[MOC Review ] Fanylover/Artemy Zotov's Audi R8 V10

[Rishab N]

Around a month ago, Fanylover posted a beautiful model of the new R8 V10. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to build it, and immediately began gathering and ordering parts. I just finished the model last week and decided to review it. So, let's get into the review

Instructions

These instruction samples were taken from Fanylover's Bricksafe page.

The instructions are mostly clear and connections are often boxed in order to emphasize

At times, the specific part is given in order to avoid confusion. For instance all #4 connectors are labelled in the instructions

Finally an arrow is given if you have to push in a pin or axle.

Overall, the instructions are very clear, every photo is crisp and it gives a little challenge to building compared to the extremely basic Lego instructions. There are a few areas where the photo instructions can be a little difficult to follow, but these are negligible and it is well worth 8 euros.

The Build

The model begins with the front axle.

From the beginning, the builder gets an idea of the sturdiness of the model. Everything is well braced. At this point in the build, the front suspension with steering has been placed and interestingly uses steering arms to connect to the hub instead of a usual steering link.

Big step forward in the build, and its now sunny outside. The rear axle is built very differently from the front axle, but in both the hubs are used upside down. Again I must commend the sturdiness of this model. It honestly seems like something TLG could release, as the build is very straightforward with only one illegal technique used. Even then, it is quite minor as it relies on the natural flex of an axle. At this point the HOG is also placed.

Here is the beginning of the body work.and is easily placed onto the chassis. It is rigid on its own and again reminds me of something TLG would produce.

Roof on chassis. It attaches very easily.

Doors and sides are placed. I love how the panel on top of the door practically sits flush with with the panel next to it.

Next the hood with the 4 Audi Rings and the famous Audi front end is placed.

Finally the rear is added with an awesome diffuser made using mini black panels.

Final Model

At this point I'll just let the pictures do the talking. I really wanted to take some proper pictures outside, but the weather in the Chicagoland area has been a bit crazy lately, so I settled with indoor yellowed photos.

The front is perfectly created, and makes the car instantly recognizable. A friend who wasn't into cars or Legos, was able to easily recognize this as an R8

I don't think my pictures do this model justice. It looks a bit stubbier here than it actually is.

The rear also looks fantastic and I love how the airbrake perfectly lines up with the rest of the car

I also love how the rear diffuser is created with the mini panels.

Top view looks very clean with few holes in the body work.

Even with its fantastic looks, the car is still incredibly sturdy. It can easy sit on its roof, so 5/5 for rollover protection I guess

Because of this, you can easily look at the bottom of the model

Unusually, the model uses the new style differential for AWD, while most AWD MOCs use the older style. This has its drawbacks, as the differential touches the ground if not placed on a perfectly flat surface.

The interior is nice and includes a switch for the hood and a knob for the airbrake.

Functions

The model has the usual supercar functions of the scale such as opening doors, hood, and engine cover. It also features a working airbrake, and opening glovebox; however, unlike most supercars, the model has no gearbox, but honestly I don't miss it.

Doors open.

The model uses soft springs in order to both lock the doors and in order to open them. I like the idea of using springs for the doors as they open by themselves when unlocked, but the springs in the locks aren't my favorite. Its a little hard to use and I would have preferred it to lock without a spring, but it isn't a big flaw.

Few more pictures of the model with the doors open

Here you can see the mechanism which locks the doors

The next function is the opening hood which reveals a pretty sizeable trunk for a Lego model

The hood can be opened from inside the car through a linkage that actually passes through the front axle

There is a little slack, but nothing too bad.

The model also has an opening engine cover which also uses springs to keep it closed.

It doesn't really offer much more of a view, but its nice to have.

Finally the last function is the opening air brake. Its opened through a linkage inside the car, and works fine. What amazes me the most is that the spoiler sits perfectly flush with the model, and you wouldn't even guess it was there without prior knowledge.

Everything open

Finally the instructions also include how to build a spoiler in order to make the model a V10 Plus. The spoiler looks nice, but then makes the airbrake void, so I prefer the car without it.

A nice plus is that the spoiler can be easily broken into 3 pieces and fit in the trunk

Final Thoughts

Overall this is an absolutely fantastic model which manages to replicate an accurate representation of the Audi R8. It manages to do this while being sturdy and not using any ridiculous specialized pieces which is impressive.

Overall Ratings

Instructions: 9.5/10 The photos are incredibly clear and make this model more of a challenge than your average TLG instructions. I took off .5 for a few tough points, but overall its nice

Parts Availabilty: 8/10 Despite most of the model being built with relatively easy to find parts, there are a few tough ones which raise the price of the model by a lot. The first is the ridiculous prices of the 8070 hubs. The model has 4 of them and with average Bricklink prices, this will set you back at least 25 dollars. The next is the 7 19L flex axles which would cost around 7 dollars. Next the 8 #3 red connectors which would cost around $30 dollars. Next the model uses 4 of the extremely rare red toggle joints which would set you back at least another 25 dollars. Finally the model uses the rare Ferrari wheel covers which would be around 50 dollars. I chose to opt out of those and replaced them with brick built covers, but the other rare parts woud set you back at least 85 dollars. I was lucky to have many of these parts, so the price was lessened a bit. One option to save money could be building the car in black

Build 10/10 Again feels almost like a TLG design. Everything is reinforced as you build, and its built in modules which sometimes attach with push pins. Its fun to see the car take shape

Looks: 10/10 Seriously perfect representation of an R8. I can't think of anything that could have been done differently here. It's instantly recognizable and barely has any gaps

Playability 8.5/10 Nice functions. The springed doors and cover are great but I'm not a big fan of the springs for locks. An actual trunk is rare in supercars. The airbrake adds a unique touch and there is even a little glovebox; however, I admit a gearbox would have been nice to have. There's always something fascinating for me about watching the pistons move at different speeds. The model is also durable and could take some abuse from a child.

Overall 46/50 Great model that really embodies an R8. Definitley a great car to have in your collection.

Hope you liked this review . Sorry that the text is a bit dry and rushed

Thanks to Fanylover for designing this beautiful model and letting me post pictures of the build

Edited April 5, 2016 by Rishab N

[Blakbird]

Wow, thanks for this great review. Somehow I didn't even realize that instructions were available for this model. I think it will have to go on my list!

[Fanylover]

Thank you for the positive feedback and high rating!

It motivates me to work harder~~

Unfortunately, last time I have not enough free time for LEGO =(

[Osuharding1]

Edited April 11, 2016 by Osuharding1

[Aleh]

Veeery nice in B & W colours!

[grum64]

This is one GREAT build

[Polo-Freak]

I build this Car in white, and made the rear axle 1 Stud wider...

[Pvdb]

I really like the white version there. Really nice build as well

[PSJS]

I just finished building this model a couple of days ago and being the first model designed by someone else I have ever built, I was slightly apprehensive. However, I was absolutely blown away by the quality and complexity of it!

I already had 80% of the pieces (I also built it in red) and was able to buy all of the pieces I required. The only pieces I did not buy were the 8 Red #3 connectors but I just replaced them with black ones.

The instruction quality was excellent and definitely worth the price. Overall I was incredibly impressed by the model and will definitely like to build anything else Fanylover makes!

[Khasen]

I just finished building this model in blue!  I had to make a few modifications since all the parts are not available in blue, but I made all changes using only Lego parts.

 

[Khasen]

I posted more photos of the Artemy Zotov Audi R8 on the Eurobricks group page on Flickr.

I had to make some parts substitutions and a few changes because all the Lego parts available in red (according to the MOC design) are not made in blue.  I used only Lego parts, but some are slightly different, but compatible parts.  If anyone else wants to build this in blue, let me know and I can post more details on the parts I used.

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Khasen

[Khasen]

The link to the Flickr Eurobricks group:

https://flickr.com/groups/eurobricks/