[MOC] Rugged supercar - Hammerhead (1:9 scale) - Revisiting

[agrof]

I meant this area at the rear wheel:

 

Edited January 9, 2017 by agrof

[Didumos69]

7 hours ago, agrof said:

I meant this area at the rear wheel:

Aha. That area is part of the roll cage. I'm not going to change that frivolously .

I think I've got the menacing look I was looking for now :

 

[schraubedrin]

Whoa, yeah, that's awesome

[Didumos69]

46 minutes ago, schraubedrin said:

Whoa, yeah, that's awesome

Thanks!

H says, I'm watching you!

Edited January 9, 2017 by Didumos69

[PorkyMonster]

H? I thought Hammer Head was good? LOL *joking*

Yup, looks even better now with thinner and darker parts at the front grill (actually thought you would never change them).

[Didumos69]

5 hours ago, PorkyMonster said:

H? I thought Hammer Head was good? LOL *joking*

Yup, looks even better now with thinner and darker parts at the front grill (actually thought you would never change them).

Yeah, despite your clownish comments, I actually took your advice . LOL

The grill is no longer the bridge between chassis and hood. That connection sits behind the grill. The grill actually sinks a little into the space right behind the bumper. This makes quite some difference - for the looks - compared to having the grill take its full 3 studs.

One more render. This one shows why I named it Hammerhead:

Edited January 10, 2017 by Didumos69

[Lipko]

Probably those small panels will hit the front wheels when steered and the suspension is compressed.

[Didumos69]

1 hour ago, Lipko said:

Probably those small panels will hit the front wheels when steered and the suspension is compressed.

I checked that of course and I have good faith this will work out fine. The front wings are almost completely in front of the wheels and only the outer half of the wings come wide enough to overlap the wheels. Also, when steered the wheels don't do much because of the ideal offset of the Porsche rims. And steering is also quite limited because of the CV-joints used for front wheel drive.

Here's a render of the side of the vehicle. Don't pay attention to the rear, it's by no means finished.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Didumos69

[Didumos69]

Sorry to bother you again, guys. I'm a bit on a crossroad here. It was quite a learning experience to get the headlights and grill right - the entire nose actually. But somehow I have the feeling the nose is somewhat overdone compared to the rest of the body. Smooth and slick bodywork is not my objective, I want the entire bodywork to contribute to a sturdy whole. Only a few minor decorations here and there. The nose has grown beyond this objective. So I'm thinking of reverting to the shorter - more flat - nose (2 studs shorter). I even think a shorter nose suits this car better. I have been able to use the small panel eye-brows in the shorter version too. In the render below you see the long nose (left) and the short nose (right) next to each other (click to enlarge). I like the right one better, but what do you think? (Don't focus on the lights too much, the darker lights in the right version are a rendering issue. In real life they look similar on different backgrounds.)

[PorkyMonster]

Nose alone, I prefer the left. But looking at the car as a whole, I do agree with you that the right nose matches the rest of the bodywork better.

[DugaldIC]

This is really starting to come together nicely,  I do think the short nose suits the cat better.  I must admit I was quite excited to see you go for it and build a full detailed body,  however that being said I do like the very sturdy, simplistic and animalistic approach (very fitting for your fast animal project). Time for the back and taillights,  it looks like you already have a nice hatch starting :) 

[nerdsforprez]

Short nose for me as well.

[agrof]

I share your feelings about overdesigning. The shorter one (on the right) matches better to the overall picture.

Thanks for the "rollcage" picture, now I see where those connections are needed. 

[Didumos69]

6 hours ago, PorkyMonster said:

Nose alone, I prefer the left. But looking at the car as a whole, I do agree with you that the right nose matches the rest of the bodywork better.

6 hours ago, DugaldIC said:

This is really starting to come together nicely,  I do think the short nose suits the cat better.  I must admit I was quite excited to see you go for it and build a full detailed body,  however that being said I do like the very sturdy, simplistic and animalistic approach (very fitting for your fast animal project). Time for the back and taillights,  it looks like you already have a nice hatch starting :) 

4 hours ago, nerdsforprez said:

Short nose for me as well.

4 hours ago, agrof said:

I share your feelings about overdesigning. The shorter one (on the right) matches better to the overall picture.

Thanks for the "rollcage" picture, now I see where those connections are needed. 

Thanks guys! So the short nose it will be... Here's the lxf of the complete model sofar, but please note that I didn't build the body yet and the rear is not finished yet. There will certainly be changes.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Didumos69

[agrof]

Hello Didumos,

I know, it is Your project, but respectfully I made some visual modifications. The good: You inspire me, this is the reason (I have a similar concept in my mind for years, but never started to realize). 

This was just a quicke, so some connections might be not 100% checked. Also the rear is really just thrown together (I am not sure, if the rear light holder panel has the clearance for the rear wheel) - I am not keen on it, must be improved. The sides are half baked - left side done only. I kept the Hammer Head spirit on the front, cleaned up a bit - no grills, but put the focus on the headlights.

 I hope You find it usefull for improving this great project!

Modded LXF file.

[lcvisser]

10 hours ago, Didumos69 said:

Sorry to bother you again, guys. I'm a bit on a crossroad here. It was quite a learning experience to get the headlights and grill right - the entire nose actually. But somehow I have the feeling the nose is somewhat overdone compared to the rest of the body. Smooth and slick bodywork is not my objective, I want the entire bodywork to contribute to a sturdy whole. Only a few minor decorations here and there. The nose has grown beyond this objective. So I'm thinking of reverting to the shorter - more flat - nose (2 studs shorter). I even think a shorter nose suits this car better. I have been able to use the small panel eye-brows in the shorter version too. In the render below you see the long nose (left) and the short nose (right) next to each other (click to enlarge). I like the right one better, but what do you think? (Don't focus on the lights too much, the darker lights in the right version are a rendering issue. In real life they look similar on different backgrounds.)

I'm going against the flow and say that I like the one on the left (long nose better).  It might be the issue with the lights, or the angle, but the short nose looks like a stump. The longer nose puls forward and gives some sharpness to the front that helps the "mean look". That said however, the rest of the car doesn't really look "mean"... more like a buggy with racing wheels (which is, in my opinion, quite evident once you see it next to the Steppenwolf). Maybe you can think about a rear section to see what kind of character the whole car will get.

 

Oh, and can you please stop editing the title of this topic...? It's quite confusing.

[Didumos69]

2 hours ago, agrof said:

Hello Didumos,

I know, it is Your project, but respectfully I made some visual modifications. The good: You inspire me, this is the reason (I have a similar concept in my mind for years, but never started to realize). 

This was just a quicke, so some connections might be not 100% checked. Also the rear is really just thrown together (I am not sure, if the rear light holder panel has the clearance for the rear wheel) - I am not keen on it, must be improved. The sides are half baked - left side done only. I kept the Hammer Head spirit on the front, cleaned up a bit - no grills, but put the focus on the headlights.

 I hope You find it usefull for improving this great project!

Modded LXF file.

I'm stunned what you did to this vehicle @agrof! I can only be happy with someone picking up the lxf and having his own go at the bodywork. This will certainly inspire me and help me think a little more out of the box ! Somehow I have a quite old perception of cars; headlights, grill, bumper, etc.

The grill was in fact the connection between the hood and the chassis. But this way the hood is openable, it could be just fine like this. The rear fender is indeed to close to the wheel. The wheel travels more than two studs when the suspension is fully compressed. This is one of the reasons why I'm having a hard time making 'normal' bodywork; I don't want to obstruct any of the vehicles features whatsoever. Also I still want to be able to drop the finished model from - say - 10cm without loosing any bodywork parts.

I will come back on this.

2 hours ago, Ludo Visser said:

I'm going against the flow and say that I like the one on the left (long nose better).  It might be the issue with the lights, or the angle, but the short nose looks like a stump. The longer nose puls forward and gives some sharpness to the front that helps the "mean look". That said however, the rest of the car doesn't really look "mean"... more like a buggy with racing wheels (which is, in my opinion, quite evident once you see it next to the Steppenwolf). Maybe you can think about a rear section to see what kind of character the whole car will get.

Oh, and can you please stop editing the title of this topic...? It's quite confusing.

I agree the short nose is a bit stump. Perhaps perceiving this as a buggy with racing wheels has to do with the fact that there is quite some bodywork building style resemblence with the Steppenwolf. The Hammerhead body is actually a development of - a further exploration into - what I started with the Steppenwolf. The main result sofar is the roll cage for the Hammerhead, something completely new as far as I know. The point is that I like building chassis and I like building sturdy constructions. And if my chassis has two studs suspension travel in a low profile model, then I'll skip fenders, because they would obstruct one of the key features. So such style resemblance in my builds is inevitable. Despite of that, I do see quite some differences between the two models and I'm not finished yet. One difference: The hood of the Steppenwolf is as high as the roof of the Hammerhead. And of course the chassis is completely different. The Hammerhead chassis is very well proportioned towards a supercar model. The car that I used as a reference and source of inspiration for this model is an AWD supercar named Parcour, designed by Italdesign:

...which also comes as roadster:

I will stick to the current title, at least the part heading the dash will remain to be '[WIP] Rugged Supercar H'.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Didumos69

[lcvisser]

I didn't mean to imply that this car and the steppenwolf are too similar; they're obviously very different. I meant to say that the car doesn't (yet) have a very well defined character, which makes commenting on what nose looks best a bit theoretical at best, if you know what I mean.

The Parcour is a nice reference, especially the rear looks awesome.

[2LegoOrNot2Lego...]

Love this build so far, especially the roll cage...that part is excellent... 

[Didumos69]

4 hours ago, Ludo Visser said:

I didn't mean to imply that this car and the steppenwolf are too similar; they're obviously very different. I meant to say that the car doesn't (yet) have a very well defined character, which makes commenting on what nose looks best a bit theoretical at best, if you know what I mean.

The Parcour is a nice reference, especially the rear looks awesome.

Aha, now I get your point. You're right, the character is still quite undefined. Much depends on the rest of the body. And yeah, the Parcour has a great presence. I used a 1:9 scale, but the Parcour has really big wheels (22"). The Porsche tire diameter is two stud too small.

52 minutes ago, 2LegoOrNot2Lego... said:

Love this build so far, especially the roll cage...that part is excellent... 

Thanks!

[JJ2]

22 hours ago, Ludo Visser said:

I'm going against the flow and say that I like the one on the left (long nose better).  It might be the issue with the lights, or the angle, but the short nose looks like a stump. The longer nose puls forward and gives some sharpness to the front that helps the "mean look". That said however, the rest of the car doesn't really look "mean"... more like a buggy with racing wheels (which is, in my opinion, quite evident once you see it next to the Steppenwolf). Maybe you can think about a rear section to see what kind of character the whole car will get.

Same here, I like the long nose better, it gives it a more menacing look.

This was most likely answered in the tread earlier but why are there motorcycle tires on the Porsche rims? are they just placeholders?

[Didumos69]

18 hours ago, JJ2 said:

Same here, I like the long nose better, it gives it a more menacing look.

This was most likely answered in the tread earlier but why are there motorcycle tires on the Porsche rims? are they just placeholders?

I managed to make the short nose a little less stump by slanting the headlights a little more, but I'll keep the long nose as an option for later. Like @Ludo Visser pointed out it will also depend on the character that will emerge from the rest of the body. I've been working on the nose just as long as it took me to develop the entire chassis. I wanted to force a decision so I could move on to the rear, but searching for 'character' is another good reason to move on. Besides making the short nose less stump I lifted the cars shoulders a little (the area just in front of the side mirrors), they now level with the hood. Finally I added a few more panels - inspired by @agrofs renders - but I will first design the essential lines of the rear, before I dive into adding panels.

The motor cycle tires are indeed placeholders.

Edited January 12, 2017 by Didumos69

[schraubedrin]

The current shape reminds me of the Vauxhall Maloo :

It's really great fun to follow your design process, thanks for making this WIP thread

[proran]

3 hours ago, Didumos69 said:

The motor cycle tires are indeed placeholders.

I wonder how much of a 'character' will be gone, if you change the tires. Three separate tires look awkward, but  that aggressive thread somehow perfectly suits the car, although not being a particular 'supercar'y'.

[Didumos69]

4 hours ago, schraubedrin said:

The current shape reminds me of the Vauxhall Maloo :

It's really great fun to follow your design process, thanks for making this WIP thread

Thanks! Yeah, it looks like a pickup now. But I have some ideas for the rear.

3 hours ago, proran said:

I wonder how much of a 'character' will be gone, if you change the tires. Three separate tires look awkward, but  that aggressive thread somehow perfectly suits the car, although not being a particular 'supercar'y'.

I don't know. This is what it looks like with Tumbler tires, same diameter as the Porsche tires.

Edited January 12, 2017 by Didumos69