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Regarding the body shape, I do think that the blades beside the front wheel should be reversed, as in the real car the blade appears to have a big mounting point close to the wheel instead of having it close to the door

8edd8f3b-46ae-4099-a149-6aa811b96175.jpg

Other than that, the gearbox seems to be very well executed, and the body shape is gorgeous...furthermore as the roof strake can be configured to be in the same color as the body, which will allow the reuse of some of the Porsche longer flex and have your very own Madagascar Orange Lego Technic Aston Martin DB11 with matching roof & roof strake and 20" 10-spoke black wheels. Alternatively, you can go with black roof & roof strakes, like on this car :

 

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Hi,

After finishing the McLaren (I will show the results early next year) I had some time to work on the DB11 again

Here is my latest version:

30763589653_f0edc737b7_b.jpg

I'm not sure whether I like the curved panel in the center of the hood to be honest. What do you guys think?
Things that have improved with respect to the previous update:
- The front wheels have been moved one stud inwards. I did this because they were protruding too much at the front end. It turned out that this also solved the rubbing against the paneling at the back :classic:
- The suspension of the front wheels is reinforced. I now use double hard springs on each side. The rear still feels a bit better in terms of responsiveness, but I think I have to settle for what I have now in the front
- I changed the door and it finally is looking right I think
- The flappy pedals work without too much trouble. It turned out that I was testing too early last time (not all paneling near the steeringcolumn was in place). Now that the whole assy is braced properly it works pretty well

So this is the look from the side:

31457324911_022560fcf7_b.jpg

As you can see there is a little one stud hole in the door... That is because I changed the hinges of this door. Originally I wanted the doors to lift slightly upwards when opened, but that only works when there is a two stud gap between the bonnet and the door and even then the doors only open for 30-40 degrees. On this side I experimented with the traditional vertical hinge. This enables a one stud gap between the door and the bonnet (which can even be partially filled with a bionicle tooth) and an opening angle around 75 degrees. On the downside, if I go for this solution I will have to shorten the whole car by one stud, which means a pretty big redesign of the whole chassis...:hmpf_bad:

So the question is: Do you prefer the looks of a closer paneling and a well opening door, or do you prefer the anatomically correct upwards swinging door with larger gaps and limited opening angle?

Leg godt,

Jeroen

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The side windows look odd, probably because the color of the door, but it looks like there is a step and there's no flow. Also the area behind the first wheel is just ugly, sorry for being blunt.

The "shoulder" above the real wheel should start immediately at the end of the door. Overall I found your previous pictures more pleasing, the silhouette of the roof is too dependent on the flex axles condition, and in the newest picture (right side of the car) looks worse than on the old pictures (left side of the car).

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11 minutes ago, Lipko said:

The side windows look odd, probably because the color of the door, but it looks like there is a step and there's no flow. Also the area behind the first wheel is just ugly, sorry for being blunt.

The "shoulder" above the real wheel should start immediately at the end of the door. Overall I found your previous pictures more pleasing, the silhouette of the roof is too dependent on the flex axles condition, and in the newest picture (right side of the car) looks worse than on the old pictures (left side of the car).

Thanks for the elaborate comments, if you don't mind I'll go over them one by one:

Side window: Where do you see the step? And do you mean the doorwindow or the window behind the door?

Area behind the first wheel: Can you elaborate on what you find ugly? Is it the stacking of the two panels or is the area behind these two panels?

Shoulder: Thanks for pointing that out, I see what you mean... back to the drawing board for that area :classic:

Roof silhouette: Those flexaxles definitely need an extra support point to keep them in the right position. I'm still working on that, but I haven't found a connection yet which doesn't break the flow of these lines...

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The step is between the door window and the side window, it's more disturbing on the left door. I don't know how would I fix it, maybe a black tube piece to draw the contour between the door body and door window? This contour is also present on the real car, and would flow well with the black flex axle at the window behind the door.

EDIT: Looking at the real car actually, I think the window behind the door should be more vertical than it's now (this would fix the "step" issue and would be more realistic too). Overall, the shoulder and the window area above the rear wheel should be reworked a bit.

Behind the first wheel, there's no flow, it's inconsistent with the flex axle in front of the wheel and the wheel arc panel above the rear wheel. Maybe it would be better if that orange panel deeper in the chassis (which is upside down) would be black. Maybe that's the most distracting/messy part of the area. Or maybe putting an orange tube piece there (from the pneumatic Volvo)?

 

Edited by Lipko

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7 minutes ago, Lipko said:

The step is between the door window and the side window, it's more disturbing on the left door. I don't know how would I fix it, maybe a black tube piece to draw the contour between the door body and door window? This contour is also present on the real car, and would flow well with the black flex axle at the window behind the door.

EDIT: Looking at the real car actually, I think the window behind the door should be more vertical than it's now (this would fix the "step" issue and would be more realistic too). Overall, the shoulder and the window area above the rear wheel should be reworked a bit.

Agreed with your edit. The B-style is too far out, and if I move it in the paneling will not flow nicely either... So here is definitely some rework needed, but it looks like it could solve both the shoulder and the step... Thanks

Quote

Behind the first wheel, there's no flow, it's inconsistent with the flex axle in front of the wheel and the wheel arc panel above the rear wheel. Maybe it would be better if that orange panel deeper in the chassis (which is upside down) would be black. Maybe that's the most distracting/messy part of the area. Or maybe putting an orange tube piece there (from the pneumatic Volvo)?

This angle of photography icw the turned wheel does make the worst of this part. In the real car that inner panel is in the same colour as the bodywork, but I agree that it detracts the eye, so I'll give the black panel a try.
The orange tube is too thin I'm afraid, that would distract as well. I have contemplated using some #3 connectors to build an arch, but I already use a boatload of these while they are not in production, plus I don't think the arch will be much better than what I have now, while it definitely will look more cluttered...

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The picture from above reveals some sleek curves and nice flowing lines :thumbup:. To me the central panel on the bonnet looks like it belongs right there, but if you still feel uncomfortable with it, you should try another option. Generally your achieved result with the orange parts is pretty good so far.

I prefer the looks of a closer paneling and a well opening door. Would that be a solution for the door hinge if to develop a deeper virtual pivot point in a parallelogram?  The side view shows also a (too?) long wheelbase – it appears to me that shortening it by 1 stud sounds like a really good idea. I know what that means regarding the redesign work, even if it means to tear everything apart to the core, I´ve always come to the conclusion that such a major change is most rewarding.

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I know I mentioned this before, but it just looks uneven when comparing the front to the back with the wheel arches. Especially when seeing it from that side perspective. I do think this is a good attempt at a very difficult car to shape.

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I'm really liking where this is going! One small detail I did think would be a nice touch to this build, if you had black side skirts instead of grey. Also possibly black flex axles for the window. It seems the majority of the build is black and onrange. I'm interested in trying a WIP thread myself, some very interesting feedback from the technic group!

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4 hours ago, Lox Lego said:

I'm really liking where this is going! One small detail I did think would be a nice touch to this build, if you had black side skirts instead of grey. Also possibly black flex axles for the window. It seems the majority of the build is black and onrange. I'm interested in trying a WIP thread myself, some very interesting feedback from the technic group!

Thx. The black sideskirts might indeed be a good idea. I started out with a grey chassis since I saw this picture:

Flayed-Aston-Martin-DB11-1-600x303.jpg

But orange works much better with black (I already updated all the grey from the hood to black for the same reason).

Having a WIP topic is definitely improving the model. People see other things than you do yourself and can be quite helpful in pointing out the weak points in the design. At the same time praise comes easily in this forum as well which is a good stimulant to hang in and keep working on it even when at times you feel like giving up (which always happens to me at some point in any build). And seeing the amount of traffic that the WIP topics generate I would venture a guess that showing WIP is appreciated (I myself certainly like to follow others WIP topics as well).

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On 12/11/2016 at 6:52 PM, brunojj1 said:

The picture from above reveals some sleek curves and nice flowing lines :thumbup:. To me the central panel on the bonnet looks like it belongs right there, but if you still feel uncomfortable with it, you should try another option. Generally your achieved result with the orange parts is pretty good so far.

 

I prefer the looks of a closer paneling and a well opening door. Would that be a solution for the door hinge if to develop a deeper virtual pivot point in a parallelogram?  The side view shows also a (too?) long wheelbase – it appears to me that shortening it by 1 stud sounds like a really good idea. I know what that means regarding the redesign work, even if it means to tear everything apart to the core, I´ve always come to the conclusion that such a major change is most rewarding.

 

And you were right... I have shortened the chassis with one stud. I redesigned the central column, added some more bracing to the rear, cleaned up the board behind the rear seat and fixated the silver flexaxles:

31579325522_8ba65cecca_c.jpg

 

On 12/12/2016 at 1:25 PM, Lox Lego said:

I'm really liking where this is going! One small detail I did think would be a nice touch to this build, if you had black side skirts instead of grey. Also possibly black flex axles for the window. It seems the majority of the build is black and onrange. I'm interested in trying a WIP thread myself, some very interesting feedback from the technic group!

 

On 12/11/2016 at 5:04 PM, Lipko said:

The step is between the door window and the side window, it's more disturbing on the left door. I don't know how would I fix it, maybe a black tube piece to draw the contour between the door body and door window? This contour is also present on the real car, and would flow well with the black flex axle at the window behind the door.

EDIT: Looking at the real car actually, I think the window behind the door should be more vertical than it's now (this would fix the "step" issue and would be more realistic too). Overall, the shoulder and the window area above the rear wheel should be reworked a bit.

Behind the first wheel, there's no flow, it's inconsistent with the flex axle in front of the wheel and the wheel arc panel above the rear wheel. Maybe it would be better if that orange panel deeper in the chassis (which is upside down) would be black. Maybe that's the most distracting/messy part of the area. Or maybe putting an orange tube piece there (from the pneumatic Volvo)?

 

I have redesigned both the door pivots and the area between the door and the rear wheels. And I have used black side skirts. I think it is an improvement over the previous version:

30916304513_82a673b55d_c.jpg

Finally some shots to show the rear & front:

31726142365_af8724a85d_c.jpg

I redesigned the rear lights as well. I am not entirely happy with the area above the lights though...

30916275083_0819ce6301_c.jpg

 

Still to do:

- mirrors
- get that silver roofline looking good from above as well
- did I already mention I don't like designing seats?
- front wheel suspension. The addition of a second spring meant the bracing had to move two studs away from the pivot point. That clearly is too far, the balljoints just pop out now :sick:
- EDIT: and the hood. I'm still not sold on the curved panel in the center

So thanks everybody for the criticism & constructive feedback. I hope I was able to convert your comments into a better car still.

Edited by Jeroen Ottens

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Wow that shortening of wheelbase did the car a huge favor. It looks fantastic. I'm no MOCcer but IMO I agree about the curved panel in the hood, it looks a bit off. Any chance you could put a flex axle or something right behind the front axle? IMO looks a bit odd

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Looks really promising!

I would consider adding a flex axle right behind front tire and also experiment on making the roof curved from front view. For my eyes the panels curved in only one axis exaggerate the flatness along other axis. 

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2 hours ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

And you were right... I have shortened the chassis with one stud. I redesigned the central column, added some more bracing to the rear, cleaned up the board behind the rear seat and fixated the silver flexaxles:

Hehe, sometimes I am, thanks :blush:Looks beautiful, thanks also for disclosing the rear view :thumbup:! The slope tiles look a bit out of place though, but sure you will fit them either.

Yeah, I like those games on the almost subconscious level, just marginal but they make the essential difference on the final look. The roof seems a bit too high as it is now, even if the total height matches your blueprints, the line would look better slowly descending towards the rear like in the real model. I know, you can´t do anything about the grey flex axles´ length variations, they kind of decide the roof curve. At my current MOC I´m using the same 3x13 round panels for the roof. The trick how to move the peak or the main „knot“ near to the A-pillar could be to tilt the panels horizontal line some 5-10 degrees backwards.

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I also have the feeling that the roof is too high and too curved. Maybe that's the reason why the side view doesn't look "muscular" enough for me.

Aren't the doors too thick? Something is a bit off in the looks but I can't really tell what. The whole shape reminds me of a Jaguar E-type more than an Aston Martin. EDIT: Maybe the front is more gradually narrowing than the real car, maybe it just needs a little more protruding fender to give it a "skirt".

aston_martin.jpg

I think the top view of the doors "ruin" the looks for me, makes the whole side surface too "simple" like on the E-type. The left door of the previous iteration of your MOC was much better.

Edited by Lipko

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Great improvement! It's coming along very nicely.

I don't have much to comment except that the silver flex axles from top view would look better I think if the spot where you put the silver #1 connectors is moved inwards half a stud. What part would I use for that? I have no clue sorry, but I think that half stud makes it flow. The rest of the body flows awesome on that top view, except those axles. As for the rear, same problem I think, it lacks flow. Looking at the video above with the Aston on the trailer, every curve is silky smooth while yours so far has a couple of system bricks stickin out? Considering you already made an amazing improvement on the rest of the body I am sure you will figure this out as well. Keep up the good work.:thumbup:

Edited by Appie

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This is turning out really incredible. Absolutely love the rear end! :wub: The curves down the side and the black and orange combo is stunning. Great work!

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I cannot really judge whether the looks match the original - I'm actually impressed by those who are able to point out what could be done better - but it already looks absolutely amazing to me. I suppose the black 20t gears under the rear window are HoGs for shifting and steering? And maybe I missed something, but I was wondering whether you have been able to improve the operation of the paddle shifters?

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I think he mentioned that after adding a dash and whatnot around the paddles that it got alot more rigid and works pretty well.

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Thx for all the suggestions...

@Didumos69: The black gears are indeed HoG steering & shifting, both work like a charm.
The paddleshifers work OK, but not as well as the HoG shifter (you sometimes have to switch twice to push it into gear). I'd say 80-90% succesrate.

@Appie: Those systemparts will be replaced, but I don't know how yet. I may have to redesign the entire trunk door, as it is now it doesn't help to get those lines 'smooth as silk' as you eloquently put it

@Lipko @brunojj1 @drakmin : The roof definitely is a bit off. Still some shaving to do... I will experiment with a configuration where the panels are mounted transversal, that should also solve the straight line syndrom at the front.
The doors are a bit of a compromise, with 4 studs width they are indeed too wide, but with this panel orientation the flow from bonnet to rear is super fluid now. I did a quick try yesterday with the old doors, but than the transitions are quite distracting... As for tapering the bodywork directly after the frontwheel: that is also a compromise I haven't found a better solution for. Ideally the small area between the wheel and the door should indeed slope inwards a bit, but at the top the little rotor doesn't need that inward slope, so somewhere the inward slope has to curve back to a straight line at the top... At least that was the thoughtprocess that blocked me from finding another solution in this area.
To my untrained eye all the modern sportscars like the DB11 and the jaguar F-type are almost identical except for a few details. And those details typically get lost easily when transitioning to Lego... I'll make my next project 'inspired by' [insert real life vehicle] to get some more artistic freedom :laugh:

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I am sure you'll figure it out for the trunk, because looking at that topview and the sideview: the flow of the hood to the doors to rear wheelarch is awesome. Those panels complement each other very well. The system bricks do flow with the wheelarch in the rear from a sideview, just not the baby panels below it when looking at the rear. Perhaps replace the baby panels with more system bricks that link up to the bricks above it gives a better flow? Or maybe make an angle on the baby panels so it it flows downwards, in line with the system bricks curve? I have no clue if you have space for that around the rear lights, but just an idea.

 

Or maybe, after looking at that video again for 10 times of the DB11 unloading from the trailer: put the baby panels upside down (and maybe push them back a little into the rearlights, so it makes the smallest kind of spoiler)? It does have a little spoiler kind of thing going on there with it going up. Perhaps this also gives room to make the curves more connected between system bricks and baby panels?

Edited by Appie

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Hi,

A small update this time (most of my time went in setting up my website, finishing my latest commission and a complete overhaul of the digital version of this one). I changed the roofline and the rear a bit and I added the mirrors (finally) of the real life version (I also designed the interior, but that is mostly digital, I first need to get the necessary parts):

31960550622_72b4afcf62_c.jpg

31733565680_368b8dfbb5_c.jpg

So what do you say? Good enough to start working on instructions?

EDIT: the gray part in the center of the rear will be replaced with an orange one...


Leg godt,

Jeroen

Edited by Jeroen Ottens

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32 minutes ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

Hi,

A small update this time (most of my time went in setting up my website, finishing my latest commission and a complete overhaul of the digital version of this one). I changed the roofline and the rear a bit and I added the mirrors (finally) of the real life version (I also designed the interior, but that is mostly digital, I first need to get the necessary parts):

So what do you say? Good enough to start working on instructions?

EDIT: the gray part in the center of the rear will be replaced with an orange one...

Yes yes and hells yes!! Beautiful model. So many creative things to this build. The grey lego heads for exhaust. The grey propeller blade for the side detail. The silver flex axles for the side doors. Spectacular. :wub: Will these be free instructions?

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Looks pretty good.:thumbup: Except for the front wheel arch.:thumbdown:  I'm sorry, but that area just doesn't look right. I'd still pay for instructions to check out the gearbox.:thumbup:

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