pow Posted January 31, 2023 Posted January 31, 2023 The le Mans racer is well done. Front and rear are brilliant. And everything in between connects the two parts very coherently. I have to admit, the racer somehow slipped under my radar, which is why I'm only writing about it now. The curved slopes at the front are a hit! And it has the right indoor speed, in my opinion. I'm not that into trucks. But apart from the narrow cabin, it's a really coherent and clever build. I think it's great what you were able to model with lift arms (especially the radiator grille - simple and consistent). Quote
DavejspTechnicMOCs Posted January 31, 2023 Author Posted January 31, 2023 (edited) <- Back to Index of Davejsp's Technic MOCs thread 42099 Sand Runner Rebuild your Lego Technic "4x4 X-treme Off-roader" set 42099 into an RC off-road buggy called "Sand Runner" alternative model. About: This was one of the first alternate builds I designed for the 42099, and it shows some of the characteristics you'd expect from an early exploration of an inventory, certain sections more refined than others and design decisions that taught me things I carried forward into later builds. The MOC looks good and performs desent, but it's also an honest snapshot of where my skills were at the time. The 42099 inventory includes four planetary wheel hubs with a 5:1 reduction ratio, a lot of torque, but at the cost of dramatically reduced speed. I chose to leave them out of the rear drivetrain entirely and instead run RWD through a differential with a final gear ratio of 2.34:1, which gives a much more satisfying balance of speed and pulling power. Remote-controlled drive and steering, independent suspension on all four wheels, and ground clearance of 4 studs at the front axle and 5 at the rear make it genuinely capable off-road. The hub power button is accessible from the driver's cabin, batteries swap from underneath without obstruction. The most valuable lesson this build taught me came from the transmission. The gear path I used involved more stages than necessary, and the consequences were immediate and instructive: friction, mechanical play, backlash, and lost performance at every unnecessary mesh point. Every RC car I've built since has had a leaner, more direct drivetrain as a result. Photos: Full parts list, a video, and the PDF building instructions are available on my website davejsptechnicmocs.com Edited June 20 by DavejspTechnicMOCs Updated with better pictures Quote
DavejspTechnicMOCs Posted February 3, 2023 Author Posted February 3, 2023 (edited) <- Back to Index of Davejsp's Technic MOCs thread 42095 Baja Racer Rebuild your Lego Technic "Stunt Racer" set 42095 into an RC off-road Baja Racer/Trophy Truck alternative model. About: It was still early in my return to building, my parts pool was limited to the few sets I'd acquired since coming out of my dark age, and the 42095 kept offering up new possibilities every time I came back to it. I had several ideas floating around for that inventory, and this was one of them, a trophy truck style off-roader, another learning exercise in a sequence of builds that were each pushing my skills a little forward. The mechanical layout follows the same pattern as the 42095 Racing Buggy: RWD driven by one PF L-motor, auto-centering steering handled by a second PF L-motor, lightweight construction with a low parts count. Ground clearance is decent for off-roading, the power button is easy to reach, and batteries can be swapped with a quick partial disassembly. Simple and effective. What changed between the Racing Buggy and this one is mostly in the shaping, the Baja Racer has the proportions and stance of a trophy truck, which gave me a different set of visual problems to solve from the same bag of parts. Getting that silhouette right within the constraints of the 42095 inventory was the exercise, and it's one I enjoyed. Photos: Full parts list, a video, and the PDF building instructions are available on my website davejsptechnicmocs.com Edited June 22 by DavejspTechnicMOCs Updated text and pictures Quote
DavejspTechnicMOCs Posted February 12, 2023 Author Posted February 12, 2023 (edited) <- Back to Index of Davejsp's Technic MOCs thread 8048 RC Dune Buggy This MOC is a motorized alternative model for the 2010 LEGO® Technic Buggy (set 8048). It is built primarily using parts from the original set, with the addition of a few Power Functions components, to make this remote-controlled Dune Buggy Model. About: Much the same story as the 42095 Baja Racer MOC, still in the early phase of rebuilding my parts pool after the dark age, still finding new ideas in the sets I already owned. The 8048 is an inventory I kept returning to for the same reasons I've mentioned before: it sits at that interesting midpoint between the old skeletal studded style and the modern covered aesthetic, and it lends itself naturally to conventional RC vehicle designs. This Dune Buggy is another exploration of that, and a companion piece of sorts to the 8048 RC Roadster. It uses only the parts from the original set plus a few Power Functions components, which makes it one of the more accessible builds in this thread for anyone who already owns the 8048. The mechanical layout is straightforward: RWD through a solid rear axle at a 1:1 gear ratio driven by a single PF L-motor, front-wheel steering via a PF servo, and independent double wishbone front suspension. The 1:1 ratio keeps things simple and the lightweight build makes it responsive and fun to drive. Power button is easy to reach and batteries swap out quickly. Photos: Full parts list, a video, and the PDF building instructions are available on my website davejsptechnicmocs.com Edited June 22 by DavejspTechnicMOCs Updated text and pictures Quote
DavejspTechnicMOCs Posted June 22 Author Posted June 22 <- Back to Index of Davejsp's Technic MOCs thread 42037 Quad Bike Rebuild your Lego Technic "Formula Off-Roader" set 42037 into an Quad Bike alternative model. Background context: This set was another early purchase after coming out of my dark age, and the story behind acquiring it is almost identical to the 8048: spotted a used one going cheap online and bought it as a parts pack. What changed my plans was going to look for existing alternate builds afterward and finding almost nothing, like three MOCs for a set that's been out since 2015. So I thought, maybe I can contributte with something... Chapter 1: What to build? The first thing that pops up are the wheels, they're enormous, and they set the scale reference for everything else. With wheels that size, there aren't enough fairings in the set to build a fully covered vehicle, and going with a buggy or hot rod would have been too close to the original model's territory. At some point the idea clicked: a quad bike was a natural fit for both the parts and the color scheme, and that became the direction. Chapter 2: What functions to include? The Formula Off-Roader inventory has an interesting mix of pieces for its era. A functional fake engine connected to the rear wheels, rear axle suspension, independent front suspension, and steering all seemed achievable, it was then a matter of squeezing as much details as possible out of the available parts. Chapter 3: Fake engine block Both the original model and its B-model use an inline-4 style fake engine, but that makes no sense on a quad bike. I started with the idea of a 2-cylinder, but wanted to make proper use of all four pistons available, so I went with a V4. The set is missing certain pieces that would normally make a V-type engine straightforward to build, so getting the spacing and angles right took several attempts. The result is a compact V4 fake engine that works well within the constraints. Chapter 4: Rear axle and transmission Most quad bikes use a simple solid rear axle driven by a chain, but this set has no chain pieces. I could have kept things simple anyway, but I wanted to use the differential available in the inventory, which meant building a conventional transmission with a universal joint and a supporting frame to handle the differential and suspension properly. It looks unconventional, but it's there for sturdiness and functionality rather than aesthetics. Chapter 5: Front wheels, steering and suspension I wanted the entire front section, wheels, suspension, steering, to sit at an angle, which meant building it as a self-contained module and attaching it to the main chassis at that angle. The techniques themselves are standard, but the challenge was managing an increasingly depleted parts pool while trying to fit steering and independent suspension into very tight remaining space. It wasn't easy. Chapter 6: Bodywork The set has a reasonable number of fairings, but split across two contrasting colors. Rather than fight that, I leaned into it, one color at the front, another at the rear. The rear design came together quickly, but the front required several iterations before settling on a version I was happy enough with. Chapter 7: Details The set has no trans-red pieces, so the tail lights are represented using red pins and axles, a small creative workaround that reads well in context. The exhaust and muffler are built from pin connectors, and a few liftarms shape the fuel tank. The steering handlebar, headlights, and a bull bar round out the front end. The bull bar in particular went through several versions; by that stage the available connectors and axles were nearly exhausted, and I had to accept a solution I'm not entirely satisfied with rather than compromise the rest of the model. Sometimes that's how it goes. Full parts list, a video, and the PDF building instructions are available on my website davejsptechnicmocs.com Quote
2GodBDGlory Posted June 22 Posted June 22 Looks nice! That was the second Technic set I bought, so it's rather nostalgic for me Quote
DavejspTechnicMOCs Posted June 23 Author Posted June 23 19 hours ago, 2GodBDGlory said: Looks nice! That was the second Technic set I bought, so it's rather nostalgic for me Thanks! The 42037 didn't get much attention, maybe it's the color scheme putting people off, maybe it's something else, but I think it's underrated. The inventory has some really useful pieces for building car chassis, which made it a lot of fun to work with. Hopefully this quad bike alt build helps place more eyes on the set. Quote
DavejspTechnicMOCs Posted June 30 Author Posted June 30 <- Back to Index of Davejsp's Technic MOCs thread 42140 Racing Ripsaw Rebuild your "Transformation Vehicle" set 42140 into a remote-controlled "Racing Ripsaw"! About: This was actually my first alternate build for the 42140. The original model is already a kind of ripsaw, but I wanted to build a classic ripsaw, but styled for racing rather than utility, and pushed as far as the inventory would allow. My first instinct on gearing was to configure the set's gears for a 1:1.67 speed ratio, the same approach I used on the rally car, but thinking it through further, the tracks already carry a lot of inherent friction and drag from themselves so there would be a lot of wasted energy, and gearing down for torque would have made the model too slow for what I wanted. So I went gearless instead, a direct 1:1 ratio driving the larger rear sprocket wheels, which gives a better balance of speed and torque without the extra friction. I also made ground clearance a deliberate priority from the start, 4 studs is generous for this scale, and it's there specifically to give the model real off-road capability rather than just looking the part. I wanted to put the set's shock absorbers to use as well, so each track gets one at the front, with enough travel to keep the tracks properly tensioned without loosening up too much. The curved panels went into shaping an aerodynamic front nose, and the driver's cabin has a roof that opens to reach the hub's power button directly, which also made it easy to keep battery swapping accessible from underneath with no obstructions. At one point the build was largely finished but the rear end felt flat and visually boring, adding a non-functional V8-style block back there solved that; it doesn't do anything mechanically, but it completes the design and the whole model looks better with it in place. The rear spoiler wasn't part of the original plan either, I had some leftover parts and it just made sense to use them. Full parts list, a video, and the PDF building instructions are available on my website davejsptechnicmocs.com Quote
DavejspTechnicMOCs Posted July 9 Author Posted July 9 <- Back to Index of Davejsp's Technic MOCs thread 42049 Telehandler Rebuild your "Mine Loader" set 42049 into a "Telehandler" alternate model! About: After spending so many years away from LEGO and then coming back to discover everything I'd missed, certain sets just get your attention faster than others. The 42049 Mine Loader was one of them, a small budget set with a vehicle design that felt different from everything else in the lineup at the time. I found a used one, picked it up, and quickly realized the inventory was well suited to machinery-style builds: sturdy, functional pieces without a lot of the aesthetic-focused elements. The idea for a Telehandler came from the large turntable piece in the set. The moment I saw it I could picture it being used to elevate a boom and hold it at virtually any angle without it creeping back down, instead of pre-defined positions. From there it became a challenge: how many functions could I pack into a Telehandler at this scale, using only what this inventory offered? The answer turned out to be quite a few. The model includes an openable cabin door and engine compartment, a functional fake engine, hand of God steering, deployable outriggers, a boom lift and extension, attachment tilt for the forks, and adjustable forks. Each of those required its own solution within the constraints of the parts pool, and getting them all to coexist in a compact, coherent model was the puzzle that made this build one of the more satisfying projects I've taken on. Photos: Full parts list, a video, and the PDF building instructions are available on my website davejsptechnicmocs.com Quote
DavejspTechnicMOCs Posted Saturday at 06:15 PM Author Posted Saturday at 06:15 PM (edited) <- Back to Index of Davejsp's Technic MOCs thread 42109 "Racing Cabriolet" Breathe new life into your Lego Technic "Top Gear Rally Car" set 42109 by rebuilding it into a remote-controlled "Racing Cabriolet"! About: This was my first alternate build for the 42109, and also my first real experience with the set, getting to know its inventory took some time. In my opinion, the 42109 is a difficult set to work with: few gears, few liftarms, few connectors, a reasonable number of fairings and panels but in colors that don't help much, and a bulky XL-motor that takes up a disproportionate amount of space and forces compromises everywhere around it. For this first attempt I made a decision I've never repeated on any other build: I started constructing without a clear idea of what I wanted to make. I built an RC chassis first, the L-motor driving the rear axle, the XL-motor handling steering from the front where there was more room to fit it, and then worked out what to wrap around it afterward. It's an unconventional way to approach a build and the result reflects that. I covered the chassis as well as I could at the time and ended up with a cabriolet body, which suited the proportions well enough. It's a decently realized model. The hub button is reachable without disassembly, batteries swap from underneath cleanly, and there's a basic interior adding some detail the original model lacks. This build gave me clarity about how to approach an alternate build, and every subsequent MOC from this set is substantially better for that lesson. Render of the chassis with the Powered Up electric elements, drive and steering mechanisms in place. Photos: Full parts list, a video, and the PDF building instructions are available on my website davejsptechnicmocs.com Edited Saturday at 06:16 PM by DavejspTechnicMOCs Quote
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