:24:00.001+00:00

This year I was on a long haul flight with British Airways and my entertainment system failed to work so I put in a formal complaint and was given some gift vouchers at the BA shop. I had just enough to purchase the Lego 7696 Commuter Jet which is a rare promotional kit that sell for around £30 on Ebay.

Here are some photos:

Passenger Businessman

Captain/Pilot

Lego Mindstorm NXT kits + ARM Smartphone = Fast Rubik's Cube Solver

2011-12-20T08:50:00.000+00:00

Mike Dobson and David Gilday have worked hard to create an improved Rubik's Cube solving machine. The Lego CubeStormer II is capable of solving the cube faster than any human being and is made from 4 Lego Mindstorm NXT kits as well as an ARM powered Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone. Watch and be amazed!

Lego Advent Calendar 7553

2011-12-15T20:08:00.000+00:00

Well, Christmas is approaching, so Lego has produced this seasonally themed Lego Advent Calendar. A little more pricey than the normal card versions we get for the kids, but perhaps a lot more fun. Who knows...

Anyhow, it looks like a lot of fun, but it is too late to try this kit for this year...

Red Cargo Train 3677

2011-12-04T22:48:00.003+00:00

Well Christmas is approaching fast and I was able to get hold of the Lego Red Cargo Train Set 3677 for my son for a joint birthday and Christmas present. Looking at the comprehensive instruction manuals I believe this set should keep him busy, it contains a locomotive, 3 freight trucks (tipping, hazardous waste and flatbed), a railway repair van and 40 pieces of track. Rocks can be loaded into the tipping truck with a conveyor belt and to add to the action the locomotive has remote control power functions.

To complement this set there are also 4 railway mini-figures. At over 830 pieces this kit looks like it is a Lego model railway winner.

Chris Shepherd's Lego Quad Delta Robot

2011-04-21T20:57:00.000+01:00

Chris Shepherd has managed to make an awesome Lego Quad Delta Robot System - it is a fully working model of an industrial robotics line in a factory and can move 48 items a minute.

Lego Escher Models

2011-02-19T12:31:00.000+00:00

Andrew Lipson Lego ® Page contains some excellent photo graphs of Lego Escher models, ranging from Escher's Waterfall, Escher's Balcony, Escher's Ascending and Descending and many more beside. Well worth checking out, these are quality constructions with excellent building explanations.

Lego 10193 Medieval Market Village

2011-02-13T16:42:00.000+00:00

Lego 10193 Medieval Market Village is an incredibly detailed model. It has over 1600 brick elements and kept my 10 year old daughter busy over 4 days to construct.   It sports two houses and 8 mini figures: a blacksmith, two soldiers, two male peasants, two female peasants and a boy mini figure.

The first house comes with a blacksmith's workshop with a water wheel powered anvil hammer. It also includes a stable for the horse.

The second combines a Village Inn and brewery. Sounds like the villagers will have some fun recreation time!

Houses can be opened out to allow easy access to the rooms which contain a lot of fascinating detail.

The kit also comes with a very busy open market, with a market stall and baskets of produce, a table full of food (chicken, cheese and tomatoes) and daggers from the blacksmith's forge.   Also walking by are two soldiers carrying a treasure box containing coins and gems.   A horse and cart, chickens and two cows compliment the market scene.

The construction was relatively straight forward, if not time consuming. The roof was a little tricky to assemble and the only downside is that the tree is rather fragile and keeps on losing it's foliage. Apart from that, this is a great kit and almost gets 10 out of 10.   A quality kit! Well done Lego!

The house opens up to allow access to the rooms.

The completed village scene. Very busy!

Lego 7498 Police Station

2011-02-05T16:56:00.003+00:00

My 8 year old son recently acquired a Lego 7498 Police Station and he really enjoyed constructing this kit. The kit comes in two stages which allowed us to take a break while assembling.

The Police Station comes with lots of large panels and windows, so construction fairly rapid, and there are enough small pieces to create quite a detailed model.

The kit comes with 2 splendid police vehicles, a police bicycle and a police dog and 5 mini figures. The two criminal mini figures can be locked up in their own cells after the police have apprehended them. But the police need to be on their guard since the criminals have a secret escape route!

The police station is packed with details such as computer desk, photo-fit desk and there is even a coffee making machine and water dispenser!

For construction fun and value for money, I'd rate this 9 out of 10. It's certainly ideal for my son - non-stop "Cops and Robbers" with this toy!

The Police Station is rather large. Fitting it into a photo was tricky.

The police dog scares the criminals!

The jail-house comes with sliding jail doors.

Back of the Police Station. Easy access to office and cells.

The police vehicles have garages with sliding roof doors.

A police office can do their rounds on a bicycle.

Police van and car for speedy response action!

In the lock-up. The cells come with a bed and a toilet.

Antikythera Mechanism in Lego

2011-01-29T20:04:00.001+00:00

The Ancient Greeks were very able mathematicians and not only able to figure out a formula for calculating when solar eclipses occurred but they also made a high precision mechanical calculator to figure this out too. Fast forward to the 21st Century and we've now got the technology to allow us to examine the remains of this ancient calculator and to help determine how it worked. With this knowledge, it is now left to re-engineer this device in Lego.

Lego 7938 Passenger Train and 7939 Cargo Trains

2011-01-03T20:14:00.001+00:00

Finally managed to get some time to get the 7938 and 7939 trains set up and got some photos. Had a lot of fun trying to avoid crashing the trains - I controlled the cargo train and my 8 year old son controlled the passenger train. We did have a few head on collisions!

Update: Found this YouTube video of the 7939 being assembled:

Lego Queen Mary 2

2010-12-31T16:38:00.000+00:00

Here's a neat video of the construction of a 7 meter long model of the Queen Mary 2. That's a lot of Lego elements to make it!

Lego 722 Bus Reworked

2010-12-19T17:37:00.000+00:00

I found an old 1981 Lego brochure which contained an image of the Lego 722 Advanced Basic Set with an example of a model bus.

This inspired me to try an old school Lego bus based very loosely on the 722 concept with the constraints of not using any really modern fancy brick elements. I call it a homage to 1980's Lego:

I conclude that trying to make models using brick elements from 30 years ago is challenging because of the constraint on styling - everything looks so chunky and blocky. However, it can be also quite pleasing to try and re-create that Lego feel of my childhood.

Lego Santa Claus, Reindeer and Sleigh

2010-12-12T13:43:00.006+00:00

Here's a nifty Santa Claus, reindeer and sleigh made from Lego I found on YouTube. The Sleigh contains a power unit that powers the reindeer via a power transmission axle. The legs of the reindeer are motorized via a worm screw. Most ingenious and compact engineering.

Stilzkin Bridge Launcher

2010-12-11T17:43:00.003+00:00

While looking for some fun lego projects I came across this superbly engineered Lego Stilzkin Bridge Launcher on YouTube.

Look carefully, you can see it relies on pure mechanical mechanisms to open and close the bridge instead of using more convenient pneumatics. Most excellently engineered!

Lego 7938 Passenger Train

2010-12-11T16:02:00.004+00:00

Last year I blogged about the fact I could not get hold of the Lego 7898 Cargo Train for my kids, only to find it had gone out of production. However, we managed to acquire a Lego 7939 Cargo Train in June which in fact was just as good.

For my son's Birthday and Christmas present this year I've acquire the Lego 7938 Passenger Train so that he can have even more Lego train fun. He can't wait, just a couple more weeks to go. Once he's built it I will upload some pictures in the blog.

All we need now is to get some more switches to join the two train track loops together.

Reminds me of when I had a Lego train set years ago when I was lad - one was able to get hold of a X intersection - wish they could make these for the new Lego tracks...

Lego Creator 5865

2010-12-11T12:39:00.008+00:00

My daughter spent some of her pocket money on the Lego Creator 5865 a few weeks ago and quickly assembled the truck from the kit. The kit comes with plans for three models and with some creative talent one can build different designs, but the quantity of bricks is a little limiting.

As Lego kits go, it's got a lot of small fiddly bricks that can easily get lost, so I'm glad the kit comes in a plastic box that can be easily re-sealed to keep the bricks secure.

Lego 3177 Small Car

2010-10-23T16:11:00.006+01:00

My son acquired the Lego 3177 Small Car today from our local superstore and in less than 20 minutes put it together with no trouble at all.

He liked it as it complements the small cars in the Lego 7939 Train Set. The minifig comes with a small briefcase which is a fun little detail but also far too easy to loose!

Here are some photos of the completed model.

MakerLegoBot

2010-10-18T17:50:00.003+01:00

Below is a recently uploaded video of a MakerBot made out of Lego which can assemble Lego models from a software description.

A full description of the model can be found at http://www.battlebricks.com/makerlegobot
The current design works with 1x2, 2x2, 3x2, 4x2, and 8x2 stud Lego elements. Sweet.

Lego Truck, Version 3

2010-09-11T16:10:00.006+01:00

A while ago I created a Lego truck that contained a surprise cargo. Well, I thought I'd have another attempt at this, but make it a longer vehicle. Here is my 3rd attempt: