Rudivdk

Let's not forget about IP rights and that kind of legal stuff. If TLG would model it after a reallife machine (recognizable as a Ponsse or John Deere for instance), it would either be a problem for TLG, or a licence with higher set costs for us. I like the mix of reallife elements with some fictional aspect to it. If I want an exact copy of a real model, I can always MOD or MOC it, or buy a metal scale model of it. Just my 2ct.

@JLiu15Actually I aim for building the completed model in Dark Azure, the orange is just a testcolor for fitting all bodywork. But I might decide to build an orange version in the end as well, without stickers.

Small update: after working some more on chassis and exterior, I had to redesign the 90 degree stepper for the additional gearbox. This proved to be the fix for the 4th to 5th gear shifting issue! It works flawlessly now with hardly any additional force required compared to other gears: I've also created a 1st version for the seats:

Thanx guys! I think I am at the limit of what is possible with the available panels and beams in Dark Azure. Trying to get all bodywork securely attached to the chassis is the biggest challenge in this build, because I have to make all connections invisible from the outside to keep the colors flowing nicely. Will be a nice puzzle for the coming weeks. It was your designs that got this started to begin with, so big thanx to you guys! Unfortunately it does not run smooth yet, especially the final transfer to the engine is jerky in most gears and seems to have a lot of friction. Will see if I can redesign that part, maybe shorten the engine into a V6 to give some more room for proper bracing and cleaner routing of geartransfers. It's a bit messy over there at the moment. And I am still working on improving structural integrity of the chassis to reduce warping (and thus friction) in general.

No progress on the build, but here is some more detailed info on the gearbox. All gears are on a single level, with the 2speed additional gearbox in front of the 4speed main gearbox. Below pic shows 1st gear position: On top of that are the stepper mechanisms for both gearboxes, and the linkage to the shifter knob: And finally a video showing it in action, shifting through all speeds from 1 to 8 back to 1 again: Shifting from 4th to 5th gear, and even more so back from 5th gear to 4th gear is requiring some force, due to the double steppers being activated. I think I can smoothen it by adding some more strength in the chassis, as it now deforms a little under the forces, adding to the friction. And worse, it can only be set in motion by driving it from the rear wheels. Driving it from the engine with a motor just gives to much friction to even get the gearbox moving... Hopefully strengthening the chassis will give some relief here as well, however I doubt it will be enough... But still, as a Proof of Concept, it is succesfull!

Fantastic model. Is it in 1:10? Brilliant use of the katana's as front grille btw, very creative

Ouch, tough call this one... Overall I think 7 or 8 speeds should be possible in this scale, but your combination with steering modes makes the 4 speeds a unique feature on its own. So I guess I would go with the first option, maybe adding some cosmetic goodies like turbocharger or something. Feels to me like 'normal' double wishbone is a bit meager compared to the rest of this awesome build.

Yep it sure does... This was my first and last attempt building in a color with limited parts available. I can't count the times I thought: if I only had this part in Dark Azure... its frustrating... Actually since I had to omit rear seats, I guess this should go under '2door coupe' category, something like a Mercedes AMG. Thanx, that was my main goal in this build

Not sure how big 42077 is, but my build is 59x27x17 studs according to LDCad. Not yet. I did try some, but it was ineffective. I fear that it will add to much stress/friction to the already sensitive system, but I will see what I can do. I do have some ideas for that.

Thanx for all positive comments guys, really keeps me going! At times I thought to abandon this after chassis was built, just because I felt bodywork was not good enough... now I want to finish it! I will see what is available from system parts to further "dress it up". The lack of connectors of any kind in Dark Azure is really a pain in the....

It's been a loooong time since I updated on this project, but I haven't been sitting idle... Current overall build status: Current features (build, tested and working): - Pushrod suspension front and rear with advanced geometry - Steering front wheels (not yet connected to steering wheel) - Rear wheel drive - Fake v8 engine in the front - 8-speed sequential gearbox (modified version of @Charbel's 8-speed sequential gearbox design), operated by single lever between the front seats (based on sequential shifter design by @Didumos69) - Openable doors, bonnet and trunk The gearbox was the biggest challenge, at least at this scale. I took Charbels gearbox as a base, but I felt it was to bulky to fit properly in the available interior space. So I ended up modifying the gears layout so all the gears are in a single level. This meant widening the gearbox 2x to have all gears still working, but at least I was able to build it in low enough to fit the seats above it. Below some more details of the gearbox lay-out (I will try to also shoot a video of it, I hope to get some time for that this weekend): From above: The ball piece in the front is the shifter. It is connected by lever (under the center console panels) towards the rear where the actual stepper mechanism is. In the back center there is the stepper mechanism (around and under the black knob wheel which you can just see on the upper edge of the photo) for the main 4-speed gearbox. On the rear left side the stepper mechanism (second black knob wheel and red 3l liftarms) to shift the additional 2-speed gearbox after the main gearbox has shifted through all 4 gears. On the left side running towards the front the axle that transfers the additional gearbox stepper movement to the actual gearbox (which is below the main shifter). After the additional gearbox has shifted, the main gearbox can shift another round of 4 gears, making it a total of 8 speeds. Additional rotations below or above the 8 speeds is prevented by a limiter. Because of the size of this total setup, I had to omit neutral and reverse... From below: Towards the rear (right hand side on photo) the main 4-speed gearbox with transfer to rear axle differential. In the middle (12+20 tooth bevel gears) the transfer from the main gearbox to the additional 2-speed gearbox. In the front (left hand side on photo) the 2-speed gearbox with transfer to fake engine. Because it is a very wide gear setup, I had some serious headaches to get the chassis stiff enough, but I managed to get something sturdy in the end after several tweaks and tries. The bodywork is actually a bit bulky and rough in some areas, but it is that way for a reason: As I stated already in my OP, I wanted to create a bodywork that is also possible to build in Dark Azure. So I had to limit myself to pieces only available in that color (and in orange) when designing. I have created a digital version of the Dark Azure bodywork, with red and white as contrast colors (real life build and digital version are not completely up-to-date with each other, so there are some differences here and there):

Looks mean and clean.

Actually you should be counting the spaces "in between" the pinholes. Try making it with a 4l, 5l and 6l beam, it will fit perfectly. 4l beam has 3x "in between" pinhole, 5l beam has 4 and 6l beam has 5. Took me awhile to figure this out myself as well...

Wonderful creation! And not an easy model to recreate also... Looks stunning in all black, and like mentioned before: those headlights are beautiful! Very cool to see an all manual build from you this time, and you sure went the extra mile with all those functions in there. I'm honored that I've been able to inspire you towards your gearbox setup, but this is actually way better than I could come up with.... All credits to you for this build!

Well it certainly is good to see you back in action again! I actually wondered where you were a few times over the past months. I should've known that if anyone was bound to return to action at some point, it'd be you! I'm glad you still find joy in building, and admire your everlasting positivity when it comes to taking challenges (even when you had conquered them once already...). Wish you all the best, both in recovering and with the build of course! This forum feels better with you around again.

When making linkages, you do not want the part to rub against each other at the hinges. The flanges on the pins make sure all stays in grid, while the room between the beams make sure everything moves smooth. It is a trade-off I think, freedom of movement vs rigidity. But as seen on some builds here, rigidity can still be achieved with current setup.

Thanx for all your votes up until now everyone! Didn't expect to get so much support for this humble build...

I had the same doubt, but on second look it seems they are fixed to the top of a 6x4 bent liftarm. Edit: didumos beat me to it...

Well this is a GOOD reason to take my 42069 apart... Very nice helicopter model by itself, but as a pure C-model this is really really outstanding! Looking forward to finished instructions.

Very nice, clever thinking and smart use of available parts to create this from a vehicle set (the use of the panel and exhaust pipe on the recirculation feed are )! This opens up a whole new line of C-models I think...

24:10 3:6 10:4 11:3 9:2 12:1 This was a very nice competition, with creations well over my expectations of what could be done with a pullback. Hard to choose from all entries, all where really good! Good luck to all competitors! @Xewyz2001 you forgot to score the 4 points...

+1 What I found is that attaching bodywork to a chassis needs a lot of revising on the chassis to get the correct attachment points. Now I always try to build with at least a sketch of bodywork so I know how to make the chassis fit

22. Twinrotor Helicopter For this contest I tried to stay close to the TLG style of pullbacks: small and relatively simple, yet sturdy to handle the torque from the Pullback motors. However I wanted to build something not yet seen in official PB series, and I ended up with this: A twinrotor helicopter, loosely based on the helicopters seen in James Cameron's Avatar movie and inspired by @barman's incredible LEGO recreation of it. It is powered by two hardcoupled pullback motors, directly driving both rotors. It uses a long gearrack which winds up the motors when pulled out . The model features smooth bodywork, some nice details and a two seater interior. Enjoy and thanks for voting!

Very cool, superb idea using the lunchbox

So after a flying start (pun intended ) on this TC13 entry, progress grinded to a hold as life took away most of my spare time over the last 1,5 months... But I still wanted to finish this model and enter the contest, and found some time here and there to do so. So here is my last update and final build. I've added some panels to the sides, and put two seats in the cockpit. It is no longer intended as a model of the Avatar movie helicopter, so I changed the name to just "Twinrotor Helicopter".