1980SomethingSpaceGuy Posted May 25 Posted May 25 (edited) As a motorcycle rider and enthusiast, I like building bikes. I figured the closest thing to a motorcycle that has tracks is a snowmobile, so that's what I went for. I want it large enough to use good old PF, for added RC fun. First iteration for the front: Compact enough, but the skis lack a degree of liberty. Second iteration: Now I'm looking into the tracks. Snowmobile track suspension system is a lot less trivial than it looks: I'm not sure I'll replicate all the subtleties, because it involves a compact torsion spring which simply does not exist in the Technic world. My third iteration on the tracks suspension is a basic parallelogram, so I'm still unhappy: And that's the status for now. Edited June 16 by 1980SomethingSpaceGuy Quote
1980SomethingSpaceGuy Posted June 2 Author Posted June 2 (edited) Some progress here. I struggled a bit to get working geometry, adequate suspension stiffness and global proportions, but things are coming together... The body is still WIP, so see you soon! :) Edited June 5 by 1980SomethingSpaceGuy Quote
2GodBDGlory Posted June 3 Posted June 3 Nice work on the body! I think that was my big struggle when I made a large-scale snowmobile years ago Quote
1980SomethingSpaceGuy Posted June 3 Author Posted June 3 (edited) On 6/2/2025 at 2:07 PM, Paul B Technic said: That is looking good, the red colour works well. Thanks! On 6/3/2025 at 2:08 AM, 2GodBDGlory said: Nice work on the body! I think that was my big struggle when I made a large-scale snowmobile years ago Thanks, I'm still not fully happy with it so I keep iterating... Edited June 6 by 1980SomethingSpaceGuy Quote
1980SomethingSpaceGuy Posted June 5 Author Posted June 5 (edited) Update on the body! I still need bigger gauges... Edited June 7 by 1980SomethingSpaceGuy Quote
Jundis Posted June 5 Posted June 5 This looks great! Really nice panel work and choice of colour. Quote
1980SomethingSpaceGuy Posted June 6 Author Posted June 6 (edited) On 6/5/2025 at 5:42 PM, Jundis said: This looks great! Really nice panel work and choice of colour. Thanks a lot! I figured it looked a bit old school with the headlights on the handlebars, so after a facelift, it shows a more contemporary style: Also, it has gained a name; the Snow Horse. Edited June 7 by 1980SomethingSpaceGuy Quote
MangaNOID Posted June 6 Posted June 6 Looks great! I was wielded out by those grey liftarms for footrests with all the holes showing until I realised why and then it makes sense (live in hot country with no snow) 1/6 scale ish? Good for an action figure? Quote
1980SomethingSpaceGuy Posted June 6 Author Posted June 6 (edited) 1 hour ago, MangaNOID said: Looks great! I was wielded out by those grey liftarms for footrests with all the holes showing until I realised why and then it makes sense (live in hot country with no snow) 1/6 scale ish? Good for an action figure? Thanks a lot! Yeah, those are basically giant cheese graters to rub all ice and snow sticking to your shoes and to offer a decent grip in all conditions. For once, showing holes made sense.. Yes, roughly 1/6; an action figure would fit on; I tried with Darth Vader but his lack of faith in the light side of the force legs flexibility prevents a decent posture for a shot. Edited June 6 by 1980SomethingSpaceGuy Quote
1980SomethingSpaceGuy Posted June 7 Author Posted June 7 (edited) Now that I'm happy with the face, I realized the proportions were not that good. The front legs were too long, the tail too short and narrow. I tried to fix that: This allowed me to bury the battery box one stud lower into the tail, which also corrects the seat height. Edited June 11 by 1980SomethingSpaceGuy Quote
1980SomethingSpaceGuy Posted June 11 Author Posted June 11 (edited) On 6/7/2025 at 12:34 PM, Paul B Technic said: That is looking even better now. Thank you! Since there's always room for improvement and I received a couple parts from Bricklink, a small update: DBG main gears New dashboard Improved skis, side body, handlebars, seat and tail design Bad news is, with the additional weight of the body, it no longer slides on the thick white carpet I meant to use it. Since skis don't work on wood flooring (my only alternative at home), I was forced to integrate small round rubber thingies to the skis. Basically, they only allow the model to be played with indoors. I would have loved to try the Snow Horse on actual snow, but it'll be hard to find in this season. So I hope I'll be forgiven this little bend to the rules... As always, thanks for watching! Edited June 15 by 1980SomethingSpaceGuy Quote
Paul B Technic Posted June 11 Posted June 11 That is really coming along well, it is giving me some ideas for a MOC of my own. Quote
icekusbe Posted June 12 Posted June 12 Wow! The scale, the front suspension, the track suspension, it is all very impressive design. Brings me back to when 8272 snowmobile was published and I marvelled it for weeks. Quote
1980SomethingSpaceGuy Posted June 15 Author Posted June 15 (edited) On 6/12/2025 at 1:34 AM, Paul B Technic said: That is really coming along well, it is giving me some ideas for a MOC of my own. Thanks! Inspiring others to build is one the greatest satisfaction On 6/12/2025 at 6:25 AM, icekusbe said: Wow! The scale, the front suspension, the track suspension, it is all very impressive design. Brings me back to when 8272 snowmobile was published and I marvelled it for weeks. Thank you! Since I chose to implement PF, the required scale dictated the use of 2 parallel tracks. This ended yielding a larger model than initially pictured, after the multiple iterations to improve proportions mentioned above. Still, I'm not perfectly aligned with the proportions or even the exact shape of Ski-Doo's current lineup which served as an inspiration all along this build. I chose to give my model more of a "heads-up" look than modern snowmobiles; I wanted my design to evoke a horse or a motorcycle. In french, we literally call those vehicles "snow motorcycles". Edited June 15 by 1980SomethingSpaceGuy Quote
1980SomethingSpaceGuy Posted June 15 Author Posted June 15 (edited) I keep refining details here and there; face lowered by 1 stud, now integrating dashboard a couple panels added to fill the gaps footrests put at an angle to look less bulky front section of the sled modified to better match actual snowmobiles design Most importantly, the suspensions stiffness is good and the model is fun to RC. Speed is really ok for a stock PF build. I'll make a video soon. Meanwhile, I'm getting out of ideas for details to fix or improve so I took the time today to shoot nice photos. Thanks for watching! Edited June 15 by 1980SomethingSpaceGuy Quote
1980SomethingSpaceGuy Posted June 19 Author Posted June 19 Small video: I need fresh batteries. These should be easy to swap because the build is modular enough: The head, with all its angled panels, is rather simple and solid in the end. It holds with the 2 blue 3L pins in the bottom as long as the steering axle (universal joint): Naked snowmobiles don't look as good as naked motorbikes. Cheers! Quote
1980SomethingSpaceGuy Posted June 24 Author Posted June 24 On 6/19/2025 at 12:58 PM, NV Lego technic said: Great job making it modular! Thanks! Funny how the more they get updated, modified and rebuilt, the more MOCs tend to get modular.. On 6/19/2025 at 9:40 PM, Paul B Technic said: That is looking really good and well built. Thanks Paul! Disaster struck! My PF servo stopped working. I could get yet another one but it's the third of those getting the same issue: not returning to the center. So, since there's still enough time, I decided to update the design: I'll be using both L motors separately and drive the model like a tank. For the steering/skis to operate, I'll implement a subtraction differential setup with a clutch and a center spring (I reckon ice hockey and snowmobiles are a good match). This should actually make this MOC a tad more "Technic", but impacts the whole design; I'll have to redesign the tracks too, adding one stud in between to prevent collisions and making them independent in traction. First iteration was compact enough, but the motors' output shafts not being align proved to be too much of a drawback. So I laid the motors longitudinally and put the differential/clutch in between. I only allowed one extra stud in length (the black 20 gear) to draw power from the motors for the steering gearbox, in order to minimize the gap between the skis and the tracks. I've tried to RC the model with the above system and it works nice. Driving is a bit unique but at least buttons on the controller match motor output and performances are good. Now I have to redesign the body... Quote
Auroralampinen Posted June 24 Posted June 24 2 minutes ago, 1980SomethingSpaceGuy said: ! Disaster struck! My PF servo stopped working. I could get yet another one but it's the third of those getting the same issue: not returning to the center. So, since there's still enough time, I decided to update the design: I'll be using both L motors separately and drive the model like a tank. For the steering/skis to operate, I'll implement a subtraction differential setup with a clutch and a center spring (I reckon ice hockey and snowmobiles are a good match). This should actually make this MOC a tad more "Technic", but impacts the whole design; I'll have to redesign the tracks too, adding one stud in between to prevent collisions and making them independent in traction. Maybe this helps:). Quote
1980SomethingSpaceGuy Posted June 24 Author Posted June 24 16 minutes ago, Auroralampinen said: Maybe this helps:). Thanks! I'll give this a try. But I think I'll stick with the new design for that MOC. The added complexity makes it more relevant for a TC, saves some weight (the added gears and structure are lighter than the servo) and the PF controller's buttons better match motors actions. Quote
1980SomethingSpaceGuy Posted June 28 Author Posted June 28 This has been quite a journey, but I'm done rebuilding this MOC. It's really a 2.0 version; the whole chassis and tracks have been modified. It's a bit more Technic with 3 stages of reduction gears, a differential and a clutch to transform a speed delta between motors (and thus individual tracks) into steering, but consequently a bit less realistic. To make for that, I updated the design to land even closer to an actual snowmobile's shape and proportions. As before, face, seat, side panels, foot rests and the back platform all are easy-to-take-apart sub-assemblies. Video soon. As always, thanks for watching! Quote
Teo LEGO Technic Posted June 29 Posted June 29 This MOC is amazing, it really went through a lot of iterations, but the functionality and looks of the final model are worth it If I'm understanding your steering setup correctly, the two L motors that drive the track also drive either side of a differential, so if one is spinning faster, this causes the diff to spin, and it is connected to the steering rack, and steers the skis, is that correct? Does the white clutch gear have enough resistance to steer the model, or is it too weak? I guess you are intending it to operate while it drives, and primarily on a more slippery surface like your hardwood floor, so it works great for that purpose? Overall, I love it, can't wait to see the final version! (Although it already looks fairly finalized) Quote
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