XTN's garage

[XTN]

1 hour ago, Void_S said:

Nice! Is it an alternative model or a kind of modification on the Responder base?

Thanks. 

Yeah, the front part (hood, engine, steering, cabin) except for the front bumper is Responder base, just a little more clean and smooth. The whole rear is MOC.

I already have this little jam for a while, but I always wanted to add some dollies. With 42147 I got the right wheels finally. 
First they were supposed to be cosmetic only, but then I added the bars and realized they really work. 

[XTN]

The latest addition to my garage is an undercover FBI pickup truck.
Features:

• two-tone paintjob
• blue signal lights on front side of the rear view mirror and below the grille
• gun holder next to each seat
• openable hood, doors, tailgate
• openable and removable tool box with holders for broom and shovel 
• HOG steering from top and back, both with removable knobs

The HOG steering knob is the same for both, top and back, it can easily be swapped. This is important for my upcoming project, a car transporter trailer.
The toolbox can hold shovel and broom inside or also outside in special holders, if the unnamed agent needs the space inside the box for guns, drugs, money... whatever he confiscates from the criminals.

Recently the unnamed agent was able to stop an orange muscle car speeding through town.
His first surprise was the two young ladies getting out of the car, dressed like famous cartoon princesses.
His second surprise was the trunk full of guns.

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by XTN

[XTN]

@1980SomethingSpaceGuy created a nice little gem: a jack.
I recgnized it on one of the pics of his [MOC] Vintage Rally Coupé (42098 scale) - LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling - Eurobricks Forums that can be found on RB: LEGO MOC Vintage Rally Coupe by Celeri | Rebrickable - Build with LEGO.
I had to build it right away.

The jack works perfectly with the blue pickup truck as well as the orange muscle car, and it fits in the storage compartments of my yellow wrecker.
It may be a little bit out of scale, but playability wins - and it's a lot of fun to play with it.
Here's the proof:

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by XTN

[1980SomethingSpaceGuy]

Nice to see this little fellow being used.. 

Cheers!

[XTN]

Sooo...

Here are some upgrades to my garage.

The yellow tow truck has received some upgrades:
I adjusted the gear ratio of the steering and added a few accessories, in addition to cosmetic adjustments, for example a light bar that can be attached to vehicles that are to be towed or a saddle plate that can be placed on the underlift to tow semi-trailers.

With a new set of tools, the truck offers a lot of playability.

All the stuff can be stored in the compartments on the sides of the truck.

 

The light duty tow truck has also recieved some upgrades, also in the storage compartments. These now hold LEGO standard boxes on both sides filled with tools.

 

[XTN]

The third upgrade concerns my International 4900 rollback tow truck.
I rebuilt the entire chassis (originally based on @LoMaC's 42098 alt) from scratch, with the aim of simplifying the structure, adjusting the steering ratio and making space for a V8 Diesel fake engine and also some storage compartments.

The bed has recieved two major improvements too.
First a simplified winch with some really cool cable guide rollers and second the panels at the rear edge of the platform like in @SaperPL's [TC25] Flatbed Truck.

 

Edited September 30, 2023 by XTN

[Maaboo the Witch]

Flatbed truck's my favourite! The rest of your builds are seriously cool, though.

[XTN]

18 hours ago, Maaboo the Witch said:

Flatbed truck's my favourite! The rest of your builds are seriously cool, though.

Thank you, that really means a lot to me. 

 

[XTN]

Here's another update to my garage: A completely redesigned black and blue undercover Police pickup truck.
The new version is not intended to represent a specific model, but is heavily influenced by a 2008 Ford F250 Super Duty.

It features:

• HOG steering
• fake V6 engine driven by rear axle vie differential
• openable doors, hood, tailgate
• adjustable side mirrors
• large bed with a spacious toolbox, holding a broom and and a shovel inside or outside, in the latter case with enough space inside for a handful of confiscated weapons
• a trailer hitch

Why a trailer hitch? For a boat trailer:

The trailer has a locking winch and a fully movable, retractable support wheel.

While the trailer is finished, the boat itself is still a WIP - sadly for a few years now. 
Once finished, it will be a Police RIB, and the whole rig should look like this:

 

[XTN]

One more addition to my garage: A generic white muscle car.

It features:

• HOG steering, working steering wheel
• fake V6 engine driven by rear axle via differential
• openable hood and trunk

[XTN]

One more addition to my garage: An orange pickup truck.

It shows some influences from a 1977 Ford pickup truck

It features:

• HOG steering, working steering wheel
• fake V6 engine driven by rear axle via differential
• openable doors, hood and tailgate
• foldable trailer hitch
• removable top

 

[XTN]

The next pictures show my WIP projects.

1.: Snowmobile

After seeing some smowmobiles showing up here and on RB, I decided to revive an older attempt to create one on my own - in Mack scale ofc.
Premises are a track width 7 studs and a body width 3 to 5 studs. The steering works perfectly, but that's pretty much all so far.
Here's what I came up with:

Right now the biggest struggle seems to be creating the body design with a cool front fascia, followed by the challenge to build some kind of suspension in the back.

---

2.: Tracked loader

The goal is to recreate TLGs 42032 but with the rubber tires improvement from TLGs 42148.

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3.: RIB (rigid inflatable boat)

I've shown it before in this thread, sitting on the boat trailer, but it's still missing a steering and the complete drive unit.
When finished, the drive unit will consist of two engines, driven by a set of wheels.

---

4.: Unimog

I've shown pictures earlier in this thread, but the project still hasn't made any progress.

---

5.: Car transporter trailer

My largest project so far.

The ramp in the back works perfectly.
The skeleton structure between wheels and kingpin offers surprisingly good stability
The raising mechanism via rack and pinion adds even more stability to the frame. Still I am not happy with this mechanism bc the rack stands out a lot when the upper deck is raised, but I wasn't able to find a good solution using LAs so far. 

---

6.: Mack R Series tipper truck

I want an American style tipper truck with HOG steering, fake engine, openable hood and doors, some kind of suspension or just the chance to handle bumpy terrain without wheels losing contact to the ground.

The idea is to build a chimera: I combine elements of the chassis from @mpj's MAN TGX (an awesome alt to 42098, I modded it into a TGS, but it's not matching my American vehicle lineup), use the truck bed and the winter equipment from @M_longer's Granite snow plow (my firste ever bougth and built alternative model, back in the days the reason to buy a third 42078 Mack set) and add a new nose and cabin resembling the iconic Mack R Series.
This way I hope to get the parts for the Mack R, free some space on my shelves and gain loads of panels for... maybe a trailer project. But first, the TGS and the Granite will have to die.

I use black bone gears in black rims to create the classic look for the front wheels, they look awesome, ngl.
I'm looking forward to see how it looks in lbg (lbg bone gears in lbg rims) when I get my hands on the new 42167 Mack LR Electric 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by XTN

[mpj]

Looking forward to see the progress on the Mack!

[XTN]

The Mack R Series dump truck is [almost] done. 

On the way to completion I only had to sacrifice the TGS, but not the Granite.
The Mack R now offers HOG with a gear reduction, pendulum front axle, rear axle suspension like the TGX from @mpj with an increased suspension travel. The axles swing individually around the longitudinal axis and the whole tandem can also swing. The two rear axle differentials are connected to a V8 fake engine. The hood and doors can be opened, the loading area tilts via pneumatics and the tailgate is locked when the loading area is lowered.

The biggest challenge was the limited space.
A V8 fake engine had to be pressed in under the short, tilting hood and above a swing axle.
In the cabin, the tightness made it difficult to implement the gear reduction for the HOG. But because this makes steering much more pleasant, I stuck with it until the end and I'm glad it was possible to realize.
In the frame, the main drive shaft takes up a lot of space due to the vertical movement of the rear axle suspension and prevents the installation of a medium or large LA within the frame to tilt the loading area. Outside the frame, however, these LAs would be too wide and the rear tires would block due to the pendulum movement of the axles. The first attempt was to use a lever mechanism, but it required a lot of force and was anything but elegant.
The solution was two narrow pneumatic cylinders from 42128. The pump can be operated directly on the vehicle or it can be easily detached for easier handling.
As a special feature, the loading area offers a simple gravity-operated lock for the tailgate that was inspired by @functionalTechnic's tipper trailer as seen in this vid: LEGO Technic - Mack Anthem Dump Truck (MOC) - YouTube

Well, a few little things still need to be polished.
This includes the pendulum mechanism of the front axle, which currently still has too much play around the vertical axis. For this I will install a small turntable instead of a simple cross axis.
Also there are a few color inconsistencies, such as the gray panel in the hood or some sticking out 3L pins that need to be hidden or replaced.
But other than that, the truck is finished and playable.

 

Edited February 16 by XTN

[XTN]

First attempt: Lever mechanism.

Second and final attempt: Pneumatics.

I hope you like the result.

Thx for reading and watching. 

 

[1gor]

R series looks very nice (and IMHO red suits the best); my favorite is R series with asymetrical cab; perhaps I'll make it one day as Combine harvester transporter

[XTN]

7 hours ago, 1gor said:

R series looks very nice (and IMHO red suits the best); my favorite is R series with asymetrical cab; perhaps I'll make it one day as Combine harvester transporter

Thank you very much.

You're right about red, but the truth is, the color choice was primarily forced by the parts in my inventory 
Another good one might be black for a semi tractor unit to resemble Rubber Duck's famous truck from "Convoy" or white.
A white hood would make it possible to use the 3x1 plate with the MACK sticker from 42167. I was thinking about that too, but I dont have the angled liftarms for the wheel covers.

Looking forward to see your variant one day!

[1gor]

On 2/18/2024 at 6:32 PM, XTN said:

Thank you very much.

You're right about red, but the truth is, the color choice was primarily forced by the parts in my inventory 
Another good one might be black for a semi tractor unit to resemble Rubber Duck's famous truck from "Convoy" or white.
A white hood would make it possible to use the 3x1 plate with the MACK sticker from 42167. I was thinking about that too, but I dont have the angled liftarms for the wheel covers.

Looking forward to see your variant one day!

I remember Convoy movie; I saw it dozen of times when I was a kid; I was planing to make 1:18 scale model for longer time, but could not find a time to start making planned Combine (or Forage) harvester; even today on Sunday whenever I get my hands on Lego, wife needed help ar pets start to get nervous...

Really wired day today

 

Edited February 20 by 1gor

[Thirdwigg]

I'm a little behind, but I love that boat. Any more progress on that?

Also, I looked for the Unimog, but can't find anything else about that. Any progress on that MOC too?

[XTN]

On 2/19/2024 at 6:07 PM, Thirdwigg said:

Also, I looked for the Unimog, but can't find anything else about that. Any progress on that MOC too?

Okay, that's strange. I could have sworn I uploaded pictures of the Unimog, but I can't find them too. As they didn't get any vies om imgur I guess I just forgot about them. 
There has been no progress for more than a year.

The base is 42139, the engine and gearbox are unchanged.

Unfortunately the playability is not very high, the HOG on top of the vehicle in conjunction with the high, easily tiltable chassis make steering on uneven surfaces very difficult.
I like the vintage look of the cabin and I wanted to see if the seat-shaped wheel arches fit, but imho they are too wide.
And tbh the gearbox of 42139 sits so low, that it doesn't offer the great offroad capabilities an Unimog should have.
At the end, this vehicle in this configuration might stay unfinished forever.

 

[Thirdwigg]

Thanks for sharing. I like how you used the base of 42139 for the MOC. Limitations aside, it's a good idea.

[XTN]

My biggest project - the car transporter semi-trailer - is finally finished.

Here are the features:

• Mack compatible
• Frame width for the most part 17 studs, as the frame shouldn't be significantly wider than the trucks. Excluded from the limit are elements for controlling the functions
• Clearance within the frame 14 studs as the vehicles to be loaded are a maximum of 13 studs wide and need some clearance
• The vehicles to be loaded sit low in the “belly” of the trailer
• The rear part of the upper deck folds down to allow loading of the upper and lower decks - quite obvious for a car transporter trailer
• The middle section of the upper deck can be raised and lowered using 4 small, synchronously running LAs.
• The front section of the upper deck can be tilted using small LAs
• The landing gear can be extended and retracted using small LAs. All functions can be operated from both sides of the trailer
• An extendable ramp at the rear of the trailer

Due to the frame construction and the use of Pythagorean triangles in the front and rear areas, the frame is very stiff and, despite its length, hardly bends even under load. Only in the front overhang is there a certain bend in the size of between half a stud and a stud, which at the same time compensates for the different wheel diameters between the trailer and the tractor. The high rigidity offers great playability, but doesn't help empty my shelves: When the trailer is fully loaded, the total weight is almost 4 kg, which then only rests on the tandem axles and the fifth wheel coupling. To avoid permanent damage to the axles of the tractor and trailer, I only leave the trailer on the shelf empty or loaded with a maximum of two cars.

The trailer is 98 studs long and holds up to seven of my cars.
The size becomes clear when it is parked next to my other semi-trailers.