[MOC] Mercedes Actros 4x2 Semi Truck

[motomatt]

 

Having made some U.S. style semi trucks in 1:17 scale I wanted to add a European style truck to the mix.  Here is my version of an Actros 4x2 powered by one XL motor, steering with servo, with 3 sets of PF lights, and controlled by sbrick.

I modeled it after an Actros 4x2 you find in the game Euro Truck Simulator.

A shot of the driver's side cabin.

I took apart my U.S. spec of a 53' 1:17 scale box trailer to shorten it to European dimensions and add an extra axle.

Next to an extended frame Peterbilt, the Actros looks quite short.

And here it is with its cousins

This is what it looked like gathering dust for the better part of a year until I finally got myself to finish it.

 

Some more pics are on bricksafe http://bricksafe.com/pages/motomatt/actros4x2

Instructions and parts list are on rebrickable http://rebrickable.com/mocs/motomatt/mercedes-actros-4-x-2-semi-truck

 

Edited October 5, 2016 by motomatt

[syclone]

Wow , it is incredible how much detail is put into it , looks amazing!

[2LegoOrNot2Lego...]

Cool build! Excellent you did something totally different... I know I should build a Euro truck too, but yet not got to it...haha...

It performs superb, but how about it with a trailer attached?

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

Impressively detailed. How long did it take you, just out of curiosity?

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Amazing ....simply amazing! 

 

[grum64]

Stunning. For the second time this week I'm having to look really hard to see if what I'm seeing is really made from LEGO.

 

[M_longer]

Which generation of Actros is this?

This one?

[motomatt]

1 hour ago, 2LegoOrNot2Lego... said:

Cool build! Excellent you did something totally different... I know I should build a Euro truck too, but yet not got to it...haha...

It performs superb, but how about it with a trailer attached?

I did the video just before I (re)built a trailer for the truck.  It pulls the trailer very well and reliably.  It's actually much faster than shown in the video, as I wasn't pushing the sbrick slider to 100% throttle.

1 hour ago, grum64 said:

Stunning. For the second time this week I'm having to look really hard to see if what I'm seeing is really made from LEGO.

 

Thanks!  I wonder what was the first time?

1 hour ago, BrickHat said:

Impressively detailed. How long did it take you, just out of curiosity?

Hard to say.  Almost a year ago I built the chassis, tested the driving, and built the rough layout of the cabin.  Then it just sat untouched gathering dust for close to a year.  Finally in September I got myself to resurrect this project, built it 18 studs wide, then tore it all apart and rebuilt it 17 studs wide, modeled it in Ldraw and bricklinked the missing pieces. 

 

3 minutes ago, M_longer said:

Which generation of Actros is this?

This one?

As I don't live in Europe I'm not that familiar with the Actros, so I modeled it after the one in the game Euro Truck Simulator.  I believe it's the same one.  The aspect ratio of the 3D renders is a little off in the pic below.

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

Sounds like tough work. Glad it paid off!

[grum64]

10 minutes ago, motomatt said:

Thanks!  I wonder what was the first time?

It was the Pierce Arrow XT Tiller Fire Truck by Paliason.

[M_longer]

Few things that are visible at first sight:

Wheels sticking out from under the cab look really bad. Lights have wrong shape. Front edge of the cab should have cutouts above the lights. Lower grill bars should be V shaped. I might say more, but I'll have to compare your model with blueprints.

Actually, your model looks like mix between mp3 and mp4 generations of the Actros.

OK, I have compared front of your model with blueprints. Aaaand... it should be rebuild.

(Click for higher resolution)

Left one is scaled down to the width of your model, right one to the wheels diameter. And neither of them resembles shapes of your model.

Edited October 1, 2016 by M_longer

[tismabrick]

Really nice model and thanks for the instruction.

I agree though with the comment of @M_longer about the wheel sticking out f the chassis. Dunno though if the chassis should be wider or the wheels should be placed more inside. 

[motomatt]

4 hours ago, M_longer said:

Few things that are visible at first sight:

Wheels sticking out from under the cab look really bad. Lights have wrong shape. Front edge of the cab should have cutouts above the lights. Lower grill bars should be V shaped. I might say more, but I'll have to compare your model with blueprints.

Actually, your model looks like mix between mp3 and mp4 generations of the Actros.

OK, I have compared front of your model with blueprints. Aaaand... it should be rebuild.

(Click for higher resolution)

Left one is scaled down to the width of your model, right one to the wheels diameter. And neither of them resembles shapes of your model.

Thank you for the honest criticism and time to review blueprints!  I too think the biggest downside with the model is that the width of both the front wheels and the rear wheels is too wide for the given scale of the cab & chassis.  I'm using the same proven steering rack design and rear differential that I use in my 1:17 U.S. style trucks, which is well tested and is pretty reliable when pulling heavy loads (no slipped axles, no loose connections, no excessive camber, etc...)  The best way to correct this would be to simply increase the dimensions of the cab to get the right proportions, but this would result in something like a 1:15 scale model, and I want this model to be proportional to the other 1:17/1:18 scale trucks that I have in my collection.  Originally, I had built this model 18 studs wide.  But when I viewed the front of the truck, it seemed too wide and not tall enough, so I decreased the cabin width to 17 studs, and the front end width down to 16 to give the eye the illusion of it being thinner and taller, thus exacerbating the wheel width issue.   Reducing the width of the rear wheels by one or two studs would make the rear axles prone to slipping out under heavy trailer loads (that's why I use Technic, Axle 5.5 with Stop in the rear making it wider).  Reducing the width of the front is a little more challenging without introducing excessive camber under the heavy front cabin, but I will probably try some new ideas with smaller gear racks!

Here is a a pic of the front hood 17 studs wide (not 16), and the cabin still the same 17 studs wide, perhaps it is (a little) more inline with the schematics.

 The thing is, when I look at the model with just an eyeball, I really don't notice the excessive width of the tires as much as you do when you look at the schematics / renders of it, so I'm fine with the way it is.  If this were a shelf only display model, I would decrease the width of both the rear and front wheels to make it proportional to the schematics, but thing is, I really like the way it drives and performs as it is.  Also, if II didn't have other 1:17 scale trucks, I would simply make the cabin wider and taller.

 

 

Edited October 2, 2016 by motomatt

[M_longer]

7 hours ago, motomatt said:

Here is a a pic of the front hood 17 studs wide (not 16), and the cabin still the same 17 studs wide, perhaps it is (a little) more inline with the schematics.

It is a good start for improvement.

[brickless_kiwi]

I'm certainly a fan of your Peterbilt matt, and I think you have done a excellent job of the Actros.

Your PDF file on bricklink doesn't seem to be loading, and unfortunately im a complete nob with LDR.. 

[tismabrick]

59 minutes ago, brickless_kiwi said:

I'm certainly a fan of your Peterbilt matt, and I think you have done a excellent job of the Actros.

Your PDF file on bricklink doesn't seem to be loading, and unfortunately im a complete nob with LDR.. 

Just tried and the PDFs download fine.

[motomatt]

So I redid the front steering rack to reduce the front wheel width from 18 studs down to 17.  Redid the rear differential to reduce  the rear wheel width ~2 studs to match.  I made the cab one stud higher to match the height of the trailer, and widened the front hood panel from 16 studs to 17 studs.  Overall width of the cab is still 17 studs.  Still drives pretty well.

 

[2LegoOrNot2Lego...]

Wow, you did that rapidly my friend! :-) Much better...yes much much better!

Edit:

Question: did you also change the width of the chassis? Looking at the top pics it seems like the wheels are already close the chassis...makes me wonder... :-)

Edited October 5, 2016 by 2LegoOrNot2Lego...

[tismabrick]

Now it's way better. Really cool. Thumbs up :)

Will you post the changes to the original instructions?

[motomatt]

53 minutes ago, 2LegoOrNot2Lego... said:

Wow, you did that rapidly my friend! :-) Much better...yes much much better!

Edit:

Question: did you also change the width of the chassis? Looking at the top pics it seems like the wheels are already close the chassis...makes me wonder... :-)

Well I had too much time on my hands past weekend    With the current setup of the rear diff, the tops of the inside rear wheels only clear the frame by about 1-2 mm.  I attempted to make more narrow the rear-most part of the frame from 5 studs inner separation to 3, but couldn't find a way to attach the rear tail lights assembly to it without detracting from the aesthetics of the rear.  Then I tested the very narrow clearance to see if the tires would rub the frame and to my surprise it doesn't appear to rub under the load of the trailer.  If you were to load several KG of load onto the rear, the flex of the lego parts would probably make the tops of the tires rub the frame and you would have to resort to using the old wider differential design.  Ay the never-ending balance of form over function / function over form. 

 

10 minutes ago, tismabrick said:

Now it's way better. Really cool. Thumbs up :)

Will you post the changes to the original instructions?

No,  I uploaded a new PDF instructions and parts list to rebrickable which includes the new changes.  You could in theory just swap out either the new front gear rack, rear diff, with the old ones or vice versa as the attachment points and geometry is the same.  

[tismabrick]

Even better, thanks. Now I can choose between the "old" and the improved version :)

[M_longer]

It looks better, but lights still have wrong shape and you did not made that cutout.

[2LegoOrNot2Lego...]

8 hours ago, motomatt said:

...Ay the never-ending balance of form over function / function over form. 

Yes, I know all about it...   

[motomatt]

On 10/5/2016 at 2:55 PM, M_longer said:

It looks better, but lights still have wrong shape and you did not made that cutout.

Not quite yet there but I changed it to something like this.