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Didumos69

Eurobricks Dukes
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Everything posted by Didumos69

  1. Didumos69
    Thanks! And thanks for your contribution! Correct. The rotational step doesn't require much force though, not more than pushing a pin in a hole. I'm afraid making instructions with LPub will prove hard. I used many more rotational steps, also for instance to rotate the steering column into place. I'll share a photo sequence soon, that should give you more insight. It can also handle quite some dislevelment btw , although it does suffer from bump stear.
  2. Didumos69
    Done. A big thank you to everybody involved in this topic! Here's the LXF-file of the final model (it misses the silicon bands: 2 white and 1 red band). Instructions will follow.
  3. Didumos69
    1. Fire Ant One-minute pitch With its wacky turning feature and inclined V4 engine, this vehicle is extremely fast and highly manoeuverable. A perfect fit for a race in an urban area. Don't forget this contest is in fact a race held in LEGO City. This race-cart finds its way through the mess created by its large and heavy opponents, without giving in on speed. And like with real ants, a Fire Ant never comes alone. Their determination and willingness to serve fellow ants that stand a better chance to win, will drive other contestants even more nuts than they already are . And to make the ant analogy complete: this model consists of three segments: The head - With its steering controlled head lights pointing into each and every turn, the front section makes sure the driver won't miss a thing and allows him to anticipate unexpected situations. The thorax - The driver section, which tilts in turns, compensates for the centrifugal force the driver is exposed to. An experienced driver can make the car turn by moving his weight into the turn. The abdomen - Equipped with a V4 engine, inclined to ensure optimal lubrication under acceleration g-forces, the rear section gives the car enough power to stay ahead of all of its opponnents. Admit it, you want to ride this animal! Base features Rear wheel drive Working steering wheel Working fake V4 Adjustable rear-spoiler Wacky feature Turning mechanism which offers 4-wheel steering and makes the driver section tilt in turns. It works like this: The driver steers the front section using the steering wheel. Steering the front section makes the driver section tilt, which in turn makes the rear section counter-steer. More qualities High manoeuverability. The turning feature combines excellent road-holding with a very small turning circle. Straight line stability. The front and rear segments are stablized with silicon bands to keep the car straight. Everything in-system. All inclined constructs rely on perfect fits derived from the Pythagorean triple (3, 4, 5). Kid-proof. Each of the three segments has been build with a high level of form-locking. Nothing will fall off. Instructions are available on rebrickable. See this discussion topic for background information. A big thank you to everybody involved in that topic !
  4. Didumos69
    This is really wacky! And fun too!
  5. Didumos69
    I think the engine and the grill are awesome!
  6. Didumos69
    You're welcome! It was not intended as instructions though. I might make further changes. But if you wish you can use it. The blue parts for the seat and the tires have finally been shipped and as soon as I receive them I willl finish the model and make proper instructions.
  7. Didumos69
    You can watch it in 3D here: https://skfb.ly/6tSvp
  8. Didumos69
    Yes. Maybe to a certain extent also the nose that serves as a ramp to plow through opponents . But seriously, this model is all about a wacky experience for the driver. So I will eventually install LBG rims. I also like the contrast between rims vs. tires and discs. I'm afraid that won't work. The turning feature doesn't allow for bigger diameter wheels. Using smaller rims with off-road tires is also not an option as I need the space inside the 15038 rims. Update: I installed the new headlights, added a modest dashboard and I added two silicon bands to stabilize the rear segment. This adds just enough straight line stability without troubling steering, but more importantly, it holds the rear segment in place when you lift the model. Now both the front and rear segment are stabilized.
  9. Didumos69
    Thanks! It is a completely legal 'in system' build, so it could be a set, al though I doubt whether LEGO would ever pay so much attention and - so many parts - to form-locking. Apart from the steering wheel, the wheels and the small panels, nothing can be removed easily. No not the Porsche tires, but the 15038 rims and the 44771 tires. I played a little with the orientation and in my perception the orientation makes the difference between a spoiler and a wing. And I preferred the spoiler, because it looks less like a F1 racer. Still I think you're right that it has a little F1 to it, but it remains to be a go-cart. Thanks! The new front spoiler also created the opportunity to install bigger headlights. Btw, did I mention that this car has steering controlled head lights . I agree the old wheels suit the car well, but what you can't see is that they slide off the axle very easily and also the tires slide of the rims all the time. So I will hold on to the 15038 rims and race tires, also because the model has been built around them and needs the extra ground clearance to avoid the tilting bottom from touching the ground. It could be build with LBG rims though: Thanks! Hahaha!
  10. Didumos69
    So this is what I did with it. I'm very happy with the effect! I also reverted the straight line stabilizer to the original idea; a red silicon band through a perpendicular connector attached to the steering axis. The stabilizer I had was applied to the rear segment. As a result tilting was partly absorbed by torsional flex in the mid-segment, causing the rear segment to steer less than intended. This modification also paved the road for the use of an 11x5 frame in the bottom of the mid-segment, which made the mid-segment much more stiff. Finally, here's a video giving a better impression of the steering radius. This is still not the final result, because the final tires have slightly bigger diameter than these old wheels.
  11. Didumos69
    Thank you very much @Thirdwigg! Your suggestion for the front is brilliant! Amazing that I didn't think of this myself. Somehow I'm very reluctant in having a nose that surpasses the front wheels, but I'm certainly going to do this. Your initial idea with the trans red bars for the back is also nice, but for now I think I will hold on to a rear spoiler. I think a rear spoiler gives a nice balance with a nose-spoiler. As for the collaborative process. Especially when it comes to looks, I can usually use some advice to get to something that is perceived well by a wider audience.
  12. Didumos69
    I second this! I love free style biilds and this one realy has 'presence'. I agree with @mocbuild101 that the bed if the dumper needs more structure. Something with bent liftarms instead of connectors would be better.
  13. Didumos69
    You better get over that if you don't want to miss a wacky experience .
  14. Didumos69
    @Thirdwigg, your remark on 'width' was still in the back of my mind and my earlier attempts to do something with it failed. Problem was that I tried to put something over the rear wheels, which didn't blend with the rest of the car. But now that I started building I wasn't particularly happy with the stomp 'nose' of the car either. So I gave it another try and I think I'm onto something that does the car justice and also addresses your point:
  15. Didumos69
    Thanks! Thanks! It has a tighter steering radius than shown in the video. A few days and then I'll show you the finished model. Thank you guys, great to know people are eager to build this. @Nebulaire, I hope you can wait a few more days. Building from the LDD-file will proof hard. There is practically only a single 'legal' building path and it will be hard to find it without any hints. Once I received the latest parts - I expect them this weekend - it will be a matter of days before I will finish BI by means of a photo sequence. I could share a parts list in advance if you wish?
  16. Didumos69
    Another consideration I made: Giving the back of the car more steering angle would boil down to giving the mid-segment less tilting angle for the same steering radius, while tilting is the whole point of this build. Also, I deliberately wanted the back to steer less than the front to avoid the tail from breaking out too much like you see with wheel loaders.
  17. Didumos69
    Due to the missing tires the bottom side of the mid-section sits very close to the ground, which limits the tilting angle. With the tires attached I expect more angle.
  18. Didumos69
    I'm happy with it now, so I will keep the new engine layout. I started building. Actually, it's almost done. Only the seat and the tires need to be added, but I don't have the parts yet. I had to make a few small changes to the design to make it buildable, but nothing with much impact. And it works! It works like a charm ! I did not install the return-to-center which I had in mind, because I concluded it would be better to have a straight line stabilizer which operates directly on one of the axles and not on the steering axis. So I added a 'hidden' straight line stabilizer. I leave it up to you to find out how it works . Here are the first real life images and a short video:
  19. Didumos69
    While awaiting parts, I did some work on the engine. It now encloses the gear so the rear side looks a little less messy. It brought the engine one stud more to the back and a little higher. I'm not sure whether I actually like it better, but perhaps it's because I got used to the previous setup too much. What do you think, which is better (click to enlarge)? EDIT: Removed images, I opted for the new engine layout.
  20. Didumos69
    Interesting and ambitious project ! It's hard to comment on the steering without a video showing it's operation. Rear wheel steering as found in the Porsche confines itself to angles that are smaller than angles resulting from LEGO's slack tolerance in steering setups. Therefore it would be interesting to see how much angle the rear wheels make in the different steering modi. As for the rest of the chassis; the engine sits very high as @Leonardo da Bricki already mentioned. For a supercar I would say you should either place the engine in front of or behind the rear axles or change the push-rod suspension setup to a setup with the springs placed between the upper and lower wishbones, so you can lower the engine.
  21. Didumos69
    That was what I was thinking too. I guess, given that the center of gravity of the mid-segment is higher than the turn table centers, I will need a centering feature to obtain straight line stability. If I do need such a feature, I will first try this simple solution: A perpendicular pin axle connector attached to the steering axis with a silicon band running through its pinhole. The ends of the silicon band are wrapped around a bush sticking out of the back of the bottom frame. That should help keeping the steering wheel centered. The max angle of the steering wheel will be around 45 degrees.
  22. Didumos69
    It's starting to look like it! Nice work! I see some resemblance with this (which is good btw):
  23. Didumos69
    I do that all the time, good to add that info .
  24. Didumos69
    Thanks! I know those options. I will first build it in real life and then see whether I need a return-to-center. I wouldn't want to claim any game-changing concepts in this build. The design is finished and I was just trying to imagine how a real car like this would behave, what driving it would feel like. It just boggled my mind. That makes sense, thanks!
  25. Didumos69
    In fact 15° + a manifold of 30° (360/teeth) will do. So, 45° will work too. Btw, to rotate the gear, you need to rotate the axle with the gear attached while it is inserted in at least one pinhole. Make that preferrably not more than one pinhole, otherwise LDD is likely to crash while rotating.
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