2GodBDGlory's old MOCs

[2GodBDGlory]

Hello,

As I have mentioned before, I have made many models in the past, before I started using Eurobricks. I formerly posted my stuff on MocPages, but when that site ceased to function (for me, at least), I started posting on here. Fortunately, before the site went down, I backed up all my posts in a Word document. I am unwilling to put in the massive amount of effort to adapt the format of around 70 posts or so to Eurobricks, but I can easily enough copy and paste my MocPages descriptions onto here, and add images to BrickSafe. So, I will probably gradually start adding my old stuff onto this page. Naturally, a lot of the stuff is unimpressive, since I have learned a lot over the years, and even the technically impressive stuff is probably ugly, but at least I can reference past models of mine intelligently, and there may be some posts of interest to viewers.

 

Technic Dodge Challenger 

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Add a comment   Zoom in    My first model to be posted on here is a Dodge Challenger, at about 1:12 scale. It has four motorized functions using Power Functions. About this creation This model has front independent suspension with two hard shocks per wheel and a rear live axle with one hard shock per wheel. A PF M motor steers the front wheels using a worm gear, while an XL motor drives the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox and a U-joint. A M motor shifts the gearbox (Which is similar in working principle, if not construction, to Sheepo's), using a worm gear and a rack. There is also a speed indicator. A PF L motor drives the rear brakes from atop the rear axle by rotating beams that pull other beams to press rubber axle joiners against the brake disks. It also turns a PF switch to turn off the drive motor and keep it from stalling. The doors can open, but there is sadly no interior, as the gearbox was simply too big. Even though this is my first MOC to be posted on here, I have been building Technic models for over a year, and I will likely post them over time.    IMAGES AT https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/112-dodge-challenger Honda Civic Type R

This model, a Technic Honda Civic Type R, which is one of my favorite Japanese cars, has four motorized functions.

About this creation

This car has full independent suspension (My first well-scaled car with it: the Civic has small wheels in real life, thus meaning a bigger car than my others with the same Lego wheels)with castor and camber angle. It also has motorized steering using a M-motor and a worm gear, Rear-wheel drive (I later learned it should have been Front-wheel drive) using an XL motor, a four-speed sequential gearbox with a speed indicator using an L-motor, and an interesting piston engine. The piston engine can run slowly using just the drive motor, or faster using a PF E-motor through an adder. LEDs also go on in the engine bay when you start the E-motor. Now, back to the gearbox. It is for the most part your standard two-beam controlled four-speed, similar to Sariel and countless others's but with a stepper. However, it also has two beams that are pushed forward and backward at the front for the speed indicator. The hood can open manually. The two doors on each side can be opened using one dampened shock absorber for each side (The front and rear doors on the same side are linked).

This model, in my opinion looked and functioned pretty well, but there was no fourth seat because the gearbox's stepper took that space. I should also mention that this model is actually older than my Dodge Challenger, because I am now posting older MOCs. Also, after I finished this model I got more PF, so my later creations are more complex.
I hope you enjoy this!
P.S. I was unable to post my video because it gave me something about a fatal error and a 30 minute timeout. Maybe my video was too long (about four minutes).

IMAGES AT https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/112-honda-civic-type-r

Edited August 25, 2020 by 2GodBDGlory

[2GodBDGlory]

Dodge RAM Power Wagon

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This is my first large-scale truck, using the wheels from my new 4x4 crawler, and has many functions.

About this creation

This huge truck was a big first for me: It was my first vehicle with these wheels, and my first vehicle with six RC functions. Two hard-coupled XL motors drove all four wheels. (I made the mistake of gearing it down too much too early, so when the gearbox jammed, the motors broke two 12T bevel gears, and later a knob wheel!) Also, a PF E-motor ran the piston engine. This engine was a Cummins inline 6 turbodiesel, which I learned is not actually in Power Wagons (A 4x4 magazine misled me. Their truck must have had an engine swap). A Servo motor steered the front wheels, but it didn't actually work, as my V2 receiver from the 4x4 Crawler was faulty, and only the blue channel works. Thus, the steering only works in theory. A M-motor also turned the steering wheel. A L-motor controlled Sariel's heavy duty four speed gearbox by pushing the rubber band loaded axles back and forth with 2L beams. This did not always shift well, sadly. A PF M-motor also shifted a two speed transfer case. Another M-motor ran a pneumatic autovalve and compressor, which controlled a small pneumatic cylinder on each axle which worked the differential lock. Finally, a L-motor ran the winch at a 24:1 reduction, and the transfer case provided a neutral for it to work in.
Both axles had floating axle suspension and portal axles, and there were LED headlights. All the doors had working locks. The tailgate and hood opened.

This was a fairly satisfying model, both huge and complex. Some of the bodywork (ie, the roof) were less than I would want to do, simply because I was running out of pieces. Still, I am happy with this model.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/dodge-ram-power-wagon

Subaru WRX STi

 

A small, RC perfomance based Subaru WRX STi

About this creation

This model is smaller than most of mine, and has a focus on performance. In order to achieve that, it was driven by two L-motors at 1:3 gearing, and steered using a Servo motor. There was no rear suspension, but there was front independent suspension. There were LED headlights and two IR receivers-- simply because only one channel of my V2 receiver works :(. I was pretty happy with my model's looks, and it was nice to build a vehicle that was not grey, for once! The rear wing was probably exaggerated, but I still thought it looked cool. I used the old Model Team wheels both for their small width and in hopes that the old, less rubbery tires would be better for drifting. It drifted well without the body, and I even got it to do donuts once in a while! Performance was naturally worse with the body, but I was still happy with it. I should also mention that I finished this car some time ago and didn't get around to posting it. This means that I am actually nearly done my next big car, which is easily my best ever!

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/subaru-wrx-sti

Porsche 911 Carrera S

This Technic Supercar, a Porsche 911 Carerra S, has five motorized functions, including a sequential gearbox and brakes.

About this creation

This supercar is easily my best one yet! It has five motorized functions at a small scale, and a few non-motorized features as well! These nonmotorized functions include full independent suspension using torsion bars and elastics, an opening hood with a knob in the cabin to start it, and opening doors (The driver's door has a lock, but the other side doesn't, as space was tight) There is motorized drive using two PF L-motors, coupled with a Boxer six piston engine, through a central differential for All Wheel Drive. There is steering using a PF M-motor and a worm gear, but I couldn't really attach a working steering wheel in the space I had. A M-motor retracts the rear spoiler using a worm gear and a clutch gear. There are brakes in all four wheels using a PF M-motor, but sadly the brakes were very crude, with just some pieces (Rubber in the rear) pressing on the tire. In the end, I would have to simplify the suspension and drivetrain (Switch to Tatra suspension and RWD) , and simplifying the brakes seemed the better option. Finally, there is a four-speed sequential gearbox controlled using a PF Servo motor. This means that the gearbox is super easy to switch, as you just push the remote lever and it will switch up one speed no matter how long you hold the lever. When you let go of the lever, the Servo returns to the center but does not shift down or up. At this point, you can shift up again, or decide to shift down a speed. The gearbox worked well, though the size kept me from putting in a passenger seat. I will hopefully post the gearbox separately in a few days. I was very happy with this model in most respects, but there were a few problems. First, the looks seemed a bit off. Second, there was only one seat. Third, the suspension was too soft, leading me to not want to use torsion bars in the future.

This model was, in my opinion, my best ever, and I am very pleased with the result!

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/porsche-911-carrera-s

Four Speed Sequential Servo Gearbox

This is the gearbox used in my Porsche 911, and is meant to be very easy to control.

About this creation

This is a four speed sequential gearbox controlled by a Servo motor. This is probably the very best way to control a multi-speed gearbox in Lego, as you just push the stick on the remote forward and you shift up exactly one speed, then release it and nothing happens as the Servo returns to center. Then you can either shift up or down from there. Another advantage is that it is easy to add an auto-clutch (Attach the clutch directly to the servo motor so that whenever it is not in the center the clutch is disconnected, so when you release the remote, it will reconnect)These are some pictures to help you build one if you want to.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/four-speed-sequential-servo-gearbox

Toyota Hilux Trial Truck

This truck is easily my best off-road model yet in terms of performance. It has full floating axle suspension using ball joints and large shocks, front wheel steering using a PF L-motor under the hood, and 4WD using an XL motor in each axle. These motors were geared down 3:1 before the portal axles, which had another 3:1 reduction, for 9:1 total reduction. There were LED headlights, and the entire body could easily be taken off to drive with the chassis only.

I was pleased with this model's performance, which was naturally much better without the bodywork on. Now, I know that a video is very important for a Trial Truck, and I have one, but I have had no success in posting one. If someone could comment and tell me how to post videos with the simple uploader, I could add video of most of my vehicles I think!

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/toyota-hilux-trial-truck

 

[2GodBDGlory]

Ichthia Marauder (Fictional Classic Muscle Car)

This was my first real attempt at building a fictional car, and I am pretty pleased with the result. I now present the Ichthia Marauder, a classic muscle car.

About this creation

This was my first real attempt at building a fictional car, and I am pretty pleased with the result. I now present the Ichthia Marauder, a classic muscle car produced starting in 1969, retired in 1985, and then rebooted in 2003, receiving a major update in 2014. This car was produced by the Ichthia motor company, a Canadian car company operating out of Toronto and specializing in performance cars, including roadsters, muscle cars, and supercars. (Those last two sentences were just a fictional backstory; don't believe it or try searching for it on the internet!) The car has a front V8 engine, front and rear live axles, a four speed manual gearbox, RWD using two PF L-motors, and steering using a PF Servo motor, coupled with a working steering wheel.

I was pretty happy with this car, for despite its relative simplicity, it functioned and looked well, and showed me just how satisfying a good working steering wheel can be! Plus, it had five seats! (GASP!)

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/ichthia-marauder

Mini Jeep Wrangler Trial Truck

 

This is a Mini Trial truck

About this creation

This is another older model that I built in November 2017. It is a Trial Truck, but at a small scale. An XL motor drives all four wheels at a 1:13 1/3 gear ratio, achieved through a 1:8 worm gear reduction at the axles, and then a 3:5 reduction in the portal axles. This is a bit of a faster gear reduction than I usually like to use for a Trial truck, but this model has small wheels, meaning more torque, and is lightweight. A M-motor steered the front wheels, and the windshield folds down.

I think I actually forgot to mention that there is full pendular suspension!

Three outdoor images. Yes, I have video, but no, I cannot post any. Sorry.

This model was interesting to build, and performed reasonably well for it's size. Bigger wheels certainly help, though.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/mini-jeep-wrangler-trial-truck

Chevrolet Corvette C7 Z06 Convertible

 

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This is a large, RC model of the latest, greatest 'Vette.

About this creation

Aesthetics:
The bodywork of this model was definitely the highlight, though I intended for the functions to supersede it. It was my first black model, and this allowed me to use swoopier panels for the first time!

 

I am super happy with the front looks. The corvette logo looks good to me, and the headlights seem great!

 

 

The lights were crafted from several white and clear slope bricks, and I really like them. In case some people would have noticed, some of the headlight pieces are not official. You see, my grandma once bought me this clone set that had these strange useless light up pieces. However, the rest of the set was clear! Thus, I use some of these pieces for headlights sometimes because I am willing to sacrifice a models "Purity" for an important enough advantage. Another good example of this is the rims, which are made from a Shreddies box, coloured silver, and covered with packing tape. It looks pretty good, and I will likely use it again in the future.

The hood can open to reveal a V8 piston engine. Oh the pain that went into fitting it in!

The cockpit had a working steering wheel and a speed indicator for the gearbox.

 

 

I was a lot less happy with the back. Actually, a lot of the stuff I built near the end was sorta sloppy, as the motorized functions were failing (More on that later) and I was convinced the model would be a failure anyway. Besides, I was excited for my next model! (Finished, except for a few pieces that I ordered and should arrive any day now)

Steering:
The steering used a M-motor in front of the rear axle, a worm gear, and some rubber bands. The steering wheel worked. There was Ackermann geometry, camber angle, and castor angle. The motor struggled a bit.

 

 

Drive:
Drive used two XL motors behind the rear axle. They drove the gearbox, which drove the rear wheels. A series of U joints took the drive around the gearbox to the piston engine, straight through the cabin!

 

                                                                          
Suspension: All wheels had independent suspension with camber angle.

 

Gearbox:
The gearbox was a six-speed servo-controlled sequential gearbox. This would have been great, if it worked. It was working fine in tests, but once I added the driving rings, there was too much friction and it didn't shift well, so I often had to help with the stick in the cockpit. Still, it was a good exercise and was educational.
A servo motor used a mechanism to push a gear rack, which pulled a rubber-band pusher thing (If you want to really understand the concept, build Sheepo's four speed gearbox with the free instructions.) which shifted the gears. It also pushed along the gear shift stick, which also indicated the speeds by the paper next to it.

 

Brakes: The vehicle had four wheel disc brakes using rubber axle joiners and a PF M-motor. Sadly, the brakes were super weak, and made virtually no difference at all. Still, they were the most refined brakes of mine in any model to date.

 

 

Overall, this model was a failure, but after all that work I had to post it. The mechanisms will hopefully be improved and find their way into another model someday, but the front does look pretty good, at least!

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/corvette
GMC Sierra 3500 HD

This is a fairly small, functional GMC Sierra HD.

About this creation

This is a relatively small truck, and has several motorized functions.
I think it looks quite good, and all the functions work well.
Aesthetics: I think the truck looks pretty good, but is pretty boxy, as a truck should be. The front doors open, as does the hood and tailgate. There are LED headlights, and a GMC logo on the front. This is also my first pickup with rear double wheels, and as such has the protrusions coming from the side.

Add-ons: I also built two different bed covers, the flat black one, and the big one that looks like an extended cab.

Suspension: The vehicle has full live-axle suspension, and it uses flex-axles in the rear as leaf springs.

Steering:
The model has a Servo-motor attached to the front live axle to steer the wheels. A couple CV joints and a couple gears connect it to the working steering wheel.

Drive: The model has four wheel drive and a V8 piston engine driven by two XL motors.

Gearbox:
The model has a four-speed sequential gearbox controlled by a PF M-motor with a speed indicator.

Transfer case: The model has a two-speed transfer case, to give the model four high and four low gears. It is controlled by a PF M-motor

Frame: This truck has the best chassis I have ever developed, as I always sorta thought it was pointless. Well, it turns out that there is definitely a point to having a tough frame, so it will likely become my new standard.

I was quite happy with this model, which had strong looks and functionality. However, performance left something to be desired.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/gmc-sierra-3500-hd

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

This is another of my old models that I am posting now. It is a model of the high-performance latest-gen Camaro.
Aesthetics:
This model looked quite good with the pointy nose and cool headlights. The doors could open. There were actually four seats! The wheels were Lego Truck tires, but with K-NEX wheels on them to work as rims.

Suspension: This car had a rear live axle and front independent suspension.

Steering. There was a M-motor steering the front wheels. There was a working steering wheel.

Drive:
An XL motor drove the rear wheels.

Gearbox:
There was a six-speed manual gearbox.

Spoiler. The real Camaro does have a spoiler, but I think my retractable spoiler was unrealistic. Still, it was a cool function with a bunch of beams and stuff getting it to work in the small space.

Overall, I have built better cars since, but this one was impressive for its good looks and also for the limited motors I had at the time.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/chevrolet-camaro-zl1-1le-old

[2GodBDGlory]

AEV Brute

[The AEV Brute is a pickup truck version of the TJ and JK Jeep Wranglers, built by American Expedition Vehicles]

This is my latest MOC, built in only two days! It has three L motors driving it, which gave it abundant power!
Aesthetics: The vehicle didn't really look too great, but at least it is boxy in real life. I should also say that in some of the images some parts are slightly askew (Like the mudguard in the main image) as the pictures were taken right after some ourdoor off-roading.

Drive: 3 L motors under the bed cover drove the four wheels at either a 3:1 ratio or a 9:1 ratio, depending on what speed you were in. All wheels were driven using knob wheels and portal axles.

 

Gearbox:
The model had a simple two-speed gearbox controlled using a PF M-motor, a transmission driving ring, and an old differential casing.

Suspension:
The whole model had long travel, soft live axle suspension, using one hard shock per axle. The position close to the pivot point softened it and increased travel. It was fun and bouncy.
(Notice those good ol' dirty tires!)

Steering:
This model had a basic system using a Servo motor.

This model was fun to build, and especially to drive, but it doesn't look too great.
IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/aev-brute

1:8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

This is my latest supercar, and my best one, too! It is my second Camaro, and is of the same model, though this one is a convertible, as my last one, though it is way bigger! It has five motorized functions, which I will get to later. But first...
Aesthetics:
This was a big car, which helps me to include minute detail. I was pretty happy with how it looked, though there was something just a little off with the headlights, which had LEDs.

The hood opened and was assisted by a dampened shock absorber, which made it quite satisfying to open and close.

The doors had simple locks, similar to what Sheepo has used recently, using a rubber axle joiner and a couple of those pointy pieces.

Finally, this model had a first for me, an opening trunk!

There was also an interior a bit nicer than my other ones.

Convertible Roof:
This model had a motorized convertible roof, which used a PF L-motor and a worm gear to operate a four-bar linkage connected to the roof.

 

Steering:
There was front wheel steering operated by a PF M-motor through a worm gear. There was Ackermann geometry and a working steering wheel.

Drive:
The model was driven by two large motors through the rear wheels, with a V8 piston engine.

Suspension:
The model had full independent suspension with 4 hard shock absorbers in front and 2 in the back (Yes, it looks like there were four in the back, but I disabled two of them after I realized that they collided with the brakes. Because of that, the rear suspension was a little too soft) There was full negative Camber angle, as well.

Gearbox:
This model had a sequential 6+2R gearbox, made by multiplying a 3+R times a 2 speed (In retrospect, I realize that I was aiming for the 6-speed manual in the real car. I really should have just made it a 4 times 2 (8) speed, as the real car can have an 8 speed auto) It was actually originally built from instructions I found online (Charbel on Rebrickable), so the frame is basically the same. Still, I changed the ratios of the 2 speed so that the working principle is similar to Rage Hobbit's, and changed the shifter, adding a stepper. Thus, it was really quite different. It was shifted using a Servo motor, but because the motor was too weak to gear up, I had to press the remote like 3 times before it would shift, so I probably should have used a regular motor instead. It worked pretty well, though it was a bit unhappy on high gears.

Brakes: The model had full disc brakes, driven by a M-motor and some worm gears. It worked decently, definitely better than my Corvette's did. I added fake brake calipers.

Overall, I am very happy with this model. It felt substantial, looked good, functioned well, and was more refined than my previous cars.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/chevrolet-camaro-zl1-1le

8070 Supercar full RC Mod

After getting my 8070, I decided to do what nobody had ever done before: Mod an 8070. Oh wait, what are you saying? Everybody has already done that? Okay. Still, I felt like trying, and I am pleased with the result. It added motorized drive and steering and a motor to switch the original function selector.
Drive was done using a single XL motor placed in front of the piston engine. Sadly, I had to downsize to a V6 to fit it in.

Steering was accomplished with a M-motor placed above the steering shaft geared down an extra 3:1

 

Function switching was done just like a usual four speed sequential gearbox. I used a 24:1 worm gear reduction and another M-motor.

Overall, I was quite happy with motorizing it while still keeping all the functionality. Likely this has been done before, but I don't really care.

I can't seem to find my image files

Mazda MX-5 Miata

 

Aesthetics:
The model is pretty ugly. The hood had to be too high because of the steering mechanism, and the rest of it isn't perfect. The rear lights, though, look great, made out of one piece that is absolutely perfect for the real ones!It was interesting to build a red model, but I don't have enough red to do big models yet.

Suspension:
There is front independent suspension and a rear live axle.

Steering: A servo motor geared down 3:1 drives a 2L beam which pushes the 6L links. The white rubber bands on the suspension arms are just there to keep the wheels at the forward end of their backlash freedom.

Drive: The model is driven by 3L motors at a 1:5 ratio before the differential. This provided a lot of speed, but I think 3 Ls was too much for one rechargeable battery box, as it would often squeal and turn off for a second. Other than that, it was fun to drive.

This model was sorta fun, but ugly and the battery problems were really annoying.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/mazda-mx-5-miata

 

[2GodBDGlory]

Jeep Hurricane

This is a complex model of Jeep's coolest concept vehicle ever, one that few have attempted to make out of Technic. (I saw about four or so other models) It is a super cool vehicle because it can turn on the spot, do four-wheel steering, and crab steering. Mine was intended to replicate the many steering modes.
Aesthetics:
The model I think looks pretty cool, with dual V8s, rugged Jeep looks, and a cool enough color scheme. It wasn't perfect, though, and the bumper things had to be pushed out too far to allow the steering to work.

Suspension: The vehicle had full double, wait no TRIPLE wishbone independent suspension (The third wishbone was added later to increase stability. All wheels had portal axles, as well. (I am not sure whether the real one had these, but in the images I looked at, the universal joints seemed to be a bit above the centers of the wheels) Each wheel had one hard and one soft shock.

 

Drive:
2XL motors drove one differential. Because of the interesting way this vehicle works, with all the steering, I only really needed one differential between the left and right drivetrains. There was also a switch that reversed two wheels on one side to allow for skid steering in the on-the-spot mode. Each wheel also had it's own worm gear reduction. It also drove two V8 piston engines, just like the real vehicle. Sadly, the drivetrain turned out so inefficient that it could barely drive. No illusions of off-road prowess here.

Steering:
Each axle was normally steered by one M-motor using a clutch gear. These gears allowed the vehicle to synchronize itself when switching steering modes. A PF switch allowed me to invert or turn off the rear M-motor, which allowed me to switch between crab, 4 wheel, and front wheel steering.
A L-motor also drove 13L racks using new worm gears which pushed the front and rear steering racks forward, disconnecting them from the pinion gear and bringing the fronts of the wheels inward. If you then switched to skid-steer mode, the vehicle would in theory turn on the spot. Sadly, the vehicle was way too weak, and the wheels didn't turn as far inward as they needed to, so it only worked in theory.

Overall, it was a fun model, but performance was terrible, which was sad for a vehicle that looks so cool.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/jeep-hurricane

Sequential 7+R Dual Clutch Gearbox with speed indicator

This gearbox took me all of two weeks to build, but I think it was worth it! It has seven forward speeds and one reverse speed, and can be controlled with a single PF M-motor. There are also two friction clutches, similar to Sheepo's idea in his superb Porsche. There is a complex speed indicator, as well. It cannot really be shifted while driving (Well, every other speed cannot), but it works pretty well. I made full photo instructions of it, which I will hopefully post soon. I am currently working on another version that is longer and skinnier, so as to more easily fit into models between seats.

 

I will try to walk you through how this works.
The M-motor on the top drives a worm gear which rotates two 2L beams. These two beams press first one of the sets of cams, then the other. These cams are connected to levers that push axles in, pressing first the slightly slower clutch in, then the faster one. These 2L beams are connected with a chain to a stepper, so that for every full cycle of each clutch, the stepper will snap the two four-speed gearboxes up a gear. Then it repeats with the clutches, and so on. I hope this makes sense to you! This gearbox shifts well, but it is huge, inefficient, and the friction clutches might be able to slip under torque. Still, I am very happy with it.

 IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/old-7r-dct

I originally had made instructions for this model and posted them on MocPages, but with the new rotary shifters, this gearbox is quite obsolete, so I won't bother to post it here.

Mclaren P1

This is my latest supercar (Oh wait, this is actually a Hypercar!), a 1:8 Mclaren P1! It has six RC functions in total. There is motorized rear wheel drive with 2 PF XL motors connected to a rear V8 piston engine, front steering with a PF L-motor, two motorized butterfly doors with one PF M-motor each, a retractable spoiler using a M-motor and a small linear actuator, and a 7+R dual clutch sequential gearbox (An overhauled version of my previously posted one) using a fourth M-motor.
Aesthetics: This car had some of the best, most complicated bodywork I have ever made, [EDIT: Only because my previous models had been even uglier!] yet I am a bit unhappy with the front view, which doesn't look as cool as the real one. Still, it looked pretty good, especially because I was copying from a beautiful car to begin with! I especially like the back view, with striking taillights on the black body!

There was also a nicer interior than usual, with a floor, nice seats, and a working steering wheel which could be adjusted up and down.

 

Doors:
The model had two motorized butterfly doors, controlled independently using two M-motors. The motors were geared down 24:1 with a worm gear, passed through two U-joints, and then rotated a 5L half-beam with a 6L link on it, connected to the door. They open pretty nicely, but because of the amount of backlash in the system, they slam shut. Also, the motors can't quite pull the doors all the way in, so a bit of manual work is involved. I was still pretty happy with them.

Spoiler: The spoiler was operated using a PF M-motor tucked behind the rear wheels and a small linear actuator. It worked pretty well, but I should have taken it apart and switched the 12T and 20T bevel gears after I saw how slow it was. (The last image there, the bodyless one, is missing the motor and a few gears)

 

Drive:
Two XL motors drive a V8 piston engine, which drives the gearbox, which drives the rear wheels.

Steering: A L-motor under the hood drives a 8:1 worm gear reduction, which drives the 8T gear that runs the rack. It also ran a steering wheel, which could be adjusted up and down.There was Ackermann geometry.

Suspension: The model had full independent double wishbone suspension, with castor angle and kingpin inclination on the front wheels, and camber angle on all wheels. (Kingpin and Camber seem practically the same to me. Camber seems to be the wheels tilting like /=\ or /=\, while kingpin seems to be the steering pivot tilting like/=\ or \=/. Thus, normally, including kingpin will automatically include camber. That, at least, is my understanding. [EDIT: I now know the difference between them!] Each wheel had two hard shocks.
I was also happy that the car had a rigid enough frame to compress the suspension from almost anywhere!

Gearbox: The gearbox was by far the best part of the vehicle, as it was a super complex 7+R sequential Dual-friction clutch setup, driven by a PF M-motor, with a speed indicator. It worked pretty well, but it was huge, and the friction clutches would often slip (I think I will not use friction clutches if I ever build a similar gearbox)(Which I am quite sure I will) I will post this gearbox separately soon, but it is really just a somewhat similar version of my previously posted one, but with the two 4/3+R gearboxes placed in front of each other instead of beside, making it possible to fit it between the seats.

There was a (Too) small suitcase under the hood, as well as an on/off switch for the battery.

 

Overall, I was very pleased with this car, except that it struggled to drive. It looked better than usual, had a strong frame and body, and had many advanced functions and refinements.

 IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/mclaren-p1

Technic 7+R Sequential Dual-clutch gearbox V2 (Still has speed indicator, but that makes too clunky of a name. Oops, my explanation made it clunkier!) 

When I was trying to put my older 7+R sequential, I found that I couldn't put it behind the seats because it was too long, or between the seats, because it was too wide. Thus, I built a new version of it, with the two separate gearboxes (4 speed and 3+R) placed in front of each other, rather than beside each other, with the friction clutches behind them. It had somewhat different ratios than the old one, but they are pretty similar. If you want to get an understanding of how this gearbox works, take a look at my older one, since I don't feel like typing it all again, and they have pretty much the same working principle. I have not made instructions for this gearbox, but have instead taken extensive pictures, so if you know what you are doing and really want to, you can probably build it.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/old-7r-dct-long-version

[2GodBDGlory]

Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 Trial Truck

It is a bit more complex than my recent trial trucks, as it has a gearbox and a winch, as well as suspension, drive, and steering.
Aesthetics: The vehicle looked little like a stock FJ40, but that was fine, as I was copying from a Hot Wheels car I have, which portrayed a modified one. It had LED headlights which could be turned off with a switch to avoid power cut from the battery, an opening hood with a inline 6 piston engine underneath. This engine was originally driven by an extra M-motor, but when I added the L-motor and winch, there wasn't enough room, so the engine sadly isn't driven at all. I had fun making the custom license plate, too. It looked cool and rugged, so I liked it!

Winch: The vehicle has a simple winch, driven by a PF L-motor with a 20:1 gear reduction. I never actually used it outside, but it was plenty powerful, and gave me peace of mind, knowing that I could pull the winch whenever traction ran out.

Gearbox: The model had a simple 2-speed gearbox. It had 1:2 and 5:4 ratios, and was shifted by a medium motor and a small linear actuator. It had a sliding axle coming from the drive motors, but rather than make the motors slide with it like Sariel has done, I used a CV joint simple for the extendable part. It worked perfectly! The gearbox itself worked quite well, I would say!

Drive: The vehicle was driven by 2 XL motors, coupled using knob wheels, through the gearbox, geared down 3:1 in the axles, and then a further 3:1 in the portal axles. It worked well until the knob wheels started wearing down from the strain. I actually went home discouraged when it stopped driving after a while, and attributed the main problem to the knob wheels. However, I think that it might have just been that a front portal axle was falling off (Though that could have just been from the walk home in my backpack) The knob wheels also made an annoying squeaking sound.

Steering: Steering was very simple, with just a PF Servo motor on the front axle, driving a rack.

Suspension: The suspension was long travel floating axles all around, using long shocks and ball joints, which worked quite well!

I was pretty happy with this model, but I think the performance could be a bit better, and the squeaking knob wheels were annoying.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/toyota-fj40-land-cruiser-trial-truck

Neon Buggy

This is a simple MOC built in less than a day as a break from my supercar-in-progress. It is fast and fun!

About this creation

This model is driven by two hard-coupled L-motors built into the rear axle geared 3:5, and is steered by a PF Servo motor, which is geared down 3:1 before rotating a 2L beam connected to a 3L beam connected to the steering towball joints. There is simple front independent suspension, and a rear live axle. The suspension was meant to be soft and long travel. The model was a blast to drive outdoors and inside, and totally worth the <2 hours it took me to build it!

Images at: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/neon-buggy

1:8 Bugatti Chiron

[EDIT: I actually originally planned on posting this model the same day that the Lego 1:8 Chiron was released, but technical difficulties defeated me!]

 

This is a MOC not at all related to the official Lego set. I had hoped to post it before the set came out, but Sunday Mocpages was down, I was gone Monday to Wednesday, and the site was also down Thursday. Anyways, here it is, by far my most advanced supercar yet, with 6 RC functions, 3 manual functions, and 4 Aesthetic functions.

About this creation

Aesthetics:
The model I think had pretty good bodywork, and I think it is among my best yet, though I am no master of aesthetics. The hood could open, and the on-off switch was underneath it, so you could just tap the hood to turn it on or off. The doors opened, and there were automatic locks connected to the handles. The bodywork could also be easily removed by disconnecting about 16 pins, but it was still pretty well connected. The LEDs were built into the chassis so they would not have to be disconnected.

The wheels were also pretty cool, as they had custom paper rims, as well as a new brake caliper idea I had. The caliper always stays in the right position due to gravity. The calipers were made from printer labels, which I use for stickers.

Interior: This car had a pretty nice interior, with adjustable seats, a working glovebox, a working steering wheel, and a working brake pedal.

Suspension: Naturally, the model had 4-wheel independent suspension. It is height adjustable, which I will get to later, and the front axle has 4 hard shocks + rubber bands, and the rear axle has 8 hard shocks + rubber bands, simply because the axle design kept me from putting the shocks anywhere that they would give much hardness. There was camber angle on all four wheels, and castor angle and kingpin inclination on the front axle.

Differential lock: The car has a manual rear differential lock, just like the real car [EDIT: I doubt it is actually manual in the real car]. It is controlled by the front lever in the center console, and turns some U-joints which lock the diff.

 Handbrake: The rear lever on the center console controls a parking brake, or handbrake. It just flips a transmission driving ring on the driveshaft to lock into a 16T gear, which is connected to an 8T gear which is locked, thus locking the drivetrain.

 

Drive: Now into the meaty motorized functions:
The car is driven by two XL motors, through the gearbox, through a central differential, to all four wheels. It was also connected to a mini W16 piston engine using some rubber bands, but the rubber bands usually just slipped.Unfortunately, the gearbox was forced to use a chain, which usually broke, preventing the car from really driving. (As usual :( )

Steering: The car was steered by an L motor and a worm reduction. There was Ackermann steering geometry and a working steering wheel.

Gearbox: There was a new generation of my 7+R dual clutch sequential gearboxes in this car, now without friction clutches, which slip too easily. It was driven by an L-motor, and had a crude little speed indicator.
Brakes: There were functional disk brakes in all wheels. This was powered by an M-motor, and was connected to a brake pedal in the cockpit.

Height-adjustable suspension:
2 M-motors (One in each end of the car) geared 24:1 rotated 2L beams to raise and lower the suspension. It was a little weak to raise the car, but was still pretty good.

Spoiler: A L-motor could raise the spoiler using a weird mechanism of worm gears and U-joints, but it worked pretty well. The brakes could also pull a string to tilt the spoiler down a bit, but sadly, not very far at all.
Speed edition:
I made use of the removable bodywork and built a faster chassis, with 2 6XAA battery boxes and 4 XL

motors geared 1:3. I think I was too ambitious with this ratio, as it struggled to drive.

Overall, I think I succeeded with this model, and I like it a lot. It was a lot of work, and a few functions don't work perfectly, but I think it looks fair and has very good functions.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/18-bugatti-chiron

Toyota Supra

 

This is my first 1:10 supercar, with all of my other ones being 1:8, 1:12, or less. It has only three motorized functions, as a result of the decreased size.

About this creation

This model has working suspension, a piston engine, motorized steering , motorized drive, and a smooth-shifting gearbox.
Aesthetics: I think that the car looked cool with the one-piece headlights, but not actually that much like a Supra. I am surprised at how long the car is, but it is scaled correctly! The hood and doors opened, and there is a 2+2 interior. There is a working steering wheel and a gearbox speed indicator, plus a pretend stick shifter. There were also LED headlights.

Suspension: It has simple independent double wishbone suspension with 2 hard shocks + rubber band on the rear wheels and one hard shock on the front wheels.

Drive: The vehicle used 2 L-motors to drive the rear wheels, which are coupled with a mini inline 6 piston engine.
: The vehicle uses an L-motor to steer the front wheels and a steering wheel.
Gearbox: There is a 4-speed sequential gearbox of the "One Touch" variety, meaning that one push and release of the gearbox lever will shift exactly one speed up or down. It was inspired by a design by ibessonov on Rebrickable. However, it used an XL motor instead of a Servo motor, but it still tended to return to centre. The car has a big enough trunk that I could fit the whole gearbox into it! The long spring loaded axles coming from the gearbox work the speed indicator in the cabin.

Overall, I am pretty happy with this model. It drove quickly and happily, with gear 2 being the best overall, as the motors were a bit strained in gears 3 and 4, though it still drove. The aesthetics, as I said earlier, looked cool but un-Supra-like. Still, for a simple supercar I am happy with this, and I am glad to have learned how to do "One Touch" gearboxes.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/toyota-supra

Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Trial Truck

 

Here is my latest Trial Truck-- intended to be simple and tough, and also to have low power consumption for long battery life.

About this creation

Aesthetics: The model was actually too skinny because of a scaling mistake, but at least it gives me an excuse to build another Jeep in the future-- they are very fun and easy to make! Otherwise, I liked it enough. The doors were removable, as was the hardtop roof. The hood opened, as did the tailgate, which had a lock. The spare tire was located in the back not on the tailgate partly to aid in weight distribution and approach angles (?), and also because of said scaling errors, it was wider than the tailgate. The interior was crude and basic with only some super-simple seats.

Drive: The vehicle was driven by an XL motor at a 15:1 ratio. There were no differentials and there were portal axles. It was slow and strong

Steering: There was simple steering using a PF M-motor on the axle at a 48:1 ratio. It was not Rack and Pinion Steering, instead using a simple lever

Suspension:
There was full live-axle suspension using ball joints and long shocks.

I cannot figure out how to post the video on here directly, as it will either say "Don't use Applets" or "Don't use frames or iframes", and the HTML thing isn't working, but I can put in the link to be copied and pasted.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/jeep-wrangler-rubicon-trial-truck

[Mechbuilds]

Man you're pushing out these mocs so damn fast. 

[2GodBDGlory]

Well, it is true that I am posting these MOCs fairly quickly, but, as I mentioned at the very top, these are old models of mine, which were previously posted at the now-defunct MocPages. I am really only posting them here so that I can refer to my old stuff, and have it somewhere on the web, and much of the older stuff is not representative of my current skill. I should post some of my more recent models here, though...

[Mechbuilds]

3 hours ago, 2GodBDGlory said:

Well, it is true that I am posting these MOCs fairly quickly, but, as I mentioned at the very top, these are old models of mine, which were previously posted at the now-defunct MocPages. I am really only posting them here so that I can refer to my old stuff, and have it somewhere on the web, and much of the older stuff is not representative of my current skill. I should post some of my more recent models here, though...

Definitely 

Your older models ain't bad either. 
 

[2GodBDGlory]

Thanks!

[2GodBDGlory]

Buggy

This is a very simple, fun little buggy.

About this creatio
Drive: It could barely be simpler. Two L-motors are directly connected to the rear wheels. It is fast and fun!

Steering: There is steering using a Servo motor, a few gears, a rack, and towball links.

Suspension: There is an independent soft long travel suspension on the front and a soft long travel live axle on the rear. It used custom shocks using the springs from soft shocks.

This thing was super fun to drive. I really better post my video for this one...

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/buggy

1:8 Dodge Viper

This car has six RC functions, three working pedals, and some other refinements.
Aesthetics: The car has decent looks, largely due to the simplicity of the real Viper's body. There are LED headlights, opening doors which are spring loaded, an opening hood, and an opening trunk. The windshield is made from part of a report cover. The doors can be locked using a Keyfob hidden under the hood with a magnet on the end, which would lock the door when swiped on a certain part of the car.

Interior: The car has adjustable seats with seatbelts made from PF wires, an opening glovebox (With a monkey inside-- I wanted to put in a snake, but I couldn't find one!) a working steering wheel, speed indicator, brake pedal, gas pedal, and clutch pedal. There is a detailed dashboard and a fake gearshift and handbrake.

Suspension: The car has double wishbone independent suspension on all four wheels, with 3 hard shocks (The grey ones still have hard springs) and rubber bands on the front, and 2 hard shocks on the rear wheels. The suspension sags from the great weight of the car. I might go to torsion bars in the future.

Drive: There are 2 XL motors driving the rear wheels of this car, and a coupled PF Servo motor controls the gas pedal, which has speed control ability, as well. It couldn't drive well, though, as the clutch kept coming out.

Steering: The car has steering using a PF L-motor through a worm drive. There is Ackermann geometry and a working steering wheel.

Clutch:
There is a simple clutch using a M-motor. It also has a working pedal. It uses one of the new 20T clutch gears. Unfortunately, it proved to be the (Sadly inevitable for me) weak link in the drivetrain, keeping it from driving happily.

Gearbox: There is a six-speed sequential gearbox, using a similar shifter to the one found in MrSmith's 6-speed flat gearbox on Rebrickable. Mine was taller, skinnier, and was more reinforced. It worked pretty well, I must say, and it had a speed indicator, too.

Brakes: There were four-wheel disc brakes using a M-motor and a worm drive. It moved a long lever to connect the front and rear brakes. Sadly, the brakes had a negligible effect.

Roof:
There was a soft top convertible roof (It may be the first soft top in a Technic model!) The frame of the roof consists of a scissorwork of 5L beams, like in some of those old racers sets with slammers. This whole thing is on some long vertical axles, and slides up and folds out the scissorwork using a section of large track that is flexible enough to push both up and out in the space I had. It was driven by an L motor. The soft part was from the other part of my report folder. The roof went up nicely, but the soft part would sadly bunch up on descent.

Overall, I think that this car upped my refinement levels, and though it wasn't my most functional car, I am quite pleased with it, especially the roof! There is a YouTube video of it at this link:

 

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/18-dodge-viper

 

[2GodBDGlory]

Ford GT

This is my best 1:8 supercar to date, in my opinion. It has eight independently controlled RC functions, including another 7+R dual clutch sequential gearbox.

About this creation

Aesthetics: The car looks pretty good I think, though not perfect. There are some gaps in the back; those are just there because they are there on the real car. There are LED headlights, and the engine cover opens.
Interior: The interior has three-way adjustable seats, which can slide forward and backwards and tilt the bottom and top parts independently. The steering wheel works, and the dashboard and central console are recreated from the real car. There is a speed indicator hidden inside the small black tire on the central console.

Suspension: There is full independent suspension using two hard shocks per wheel (The hard shocks have grey tops) It is a little saggy. There is camber angle on all four wheels, and kingpin, castor, toe-in, and ackermann geometry on the front axle.

Drive: The car is driven by two XL motors, through the rear wheels and the gearbox. It also drives a rear V6 piston engine.

Steering: There is steering with a Servo motor. There are fancy angles mentioned in the suspension section, and a working steering wheel.

Doors: Both butterfly doors can be opened using their own PF M-motor. There are manual locks to keep it in place when shut.

Brakes: The disc brakes are powered by two small pneumatic cylinders, one on each axle.The discs are made from wedge belt wheels with small rubber track inserts in them, and the calipers employ two rubber axle joiners per wheel. The pneumatics are powered by a PF L-motor through an Autovalve, where it pumps and switches simultaneously, and the switching is controlled by the motor's direction.

Gearbox: There is another 7+R dual clutch sequential gearbox in this car. It is totally updated and now uses Chiron shifters. The gearboxes are now set on the sides, with the clutches in the middle, allowing for an efficient use of space. Formerly, both gearboxes were always running, as even when gearbox A's clutch was disengaged, it was still driven from it's output. Now, there are not only clutches on each gearboxes input, but also on the output, so as to maximize efficiency.
There was a speed indicator hidden in the black tire in the central console, and the gearbox was driven by an L-motor.

Track/Street modes: Just like the real car, my model can be switched from Street mode to Track mode. In street mode, the suspension is raised and the spoiler is down. In Track mode, the car is lowered and the spoiler is raised. Also like the real car, lowering the suspension hardens it up a lot (Mostly because it is only bending pieces at that point) This system is driven using another L-motor and pneumatic autovalve. The front axle uses a new really big cylinder, and the rear axle and spoiler each use an old large cylinder.

Spoiler tilt: The spoiler can be tilted using a M-motor. It drives a worm gear which drives a 20T gear. This gear is the one in my collection that is the loosest on axles, which is important, since an axle connected to the spoiler must slide through it.

Overall, I am very pleased with this model. It looked pretty good (For one of my cars!), functioned pretty well, and actually drove happily sometimes in most gears! As far as I know, it is also the first Technic supercar to use all eight RC channels! I think it is my personal best model! Please ask in the comments if you have any questions about how it works. You can see my (amateurish) video at this link:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/ford-gt

Hummer H2

This is a very large Off-Roader, with the emphasis on functions, not performance.

About this creation

This is my first big, functional Off-Roader in ages, it seems, so I am glad to make this model. It isn't my most refined model, but it looks OK, and has interesting functions, and drives!
Aesthetics:
The model has a blocky body, like the real one does. There are opening doors, a swing-out spare tire, the rear liftgate, and a hood that I am ashamed to say opens the wrong way. (I discovered this late in the build process, and I was so short on grey (And just wanted to be done) that I left it that way) There is a simple interior, but with FIVE seats!

Drive: There is 4WD with two XL motors. It could drive well in at least some gears.

Steering: A Servo motor steers the front wheels. That's as fancy as it is.

Winch:
There is a winch driven by a PF L motor through a 24:1 worm ratio. I used a little trick to be able to manually slide an axle through the 24T gear and out of the winch piece (Which allows axles to slide through it). This allowed me to pop the hood, slide the thingie, quickly extend the winch, then reconnect it and power it back in.

Adjustable suspension
On Wikipedia I learned that the H2 has an "Adjustable rear suspension". I didn't know whether that meant height-adjustable or hardness-adjustable. I went with height, using a PF M-motor, a worm drive, and small levers connected to the rear shocks. The height difference was minimal.
Suspension: There was front independent suspension, sprung using torsion bars (Like the real H2), and also rubber bands for extra stiffness. There was a rear live axle with two hard shocks. The front was longer travel than the rear. Wow. The pictures of the suspension are pitiful.
Gearbox:
There was a simple 4-speed sequential gearbox using the new Chiron shifters. It was shifted by an M-motor tucked in the front, driving some U-joints, which drove a stepper (Yes, that is a modified white knob wheel in the picture. In my defense, one of the knobs broke off naturally in the line of duty, so it isn't like I savagely mutilated a flawless element) There was a simple speed indicator. (Again, I gotta take more pictures. It also might not hurt to let the model survive at least 24 hours before I rip it to shreds and start on the next project. That way I could actually take MORE!)
Drive Mode Selector:
There is a fancy dancy drive mode selector that allows you to choose among 2WD High, 4WD High, 4WD Low, and 4WD Low all differentials Locked. This is controlled using a PF L-motor with a stepper. This stepper turns a longitudinal axle that controls the five variables. In each position it pushes an exact combination of variables, while the others are kept in their default position by rubber bands. I hope this makes sense.

Overall, I think this was a cool model. I liked the drive mode thing, and the winch disconnect. It looked fine, drove decently, and was fun to make. The weight really hurt the performance. There is a video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/hummer-h2

Hennessey Velociraptor / Ford Raptor

This is a model of the Ford Raptor and the Hennessey-modded version of it, the Velociraptor, which has an extra axle.

About this creation

This model is meant to be small, and a good Off-Roader.
Hennessey Velociraptor
This six-wheeled truck had lots of torque and good floatation for off-roading. It really could have used more ground clearance, though.
Aesthetics:
The model looks decent, and I think the FORD grill looks OK. It is pretty simple, but everything opens that should. The interior is very basic, lacking even a steering wheel.

Suspension: There is front independent suspension with two hard shocks per wheel. The rear suspension is a live axle suspended with flex axles-- it was surprisingly responsive! There were also pendular bogies on the back, using small turntables

Steering: There is a basic Servo front steering affair.

Drive: Two XL motors drive all six wheels at a 9:1 ratio. There is a heavy duty universal joint in the back, and there are no differentials involved.

Ford Raptor
This was a modified one with a different rear suspension, which drove at a 1:1 ratio. It was a much worse off-roader, but was still [EDIT: The end of this sentence has been lost to history.]

I have a YouTube video at

 

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/hennessey-velociraptor--ford-raptor

1:8 Honda Civic Type R

This is my latest 1:8 supercar. It has a couple functions that are new to me.

 

About this creation

Aesthetics: I think the car looks pretty good, which is probably because it is a simpler looking car than, say, a Ford GT. [EDIT: Really? It may be simpler than a Ford GT, but I would go so far as to say that the CTR is notoriously hard to build, with all its random angles.] The windshield isn't raked enough, though.

Opening stuff: The hood, doors, hatchback, fuel cap, glove box, and center console open, and there is a 60/40 folding rear seat. The front doors have a fancy auto-locking-when-you-shut-it lock, but the rear ones are simpler.

Suspension: There is front independent suspension with four hard shocks and a torsion bar. This axle has castor, camber, and kingpin angles. There is rear multilink suspension with camber angle.

(Dear me. I forgot to take bodyless pictures!)
Drive: There is a transverse motor/engine/gearbox/differential setup for this front-drive car. It drives well in the lower five gears, and [EDIT: The end of this sentence is gone, too!]

Steering: There is servo steering with Ackermann geometry and a working wheel. It cannot steer far, though.

Brakes: There are four wheel disc brakes, as usual, powered by an L motor. There are also fake brakes that stay level when the wheels turn, like the ones in my Bugatti Chiron.

 

Noisemaker: There is a M-motor geared 1:9 running an inline 2 piston engine to get some growls, like the rear one's louder exhaust setting.

Adjustable hardness suspension:
There is a long, skinny pneumatic cylinder on the rear axle and two small cylinders on the front axle, that harden the suspension when extended, and soften it when detracted. An M-motor powered an auto-compressor, like Sariel's design, to pump whenever the air pressure got too low, and another M-motor flipped a pneumatic valve.

Gearbox: There was a six-speed sequential gearbox controlled using three Chiron shifters carefully synchronized, and a six-speed

Overall, it looked good, had fun opening stuff, and drove well. I am happy with the gearbox, but the steering and adjustable suspension weren't the best. Sadly,

I forgot to take some pictures I really should have. There is a Youtube video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/honda-civic-type-r

[Ami Tavory]

On 9/14/2020 at 12:18 AM, 2GodBDGlory said:

This is a four speed sequential gearbox controlled by a Servo motor. This is probably the very best way to control a multi-speed gearbox in Lego, as you just push the stick on the remote forward and you shift up exactly one speed, then release it and nothing happens as the Servo returns to center. Then you can either shift up or down from there. Another advantage is that it is easy to add an auto-clutch (Attach the clutch directly to the servo motor so that whenever it is not in the center the clutch is disconnected, so when you release the remote, it will reconnect)These are some pictures to help you build one if you want to.

Very nice and interesting builds!

Regarding the servo/gearbox, at least my servos seem to be "working" while stationary at the edges, so I'm wondering if one of the gears would get more power than the other, simply because the servo is working too. I suppose the right way would be to measure the draw with a multimeter, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Did you notice any loss of power?

(Incidentally, Sariel has a version of this cool idea using the Chiron selectors.)

 

[2GodBDGlory]

2 hours ago, Ami Tavory said:

 

Is what you're saying that Servos are drawing power while they are in the extreme positions? If so, it would not be a problem for this gearbox, because the way it works is that it rotates 90 degrees, pushes the gearbox into the next gear, and then returns to center without shifting anything, because it simply ratchets over the gears. By the way, I have since taken inspiration from other builders  and made a far more compact and reliable gearbox with the same mechanism that can be used with those Chiron selectors--this old design is a little primitive, I think.

Thanks for commenting!

[2GodBDGlory]

Bigger Ford Focus RS

This is a small, performance-oriented car, but with some minor complexity.

 

About this creation

This is a fast, small model of Ford's hot hatch.
Aesthetics: It looked awful. There are LED headlights.

Drive: It is driven by two L-motors geared 1:3. One motor controls the right rear wheel, and the other, the left rear wheel and the front two when AWD is engaged. This is done by sliding a wedge belt wheel on an axle to connect the front wheels.

Steering: There is simple servo steering.

Drift Mode: By switching to RWD and releasing the power from the inside rear wheel right after I started steering, I could get a bit of drift. This is to mirror the Drift Mode on the real car.
There is a YouTube video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/big-ford-focus-rs

 

Smaller Ford Focus RS

Here is an absolutely tiny car, with great performance!

About this creation

This car was made as a challenge to make a car using these tiny wheels. I also built the whole thing easily in under 24 hours! It has RWD using two L-motors at a 1:5 ratio, steering with a Servo motor, a battery jammed on top, and a couple weighted bricks at the back to keep the rear from hopping up when accelerating. The body was simple, light, and looks decent. I was very happy to be (barely) able to make it in its characteristic blue. This thing was a blast to drive, and even drifted better than my bigger Focus, despite the latter's specialized drift mode!

 

I have a YouTube video at:

[EDIT] I was so pleased with this model's performance that I built about three other models at similar scales with similar drivetrains. In my opinion, light weight, medium power is often more fun than high weight, high power.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/small-ford-focus-rs

 

Land Rover Defender

Aesthetics:
They ain't great, but I think a perfect, beautiful body wouldn't be in keeping with the Defender's rugged spirit, anyway!

 

Drive:There is one XL motor on each axle, that first does a 36:12 (3:1) ratio, then another 3:1 in the portal axles, for a total of 9:1

Steering: There is an L-motor geared 9:1 on the front axle steering it.

Suspension: There is a long-travel live axle in both the front and the rear, suspended with rubber bands to make it lower friction. It was very soft, leading to rollovers aplenty!

The model was good Off-Road and fun to drive. I have a video of it at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/land-rover-defender

 

1:8 Porsche 918 Spyder

 

This car is intended to improve again on my previous best 1:8 supercar, my Ford GT. It has eight RC functions, plus a few manual ones.

About this creatio
Aesthetics: I think this car looks better than most of mine, but I am still not a master at bodyworks. There are LED headlights, which can be switched on and off using a discreet switch in the central console.

Opening Stuff: The hood opens with a discreet lever in the cabin, and uses two hard shocks to allow it to pop up nicely. There is also a little front trunk, with a helmet, a spare shirt, and a toothbrush! The doors have locks. The rear engine cover can open as well.

Interior: The vehicle has my most complete interior ever, with black on the floor, front, back, and doors of the car. The steering wheel works. The parking brake works, there is a speed indicator, and the seats are adjustable. There is another discreet switch, this time at the bottom of the wall behind the passenger seat, which turns the car on and off.

Suspension: There is fully independent suspension using torsion bars, rubber bands, and optional hard shocks (More on them later). All that spring power is needed because of this car’s immense weight! The suspension has Camber angle, Castor angle, and Kingpin inclination on all wheels.

Steering: A Servo motor steers, with Ackermann geometry, and a working steering wheel.

Rear Wheel Steering: A separate M-motor slides a unique coupling at the rear of the car to allow the rear wheels to hook up to the front steering. It is geared down to keep the rear wheels from turning as much, as in real life (Mine is barely noticeable, but the real ones only steer 3 degrees, so it is fine) The coupling uses Bohrok eyes and some beams to allow the rear wheels to hook up regardless of the position of the front wheels.
Drive: Two XL motors drive all four wheels (AWD with a central differential), and a micro V8 piston engine, which is way too small and too far back. The gearbox was an immovable barrier to the engine. On a happier note, the car could actually drive in all gears without skipping! (There was an occasional skip, especially in seventh, but it was quite good. Also, it was unhappy driving forward in seventh, though reversing was better.)

Brakes: An M-motor controls the disc brakes and a working brake pedal. The brakes were too weak—they are something I should improve on my next models.


Gearbox: This car has another 7+R dual clutch sequential gearbox with speed indicators. It is mostly just a somewhat improved version of the one in my Ford GT, so for more info, check that car out. It has two 4/3+R gearboxes, plus clutches to choose which one is being used (I kept the unrealistic but efficient quad-clutch setup, where I disengage both the input and output of the idling gearbox). It is driven by an XL motor, which had a little simple stepper thing with only two sides to help it snap into real gears. There were also conventional steppers to control the two sides.

Suspension Adjustability: An L motor for each axle drove a worm gear or two to lower a hard shock per wheel onto the suspension to offer some extra stiffness, which the real car can do.

 

Spoiler raising: An M-motor uses a couple small Linear Actuators to raise the rear spoiler.

Spoiler tilting: An L-motor tilts the spoiler, as you could probably learn from the heading. An axle slides through the gear on the top of the spoiler so it can be used in any upward spoiler position.

Overall, I am very pleased with this car. It had piles of functions, a nice interior, looked good, and just as important but easier to ignore, all the functions worked well (Except for those brakes, but who needs strong brakes in a vehicle this slow?) There is a video at https://youtu.be/-tzC7DgNZlk

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/porsche-918-spyder

Mini Technic/RC truck

This is a small off-road truck with a body from a regular RC truck.

[EDIT: Disclaimer: I am not suggesting that folks add hobby bodywork all the time. Why build Lego if you don't even want to try bodywork? I just did this once to see how it would work.]

About this creation

This model was inspired by my brother's new RC truck, and it's removable bodywork.

Drive: Two L motors drive all four wheels at a 5/3ish ratio (Really, whatever 3:1 followed by 3:5 is)

Steering: There is simple servo motor steering

Suspension: There is full live axle suspension--long travel in the front, and shorter in the rear, just because the receiver was in the way.

Overall, I think this model was less than exceptional. It wasn't as fast as I hoped, mostly, though I did like the idea, and putting 4WD on a vehicle this small was fun. There is a video of it at:
https://youtu.be/rWdjqYxfrcY

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/mini-technicrc-truck

 

 

Edited October 24, 2020 by 2GodBDGlory

[2GodBDGlory]

BMW M2

This is a high-powered, drift oriented version of BMW's smallest sports sedan.

About this creation

This model was built to try to improve on my small Focus RS in performance, as well as add some drifting ability.

Aesthetics: The body looked decent, I guess, but it was too heavy, keeping this from quite keeping pace with the aforementioned Focus.

 

Drive: This model had the same drivetrain as that Focus, with 2 L motors at a 1:5 ratio. It made it quite fast!

Steering: This used a Servo motor, but it had huge castor angle to allow serious drifts. It didn't use a rack, because of this huge angle.

Overall, drifting was great, as was speed and acceleration. I just think lower weight would really help. Maybe next time...

This is one video you might not want to miss-- it is at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/bmw-m2

Alfa Romeo 4C Spyder

This is a model of Alfa Romeo's mid-engine roadster. It has an experimental (for me) "gappy" bodywork. [EDIT: This is one of my rare 1:10 cars!]

Aesthetics: This car had a panel and flex-axle built bodywork. There were LED headlights, an opening hood, and an opening engine cover. The roof could also be removed, folded, and stored in the back, just like in the real one.

 

Suspension: There was a front double-wishbone independent suspension and a rear MacPherson strut suspension.

Doors: The doors are opened by a PF Medium motor with a direction sensitive gearbox that makes it endlessly cycle between open and closed for the right when spinning one way, and for the left, the other way.

Steering: There is M-motor powered steering with a working steering wheel.

Drive: There is RWD with two L motors. There is an inline 4 piston engine driven by a separate M-motor, as well as a limited slip rear differential. It drove nicely.

Gearbox: There is a four speed sequential Servo Controlled gearbox. It is in a rear transaxle, which is more realistic for this car.It shifts nicely, and it only takes one touch of the lever to shift up exactly one gear!

Overall, I didn't like the bodywork the most, but it was fun that it drove so well, and the gearbox was very satisfying. 

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/alfa-romeo-4c-spyder

Lego Cross Necklace

[EDIT: This isn't really a Technic MOC, but it does use one Technic beam. I thought I would put it on this forum since nobody on other ones will have any idea who I am, but if anyone thinks I should move it, I can]

Here is my first non-Technic model, a simple way to show off your Christian faith and Lego interest!

 

About this creation

This necklace is made simply of four Lego chains, a white bar, a 3L Technic beam, and three white 1x1 round bricks. You should be able to determine how to make it from the images. (I also use a bit of sticky tack to keep the pendant from falling out while playing sports) I will testify that this necklace is not just an interesting idea; it is actually practical. I have worn it for months and can testify that it is comfortable and unobtrusive.

EDIT:
Mine kept breaking apart and getting lost, so eventually I drilled a hole through the top of the cross and put on a non-Lego chain. This makes it more comfortable, durable, and easy to take off, but makes it no longer 100% Lego. Take your pick.

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/cross-necklace

 

[2GodBDGlory]

Hyundai Veloster N

This is a tiny, speedy, drifting car!

 

About this creation

This car was intended to merge the performance of my small Focus RS with the drift ability of my BMW M2. It succeeded!
Aesthetics: The car was mostly intended to be light, and it was, but the body was very fragile.

Steering: A servo motor rotated a 2L beam with a 1L bar coming from it, which pushed the rack over. There was huge castor, which allowed for the drifting. In fact, while steering one way on flat ground, one of the front wheels would be completely off of the ground!

Drive: The car was driven by two L-motors at a 1:5 ratio. This made it super fast!

Overall, this car was super fun to drive, and drifted super well, sometimes too well, spinning 180 degrees when I only wanted 90! Still, it was great fun. There is a video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/hyundai-veloster-n

Dodge Challenger SRT Demon

This is a simpler 1:8 car, but it still has some fair functions.

Aesthetics: The model looks pretty good to me, largely because it is naturally blocky, just like my models! It has working headlights and taillights, using 9V lights up front and LEDs in the back.

Opening stuff: The hood opens, as does the trunk (There is a full-sized trunk interior, too!) The doors also open, and have my typical locks.

Interior: There are five seats, and the front ones have fancy five-point harnesses. There is a working steering wheel, a speed indicator, plus aesthetic stuff like a dashboard and central console!

Suspension: There is front independent suspension with camber, castor, and kingpin angles, plus a live rear axle [EDIT: I was under a false impression that this car still had a rear live axle. I was wrong] with no fancy angles.

Steering: There is steering with Ackermann geometry and a working steering wheel driven by a PF Servo motor. Sadly, the wheels hardly steer, but who needs much steering on a drag car, anyways!

Drive: Two L-motors (in quite different positions) drive this car through an 8-speed gearbox. It has RWD, a limited-slip differential, and a V8 piston engine.

Brakes: An M-motor brakes all four wheels. The rear wheels have brakes that pinch the discs on both sides, and the front ones use string to pull on the rubber. Sadly, my brakes are still too weak.

Gearbox: This car has an all-new eight-speed sequential gearbox, using Chiron shifters and an L-motor for shifting. It is quite compact, but a couple of gears should have been more reinforced.

Overall, though this model wasn't too functional, I liked it, and it could drive in all gears except for Sixth. There is a video of it at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/dodge-challenger-srt-demon

 

Dodge Ram SRT-10

This model is built as an anniversary model, commemorating my first real Technic model, made two years old [EDIT: As of the time I made this model], of the same truck, at the same scale, in the same color.

About this creation

This new truck has opening doors and tailgate, a four-speed manual gearbox, independent front suspension, a live rear axle, RWD with two L motors, and steering with a working wheel using a PF M-motor.
Aesthetics: I think it looked pretty good. As I said, the doors and tailgate open.

Interior: There was a basic interior with two seats, the gearbox shifter, and a working steering wheel.

Suspension: There was a rear live axle, and a simple independent front suspension with just the springs from shocks on axles. It all worked well.

Gearbox: There was a flat-design four-speed manual gearbox. It drove in all gears, but strangely it would only reverse in first and second.

Drive: Two L-motors drove the rear wheels.

Steering: A PF M-motor steered the front wheels and a steering wheel.

My old model had a simple three-speed manual gearbox, RWD with one M-motor, LED headlights, an opening hood, and manual steering. Here are my pictures-- please excuse the poor quality.

Overall, I like my new model quite a bit; and it was quite interesting to take a look back at my first model, see how much my skills have improved, and, in the video (at //youtu.be/a4gPBYc7pic) how much my voice has changed! This model was a sort of niche project: putting functions in a very small package, but I like how it turned out!

//youtu.be/a4gPBYc7pic

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/dodge-ram-srt-10

 

Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Trial Truck

This model was built to use the same drivetrain as my Land Rover Defender, but have a more sophisticated suspension and a nicer bodywork. It also ended up with a winch.

About this creation

Aesthetics:
The truck looks tough, I think, with a front bar, roof rack with lights, and a spare tire on the back. The doors open, as does the two part tailgate, which has a lock. I like the custom plates: "TOYOTUFF"

Suspension: There is full live axle suspension with Lego shocks. I also included a system to allow the shocks to stretch away from the chassis a bit to improve axle articulation. In order to do this I used real-life bolts and small hard Lego springs. Overall, the suspension performed quite well, though the high bodywork made rollovers common. The rear skid plate extended into the bottom of the axles, but flex axles held it together, not pins, allowing for flex.

Steering: The L-motor on the front axle steered the front wheels very slowly and strongly.

Drive: An XL motor on each axle drove the wheels at a 9:1 ratio with portal axles and no differential.

Winch: An L-motor pulled a winch at a 24:1 ratio. It worked pretty well, and had a manual disconnect function.

Tracks: I also built tracks to add on. They really hurt performance, but were fun nonetheless.

Overall, off-road performance was good, though winter mostly kept me from real outdoor tests. You can see a video of it at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/toyota-land-cruiser-70-trial-truck

[2GodBDGlory]

Audi R8 V10 Spyder

Here is my latest ultimate supercar, a fully functional Audi R8 V10 Spyder.

About this creation

This model has a few new-to-me functions, such as working windshield wipers, an advanced convertible roof, and a pneumatic hood. Read on to find out more! (Does that last phrase make me sound professional?)
Aesthetics: This car looks like a car. That is good, though I am never that happy with the looks of my cars. I suppose this is due to my function-over-form mentality, which resulted in a bulged rear end. Anyways, there are LED headlights AND taillights, for the first time

Opening objects:
The hood opens using a pneumatic cylinder (Driven by a compressor I was going to mention later), the doors open using soft shocks and have the usual auto-lock gizmos. The rear engine cover also opens manually and has a stand to keep it up. The same panel opens electronically when the roof goes up, but that's another story.

Interior:
This car has a fancy-dancy interior. It involves black parts in the floor, doors, sides, rear, dashboard, and footwells. There is a detailed central console and dashboard, and the glovebox opens. The seats can be adjusted forwards and backwards using two small linear actuators, there is a functioning parking brake/emergency brake/e-brake/handbrake, as well as a functioning gas pedal, brake pedal, and steering wheel. There is also a gearbox speed indicator at the back of the central console.

Suspension: There is full independent suspension, with a full repertoire of springy thingies, such as rubber bands, 8 hard shocks, and torsion bars, all trying to keep this thing's immense bulk off the ground, and succeeding--barely. There is negative camber on all wheels (I recently realized that all my previous cars had positive--how embarrassing!) There is also castor, kingpin, and Ackermann on the front axle, though that has more to do with steering than suspension...
Anyways, the suspension isn't really practical, as it is about as hard as the chassis is, leading to a minimal effect. Besides, the chassis is only a millimeter or two off the ground. Still, I like having it for the technical sophistication.

Pneumatics: There is a pneumatic system involving a switch-operated PF L-motor running a small compressor, a manometer, an airtank, and two switches at the rear of the cabin. One switch controls the aforementioned hood, and the other controls a small cylinder linked to the rear differential lock. They both work well, though the manometer is pretty useless, except to see if the system has a leak, I guess.

Steering: There is a typical Servo steering system, but with a working wheel, Ackermann, Castor, and Kingpin angles. This is a simple, reliable function.

Drive: The car is driven with two XL motors through all four wheels (Audi's Quattro system), and there is a V10 piston engine linked to them. A Servo motor on the same channel under the floor rotates a small beam that allows the gas pedal to fall when the motors run and go up when they stop. Drive is VERY slow--almost imperceptible in reverse, but I don't see the point in building big cars for their performance--tiny ones do much better at that!

Windshield wipers:
This is a nifty little function accomplished using a PF M-motor an eccentric mechanism, and a link. It works very well, and is very visible in its operation.

Adjustable suspension:
An L-motor for each axle with a 36:1 worm reduction compresses the shocks on each axle to adjust the hardness of the suspension. A beam used as a lever synchronizes the two sides of each axle, and the front and rear are mechanically independent.

Adjustable spoiler: The spoiler can be raised using two small linear actuators and a PF M-motor. When it reaches a certain height, a string becomes taut, which then tilts the spoiler down (It is spring-loaded to stay vertical at rest) Another string connected to the braking system pulls the spoiler down when the brakes are on for an airbrake system.

Convertible roof: A PF L-motor runs a 24:1 worm drive, which then raises the roof using a 4-bar linkage. As the roof goes up, it pushes its way out from under the hinged cover. When the roof goes down, a linkage pulls the cover up just before the roof goes down, then puts the cover down too. Because of the way this linkage is made, the cover can also be opened manually. There is a little manual lock to hold the cover down in a good looking way, and there are a few small Lego System segments that can be interchanged: A set with gaps for the roof supports that allows the roof to work, and a set without the gaps, that makes the cover look better. Both pairs can be stowed under the hood (I mean the front one, even though there isn't an engine there. Do they call that the boot?)You really ought to watch the video for this one.

Brakes: For the disc brakes in this car, I decided to use the new brake discs from the Bugatti Chiron set, but to make them functional. This was hard, but it worked well, looked good, and is skinnier than a typical setup. This is controlled using a PF Medium motor running a large linear actuator. This moves a big chunk of beams which pulls strings longitudionally, which then curve around pulleys to pull down at the brake discs in a more compact and efficient way than the usual 6L links and bevel gears. Again, there is a brake pedal connected to the beam blob, and a string to power the airbrake. Sadly, the brakes weren't as strong as I'd hoped. It doesn't really matter, though, since I doubt this thing could even make 1Km/h!

Gearbox:
This model has my typical (Lately) 7+R Dual Clutch Sequential gearbox, using Chiron shifters. You can read more about its working principle in the descriptions of my Porsche 918 Spyder and my Ford GT. The shifting mechanism was made more compact in this one by using knob wheels instead of my old bevel gear setup. There is a convenient speed indicator, it still has quad clutches, and an XL motor shifts. The gearbox was unreliable, but when it worked, it worked.

In conclusion, this car is easily my most functional ever, and thus my best (I'd say). The convertible roof and windshield wipers were very satisfying, and the huge number of motorized and manual functions makes me feel happy! The looks weren't perfect, but they were at least decent, I think. Make sure to ask in the comments if you have any questions about how it works, and I always appreciate comments (Well, I always appreciate nice ones, but I don't always appreciate every critical one. There is a line somewhere between constructive criticism and destructive criticism). You can check out my video at:

Thanks for reading this tome of a post!

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/audi-r8-v10-spyder

 

Mini Cooper JCW GP

This model was built along the same lines as my previous mini cars (Focus RS; Veloster N), but with a whole extra L-motor for drive packed in! (For 3 in total)

About this creation

It was a crazy idea, but it just barely fit, making the car nearly solid electronics. Sadly, I couldn't change the gear ratioto make it faster, so I just put on a better looking, heavier body to use my newfound power. I like how it looks, and it was fast and handled fairly well!

You can see a video of it at:

[EDIT: This video proved to be far and away my most popular YouTube one, with a stunning 1.2K views to date! I try not to let it go to my head... I guess people like fast, decent-looking cars better than my month(s)-long, super complex supercars]

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/mini-cooper-jcw-gp

 

1988 Toyota Hilux: A Tribute to a Truck

This is a model of a real-life truck I have come to know; a 1988 Toyota Hilux pickup.

About this creation

Aesthetics: Because this is inspired by a real truck, there are some dilapidated details, such as a gap under the passenger side headlight, a ratty driver's seat, no tailgate, no passenger mirror, rusty sides, mismatched wheels, battered taillights, etc. The headlights work, the doors open, and the hood opens. I like the mudflaps, made from track links.

Interior: The driver's seat is made to be ratty, with the stuffing coming out. The steering wheel works.

Drive: Two L motors behind the front wheels drive all four wheels. There is an inline four piston engine that I later realized should have been oriented longitudinally rather than transversely [EDIT: How foolish of me! Everyone knows that "real" trucks always have longitudinal engines!]. Performance isn't great.

Steering: A PF L-motor steers the front wheels and a steering wheel.

Suspension: There is front independent suspension, and a rear live axle that uses flex axles for leaf springs.

Gearbox: There is a 5+R manual gearbox.

Transfer case: There is a two-speed transfer case as well, controlled manually.

RWD/4WD selector: There is a selector to choose between Rear Wheel Drive and Four Wheel Drive. Sadly, it often skips back into RWD under stress.

 

Overall, I enjoyed modeling a real truck, but the complicated drivetrain made any off-roading pretty much impossible. You can see my video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/1988-toyota-hilux-a-tribute-to-a-truck

[2GodBDGlory]

Ichthia Northerner ETV

This is a tracked SUV model, designed to drive in snow!

About this creation

This model is from my fictional Ichthia brand (See my Ichthia Marauder model for more detail), and is an extreme tracked edition of the Northerner SUV (ETV stands for Extreme Terrain Vehicle).
Aesthetics: It looks sort of weird, being an Off-Road SUV without cool fenders, but they aren't needed with the tracks. The headlights work. I especially like the roll cage with the cross bars!

Opening Stuff:
The doors, hood, and tailgate open, and the tailgate has a simple lock.

Suspension: The sprockets are suspended using a type of suspension I thought of myself (though I highly doubt nobody has thought of it without my knowledge!) [EDIT: I was right! I saw it recently in a massive road grader model] , double bar pendular. This works just like a pendular suspension, except that it has a second bar involved to keep the wheels/sprockets parallel to the ground all the time. There are also some road wheels in the tracks suspended with orthodontic elastics.

Winch: There is a simple winch using a PF M-motor at a 24:1 ratio, with a manual disconnect function. I managed to haul it up the back of our couch using it!
Drive: It is driven with four XL motors, one per sprocket, directly after 3:1 portal axles. I originally intended to order a second rechargeable battery for it, but it worked just fine with just one, though Lego only rates the battery for two XL motors! These motors were wrapped in shrink wrap in order to waterproof them against the snow without drastically lowering the ground clearance. It worked quite well.

It worked well in the snow, though not climbing, and its only weakness for indoor off-roading was its high center of gravity. This model was fun to build, because it is my first real tracked vehicle. My video is at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/ichthia-northerner-etv

Ferrari 488 Spyder

 

This is a new 1:8 supercar, but with the emphasis on visible functions rather than fun to build but useless functions like brakes and a gearbox. [EDIT: It is therefore much more like the average 1:8 build than most of my stuff]

Aesthetics: I am quite pleased with how this car's bodywork turned out. It used an unusual-for-me number of curved panels (Most of them painted). The headlights and taillights work. The taillights are too small, but I don't have any 3x3 red discs to make them bigger.

Manually Opening Stuff: Not much opens manually (hint hint), but there are two different rear panels, one of which covers the roof, and the other which is an engine cover (though it is far from the engine)

Interior:
The interior is pretty much the usual, though I forgot to detail the insides of the doors. The seats are adjustable using small linear actuators, the glovebox opens, and the steering wheel works.

Drive: There is a simple drive train using four PF XL-motors, which are geared down 5:3 before the differential. All four worked just fine on one rechargeable battery! It is RWD, and there is a V8 hooked up to it. It was pretty speedy!

 

Steering: There is steering with a PF Servo, and the steering wheel works.

Hood: A PF M-motor uses a large linear actuator to open the hood, through a chain. It works well.

Windshield Wipers: The wipers work using a PF M-motor using a linkage, just like in my Audi R8.

Doors: The doors open simultaneously using another M-motor. This mechanism involves bevel gears, worm gears, and towball links.

Roof: The roof is retractable using a PF L-motor. I originally used bevel gears, but they started to click, so I switched to knob wheels. Sadly, their bracing was too weak to last more than one operation, pretty much. Unlike my Audi R8, which used a separate linkage to raise the roof cover, this one simply pushed it up using the roof, and also managed to push it up when the roof went down. This worked nicely because of the sloped back of the roof.

Suspension: There was full independent suspension. Each wheel had two hard shocks and rubber band springing it. It actually had travel this time!

Overall, I was pleased with this model. It is the kind of car that is fun to play with, but not challenging enough to build. Therefore, don't expect my future models to be as simple as this one! In fact, my next 1:8 car planned is codenamed EPITOME...
You can see a video of this car at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/ichthia-northerner-etv (Under the ones for the Northerner)

Mini Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40

           

 

Here is a tiny off-roader, the classic Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40!

About this creation

Aesthetics: I think the model looks all right, though such an iconic vehicle is easy to make recognizable! There are some add-ons like a snorkel, roof rack with luggage, rear ladder, and an extra spare tire.

Suspension: There is full pendular suspension, and the axles are linked with levers such that if one axle tips one way the other tips the other way. It works quite well, and I am pleased with this technique.

Drive: Two L-motors are hard coupled at a 2:1 ratio, and then drive the wheels through a 8:1 worm ratio. Sadly, these 8-tooth gears get mauled much too easily.

Steering: A Servo motor works a rack for the steering. It compensates for the tipping axle using a universal joint and a CV joint, the latter of which allows for some sliding of the axle. It works fine!

Winch: An M-motor runs a series of gears on one side, culminating in a 20:1 worm ratio. This then drives a winch on the other side of the vehicle. This also works well.

This model was fun to build, and performance was good for its small size. Sadly, the 8-tooth gears got badly destroyed, leading them to skip at key times. Still, I liked it. My video at:

IMAGES at: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/mini-toyota-land-cruiser-fj40

[Mechbuilds]

Sooooo many mocs.. And they just keep on coming and coming! Amazing! 

[2GodBDGlory]

RC Snowmobile

This is a remote-controlled Technic Snowmobile!

 

About this creation

I don't really like how the model looks, but then I have little experience in snowmobiles.

There is double-wishbone independent suspension on the front, and a swing-arm suspension on the back. Both the track and the skis can also tilt.

A Servo Motor steers the front skis using towball links and a small rack.

An L-motor drives the rear sprocket at a 5:3 ratio.

Performance indoors was bad, because the skis couldn't steer. It was better in the snow, but still not as good as a simple wheeled vehicle would have been.
You can see my video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/snowmobile

 

1:12 Jaguar F-Type

This car is meant to have a lot of the sophistication and functions of my 1:8 cars, but in a much smaller package!

About this creation

Aesthetics: I think it looks pretty good, with LED headlights and a sweeping rear. It seems quite British from the back, but it reminds me more of Lego's Aston Martin DB5 than a Jaguar!

Interior: It has a full interior, just like my big cars. The steering wheel works, and the seats can slide forward and backwards.

Opening stuff: The doors open and have auto-locks, and the hood opens as well.

Suspension: There is full independent double-wishbone suspension with one hard shock per wheel.

Drive: There are two L-motors to power the AWD with a central differential and a micro V8 piston engine. It drove quite well!

Gearbox: I used my new 8-speed gearbox (Type 1), posted elsewhere. It was shifted by an M-motor through a worm gear, and had a speed indicator. It worked quite well!

Adjustable suspension:
This was the hardest function to fit, and was powered by an M-motor through a worm gear, a whole slew of bevel gears, and four small linear actuators connected to the shocks. It lowered well, but was too weak to lift itself.

Overall, I am quite pleased at this 1:12 car. I used to build almost only these cars, since they were the biggest wheels I had! It was fun to return to this size with my current skills, and I am pleased with the result.
You can see my video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/jaguar-f-type

 

Ichthia Epitome: Ultimate Supercar

This is a car I have been working towards for a long time. I have tried almost all of its functions on simpler cars, so it was time to put it all together. This is [EDIT: Was. My 1:7 Chiron surpassed it, and a Ram Rebel TRX I just finished probably will too.] my ultimate complexity supercar, with just about every function used in Technic supercars. Because no real car has all the functions I wanted to include, I made up my own car, the Ichthia Epitome.

 

About this creation

Aesthetics: This car looks fine, I think, but the front doesn't quite have the feel of a high-end hypercar, with a bit more Nissan GT-R than there ought to be. Still, I like it. There are LED headlights and taillights, and actual mirrored mirrors, using a cut Lego sticker.

Opening stuff: The hood opens manually and is nicely spring-loaded. There is a tiny amount of cargo space under it, which holds a spare shirt for the driver. The doors open with springs as well, and has the usual auto-locking locks. More unusually, though, I managed to hook up the internal and external door handles, so that when the outside handle is turned to unlock the door, the internal handle also moves. Because in a car like this there is very little luggage space (And I couldn't bear to waste ANY space!), there is an auxiliary luggage compartment on the one side. Inside is a Lego shopping bag. The rear engine cover also opens, but doesn't do anything fancy, because it has to open easily when the convertible roof operates.

Interior: The interior is fully black, with dark grey seats. These seats can be adjusted forward and backward using small linear actuators, and can be tilted using worm gears. The gas and brake pedals work, as does the steering wheel. The glove box opens and holds a thermos bottle, which also fits into the cupholder in the center console. A very unique function of this car is the CD player. A disc can be inserted manually, and then ejected with a button. (The CD is supposed to be TobyMac's This Is Not a Test) There is also the switch for the pneumatic compressor, the pneumatic valve, the on/off button, and the center differential lock/parking brake lever. One way of this lever locks the center differential, and the other works as a parking brake by locking the drivetrain.

Suspension: There is full independent double wishbone suspension, with four hard shocks and a rubber band per axle. Because of how low the car is, it is hard to see its affect, but I think that there is one. There is negative camber.

Pneumatics: There is an M-motor running a compressor, which powers a single small cylinder that controls the rear differential lock.

Drive: Two XL motors drive the car through three differentials. There is a flat 8 piston engine, and a Servo motor controls the gas pedal. This particular Servo motor's wire is wearing out, and I had no spares, so it only rotates one direction. This wasn't so bad, however, because it let me build more compact. Driving performance was decent for such a heavy, complicated car. (It was 7-8 pounds).

Steering: The steering on this car was far from simple, and my favorite function of all! First of all, it has all wheel steering. In addition, there is castor, kingpin, ackermann, and toe. Also, the steering wheel works. The front and rear are driven by separate motors, and the one in the rear is dependent on what gear the car is in. The shifting motor flips a switch controlling the rear Servo, so that it has regular four wheel steering in low gears, front wheel steering in medium gears, and crab steering in high gears, just like real AWS cars. Finally, there are aero flaps in the front and rear, which work with the motors to "slow down" the correct side.

Brakes: There are all wheel disc brakes using an M-motor, a large linear actuator, and a large sliding thing of beams. This pulls strings, which pull a rubber axle joiner onto the inside side of the Chiron brake discs. The brakes are very weak, but the brake pedal works, and strings are pulled to activate the front aero flaps and to tilt the spoiler.

Gearbox: This gearbox was basically just my latest-design 7+R dual clutch gearbox, shifted by an L-motor at a 20:1 ratio. Sadly, I discovered that all of the odd gears wouldn't work, because the bracing for the two meshing 8T gears wasn't strong enough. There was a speed indicator in the interior. I really don't have pictures of just the gearbox, so you might want to check out its separate post (Coming soon to Eurobricks). I also put a monkey under the rear spoiler with a bunch of levers and stuff. No existing computers can give the Epitome the gear-shifting precision it requires, so a highly-trained monkey is provided.

Adjustable suspension: There is a simple adjustable-hardness suspension using an M-motor in the front and an L-motor in the rear, that basically just winds up the rubber band to tighten the suspension.

Windshield Wipers: The wipers were similar to the ones I have used previously, but geared to allow for a longer sweep. They use an M-motor.

Spoiler Raising: An M-motor and two small linear actuators raise and tilt the spoiler. The tilt occurs when a string becomes taut.

Convertible Roof: An L-motor, through a 24:1 worm reduction, lifts the convertible roof, stabilized with a 4-bar linkage. The cover is pushed up and down by the roof, and typically snaps shut dramatically!

I am very glad to be just about done posting this! I am tired of typing! Anyway, I am very happy with this car's complexity and refinement, and it is going to be hard enough to top that I doubt that I will try anytime soon. [EDIT: And yet I did.] The biggest disappointment, though, was that half of the gears didn't work. I don't plan to build many supercars soon, because the disappearance of the snow lends itself well to outdoor 4x4s...
You can watch my Youtube video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/ichthia-epitome

 

[2GodBDGlory]

Jeep Wrangler TJ Trial Truck

This is my latest attempt at 4x4 domination, with the body of a 97' Jeep Wrangler TJ on top.

About this creation

Aesthetics: It looks like a Jeep. There is no spare tire on the rear because of approach angle/weight distribution issues. The headlights work, and the tailgate opens. (I think it is my best-looking Trial Truck to date. The mud helps a lot too; the above picture is now my desktop background)

Suspension: There is 4-link suspension front and rear, with large shocks. It isn't as long travel as I would hope, but there is still quite a bit of travel, and it is quite flexible. I put a full skidplate in, which was flexible in between the axles to let them rotate relative to each other.

Steering: An L-motor with 9:1 reduction operates the front rack steering. It is powerful and tough.

Drive: An XL motor is in each axle, and is reduced 36:12, and then 24:8 again, for a total reduction of 9:1. The tires were stuffed with marbles to lower the weight distribution. Perhaps because of this, it occasionally needed more torque (Though the friction of mud in the portal axle hubs also contributed to this!)

Winch: An L-motor at 24:1 pulled a winch that was sufficient to lift the whole Jeep.

You can see my video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/jeep-wrangler-tj

Mini Toyota 4Runner

The idea with this model was to make a 4x4 at similar scale to my tiny cars. It went pretty well!

About this creation

Aesthetics: It looks OK, though a bit more like a recent 4Runner than the 90's one I intended on.

Drivetrain: There were two L-motors powering skid steering 4WD. Each motor was geared up 1:3.

Suspension: Each wheel has Tatra-type suspension with a rubber band at the front and rubber axle joiners in the rear.

Performance was good, though not superb off-road. It was fast and fun to drive, though the skid steering was odd. You can see a video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/mini-toyota-4runner

 

'69 Dodge Charger R/T

This is a very high performance small car, and a model of a classic muscle car. I will warn all you purists, though, that it does use a non-Lego motor and battery.

About this creation

Aesthetics: The looks are simple, but fairly realistic, and tough enough for the many crashes this thing has to endure.

Electronics: There are non-Lego electronics ahead...
The battery box is a small 7.4V camera battery I picked up for free at a garage sale. A wire from a dead M-motor is attached onto this (I can't solder it securely, though, because then the battery couldn't fit in its charger), which hooks up to a PF V2 Receiver. Steering is done with a PF Servo motor, while drive is seen to with an RC4WD 80T Crawler Motor. This motor offers similar performance to an official Lego RC Buggy motor, but I got it for only $15 CAD+ Shipping, while Lego ones cost about $85 CAD+ Shipping. Although the motor is non-Lego, it is easy to attach to it. I attached the wires to Lego by building a module that you can see in the pictures with old 9V plates (2x 2x4 and 2x 1x2, arranged with a 2x4 on the bottom, two 1x2s covering one half of it, and the other 2x4 over top of it all, with the leads in the area without 1x2s) ). The wires have bulky ends that fit well into this module, and stay together well when elastics are used to hold it together. This can then easily be attached to PF via the 9V/PF adapter wire. The motor itself was attached with some axle pins, that slotted nicely into the front four studs apart, and the shaft hooks up to Lego (Not in this model, but I improved it since) by stuffing a cut rubber tube that came shielding the motor's leads onto the motor's output, and then jamming an axle extender over it all (this is hard, but holds it very securely). I should mention, though, that the motor causes my Lego Rechargeable battery to shut off, for all practical purposes, when a load is applied. There is no problem with the camera battery I used, though it strangely performed far better at half battery charge.
PERFORMANCE: The car is a barrel of fun, with huge power, light weight, and RWD. It can drift all over the place on a smooth floor, and is fairly fast (Though I think I should have kept the gearing faster). You might want to see my YouTube video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/69-dodge-charger-rt

 

Toyota Land Cruiser J79

 

This is a somewhat complex, yet still tough model of what is likely my favorite vehicle worldwide (Emphasis on "worldwide," because this rig is and was not sold in North America).

About this creation

Aesthetics: I think that it looks pretty good, with some stickers and off-road add-ons. A rear panel is white because (A) I wanted it to look like an old, beat-up rig with replacement panels, and (B) I was out of light grey...

Opening stuff: The hood opens and has a support, the doors open, and the tailgate lowers with a realistic linkage to prevent it from opening too far.

Interior: The cabin is detailed, yet realistically simple. There is a working steering wheel, an opening glove box, little tires hanging from the rearview mirror, and folding rear seats, behind which an included mattress, sleeping bag, and pillow can fit, creating the budget camping setup!

Suspension: Like the real Cruiser, my model has front and rear live axles, with coil springs up front and leaf springs, made of axles, in the rear. It works fairly well, but could use some more travel, or a lift (Why did I decide to keep this model's suspension and tires stock again?).

Steering: An L-motor in the body runs a 24:1 worm setup, that pulls a linkage, which pulls the link connecting the wheels side-to-side to steer. There is lots of slack, and it is pretty terrible performing, but it is realistic (both in setup and in poor responsiveness (I think)). The steering wheel also works.

Drive: Two XL motors under the hood drive a V6 engine and all four wheels (SLOWLY!)

Gearbox: The gearbox uses a highly modified version of Sariel's heavy-duty 4-speed sliding gear gearbox (from his book), but with the gears rotated to make it more compact, and a very heavy duty shifting mechanism with stops to prevent the sliding gears from sliding ON rather than WITH their axles. It didn't skip once, but did jam sometimes when shifting.

Transfer case: There is a two-speed transfer case shifted with an M-motor through a worm gear and a 6L link. It performs pretty well, but strangely seemed to make little difference, though the ratios were far apart. Maybe it's just that it's infinitely slow in all gears!

RWD/4WD Switch: An M-motor slides some double-bevel gears either together or apart using a small linear actuator to engage or disengage the front wheels from the motors. Of course, you should leave it in 4x4 all the time!

Locking Differentials: Another M-motor used a small linear actuator, a fancy group of connected axles, and some 6L links to lock the front and rear differentials simultaneously.

Winch: Another L-motor uses a worm setup to pull the winch. However, more interestingly, I used the worm gear's sliding ability to create a directional gearbox, that allows the string to be pulled out four times faster than the motor reels it in! However, this complexity made the winch too weak to be practical.

Overall, I like this interpretation of this great truck, and I appreciate how tough the drivetrain was. However, this complexity made the truck's speed "abyssal" or, slightly more kindly, "sluggish to a fault" In addition, like most Lego models, I didn't quite match the real Land Cruiser's sterling reputation for reliability. You can, as usual, see my video on YouTube, at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/toyota-land-cruiser-j79

[2GodBDGlory]

Jeep Hurricane V2

This is a simpleish model of Jeep's off-road concept, and it includes the original's turn-on-the-spot abilities.

About this creation

Aesthetics:
I like the way the model looks, and I think that it is quite a bit like the original concept. However, mine has a bit of a body lift over the original! There is also a full interior, though nothing in it is functional.

Drive: Four XL motors propel this model, one per wheel, and each one has 5:1 gear reduction, including the portal axles. It is quite quick, but even with four motors, it lacked torque. (The fact that I had to run all four through one regular receiver probably added to this) However, if I stopped and waited a few seconds, I usually got some more power. Each motor is independent mechanically, allowing for the skid steering crucial to the model's on-the-spot steering. Because each motor steered along with its wheel, the steering angle was not limited by the working angle of universal or CV joints.

Steering: Steering used four M-motors, one for each wheel. Each was geared down 40:1 with a worm gear. Because of the independent control for each wheel, all sorts of steering modes were available, such as FWS, RWS, 4WS, Crab Steering, and the trademark toe-in on-the-spot steering (As well as useless toe-out stall-everything steering, and plenty of other useless things.) [EDIT: I am sure the turn-on-the-spot steering worked in the dirt, but I am not certain whether it worked well on hard ground or not.

Remote: Three IR remotes control the model. One is devoted to drive, with two levers to be pushed together for normal drive, and a lever thing for skid steering. The other two remotes control the steering, with individual levers for each wheel, and long bars that could be used to push all four levers at once for regular 4WS]

Performance was hampered by the power cuts and fragile, hard to control steering. However, it could off-road far better than any other Hurricane model I have ever seen, which was pretty much the point of the model.
You can see my YouTube video at:
https://youtu.be/kCQwmg0wZTU

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/jeep-hurrican-v2

 

Porsche 911 Manual

 

This is my first attempt at the world of 1:10 manual supercars. I have depicted a 2020 Porsche 911 (992) Turbo S Cabriolet, with many manual functions.

About this creation

Aesthetics: The car is quite rounded (I am improving in this regard). The front still looks a bit awkward, though, as does the back of the roof when up. I think the rear looks realistic; unfortunately, I dislike the real car's rear, so I dislike mine, too. Still, though, I think it looks decent, which is enough for me.

Interior: There is a full 2+2 interior with four seats, functional control elements, an opening glove box, and a detailed dashboard.

Opening stuff: The hood opens manually to reveal the front trunk, and stays open with a stalk. The doors are spring-loaded and auto-locking, just like on my bigger cars. There is also a small access panel that opens to allow me to see the gearbox more easily.
Steering: There is manual steering via a knob. The steering wheel turns, the front wheels are turned through an unusual linkage, and, after some gearing down, the rear wheels steer a bit, too.

Drive: There is AWD with three differentials, which drive a rear-mounted H6 piston engine.

RWD/AWD Switch: There is a lever in the center console that slides a transmission driving ring. In one mode, there is a sort of linear clutch thing made with a clear blue Technic circle, a transmission driving ring extender, and a few other pieces. It works quite well. In another mode, the central differential is locked, allowing for RWD without sending all the power through the differential into the middle of nowhere, which is what happens when the switch is in the middle.

Clutch: If I depress the clutch pedal, a linkage activates that disconnects the wheels from the engine with a transmission driving ring. It even uses some old flex system components!

Transmission: There is a rear-mounted 7+R manual gearbox. It is quite compact, and even uses some techniques that would never be used in a official set, all to keep it compact. There are long, long axle things that all come into the center console, where a single lever can select all of the gears, though some better than others.

Suspension: There is full independent suspension, with all the fancy angles. There is one hard shock per wheel, and one rubber band in the front/two in the rear. There are also worm gears that allow for adjustable hardness/ride height for each wheel independently.

Brakes: There are manual disc brakes for all wheels. A linkage connects the front and rear and controls the brake pedal. Towball links are used in the suspension, and are supposed to push rubber axle joiners against the inside of Chiron brake disks. However, in practice, it doesn't work. If I was really strong, maybe I could push the link hard enough to have some effect, but even then, I don't know. The brakes worked when all I had together was the axle, but it got lost in the complexity. Still, it is a very unusual feature at the 1:10 scale.

Adjustable spoiler: One can manually push up the spoiler, and it will stay up. Ooh! Aah!

Convertible Roof: One can also manually raise the roof (supposedly a soft top, and connect it to the windshield. Sadly, the rear supports are ugly (My Mom suggested an improvement, but I had already taken pictures, so it was too late!)

Overall, I think that this was a very complicated and fairly refined 1:10 supercar, that is unlike anything else ever built. As I often do, it had so many functions, that it was hardly functional. All the weight and complexity prevented it from working well, but hey, I build my models for the building, not for the playing. Why, this model wasn't even together for 24 hours before I took it apart to start on the next! Anyways, I like this model, and it was an interesting foray into the world of manual models.
You can see my video at:

 

Ferrari LaFerrari

This was an attempt to see if a car with 4L motors in a bigger car can beat two in a smaller one. P.S. It can't

About this creation

Aesthetics:
It looks pretty ugly, but I put some effort into it, at least (My next small car that I will post, has no effort, pretty much). It looks a bit like the real car, I would say.

Steering: There is steering with a Servo. Simple, simple, simple.

Drive: The model has four L-motors driving the rear wheels, at a 5:1 ratio. Because I only have one Lego Rechargeable battery, I am using it and my little camera battery to power all of these motors. It was fast, but acceleration was bad, and it wasn't as fast as my smaller cars. I could have learned this from some simple math, had I done it, because I was counting on twice the power increasing speed, despite the added weight. This car was 50% bigger in each dimension, which doesn't sound like too much, but, when I do the math, I end up with about 3.4 times the volume and weight, which, with only 2x the power, will not help.

Overall, I am dissapointed in this car, both in looks and performance. But, at least it taught me to do the math first!
You can see my Youtube Video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/ferrari-laferrari

MazdaSpeed3

After my high-powered 4L Ferrari Laferrari failed due to high weight, I went to the other extreme, and made a tiny, 1L powered car. I am pleased to say that it is the smallest RC Technic CAR that I have ever seen!

About this creation

Aesthetics:
I am less happy to say that it looks downright ugly.

Steering: Simple Servo and rack

Drive: There was only room for a lone L-motor and camera battery. In order to get the perfect gear ratio, I did an unusual gearing: A 36T gear to an 8T gear. This required some illegal spacing, but it works well. It is also geared 3:5 at the axle. In the end, it was fairly fast, but was so ugly and felt so insubstantial that I think a slightly bigger, 2L powered car is the optimum size for a performance car.

Still, though, I was glad to have contracted the scale limits for Technic cars.

You can see my YouTube video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/mazdaspeed3

 

Toyota Blizzard Trial Truck

This is my latest shot at Trial Truck Mastery. The car itself is the obscure (in North America) Toyota Blizzard, a small SUV (with a convertible option, as here), with serious 4x4 abilities, and a Daihatsu brother. You see, I have built so many Toyota 4x4s, I have to make ever more obscure ones (at least if I want to keep dual live axles)

About this creation

Aesthetics: I am pleased with how this rig looks. It is fairly simple, but I put some work into giving it character (unlike my old Land Rover Defender). To this end, I added the Canada flag on the back (My Dad's when he was a kid, but it doesn't seem to be listed on Bricklink!), as well as several original bumper stickers! The one rear wheel is grey rather than black, simply because, while testing an earlier version of this MOC, its wheel was hanging over the front of my bike basket on a forest trail, and it fell off, never to be seen again, despite hours of searching. [EDIT: It turns out that a friend of mine came across it in the woods, took a look at it, and then salvaged the marbles that were inside it, while leaving the tire behind. The next spring, he heard that I had lost such a tire, so he went and found it again for me! The tire itself smelled like a skunk, and showed plenty of signs of animals having chewed on it, but I am still glad to have it back] I bought a replacement tire, but no wheel yet. The body was also easily removable.

Drive: Drive was fairly simple, with one XL motor per axle, geared down three times at the axle, and then five more in the portal axles (Yes, 8:40 gears!) It was slow, but had plenty of power. The homemade portal axle housings never skipped and were mud-proofed, but transferring such massive torque through a mere axle (especially an 8L with stop. These seem weaker than others) caused huge, huge axle twist, breaking bushes and sliding wheels further off.

Steering: Steering was an L on the front axle geared down nine times, followed by a rack. It wasn't quite as strong or torquey as I would like, but it worked.

Suspension: After trying many different suspension designs, I settled on brick-built leaf springs to suspend live axles. It was tough, but too hard and without much travel. In retrospect, old-school shocks and links would have worked much better. I also made a typical skidplate for the bottom.

Overall performance was good, but I continue to learn lessons from my Trial Trucks. Next time, I will change some things.
You can see my video at:
https://youtu.be/hTKQAgWf42s

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/toyota-blizzard

 

Technic+Hobby RC buggy

 

This is a super fast Technic buggy powered by two 9.6V RC batteries!

About this creation

Power: Each RC battery powered four motors, but, because although Lego MOTORS can take 9.6V, receivers can't, it seems, so I used switches to control them, and used a third camera battery to flip these switches with a Servo motor, and for Servo steering. The electronics were highly complicated, but it was fast! Unfortunately, the switches overheated quickly. [And have never been the same since]

Drive: There were four XL motors on the rear axle, geared up four times, and four L motors on the front axle, geared up two times. It had plenty of speed, but could stall in grass easily. I never really off-roaded it other than that, because I took it apart early (more on that later).

Steering: Servo on front axle.

Suspension:There were live axles front and rear, with long shocks. It was a great suspension, worthy of a better off-road vehicle.
Overall, it was a pretty fun model to drive, but afterwards the switches would be burning hot, so I took it apart earlier than planned. My conclusions are that yes, Lego motors can take up to 12V, but anything you would use to control them cannot (ie, switches and IR receivers.) My new plan for greater performance is to just get all the electronics from a higher-end RC vehicle and put them in a Lego car. I know it's been done before, but it should be pretty foolproof, and a ton of fun.
You can watch my Youtube video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/technichobby-rc-buggy

 

[2GodBDGlory]

Quest Kodiak

This model is my first attempt at building a Technic aircraft, and attempts to expand the functionality of Technic plane models.

 

About this creation

Aesthetics:
This being my first plane, it is hard for me to judge its looks. It is quite boxy, but so is this plane, as planes go. The red parts make it look good, as well, I think. I made it a stylish sign, as well, to put at the base of the stand, and to hide the IR receivers. Most notably, though, it is really big!

Opening Stuff:
The front doors open, as does the rear side cargo door. See them open! See them close!

Interior: I tried to do a bit of an interior, with two seats and a control panel. There is a crate inside the cargo compartment, but don't look too close, as it subtly hides an M-motor!

Propeller: The propeller is driven by a couple M-motors geared up three times before the small turntable. More notably, though, a Servo motor tucked behind them pushes an axle through this turntable, to add variable pitch control, which is controlled along with the drive motors. They are linked on the controller, but they are still on different channels, so the propeller's pole reverser can be flipped to allow for a reversible propeller (like the real Kodiak) without messing with the Servo. Also, because of some petty foolishness (Involving one of my receivers breaking down, V2 receivers not working with M-motors, my V2 receiver's red channel only working with Servo motors, and my insistence on having the propeller and pitch motors on seperate channels) I had to use a servo motor controlling the speed dial on the battery box to run the propeller motors. It really shouldn't have to be that way, but said petty foolishness required it of me.

Ailerons/Tilting:
The plane has functioning RC ailerons using an M-motor (positioned on the base, and mechanically linked to them through the stand), but, in a first taste of the real highlights of this model, it is coupled with an L-motor that drives a rack via a worm gear to actually tilt the plane--as it should when the ailerons are activated!

Elevator/Tilting:
Like the ailerons, an M-motor also tilts the elevators (using some vintage flex system stuff), and another L+worm+rack tilts the plane forwards and backwards. Incidentally, I had to thread three independent axles through the stand--while allowing for the tilting in two ways, and rotation! In the end, I pretty much ignored the rotation, as the torsion of the long axles, unreinforced between their ends, caused little problem. I stuck three U-joints through the axes of tilting, but they would still slide up and down, so I had to add extending axles, made of springless shock absorbers, inside the stand. Despite all this fuss, it ended up working quite well.

Rudder/Slewing:
Another L-motor on the base turns the rudder, but rather than using two motors for this function, the same motor works the rudder and turns a 56T turntable through a worm gear to rotate the entire plane on its stand, with some dramatic twisting of support beams! It worked fine, though.

Flaps:
A M-motor inside the plane works the flaps (which can't move very far. This is a result of my foolishness in not determining certainly which way they should tilt before I built it. My flaps used to move up, and were changed at the last minute to go down. They can't go far, though, without hitting some U-joints for the ailerons.) There is no dynamic motion of the plane for this function, because I was unsure what it would be. Flaps are just supposed to increase lift of a plane, usually for takeoff and landing, but I wasn't sure how to express this. I suppose I could have moved the plane up and down vertically, but this would still be unrealistic, and VERY CHALLENGING. Anyways, the flaps just worked on their own, and were quite simple.

Controller:
I tried to make the controller fairly faithful to the controls of a real plane. Thus, the ailerons are controlled with "foot pedals," the throttle and flaps with levers, the rudder by turning a wheel, and the elevator by pushing or pulling said wheel.

Overall, it was quite an interesting model to make, being my first plane and quite innovative and interesting. In addition, it was HUGE dimensionally, and very dramatic to operate. This model was a lot more interesting to my family and friends than some big 'ol supercar with highly complicated but pretty much invisible functions (Gearbox, brakes, etc.)
You can see my Youtube video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/quest-kodiak

Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

With this model I conclude my trilogy of 1:8 scale models of modern ultimate pony cars, with light grey and black bodywork. This one aims to sacrifice complexity for reliability, which worked fairly well.

About this creation

Aesthetics: The model looked very good, in my opinion, and is likely my best looking model yet, I think! Of course, most of my models don't look too good, so this isn't saying too much...
There are LED headlights, and various details from the real car, like black stripes.

Interior:
The interior is done as usual in all black. I quite like how the front seats look, and they can be slid fore and aft with small linear actuators. The glove box opens, and there are many functional controls, as well as a tiny, hard-to-read speed indicator in the central console. This model does have a back seat--the reviews of this brand-new model came out partway through the build process, after seats were in. Sadly, this means that this GT500 is limited to the less hardcore version, as the top level one deletes those back seats. Happily, the seats cover up some of the structure of the chassis!

Opening stuff:
The hood can be opened by pushing a lever in the cabin, and two dampened shock absorbers raise it slowly and majestically, with the grace of a sleeping lion rolling over--or, something like that. The doors can also be opened, but with their woefully undampened shock absorbers, it is more comparable to, say, the crisp, quick, fluid motion of a venus fly trap snatching its prey. Those doors also have locks, which also keep the door shut with the irrevocable hold of said venus fly trap's jaws. It would be nice for me to be less poetic and actually tell you about the mechanics of this, but I WON'T! Not really. See, these locks are spring-loaded in a compact space using a rubber axle joiner, and work fairly well (Their reliability is improved by this model's impressive body stiffness--without having to jam everything full of mechanics, I had space to strengthen it). Less impressively, there was also a tiny hatch at the rear to allow a view of the gearbox to ensure that it was exactly in a gear.

Suspension:
There is full independent double wishbone suspension, with two hard shocks per wheel. In keeping with this car's refinement over functionality idea, it actually had travel! It worked! There was also negative camber angle on all wheels (If you know what the angle is called, you look kinda smart. If you know the positive/negative, you look really smart!).

Drive:
Two XL motors drove the rear wheels and a V8 piston engine. There is also a sort of limited-slip differential, made by using a normal differential and wrapping it with a couple of orthodontic elastics that create friction on the spider gears, making it more hesitant to differentialize. A Servo motor under the floor made a working gas pedal. P.S. When I was ripping of the body to take chassis images, I, er, destroyed it. Thus, there are few mechanical pictures.

Steering: An L-motor in the front steers the front wheels, which have castor, kingpin, and Ackerrmann geometry. The steering wheel also worked. Way cooler than this, though, there was also working sequential turn signals! You see, the Mustang has these cool trademark turn signals with its three cells at the back. It looks kinda like this: [][][]. When the turn signals go, it looks more like this: [][][]-[0][][]-[][0][]-[][][0]-[][][] and then repeats. Mine used LEDs that lit up when the steering went. An M-motor in the rear with a direction-sensitive gearbox would then rotate beams that had those LEDs inserted into them to move the light past one cell at a time. In order to keep the LED wires from winding up, I used the new part that looks like a 1L beam with a 1L axle protruding from it, common in light grey, because it has unusually low friction in its pinhole, and then I also used rockers that pinched the LED while allowing it to slide up and down, while not rotating. It was too slow compared to the actual steering, and controlled along with it, but still looked cool.

Brakes: There is an M-motor under the floor that pulls on the brakes, and is pulled back by rubber bands. There are four-wheel disc brakes, and they make a true difference. The brake pedal also works.

Gearbox: There is a 7+R dual clutch sequential gearbox, now entirely gear-shifted for enhanced reliability. An M-motor in the central console shifts it, through a worm gear mechanism. Shifts worked well, and it "drove" in all gears.

Overall, I liked the car. It basically did everything I wanted, though the shifting motor could slide off its supports, aggravatingly. It looked good, had decent functions, was reliable, and was refined.
You can see my video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/ford-mustang-shelby-gt500

 

Super Crawler

This was a fun, quick model built for fun. It is a very impressive off-roader!

About this creation

Aesthetics:
It in general has a rather spare aesthetic, with an emphasis on the whole "Function over form" idea. What body it does have is all a blinding fluorescent black, that is black enough to start a black hole, just by looking at it. Fortunately, the amount of such bodywork it has is equal to zero.

Drive: There are three XL motors to drive it, at fifteen times reduction, five of which are in my new ultra-heavy-duty portal axles, which combine O-frames and nonsteered hubs to create a super-tough gear reduction and wheel connection. It is fairly slow, but no faster than it needs to be--unless it wants to climb any slopes steeper than the 48 degree slope it managed to summit. Two of these XL motors are on the rear, and one on the front. One of my secret little tricks that isn't a secret is to stuff the tires with marbles. True, this requires more torque to move it, and also needs a heavier-duty drivetrain, but these difficulties can be surmounted to enjoy the traction-aiding weight, and the crawling-aiding lowered center of gravity. A lot of its wild crawling would turn into rollovers without this.

Steering: Steering is often overlooked on serious Lego 4x4s, at least on mine, but it has a super serious role, which this system reflects. It uses a L-motor with twenty-four times worm gear reduction to give it all the torque it needs.

Suspension: There is super-flexy live axle suspension on both axles, using four non-parallel links to stabilize them.

Overall, this model was a lot of fun to crawl indoors. Sadly, here in Canada, we have snow now, so outdoor driving is pretty much shut down for the year.
You can watch my video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/super-crawler

[2GodBDGlory]

Full RC mod 42043 Mercedes-Benz Arocs

This was a bit of a casual project for me. I was rebuilding my first Technic set, the 42043 Arocs, for fun, and decided first to do the cab black, and then to do a fairly extensive RC mod.

About this creation

Aesthetics:
I changed little but the color of the cab and arm. It looks fine this way, I think

 

Mods: I motorized every function of the original set that used the gearbox, as well as drive and steering (Not only was there not really any space to motorize the pneumatic switches, but there were also not enough IR channels). I removed the gearbox and used its space for an M-motor for the outriggers, an L-motor for the crane rotation, and an M-motor for the compressor. The original L=motor was hooked up to the bed tipping. I replaced the I6 engine with another L-motor to allow it to drive, and put another L-motor where the original battery was, for steering. I stuffed a rechargeable battery under the seats in the cab, and put three IR receivers where the original battery was (over the steering L). It worked quite well, and was fun to play with. The only issue was that the many wires behind the cab made it hard to tilt the cab, an action that was necessary to turn the battery on and off.

Overall, this was an easy, fun little mod to make.
You can see my YouTube video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/rc-arocs

 

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS Wagon

This is my first real model with my new quasi-hobby RC components I bought. These components are supposedly good for 50 km/hr in the original truck, so I hoped for good performance.

About this creation

Aesthetics:
They are pretty crude, but maybe recognizable. It is an ol' black wagon, with a bumper sticker where the hooligan driver can tally the tires he has scorched (ten, so far). (I won't even go into the three or four meanings that the license plate was supposed to imply)

Chassis Development:
Nil. Thus, it was master of all maneuvers (shenanigans) involving loss of traction, but could never get close to its top speed without degenerating into glorious donuts. In fact, it was challenging to coax it to any speed without degenerating into said glorious donuts. In order to try to curtail these tendencies, I put a couple of weighted bricks in the front, but to little to no avail.

Drive:
The drive was simple, with my fancy new motor driving the rear wheels with a 12:28 ratio using a new 28T gear. It had lots of torque, and could have had a lot of speed if it had had any handling whatsoever.

Steering:
The Third-party servo (surprisingly large) sat behind the rear wheels and steered the fronts. It was proportional, and not really a bad system, so I can't blame it on the model's complete lack of handling. I will blame that on its not-too-sticky tires, low weight, and high power (perhaps the highest power-to-weight ratio of any Technic-bodied RC ever).

Overall, the model was fun. I didn't have to put in too much effort, and I had fun. Still, though, the motors are worthy of a more refined model. If you like the idea of cheap power for your Lego models (The whole setup cost me about $60 CAD, less than even a single Lego RC Buggy Motor), you can ask me where to buy it in the comments.
You can see my video at:

IMAGES AT: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/1970-chevrolet-chevelle-ss-wagon

Technic/RC Dodge Challenger

This was my follow-up attempt to my Chevelle SS, with an aim to increased refinement.

About this creation

Aesthetics:
I think it looked all right. It was a black box, mostly, but it looked properly aggressive.

Drive:
It had RWD using my quasi-hobby RC motor, at a 1:3 reduction, with an old style differential.

Steering: It had a typical RC steering setup (at least, with a non-Lego Servo).

Suspension:
There was simple front suspension (I suppose it would be called a sliding-pillar design). I had originally built it with trailing-arm rear suspension, but I deleted it after I feared that it was accelerating wear on a drive axle.

Overall, it looked fine and was fun, but it seems that a transverse mounting of this motor increased part wear greatly, so I didn't get to have much fun with it. Also, it was little more refined than my Chevelle, despite its greater size and grippier tires.
It appears that I forgot to take video of this model.