[TC24] Undercover Space Car

[lmdesigner42]

I’m too young be familiar with the original Space Police, but I have many good memories of the newer 2009/2010 sets. In particular, my idea is inspired by the Lunar Limo and Hyperspeed Pursuit vehicles, a black space car with rocket engines and fins. One of my ideas was to have this be an “undercover” space car, with some subtle Space Police badging, but it may just end up being another robbers vehicle. So the name could change.

One of the main features will be illuminated, spinning rocket engines, using Lego LEDs and powered by an onboard PF motor and battery. My first draft attached engines to the wings using 4x6 angled beams, but when I tested it with the motor there was way too much vibration from the u-joint angled over 45 degrees. So I had to redesign it to attach with lower-angle #3 connectors. The second picture shows the illumination.

  

 

Another important feature is deployable tripod landing gear, one leg folding out from the front and two from the back. Below is a prototype of the leg in folded and unfolded positions. The gray beam is the chassis.

 

  

 

Other features in the works are a V12 piston engine connected to the PF motor, spring-loaded shooters on the front wings, gull-wing doors, and possibly more lights.

[msk6003]

Damn I also think undercover police. I hope see final model soon.

[lmdesigner42]

Progress on my entry has been pretty slow, but I have finished the rear wings/engines and made a number of functional and aesthetic elements. Hopefully it will be finished in time for the contest, but if not, that’s fine too.

The overall design is heavily inspired by 5984 Lunar Limo, with a high-powered V12, front/rear angled winglets, and a valuable 8878 battery in the trunk. But as the entry name suggests, there are details that make this an undercover Space Police vessel. The hood ornament rotates to reveal a Space Police badge, and the front laser cannons also rotate to become freeze-rays. I’m also thinking of a flip-out siren on the roof.

On the front wings, there are a total of 8 spring-loaded shooters launched in 2 waves by a lever and cam mechanism.

The 4 winglets are attached at an angle using bars (or a shovel!) since a regular pin/axle would be stressed. Red is a temporary colour, they will be switched to black later.

The next step is to complete the landing gear mechanism, since that will form the core of the center and chassis.

[lmdesigner42]

All finished!

The final build ended up being pretty large, and used a lot of black parts and panels. I had to order a few more from Bricklink. The size was needed to fit the two main features, the illuminated spinning engines and the folding landing gear. The rear set of landing gear used two 6x6 dishes, and with a central beam, a half stud of clearance on either side and two more support beams on either side, at total width of 17 studs was needed. 8 studs of hood height fit the folded landing gear and V12, and other dimensions were roughly scaled to similar proportions as the Lunar Limo set. The doors are spring-loaded gull-wings, and the trunk opens. Strategic use of panels and frames help maintain structural integrity despite the massive holes in the floor for the landing gear. It is possible to pickup by the rear windows, although the front roof is weak. It sits on the landing gear no problem.

The landing gear was probably the toughest part since I wanted everything to fold into a completely smooth bottom. I was mostly successful, with a few 8-tooth gears poking out and a few small gaps for a gear and a linkage. The below photos show the unfolding sequence. There are two legs at the rear, locked together, and one at the front. Each leg rotates out ~150 degrees using a worm and 8-tooth gear. I originally tried a linkage, but the range of motion was too large to be compact and reliable. There are two covers back-to-back in the center, connected by more 8-tooth gears. They open in synch with the rest of the landing gear, but operate about twice as fast, with an opening and closing cycle controlled by a linkage and another worm gear. The crank (on the right behind bodywork) rotates from 12 o’clock – 9 o’clock – 6 o’clock making the covers go close – open – close via the linkage and 24t gear above the covers. This is shown in the video at the end.

Another important feature is the 8x spring-loaded shooters on the front wings. They are synchronized to fire in 2 volleys of 4 shots, 2 per side, by some internal gears and cams. There is also a pullback motor stuffed inside to reset the cams.

The last feature has to do with the story behind the model. It looks like a big, stealthy getaway space car, but it hides a secret. The hood ornament rotates to reveal a Space Police badge, a hidden siren flips out of the roof, and the lasers can rotate to turn into freeze-rays. Is it an undercover Space Police vehicle? Or a criminal trying to fool the law? You get to decide!

Feature video: 

More pictures available on Bricksafe: https://www.bricksafe.com/pages/lmdesigner42/undercover-space-car