LEGO Technic 42148 Snow Groomer & Snowmobile B model detailed building review
Hi everyone, this is Balazs from RacingBrick! You could see all these January 2023 Technic releases on the channel already, if you missed any of them then there’s a nice playlist accessible in the top right corner. There’s one boxed set left from the January wave, the 42148 Snow Groomer. You can see the machine working in its natural habitat on the front of the box, and on the back there’s the B model which is a Snowmobile. Now let’s see what’s inside! It is a 7+ set with 178 pieces, the price is 10 EUR / 13 USD and
it is already available in the shops. There are 4 unnumbered bags inside and a single manual, apparently there are no stickers in this set. We get the new very small panel fairings in red this time, and the link tread pieces that appeared last time in 2021 in a Technic set on the Heavy Duty Excavator. Now let’s start building! The first few steps are pretty straightforward, then comes this assembly which will be the base of the control mechanism. Here’s the link for the blade tilt control, and this is how it is secured in place, oops, so
here you go, this is how it will work. There’s another control mechanism taking shape here at the rear using a simple linkage. Yet another linkage on
with bar extension being used this way, with a Technic bush pulled on it and placed in a cross axle hole. The assembly is also held in place with the axle at the top. Here’s the base for the blade, and this is how we connect it to the knob at the rear to adjust the angle. The blade itself is pretty simple, it takes advantage of the cross axle hole on that fairly new small panel fairing, this is how it is connected to the base. We only have the smoothing plate to add to the rear, then assemble
the tracks using two times 28 pieces, you need to pay attentions as there are 2 spares, mounting them is a bit tricky but here we are, our snow groomer is finished and functional! I think the end result looks really nice considering the size and the piece count, and the fact that it is literally filled to the brim with functions is very impressive! Driving it around is pretty easy, you can either grab the cabin or even better if you use the blade control knob’s assembly behind it. Thanks to the wheels at the rear the tracks won’t
slip, it doesn’t need to be pushed down significantly. It is actually quite a challenge to make them slip, maybe if you only push it from the back and try to turn, but that’s not really how you play with it anyway. We can control the position of the blade with the knob at the rear and it has a pretty impressive range of motion. The blade can be also lifted and lowered with the lever on the right side. The smoothing plate is controlled by the lever at the rear. And of course you can try to master the
controls with using only one hand, it’s pretty fun actually ЁЯЩВ You can try to fit a minifig in the cabin but it’s quite a challenge, and although he can fit in there, the scale is not very good. So the A model is very cool and functional, let’s see the B model! As usual instructions are available on lego.com. This is how it begins, this assembly will become the fuel tank I guess. A few more pieces, then comes the support for the tracks that are essentially the same as on the A model. The second wheel goes in
a different position, then the gears to the other side in the familiar configuration. Tracks are already added at this point, we have somewhat less space to fit them this time so it’s a bit challenging. We finish the rear section, then comes the assembly with the windshield, and an interesting solution that you won’t see on A models for sure. That 3 module long blue pin in the center has exposed section left there, that wouldn’t happen normally. Another necessity is the grey tube piece on the handlebar, it looks ok but there’s nothing preventing it to slide on
the red axle pin. This is how the assembly slides in place, here comes the lower section and our build is practically finished. Again very few pieces left which is nice. Oh wait, even less pieces are left as I forgot to add this beam here. So here is the B model, and I think it looks pretty decent considering the limited inventory. Where it falls short is unfortunately the functionality section, in theory it has steering but in reality that’s only for the show. As you can see here the rear wheel is driving the tracks, so you need
to apply some weight there. Otherwise if you try to hold it by the central section the tracks might slip easily as there’s no weight at the rear. But if you try to push it down there then it is almost impossible to steer, the front just flaps around randomly. The model is probably to small to use both hands and I’d say it doesn’t really like to turn in general, so I’d say this one is more for display. So, let’s sum it up! I think the A model is great with a very impressive amount of clever and
playable functions squeezed in a small form factor, a great experience for the price. The set is also nice as a parts pack, we get a decent selection of functional pieces including lots of gears and of course the track pieces. You might ask why is it special to have gears in a Technic set. Well, last year LEGO managed to give us two sets with around 500 pieces, without including a single gear, just saying. The B model supposed to be the icing on the cake but unfortunately it is not different enough to add much to the build
experience, and it is really not playable at all, so this time it does not add much the equation. If I compare it to the other 10 EUR 2023 model then despite the clever functionality of the Snow groomer I would still go with the Dump Truck, with that both A and B models feel more balanced. Don’t get me wrong, you get way more functionality and play experience for your money with both of them than some way bigger and more expensive Technic sets can offer, I just feel this one to be a slightly better package. Please let
me know your thoughts in the comments folks, if you liked this video then please give it a thumbs up, and don’t forget to subscribe with notifications as more exciting LEGO videos are coming soon. See you next time, bye bye!
