jwarner

I bought mine as a graduation gift for myself in June of '18 and it's still boxed up, waiting for me to finish up college. As are the ISD, and the Y-wing, and the gunship... I'm just stockpiling until I have a semi-permanent residence lol

@steph77 Thank you! I've gotta order a few parts for the gearbox as well as the RC parts, that'll probably happen in the next few weeks so I'll definitely be uploading a demonstration after that. As far as my approach I wanted to commit to full RC control, while using as few motors as possible since I still like a mechanical challenge. That meant I needed a way to switch control between different functions while keeping the disengaged sections static. That plus the general slop in such a large gearbox led me to the LA approach since the incorporated worm gears eat up the slack pretty well, and hold position when disengaged.

Ya know I think I may have even bought a few of those for that purpose, I'll have to give them another try! Thank you! Will do this next t time for sure. Thanks that means a ton! I'm glad to be building again, for however long it lasts

I'm not exactly sure how to embed a video directly to EB but here is a quick demonstration. Really the most creative part was using the bar with towball piece inserted into a knob gear to alternate between rotating axles. The towballs are slightly smaller than the knobs so it's a bit finicky but it works well enough. Don't be deceived, the foundation is made of liftarms so it holds just fine!

Well it's been a few years since I've been here on EB, kind of had to set Lego aside for a while as I've been working my way through college and haven't had much free time for it. Lo and behold, I find myself quarantined for a bit and so I've broken back out an old project! I've had this gearbox sitting on my shelf for ages so I've revamped it and started planning for the rest of the helicopter. RC Helicopter WIP by jwarner1718, on Flickr This is basically all the gearing for the vast majority of the model. A lot of the old components have been carried over but I've optimized it for size and stability, plus reworked a lot of the gearing. The whole thing can be looked at as three separate parts: the gearbox (in blue), the swashplate/rotorhead (in green), and the switch box (in red). RC Helicopter WIP by jwarner1718, on Flickr The switch box is controlled with a servo motor and has three outputs; one engages or disengages the front and back mini LAs as a pair, the second controls the left/right pair, and the third determines whether the pairs move in sync or opposite to one another. Using some clever gearing (you can see a little bit of it below, I might do a video demonstration if anyone is interested) this results in three positions of the servo: left/right pair moving opposite, with the front/back disengaged (this is left/right cyclic, which controls the helicopter's roll or left/right movement) both pairs engaged, and moving in the same direction (collective pitch control, which controls the altitude of the helicopter) front/back pair moving opposite, with the left/right pair disengaged (front/back cyclic, which controls pitch and by extension forward/backward movement) RC Helicopter WIP by jwarner1718, on Flickr Between these three controls you can replicate any pitch control of an actual helicopter, though probably a fair bit slower an M motor controls the adjustment of the LAs, which in turn manipulate the swashplate which pitches the rotors accordingly. There's also an L motor to control the actual spin of the rotor which I may just hook straight up to the battery box and run constantly while the model is switched on. I don't own any of the RC PF stuff yet so that would save me a remote and an IR receiver. You can see the mounts for those two motors below; the M motor goes on the left and the L on the right. RC Helicopter WIP by jwarner1718, on Flickr And here's the full construction, with all the motors attached and my little space guy for scale. RC Helicopter WIP by jwarner1718, on Flickr It's a pretty big gearbox overall, in part due to the turntable piece I used for the swashplate which kind of determined the scale, but also just because it's a really complex mechanism. The plan right now is to sit the pilot and copilot seats on either side of the servo which should save some space and keep it from getting too too big. I haven't decided exactly what kind of helicopter I want to build yet but originally I had planned on basing it off the Black Hawk or one of it's non-military cousins. I'm really liking the color scheme of this S-70C Blue Hawk so that might be inspiration. I'm not exactly sure what my next big milestone will be, I'll likely have to transition to Stud.io to design the fuselage since I probably don't have enough parts to build to whole thing here. And classes start up in less than two weeks so this may end up getting sidelined once again who knows? But for now I'm just excited to have done something with it and want to hear your thoughts!

Gotcha, thanks for the info. Maybe one more reason to stick with my PF for the time being...

Hey everyone! College craziness swept me away from Lego for a while just as TLG began phasing in their new motor system (Control+/PUP?). I'm picking back up an old motorized project but I'm only familiar with the old PF parts. Particularly, I can't figure out if any of the new parts have servo capabilites, or if the Control+ app allows for MOC compatibility yet. Anyone care to update me?

Thank you very much for your kind words @brickhappy, your model looks great as well! I love the shaping, and seeing the whole thing outlined in Lego gives me a better sense of what mine might end up looking like. If you would like I would be happy to share my gearbox design once TC15 is over and I have time to draft some instructions. As far as your yellowed panels are concerned, I've used hydrogen peroxide and it works fairly well. For best results you'll want to completely submerge your parts and set them in the sun for a while (weird I know but it works). I've used this technique with my Shuttle Expedition which saw extensive yellowing and most of the parts are phenomenally better. Hope this helps, and best of luck to you!

I really like your suggestions, I guess my biggest worry is that with as complete as the front end is I don't want to skimp on the rear and make it look half-baked. I suppose I can try and open up the front a little to balance things out... Might have to make some time between classes to try some of these things...

Yes, I've had the most trouble with the engine housings since they're a long half-oval sort of shape, very hard to to replicate. I tried a system-built solution but didn't get very far, and the half-shell 3x11 panels are too wide when put together. I'm also concerned with paneling the tail but I haven't gotten that far yet so maybe it wont be as hard as I'm thinking.

Yeah, I'm not gonna make it. I hit a snag somewhere along the way trying to wrap up the bodywork, and I felt the dreaded builder's block setting in. I really didn't want to force it because I'm never happy with forced work, but I am a little disappointed that I couldn't finish in time. Now that I'm back at university I've got a lot less time too, and there's a lot of other conflicting things that are demanding my attention right now. So the Firehawk sits on a shelf in my dorm for now, but I'm certainly going to finish it. That's probably the best thing TC15 did for me was to get me started on it, because I was afraid once I finished the gearbox I would never start on any of the bodywork. Now that I'm halfway there's no reason to not finish in due time. Meanwhile, I'll be waiting for inspiration to strike again, and for the "itch" to win me over. Good luck to the rest of you! Cheers, Jonathan

I really like the looks of this. I was afraid to build in black or gray thinking it might not be as visually appealing but for this particular model it works.

Hello everyone, quick update on the helicopter. I haven't really had any chance to build over winter break so I'm really afraid that I Won't be able to finish this project in time. That being said, I would rather take my time and finish the model properly than try to rush it to meet a deadline. Sikorsky S70-C Firehawk MOC - WIP by jwarner1718, on Flickr As you can see I'm starting to run out of parts due to the sheer size of the model, so the color vomit is starting to set in. Another reason I'm afraid I won't finish, since I'll have to order parts when I'm finished designing, which will probably tack a week or more onto my build time. Here's a minifig for scale, and this is probably just short of half the final length: Sikorsky S70-C Firehawk MOC - WIP by jwarner1718, on Flickr I've gotten the gearbox hooked up to the motor and battery box, and I've started moving the bodywork towards the back. The stacks of white 1x4 bricks are placeholders for these in white to mimic the outline of the windows. Where I'm really starting to stall is the engines, they're a very weird shape that's hard to replicate. I might have to try a system solution to get something I'm happy with. I'm trying to fight builder fatigue and get back into the swing of things, and I hope I can in time to enter.

Feel free to borrow whatever helps The balljoints have to back aligned otherwise it puts too much strain on the dummy linkages (I like that term btw) and they won't along with the rotor properly. As for combining it I've gotten it attached to where they hold well enough, but I'm in the process of packing to head home for the holidays so it will likely be a few days before I can get a few more photos. Thank you! My intention was to build the gearbox as a separate unit so anyone could use it if they wish, instructions for the whole helicopter might be beyond me right now though

UPDATE I got a small order of parts in the mail today and with them I was able to finish the gearbox: Sikorsky S70-C Firehawk - WIP by jwarner1718, on Flickr I haven't hooked up any motors yet, but it will use a servo motor on the rear side to switch between collective, left/right cyclic and forward/backward cyclic controls. The gear on the fornt is in lieu of an M motor, which controls the actual adjustment of the swashplate. In all there are 4 driving rings controlled by three of the new orange changeover gears, one each for switching between collective/cyclic, engaging/disengaging the left-right pair, and engaging/disengaging the front-back pair. Sikorsky S70-C Firehawk - WIP by jwarner1718, on Flickr The red switch marks where the servo will attach, and the yellow axle drives the rotor. Also here you can see a couple of these in black on the center cross gear. This is crucial to the function of the gearbox, as it will rotate the neighboring right gear when the servo rotates one way, but not the other, allowing either cyclic pair to engage individually. Sikorsky S70-C Firehawk - WIP by jwarner1718, on Flickr The rotorhead uses the turntable piece as swashplate. To keep its rotation aligned with the rotor axle, I used a couple of idler linkage constructions (the beams in black). It keeps both rotating together, but I'm having issues with vibration, particularly during cyclic pitch. If anyone has any advice on how to stabilize the rotor axle I am all ears. Finally a quick video demonstrating the gearbox in action: Moving on to bodywork, will keep you guys posted.

Yes, I am afraid the blades are starting to look too small. Not sure how I'd prefer to go about fixing it but I suppose that can wait until I have a better sense of the size of the completed model. Thank you! The coast guard Jayhawk was one of my first picks but I was afraid the color patterns were a bit out of my league. Appreciate the enthusiasm!

Impressive how many motors you've crammed into here! Do you ever have issues with the IR signal with both your receivers facing inward like that?

Very creative indeed! I wonder how much more complicated trying to suspend and drive such an axle might get though as you mention

It seems about time for me to get into the TC15 spirit. I've been building up a storm in my dorm room every chance I've had when I haven't been studying, and it seems about time I share my progress. I noticed that there are notably few helicopters so far, I think just steph's Chinook and Eric's Skycrane. So I decided to join the fray, and I'm going big on this one, the Sikorsky S-70C Firehawk, the cousin of the military Blackhawk. Unlike the blackhawk though, this one comes in pretty colors: Sikorsky S-70C - N2FH FireHawk by Christopher Ebdon, on Flickr I want my model to focus on playability, so I plan on making the swashplate RC controlled with PF. I also wanted to use as few motors as possible, so here's what I'm planning: 1 L motor - rotor blade rotation 1 M motor (or L motor if needed) - swashplate control 1 Servo motor - switch between collective, left/right cyclic and forward/backward cyclic So few motors means that the gearbox is naturally a beast, so it will likely be taking up the entire rear of the helicopter. Waiting on a few more parts to arrive before I share what I've concocted on that front. In the meantime, here's what I've been working on: Sikorsky S70-C Firehawk - WIP by jwarner1718, on Flickr I apologize ahead of time for the wild colors and stickers, my selection of panels is pretty slim so I'll be playing 'rainbow warrior' for a while until I have most of the design down. Easier to order everything at once right? Sikorsky S70-C Firehwak - WIP by jwarner1718, on Flickr Both cyclic sticks are synchronized using a few linkages. They will not be linked up to the swashplate movement, something I had debated for a long time, but decided that with the route I had taken with the gearbox it just wasn't feasible to fit it in. I guess this makes a fair consolation prize though. Sikorsky S-70C Firehawk - WIP by jwarner1718, on Flickr The battery box sits behind the pilot seats, and the fake collective lever acts as a pin that can be removed to slide it out. I'm really excited for this contest, hoping to finish in time and that I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. If I don't make it before the contest though I'm definitely finishing this one. Cheers, Jonathan

I might be a bit late to the party here, but isn't this the first time we've seen a mini-v8 in an official set? I know the Mack had a straight-six that was similar but i don't recall a seeing a v8

There seem to be a lot more university-age AFOLs on here than I thought, and it seems that moving parts back and forth is somewhat of an issue, so I thought I'd share my solution: Traveling Bricks - Mobile Collection by jwarner1718, on Flickr I picked these toolboxes up at a local hardware store for roughly $20 apiece, and they're wonderful. Probably not suitable for larger stationary collections, but they make it much easier to take a reasonable amount of parts with me. They stack nicely so I can fit them fairly easily into a dorm closet. Traveling Bricks - Mobile Collection by jwarner1718, on Flickr There's a top and bottom section to hold both large and small parts. The individual compartments can be removed so I don't have to sit the entire box on my desk while I'm building. Usually they litter the floor all around my feet when I'm busiest. Traveling Bricks - Mobile Collection by jwarner1718, on Flickr One more normal toolbox for larger parts. The CLAAS tires wouldn't fit in the other boxes at all, so I just put all my tires in here. PF parts and pneumatics, as well as flex axles and rotor blades. Just thought I'd share how I'm making LEGO work with college, maybe it will help some people find solutions that let them build anywhere too.

Right there with you! My first exam is Friday but I've spent the whole day building. Oh well Best of luck to you!

Microscale Technic is a rarity, but a beauty nonetheless!

I'm already excited for this one. You've put out some amazing helicopters but this one just might take the cake!

I am so ready for this. I've had a concept festering for a while and this is my motivation to actually make it. Really excited!