I have most of the flagship models of crane trucks from lego, when I looked at the front of the box on shelf in the store, I quickly compared this with the famous 8421, 8285 and 8258. Of course this set would be in no way to compare with these flagship models, the retail price of the set in Australia is AUD 179, not cheap at all, forget about it.

Several months later, when I passed by the toy section of the same store the price of the set had been reduced to about $100, I thought it was a more reasonable price, but I was still hesitated to buy because it is really not comparable to the crane trucks that I have. I took the box out from the shelf and turned it around, I saw the photo of the gantry crane, it is something new, as far as I know there is no similar technic gantry cranes from lego. I took the box straight to the counter and paid.

Anyway, I still built the "A" model first and motorised it. It is actually a very good design, the crane works perfectly well and is very easy to control. The eight wheels steering works as good as the flagship models. I don't want to spend too much time on the "A" model as this has mostly been appraised by many other reviewer. In short the "A" model itself deserves a 5 star rating already.

After displaying the "A" model for about two weeks, I took it down, I could not wait to build the second model and see how it works. I finished this in about 6-7 hours, it looked really great. Another merits is that the model is almost mini fig compatible, however, the height of the gantry is just a bit short, not enough headroom for mini-fig trucks to pass through.

After looking at the model for a one/two minutes, I started to touch the model and played with it. Then suddenly all horrible things came out at a time.

The structure of the gantry tower was so flimsy,whenever you touch the crane to operate it would sway side to side, the diagonal braces at corners of the tower structure are all wrongly placed. I re-positioned all these braces, at the same time I increased the height and width of the tower to fit in those mini-fig sized trucks. Of course I have to add many (about 20) technic beams to get the work done. After a lot of try and error and with my old and shivering hands I had the job finished in about 10 hours. The final product is at least up to my standard, happy about it.

The mechanics of the crane part, when considering the price of the set, I cannot complaint any further. But the model really leaves lots of rooms for improvement. I added four motors to the model, one IR sensor, two battery boxes and a variable remote controller (from the latest train sets). Where and how I put the motors for ?

1. I motorise the whole structure of the gantry tower, so it can move straight forward and backward. This function is not remote controllable and cannot turn, just go straight . I used two lego micro motors for this purpose.

2. I use a normal size motor to replace the hand turning key for the operation functions that come with the model. I connected the motor to a remote sensor, the result is great and the work is not too difficult. I can use the variable controller to operate these functions at the speed that I want, great fun!

3. Initially, I thought I had finished all my modification work to this gantry crane. I looked at the model again, if I can motorise the turning ( original by hand of god) of the crane unit on the gantry tower the result would be marvelous. I still have one spare socket in the IR remote sensor for a second motor. Then I started to make this mechanism works, I had to increase the height of the engine chamber to make room for the last motor. Two days later I get the job done, now the crane unit can freely turn on the gantry tower around and around without any limit, I can control the speed of turning too, thanks to the variable remote control.

Up to this stage, I have finished all my work to this model "B". My next ambition is to make the crane unit move transversely on the gantry rails. I think this would be very difficult as I need to put in another motor, IR sensor, and battery box, not much spaces left already.

The description of my work is really boring, however for those who has interest and would like to have an improved gantry crane, I am very happy to send you photos of my model, hope this may help.

Thanks for reading

Brickmad

This was my third set after a 20 year dark age. I bought it ona Friday night and started the next Saturday to work on it and I finished on Sunday. Also bought the PF just for it.

The building was a lot of fun, the first part is NOT challenging but it does make you feel nice once it's finished, the model itself has very nice details and just looks VERY good.

The second part(crane) has all the "challenge" so to speak. I found it a lot of fun, not as challenging as the 8265 but still a nice a build.

Once the model is finished it looks GREAT and when you add the PF, that's when it really shines, without them to be honest its just kind of lame.

This is my first review and third model after the 8052 and 8265 respectively, I am just starting my new Lego collection, and this model looks AMAZING once you've finished it, also, if you are going to play with it then buy the PF pack, it improves the playability like you would not believe.

A bad thing about it? I found that the crane operation was a bit tricky, though perhaps it's because I am just starting.

Buy it, you will not regret it.

I really liked this set. It was a fun long build, and when i was finished i worked really well, however the string got tangled in the gears a couple of times. I attached a power functions motor to make the functions go faster. With the lights I added light up backup lights.

I picked this set a little while ago after eyeing it for quite some time. I think I was drawn to the impressive array of functions it promised -- that, and the fact that this set is actually available for a reasonable price, which is something you certainly cannot say about the venerable 8421 mobile crane. To summarize, the functions included in the main model are:

• Eight-wheel steering via a gear-kob at the rear of the carriage.
• Deploying the star-configuration outriggers via another gear-knob at the rear of the carriage.
• Extension of the feet of the outriggers individually via a gear-knob at the end of each outrigger arm.
• Elevating the crane boom via set of gear-knobs on either side of the superstructure and a set of selector levers (one on each side of the superstructure).
• Extension of the boom via the same set of gear-knobs and selector levers.
• Extension of the cable via the same set of gear-knobs and selector levers.
• Manual tilting of the cab on the superstructure to match the crane boom elevation.

The Build

This set uses numbered bags, which partitions the build into two very distinct components: (1) the carriage and (2) the crane superstructure. I found that each component took me around two and half hours to complete (perhaps a little less for the carriage and a little more for the superstructure).

Building the carriage invovles quite a bit of repetition. The four outriggers are essentially identical and the front and rear pairs of road axles are also very similar (i.e. the two inner axles are pretty much the same, as are the two two outer axles). The functions in the carriage are achieved via fairly simple mechanisms (more on that later), so there is quite a bit of dead space and no real "surprises" in the build.

As others have noted, for some inexplicable reason, the outrigger mechanism involves an axle that runs the full length of the carriage from the rear to the front (almost 40 studs, and the axle is anchored only at the endpoints!), where a set of gears and knobs transfer the torque to a pair of axles that run back to the midpoint of the carriage, where the outriggers are attached. Since there is plenty of empty space at the rear of the carriage for the gears, this seems like an odd design choice, especially since it adds more "slack" to the mechansim. I almost thought I did something wrong when I was building this part.

The superstructure is a very different build. It packs a ton of complex functionality into a pretty compact space. There are numerous places in the build where things are slightly asymmetric, so you have to be careful to follow the instructions closely. For the most part, I really enjoyed building the superstructure, but there was one thing that bothered me: The Technic instruction manuals usually begin with a warning to avoid pushing gears onto axles so tightly that the axle cannot spin freely. However, there is one place in the build that it is virtually impossible to follow that instruction. The main "driving axle" in the superstructure has a pair of ridged axle connectors and driving rings in the middle. As the build goes on, more is added to outside ends of this axle, and every time, the ridged axle connectors gets pushed hard against the supporting liftarms in the center. I had to keep backing them off a little, but that became impossible at the final stage in the build when the gear-knobs were added, resuling in more friction in the axle. I might still try to sneak a knife in between axle connectors and liftarms to see if I can free it up somewhat.

There are a good number of stickers that need to be applied during both phases of the build. I'm not sure that they are absolutely necessary to make the model look good, but I went ahead and applied them all. I don't think the hook or outriggers would look quite right without the danger stripes. In the end the finished model looks pretty good, except, perhaps for the rear of the carriage, which, as others have noted, seems to be a bit lacking.

Playability

The functions provided in this model are all pretty neat, but there are some minor issues with a few of the functions. I'll elaborate on these below.

The eight-wheel steering work great. As others have noted, it makes use of of pivot arms of varying lengths (but with the same gear/rack) to realize the differing turning radii for the inner and outer axles. This simple mechanism serves to reduce slack in the steering and makes the steering linkage as compact as it can be. The only issue I have with the steering is that the overall turning radius is not very tight. It is likely that improving the turning radius would require an Ackerman linkage for the outer axles, which would add a fair amount of complexity.

The issues with the outriggers in this model have been well reported. The arms are very flimsy and they tend to move in a jerky manner as they deployed, which doesn't exactly convey the image of strength that you would expect from something that is intended to stabilize the vehicle under load. That being said, the fact that the outriggers can all be deployed simultaneouly by turning a single knob is something kind of special.

The feet at the end of the outrigger arms, on the other hand, work quite well. Each foot is lowered with a gear-knob at the end of the outrigger arm that turns a worm gear to lever the foot into position. This mechanism is quite robust -- I wish the main outrigger arms had as much stability as the feet do.

The crane functions are all driven by a pair of gear-knobs on either side of the superstructure. The two knobs sit on the same axle and can be turned with both hands in an alternating manner to make operating the functions go a little faster. The functions (boom elevation, boom extension, and cable extension) are selected by a pair of levers (one on each side of the superstructure) that are connected to a pair of driving rings on the main driving axle. Boom extension is controlled by one lever, while boom elevation and cable extension are controlled by the other. This arrangement makes it possible to extend the boom and cable simultaneously. Unfortunately, the cable extends much, much faster than the boom, so it is impossible to use the combined-function configuration to extend the boom while keeping the hook in the same position relative to the boom. I'm not sure whether I'd call that a defect, since I'm not sure how a real crane operates, but it would seem to be useful capability.

The boom is elevated by a single linear actuator. This function works great and operates at a reasonable pace.

Boom extension works by transferring effort to a long axle that runs up the length of the lower boom section to a gear that engages a rack that runs the length of the upper boom section. This mechanism also works quite well, but at a slower pace than I would have thought necessary. By making the gearing less agressive (perhaps by about a factor of 2) it would have been possible to extend the boom much faster while still keeping the amount of torque required at the control knob to a reasonable level. Once again, I'm not sure I'd call this a defect, since the booms on real cranes undoubtedly extend quite slowly.

The cable extension function, on the other hand, proceeds at a pretty good clip. Others have complained able the string jumping off the pulleys when there is no load on the hook, but I have not experienced this problem myself. What I did notice, though, is that there is quite a bit of resistance in the cable extension mechanism. This resistance comes from an idler gear that is connected with a friction pin. The purpose of this gear is to prevent the cable from moving when the cable function is not selected. What is really needed here is a ratcheting gear assembly with some kind of release switch. Perhaps the LEGO Company will consider adding such a part to the Technic inventory at some time in the future.

I have not tried adding power functions to this model because the picture of the crane with the battery pack sticking out of it just looks goofy to me. Given the friction in some of the mechanisms, I'd have some concerns about the ability of the M motor to drive all the functions.

Parts Inventory

If you are looking for long yellow or gray studless beams, or long yellow or black studded beams, this is your set, because there are a ton of them in the box. There are also a good number of long (12L) axles, two driving ring/changeover catch assemblies, four purpose-built steering racks, seven regular racks, one linear actuator, one turntable, eight 56x26 ballon tires, and a decent assortment of gears (but perhaps not quite as many as you might expect in a set with a part count of 1289).

Summary

Although I had issues with a few of the functions, this set is still very good overall. The build, expecially the superstructure, is pretty rewarding and the finished product has a good number of fairly complicated features. It's somewhere between a 4 and a 5 on all of the ratings. I'd definitely recommend it, especially if you like construction equipment.

I really don't understand the rewievs of others of this sit. I liked it much, it is very interesting to build and it's a hard work. I bought it for Christmas, it was about 12 hours to build, and I liked every minutes of it. The engine is quite difficult. The 2nd set waits for me...