Hrafn

Eurobricks Knights
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Everything posted by Hrafn

  1. Hrafn
    In my experience, most non-technical people have trouble with the IKEA instructions. I know a lot of very smart, very educated people who just have no spatial or mechanical skills.
  2. Hrafn
    Never had a problem with mine. Even if you did have, say, 2 leaky cylinders, 8455 has so many that it would still leave you with enough for many models. 8455 is also just such a joy to build and play with - it's really ingeniously designed.
  3. Hrafn
    If you can get one for a reasonable price, do! It's a great set on its own merits, and definitely serves as an excellent pneumatic parts pack.
  4. Hrafn
    I agree, the 62.4x20 tires are the smallest that allow for really complex suspension geometry. They also have the advantage (to my eyes at least) of having more realistic proportions than most Lego tires - the height to width ratio is very close to those of many real-world tires. Most Lego tires are far too wide.
  5. Hrafn
    Having owned a MKIV GTI myself, there are probably a lot of MOCs of them - but they're all in the shop for expensive repairs!
  6. Hrafn
    It looks like it might be 2 60483 and one 87082
  7. Hrafn
    Search the Bricklink catalog for 'towball' and for 'socket' and you'll find most of the parts that it fits with. Also, it fits (with friction) in the new mini ball joints that debuted with the Mixels and Chima Legend Beast sets. And of course it works with the 5L suspension arms found in the 2014 snowmobile set.
  8. Hrafn
    Nice! It looks like you have a bush between the u-joint and the CV. You could replace the upper arm with a 5L one (connected to the chassis in the same place, but attaching to the hub further inboard), use a couple of half bushes to move the u-joint inboard half a stud, and get some kingpin inclination that would help with torque steer. The 5L arm would likely rub on the CV and u-joints, though, and the steering geometry would be made somewhat more complicated.
  9. Hrafn
    Oh no! I hope you heal quickly. When I broke my wrist, the doctors told me protein helps speed the healing of bones, and that did seem to be borne out by my experience.
  10. Hrafn
    Quite true. Someone who was willing to mod parts could put an axle connector on a drill and sand one end down so that it tapers and could be used to self-synchronize. Could you explain what you mean? The neutral wasn't intentional, it just emerged from having to have 2 axle connectors. I'm not sure how you could get rid of the 16t gears.
  11. Hrafn
    I don't have access to my bricks to test it, but I think this will work. It's not synchronized, and requires a long throw to switch gears. The two axle joiners are not connected by an axle. When the driving ring is on both of them, the input:output ratio is 1:1. When the driving ring engages one or the other of the clutch gears, the ratio is 12/20 or 20/12. When the driving ring is centered on one joiner or the other, it's in neutral. Obviously 8/24 pairs could be used as well, or 8/8/8 for reverse.
  12. Hrafn
    I agree! Are you building a WRX?
  13. Hrafn
    Off by just 0.6mm! 80mm in one direction, 9.6 in another; sqrt(80*80+9.6*9.6)=80.6mm and the beam is 11L so there are 80mm between the centerpoints of the end holes. There's probably no 'legal' way to do this since the boom section is so narrow.
  14. Hrafn
    How big are the poles relative to the robots and the arena, and are they taller than the robots? Are there any height limits on the robots?
  15. Hrafn
    From the perspective of someone who only buys sets for parts, 42038 is the winner for me if the price is right. Tons of orange panels, tons of black track links (and 12 black sprockets!), and it looks like 2 c-frame/ball joint assemblies. Maybe 42037 for the lime parts. 42035 is a good source for those new tires, and the model looks great, but I have plenty of yellow. I'm glad to see the range of colors they're using for 2015! My only regret is that while there are going to be a ton of medium blue panels now, there are almost no liftarms in that color. 42022 and 42036 each have 2 of the 7-3 bent liftarms - and that's it. Those wanting to build Gulf Oil-liveried GT40s and Porsches will have to use System parts as well, or leave their MOCs somewhat skeletal.
  16. Hrafn
    I love it! The front mudguards are very clever. The whole thing has a sort of Lancia Stratos feel to it, which is never a bad thing.
  17. Hrafn
    The 5L suspension arms have been used by others as steering arms. It's tricky to get it to work since one end only has one degree of freedom, but might be an option.
  18. Hrafn
    Uni-knick?
  19. Hrafn
    Nice! Simple and clean. I'd hate to drive a real-life version, though - imagine the handling when the motor is part of the unsprung mass!
  20. Hrafn
    Philo has a lot of information about this (and other Lego motors) here; his summary of the E-Motor is: "Introduced with LEGO Education Renewable Energy Add-On Set (9688), the strong point of this motor is that it can be easily back-driven and used as a generator. Its high speed may be also useful in some applications. But its efficiency is no better than PF-Medium, and delivered mechanical power is about half." So as others have said, it's easy to use this motor as a generator. But it's not very good when actually used as a motor to power machines and vehicles.
  21. Hrafn
    Check out Piterx' sequential gearbox idea (post #36 here). It's the most compact non-servo solution I've seen.
  22. Hrafn
    Consider it an opportunity, rather than a problem! Lego will be there whenever you want to return to it, but college can (and should!) be a tremendously valuable experience, both in terms of academics and personal growth and exploration. Have fun, try a lot of new things, and get to know a lot of different people. You'll make lifelong friends and memories. Back on topic, I like your chassis but the proportions are a bit off for a supercar (or a non-super-car), at least with those wheels. I suggest going with smaller wheels (maybe the new 49.5x20 tires). Most cars have a wheelbase of around 4-5 times the diameter of the wheels. Your wheelbase looks to be about 23 studs = 184mm, so tires of diameter ~45mm would be about right. The ratio of width to length looks good if slightly narrow.
  23. Hrafn
    Those are some nice NACA ducts!
  24. Hrafn
    I love the way you have one gear control two functions by both tilting and rotating - very innovative!
  25. Hrafn
    If you use vinyl dye, please read the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) carefully, and use appropriate safety equipment and procedures. This kind of dye contains some nasty toxins, like toluene, and may be carcinogenic. A quick search found one that says, in part: May cause nervous system depression. Extreme overexposure may result in unconsciousness and possibly death. Prolonged overexposure to hazardous ingredients in Section 2 may cause adverse chronic effects to the following organs or systems: the liver the urinary system the cardiovascular system the reproductive system