[MOC] Rolls Royce Phantom (2018)

[Appie]

I am still looking to tweak a few spots (the panel at the rear window is included in this), but mostly it is finished:

20190827_134133 by Appie NL, on Flickr

20190827_134604 by Appie NL, on Flickr

20190827_135244 by Appie NL, on Flickr

20190827_134945 by Appie NL, on Flickr

I don't think I mentioned this before, but the "gas" and "break" pedal function as the forward/neutral/reverse for the gearbox. If I did the math right, then the reverse gear ratio is slightly above the ratio of the 2nd, perhaps not very realistic since afaik they are usually around the ratio of the 1st, I couldn't figure out a better ratio in the space I had left for this.

20190827_134741 by Appie NL, on Flickr

20190827_135042 by Appie NL, on Flickr

The white levers with silver knobs control the windows and the black one on the dash controls the airconditioning. The lever below the steering wheel is for the lights. My aim was to have the positions for these controls as close to what they would be in a real car. Despite the roof being open, the front window levers are a little hard to reach for my big hands (especially with my left as you will see in the video below).

20190827_153707 by Appie NL, on Flickr

20190827_135520 by Appie NL, on Flickr

My attempt to recreate the "star filled heaven" roof lining of the real Phantom. These are "glitter bricks". They only come in weird colours like dark pink until a set of Harry Potter brought these light blues. I considered adding PF lights to this for extra effect, but it didn't have the desired result in terms of lightning and I didn't want to use 3rd party stuff on this build.

20190827_134306 by Appie NL, on Flickr

20190827_134407 by Appie NL, on Flickr

20190827_135313 by Appie NL, on Flickr

Behind the back of the trunk is the gearshifter from Attika and some wires.

20190827_140703 by Appie NL, on Flickr

Perhaps looks a little bright in this picture, but there's only 2 PF leds per headlight on these.

20190827_140547 by Appie NL, on Flickr

And the taillights, 1 PF led each.

20190827_140944 by Appie NL, on Flickr

@Attika Here's your desired belly shot

I don't have the new wire holders yet from Control+ sets and not sure of these can even hold 2-3 wires in 1, so I made something myself to hold/tunnel/guide the wires. At first I wanted to completely cover up the floor and "hide" the Technic like I mostly did on the rest of the car, but decided to keep it open.

And some might notice that I updated the front suspension. When I nearly finished the build it needed an upgrade to 3 hard springs, same number as the rear, since the front suspension was pretty much dead in the old configuration.

And a little video to showcase the windows and airconditioning

 

Original opening post below this point:

With all the great sportcars on this forum, I felt I had to try a different approach to the "1:8 Lego supercar". Choosing this car also gave me a good excuse to add different kind of functions usually not in these kind of cars.

First of all I want to say thanks to a few people on this forum for information, techniques or mechanisms they provided:

@Didumos69 and @jb70 for their work on the Chiron gearbox. This model uses their efficiently build Chiron gearbox, I only tweaked it slightly further to make it shorter.

Also thanks Didumos and @Erik Leppen for their information on suspension, made it easier to look for how to fix stuff.

@Attika for his compact servo based gearbox stepper which I used in this model.

@Jeroen Ottens for all sorts of neat techniques and tricks in his DB11. The front mounting of the suspension is very similar to his to get the engine very low like in his DB11.

I am sure I forgot a few people, my apologies.

So here's the current progress:

WIP3Frontside by Appie NL, on Flickr

WIP3RearSide by Appie NL, on Flickr

WIP3Side by Appie NL, on Flickr

The current features are:

- 8 speed gearbox

- V12 fake engine

- Suspension

- Electric windows

- "Airco"

- Lights

 

I think, despite the outer shell being about 70% system bricks and 30% technic, the base of the car is all Technic and that it should belong in this forum and not the scale forum. This is how the car looked in the early stages:

WIPRollsPhantomFront2 by Appie NL, on Flickr

But if Jim or Milan thinks it should still be in the other forum, I am sure he will move it.

The reason for the mostly system outer shell is because I had a hard time making all the little curves with Technic (panels) and I felt those little curves made the difference to try and capture this car. Especially at the front, after that I tried to minimize Technic panel use because it would be a breach of style at that point. Overall I am happy how it turned out so far, some parts I don't like. The windscreen being the biggest offender with how square and flat it looks, but the A-pillars being part of the structural integrity of the model made it hard to come up with something else.

 

Stuff left to do:

- Dashboard and midconsole

- Front seats

- Roof

- Mirrors

- The bottom 2 studs of the model (under the doors, bottom of front grill and the second layer of the floor to hide wires and provide more rigidity to the model)

Edited August 27, 2019 by Appie
Updated OP with new close to finished pictures.

[nerdsforprez]

Looking forward to it... but sorry to say I can't see the images. 

[Appie]

Weird, just loaded this page on my phone and they seem to work fine.

Edit: Changed host of pictures, hope they show for you now.

Edited August 3, 2019 by Appie

[m3eu]

Interesting! will follow your updates. The WIP3Side pic doesn't do it justice imo, it seems to bent through - as if the front/nose is aiming towards the sky...

[Appie]

You're right, it isn't bending. This honestly surprised me, since the current version of the floor only has some reinforcements in certain spots until I get to work on the bottom of the floor. The triangles at the A and C-pillar seem to handle the weight very well.

I think the perception of the nose "aiming towards the sky" is simply because the rear suspension is more compressed than the front in that pic. Which is funny, because the front has 2 hard springs and the rear 3. While the rear axle has more weight to handle, it does usually stand higher than the front. Normally the stance is 2 studs from the ground at the front and stays at that number towards the rear wheels which are at 2studs+1mm. One time compressing the suspension makes it 2 studs at the rear and 1-2mm below 2 studs at the front. My aim is to have it leveled, so if the front drops more I will re-adjust the suspension at the front. A Rolls isn't a sportscar, so they don't really have rake

[1gor]

So far it looks very promising and since Rolls Royce uses (relatively) simple boxy designed cars (with clean lines) it should be great Moc. 

[Jurss]

Somehow recognizable, but, I would say, not looking good.

[Appie]

17 minutes ago, Jurss said:

Somehow recognizable, but, I would say, not looking good.

I personally don't like a few sections either, but what is it you don't like?

[Jurss]

Maybe just pictures are not good,

maybe I wouldn't use bricks in windows at all for some cleaner view

maybe try not to fill all the gaps with bricks or with some small panel, yes You filled gap, but somehow it doesn't improved look, but made even not so good.

[Aleh]

From time to time I'm also thinking to build phantom from technic.

[Gray Gear]

It looks promising, but there can definatelly be made some improvements. I'd remove the transparent window bricks, it just looks weird. And the differently shaped wheel arches in the front and the back really dont look good. But otherwhise it looks pretty good, especially the front 

[Good old Lego builder]

It looks very promising. The front looks good as does the back. It is the picture from the side where it doesn't look that good. Maybe it is just the picture. I think it has something to do with te wheels. Either their size or the different shpa of the arches. But overall looks good!

 

[Appie]

4 hours ago, Jurss said:

Maybe just pictures are not good,

maybe I wouldn't use bricks in windows at all for some cleaner view

maybe try not to fill all the gaps with bricks or with some small panel, yes You filled gap, but somehow it doesn't improved look, but made even not so good.

I see what you mean. Thanks for the feedback. Due to the function of the electric windows I thought it be cool to have actual windows, but perhaps I should just use a window frame and remove the rest. The "gap filling" I personally don't like as well, especially between the rear wheelarch and the door. I will try to improve that. Not filling it looks worse imo, because you'd look straight into the window mechanism, which I think looks weird when the rest has been closed a little better than that section. I couldn't figure out a system where the doorhinge moved outwards while still keeping a 1 stud wide driveshaft going for the window function in the space I had.

Edit: made a picture for you without the filler for yourself to judge.

Gap by Appie NL, on Flickr

(hmmm, dusty Lego...)

2 hours ago, Gray Gear said:

It looks promising, but there can definatelly be made some improvements. I'd remove the transparent window bricks, it just looks weird. And the differently shaped wheel arches in the front and the back really dont look good. But otherwhise it looks pretty good, especially the front 

I see, the wheelarch at the back felt weird to me too, I kept it because the real thing has that curve inwards as well above the wheel. The front has this too, but less pronounced, which is why I just left it out there. I dismissed the idea of building it in bricks because I thought this was closest to the real car and added bonus of being in one piece, but I will try to work it out. 

@Good old Lego builder Thanks, the size of the tire is in scale, used Sariel's scale tool (one of the people I forgot to mention) for this, so I guess it's the wheel arches. 

Edited August 4, 2019 by Appie
added picture

[Attika]

What a beefy piece of art! Spectacular.  There are certainly some angles it looks better from, than from others, but I admit it is a challenge and a half to make it look like and make it work like as intended. On the "look" part I think you've succeeded.  More than I ever could. 

I belive a MOC always represents the perception of the builder about the subject, we can call it style, but it's more than that. Therefore getting and using advice from the public will always take away some of "you" from the model. For this reason:

     A, I say nothing about what could've been done differently (I'm sure you spent countless hours on details)

     B, you wont see a wip topic from me 

 

Anyway, I don't know much about bodywork, yet I'd die to see a belly pic (some say it's mandatory). Also I'm curious about the weight. 

I'm glad I could contribute, hope that stepper wont let you down. Looking forward to see the developement.

[MxWinters]

I agree with other people, there is room for improvement here but this is a very nice model nonetheless, good work

[Appie]

5 hours ago, Attika said:

What a beefy piece of art! Spectacular.  There are certainly some angles it looks better from, than from others, but I admit it is a challenge and a half to make it look like and make it work like as intended. On the "look" part I think you've succeeded.  More than I ever could. 

I belive a MOC always represents the perception of the builder about the subject, we can call it style, but it's more than that. Therefore getting and using advice from the public will always take away some of "you" from the model. For this reason:

     A, I say nothing about what could've been done differently (I'm sure you spent countless hours on details)

     B, you wont see a wip topic from me 

 

Anyway, I don't know much about bodywork, yet I'd die to see a belly pic (some say it's mandatory). Also I'm curious about the weight. 

I'm glad I could contribute, hope that stepper wont let you down. Looking forward to see the developement.

Thanks (also MxWinters)

I am personally not a fan of making WIP topics either, but I do find them refreshing to look at a model differently through the feedback of other people or revisit ideas I dismissed earlier. After building for X months I tend to get tunnel vision and get lost in that. Having a fresh look at stuff people point out helps to break that. In the end I will still do what I feel is best for the model or what I want out of the model and this might go directly against the feedback provided, but if that happens I will have tried to make that feedback work, so don't think any of your feedback is for nothing, I greatly appreciate it. Lego is always about finding that compromise you can live with when building a MOC imo.

Take the feedback for the windows for example. The electric windows are a key feature, removal is not an option. This not only affects how the windows look, but also how I make the doorhinges work. Windows have to work while the door is opened and closed, because one or the other would be silly imo. Yes, these are self-imposed rules, but that's my vision. This creates problems, like the gap at the wheelarch, the wheelarch at the rear as a whole. Then how the windows look. I can't have actual windows on the side and not on the windscreen, that would be silly imo (again self-imposed). I am trying to figure out a "window frame" now that doesn't look out of place. Do I move the silver lining of the window (which technically doesn't move in real life) or do I make a window frame below this. If I make it below it and it isn't some type of transparant I think it will look out of place and if I make it transparant, why isn't it a full window then? So actually the windscreen being as it is atm is the compromise for the feature. On the other hand, if I manage windowless, I could also tweak the little window at the backseat door that is fixed to the body and would help with the getting the gap clean in that area. So there is something to gain as well from moving away from windows. Which compromise to settle on?

 

Or the stuff for the rear wheelarch I am now looking at again: I am technically already cheating a stud on the scale that I am allowed to use in that space (door is supertight on the the rear wheel arch in real life), how will I brace another design of the rear wheelarch in the same amount of space, especially if brickbuild? Then there's the doorhinge in that area. In order to have a somewhat smooth sideline, the Technic wheelarch panel actually flexes a wee bit when opening the door the first bit of it (omg illegal? ).

So all sorts of stuff to look at again on the model provided by this topic.

 

The stepper works great, I actually adjusted it slightly so the servo always makes a full turn (I sorta broke one once in a little RC car that couldn't make full 90 degrees turns on the servo, made me cautious).

As for the belly shot, it will have to wait. I'd rather show it once I have properly placed the structure for that instead of a few beams here and there

As for the weight, I actually want to buy a scale for it to see how much, but for a 1:8 Lego car it's heavy. It houses 5 M-motors, 1 servo, 1 Lipo BB, 6 PF switches and 3 PF lights. The brickbuild body adds a good chunk of weight as well, not to mention how dense I tend to build normally with Technic and this chassis is no exception.

Edited August 4, 2019 by Appie

[Attika]

1 hour ago, Appie said:

So all sorts of stuff to look at again on the model provided by this topic.

 Got it, fair point. Still I like the way it looks even in this WIP stage. Can't give you any useful feedback though. With my (non existing) scale building skills, I'd already declared it "as good as it gets".  So the best I can do is to wish you the best and quietly wait for the end product.  Btw this electric window thing is a whole new level of madness.... in a good way.  I love the idea.

[Appie]

Thanks Attika.

Another thing I was thinking of was wether I should try to build this in the typical Rolls two-tone or keep it one colour. I couldn't figure out a colour that would work well with dark blue and had the parts available in the right colours, I only considered white an option for the parts available and since the interior would be mostly white and I didn't want to change that, I didn't think that would be a good idea. Then somebody pointed out black to me and I think that could work, what do you guys think of this quick mockup? Go for this or stay with full dark blue?

BlueAndBlackMaybe by Appie NL, on Flickr

[Attika]

It might be just the photo, but it seems like the border between the colors highlights some rough edges, which were hidden while it was the same color.  It's the hood, that made me say this. Couple of tiles might change the story though.

Now you made me involved... 

[LvdH]

Looks good, can’t wait to see it finished. I would personally drop the glass though, it’s too flat. 

[Appie]

31 minutes ago, Attika said:

It might be just the photo, but it seems like the border between the colors highlights some rough edges, which were hidden while it was the same color.  It's the hood, that made me say this. Couple of tiles might change the story though.

Now you made me involved... 

I guess you mean the tile edge below the silver flex axle on the hood especially? Yeah, I'd have to rework that to make it work better. On the real car the hood colour is present under the silver lining, but thinner, it blended in blue, but like this it is too pronounced.

 

21 minutes ago, LvdH said:

Looks good, can’t wait to see it finished. I would personally drop the glass though, it’s too flat. 

Thanks, I'll see what I can do about the windscreen to add some curve once I finish the dashboard.

[Lakop]

You are onto something here. I would want to use system panels for the rear bodywork. From the side view all looks well until you get just past the rear passenger door, then things go down hill. I would use system for the rear wheel arches too. But I take my hat off to you for what you have done so far. Please stick with the blue colours.

H

[Appie]

Thanks

I changed some stuff at the rear section.

The rear wheelarch in brick form.

20190808_184503 by Appie NL, on Flickr

I quite like it like this. As you can see I also adjusted the rear window behind the backseat door,, so it's less "boxed in" the bodywork. I want to order this part to get some curve in that last silver lining of the window. The whole rear is a little sleeker now due to the new style rear window and the Technic panel behind it being 1 stud inwards on the model.

20190808_184527 by Appie NL, on Flickr

I tried removing that Technic panel btw, but the the ideas I had for it (curved slopes gradually dropping 1 or half a stud or just using plates and or tiles wasn't really working for me). So until I get an idea or hear of one, it is staying.

One thing I still need to fix, is the sudden 1 stud drop from the doorframe to the rear wheelarch. This is supposed to be one smooth dropped line towards the tail lights. I won't be able to that, but I could try to mount some plate/tiles to get a decent way there if I can get them mounted properly.

[Lakop]

I like what you have done on the above update. That dark blue sloped brick by the rear wheel looks like it could provide some options.

H

[tomek9210]

Now the wheel arches look too big for wheels. Technic wheel arches looked way better.