Baja Truck

[Lox Lego]

The Baja truck in Lego form is something I always wanted to add to the roster, and what better way than designing Ken Blocks Baja truck! 

This build started with designing the suspension, it had to be rugged and sturdy. I used Sariels scaler to define the proportions,

and used the photo overlay technique to replicate the exterior. The real truck has 3 massive cooling fans behind the seat, so creating that 

in function and location was totally needed. It was hard to connect the drive all the way up to the fans, but did so with some U-joints.

The same drive axle connects to the engine to power the fake V8 engine. To keep a lower profile of the hood, the fake engine was

the only way I could keep the hood low enough to replicate the real thing. Check out the photos and video when you can :)

 

The plan to design all of the functions of the real thing, fast, drive, working fans, custom V8 engine and steering, working steering wheel and massive suspension travel!! 

 

Baja truck raw by lachlan cameron, on Flickr

 

 

Motor Options:

 

1. 1 Buwizz 3.0, 2 buggy motors, 1 new L motor.

 

2. 1 Buwizz 3.0, 3 new L motor.

 

3. 1 Buwizz 2.0, 1 servo, 2 old L motors.

 

4. 1 Buwizz 2.0, 2 buggy motors, 1 servo motor

 

5. Manual version without HOG. Remove all motors from part list!
 

 

 

 

 

You can find more photos on my flickr page :)

 

[Milan]

Frontpaged.

[Alex Ilea]

Amaizing work Lachlan! Loving the rugged looks in this one. Those wheels are so 

[piterx]

I saw it a while ago on your post on facebook, it's sick dude :) I love it

[Anio]

I can barely see if there are any Lego parts under all those stickers.

[FriedlS]

Very good!!! 👍👍

[gyenesvi]

The truth is I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand it looks awesome and close to the real one, made me curious already when it popped up on FB for the first time. Also it seems mechanically well done too (e.g. I like the way the Buwizz motors are integrated into the rear axle). On the other hand, the amount of stickers and custom parts is astonishing (especially all those small ones on the front bumper), although it gives it a cool vibe, you can hardly see the lego structure underneath. I was wondering how it would look without stickers and custom parts (because that's a version I'd be interested in building), and I found an image under one of the links; then the patchiness becomes apparent in quite a few places, especially at the rear section around the fender (that's where existing curved lego fenders are hardly useful). I wonder how well something smooth and interesting could be brought out of this using only colored parts and no stickers. Obviously, the details of the real car could not be approximated so well, but at least something resembling could probably be done (though some key parts like fenders in the right color may not exist).

Anyway, in general you've done a pretty good job! I'd be curious though how it rides off-road, as that's what its real purpose is! Do you have a video of that? Also, a bit more detailed description about design / functions would be nice.

Also, another thing that this made me think about is that I find it a bit discomforting that this level of stunningness (and customization) seems to be what's required for frontpaging. I still rarely see technic posts on the frontpage, and what does make it there is typically never a 'standard' technic build that's simply mechanically interesting or otherwise challenging (like alternate models) but rather something that looks great. At the same time the forum is full of comments that we'd like technic to be more about technical stuff and less about looks (and stickers). Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that builds like this don't deserve frontpaging, sure they do, but why isn't less eye-candy enough to hit the bar sometimes? At least here on the forum we could popularize such technic builds a bit more as there seems to be an interest for that. When I look through the frontpage, I feel that in other themes, more traditional builds are enough to make it there. Wonder what others (especially mods) think about this. @Milan if there's a better thread to place this discussion, feel free to move it; don't want to divert this one.

Edited June 5, 2022 by gyenesvi

[Jundis]

I can second almost everything @gyenesvi said here, including the last part about the frontpaging... sadly it seems just about looks, but not about function...

@Lox Lego Do you have a little more insight about the technic aspect? So just the bare chassis without the shiny cover? :-)

[Lakop]

Maybe a non stickered version as the main image. I did not realise it was lego at first, had to look closely a few times. Would love to see the inner workings though.

H

[Milan]

1 hour ago, gyenesvi said:

if there's a better thread to place this discussion

Yes, it is better to use some of the more general topics for that.
We should use this topic to talk about the model itself (including asking more pictures of the chassis and such).

[nerdsforprez]

17 hours ago, Jundis said:

I can second almost everything @gyenesvi said here, including the last part about the frontpaging... sadly it seems just about looks, but not about function...

@Lox Lego Do you have a little more insight about the technic aspect? So just the bare chassis without the shiny cover? :-)

I third pretty much everything @gyenesvi said.  In fact, here is an interesting observation..... I guess its hard for TLG to approach their UCS cars as anything other than simply sensationalist, good-looking, nontechnical self queens when we kinda do the same thing.  Get a good-looking, but technically uninteresting build and slap it on the frontpage.  Kinda surprised about the choice on that.  

About the build.  Looks great.  Seems fast, but for a trophy truck why not at least film  it driving, I dunno, off-road?  I mean, there is one shot, from a distance, of it going off like one step and then nothing.  Other than that all we have is it going straight, on finished surface.  Would also be nice to have details of the build, some internals, pics of drivetrain, etc.  If fact, one could really question the post....period.  Aren't we supposed to refrain from posts that are more than a mere solicitation?  Although there are some details of the build, each detail  just looks like another ad.   

Edited June 6, 2022 by nerdsforprez

[Lox Lego]

Hey all, thanks for the comments. As you all know I do like replicating the builds as close as possible, and going all out is a fun way to showcase the build. I feel this build had many interesting functions, and it is something I enjoy sharing with the community here. I also tend to create the fastest vehicles I can, so I was showcasing the speed as Baja trucks are quite fast. The L-motors are geared down and would work on grass, but did not bother filming it as I am usually quite busy with work and my two boys and don't have all the time in the world to make videos with every version of the truck. Here are some photos of the build without stickers, I was slow to share them but had planned too in the coming weeks on instagram. 

Below is the gearing for the fans, this looks simple but was quite challenging. I'm glad @Milan enjoyed the build, not sure why it would be such a  bad thing for this to be front paged when it has stickers and is something I enjoyed building and was happy to share with this group. I am working on another build soon, I hope I can share it here without causing too much trouble.

Baja truck raw by lachlan cameron, on Flickr

Baja truck raw by lachlan cameron, on Flickr

Baja truck raw by lachlan cameron, on Flickr

Baja truck raw by lachlan cameron, on Flickr

Edited June 6, 2022 by Lox Lego

[Mr Jos]

Your last post above this one made it better, now it shows more extra's. I also visited this topic before, but didn't bother to post and also was '4thing' what @gyenesvi, @Jundis, @nerdsforprez said, as it was a complete copy from the Rebrickable sales post, without extra information given.

No building/ internals extra pictures or extra explanation. And that made me think about some other posts getting warnings for doing the same. On top it was frontpaged like that (Rebrickable copy), if you had included some extra info I wouldn't have had a problem with it and I think others above me neither, but it's not your 'fault' for it being frontpaged like that.

Now for the model, it looks great with all the stickers and 3rd party stuff and recognizable as Ken Block's car. Drives pretty good. But I would like to see some photo's from the car with 99% original pieces (just electronics can be 3rd) but without custom stickers/tires/chrome. The way most people would be able to make it.

And I really like how you used the old technic half bushes (chromed) in the engine, they give it extra detail.

 

Don't hesitate to post your next build! But I know when having a busy life it can be hard to get it all done fast, but then it's better to wait 1 more week to post with additional info to avoid a toxic conversation like it got now.

Edited June 6, 2022 by Mr Jos

[Philtech]

Your model looks really great and without stickers almost as good as with stickers I think. I would also be interested to see the model without costum parts.

[gyenesvi]

Thanks for some more details. As for the off-road version, I wonder why you'd go with L motors. BuWizz motors are more powerful and faster, so they should perform better off-road too, and the essence of a trophy truck I think is high speed off-road. Can't see the drivetrain exactly, but I believe you are already using slower output, which could be made a bit slower if it needs more torque by using a new diff with 12:28 gearing. Also, maybe the gearing that couples the two motors could be 12:20 (as far as I can see right now it's 12:12?).

As for testing, I'd definitely not go for grass, that's quite bad in my experience, lego models get stuck very easily, but rather some dirt or gravel road with small bumps. It would be great to see how the suspension using 4 of those new blue shocks performs there. Is it responsive or somewhat stiff with those?

And again, I'm not against frontpaging cool looking stuff with stickers, but I also do remember people being called out for similar posts that only contain some images and no details, or being just copied from Rebrickable. I also sell instructions and don't want to give away all the details, but I always aim to share more tech info here on EB, especially about the mechanisms and the design process, since that's what can kickstart a more in-depth discussion, and I guess that's what many people enjoy here (and also if someone just wants to use some of my ideas for their own builds, I'm okay with them learning it without buying the instructions).

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Fantastic livery and amazing machine! 

 

[GBarabanov]

Fantastic!

[dannydos]

This looks fantastic and thank you for sharing.