7 replies to this topic

[SpaceMonkey]

Hi guys. I've finished the LDraw design of my military Humvee. It seats four plus a gunner, and features an engine, hinged front hood, opening and removable doors, opening rear hatch, a stowed spare tire in the rear compartment, roof-mounted 50-cal., and can be converted between a regular version, a square-backed 'command' version, and a stripped down spec ops version (as shown below).



[Flickr Gallery]

My design was influenced by the excellent Humvees of MrYoder and Tam Antony. I basically wanted to combine the overall look of MrYoder's model with the more regular building style of Tam Antony's model, while also making it easy to quickly change between the regular and spec ops versions. It may be a while before I get parts for this one (I'm still waiting on parts for my Little Bird helicopter) so please feel free to suggest improvements.

Edited by Rufus, 16 July 2011 - 07:24 PM.
Indexed

[Ralph_S]

Like the ones you based it on it looks rather big compared to the size of the minifigs, but that's a personal preference I suppose. I love the level of detail and the way you've recessed the doors on the armament carrier version. I do have a few suggestions.

The sloped rear on the armament carrier looks too steep to me. I think it would look better if it were just a bit flatter, either using stepped plate or a 20 degree slope with cheese slopes at the aft end instead of the 33 degree slopes.  Mike Yoder's 75 degree slope mounted at 90 degrees also works better IMO.

All of these including the armament carrier would benefit from having the lower tailgate built into the back as well.

I look forward to seeing the brick-built versions.

Cheers,
Ralph

[Big Cam]

It looks great, also very similar to this recently built MOC
http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=35143

Sublte differances, but this is making me more and more wish that LEGO would make a military theme and produce some Hummers.

[Milan]

These Hummers are sure popular these days!
Nice, as good as all of your creations!
I would suggest to move the front axle forward a little bit!

[SpaceMonkey]

Ralph_S, on Nov 13 2009, 11:40 PM, said:

Like the ones you based it on it looks rather big compared to the size of the minifigs, but that's a personal preference I suppose. I love the level of detail and the way you've recessed the doors on the armament carrier version. I do have a few suggestions.

Thanks. I like your 6-wide model and I have a 6-wide design in my Brickshelf folder too. But 6-wide would definitely look out of scale next to my DPVs and I also wanted a model that would seat 4 minifigs.

Ralph_S, on Nov 13 2009, 11:40 PM, said:

The sloped rear on the armament carrier looks too steep to me. I think it would look better if it were just a bit flatter, either using stepped plate or a 20 degree slope with cheese slopes at the aft end instead of the 33 degree slopes.  Mike Yoder's 75 degree slope mounted at 90 degrees also works better IMO.

You're absolutely right that the slope is a bit steep. Thanks for pointing that out. I've since tried out several different options for changing it, but I've finally decided to stick with the 1x3 slopes. Flattening it out using different slopes did make it a little more accurate, but in the end I think I just prefer the look of the steeper slopes. It was definitely worth trying out though so thanks again for the suggestion.

I've also made another configuration with a square back and hatch using storage boxes on the sides. (I would upload a pic but Brickshelf seems to have temporarily disabled uploading for some reason.)

Ralph_S, on Nov 13 2009, 11:40 PM, said:

All of these including the armament carrier would benefit from having the lower tailgate built into the back as well.

I have tried this too but a hinged tailgate would either protrude too far rearwards, or if recessed would get in the way of the stored spare tire.

Big Cam, on Nov 14 2009, 01:19 AM, said:

It looks great, also very similar to this recently built MOC
http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=35143

Sublte differances, but this is making me more and more wish that LEGO would make a military theme and produce some Hummers.

Thanks. That linked Humvee design is one of the two I mentioned in my first post as an influence on my design. In a way I'm kind of glad Lego don't offer a military theme, as if they did I probably wouldn't be motivated to design my own!

Milan, on Nov 14 2009, 02:05 AM, said:

These Hummers are sure popular these days!
Nice, as good as all of your creations!
I would suggest to move the front axle forward a little bit!

Thanks, and good point on the axle. I looked at moving it as it is a tiny bit too far back, but even a half-stud change is a bit much and gets in the way of the front bullbar and hood hinging mechanism.

Edited by SpaceMonkey, 15 November 2009 - 11:10 AM.

[Ralph_S]

Quote

Like the ones you based it on it looks rather big compared to the size of the minifigs, but that's a personal preference I suppose. I love the level of detail and the way you've recessed the doors on the armament carrier version. I do have a few suggestions.

SpaceMonkey, on Nov 15 2009, 12:08 PM, said:

Thanks. I like your 6-wide model and I have a 6-wide design in my Brickshelf folder too. But 6-wide would definitely look out of scale next to my DPVs and I also wanted a model that would seat 4 minifigs.

I'm sorry I didn't see your reply sooner. I can understand that you want your vehicle to fit well together with other vehicles you already have. I tend to build my minifig scale stuff quite small (well, smaller than many other people anyway), so my HumVee had to be 6 wide to fit into my collection.

Quote

The sloped rear on the armament carrier looks too steep to me. I think it would look better if it were just a bit flatter, either using stepped plate or a 20 degree slope with cheese slopes at the aft end instead of the 33 degree slopes. Mike Yoder's 75 degree slope mounted at 90 degrees also works better IMO.

Quote

You're absolutely right that the slope is a bit steep. Thanks for pointing that out. I've since tried out several different options for changing it, but I've finally decided to stick with the 1x3 slopes. Flattening it out using different slopes did make it a little more accurate, but in the end I think I just prefer the look of the steeper slopes. It was definitely worth trying out though so thanks again for the suggestion.

I've also made another configuration with a square back and hatch using storage boxes on the sides. (I would upload a pic but Brickshelf seems to have temporarily disabled uploading for some reason.)

Brickshelf has been a bit iffy in the last few years. Part of the reason why I use flickr. When building a model of a real vehicle you always have to strike a balance between accuracy and complexity.

Quote

All of these including the armament carrier would benefit from having the lower tailgate built into the back as well.

Quote

I have tried this too but a hinged tailgate would either protrude too far rearwards, or if recessed would get in the way of the stored spare tire.

I'm pretty sure it is possible to find a design for a hatch that doesn't stick out and that doesn't take up valuable internal space. Lego have done us a big favour by introducing the plate 1x2 with handle on end and the plate 1x2 with handle. In combination with the plate 1x1 with clip horizontal they make for excellent hinges. I have no idea whether these are available in digital designer, however.


Cheers,
Ralph

[SpaceMonkey]

Ralph_S, on Nov 20 2009, 02:38 AM, said:

I'm sorry I didn't see your reply sooner. I can understand that you want your vehicle to fit well together with other vehicles you already have. I tend to build my minifig scale stuff quite small (well, smaller than many other people anyway), so my HumVee had to be 6 wide to fit into my collection.

That's cool. My first version of a Humvee design (here) was 6-wide. Back then 4-wide seemed to be the standard for Lego minifig vehicles, and of course a Humvee had to be a little wider than that. You can see in my Brickshelf and Flickr galleries that some of my early military MOCs were also built to this 4-wide scale. But that seems to have changed now, and even regular vehicles are now being released by Lego as 6-wide. I think this is an improvement as it allows for more detail and accuracy, even if it makes the minifigs a little small rather than a little large in comparison.

Ralph_S, on Nov 20 2009, 02:38 AM, said:

I'm pretty sure it is possible to find a design for a hatch that doesn't stick out and that doesn't take up valuable internal space. Lego have done us a big favour by introducing the plate 1x2 with handle on end and the plate 1x2 with handle. In combination with the plate 1x1 with clip horizontal they make for excellent hinges. I have no idea whether these are available in digital designer, however.

I use LDraw, not LDD! I always start a MOC with certain specific goals/priorities in mind. An opening tailgate wasn't on my list, but after you suggested it I did look at several ways of incorporating one, including using the handles and clips you suggest. There are ways of doing it, but everything I tried ended up compromising something that was a higher priority for me (such as the towbar positioning, storage for the spare tire, and rear structural integrity). It would be nice, and can be done, but I've decided not to include one.

I was hoping to have pics up by now of both the Humvees and my Little Birds, but I've had some unfortunate delays. The final BrickLink order for my helicopters seems to have been lost in the post so I've had to re-order the final parts. And another store sent me the wrong wheels (55982 instead of 55981) for the Humvees, so I've had to place an extra order for those too. So it will be at least another week before I'll have more pics. Though I do have both the helicopters and Humvees half-built and they're looking good so far.

Edited by SpaceMonkey, 23 November 2009 - 01:31 PM.

[SpaceMonkey]

The final parts order arrived yesterday, so here are some pics of my completed Humvees:

Edited by SpaceMonkey, 03 December 2009 - 03:00 PM.