Set Review ➟ 42114 6x6 Volvo Articulated Hauler
This year's flagship—beyond the 42115 Lamborghini—or rather the largest and most expensive set in the Technic line for 2020 is the 42114 Volvo 6x6 Articulated Dumper. It is also the next evolution in the company's commitment to sets with CONTROL+.
Committed to CONTROL+
With this set, LEGO continues its commitment to CONTROL+, the system based on the Powered Up protocol designed for use in LEGO Technic.
This set contains the CONTROL+ battery box as well as 3 motors: L, XL and motor no. 15…
This motor is not new, but it is the first time that it is used in a LEGO Technic set, and it appears in this colour.
Previously this motor was only found in the LEGO Education set 45678 Spike Prime in very different colours. The inclusion of this new motor also means that there is a firmware update of the smart battery box (Hub no. 2) to make it possible to use this motor. This extends the compatibility of the various elements of the Powered Up platform.
Besides this new engine there are some other elements of interest in this set. The reinforced differential introduced in the first half of this year is used again. There is also the torque limiter and the already much used orange gear shifter which will surely come in handy for a motorized gear change.
No more preliminaries. Time to build!
The instructions for this set are contained in one volume. There is also a sheet of 18 stickers to make the set look even better.
The construction of this set starts with one of the rear axles and the gearbox: Technic hardcore from the first page. In addition to the orange gearbox, one of the new cable clips is used as an element to limit the movement of the gearbox.
The gearbox has 4 positions. One of the motors is responsible for selecting the position of the gearbox while the other is responsible for motorising the selected function. Positions 1 to 3 correspond to the truck's gears 1 to 3. The fourth position brakes the wheels and connects to the actuators that will raise and lower the bucket.
All of phase 1 is dedicated to building the rear and once you have all the gears fitted the model quickly takes shape.
In the next phase we will build the front of the truck. This is where we will use the new motor that will take care of the steering of the truck.
In the following image you can see this motor integrated in the head of the truck. In addition to the mechanism which will be underneath the engine, there is a gear at the top. This will connect to the steering wheel in front of the driver's seat, so that it will move as the truck changes direction. You can also see the crankshaft at the front.
The shape of the front contains an interesting combination of angled pieces to achieve the desired shape. It also contains another differential since all 6 wheels of the truck are connected to the transmission.
After connecting the two parts you can better see how the steering will work. The whole cabin rotates in relation to the rear. In the original model this is done with hydraulic pistons, but as we saw before, in this case it is motor no. 15 that is responsible for pushing and pulling the two sides of the head to make the turn,
With this we have completed the functional part of the model and all that remains is to finish the details. (well, we still have to build the engine pistons).
The engine is quite detailed and the scale fits very well with the size of the model. To access it after finishing the model we'll have to take out the yellow axle, after which the grille folds down and you can lift the bonnet to gain access to the engine.
As a last element, you build the bucket of the truck is built and add the wheels.
Once the model is finished we can turn the hub on and connect it to the CONTROL+ app to do the initial calibration (and find out if we have made any mistakes in the construction).
So far the model looks quite impressive. With three motors for 3 functions (3-speed drive, steering and load tipping) and a large bucket, the model starts off with good potential for play.
In the second part of this review we will take a look at the functionality of the app.
We wish to thank LEGO for providing this set for review. The opinions in this review are not supported or endorsed by LEGO.
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