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Hi Guys,

This is my first post here so tell me if I am doing things wrong.

After a long time of not doing anything with lego I decided to start up again, a bit older and wiser (so they say) I started to get interested in making some more difficult models that don't exist from Lego themselves.

I started snooping around and eventually bumped into Sariel & Tommy Stryvoky 's MOC's, one thing led to another and I am currently designing a MK V tank.

I started using the photo's from Sariel's MK V as a reference but quickly decided that I can use other parts or design it differently.

The first thing I did was another color, the original one was a dark tan color but since Lego doesn't have a lot of pieces in this color, this one went to the trashbin.

Finally I decided to go with the standard tan color as this resembles the real paint job better than just standard grey.

THE HISTORY:

The British MK V was an upgraded version of the MK IV. It was first deployed in 1918, used in action during the closing months of World War I.

The tank was improved in several aspects, chiefly the new steering system and engine, but it fell short in other areas such as mechanical reliability and its insufficient ventilation.However, the Mark V was a great improvement on the MK IV due to the use of Wilson's epicyclic steering gear meant that only a single driver was needed. -wikipedia

 

The base model:

Bi4ptNy.jpg?1

 

Where am I with the project:

Cosmetically the tank is finished, still finetuning the design and changing parts that can be made stronger. mechanically I need to change a lot! at the moment I am driving the wrong gear and thus not functioning as it should when I turn.

Tommy Styrvoky helped me a lot with the clutch drive system, this will be similar to how the tank moved in its day, thus no 0° turning circle.

8D1vZpv.jpg?2

More pictures in this topic or on my Flickr page

Please leave your thoughts, comments & ideas I am interested in hearing your opinions.

 

Edited by Stimy

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The sponson gun housing looks undersized, maybe something along the size of this would work better, though if you are mostly basing it off of @Sariel's model, I think that would help improve it more, as that appears to be under-scaled. Also with motorizing it, it shouldn't be too difficult, though I think it is possible to hide most of the electric stuff in the sponsons, As both m motors for operating the sponson guns could be fitted there, and maybe 3/5 of the XL motor too. If you want, I could look into that. As this would allow for a mostly full interior, minus the space needed for the Sbrick, IR, and LIPO.

 

As you can see there would be plenty of space for more details in the interior.

1445580627746.jpg?v=1478860182

 

Mk%20V%20sponson%20gun.png

https://www.bricksafe.com/files/Tommy_styrvoky/Mk V sponson gun.lxf

 

Edited by Tommy Styrvoky

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4 hours ago, Edwin Korstanje said:

Welcome here at EB. For ordering the parts you can look at http://www.bricklink.com   

Like he said. I've ordered there several times and I have good experience with it. It's only a bit puzzling where to order.

Tank looks great already.

If you don't want to keep it 'original', maybe you can look for warhammer tanks for inspiration? I've also have seen such a tank made of Lego, looks cool.

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1 hour ago, Tommy Styrvoky said:

The sponson gun housing looks undersized, maybe something along the size of this would work better, though if you are mostly basing it off of @Sariel's model, I think that would help improve it more, as that appears to be under-scaled. Also with motorizing it, it shouldn't be too difficult, though I think it is possible to hide most of the electric stuff in the sponsons, As both m motors for operating the sponson guns could be fitted there, and maybe 3/5 of the XL motor too. If you want, I could look into that. As this would allow for a mostly full interior, minus the space needed for the Sbrick, IR, and LIPO.

 

As you can see there would be plenty of space for more details in the interior.

1445580627746.jpg?v=1478860182

 

Mk%20V%20sponson%20gun.png

https://www.bricksafe.com/files/Tommy_styrvoky/Mk V sponson gun.lxf

 

Thanks a lot Tommy very kind of you to share these designs!!

I saw that you were planning to build a MK V also?

 

This design looks a lot more natural than the one I have now, didn't even think that far to use the roof tiles.

For the motoring system I need to update myself as I am used to working with very old lego systems :P

 

As for the interior, I want to make a full detail model but I think that the motor system will take up a lot of place for this? Or maybe I could make a false floor and hide it there?

 

I want it to look like the reel steel version, so warhammer might not be perfect for this, but a good idea for future projects, thank for the advise Neonic!

 

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16 minutes ago, Stimy said:

Thanks a lot Tommy very kind of you to share these designs!!

I saw that you were planning to build a MK V also?

 

This design looks a lot more natural than the one I have now, didn't even think that far to use the roof tiles.

For the motoring system I need to update myself as I am used to working with very old lego systems :P

 

As for the interior, I want to make a full detail model but I think that the motor system will take up a lot of place for this? Or maybe I could make a false floor and hide it there?

 

 

I may suggest looking into the Power Functions system, they offer more powerful and compact motors, for this project you will probably need 2 XL's to drive it, and 4 M motors to power the sponson guns, maybe one extra M motor if you want to have a fake engine. For controlling it, you have several options, you could use Lego's solution, and have 3 IR receivers, or use a 3rd party solution, and have much greater distance of control via 2 S bricks. Both systems have a similar cost for controlling 4 outputs, though the Sbrick offers a greater range, but it requires you to have a phone or tablet to control the model via bluetooth. Then for powering the model, one AA or rechargeable battery box would work, for the Sbricks you will need to get two extension cables to power them.

Looking at the photo I posted above, you could hide the drive motors where the fuel tanks are in the rear, and all of the M motors could be hidden between the supporting walls for the suspension. The control system could be hidden in the rear of the fighting compartment, though In my design, I would utilize the Sbrick, as with the IR system, the top of the receiver needs to be exposed for the remote, this can make it more difficult, with the Sbrick you could hide it in the middle of the model.

As for my project, with most things have planned are currently put on hold because of college. Basically from what I have said about the design of this model was my intentions for the project.

 

Edited by Tommy Styrvoky

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Nice! You could try using plates with studs to represents the bolts on the side?

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I like the idea but I don't think the front part of the hull with white and red stripes will stay together. All these white bricks and plates aren't connected to red bricks and plates, there's nothing holding them together, they're just sitting next to each other, which is precisely why I didn't use separate colors in my model. How are you going to solve this?

Edited by Sariel

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1 hour ago, Sariel said:

I like the idea but I don't think the front part of the hull with white and red stripes will stay together. All these white bricks and plates aren't connected to red bricks and plates, there's nothing holding them together, they're just sitting next to each other, which is precisely why I didn't use separate colors in my model. How are you going to solve this?

Hello Sariel,

I tried some things:

- strength connections in between the hulls to keep the parts together (net yet confirmed that they effectively work)

- it is possible to insert a half pin with stud into the high brick & the small piece into the low inverted brick. these connect. the problem is that these leave a small gap in between them, i've cheated to try it out and found out that it is possible,  I admit that this is "not done" in Lego-builder terms probably. this will be decided when I'm building the model. pictures below

irHXQpQ.jpg7A3d8kM.jpg

Modified version

s5qLqEC.jpg

I hope that it is not a problem that my model is largely based upon your MK V as I do not want to start a war here (that pug & hamsters are unbeatable ;) ?
 

As for the progress, last night I've completely deconstructed the sponsons and started redesigning them to include the new gun model from Tommy

I also did some remesurements and found out that my sponson was to big,

Edited by Stimy

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It's not a problem, no. As for connections, this isn't what I was talking about. You're showing bottom-to-bottom connections and I'm talking about side-to-side. How are these going to stay together if they're not connected?

shit.jpg

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Hey Sariel,

I've included a picture, under the 1x8 & 1x6 bricks resembling the rivets the colors from the previous blocks are visible, they keep the construction together.

by making this picture I found out that I used the wrong red brick as the nose piece was only connected inbetween eachother by 2 half pin studs and would probably fall of pretty fast.

The top part however is not connected & I will see how I fix this problem when building my first mock-up. maybe use a 2x... brick and strengthen it from below so it is not visible?

naslFhD.png

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It still appears to be too weak of a construct, it will collapse when you apply any downwards load on the sprocket, this is a better solution, though it still needs to be tied in more to to the tan part. I would suggest using a 7l half beam and using that to connect both sides as this will help provide a rigid connection to the idler, and also use this to tie into the tan portion. Also the top and bottom pieces still need to be connected.

MK%20V%20track%20tensioner.png

https://www.bricksafe.com/files/Tommy_styrvoky/MK V track tensioner.lxf

Edited by Tommy Styrvoky

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Good idea Tommy, will give that a try!

thank you guys a lot for these tips & improvements, I still need a long way to go to get up onto your level of expertise.:excited:

I am now working on the sponsons and incorporating the M motors in the hull. the rotating of the gun will not be that difficult, the traverse will be more difficult but we'll get there.

 

I also notice that you are using a different program than the Lego Digital Designer, which one is this and what are the benefits?

A different questions, how is it that the space between my text is much larger than yours?

Edited by Stimy

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2 hours ago, Stimy said:

Good idea Tommy, will give that a try!

thank you guys a lot for these tips & improvements, I still need a long way to go to get up onto your level of expertise.:excited:I am now working on the sponsons and incorporating the M motors in the hull. the rotating of the gun will not be that difficult, the traverse will be more difficult but we'll get there.

 

I also notice that you are using a different program than the Lego Digital Designer, which one is this and what are the benefits?A different questions, how is it that the space between my text is much larger than yours?

I use a bunch of different software, LDD is nice for quick simple designs, though I use Stud.io for doing quick renders and more difficult connections, and sometimes Ldraw based programs for exporting into instructions or Blender for making photorealistic renders.

For mounting the M motors, I think you could position one below the sponson with a worm gear reduction to traverse it, and mount another one directly behind the sponson for the elevation. I have a couple thoughts for the elevation, though I am not sure at the moment.

It appears you are hitting enter after each sentence.

like this. 

Edited by Tommy Styrvoky

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This is on a whole new scale than what I am used to, and you just shake those design out of your pocket like it is nothing *oh2*:laugh:  thanks again Tommy. I guess my engineering knowledge is not what it should be for this :ugh:

 

One more question, is there somewhere a How-To-Use Bricksafe? I've uploaded my model there but can't seem to import it here

Edited by Stimy

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49 minutes ago, Stimy said:

One more question, is there somewhere a How-To-Use Bricksafe? I've uploaded my model there but can't seem to import it here

You first upload it, then go to your pages, next find the file you want, and right click on the download icon, and there should be an option for copy link address. Finally paste that to your post to share with others.

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Some additional ideas on increasing the stability while keeping your clean color splits

  • use a hinge plate with one white, one dark red side with the exposed hinge on the interior
  • instead of a 1x2 brick use a 2x2 corner brick and connect it to the interior tread wall as the connection will be hidden from observation

Alternatively, in the reference image the stripes don't actually span the entire edge, so you could look at doing a tan border with pieces that span the gap.

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On 9/1/2018 at 12:58 AM, Exile Phoenix said:

Some additional ideas on increasing the stability while keeping your clean color splits

  • use a hinge plate with one white, one dark red side with the exposed hinge on the interior
  • instead of a 1x2 brick use a 2x2 corner brick and connect it to the interior tread wall as the connection will be hidden from observation

Alternatively, in the reference image the stripes don't actually span the entire edge, so you could look at doing a tan border with pieces that span the gap.

thanks for the suggestions phoenix, at the moment it looks like it's holding together, I've also made strengthening parts in between the hulls to keep it all together. about the side pieces in tan, this will be difficult as there are no pieces small enough to span the edge and not be too thick.

 

I'm still busy incorporating the drive system of the sponson canon, the rotation is working as far as I can see in LDD (I don't think there is an option to virtually power a motor in the LDD design?) I am now working on getting the servo motor connected for the elevation, due to the lack of workspace this is not an easy job. We'll get there ventually, I'm in no rush to get this model finished.

 

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Finally had some time to work on the tank again. I've been struggling to get the elevation mechanism to work, the traverse unit works perfectly thanks to Tommy's plans, the elevation system is a whole other story. after trying out 4-5 different ideas, I've put it aside for now and gone with a basic system that uses a string and winch. For now I'm happy with the result and maybe i'll find a new way to get this thing to work in the future

sdXbvmg.jpg

https://bricksafe.com/files/stimy/mk-v-tank/MK V Canon.lxf

As for the tank itself, I needed to modify the sponson design beacause the new canon design didn't fit in the old sponson and some parts exst in LDD but not from Lego. For now I'm happy with how it looks, altough there is a small gap in between te front side & middle part of the sponson, can't have it all :cry_sad:

BPCwafM.jpg

https://bricksafe.com/files/stimy/mk-v-tank/MK V sponson2.lxf

Next up will be creating the body and connecting the hulls together, then it's on with designing the drive system and interior if possible.

 

 

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Bot hulls are ready together with the sponsons and canons. the controls for the turrets are in and they should work (fingers crossed). I also started adding the tracks, but at the moment they do not connect in LDD, we'll see how it goes when I start building this beast.

Now I'll focus on the body & drive system of this thing, I was thinking about using a Buwizz system in this so I can control it with a smartphone or tablet, any of you got experience with this. I also see a lot about the Sbrick system but I can't really understand what it does (besides being able to program stuff into it) any of you got some more simple description for how they work?

I've already made a big order for tan parts via Bricklink (thanks for the tip) but at the moment i'm already up to 1650 parts as it is now so will have to do a lot more ordering :head_back:

hOrTpGD.png

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As someone who has a bit of a soft spot for WWI history (possibly because it's the closest RL has come to Steampunk), and an avid Battlefield 1 player, I really like what you've done with this model so far. :grin:
(As a matter of fact, the MKV Landship is my best vehicle in Battlefield 1, with almost 300 kills).

I'm really looking forward to seeing you finish this beast. :)

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If you're talking about the gaps between the walls and the sponson being too large, you could use the 1x1 with stud on the side to build out into the gap, and use some 1x2 cheese slopes to close it similar to this:

1930651349_closedgaps.jpg.e2d0d743609cec5ca71497bd2e7bcf73.jpg

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10 hours ago, Exile Phoenix said:

If you're talking about the gaps between the walls and the sponson being too large, you could use the 1x1 with stud on the side to build out into the gap, and use some 1x2 cheese slopes to close it similar to this:

1930651349_closedgaps.jpg.e2d0d743609cec5ca71497bd2e7bcf73.jpg

Hey Phoenix,

This is a good idea, but i'll have to see if this doesn't obstruct the turret movement. the gaps that I meant were in the sponson design itself, because I am using the slopes on a 45° angle, this makes that there is a small gap between the slopes & the side of the sponson. 

k3jFz4A.png

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3 hours ago, Stimy said:

Hey Phoenix,

This is a good idea, but i'll have to see if this doesn't obstruct the turret movement. the gaps that I meant were in the sponson design itself, because I am using the slopes on a 45° angle, this makes that there is a small gap between the slopes & the side of the sponson. 

 

Use 1x1 brick with headlight to inset the slopes by 1/2 a plate. Also for your choice of control, I would suggest getting a Sbrick, as it is cheaper, and it is more flexible with the ability to program via the profile designer. The only major advantage for the Buwizz is it offers a higher voltage output, and an integrated battery assembly. As with your model you will need at least 2 of whatever you choose to control your model with. Also the 8z gear you are using to drive the traverse gear won't work, you need a 12z and 20z both in half bevel and this part to brace them.

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