Large Scale Technic Cars

[Blakbird]

I've reached the point in my re-assembly of my Technic collection in which all the official sets are built and on display. Now I'm building all the various MOCs (not mine) which I've duplicated over the years. After completing 5 fantastic cars, I couldn't help but line them all up and take a look. Each one of these cars is unique in it's own functions and building style, and I love all of them. Which one do you want to build? Why?

From left to right, they are:

• Little Devil by Jurgen Krooshoop: Motorized and remote controlled with Power Functions. manual doors (dihedral synchro helix), hood, and trunk open. V-10, (this is the only motorized model)
• Lamborghini Murcielago by Crowkillers: 4 wheel drive (with 3 diffs), 4 wheel independent suspension, HOG steering, manual scissors doors, V-12 (which I built all in chrome), (these two models are the only ones made to resemble real cars)
• Lamborghini Gallardo by Crowkillers: 4 wheel drive (with 3 diffs), manual doors, hood, and rear deck open, HOG steering, V-10
• Black Dragon by Jovel: 5 speed gearbox with reverse, 4 wheel independent suspension, damped scissors doors, hood opens, HOG steering, V-8, geared convertible top (this is the only model with the engine in the front)
• Supercar by Nathanael Kuipers: 5 speed gearbox with reverse, 4 wheel drive (with 3 diffs), 4 wheel independent suspension, damped doors (dihedral synchro helix), damped convertible top, HOG steering, V-12 (the is by far the largest model)

When I finish building the MOCs, I'll be done. Well, except for the Star Wars UCS............and the modular buildings................and the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Taj Mahal.................

[Meatman]

Now all you need is Industrial Designer's Concept Car!

What do you mean you built the V12 all in chrome?

Edited January 31, 2011 by Meatman

[DLuders]

I had the privilege of building two of these five wonderful cars -- the "Little Devil" (by Jurgen Krooshoop) and the Lamborghini Gallardo (by Paul Boratko, a.k.a. "Crowkillers" (the first and third cars in the lineup below).

"Little Devil" -- since I LOVE Lego Power Functions, I enjoyed building this car a lot. The Building Instructions were good, and the car really gets a lot of attention when I display it. Thanks, Jurgen, for allowing others to build it!

Lamborghini Gallardo -- This car looks more "wicked" than the "Little Devil", and is similar in size. This is a nice, non-motorized Supercar. Thanks to Paul Boratko and Eric Albrecht for making the instructions available!

Of the three remaining models, I would like to attempt Jovel's "Black Dragon" (the fourth one in the lineup), because of its damped scissor doors and the geared convertible top.

[Blakbird]

Now all you need is Industrial Designer's Concept Car!

What do you mean you built the V12 all in chrome?

Yes, I'm well aware that I am missing NK's newest car. I'd love to build it, but no details or instructions are available as of yet.

I ordered custom chrome engine cylinders and end fittings for the V-12. See below:

[hga09]

Way cool! Did you send regular Lego engine cylinder blocks and end fittings to a vacuum plating shop or did you buy them from ChromeBricks?

If you used a vacuum plating shop, can you recommend it? I guess for parts like engine blocks, the chrome coating must be thin enough for the piston to have sufficient clearance inside the cylinder to operate without too much friction...

Yes, I'm well aware that I am missing NK's newest car. I'd love to build it, but no details or instructions are available as of yet.

I ordered custom chrome engine cylinders and end fittings for the V-12. See below:

Edited February 1, 2011 by hga09

[Blakbird]

Way cool! Did you send regular Lego engine cylinder blocks and end fittings to a vacuum plating shop or did you buy them from ChromeBricks?

I bought them from ChromeBlockCity in Poland. He did a great job and the pistons fit fine.

[JunkstyleGio]

If I could make a choice i guess I'd choose for Jovel's Black Dragon (totally awesome model!!) and Jurgen's Little Devil (for the RC)... But most of all I would love to get my hands on NK's Concept Car!

[junglistjoey]

Any chance of seeing more from your collection!

[RockeTeK]

Great collection (also the background...)

[Meatman]

Blakbird, how difficult is it to get all of these parts?

And is this all of the portions of the car?

By the way, all of the chrome really looks amazing!

[voltio]

Beautiful collection, Blakbird! The Little Devil has always been a favorite of mine because of its playability, but Crowkillers' Murcielago design is probably the most dramatic out there. Crowkillers captured the Murcielago's complex bonnet and greenhouse perfectly, all while keeping the part count reasonable at around 1700 pieces. But unlike the official Lego Ferrari sets, the Murcielago contains a working suspension.

Unfortunately, the Murcielago is even more difficult to construct than the average supercar MOC, given that many of the yellow parts used are extremely rare. I would estimate that this set contains $400-$500 in parts if built in yellow, correct? And that does not even account for the cost of chroming the wheels.

Thanks again for posting this and for making several useful renders of the design so that others can at least attempt to build Crowkillers' masterpiece! http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=436037

[Blakbird]

Any chance of seeing more from your collection!

Yes! When I'm done building the last of the models, I'll take some pictures of the whole room and post them. For now though, you'll have to be satisfied with the pictures from my my old house.

Blakbird, how difficult is it to get all of these parts?

Quite. I had about 3/4 of them (the easy ones) in my spare parts bins already, but it took me about 10 Bricklink orders to get the rest. By far the hardest are the yellow #4 angle connectors. They only ever came in the Power Puller set. There were only two of them in that set, and you need 4 here. There are none for sale anywhere in the world on Bricklink. I actually bought a Power Puller just for those two parts and then parted out the rest to sell. (The yellow 1x6 thin liftarms also only came in this model, so those fetched a good price.) The yellow 19L flex axles are also difficult. Building it in red would be quite easy, but why do that? I don't think you will see anyone selling copies of this on eBay in yellow. Much too hard to make. That's too bad because yellow is perfect.

Ironically, I actually had a couple of those #4 yellow connectors as spares a year ago, but I sent them to Crowkillers so he could use them in his model!!

The wheel hubs and CV joints are also very difficult to buy in the USA. I always have to order them from Europe. One of my European orders was delayed for 7 weeks in Customs which is why I only just finally finished it.

And is this all of the portions of the car?

Yes, those are the various sub assemblies before I started top level assembly.

Unfortunately, the Murcielago is even more difficult to construct than the average supercar MOC, given that many of the yellow parts used are extremely rare. I would estimate that this set contains $400-$500 in parts if built in yellow, correct? And that does not even account for the cost of chroming the wheels.

According to the BrickStore inventory I created, the parts would be $226 at average Bricklink prices, not including shipping. That is deceptive though, because you'll have to pay more than average to find a seller who has a majority of these parts unless you want to make 100 orders.

[Anio]

I would estimate that this set contains $400-$500 in parts if built in yellow, correct?

No.

Most of new parts (the yellow panels, among others) that are very rare on BL (and so very expensive) cost bugger all with Lego Direct.

What you must do is just buying the right part at the right place.

[MarcusB]

Wow!!! That yellow Lambo is really really fantastic!

[voltio]

According to the BrickStore inventory I created, the parts would be $226 at average Bricklink prices, not including shipping. That is deceptive though, because you'll have to pay more than average to find a seller who has a majority of these parts unless you want to make 100 orders.

If your $226 estimate is for all the parts in the model, then that sounds fairly affordable. Unless, of course, you did not include the replacement cost of your own spare parts used in the project. However, at an average shipping cost of, say, $8 per order (maybe less for US sellers, maybe more for international orders), the price could get out of hand quickly. I'm impressed that you managed to find the parts you needed at so few BL stores. When I built a pearl light gray recolor of the 8448, I ended up overshooting my original budget by $70 because the necessary parts were spread out over so many different stores.

Also, bravo for being willing to part out a Power Puller to obtain two #4 connectors. If I do build the model, I'll probably just wait for that part to become available on BL and use a replacement in black until I can buy the correct color. The BL price guide says that the part sold 11 times over the past 6 months, so I will have to be patient.

[DLuders]

+ = Edited February 2, 2011 by DLuders

[AndroTech]

Good one. Now, beware of the purists.

[Paul B Technic]

That is an amazing collection you have.

Paul

[phool]

It's.... it's.... beautiful!

Please feel free to share even more pictures

[Jurgen Krooshoop]

Thanks for this Blakbird! I'm very homoured to see my car in the same pictures as those other fantastic supercars. Here's the link to the instructions of the Little Devil (and other models) for all you guys and girls who want to build it.

I've had the chance of building the Murcielago (in red instead of yellow unfortunately) and the Gallardo as well. These are indeed constructed differently than my Little Devil. These models use some very creative techniques to give them their awesome shape. I recently rebuilt my Little Devil in black (I renamed it to Black Devil) and had it on display together with crowkillers' Murcielago. Although it's only 40 % of the models displayed by Blakbird, it was a really, really nice sight.

[Blakbird]

I've had the chance of building the Murcielago (in red instead of yellow unfortunately) and the Gallardo as well. These are indeed constructed differently than my Little Devil. These models use some very creative techniques to give them their awesome shape. I recently rebuilt my Little Devil in black (I renamed it to Black Devil) and had it on display together with crowkillers' Murcielago. Although it's only 40 % of the models displayed by Blakbird, it was a really, really nice sight.

I like the black version very much, and the new rear wing looks really wicked. The biggest improvement, though, is the return-to-center steering which I'm sure makes it much easier to drive. And don't forget the un-buildable silver version, the Little Delorean:

I've done a render of an un-buildable version of Nathanael's supercar as well, this time made from the parts from the Williams F-1 Racer (but using more parts than it has):

I don't know why color is so important to a supercar, since they should be mostly about function, but somehow I'm sick of red. The new red 8070 is a great model, but I wish it was any other color. Yellow would be cool, blue would be fantastic, I'd even take black. And let's not forget orange. To see what the color can do, compare these pictures of Skyliner's Lambo Countach in both black and orange. You can't build the orange one, but which do you like better?

[voltio]

You're quite right about the surprising importance of color. I happen to like the sleek, sinister look of the black Countach, but I still do appreciate the eye-popping orange version. Were Lego to ever give us an official Technic Lamborghini, I hope that they spend a little extra and offer it in orange, yellow, or lime. I mean, if the Nitro Menace and Nitro Muscle sets deserved lime, orange, and yellow elements, then a major Technic model certainly does.

I recently built a metallic silver/pearl light gray 8448 Super Street Sensation after being inspired by the rendering below (not mine--I found it on Tumblr). I will take some photos when I return home in March, if there is interest. Or even if there is not.

Edited February 4, 2011 by voltio

[Taiphun]

Wow, this thread rocks.

So let's say I'm a Lego noob - just getting into it again after 30 years of exploring hobbies, what's the best way of accumulating the needed parts to build all the five models?

Our local LUG is doing a LUGBRICK order soon, maybe I'll have to see about getting a number of these parts.

I'd hate to have to take apart my Silver Champ and BMW F1 cars though..

Thanks!

[OrangeKNight]

I'd KILL for this to be buildable....

Mike

[DLuders]

I'd KILL for this to be buildable....

The Building Instructions are available here. Then, go to your favorite hardware store and get