Subject:
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8448 ramblings
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Sun, 15 Aug 1999 03:31:14 GMT
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Viewed:
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416 times
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Here are some musings/reflections/whatever about the 8448. This is
really rambly - I suggest trimming the original message if you have any
replies.
I got my 8448 last Tuesday, and put it together over the course of
several evenings (maybe 4-5 hours total - I was taking my time).
This car should be called the "Twizzler 2000" - the flexible red rods
look just like red licorice if you twist them a little bit. (!)
There are many things about this car which look cool, but fall a bit
flat in implementation, mostly due to weight restrictions, I think. The
body panels are neat-looking, but the body ends up being flimsy. Same
goes for the red hockey stick beams on the bumpers - why are they
anchored at only one point? Ditto for the flexible rods - very cool
looking, but structurally weak. I think I would have preferred a "Model
Team" approach, but it would have weighed a lot more.
The wing door option is slick, but it's a pain to work on the car since
every time you knock it, the doors pop open.
Mechanically, 8448 is a no-brainer to build to run smoothly. This was
obviously a deliberate design decision, and it's a truly impressive
achievement. The engine block and differential mountings "float" -
there are no actual bricks thru which drive power is directly
transferred. 8880 was a pain this way - it was really easy to twist the
1x1 beams in place to create friction.
I like the modular engine, and how easy it is to unmount and remount.
Ditto for the seats. I think the 3-in-1 modular car set had some
influence here. But why use the blue knuckles and beams? They clash.
Another thing which makes it easy to put together is the multiple boxes
for the different building stages. No sorting! (I spent about two
hours sorting 8880 parts when I first got it.) Now then, any good
suggestions on how to take the car apart again to store it so that the
instructions are useful? (Sigh - what ever happened to "Use this box
for storage"?) I think you'd need to sort parts for the whole model,
then use the boxes to hold ziplocs of the sorted-out parts (which means
you're not any better off the second time you build the model).
Speaking of parts: Correct me if I'm wrong, but the elusive #4 angle
joint has finally appeared. The body panels and red flex shafts might
be useful elsewhere, but it'll take some thought. I like all the new
red #12 shafts. I also like the new #12 and #20 gears - I can't wait to
hack up some cool gearboxes with them (they'll also simplify clock
mechanisms). The new 1x4 L beams will be really useful. I like the new
wheels, and I'm glad the tires aren't "greasy". The spring loaded air
cylinders are just plain cool. The Throwbot rearview mirrors suck.
The artwork on the box is really cool. Didja notice how the backgrounds
of the small boxes fit together to make the hubcap pattern? And how it
fits in with the non-window surfaces under the main box's lid? Also,
several pictures on the box "wrap around" corners, a few from the lid to
the sides. The instruction books look awesome, too, but the
instructions themselves are too simple. (Combine some steps and get the
page total under 200, eh?)
I haven't tried motorizing it yet. The built-in tabs for the 8735 motor
slots are inspired - just add one 2x4 plate, and you're motorized. I
would think that a 1:3 gear ratio from the motor would work better than
a 1:1 ratio - I'll have to try it out. I want to put an RCX in the
trunk, add a motor for steering, and use the new remote control to drive
it around. While I'm at it, I'll wire up some headlights, too (I miss
them from 8865 and 8880).
How would I rank the five car chassis models (956/853, 8860, 8865, 8880
and 8448)? That's tough, since each one has represented the "state of
the art" of Technic Lego at the time it came out. For looks, 8448 wins
easily. For mechanical achievement, 8880 wins (4wd/4ws just rocks).
8448 is the first one since 8860 that you could even attempt to
motorize, but the newer motors help with that. 956/853 and 8860 were
the best "building sets", with lots of different alternate models.
-Tim
--
Tim and/or Shelley Rueger - rueger "at" io.com
WWW page: http://www.io.com/~rueger/
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: 8448 ramblings
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| Tim Rueger <rueger@io.com> wrote in message news:rueger-14089922....io.com... I want to put an RCX in the (...) Check this out. (URL) (25 years ago, 15-Aug-99, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: 8448 ramblings
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| Don't forget about #5 axles. Those are new for 99 right? btw, the helicopter has tons of them. KL (25 years ago, 16-Aug-99, to lugnet.general)
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