[TC19] Mini Tulitsa (like) Scooter

[Targi]

Final model photos:

=============================

I read the announcement for TC19 when I was frantically finishing my motor grader entry for our local LUG contest (I hope to upload more pictures in a separate thread later). At that point, having no real experience building motorcycle models, I decided I would not participate. 

But during my short New Year vacation, I ended up in a small vintage vehicle museum where I saw, among other bikes, these two Soviet-period scooters:

When I returned from my vacation, I realized that, contrary to my previous decision, I was considering how this scooter can be modeled with Technic. 

With my limited experience, I asked myself the question: what is the smallest scale I can use and still have steering, suspension, and engine, all while keeping the model at least semi-recognizable? There’s nothing in the rules limiting the size of the model, so I decided to have some small-scale fun. 

Turns out Corvette wheels do work. This is the prototype I came up with:

The suspension turned out to be pleasantly soft. Steering and piston engine are there. 

The details are quite different from the original, but that’s what you get in this scale. 

I also put together a red body, I think it looks better:

Tulitsa was a Soviet scooter from the 80s, there’s little information about it in English, but you can find lots of images by googling for “Тулица”.

Edited January 31, 2021 by Targi
Fixed broken image links; added final photos

[johncarpenter]

Sound cool, but I cannot see any of your pictures, you might want to check them.

[syclone]

Oh, very interesting looking scooter. Though not quite recognizable imo, maybe shorter panels for the rear would work better. Also how about some system parts or bionicle teeth on the front?

Edited January 18, 2021 by syclone

[Jundis]

I like the idea, especially the steering. Maybe you can implement some of these ribbed hoses for the fake front springs?

Its really is hard to get such elegant lines right, especially in that scale.

Edited January 19, 2021 by Jundis

[MajklSpajkl]

1 hour ago, johncarpenter said:

Sound cool, but I cannot see any of your pictures, you might want to check them.

+1

[Targi]

@syclone and @Jundis, thank you for suggestions! I’ve built the red-body version today. The bionicle teeth were such an obvious addition, I liked them very much. I did my best with the front, but for now, I wasn’t happy with any system parts. Rubber hoses are too tall to fit, but I added some connectors as fake coils, and they even made the suspension work better by softly limiting travel. 
 

Overall, I’m quite happy with the rear part. The front fender is really tricky though: I know it’s too high, but I can’t lower it because it will interfere with the steering and suspension. 
 

Here’s what I have today (the tires are temporary and will be replaced with Corvette tires):

For comparison, here‘s the real thing from the side:

I know I have the chain and the exhaust on wrong sides, will fix it later :-)

@johncarpenter, @MajklSpajkl, I’ve checked the photos using a European proxy, and the images loaded fine. I’m confused. I’m hosting the photos on my personal web server, with which I never had any problems before. If the images still don’t load, can you please click the link below and tell if the image displays this way? Otherwise, what kind of error message appears?

http://warmland.ru/users/helgi/bricks/IMG_3909.jpeg

Edited January 24, 2021 by Targi
Noted exhaust is on the wrong side; fixed broken image links

[skaah]

@Targi I get connection refused error from the russian https://warmland.ru server.

[MajklSpajkl]

@Targi: I can see photo via the link, but the photos embedded in the forum are not visible (only icon with file name). Nice scooter by the way 

[Jurss]

For me everything shows correctly. I'm from Latvia, even now from pretty secure work VPN.

[Targi]

@MajklSpajkl, what operating system and web browser are you using? I’ll try replicating those to troubleshoot my photo issue. 

@skaah, can you try http://warmland.ru, with http and not https?

[MajklSpajkl]

@Targi - Win10, Google Chrome

[johncarpenter]

Now, the images work for me, but they didn't when I saw the thread for the first time. Not sure what, if anything, changed in between.

[Targi]

@MajklSpajkl and everybody, the images should appear OK now, I apologize for the problem, apparently Chrome and other browsers are no longer happy with plain HTTP-served images and require HTTPS. I spent far too much time fiddling with my web server which I could otherwise use to build. :-) I hope to be able to share more photos soon. 

Edited January 24, 2021 by Targi
Typo

[MajklSpajkl]

@Targi: Thank you, I confirm all is visible now. I am sorry to cause you trouble, it was not my intention and getting the model ready is of more importance  by all means. I hope you manage to finish the model as planned.

Now that I can see the photos - very cool model. It is great that you managed to integrate a working engine at this scale.

Best regards.

[Targi]

@MajklSpajkl, please don’t feel guilty, it was my choice to use my own personal server instead of going with Flickr or something. I was a little annoyed with myself making this choice in the past, not with you or anybody else. My previous post didn’t spell it out, which is my bad. Your bug report was extremely helpful, and I’m very grateful because of your assistance with resolving this issue. Thank you very much for your help, and also for your kind words about this MOC!

[Targi]

I was able to incorporate fake front suspension that @Jundis suggested — turns out I had been trying to use a wrong, longer ribbed hose part:

I also made a slightly different version in white. The rear end is incomplete, but apart from it, I was trying to do the frame and the nose a bit more like the pre-facelift scooter:

For reference, here is the pre-facelift Tulitsa (in bad shape, rust everywhere, no exhaust):

In the end, I still like the red one better, but any feedback is welcome. 

[Targi]

I think the model is complete. The final photos are in the top post. Winter isn't the best time to shoot a scooter, but I still prefer natural light and environment to anything else.

Here's a behind-the-scenes moment from the "photo shoot":

[Rudivdk]

This is a nifty little build! The front fork with suspension is a great solution, those rubber parts are really versatile! And the looks (although maybe not exactly spot-on) give the proper vibe of the model it represents. A great achievement at this tiny scale!

Good luck in contest!