A dice tower built in the typical red an white fire brigade colour scheme.

Playing board games with a seven year old boy can be a real challenge with the dice rolling everywhere where it should not. So I decided to build a dice tower to solve that problem as good as possible.

There can be found a lot of similar designs anywhere in the net, so the basic design of a such a tower was easy. I just wanted to add two functions: A detachable lower deck for compact storage and kind of a door to get the dice from the platform in an easy way.

I wanted to build two for Christmas – one for my son and one for my mother – and the total cost of the bricks shouldn’t be a big investment. So I chose to use mostly common parts and colours to keep the cost lower. Red and white were a good choice, so the idea of a fire brigade theme for the tower was born.

A few hours with LDD and three Bricklink Orders later everything was on the way. This is the result. You can see the left tower with the detached platform mounted on the rear side of the tower for compact storage. The right one is ready to play.

This is how it works: Throw the dice into the opening on the top, the two small ramps inside make it bounce from one side to the other and back, and finally the “Quarter Pipe” on the bottom will make it roll onto the platform. Then you can just pick the dice or open the front door to get them. No more dice “flying around” on the board or the floor… :-))

The detachable platform: The platform is fixed to the tower with a pair of long Technic pins with friction and additionally guide by two axle pins on the other side.

On the rear end of the tower there are two of my new favourite SNOT bricks (1 x 2 x 1 2/3 brick with studs on one side) to attach the platform. This way you need less space to store the tower next to your board games.

My studless version of the classic Technic 8846 Tow Truck from 1982

As a kid I was a big fan of the 8845 Dune Buggy. I also liked the matching 8846 Tow Truck on the cover of the Technic catalogue but unfortunately never got one as a kid.

There was no Internet, no Bricklink and the sets only remained in the stores for a year or so. So if you spent your pocket money on other things that year and didn’t get a set for Christmas or your birthday, you didn’t get it at all.

Well, times are changing and a few years ago I found a set at a fair price on Bricklink and finally, finally got this set. Back then I had already built a studless version of my beloved Dune Buggy, so the idea for a studless Tow Truck was there immediately. There were other projects in the making, so it took its time.

Now with some finished projects and Corona lockdown I’ve found some time to dedicate to this project. I wanted to get shape and dimensions as close as possible to the original, so I started to build the original model with LDD and the studless version right next to it.

I know I’m not the first one to do this. There is a digital model built by Arne Didrik on Rebrickable and a cool movie of another model built by PG Play on Youtube. Both models were inspirational, but I decided to built my own one from scratch with the original 8846 as my only reference.

The model is quite complex for its size with some pretty functions packed into a rather small space. So it got a little tricky here and there but I was finally able to build a model with the right shape and all functions.

This is it.

The original model didn’t have headlights or taillights, probably to reduce costs. But I didn’t want to leave it that way. As 8846 has always looked like a Land Rover Defender I added headlights similar to a Series III model.

Side view: As usual on the classic Technic models the bodywork looks more like a frame than sheet metal parts. All lift arms have the same dimension as the beams on the original model

Rear end: There is just minimal bodywork with a visible frame and axle. Like on the original model I’ve kept the differential without connections to a power train. I’ve also added some simple classic truck tail lights. I didn’t find many pictures of Land Rover tow trucks and they all had different tail lights, so I had a free choice.

Another view from the front. I really like the look of the head lights. I decided to add a more modern set of emergency lights on the roof. The original had red ones, but for me orange ones look a lot better.

I was able to include all functions of the original model. Here you can see the steering system with steering wheel and HOG steering connected with a chain instead of a rubber band. It works a lot better this way.

Unlike the original model the new one can open the bonnet. The winch can be driven by the spare wheel when the bonnet is closed.

The “fork” mechanism works just like on the original model. I only added an additional lever on the blocking mechanism.

The rear winch is very similar to the original model. I’ve just added a pair of gears because I needed the space in the middle of the lower axle for a connector. As usual on newer models, most of the functions are operated by the small black double bevel gears.

You can easily take off the body work.

Just add two simple supports and you get a working rolling chassis.

Side view comparison: The silhouettes match exactly.

Front view comparison: Just like my 8845 Dune Buggy before the new one is one stud (or hole) wider than the original to get the typical “odd width” of new Technic models. Head lights have been added, emergency lights, spare wheel and HOG steering have been replaced by newer versions.

Rear view comparison: Everything is one stud wider, tail lights are new. With all the new parts and details the new one has 561 parts instead of 379.

So this is my new studless Lego Technic version of the classic Tow Truck from 1982 with the image that started the whole thing.

I hope you like it! :-))

Bonus picture:

Family meeting – 8845 and 8846, old and new (father, son, uncle and cousin) ;-))

 

A miniature Lego version of Pixar’s “Luxo Jr.” desk lamp.

I’m a big fan of Luxo Jr., also known as “The Pixar Lamp”. The short film “Luxo Jr.” was Pixar’s first CGI film and since then the lamp has become kind of a trade mark for Pixar.

There have been a few cool Lego models of Luxo Jr. and I wanted to give it a try myself. My goal was to build a mini model which should be able to “move” almost like the original desk lamp.

To get a feeling for the kinematics I started with a simple, bigger Technic frame built with Technic beams and liftarms:

But I wanted to have a smaller version, so I replaced the beams with shorter half beams and the Technic pins with 3L bars. The result was my first small “working” Lego version of Luxo Jr. (the lamp on the right). For a better look I replaced some of the half beams with combinations of bars and bar holders with clips (the lamp on the left).

Both lamps have two sets of liftarms in parallelogram shape (diamond shape to be exact), connected with an L-shaped liftarm. So they can “move” almost like the original Luxo Jr. lamp.

That’s it: My “working” miniature Lego version of Pixar’s Luxo Jr. desk lamp. I hope you like it! :-))

I’d love to add an LED light. I’m still looking for the best solution to do that…

Bonus photo: My son wanted to have his own “Pixar Lamp”, so I built a third one for him with parts that I found in my boxes.

A mod of the 21303 Lego Ideas “Wall-E” set adding Power Functions motors and remote control.

When I saw the official Lego Ideas Wall-E set I knew I had to have one. But with 50,- € it wasn’t cheap at all, especially considering the extra 60+ € that I would need for the Power Functions elements to motorize the set.

When I decided to go for it anyway, it was almost too late for that. I was lucky to get a set without box or instructions at the original price. That was OK for me, but not my original plan ;-)).

The plan was: “No Wall-E without Radio Control!”. So I started looking for possible solutions other fans had found.

The most popular conversion is the one built by Youtube user PPung Daddy, but I wasn’t really satisfied with it. The cables of the motors were positioned too close to the ground, the battery box wasn’t really fixed and the IR receiver looked almost like a backpack.

So these were my main tasks when I tried to build my own version of an RC Wall-E.

I looked for better positions for the M Motors, but the best thing was just turning them by 90 deg to position the “cable exits” on the rear side. The motors are fixed by two Technic pins, the driving axles and 10 SNOT 1×2 Technic bricks with cross axle holes.

There isn’t much space inside Wall-E’s “belly” so I looked for the lowest possible position to locate the battery box. I built a new ground plate with a 4×8 cut out, so the ground plate of the box is now part of it. For this solution I had to get rid of the hinges of the front plate, but that was OK for me. Now the plate is just fixed by four SNOT studs.

The front of the box rests on two 1×2 Technic bricks with cross axle holes, which are fixed by an 8L axle running through them. To change the batteries you just remove the axle, then you can flip down the box.

You can switch the battery on and off by pressing the lime green lever. The hole in front of the neck part is big enough to do that without removing any parts. Looking inside you can even see the green LED of the battery.

The neck of the robot is fixed in a higher position, so the lower neck piece is one stud shorter to keep the original look.

With the lower position of the battery box it was possible to locate the IR receiver on top and more “integrated” into the design of the robot.

With the rear panel fixed by one of the original 1×4 SNOT bricks and a modified plate with hinges on top Wall-E’s rear side looks almost like the original model. And I think even the motors look OK where they are.

I’m really satisfied with the result. The only thing I’d still like to improve is the fixation of the motors. Even 10 studs for each motor aren’t strong enough to keep the motors in position for a very long time. The torque is just too high for that. But that’s OK for me (for now).

So, this is my Lego Ideas 21303 Lego Wall-E with Power Functions motors and remote control (RC).

I hope you like it. My son does ;-))

NILSOBRIX: 21303 Wall-E with Power Functions RC
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