Pattspatt

Personally I prefer the rear. I think that white upper area needs 1-2 fewer units in height, and visual simplification. Meaning minimal stacked liftarms and connectors, and paneling that is as simple as possible. That whole zone has far too much “texture” in the stock model for my taste, and (to me) comes across as the opposite of sleek. Improvements are easier said than done, of course.

It occurred to me that Part 28974 might fit in the small gap between the turntable and the two Part 6632s, to help keep the 6632s from migrating away from the ball. Otherwise, maybe the Ring (11010) could be used somehow to get the exact right spacing, but I think the 6632s would then have to be removed.

Agreed, very nice geometry! It’s very cool to see a faithful representation in a more accessible format. Makes sense - thanks for the explanation! Nice, didn’t realize that a scissor link is also often used on the bottom half. The solution I used was restricting lateral movement of the links to the lower half. Cool to see two examples of the real-life solution!

Wow, great work! Very cool to see it all exposed like that. Still takes a while for me to wrap my mind around it! Thanks for the demonstration - looking forward to seeing more independent collective motion too, assuming you plan to add a bit more friction to the cyclic’s joysticks. Genius part usage! I wonder, though - since the ball is not mounted in exactly the same plane as the turntable but one stud higher, will that cause jerky rotation once everything else attached? I’m having trouble figuring out whether that’s a problem just from a thought experiment - I do see that your towballs are in the same plane as the ball, which makes sense.

Looking forward to seeing it! My curiosity is officially piqued.

I always like seeing swashplate ideas - I appreciate all the documentation you’ve put together, too! Fun to see my helicopter referenced (which borrows heavily from steph77’s). This puzzled me too for a while, but I think a section of the rotor axle in these models has been shaved down slightly, to allow the ball gear to slide. Obviously not “kosher”, but the solution is certainly compact. I’ve seen many attempted designs that started at this point, but couldn’t find a compact solution to constrain the motion. I’m excited to see what you come up with! Of course for my Land Rover C-model helicopter no turntable was available, but my clunky solution does lock the upper swashplate to the main axle, at least, while allowing up-down movement. No such luck locking it to the lower swashplate, which may also be the case with your preliminary design in the video. Still, how often does a helicopter fly upside down?

5: 10 3: 6 4: 4 7: 3 1: 2 2: 1 Great job, everyone! So many clever linkages & functions on display.

Really great work - one of my favorite technic combines ever! Love that you included the thresher and the corn head’s cutter. Looks like you found some very efficient solutions to be able to fit so much functionality in a relatively small model. Thanks for making the instructions so affordable 👍

Wow, another great alt. I’m amazed you were able to make such complex suspension work so well, in a 4x4 RC alternate no less! The motors and gearbox arrangement is impressively compact - really well done. Also, I always enjoy learning about your design process and the foibles encountered on the way - thanks for another great write-up!

Kind of a joke update, but I was a bit bothered by all the large wheels left over after completing this model. This is no longer an issue! This “Offroad Helicopter” has rear wheel steering, rear suspension, and rear wheel drive, which powers the rotors. Not sure what exactly the use-case is for having wheels and rotors spinning at the same time, but it’s pretty fun! Video is at https://m.imgur.com/XWqfVb4 The mod only uses the leftover 42110 parts. Less goofy news: ForelockMocs has graciously made professional PDF instructions for this model. They’re available for free at the rebrickable page: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-87154/Pattspatt/helicopter-42110-c-model/#details

Can’t wait to see the video - difficult to figure out how it all works! It really looks awesome so far. I noticed what looks like two extendable driveshafts using 24t gears. If you’re still in a “modifications and tweaks” phase of the build, this design could come in handy: https://imgur.com/gallery/RPJsN3c

Wow, great work - this is exactly what the set should have been! Nicely done, and thanks for the great photos & video.

Assuming this is new behavior that wasn’t a problem with the old steering solution - are there any 1x1 round tiles, or 1x1 round plates, or 3/4 pins that you could add/swap, and see if that sorts it? Or a non-round 1x1 plate could work too, with the stud pressed into the pinhole.

Really enjoyed reading this - thank you for the detailed look at your design process! Sounds like there are an unusually large number of constraints, even for a B-model. The idea for a combo diff-lock/gearbox seems pretty doomed, haha. The performance that you’ve achieved working within all these constraints is really exceptional - great job!

In a flagship supercar set, I’d definitely appreciate rear wheel steering that mechanically switches steering direction in high gears. Not sure if the difficulty-to-marketability ratio is favorable, though - so I won’t hold my breath!

Good point - although OP did ask whether 42110 or Sian should be considered 8880’s successor in their last sentence. Personally I don’t think 42110 beats 8448 or 8466 in terms of playability, “innovation”, or technical accuracy. For me 42110 beats the Sian in terms of playability and slightly loses the other two categories. I think it’s kind of similar to the emphasis on a transmission that most supercars have today. Ultimately the difference between adjacent gears is relatively subtle, even more so with the recent larger gearboxes. Likewise, you probably won’t notice much effect of Ackermann at this scale. But it demonstrates a real concept, which is a plus for many people. Rear wheel steering (especially if the steering direction was linked to the gearbox) is another opportunity for more “bells-and-whistles” to populate a supercar’s list of features. I still think it’s a significant missed opportunity that the Lego GT3 RS didn’t include something like this. That said, excited to see the more “out-of-the-box” features that you have planned!

8880 is such a perfect example of elegant complexity. While the build process wouldn’t fly today, the result is a 4x4x4 vehicle with the first Lego synchronized transmission, plus Ackermann geometry and a center diff. It implements all this technical complexity effortlessly. No transmission confusion like the Porsche. No suspension issues like the Chiron - and far more elegant structurally. No lime color issues like the Sian. 42110 is one of my favorite sets - it has an exceptionally well-implemented suspension, and an exceptional collection of parts. But its transmission, while ambitious, definitely has performance issues (as well as an incorrectly implemented reverse gear). And the steering, which is well implemented, is only 2-wheel and not Ackermann. So I don’t think 42110 can take up 8880’s mantle. The other supercars (Porsche, Chiron, Sian) make more sense as contenders for 8880 successor, but I think they still fall short. The Sian comes the closest for me, but you trade a center diff and rear wheel steering for a sequential transmission. If the next supercar can boast “4x4x4” with a sequential transmission and some other extra feature a la the Sian’s doors and spoiler, I think the mantle will be ready to be passed.

Wow, this is amazing - so many functions, so compact, and everything appears to be very thoughtfully laid out. And it looks attractive to boot! Great job. What is the purpose of the white clutch gear (brown in the schematic) that drives the winch? I could be wrong, but I don’t think it is able to slip since its teeth are being driven on both sides.

A lot of great work here - especially impressed with the gearbox version. It’s far from easy to get decent off-road performance through a gearbox! Thanks for the detailed look at the design process.

Wow, great functionality and very impressive presentation! Those animations of the render really help to understand how it all works. Great work!

Thanks for doing that! I’ve added it to the Google Drive. Fine with me if you post the link here!

I wasn’t able to comment on that yet Looking forward to seeing the “meat”!

Whoa, it looks awesome! Amazing that you got two good looking models out of one set. Can’t wait to see them in action.

Free instructions are up! https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-87154/Pattspatt/helicopter-42110-c-model/#details So far feedback has been that they’re quite a bit easier to follow than the instructions for my 42110 forklift. Hope you enjoy!

Great job! Your model is very attractive on the outside, and impressively function-dense on the inside, too. My favorite is the cabin section - amazing that you fit a functional steering wheel! I like the spring-loaded cabin tilt, too. It drives and steers very well - well done!