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simonwillems

Fifties Modelteamsized truck

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Dear community,

A few weeks ago I showed you my powerfunctioned tank as a first experiment with the new powerfunctions.

After making something with tracks I decided to make a vehicle with wheels and steering.

Because of the space the batterybox and receiver consume in any model I made a truck. The truck is not based on any kind of excisting truck, I just wanted to build something in the rounded fifties style and found inspiration in pictures in an issue of Old Car Trader (magazine for selling and buying classic cars).

I never used the colour combination yellow/blue/grey/tan before and I am not so sure whether I like it or not, but its growing on me.

I used the small powerfunctions motor for powering the wheels, and a micromotor for powering the steering.

The truck is kind of heavy, so the steering works a bit slow and you can hear the little motor trying hard to accomplish its task... Also the powerfunctions motor is so strong that it ripped apart one of my gears when the truck got stuck behind a corner once :'-( . I had not put in a device to stop the motor from obstructing.

So it needs some work, but it drives relatively well. Here are a few pictures:

p3090169.jpg

The front, showing some chrome elements,

p3090170.jpg

the side, the door really opens to reveal a cramped up seat and small steering wheel,

p3090173.jpg

The backside showing the cargo and the upside-down-mounted receiver.

The complete Brickshelf Gallery

What do you think? comments are very welcome!

:-)

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Great truck Simon! The colors are a great choise.

How long in studs is it?

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Great truck Simon! The colors are a great choise.

How long in studs is it?

Thanks!

It is *counts the studs...* from front-fender to backdoors 33 studs long.

:-)

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Thanks!

It is *counts the studs...* from front-fender to backdoors 33 studs long.

:-)

Thank you! Now I need to search for parts! *sweet*

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Also the powerfunctions motor is so strong that it ripped apart one of my gears when the truck got stuck behind a corner once :'-( . I had not put in a device to stop the motor from obstructing.

oh.gif Ouch! How did that happen? What kind of gear got ripped apart? May I suggest using a clutch gear somewhere in your model to prevent that from happening again?

As for the MOC itself, I like how you hid the battery box in the back of the truck -- very clever! X-D I also like how you used oldschool car roof hinges to make the fenders rounded. *y* Overall, great job!

-Toa Of Justice

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A Model Team truck with Power Function *wub*

You have some fine details with the way you have made the slopes inside the wheel wells and the M-motor should have plenty of power to move it around. I have seen another guy power a truck using PF (see youtube. There is a link to his BS-account as well), but this is only the third time I have seen PF in such an obvious application.

It is blocky and old school as such a truck should be. I'm glad you aren't afraid of building it blocky. The only think I don't like so much is the placement of the receiver. If you disguised it, the functionality would come more as a surprise.

Yellow and tan at the same time? Well. I guess it was "in" back then :-D

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Thanks for commenting!

oh.gif Ouch! How did that happen? What kind of gear got ripped apart? May I suggest using a clutch gear somewhere in your model to prevent that from happening again?

The motor destroyed one of these gears: 3650b.1169456927.jpg it bended the notch so that the gear is not to be used again, off to the dustbin with it I'm afraid. That was the old version, the newer version looks like this: 3650.jpg, and has some reinforcements to prevent it from bending. That one is currently used and it works well.

I tried the clutch you are suggesting, but the motor just spun the clutch instead of moving the car, so that did not work. Maybe I'll try something with lots of rubber bands next.... Thanks for the input, I'll keep trying!

It is blocky and old school as such a truck should be. I'm glad you aren't afraid of building it blocky. The only think I don't like so much is the placement of the receiver. If you disguised it, the functionality would come more as a surprise.

Yellow and tan at the same time? Well. I guess it was "in" back then :-D

I tried lots of different disguises for the receiver, but the whole thing (at least the transparant part with the rounded top) needs to be visible for the remote control. Otherwise the signal is not coming through and the car stops moving.

In my tank I put a car roof over it, visible in this picture, but the roof had to be opened completely for the remote control to function properly. In closed position it only worked if the remote was precisely behind the machine, that is not the pleasure of controlling something remotely: I want to sit in a chair and steer my vehicle across the entire room without having to get up and aim.... ;-)

The colours: well, I wasn't born anywhere near the fifties, but I'm sure the combination yellow/tan was a hit back then :-P

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Maybe I'll try something with lots of rubber bands next.... Thanks for the input, I'll keep trying!

If you're going to use rubber bands, I reccommend this type, as I heard that the other type tends to crumble after a while. You're welcome.

-Toa Of Justice

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That truck looks very charming and nicely detailed, in an interesting and fine color scheme, a smart work! *y*

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Thats a great truck I quite like the colour scheme. *y*

I would be interested to see how you did the steering it is not clear form the photos?

Sorry to hear you broke a gear I have tried to build several models with the XL motor only to find it destroys itself if you get stuck on something the new motors definetly powerful.

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Great truck. Completely enclosing bodywork.

I have been thinking about building a vehicle, based on the powerfunctions from the bulldozer. I had the idea of using the big motor for drive, and the small one for steering. I guess that would need a big reduction in gearing though to work properly. I suspect the micromotor is something else (NXT) ?

Front

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I would be interested to see how you did the steering it is not clear form the photos?

I basically copied the steering mechanism from set 8082, this page of the instruction manual shows it. The only difference I made is placing the motor on top instead of underneath the steering axle.

The rubber band prevents the motor from jamming in case you forget to let go of the handle on the remote control.

I have been thinking about building a vehicle, based on the powerfunctions from the bulldozer. I had the idea of using the big motor for drive, and the small one for steering. I guess that would need a big reduction in gearing though to work properly. I suspect the micromotor is something else (NXT) ?

Front

Actually the micromotor predates NXT by many years, it was found in set 8082 (mentioned above) and some city sets like set 6484 and set 6483.

Quite a useful (although not very powerful) motor good enough for steering.

When you use powerfunctions for steering be sure to use some rubberbands or clutch gears!

2986.gif

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