[MT] Icon Bronco

[BigCatBoy]

Hello.

I'm building the Icon Bronco for the Model Team contest. It is also going to be my first fully completed MOC that I'll upload on other sites later on, probably after the contest. For comparison, here is a nice gallery of the real Icon Bronco: http://www.autoblog....nco-quick-spin/

Some quick stats:

Suspension

Front tires pivot, but are not connected to steering wheel

Opening hood, doors, and hatch

Pivoting rear spare tire frame

Reel for winch (hidden behind small opening in the bumper)

Pivoting seats and headrests

Hinged center console cover

Top can be taken off and a rollbar put in place.

Sizing is: 40 x 16 (L x W) Parts that stick out more than 16 studs are the mirrors, trim line, and rear fender panels. There are a lot of stuff sticking out past the 16 stud limit. I don't mind if this disqualifies me!

Left to do (Updated 09.03.14):

Some additional off road accessories if I think of any good ones.

Frame needs a few pieces to be complete.

Here is a quick photo (if Brickshelf is online):

UPDATE 08.25.14

Okay, Brickshelf is down for maintenance, rather frequently lately, and I finally got a Flickr account working. I've updated the truck since the first photo. Here are more pictures with info on some of the changes:

Lego MOC: Icon Bronco WIP 001 by Big Cat Boy, on Flickr

If Brickshelf is up again, and the first photo is shown, the biggest noticeable differences are the wheels. Those wheels are not available in black, so I thought about painting them, which is not allowed for the contest, and I didn't even want to risk such a direction anyway regardless of the contest. I decided to flip the wheels and insert round plates into them instead, which simulates black wheels and even a beadlock design.

Lego MOC: Icon Bronco WIP 002 by Big Cat Boy, on Flickr

Another big change is the rear axle. Originally the rear axle was thin and flimsy, and the wheels sat too inward. The new axle is beefier and the wheels sit much farther apart, yet they still move into the body when the suspension flexes!

Lego MOC: Icon Bronco WIP 003 by Big Cat Boy, on Flickr

Lego MOC: Icon Bronco WIP 004 by Big Cat Boy, on Flickr

Here it is with the roof removed. The front fender is in need of more pieces. I ran out...I'll be getting them soon.

Lego MOC: Icon Bronco WIP 005 by Big Cat Boy, on Flickr

Interior uses almost the same colors as the real life truck, and I've also imitated the grooved liners next to the rear seats.

Lego MOC: Icon Bronco WIP 006 by Big Cat Boy, on Flickr

Representing the "Coyote" 5.0 Ford V8 motor usually seen in the Ford Mustang. More details may be added if I have any good ones.

Lego MOC: Icon Bronco WIP 007 by Big Cat Boy, on Flickr

Lego MOC: Icon Bronco WIP 008 by Big Cat Boy, on Flickr

Here you can see the rear axle. The original was only 1 stud thick and was 9 studs wide, which required too many small pieces to hold everything together. The new design is 2 studs thick and 10 studs wide, allowing me to use larger pieces for better strength.

Lego MOC: Icon Bronco WIP 009 by Big Cat Boy, on Flickr

I understand I really don't need to add suspension to a Model Team themed build, but this truck was initially meant to be a part of my realistic truck collection with suspension and the works. So, I may stick with it.

Lego MOC: Icon Bronco WIP 010 by Big Cat Boy, on Flickr

One big flaw with the new rear axle design is the way it behaves when articulating. The 6.5L springs I used are strong enough to hold up the truck really well. Due to the way they were placed, the rear axle twists a little too easily compared to the front, so the front axle sees almost no articulation because of it. I have stiffer springs, but they're too stiff. This isn't too big of an issue anyway, so I may stick with this until a better solution comes about...

Lego MOC: Icon Bronco WIP 011 by Big Cat Boy, on Flickr

Here is the chassis with a roll of duct tape for weight.

UPDATE 09.03.14

Some minor fixes and additions, three photos:

Lego MOC: Icon Bronco WIP 012 by Big Cat Boy, on Flickr

Additions to the truck include an LED lightbar on the windshield frame. The pillars are black studded plates for now until I can get more gray tiles. I hope to use the LED design on some of my future Jeep builds.

Lego MOC: Icon Bronco WIP 013 by Big Cat Boy, on Flickr

Rear additions are the license plate panel and LED lights.

Lego MOC: Icon Bronco WIP 014 by Big Cat Boy, on Flickr

Front axle parts were modified. The connection for the trailing arms were modified so they don't rotate; they stay in place very well now. The steering tie rod was also changed so it looks more realistic; it turned out to be stronger than the previous tie rod design.

Edited September 4, 2014 by BigCatBoy

[Rishab N]

Looks good! Looking forward to more pics

[Trawler Man]

Beautiful. I like the bumper work.

[anton1678]

Awesome! Looks like the real thing!

Can you do a photo of the underside and without bodywork?

After all, the function counts too

[BigCatBoy]

Thanks guys. I need to wait till Thursday to get more photos, so it will be a while, sorry. I will take more pictures to show the best features of the truck, and I'll make sure to take good underside shots.

In fact, the body is made to detach from the frame, too, so I'll take pictures of the chassis in all its uncovered glory.

[Alasdair Ryan]

That is taking shape,welcome to Eurobricks.

[rm8]

Jonathan Ward will be happy seeing this thing:)

Nice Icon

[Jeroen Ottens]

Looking really good, very smooth.

A few points for improvement maybe:

Can you really not get the steering wheel connected to the steering?

It's a modelteam contest, so having suspension might even be too much, I've never seen a modelteam model with suspension (and you might get the space to connect the steering wheel )

I'm not too thrilled about the colour. It is probably due to part availability, but is it possible to make it in another colour than grey?

Other than that, I do really like your model. It has a very polished look over it.

[BigCatBoy]

Thanks again, everyone.

Thanks, Jeroen, for the comments. I first built this model in LDD, like some other trucks I plan on building in real-life when I can afford the pieces. The truck was to be part of my collection with working parts, including suspension. I always hated the idea of building an off-road rig with static suspension, but that meant sacrificing connected steering wheel. I'm not a pro Lego builder, and Technic Lego is still difficult for me to work with, so I could not figure out a nice, simple and compact setup. I hate to say, I do not wish to fix that at the moment. The rear suspension in particular was given special attention so the wheels could go into the body when articulating, just like Jonathan Ward stressed on the actual Bronco (this is due to the dilemma with the half-fender design; a lot of people love to chop off a chunk of the rear fender panel to make room for larger tires). So, if I had to choose one of the other, I'd choose suspension :).

As for the gray, it's actually dark bluish gray. I used a flash on my camera due to my dim desk lamp, and that does discolor the body quite a bit. Parts availability was an issue, too, and the dark gray was the closest to the actual Bronco's color. In fact, under ideal lighting, my Bronco may actually match the real truck. If Lego made all parts in any color, I would have gone for a dark red or navy blue color (Ward loves to go for very earthen colors). In fact, I can do that virtually with my LDD model I guess!

[grum64]

Brilliant! Great job

[Zerobricks]

Thats an awesome looking model! Can you fill inside the front fender with few more bricks? Also what suspension did you use?

[piterx]

i always loved studded models :) this one is really nice!

[BigCatBoy]

Thats an awesome looking model! Can you fill inside the front fender with few more bricks? Also what suspension did you use?

Thanks! I've been pondering how to fix that myself. Right now the best option is to remove the inverted slopes just below the black trim line and put gray bricks spanning all the way across, so it closes the opening further. I'll at least try that.

[Dafgek81]

Very nice ride.

[MrNumbskull13]

Yep. This really is a nice entry! Looking forward to seeing the insides...

[BigCatBoy]

I have edited the first post with more pictures and info.

[rm8]

Wow! VEry cool MT entry

What do you have in your collection?

[Appie]

Very cool, nice details, will do really well in the contest I am sure.

One thing though, I can't help but wonder where the "steering" is. Looking at the images it seems to be a front axle that can move left or right, not linked to any gear or liftarm? Perhaps I am missing some HoG hidden away in there, but if that is it, that isn't real steering imo.

[BigCatBoy]

Wow! VEry cool MT entry

What do you have in your collection?

Thanks! At the moment the collection (or fleet) includes three WIP trucks, one of which is the Bronco. The other two are a Chevrolet Silverado "K55" (my own design) and a Jeep TJ Brute. The TJ is going to be rebuilt, it was too small. The K55 is in need of an interior. They're all the same scale as each other. I want to upload pictures when they're finished, so it may be a while until then. Future plans include a JK double cab Brute, the rebuilt TJ Brute, a '93 Dodge D350 Cummins, and maybe a trailer for the K55, along with a yellow Hilux and a "truggy" variant. I've built a couple cars in LDD with careful considerations of parts limitations. I hope to start building them when I can afford parts. If I get at least six cars or trucks built, I might have a little "party" uploading a fleet showcase, haha.

Very cool, nice details, will do really well in the contest I am sure.

One thing though, I can't help but wonder where the "steering" is. Looking at the images it seems to be a front axle that can move left or right, not linked to any gear or liftarm? Perhaps I am missing some HoG hidden away in there, but if that is it, that isn't real steering imo.

Thanks! Yeah, the steering wheel isn't connected to the axle. I should have worded it differently. If I decided on static suspension, then I'll add real steering...

[aol000xw]

It is so detailed that makes the Model Team sound MODEL Team.

The van and the mini are nice, the tumbler... has wheels... (2 nice ones, ok) but that is it.. There are many great creations out there amazing and all but perhaps too big and complex for an official model, but this could be a perfect MT come back. Something big enough to create interest, but not too big. Very detailed and beyond the "got wheels" of the tumbler.

And so I learnt I could love MT.

[Kelkschiz]

Welcome to Eurobricks, great entry, well done!

[Paul Boratko]

Fantastic..!

[filsawgood]

Real cool! Looks very realistic!

[Lipko]

I love it.

[legomuppet9]

This is a beautiful model I like how you've made the chassis look great too