2GodBDGlory

I wonder how it would work out if Lego went back to its old Tech Play/Tech Build monikers for play-focused and tech-focused sets, perhaps with different set number prefixes again. Though I guess a lot of 18+ sets wouldn't fit in either... Probably they've got their business case figured out, but it would potentially be less confusing!

Looks pretty solid to me! ie. Prime late-night-boredom throw-a-set-together-and-play-with material!

I guess we can hope! The 2016 Porsche 911 could be seen as an analogue in starting a line, and was itself considerably less functional than its successors.

The issue with putting a pullback in a Creator Expert car is that those models don't have the durability of a good Technic model, which is a key thing when they're getting smashed into walls with a pullback motor...

Man this is going to be cool! So much RC complexity, such good looks, and such large scale! I like it a lot!

One of those cases where B&P is a lifesaver! Imagine if five $800 sets had had to die to make that!

I thought they used U-joints as axle extenders simply because the axle extender didn't come out until 1993, unless I'm mistaken. Overall, the model looks nice and clean!

Yeah, I agree that the friction of the wheels is a major factor. In my experience (and demonstrated a bit at the end of the video) is that simply driving forwards and backwards a little causes the tension to be released and the wheels to be moved in. I think the rationale for this is at least related to the fact that steering a car is always easier when moving. Thanks! I didn't manage to get the battery ordered last night, so it may arrive on Tuesday instead. Oh well, it's not too long. [EDIT] Rats, it'll be Wednesday!

Yeah, it'll be tonight... Here is my (hopefully) final update on this MOC, with a video of an informal test. As mentioned earlier, I'm going to need to get a Lithium rechargeable 9V battery to actually run this thing without an external power supply, so I'll wait for that to arrive before I do my final presentation, but otherwise this model could/should be done. Since the last update, I've checked off a bunch of little things. These are: 1. Added steering M-motor. This took a few iterations because of the tight space, but I got it working eventually. 2. Added PF receivers. This is always annoying! 3. Hooked up the rudders. You can't really see the mechanism well in the pictures, but I essentially hooked up two preexisting axles attached to the top of the steering pivots (so that they slide fore and aft when the model steers) to 2L beams connected to the rudders through some tortuous connections. In the end it works, but the axles tend to disconnect at the front, and are hindered by slack. I also hadn't thought about the direction they would go, assuming they'd go the same direction as the wheels for a crab-esque steering. In the end it turned out to be the other way, and it would have been challenging to change, so I kept a more 4WS-esque setup with "counter-steering." I imagine the crab-style would work better on a real vehicle because it is better for stability at high speeds, and aerodynamics is much more important at high speeds, but I think this is alright. 4. Added a basic lever for the flaperons. 5. Hooked up the piston engine to the drivetrain. This required significant reworking of the drivetrain, but it ended up being stronger in the end, so it was a double win. It used a bizarre geartrain of 20:12:16:8 to fit in the given space, with all but the 16T gear being at a half-stud offset from the main chassis. I rather doubt this setup has ever been used in a MOC before! 6. Redesigned the rear extendable driveshafts. My original extending driveshafts based on 24T gears kept catching on stuff, so I looked for something smaller. Zetros CV joints would work great, but I don't got 'em. My solution was to work the light bluish grey half of 6.5L shock absorbers into the shaft, and I am quite pleased with the solution. 7. Tweaked stuff! To get the transformation to work better, I tweaked a bunch of stuff. I increased torque on the transformation by swapping the 1:1 XL motor for a 1:3 L motor, made the roof skinnier to ease its transformation, and did some other little things to improve reliability. 8. Added stickers. I put together some custom stickers using the "LBG" sample color from some online Lego color guide with real Superbird decals superimposed over them. The color is a bit off, but I think it adds some nice authenticity. I got five stickers, one on the nose, two on the rudders/wing, and two above the rear wheels. Anyways, here's my first video of the model. It's nothing fancy, just me giving the model a try powered from an external Lego rechargeable battery.

Ok, it turns out that my hopes of fitting the rechargeable battery box were in vain. It can't fit without drastic changes, so I'm going back to plan B of buying lithium 9V batteries. I'll plan on ordering them tonight with projected arrival on Monday, after which I can make my final presentation. In the meantime, I'll probably add a final progress post with a video--tonight or tomorrow, I expect.

Possibly! I'm definitely excited to get my hands on some of these parts. Obviously the wheels are nice and open up new possibilities, but I think the rear shock could be a lot of fun to use as well. A harder spring like it could be very useful, but I hope its size doesn't limit its use too much. The front shocks don't seem to have many applications other than the forks of very large motorcycles, but are still very cool. The hub parts again look quite specialized, but I see them as a very interesting option for MacPherson strut suspensions on cars. Simply slot a 6.5L shock into the slot upside-down and the trickiest part is done! The lower ball joint could be annoying to attach, though, and you couldn't set any kingpin inclination without also adding camber. I still wonder how it would work there. The brake discs and windshield don't excite me as much, but are obviously high quality.

Hmm, thanks for the tip! I actually did redesign that part because the teeth kept catching on stuff. Now I'm using a setup based on the grey halves of small shocks, and it's working pretty well so far. I may look into that suggestion, though! Really what I need is the extending CV joint from the Zetros...

Thanks! I probably would have started the WIP with a lot less if I hadn't started so early (kind of by accident.) As for the end result, here's my mini-update: I got everything tuned up and installed since my last update, and was going to film it last night. I had never tested it with my alkaline 9V battery because I knew that I'd never had much success with them in the past, and assumed that I'd need full charge if it was going to work. It didn't. It worked alright with my transformer and lithium batteries, but not this one. I was distressed for a bit, and eventually decided to order a lithium 9V battery from Amazon, which would likely give me the torque I need in the right form factor. However, I don't like spending money, I don't want to wait for it to arrive, and using a long-retired battery is kind of bad form anyways, so I didn't really want to do it. This morning I was thinking some more, and I think I might be able to squeeze in my PF rechargeable battery at the cost of some ground clearance, but I'll have to see. After that, I should be ready to do my final documentation and share the results!

I tried motorizing the Ducati, but didn't come close, though I've build a few standalone RC bikes of my own. I think my main issues were the high center of gravity and the difficulty of keeping it correctly balanced. I mean, there were probably lots of other mistakes that could be avoided, but I expect motorizing a set this large and getting it to balance would be a major challenge!

Yeah! This has been a great few months for LBG panels, with the 3x7x2 curved ones in the Raptor (and here), the 11x5 tapering one here, and those #1/2 ones here. Now the "only" key panels missing are all the large wheel covers, the new 71682, 18944, #3/4, the 7x3 panel, and the 11x3 panel. It'd also be nice to have the #5/6 and #17/18 appear in a set other than 2010's Hero Factory Drop Ship. I think I make life unnecessarily hard by building in this color...

Yep! I guess we're counting on it!

Quite possibly! I guess the question comes down to how well they match with buggy motor torque/speed without any gearing. After all, the main advantage of larger tires is that you can get a higher speed without inefficient gearing up, so I hope these aren't too large and require inefficient gearing down. Probably people would just stack a bunch of buggy motors to get torque, though.

Ah, in the BMW I assume? I guess that's the only new set revealed today...

Where, where!! (LBG panels make me excited)

You're correct that that connection would be illegal by Lego's standards, but the contest rules aren't concerned with this kind of thing (I'm pretty sure!), and I'm not concerned about any wear it could cause. Incidentally, though, that connection has been changed for my next update, but for unrelated reasons.

And Rimac's are single-speed electrics (I'm pretty sure they're single-speed, I'll say at most a two-speed), which would make for a very boring model mechanically. I certainly hope Lego doesn't plan to remove transmissions from their 1:8 supercars anytime soon! That's about all the complexity they've got!

Looks good! It seems both simple and tough at once, which is good!

Thanks guys! You're right that the "plane" mode could stand to look more like a plane. My model is in a bit of a middle ground between a "flying car" and an actual airplane, but I'm thinking that going beyond this would necessarily be even more prohibitively complicated than this already is! It would be a good ideal to aim for, though.

Would it be possible/good looking to raise the stickered cheese slope as well? You'd have to disconnect it from the lime 1x2 curved slope, but I imagine it could look a lot better.

Looks pretty good! I don't mind the black bed--it just gives me the idea of a cheap DIY guy replacing a rusted-out bed with the cheapest available one, which I always think looks kind of cool. Do the medium angular motors not work with the Technic hub?