Little American Truck

[Appie]

Here's another small creation I spend some time on the past few weeks.

A small American truck:

I had a few wishes before I made this model.

- Had to be 7 studs wide.

- Had to use these tires, because they are the only tire size I know of that have good looking "truck (double) wheels" for the rear axles and good looking single tires for the front wheels.

- Small fake engine

- Maximum steering range possible

- Steering controlled from the 5th wheel (why will become obvious later)

- Openable doors and interior

I got this in the model, though some are not the most pretty. Especially the wheelarches at the front are a bit big.

First of all, making the wheel arch a full stud lower would touch the wheels. Lowering it half a stud is something I didn't even really look into, because I am getting pretty tired of the "half stud issue" that plagues pretty much all my models

The rear part of the wheelarch is that far behind the wheel due to the steering mechanism. There is space to move it 1 stud closer to the front wheel, but I wouldn't know how to fix it in place while still keeping room for the steering rack. Considering I have alot of "old Technic" parts I used some vintage steering solutions for this model combined with modern parts.

On the other hand though I do kind of like this wheelarch, because it reminds me of the wheelarches of old cars

I could have settled for a smaller steering angle, but I didn't want to. I also had to keep the steering solution low due to the fake L4 engine above it

A known concept for a small engine that I crammed in here. The hood is open for 2 reasons: I like to see stuff moving and because the hood would otherwise be too high for the model. I tried to mimic a curved top on the hood by have it go from 2 to 3 studs. I did have a desire to make a openable hood, but I couldn't figure out a way to make that structurally sound.

Openable doors and an interior. The chairs are actually linked to the red triangular half liftarms on the outside keeping them (and the chairs) at that angle.

The belly shot, which also provides another look at the steering

That 8T gear is actually connected to a 16T idler gear on the steering axle to transfer it to another 8T gear going to the L4 engine.

The truck is only driven from the 2 left rear wheels, since I can't fit a diff in this scale I figured this was the next best thing to still keep a nice steering angle.

As you can see the outer ring of the small turntable, the "5th wheel", is connected to a black bevel gear which controls the steering. The reason for the axle in the centre of the small turntable is for the trailer.

The trailer is a loaded with liftarms, that's partially because I only had 2x 3x11 panels from my 42029 and because of the white line on the truck which I continued on the trailer. The white line on the truck was actually an afterthought. The truck was completely red before, but that looked rather dull imo so messing around with some lines I decided this pattern on the truck was a nice break from all the red.

This isn't just a trailer. This is a trailer that gives the truck RC possibilties.

This was another wish I had for the model. I wanted to build a truck that was a non PF model on its own, yet had the option of being remote controlled with a trailer. The small turntable was an obvious choice for me because with that the truck on its own looks like it has a pretty decent looking 5th wheel which also allows to be used as a control to steer the vehicle. It also allowed me to have 2 functions (drive and steer) crammed into one spot on the model. I didn't want to see universal joints at the rear of the trailer going to the truck for steering, because that has been done and I don't like the look of that, so it had to go through the 5th wheel.

The black bevel gear at the front of the trailer is to secure the steering of the 8T gear. Of course the trailer turns as well, but since steering is done with a M motor you're basically "re-adjusting" steering every step of the turn.

The length of the trailer is based on what "felt right". This meant that I had plenty of space in the trailer for all the stuff. I got pretty lazy and just used some universal joints to link the motors

I also made a very small video of the model (battery of phone ran out )

I couldn't make a video of the model going in reverse. It does some gear grinding then. Something I can't seem to really fix, because Lego decided to make a square hole in the small turntable instead of a round one, which I could have used to secure that drive axle on the 2.5 stud high rear chassis some more. Considering I don't like driving it in reverse anyway (I am not a master of turning with a trailer ), I am just going to leave it.

[jorgeopesi]

Awesome small MOC congratulations :thumbup: .

Edited March 22, 2015 by jorgeopesi

[Graydingo]

do want! instructions pls!

[vmln8r]

The transfer of control from the trailer to the truck is wonderfully done; how does it go, reliability wise? The details are also pretty spectacular at this scale. Great work!

Edited March 22, 2015 by VMLN8R

[Jay Psi]

That's really nice for a small scale MOC. I especially like the use of double split connectors as large (on this scale) mirrors!

[Appie]

Thanks everybody.

I personally like the mirrors as well, the model felt a little empty without them and this part looked pretty good for the scale and was easy to mount.

do want! instructions pls!

I'll see what I can do in the next few days.

The transfer of control from the trailer to the truck is wonderfully done; how does it go, reliability wise? The details are also pretty spectacular at this scale. Great work!

Forward it is pretty reliable, rarely a little hickup when steering. Steering is a little slow when it's completely to the left and the trailer being at an angle too and you want to go right, but that's something I could easly fix by changing the 24T gear on the worm gear in the trailer for a smaller gear.

[Askan]

This is awesome! Small but packed with clever function. And cool looks with minimalistic approach.

[Jeroen Ottens]

The truck is not the cleanest design, but the combination with the trailer is awesome . It really brings the model to the next level.

[Splat]

Great work getting the truck to be controlled manually, yet remote controlled once the trailer is attached

[Rishab N]

Awesome design. I was very surprised that it was able to be motorized

[Omikron]

We need more small and compact MOCs like this in the Hall of Fame

[Coola1]

Truly another level of skill, incredible idea and system for motorizing, awesome job!

[Appie]

Thanks everybody for the kind words.

The truck is not the cleanest design, but the combination with the trailer is awesome . It really brings the model to the next level.

What parts need improving on the truck do you think?

[Omikron]

What parts need improving on the truck do you think?

Bodywork under the doors. It looks like it was forced to match the pin holes, thus the angle.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Omikron

[Appie]

The angle actually isn't forced, the only reason I worked with the angle is because that 5L thin liftarm wouldn't line up otherwise. If I wanted to force stuff, I would have forced that half stud too and linked that thin 5L liftarm ina different way than I did now since it would make my life a whole lot easier. It was the first thing I build before doing anything else on the model. If I remove the pin holding the 5L red thin liftarm together with the triangular red thin liftarm, that is the place it will fall on the model with the triangular liftarm being at that angle and the rest of the wheelarch being straight. As I said, I did however try to keep it in that position by linking the thin red triangular liftarm inside the model to the seats (and 5L black liftarm "midconsole") which I didn't add to the model until I was much further with building. Since a picture is easier to show what I mean than words:

Everything can move a little (without touching that 8T gear in the back btw). Chairs can move, midconsole can move, triangular liftarms can move

Edited March 23, 2015 by Appie

[Jeroen Ottens]

Thanks everybody for the kind words.

What parts need improving on the truck do you think?

Again, it is a nice little creation and the trailer just wows it, but points of improvement:

- The 4L white thin liftarms -> would be nice to have them rotated 90 degrees so that the holes are not visible

- The triangle below the door -> it is not straight so now it looks like it can fall of easily (which probably isn't the case)

- The white crossblock with red panel -> it looks like both can rotate (and they sometimes are in the pictures), If you'd replace the crossblock with a #1 connector, turn the 4L thin liftarms 90 degrees and connect them to the #1 connector with a 2L axle. Then you can attach the red 2x5 panel to the thin liftarms with a blue pin+axle.

Or you can replace the two thin liftarms with a white 5L liftarm and connect the panel on both holes. You do need a connection to the back then as well to completely elimate any motion...

Or you can use a white 3x5 liftarm, then you have some more holes inside the truck to secure it.

Or two white triangles, then almost all rotations are blocked immediately

Well, probably you run into more troubles than I can foresee here , but the idea would be to build it in such a way that all parts are locked in place, no holes are visible and all parts are positioned straight...

Easy heh

[MrTekneex]

The truck is not the cleanest design, but the combination with the trailer is awesome . It really brings the model to the next level.

Agreed!

So small, but soooo clever! To me this is a masterpiece!

[Appie]

Thanks MrTekneex and Jeroen Ottens for the constructive critisism, let me go over each point:

Again, it is a nice little creation and the trailer just wows it, but points of improvement:

- The 4L white thin liftarms -> would be nice to have them rotated 90 degrees so that the holes are not visible

Good idea. I actually put them like that to reinforce the structure, but in hindsight they aren't even really needed for that. So I will probably replace them with something that has no holes in them

- The triangle below the door -> it is not straight so now it looks like it can fall of easily (which probably isn't the case)

Nope see my previous post.

- The white crossblock with red panel -> it looks like both can rotate (and they sometimes are in the pictures), If you'd replace the crossblock with a #1 connector, turn the 4L thin liftarms 90 degrees and connect them to the #1 connector with a 2L axle. Then you can attach the red 2x5 panel to the thin liftarms with a blue pin+axle.

Or you can replace the two thin liftarms with a white 5L liftarm and connect the panel on both holes. You do need a connection to the back then as well to completely elimate any motion...

Or you can use a white 3x5 liftarm, then you have some more holes inside the truck to secure it.

Or two white triangles, then almost all rotations are blocked immediately

I wanted the red panels at an angle

I wanted them at an ever so small angle as you can see in this shot from above, to make it look like they originated from behind the exhaust pipes (originated from the doors basically). At first I had them straight and I didn't like the flow of the model. Considering I didn't want to force stuff to get these panels at angle it meant I had to make it structurally sound behind the panel while still providing room for the angle of the panel . So that is why the panel is only attached at the bottom.

Well, probably you run into more troubles than I can foresee here , but the idea would be to build it in such a way that all parts are locked in place, no holes are visible and all parts are positioned straight...

Easy heh

Considering I had some of the things you want straight and locked in the first place, it's actually easier, since I'd basically be going back to a previous version of the model. Getting these angles to work and be semi-locked into place was more of a hassle I am afraid no holes went out the window the moment I decided to use the triangular thin liftarm in that spot (for which I even considered a system brick solution, but that would have ended up rather flimsy on a 7 stud wide model where I needed 6 studs for a steering angle), but I can try that for some other places (like the white line). I have to say though I personally don't mind Technic holes in my models (Wall-E is about the only one where I tried to reduce it as much as possible), as long as it isn't a huge surface like the side of this trailer for example. Funny enough on the left side of the trailer the 4 red bushes annoy me, because they break the "liftarm flow" (and I don't even really like a "liftarm flow" ), but that room was needed for the 24T gear to move freely. Though if I use 8T gears instead of 1 24T gear I could use liftarms like I did on the right side of the trailer (would make the steering from full right to full left quicker too).

Thanks for the feedback.

[miguev]

That's a really nice little truck, I can't see any flaw in it, and the trailer is pure awesome. I can only dream of the day I'd achieve 1% of this awesomeness...

[snot]

genius

[flyboy01]

It kind of looks smushed down. but otherwise its a great model.

[Victor Imaginator]

Incredible truck) I like how you used that small black pieces in engine. Looks like smallest possible solution. And it's all motorized. Just incredible.

[Appie]

Thanks, the engine wasn't my idea, seen it around a few times and wanted to use it here.

It kind of looks smushed down. but otherwise its a great model.

I personally think the hood is that half liftarm on top too high, making the whole cabin look smushed? I couldn't get it lower while keeping the engine. So I just thought this is one of those americans that beefed up the engine of his truck and needed a bigger hood

And I see I promised some sort of instructions for this one as well. More on the list to do

[winterhur1]

nice truck very good

[2LegoOrNot2Lego...]

Cute!!!