2GodBDGlory

Sadly, this is the only Technic wheel arch available in LBG.

I'd swap that red 16T gear in the lifting mechanism for a LBG one on an axle, just to clean up the colors a bit.

I love the model mechanically, but it is going to be very tough to style the body, making it look good while distancing yourself from the original set enough. Can't say I know how to proceed, but I hope you'll figure something out!

What's the stereotypically polite Canadian response to that anyway? Sorry?

Hopefully it's not that solid! I really just meant that the lack of moving parts should keep it reliable, but you probably knew that!

I agree. I'm not paying $20 or so for an old one off Bricklink, so I now have a $10 one coming from China. We'll see how it works, but I doubt they'll mess up a solid piece of plastic too much.

The big question for me is what Lego means by limited-slip differential. Literally, this should be a differential with internal resistance to slipping, or more realistically, a minimum amount of rotation per side, preventing a slip situation. It is certainly possible that this is just inaccurate marketing, and that it will have a standard locking differential. Nonetheless, with only four motors, it would seem that two for drive, one for steering, one for the gearbox, and none for the actual limited-slip differential would be reasonable. Also, as has been noted earlier, a new PU hardware component was confirmed. Will it be a recolored WeDo M-motor in this set, something in the CAT, or something else entirely? The gearbox is also intriguing, though I wouldn't hold out for more than two speeds.

Sometimes when I'm looking for an unusual spacing I'll stack a bunch of old toothed half bushes, which when meshed together are slightly less than a full stud. Perhaps you could get something by messing around with these?

I've long wanted to try and build a full RC car in which NOTHING can be taken apart. I'm pretty sure it can be done, but I'll have to get experience with using digital Lego programs first.

I didn't see the older discussion, but I suppose the only other real possibility is that it is an old prototype.

I'm glad to see some more effort being put into PU automatic gearboxes. I've played around with the concept before, with the shift point being determined by the difference between the motor's actual measured speed and the theoretical speed dictated by the remote's position, but this looks quite a bit more sophisticated. Good job!

Thanks! I have been somewhat conflicted over whether or not I should keep it this close to the original, given that I could probably make a much more interesting, more functional, model of some other set, using significantly more creativity, but I did feel like something like this was the most within the spirit of the contest. I'm glad that you appreciate that approach.

For this contest, I decided to go with a classic Technic set rather than a System one, largely because of the easier interpretation of the rules, and my greater knowledge of classic Technic sets. My parts collection essentially limited me to building only black, light grey, and red models, and eventually I settled on the classic Whirlwind Rescue helicopter set, which was (in my opinion) the most advanced Technic helicopter from 1991 until 2012. The original set's functions include crank-operated rotors, a folding crane arm, a winch, retractable landing gear, and a joystick-operated rotor tilting mechanism, which works in all four axes. My plan is to keep all of the original functions, but to replace the rather unrealistic tilting rotor with a proper cyclic pitch mechanism, using a swashplate. The first step in the build process was to build the original set as a reference, which naturally ended up being very ugly due to my lack of studfull pieces. No matter! After this, I set about designing a swashplate design that would fit in the model without looking too ugly (following the time-tested maxim of "Start with the hardest part!", and eventually came up with this design. Next, I started throwing together a rough frame, copying the original model fairly closely, and started hooking up landing gear and the rear propeller. This is where the model stands currently, and it may stay in this state for a little longer while I finish up a large project I have almost completed. I imagine the hardest part will be hooking up the joystick to the pitch mechanism, but I doubt the model will prove a great challenge. My main worry is that it lacks imagination, but I'll see what happens as I proceed with the contest. Thanks to all those who helped set up this contest! (Contests are great for forum activity! We've had five new posts of contest entries in the last three hours!)

Sounds like we're all the way up to seven motorized functions, which would definitely rule out any use of the Mindstorms hub in the set.

I've had the thing done and apart for a while now, but haven't got around to posting my final pictures until now. First I will list the functions, and then show the pictures. Functions: Crank-operated landing gear Crank-operated winch boom deployment Crank-operated winch Crank-operated main and tail rotors Joystick-operated two-way cyclic pitch mechanism with swashplate. My images are at: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/whirlwind-rescue

Is that information from the original source? Large cylinders would just mean normal cylinders, right, rather than a remake of the old 2x2 square pistons? (I just ordered some of the old ones in case I want to try building bigger model engines) Overall, the set does sound a lot more interesting, and Bric-a-brac has been reliable in the past, so we can be fairly confident that it's true!

Strange but fun!

If it actually were the Supra, it would make sense to delay it, since there would likely not be a market for a second simple, orange, real world motor vehicle after the Raptor!

Well, I wouldn't be too certain that there is no gearbox. It's not necessarily likely that it will include one, but it does appear to be at least a rough successor to the Defender, at least in being a fairly large 4x4. I think we could all agree that a gearbox could have fit in the Ferrari without too much trouble, so the scale wouldn't exclude it here. Really it just comes down to Lego's preferences, which have admittedly not been encouraging, but perhaps the set's loose connection to the Defender could show an inclination to include a gearbox...

I like the idea of building the mismatched body panel one!

The Rwd would be a bummer in a set this large!

Probable functions: Front independent suspension Rear solid axle suspension V6 piston engine 4WD Gearbox (likely a 4-speed sequential) High/low transfer case (less likely, given the smaller size relative to the Defender) Opening stuff

Wow! That looks very cool, and has the key new-car-marketing tie-in. It definitely appears to be a defender successor, (Edit: probably not exactly, since the tires are smaller when the real Raptor's are larger, and the part count is also a lot lower.) and makes good use of a number of new parts from the January wave. I assume the wheelwells and fever flares are the same as the Ferrari's. Where did this image come from?

I love the presentation of the model!

Sariel has posted on YouTube that the embargo date for this set is July 16, so we can now set a date to get concrete information on this set!