DalaGStanator's Customs, Mods and Experiments

Last year, I originally planned to recreate Dübs No. 4101 with an authentic driveshaft for the jib yet never tried a design for it, instead building an orange saddle tank on the chassis. In the event I'll actually build it someday, two different prototypes were made for the mech until it could be installed in a full model. I correctly remembered getting at least one worm gear in the NXT 1 kit (8527) as well as the large turntable, so I had a perfect way to achieve the method I want to use. The middle holes in the 90° connectors (55615) lined up with the shaft and were big enough to hold an axle for gears. Adding an NXT motor programmed with the brick's built-in feature gave a neat slow output in both directions, like I'd expect the jib to operate at. With the unsuitable shape and bulkiness of these motors, it's a good thing I didn't have to incorporate it due to the wire end facing the wrong way.



Had my 59510 battery box still worked (only the power light turns on), the M motor would've been more appropriate design-wise; if it wouldn't be too close to the smokebox. I took the battery box apart to check the terminal wires but found nothing wrong, so it's likely a faulty component on the PCB.



After the Technic version (obviously) worked as intended, I measured the running board of my dark red side tank to get the approximate proportions the loco would have. It gave enough room to hide a motor behind the tank, which would power the shaft using a belt drive. That said, it might have to be geared down to be slow and strong enough since the jib would likely have its own motor for the hook, thus adding more weight along with its length and height. Although the black gear has 100+ teeth and the shaft uses a worm gear, the motor alone made it too fast on 1.5V when I tried it before building the base. A low speed N20 (probably 60 RPM) should make the jib move more realistically. The cab would have buttons/switches on the roof/rear wall to control the slewing and hook, while the other tank could perhaps hold the battery(ies) if it won't need a battery truck.