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[REVIEW] 42050 - Drag Racer
captainmib posted a topic in LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling
I recently received 42050 Drag Racer as a gift. This set apparently is from 2016, which is already 4 years ago. Feel old yet? Or nostalgic? I had some spare time, so decided to build it, and write up a short review. For some nice pictures, I'd like to point you at the review of Ted, I mean Jim, also available in this forum. The Build This is a quick, and mostly boring build around a very small chassis consisting of mostly beams. It's roughly devided into two stages: the chassis and the shell. The chassis is so small that there isn't even a differential between the rear wheels. Looks I'm not familiar with this type of racing vehicles, but I think it looks terrible. The shell is mostly panels, and someone with a chainsaw made the holes for the wheels. It looks very rough. The color combination of Medium Azure and Black is great, and the stickers enhance some of the looks. I have two problems here: Apparently, the color used here is Medium Azure. I made a reference picture for all the Shades of Blue I own. I had to look up the name that's used in this one. So, from the front it looks very cool and aggresive. And that's where the coolness ends. There are a total of 18 Medium Azure parts used in this set. 18. The color Medium Azure is only used in one other Technic set, 42059 from 2017 (12 medium azure parts). It almost feels like a scam. Short Quiz: name all the shades of blue The second problem is with the Stickers. They look cool, and increase the presence of Medium Azure with another 50%. It's a real pitty that the looks depend way to much on them, and it's even more forthcoming when you don't apply them (which I never do). 50% more Medium Azure with this simple trick Functions There are no surprises here: Steering with HoG V8 engine Lifting shell Lifting the car into a wheelie stand (42111 anyone?) Parts So, let's start with the Good: The Rear Wheels are awesome. To bad it's only two of them. That's it. The Bad: The amount of Medium Azure For the rest, it's a bunch of liftarms and panels. Nothing interesting. All the left-overs The Verdict My two daughters wanted to race this car immediatly, so after the last part was added to the build, they went to play. The first thing I noticed was a scraping noise on the floor. Turns out that either the exhausts, or the wheelie stand is scraping over the floor. It kills the fun instantly. Floorscraper Installed The exhausts contain 8 corrugated pipes, which are terrible to secure. The lack of Medium Azure is such a big miss. This could have been a mean looking Drag Racer. Even the chassis would have looked great with it as well. There are some other rough areas, like the mount of the windshield, the front wheels touching the shell when steering, and apparently, this set is prepared for power functions, which lead to some weird unused parts sticking out. Is this even legal? If the chassis was any wider, it would have allowed to have a working steeringwheel I rate this set a solid 'Missed-opportunity-to-introduce-a-cool-new-shade-of-blue'. I know I sound very negative, but I just don't like the set... It feels like this set would have grown if some more details went into the engine, had proper colours and didn't cut so many corners. Thanks for reading, and now back to TC18 and waiting on more Lambo news... -
[REVIEW] 42050 - Drag Racer
Jim posted a topic in LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling
REVIEW - 42050 - DRAG RACER INTRODUCTION And then there's this...arguably the most controversial set of 2016. Upon seeing the first pictures, excitement about a Drag Racer quickly got replaced with a "what's this supposed to be" feeling. Some people still like it, some think it's the most ugly set in the world. Others claim it's what's called a Funny Car and it's supposed to look ugly. I can recommend reading the Wiki article on Funny Cars. This set does contain two of the "Tumbler Tires", which does make it interesting for some people. Is it interesting enough to buy two sets to acquire four tires. That will depend on the price and what the set has to offer besides the tires. I'm glad I got a chance to review this set, because the first glimpse didn't make me very enthusiastic. Since I already have four of the tumbler tires, that would not be a reason for me to buy it. The best thing to do is to switch to neutral and start exploring what this set has to offer. Note: All images can be clicked for hi-res versions. SET INFORMATION Number: 42050 Title: Drag Racer Theme: Technic Released: 2016 Part Count: 647 Box Weight: 1089 gr Box Dimensions: 37,9 cm x 25,8 cm x 9,2 cm Set Price (MSRP): € 59,99 Price per Part: € 0,093 Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX The box shows the Drag Racer in the middle of a wheelie. The wheelie functionality has caused quite some confusion and discussion. Is this car able to do a wheelie?! Without any assisting contraptions?! The top right shows a bar behind the car, seemingly to limit the cars vertical movement. BACKSIDE The backside of the box confirms the car's ability to do a wheelie. However, it seems there's a contraption in the bottom of the chassis helping the car lift in the air. That does feel like cheating. The set can be motorised using PF elements. The battery box attached to the end of the car could act as a counter weight, eliminating the need for the contraption in the bottom of the chassis. Looking at the picture on the box, it looks like the battery box alone is not enough. More on that later. The left lower corner of the backside shows the B-model, an actual Dragster, called Supercharged Dragster. Many have claimed the B-model looks better than the A-model. CONTENT OF THE BOX The box contains: 1 Instruction Booklet 1 Sticker Sheet 4 Wheels 5 Bags INSTRUCTION BOOKLET The instruction booklet for the main model. No booklet for the alternate model. STICKER SHEET Looking at this sticker sheet, I wonder why TLG doesn't insert the sticker sheet in the booklet. That would prevent damage and rolling up. TIRES Two special tires, which we will discuss shortly. BAGS A total of five bags containing the rest of the parts. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS This section describes the new and/or interesting parts. BLUE 5x3 BENT PANEL These new Bent Panels seem to be very suited to make fenders/wheel arches and seats. 3L AXLE WITH STOP We started with a 8L Axle with Stop in 2006, followed by the 4L Axle with Stop in 2010. The 4L seems to be around for ages, but it was introduced in 2010, which was surprising to find out. In 2014 TLG released the 5L Axle with Stop and this we get a new 3L Axle with Stop. 7L AXLE IN YELLOW The 7L Axle has never been released in yellow before. This year TLG surprised us with releasing axles in different colors, like yellow, red and orange. This set only contains a yellow 7L Axle, but you can checkout my other reviews to see which other axles have been (re)released. This 7L Axle is also used in the Police Interceptor. 6L AXLE IN RED While the Red 6L Axle isn't new, it's only used in a couple of sets before. BLACK 7L SOFT AXLES For the layman this seems a common part, but the 7L Soft Axle actually has never been released in black before. Combined with the re-release of the 19L Soft Axle in black, this will open up lots of possibilities. For those of you thinking you've read this text before; you are right, the new Display Team Jet contains these new 7L Soft Axles too. BLACK 16L SOFT AXLE At first I thought this was a new 15L Soft Axle, but upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a 16L Flex Axle. It isn't a very common part though, since it only appeared in the 42026 - Black Champion Racer from 2014. 1x9 BENT LINK Not a very rare part, but you don't see the 1x9 BENT LINK every day. MEDIUM AZURE BLUE PANELS AND Since I haven't built any of the sets containing Medium Blue, it took me some time to notice that this is a totally different color. I am not a big fan of Medium Blue, since it looks dull. Medium Azure on the other hand looks fantastic. It's very vibrant. Hopefully TLG will continue using this Blue in the years to come. BLACK PANELS A modest collection of Black panels. TUMBLER TIRES/WHEELS Tires known as Tumber Tires (or Wheels), since they appeared in the 76023 - TheTumbler for the first time. The official (Bricklink) name is Tire 81.6 x 44 R, but that doesn't sound nearly as sexy. When the Tumber was released in 2014 all Technic fans were waiting for an official LEGO Technic set utilizing these wheels. To everyone's surprise, they weren't used in 2015. Luckily they do make their appearance in Technic in 2016. Upon seeing the tires, people immediately suggested a Dragster/Drag Racer, and here it is. Currently the Tires are going for at least 10 euros on Bricklink, so this already contains 20 euros worth of parts. Although I do suspect the prices will go down after the release of this model. The next video shows a short demonstration of how the Tumbler Tires behave. As you can see in the video, they are prone to slipping. But that only happens when you apply a lot of pressure. The average builder won't notice this behavior. PART LIST This set contains 647 parts, which are shown below. THE BUILD Building the Drag Racer is done in roughly two stages, first you build the chassis, then the bodywork. After the body you will add the spoiler to the chassis, but I'd like to think of two stages in the build. CHASSIS Building the chassis isn't too complicated. No difficult gearboxes or complex structures. One thing that's worth mentioning is that the V8 is chain driven. That's pretty cool! The end result looks okay. The great thing about the separation of bodywork and chassis, is that you can use this chassis to build your own Funny Car bodywork. BODYWORK This is where the controversy originates. Admittedly, the bodywork itself (not connected to the chassis) doesn't look too bad. However, it feels rushed and unfinished, especially the front. For me, this would be a perfect preliminary design, which needs some work to finalize the design. We will attach the bodywork to the chassis in a bit. That's when the peculiar front design really shows. The backside of the bodywork isn't too bad. It's simple, but it works. No complaints here. FINISHED MODEL I hereby present to you, the Drag Racer! The image below clearly shows why I have a problem with the front design. The front wheel arch is way too square. And I am not particularly fond of the big exhaust pipe and the square hole in the bodywork to make it fit. I would have preferred an exhaust design more like the Getaway Racer, possibly with double pipes on each side. The main problem seems to be the 11x3 Curved Panel which is very dominant. Looking at the other supplied parts in Medium Azure, I wonder whether using the Small Panels (#21, #22) could lead to a better design. On a more positive note; I really do like Medium Azure! Combined with Black it results in a great color scheme. Looking at the stickers, Purple can be thrown in the mix as well. Using the lever on the other side (see video), opens up (or lifts) the bodywork. This is necessary to turn the knob to lift the chassis for the wheelie (see next picture). So this is the Wheelie mode that generated a lot of discussion. Although this was expected by most members, we secretly hoped there would be a more exotic mechanism for the wheelie. BACKSIDE I don't have any real issue with the backside of the car. It's a collection of connected liftarms, but it fits the model. BOTTOM As you can see there's no differential between the rear wheels. I'll let you figure out how the drivetrain is connected to the V8 FRONT AND BACK Two additional images, one of the front and one of the back of the car. VIDEO The video below shows a short overview of the model. FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS This model has the following features: Steering via Hand of God Lifting the bodywork Switching to wheelie mode Chain driven fake engine VIDEO OF THE CHASSIS FUNCTIONS The video below demonstrates the functions of the chassis. VIDEO OF THE BODYWORK The following video shows the lifting of the bodywork. ADDING POWER FUNCTIONS This page from the instruction booklet shows what you can do by adding Power Functions. The picture below shows the parts needed to add Power Functions to the model. VIDEO SHOWING POWER FUNCTIONS The following video demonstrates how to add Power Functions to the model, and it shows the performance when using Power Functions. I have added an additional PF Receiver to facilitate the demonstration. As you can see in the video, adding Power Functions doesn't transform this model into a Drag Racing monster. Performance with the M-motor isn't what you want it to be. Replacing the M-motor with an L-motor will obviously help, but it definitely won't be enough to make the wheelie by itself. SUMMARY Do you know that feeling that you see a car for the first time and think "how on earth did that design make it to production?!" and after a while you get used to it and the feeling somehow turns to appreciation. That's more or less what happened to me when I was writing the review. Don't get me wrong; I am still surprised that TLG failed to do better than this. Of all the models I have reviewed, this is my least favorite when it comest to the design. I am a big fan of panels, but I think the designer could have done a better job designing the front of the car. That being said, I must admit that this set started to grow on me during the build and especially during the write up of the review. It does have something going on. The Medium Azure and Black color scheme looks great and the introduction of Medium Azure in the Technic line is definitely a winner for me. Hopefully there will be more to come, parts that is. It contains two of the Tumbler Tires, which are pretty expensive by itself, starting at 10 euros on Bricklink. Although this set does have some features, I am a bit disappointed that when you use PF, the car can't do a wheelie by itself. It know the reason behind this is physically valid, but it would have made this model a lot cooler than it currently is. If you find this set for a discounted price, it might be worth picking up two copies. The suggested price of 60 Euro does seem a bit steep when you are only interested in the Tumbler Tires. All in all I started to like the Drag Racer more than I imagined before building it. SCORE Okay, so how do I grade this set? 6 DESIGN Front feels unfinished and rushed. 7 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Straightforward build. 7 FEATURES Nice wheelie function, but it does feel like cheating. 7 PLAYABILITY Kids might enjoy the wheelie function. Power Functions don't add much. 7 PARTS Two Tumbler Tires and some new pieces. Not too bad. 7 VALUE FOR MONEY Good value if you are looking for Tumbler Tires. 6,8 NEEDS SOME WORK More image can be found on my Flickr page. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. -
[C-MODEL] 42050 - Lightning Rod
Immo posted a topic in LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling
Finally, I got myself to build a 42050 C-Model out of the second set I bought purely because I liked the A-Model too much to tear it apart. Had some general ideas, but couldn't decide between a Hot Rod and Dragster, so I built both in one package. It has a hidden function of "adjusting the stance" which is purely for style and, if exaggerated, makes the car, uh, "un-dragable", but some moderate amounts of adjustment make for nice change of style. Features: ► V8 engine with moving pistons ► twin carb adorned with velocity stacks + hood tach ► radiator + cooling system + front lights ► ribbed hose headers and dragster-style Zoomie exhausts ► rigid transmission w/o differential ► steering connected to HOG ► cockpit with a (non-functioning) steering wheel, dashboard and gear shifter ► adjustable "stance" ► wheelie bar (adjusted with stance) ►namesake "Lightning Rods" in the back of cockpit for decorative purposes -
Hi, I've brought you simple fun mod of 42050 B 42050 B is useless as A model, but good base for crazy wheeled "stick" My MOD is = 42050B + 2x (Buggy motor+LiPo + Sbrick) + Servo motor. I've tested stock 81 mm tumbler tyres and larger 94 mm Unimog tyres. 107 mm Xerion is bad, cause tractor thread pattern is bad for fast speeds. Used iPhone as speed tracker. Not sure that it is 100% right, but cmparing to other models shared online, speed is 99% correct. Not a speed record, but it is not a bone chassis with motors also. I knew I can't beat speed record, so I've made another record: the fastest LEGO model with custom CHROMED parts (Chrome Block City, thanks to Aurelius) p.s. In the background "AK-47 Kalshnikov" development and production plant. Historic building. -
[CMODEL] 42050 Sprint Car
Thorlek posted a topic in LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling
I know the drag racer isn't a super popular set, but I quite like it. I just finished making a Sprint Car from the parts. Its got: HOG Steering Adjustable Wing V8 Engine Pivoting Rear Differential allowing odd sized rear tyres to be used Hope you like it :-) -
[MOC] Turbine-powered Rat rod
nerdsforprez posted a topic in LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling
Hey All, Back again with another creation. Perhaps even zanier than my last creation using air, http://www.moc-pages.../moc.php/428357 but part of an overall theme of builds I call FUN WITH AIR http://www.moc-pages...r.php/198856. This one is an air-turbine powered rat rod dragster. Try to say that five times fast! I am going to give the meat and potatoes first (pics and video), but a full explanation and details about the build is given below. I hope it is worth the read. Of special note although I spent a little more time on looks, the main purpose of this build was initial speed, so, again, like my last creation I really wanted to keep the weight down. Therefore no special functions/etc. were added and panels and other elements for aesthetics were kept at a minimum. This creation was built out of 100% LEGO, and no parts were modified. I am not going to post all the pics. If interested, visit the main page for this MOC. http://www.moc-pages.../moc.php/429100 The main feature of this build is that it is driven by an air turbine engine. Building air turbine engines out of Lego has a very short, limited history. Youtube documents some turbines built out of Lego but findings are sparse. Those that were done were more like in 2009-2011ish and not much else has been done since. In addition, they were bulky, color-vomity, and limited in functioning. The turbine created for this build was designed to at least appear like a real turbine engine. Gearing is internal and is geared to roughly 9:1. The turbine is also fairly modular, can easily be taken apart by separating the two halves of which comprise it, and gears easily changed. Gearing to 9:1 (internally within the turbine) produced the best results for the drag racer but I also changed the gears and experimented with 2.8:1. This ratio did not work well at all and involved too many breaks in the drivetrain. 9:1 produced no breaks, slips, etc. In the main video above you can see it working, internals, etc. Building was a little more tricky than it might appear at first glance. But I have to say, I am happy with the geometry of it all. In my opinion connectors are much underutilized for structure/chassis builds. They can be quite strong when combined with others. As can been seen in these pictures, the rotor was a Technic motorcycle wheel. This piece offered many advantages. It is very robust and therefore the rotors would not bend/move to the pressure of the air. It is also pretty beefy. Once it got moving the inertia of the rotation kept it cookin’ for quite some time. The geometry added up perfectly to the encircling #4 connectors. Although the wheel got very close to the edges, as can be seen below and the video they never actually touch the sides of the turbine. The cross section shot above shows the internal gearing. Although the axles did not fully penetrate to the other side on the final model they did on the initial model. I tried to make the turbine as compact as possible without creating too much friction so I tried it as such (usually you want axles to penetrate to the other side for greater strength. Widening the turbine and adding liftarms between the gears below would have allowed for that). So in the final model I shortened the turbine and the space for the gearing (disallowing room for the axles to penetrate to the other side) and it worked just fine. I did give the half-bush space on both sides of the gears so they would not be flush against the liftarms and connectors (too much friction). I made the car a little customizable. Initially I didn’t think I would really add any looks, but as I got playing with things, well…. it just became more and more fun. One version is your classic rough, edgy, rat-rod look, complete with rat-faced gear shifter knob. The other is a more hip, night-out-on-the-town, pimped-out look. The drivetrain is the same to my previous dragster. Interested parties can look there for reference/information. Overall, I must state that I am impressed with the LEGO clutch gear, drive ring, and changeover catch. In my previous project using this mechanism we saw that using the LEGO gears, drive ring and catch held when trying to engage gears moving at an estimated 900 RPMs versus 0 RPMS (1500 RPM x 0.6 = 900) and the elements did just fine. Here, we see them engaging an estimated 1100 RPMs versus 0 (10,000 RPM x .11) and the elements also did just fine. In fact, when I stated earlier that I used different gear combinations in the turbine, the other being 2.8:1, that would mean I am engaging a gear moving at an estimated (10,000 RPMs x .36) 3600 RPMs with one that is not moving at all, and guess what, the LEGO elements discussed above worked just fine! I did not keep the arraignment because, like I said, it failed but this was NOT because of discussed elements. This is because it ripped apart the internal gears in the turbine or other parts of the drivetrain. But the catch, drive ring, and clutch gear all remained intact. NOTE: The estimation of 10,000 RPMs is just that. An estimation. I don’t have a speed counter and did not buy one for the project. Maybe I should have. I did some research and other similar projects and saw a range of 8,000 to more than 30,000 RPMs. Given that I was using much heavier turbine blades mine is likely moving at the lower end of that range. But, given the sound of the turbine heard in the videos, and when holding the turbine while it is going and feeling the gyrations, I feel that 10,000 is likely an accurate estimation. And yes, I did use lubricant. I took the motor apart initially after the first set of videos and saw no damage. I need to take it apart again and inspect for damage a second time. I used 60 PSI of air pressure to drive the engine in the engine-only demonstration in the video; 90 PSI of pressure when actually driving the vehicle. The last two trials in the video did not even use the neutral setting. As can be seen, as 90 PSI the car runs just fine with the gears engaged from the get-go. -
[MOC] Self-propelled dragster funnycar
nerdsforprez posted a topic in LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling
Here is my latest creation. I won't post all the details, please visit http://mocpages.com/moc.php/428357 in terms of how it works, details, etc. Briefly, I sought to create a funnycar that would propel itself. Because it would be propelling itself, it would have to be fairly large (enough air for short burst of speed), but at the same time light. limiting the coefficient of drag would also be very important. Thus the ungainly looks of the thing. But..... funnycars aren't built for looks, rather for acceleration... right? Kinda inspired by 42050....but I wanted to create something with an engine sound, fast, and help true to the funnycar name. The drivetrain was incredibly simple but effective. Neutral… and one forward drive gear. This is the gear set-up for most drag racers. This can get complex though, with many sophisticated models allowing a type of clutch that limits slip and only allows a certain amount of torque to be applied at different RPM levels. But for all intents and purposes, for this model, all I wanted was neutral and drive. This certainly tested Lego gears, changeover catch, and drive rings. But incredibly, there was no skipping. This was quite amazing given the amount of torque that was applied to the drive train. This is similar to real drag racers. I remember a documentary I watched a while ago stating that the gears in a real drag racer only last 2-3 races before needing replacement because of the tremendous torque, heat, and stress applied. The goal of the drive train was to have a neutral gear so that the engine (which is from lpepower.com, Thanks Alex! I love this engine!) could first rev up. Although the engine is quite powerful in and of itself, the fact that it was already running at approximately 1500 RPMs before the gears engaged really resulted in the car’s speed. The whole set-up looked like what is below. To explain the picture you have the arrows pointing in opposite directions representing the tendency of the drive ring to want to pop out of place because it was trying to engage a set of gears where moving at different speeds (well, one was moving and the other was stationary) and the rubber bands acting against it. Initially, when the engine was started I had an axle placed in the hole where the left arrow is to hold it in place. Placing the axle here would stretch the bands back and disengage the drive. So I would first start the engine, let it rev to approximately 1500 RPMs, put the axle, the bands would pull the catch, engage the drive ring into the receiving gear and….. we were off! The “fuel” that was used was simply air. The air tank was the only thing in this model that was not 100% Lego. All else was. The setup was something that I had built before, just on a smaller scale (one liter bottle). Details can be found here but here are some photos. The 1 liter bottle I used I obviously blacked with spray paint. Simply cut out the nozzle from a bike tube and used very strong epoxy-type glue to seal it all. Worked great. Thanks for taking a look. Hope you enjoyed!