UCS Helicarrier

[TheBrickHitHouse]

Anyone having any issues with the power functions?

Lights work fine but the blades spin for a bit, and not that smoothly, and then grind to a halt after which the motor just seems to die: switching it on/off doesn't cause the blades to spin. If I then disconnect the motor and try again I get the same effect: blades spin for a few seconds then the motor just dies.

I thought maybe there was excess friction but the blades work fine being operated manually and I rebuilt the gear system too.

Hmm.

[mediumsnowman]

I would reccomend seeing if the problem isn't in the drive train, but if the rotors are pushed down too much. Make sure there is some room for them to spin without touching whatever connects it to the hull.

[yys4u]

Anyone having any issues with the power functions?

Lights work fine but the blades spin for a bit, and not that smoothly, and then grind to a halt after which the motor just seems to die: switching it on/off doesn't cause the blades to spin. If I then disconnect the motor and try again I get the same effect: blades spin for a few seconds then the motor just dies.

I thought maybe there was excess friction but the blades work fine being operated manually and I rebuilt the gear system too.

Hmm.

Did you ever find a solution to this? I am having the same problem and can get it to spin for about a minute but it sounds really choppy. I saw a vid on youtube where it ran flawlessly.

[ReZourceman]

That might be my video you saw (LEGO Burst) as I just had a comment on it to that effect.

I'm afraid I cannot think what the problem might be. Axels all perfectly in place? Sounds weird to start and then stop though. Maybe try different batteries? Could be altering speed of motor...dunno.

[yys4u]

That might be my video you saw (LEGO Burst) as I just had a comment on it to that effect.

I'm afraid I cannot think what the problem might be. Axels all perfectly in place? Sounds weird to start and then stop though. Maybe try different batteries? Could be altering speed of motor...dunno.

Yup I just checked that was your video lol. My batteries were brand new energizer.

Yea it starts and it just seems like eventually the friction overcomes the torque of the motor and stops. Unfortunately I don't know if the axles are correctly done as my friends helped me build the set and he did the interior. I was messing with the fans but I might have to try to look closer inside.

[Paperballpark]

Sorry to revive an old topic, but was there ever a review done for this on Eurobricks? I can't find one, despite an extensive search, so if there is, please could someone provide a link to is?

Thanks!

Edited February 17, 2016 by Paperballpark

[mediumsnowman]

Sorry to revive an old topic, but was there ever a review done for this on Eurobricks? I can't find one, despite an extensive search, so if there is, please could someone provide a link to is?

Thanks!

I don't think there was one. The best pictorial reviews I've seen for this set were probably Rebrickable's and Brickset's.

http://rebrickable.com/blog/2015/review-lego-76042-shield-helicarrier

http://brickset.com/article/14120/review-76042-shield-helicarrier-part-1

http://brickset.com/article/14238/review-76042-shield-helicarrier-part-2

Now, if somone wants to supply me with a free copy, I could probably write up a review for Eurobricks...

[Forresto]

I'm not a marvel fan but the helicarrier interests me. Would people recommend it for a non fan of the franchise or no?

[wgemini]

I'm not a marvel fan but the helicarrier interests me. Would people recommend it for a non fan of the franchise or no?

It's overpriced for certain although not as much as the PPP indicates. The plastic (san box and instruction) weighs 3883g, which makes it 9c/g. Both the Sandcrawler and Slave 1 are actually more expensive per g. However, the death star (6.85c/g) and Ferris Wheel (8.26c/g) are both cheaper.

It is also not even nanofigure scaled, but close to the 1:360 scale (assuming the helicarrier is shorter than a Nimitz class at 950ft). A nanofigure is about 1.5cm tall, which makes it about 1:120 scale. The helicarrier needs to be 3 times bigger to be in nanofigure scale.

Having said that, it's a very nice, imposing ship and although fictional, it's close to an aircraft carrier (and in the movie, it did function as a sea faring ship). The nanofigures and micro planes are still better scaled than mini-figures in a lot of the other large ships.

I'd say if you can pick one up in Alberta ($400 CAD + 5% tax = $300USD) on double VIP days (another $40CAD), I'd recommend it just as an navy vessel.

BTW, has anybody modded the ship to add lift, living quarters and labs? It has so much empty space that can be used.

Edited February 19, 2016 by wgemini

[mediumsnowman]

BTW, has anybody modded the ship to add lift, living quarters and labs? It has so much empty space that can be used.

Minifigure illusion scale or nano-figure scale? I added a minifigure control room but I took it out because I didn't like it. Though a nano lab sounds intriguing... I'll have to take a look at that.

[wgemini]

Minifigure illusion scale or nano-figure scale? I added a minifigure control room but I took it out because I didn't like it. Though a nano lab sounds intriguing... I'll have to take a look at that.

Nano figure scale. I don't think mini figure will work very well given the scale. The problem is that I don't know how easy it will be to make nano scale stuff since most lego pieces are designed for minifigures.

[Forresto]

It's overpriced for certain although not as much as the PPP indicates. The plastic (san box and instruction) weighs 3883g, which makes it 9c/g. Both the Sandcrawler and Slave 1 are actually more expensive per g. However, the death star (6.85c/g) and Ferris Wheel (8.26c/g) are both cheaper.

It is also not even nanofigure scaled, but close to the 1:360 scale (assuming the helicarrier is shorter than a Nimitz class at 950ft). A nanofigure is about 1.5cm tall, which makes it about 1:120 scale. The helicarrier needs to be 3 times bigger to be in nanofigure scale.

Having said that, it's a very nice, imposing ship and although fictional, it's close to an aircraft carrier (and in the movie, it did function as a sea faring ship). The nanofigures and micro planes are still better scaled than mini-figures in a lot of the other large ships.

I'd say if you can pick one up in Alberta ($400 CAD + 5% tax = $300USD) on double VIP days (another $40CAD), I'd recommend it just as an navy vessel.

BTW, has anybody modded the ship to add lift, living quarters and labs? It has so much empty space that can be used.

Thank you for the intricate answer especially since this would be a big buy. I have much to consider.

[GoldenNinja3000]

Thanks for the suggestion

There will be still the scale issue with the exterior. I do realize it would be very difficult to make a Minifigure-scale version of the Helicarrier

I'm actually working on a figure compatible version. It looks like the Helicarrier but you can use figures inside. One room is the control room, then there's the lifeboat docking from AoU, and then at the back I have Loki's staff and holding cell with a bunch of computers. I'm almost done with it, but I don't think it looks that great and I'll be buying the official one in the next few weeks.

[biyitch]

I found this thread when I had the same friction problem. Without an answer, I investigated the gearing for myself and found the solution was actually pretty straightforward.

I took out one of the rotors and found there was a lot of drag when turning the grey cylinder. It turns out I'd pressed the small cog hard against the black Technic joint. Pull the small cog towards the large cog half a millimetre and it frees up the mechanism.

Repeat³ and I now have free-moving rotors.

Edited April 5, 2016 by biyitch