Creating a Technic scaled model

[Seasider]

Hello all,

please bear with me if this has been asked before. I’d like to attempt to build a scaled mode of a vehicle, predominantly in Technic with some System accents if required. The important part of the build will be the exterior look of the model. I’ve used Sariels scaler and LDD a bit but how do people normally start? And how do people do the overlay images of the virtual brick builds they have over a blueprint?

I’ll also be using a Mac to add a bit of further complexity.

any pointers?

[bj51]

I get the basic dimensions from what I build from documentation or measurments on blueprint if the info is missing (happens a lot). Then I put all the dimensions in an excel file to get lengths to scale (in mm, studs and plates), you can do that with Sariel's tool if you like.

Then, after building a base with the right dimensions (say for instance for a car, put 4 wheels on a basic frame) I try to integrate all the needed functions. And finally, it's free-form building from there to get the right shape, using many images with different angles of what I build.

[TeamThrifty]

If the model has wheels, you have to start with those as they're pretty fixed... choose the lego one's you want to use, that sets your scale.

I never use any tools, just a calculator and a ruler! I know things change, and i started with technic in 1979 and i've always built sets once then immediately take them apart and just moc, moc and more moc. i've always been a seat-of-the-pants builder.. never plan, or try it in LDD etc. Build it, change it, change it again. repeat * 100!! Except for the wheelbase/length/width/height... i know what they need to be. And i always choose the biggest scale (wheels) possible, as i like big!!!

Others will have different ways for sure, for me the fun is in the trial and error and experimentation. I think the only set i've ever built twice was my first, 853, other people build for display etc... as i said, other people will have other (and possibly better!) ways of achieving an end result, as for me its the journey/messing/trying/failing/experimenting.. once finished, it lasts about 2 days before i take it apart! 

I'd say just experiment and find the way that works for you

[Bublehead]

I am right there with @TeamThrifty, wheels set the scale- like the tires from Arocs, used as semi truck tires can be 45 inches to 49 inches in height depending on if you make the 7.75 stud diameter represent R22,5 or R24.5 tires, respectively. This gives a rough scale of 1.9 to 2 studs per foot which you then use to determine width which has to be an odd number so you find the closest odd number nearest to (width in feet of real vehicle x 2).  A semi truck is 8.5 feet wide so 8.5x2 = 17 studs. Or using the 1.9 stud per foot would give 16.15 studs. So you are still going to probably go 17 studs wide.  The Arocs stretches the scale a little since it was 17 studs wide at the cabin, 19 wide including fenders, 21 wide including mirrors, where a true semi should not be over 17 studs wide at the fenders.  Height of a semi is 13.5 feet so 13.5x2=27 studs, so scale height should not exceed that but could be as low as 26.   So if you do the math, and measure, the Arocs pneumatic scoop arm is WAY out of scale height wise. This is one reason my Twirl & Hurl is a bit tall in scale as well, since I figure if TLG can get away with it, so can I.    

[mocbuild101]

1 hour ago, TeamThrifty said:

If the model has wheels, you have to start with those as they're pretty fixed... choose the lego one's you want to use, that sets your scale.

+1 that's really the only definite advice there is... (in my opinion)

[Seasider]

Thanks for your detailed replies.

The wheels/tyres will be Porsche/Bugatti ones which I believe are the same size and from my estimations the same scale.

but for the project I’m talking about the exterior shape is the critical part. So I was after what process to the expert modellers here use to create the body shape and then do overlays on the blueprints?

the chassis is the easy part

[Bublehead]

Yeah, some use blueprints at the right scale and match their MOC to it by building on top of it or comparing it.  Some just eyeball it. Some get their calipers out and gnats butt every dimension. It’s all a matter of personal experience and preferences.

[TeamThrifty]

4 hours ago, Seasider said:

the chassis is the easy part

Nah, chassis is the best, most technic part!! (i'm in Team Function, i like and admire form, but nothing compares to a complex technical chassis.. and if its pretty as well? excellent, if not.. i can live with it!! )

[Erik Leppen]

8 hours ago, Seasider said:

how do people do the overlay images of the virtual brick builds they have over a blueprint

Take a drawing program and draw a grid over your model where 1 grid cell is 1 x 1 stud. Then, mark important stuff with extra lines. Then, lay these markers out in a Lego Cad program (I use MLCAD), and work around that. For example,

 

As soon as I picked the wheels, I drew a grid over a blueprint to find out the size of the entire thing and some relevant measurements (red lines). I put the wheels and a few lines in MLCAD and I know how much room I have to work with.

 

From there, the actual sizes will be dictated by the room I need for functions, or the sizes of Technic panels, etc.

[Leonardo da Bricki]

I tend to scale a model based on the Unchangeable Part (wheel rims/detail part). After that... I jam in the wanted functions, eyeball the looks, and let @M_longer tell me what needs to be changed.  Then I simplify the model, make it look better, (repeat as needed) and call it good. Until I decide that this part could be swapped with this one, and that area could use...

[offroadcreations]

I don't think there is one right way to do it, but I start by picking one thing that can't be changed, usually tires. Next I pull up a blueprint of what I'm building on my computer and resize it to the size of the actual model. Then I build and hold the model up to the screen to check along the way. However I don't build perfect scale models, so when I think it's close enough I go off on my own to finish the build without the blueprints.