BrickMonkeyMOCs

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About BrickMonkeyMOCs

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    Previously known as SpaceMonkey

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    42151 Bugatti Bolide

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  1. BrickMonkeyMOCs

    [MOC] H.R. Giger's Landscape XIX

    Sorry. Haven't got to this yet, but it will happen. A rogue windows update just annihilated my laptop in the middle of a project, so I'm a bit swamped at the moment. But thanks for the continued interest, and I'll prioritize it for when I can get back to prepping models for Rebrickable.
  2. The price (for Cada) seems a little steep for a 1:10 model, though it clearly has a high parts count and great functions for its size. And the red at the back does look odd. Still, I'll be happy to add this one to my growing Cada collection at some point.
  3. This disappoints me as I would have bought one too. Do you know why it was turned down? Too expensive or part-intensive to produce? Or maybe licensing issues? I can't imagine it had anything to do with the quality or appeal of the design work.
  4. BrickMonkeyMOCs

    [MOD] 76910 Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro

    When this set first released I felt it was far too long for its width and wheel size, so I shortened it by two studs. Yet the model then sat too high, and really needed the cockpit area to be sunk below the height of the front fenders. I didn't think this could be done at the time, but I've now revisited it and found a solution that fixes these proportions while retaining the clever techniques and sturdiness of the original set. It still fits two minifigures, but reclines the seating position so as to lower the cockpit. I thought I might have to sacrifice the steering wheel, but managed to add a bucket handle in its place. Instructions are provided below, along with comparison shots of the original set, my 2022 modded version, and this newly updated one. Instructions: [LDraw] [Studio] [PDF] Original Set 2022 Mod (shortened by 2 studs) New 2024 Mod (lowered by 1 plate) I've also recently reworked the Porsche 963 with a shorter nose, which I can share if anyone is interested.
  5. Sure, but it doesn't fit for me IRL either. The LDraw image was just for illustration. If it's working for you then that's great, but is the connection for the rear of the fuel tank actually staying connected for you when the 1L liftarm is added? For me, the added liftarm pops that connection open.
  6. Cheers. I agree it is something of a design flaw, but a minor one whose effects are easily avoided. A better depiction than mine of the correct/intended stepper motion is shown below from TBB's review. Sariel also seems to note the same flaw with the mechanism occasionally jamming. Are you sure this works? It was my first thought too, but I found it wouldn't fit without disengaging the connection to the rear of the fuel tank. Here's an LDraw image showing the confliction of parts. The added 1L liftarm is in trans pink, and hits the grey connector in front of it. I've been using 48336 (1x2 plate w/ handle) in place of 32028 (1x2 plate w/ door rail), shown here in yellow, as an alternative solution.
  7. After building the new Speed Champions McLaren F1 car I found that my upgraded W12 from the 2022 double pack wasn't really a good enough companion for it, so I've dismantled that model and rebuilt it into the W14 from the 2023 F1 season. The new car is built on the same chassis piece as the McLaren, allowing for the same lower driver position, and features new wings, floor, front axle, and engine, while retaining the best design features from the older model (i.e. the wing mirrors and sidepods). (The 1x2 slope on the nose will be replaced with the new non-grille version when I can get them from BrickLink. Note also that the design uses some BlueBrixx parts in a few places for stud reversal, which purists will need to replace with alternative parts.) Instructions: [LDraw] [Studio] [PDF] As a bonus here's a reworking of the 2023 McLaren Solus GT I've recently updated to better capture the front end. Compared to the real car, the original set's front wheel arches extended too far forwards, leaving the cockpit section too central. This version corrects those proportions while also lowering the rear wing, giving the car a more accurate and aggressive profile. Instructions: [LDraw] [Studio] [PDF]
  8. BrickMonkeyMOCs

    The Dark Horse Mustang

    Great model. The scale is deceptive, as the detail and accuracy make it seem much bigger. Love the drive train details, especially the top of the engine, the brake calipers, and those suspension control arms.
  9. I've just built the Ninja and can report that it's a brilliant model, and a worthy successor to the 42107 Ducati. I made only four minor adjustments: (i) replacing the stickered 1x2 tile on the dash with a printed part; (ii) adding 85861 1x1 round plates under the wing mirrors to secure the connection; (iii) replacing the #32028 1x2 plate on the loose section behind the fuel tank with a #48336 plate; and (iv) replacing the stickered 2x2 round tile at the exhaust tip with #15535 (round tile with hole). The model is an improvement over the Ducati in at least two respects, in that the windscreen is hard plastic and the transmission doesn't rely on a rubber band. I saw Racing Brick's excellent review video and would like to address the fault in the stepping mechanism he reports (at 3:19 in the video). There is a potential issue here in that the mechanism may malfunction in a minor way, even if built correctly. But it is hard to explain, so I will try some pictures. Changing from 2nd->Neutral->1st is fine. The black knob gear will rotate anticlockwise, pushing the stepper L-Beam upwards each time from below. No problem at all. The issue only concerns changing gears in the other direction. This is what changing from 1st->Neutral->2nd should look like. The black knob gear is now turning clockwise, and should again push the L-Beam upwards. But... if the L-Beam is sitting a little low then the black knob gear will hit it nearly square-on from the side, meaning you might get this malfunction instead... It is possible for the L-Beam to get pushed downwards instead of upwards. This doesn't have any major effect, but it feels weird and is the fault you can see in Racing brick's video. The issue is that the L-Beam provides resistance via a flexible rubber connector, which determines the exact height at which the L-Beam sits. If the L-Beam sits a little low and starts getting pushed downwards, this will stretch the rubber connector, and the stepper will tend to continue malfunctioning, going down instead of up. One simple solution is to push the L-Beam upwards and keep it there for a while, until the rubber connector gets used to this position, and the L-Beam will then naturally sit a little higher and should be less prone to getting pushed downwards. The stepper here should only ever be moving upwards, regardless of which way you are going through the gears.
  10. Very impressive. That's a lot of chrome! Was it expensive to do? I'm not sure I would have chromed the seats, but the exterior is amazing. The tire printing also adds a lot. Is that something you've done yourself? The front fenders are different too - are they Cada parts?
  11. Easily the 42115 Lamborghini Sian for me. It was the first 1:8 supercar to have no significant problems out of the box in terms of major functions, and is still my favourite of the four Lego have so far released. Special mention though to the 8865 Test Car, which I've had since Xmas 1988 and still have built up and on display. More recent stand-out Technic sets have been the 42107 Ducati, 42156 Peugeot, and the Dune Ornithopter (not technically Technic, but still).
  12. My NifeliZ custom wheel finally rims arrived, so I can now share pics of my completed CaDa version of the La Ferrari, alongside my lightly modified Sian also sporting NifeliZ wheels. Everything on the La Ferrari is now sturdy and functions perfectly. The wheel rims look great and are of high quality (they do sit maybe a couple of mm wider than the originals, so I had to replace the #11010 spacers I'd inserted earlier with Technic half bushes so the tires won't rub the front fenders when steering). I couldn't be happier with how both models now look.
  13. BrickMonkeyMOCs

    10330 McLaren MP4/4 F1 Discussion

    Racing Brick's video shows what this set could have been. I could easily have forgiven the set's other weaknesses if they'd just got the wheels right. Hopefully someone will eventually put custom wheels like these into production, or at least share completed files for 3D printing. It just makes such an enormous difference.