I mentioned in the instructions for the Hippo model that you could, if you chose, cut out the holes on the big gear thus making spokes. I thought I’d add some photographs to show you what the gear looks like with the gears cut out.

In my opinon it looks better with the real spokes but do bear in mind that this really is a case of form over function. The cut away gear is significantly less strong than the solid gear. It works fine in this model but using cut away gears where there is more power needed may well not be possible.