[WIP] Greyhound - 4WD RC Buggy with BuWizz 2 - Redesigned wheel hubs

[Didumos69]

I worked my way to the back and addressed the feedback from @Permo, @agrof, @zweihander, @Jeroen Ottens and @Leonardo da Bricki. I tried to use the 13x3 curved panel in the roof to make it less flat, but that simply doesn't fit this type of car. It makes it too cartoonish. But after painting the roof orange, I found out that @agrof's suggestion to make the sides of the roof black works much better than with the white roof and makes the roof less square at the same time. Also a bigger light bar, as suggested by @Leonardo da Bricki, adds to the new appearance of the roof.

In the back I made an engine compartment. I have become a big fan of 2stokers RC buggy designs and wanted to give the tail a little body instead of leaving it an uncovered engine bed.

And finally this: Ever since I was a young boy I have been intrigued by cars that were used for expeditions through the jungle, dessert or whatever. So I decided to designs two versions: A race version and an expedition version. The expedition version adds a spare tire and a roof rack to the race version.

Let me know what you think.

Edited March 16, 2018 by Didumos69

[Jeroen Ottens]

Much better

One thing I am not sure about is the black underside of the rear compartment. I think I would either make it orange like the rest of the bodywork, or give the rest of the body work a black underside as well. Now the orange piece in the back is detached from the rest of the body.

Also seven lamps on top might be a bit too much

The white stripe in between the black ones is really adding something for me

[emielroumen]

Looks great! I would happily purchase the tires to build this one :) Hard shocks are still a shock to me, the prices are at least.

[mocbuild101]

That's much better! I most like the "expedition" version

6 hours ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

Also seven lamps on top might be a bit too much

Yeah, maybe...

[Permo]

Ohw yeah ! That's funky !

I think it's looking really good

[Didumos69]

On 3/16/2018 at 10:49 PM, Jeroen Ottens said:

One thing I am not sure about is the black underside of the rear compartment. I think I would either make it orange like the rest of the bodywork, or give the rest of the body work a black underside as well. Now the orange piece in the back is detached from the rest of the body.

Thanks @Jeroen Ottens, I have been going forth and back with that idea. I agree that the orange piece is detached from the rest of the orange part of the body now, but the problem I have with an all orange rear compartment, is that it would make the biggest orange section in the entire body. I personally prefer the idea of completely black wheel wells in the front and in the rear. But it remains to be a hard choice. These renders should illustrate what I mean.

On 3/16/2018 at 11:00 PM, emielroumen said:

Looks great! I would happily purchase the tires to build this one :) Hard shocks are still a shock to me, the prices are at least.

Yeah, they are expensive. I'm afraid it will prove very hard to replace the shocks with small hard ones. Over the weekend I even tweaked the rear suspension to take complete advantage of the 2 stud spring travel of the large shocks. I moved the point where the shocks are mounted to the suspension arms half a stud forward. This should prepare the back for the extra weight the body is going to bring along. The rear suspension travel is now over 7 studs.

On 3/17/2018 at 4:52 AM, mocbuild101 said:

That's much better! I most like the "expedition" version

2 hours ago, Permo said:

Ohw yeah ! That's funky !

I think it's looking really good

Thanks! Good to know I'm on the right track now.

On 3/16/2018 at 10:49 PM, Jeroen Ottens said:

Also seven lamps on top might be a bit too much

On 3/17/2018 at 4:52 AM, mocbuild101 said:

Yeah, maybe...

This car absolutely needs 7 lights on top

Edited March 18, 2018 by Didumos69

[Jeroen Ottens]

How about making the two 5x7 panels black? That would give a clear line between a black underside and an orange topside. Maybe some 3x13 curved panels or black flexaxles can help outline the wheelcages?

[agrof]

Looks good, I would say keep all the accessories as option in the model, so everyone can pick to add for personal favour.

I wasn't sure about the quite horizontal position of the springs, but You achieved MONSTER movement range, which is definitely a huge plus! 

What about a compromise for the color combo: black 3x11 curved panel with 3x5 panel? (Or keep the actual ratio, I am lazy to count properly.) It adds to the insectoid look, and also could be used as number plate - as seen on motocross bikes.

Edited March 18, 2018 by agrof

[BusterHaus]

3 hours ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

or black flexaxles can help outline the wheelcages?

Last I heard Didumos69 has some strong opinions about flex axles. 

[sirslayer]

Black is a very light weight and very strong lift arms and axles . weigh your beams, panels, axles  of your favorite color and compare the weight to the same shapes in black and say thanks to me later!!   

p.s 

your current style on the exterior is way better then that bug !!  i'm impress with your build

Edited March 19, 2018 by sirslayer

[Didumos69]

16 hours ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

How about making the two 5x7 panels black? That would give a clear line between a black underside and an orange topside.

I tried that too. It would extend the horizontal split and emphasize the horizontal layout of the build, which is the opposite of what I'm trying to achieve; I want the black/orange split to distract from the horizontal lines and add an illusion of flow.

16 hours ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

Maybe some 3x13 curved panels or black flexaxles can help outline the wheelcages?

I'm already using all space I have without obstructing suspension travel. When the suspension is completely compressed, the front springs allmost touch the hood and the rear springs almost touch the outer sides of the  black panels in the back.

15 hours ago, agrof said:

What about a compromise for the color combo: black 3x11 curved panel with 3x5 panel? (Or keep the actual ratio, I am lazy to count properly.) It adds to the insectoid look, and also could be used as number plate - as seen on motocross bikes.

I made up my mind and this is what it will be. Time to move on to the interior.

12 hours ago, BusterHaus said:

Last I heard Didumos69 has some strong opinions about flex axles. 

That's quite right, but I still appreciate @Jeroen Ottens and others for sharing their thoughts without taking into account all my self-imposed rules. A fresh point of view may always serve as a source of inspiration.

2 hours ago, sirslayer said:

Black is a very light weight and very strong lift arms and axles . weigh your beams, panels, axles  of your favorite color and compare the weight to the same shapes in black and say thanks to me later!!   

p.s 

your current style on the exterior is way better then that bug !!  i'm impress with your build

Thanks for the info, I believe you. I think I'm good because I use a lot of black already, also in the chassis, but I won't be making the body all-black.

Finally, here's a top view render.

Edited March 19, 2018 by Didumos69

[Didumos69]

16 hours ago, agrof said:

I wasn't sure about the quite horizontal position of the springs, but You achieved MONSTER movement range, which is definitely a huge plus! 

Eventually I expect the rear arms to be compressed about 3 out of 7 studs under the vehicle's own weight, which would give the model the appearance shown in the renders. This would mean the rear arms can expand almost as much as compress, which will make the rear wheels glue to the ground better on an uneven surface.

Edited March 19, 2018 by Didumos69

[Didumos69]

While preparing the frame for it's coachwork, I noticed there is quite some torsional flex in the rear suspension arms. I could significantly reduce this flex by attaching a T-bone along the sides of the suspension arms. Too bad these T-bones don't exit in black..

[sirslayer]

T-bone ? is this the part are you referring to?? I have bought them just recently..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/292492236718?ViewItem=&item=292492236718

[Didumos69]

5 minutes ago, sirslayer said:

T-bone ? is this the part are you referring to?? I have bought them just recently..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/292492236718?ViewItem=&item=292492236718

No, I mean this one:

[BusterHaus]

You can  try this:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0AvgrrIzcTQNmI4YzAxOTRrR1hfQTBKVUd5RjMyWFVDOFhZ/view?usp=drivesdk

(I hope the link works.) 

[DugaldIC]

Looking good @Didumos69, I really like the aggressive styling of the shape you went with. It looks mean, with a drivetrain to match! I personally would've left the fake motor out and sunk the spare tire down lower but that's just my personal preference. I see you have a nice set of headlights but no taillights? Or you haven't gotten around to it yet?! Either way living this build, incredible chassis and drive train you definitely went above and beyond for your first RC! 

[Didumos69]

On 3/22/2018 at 1:48 PM, BusterHaus said:

You can  try this:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0AvgrrIzcTQNmI4YzAxOTRrR1hfQTBKVUd5RjMyWFVDOFhZ/view?usp=drivesdk

(I hope the link works.) 

Thanks! The T-bone and the motor on the other side together prevent the two long black beams along the side of the suspension arm from sliding relative to each other. This gives a lot of stiffness and if I replace the T-bones with an alternative assembly I will loose part of this stiffness. I opt for function over form in this case...

On 3/22/2018 at 1:57 PM, DugaldIC said:

Looking good @Didumos69, I really like the aggressive styling of the shape you went with. It looks mean, with a drivetrain to match! I personally would've left the fake motor out and sunk the spare tire down lower but that's just my personal preference. I see you have a nice set of headlights but no taillights? Or you haven't gotten around to it yet?! Either way living this build, incredible chassis and drive train you definitely went above and beyond for your first RC! 

Thanks @DugaldIC. It was you who pushed me into the RC direction. It is more fun than I expected and the challenge to make everything form-locked with this kind of build is even bigger and more necessary than with a manual model. Thanks for challenging me!

About the rear lights, I had some small light bars at the back of the roof and in the back above the engine compartment, but I wasn't happy with the back side of the car at all. The main problem was that the tail of the car was too much detached from the rest of the body and gave the model a bit of a pick-up taste, something I did not pursue.

So I tried a few things and came up with two ideas, both relying on the Pythagorean triple (5,12,13):

1.) I could extend the black tubes along the roof sides all the way to the back of the car. This idea relies on an inclined (5,12,13)-triple, which makes almost perfect 157.5 degree angles, hence the use of #3 connectors. In fact the inclined (5,12,13)-triple makes a Pythagorean (3,4,12,13)-quadruple.

2.) At the back side of the cabin I replaced the stacked angled beams with 3 levels with different angles. The top beam makes a (5,12,13) triple.

I need to work on the structure behind the seats to secure everything, but I thought I'll first check with you whether this is actually an improvement, from an aesthetic perspective I mean. So, please let me know what you think.

Edited March 25, 2018 by Didumos69

[agrof]

59 minutes ago, Didumos69 said:

 

Spoiler

 

 Super sexy rear, love the new rollcage and light combo!

May we have a picture from the above quoted angle without the spare wheel too, please?

Edited March 25, 2018 by agrof

[Didumos69]

1 hour ago, agrof said:

 Super sexy rear, love the new rollcage and light combo!

May we have a picture from the above quoted angle without the spare wheel too, please?

Thanks! Of course !

[Leonardo da Bricki]

Oh man, it looks so good now!! Love the angles, it's so much better!!

[AFOLegofan66]

this is looking great!!

[Permo]

Yes, very nice, I prefer the look wihout the spare tire, though it fits nicely.

[DugaldIC]

There we go, you just nailed it!  those final touches really ties this whole build together. 

[Didumos69]

Thanks guys! This seems like the right path to go. Here's one more render of the back with most of the securing connections in place.

And one more of the complete model.

Edited March 26, 2018 by Didumos69