42050 Drag Racer upgrade - real wheelies! - added Christmas tree details

[kbalage]

I'd like to share with you my upgraded version of the 42050 Drag Racer. First of all, 2 videos:

 

 

I really liked the look of the 42050 set when I got it, I think it has all the main characteristics of a drag racer. On the functions' side I was not that satisfied, there were a couple of issues:

- Simulated wheelie mode looks ok-ish while the model is standing, but it's really lame when you motorize it

- official motorized version has manual on/off, you have to walk with the model to stop it. If you add an IR receiver steering still remains manual

- M motor is weak to power a vehicle that supposed to be fast :)

- Driver seat is small for a Technic guy, minifig fits but that's really out of scale

 

The upgraded version has the following features:

- body panels and stickers from 42041/8041 Race Truck

- Servo motor for steering

- 2 Buggy motors

- 2 BuWizz units for maximum power and more weight 

- 1 M motor for powering the fake engine

- Proper seat for the driver

- Larger spoiler to add weight to the back – essential for the wheelies ?

 

I am quite satisfied with the result, the upgraded version is fast and most importantly it can do proper wheelies :) A couple of pictures of the build:

 

I also built a drag racing Christmas tree for the videos. The Lego LED lights are controlled by 2 SBricks. The staging/start sequence is pre-programmed, I did not have all the necessary components to build a proper functioning one. I'll add some information and images later if you're interested.

You can see some more pictures and additional information in my blog post

Edited June 7, 2017 by kbalage

[Paknaloid]

Ha this is brilliant - vids really made me smile.  Great mods.

[1gor]

Hm, now I'll have to buy 42050 set (I have buggy motors) 

[MangaNOID]

Love a good quality video, 

[jotta93]

Proper dragster, really fast and capable of doing wheelies on it's own! Nice work!  

The only thing I can point is that I wish you had used the black wheels from the original model, but that's a minor detail

[Jurss]

Cool videos!

Modifications too.

[mocbuild101]

Cool mod! I like the alternate colour scheme too!

3 hours ago, I_Igor said:

Hm, now I'll have to buy 42050 set (I have buggy motors) 

That's exactly what I was thinking!

[kbalage]

Thank you guys :) @jotta93 that might be personal preference, I liked the gray rims with the black disk at the front, tried to replicate something similar in the back with what I had 

[Rudivdk]

Very cool vid?

Have 2 buggy motors myself laying around somewhere, think I have to give this one a go...

[Void_S]

@kbalage, it's an amazing MOD! I saw a lot of modifications for B-model (Top Fuel dragster), but never thought that A-model can do that, and moreover - with a real wheelie! 

11 hours ago, kbalage said:

Thank you guys :) @jotta93 that might be personal preference, I liked the gray rims with the black disk at the front, tried to replicate something similar in the back with what I had 

Personally, I used white rims + black disks once to achieve a kind of black disks with a white rim (like 41999).

Talking about preference, I really do like a new livery, it looks more aggressive now and even I see some difference in the shape: Light Azure looks more roundish, whereas this Red-Black more flat and low. Just such a look.
Also I'd suppose that this model needs a layout with two controls: one with a normal joystick but limited acceleration (~10% or even less) and the second with just one button: "Go!", off course with no limits and for sure with Fast mode enabled.  

 

Edited June 2, 2017 by Void_S

[TinkerBrick]

Great. I had a blast watching it.

This is one cool mod.

Excellent presentation. And the lights are cool as well.

[Lakop]

Your dragster looks way better! Good videos.

 

H

[kbalage]

Thank you folks :) @Void_S I was looking to achieve the look of the 41999 rims, but unfortunately i only had grey ones in this size, no white ones. Regarding the controls - the BuWizz app has only one profile at the moment which controls two units the same time. The two Buggy motors are controlled by two sliders, the M motor powering the engine and the steering was assigned to a joystick - x axis belongs to the steering, y axis to the M motor. A bit weird combination but it can be driven without growing additional arms :) 

[Void_S]

6 hours ago, kbalage said:

The two Buggy motors are controlled by two sliders

I believe that such combination could allow some steering even with no servo in case you remove the solid axle 

By the way, could you tell how did you beat the front wheels misalignment? As I remember, there is a pair of 16T gears between the HOG (Servo, in this case) and the steering rack that adds ~5 degrees rotation, so it always turns to the left or right a bit. Did you replace them by a triple 8T gears?

[kbalage]

@Void_S To be honest I did not realize that there's a misalignment, I used the exact same configuration as on the original, the two 16T gears stayed in place:

I uploaded some more photos of the inner details if someone is interested to build this version: http://racingbrick.com/2017/06/42050-drag-racer-upgrade-inner-details

 

[kbalage]

About the Christmas tree - when I built the upgraded 42050 Drag Racer I wanted to film the race between the two versions, so I needed to have the start system of the drag racers so called “Christmas tree”. This device has multiple versions for the different types of races, I decided to make the following one:

As I was not familiar with this system I had to do my research online – apologies if there’re mistakes in my explanation, feel free to correct them :) There’re 2 lights on the top for each lane – the top ones are the pre-stage bulbs, below that you see the stage bulbs. They indicate that the car is at the starting line in the correct position. The next 3 lights are the starting signals, they light up in sequence with 0.5 second apart. The green light comes up when the cars are ready to go, the red light supposed to indicate a failed start.

As I did not have as many Lego lights as necessary, we had no failed starts so the red lights are not working :) I created 2 sequences controlled by the two SBricks – the first one was the staging sequence, turning on the top lights as the cars were approaching the starting line and crossing the virtual sensor beams. The second sequence turned on and off the starting signals with the proper delay, then the green light comes up and stays on. There’s also a brief light up of the staging lights right after the start when the back wheels are supposed to cross the sensors, but that’s not visible on the video.

I tried to do my best to arrange and hide all the cables behind the tree and in the box. The pole itself with the lights can be turned around, so I was able to film the lights from both directions.

With the necessary parts it should be fairly easy to create a properly functioning Christmas tree. Adding more lights (the 2 rows should be independent),  more SBricks to control them and 4 proximity sensors could turn it from simulation to the real deal, the necessary sequences can be programmed with the SBricks. The proximity sensors would engage the pre-stage and stage lights. Once the car is in the correct position the start sequence could be initiated automatically, going through the 3 amber lights and then light up the green one. The proximity sensors can be used to monitor if the cars had an early start before the third amber light goes off, that would indicate a failed start and the red light is turned on. With 2 extra proximity sensors it could be even possible to create a finish line and display the results of the race.

A couple of pics:

And some more on the blog if you're interested: http://racingbrick.com/2017/06/drag-racing-christmas-tree/

[nerdsforprez]

Wonderful build and hilarious, terrific videos.  Thank you for sharing.