CaptainSerMig

Hey everyone, The Riviera is one of my favorite sets of all time, a choice in no small part biased from the fact that I live in its real life inspiration! Here's an expansion I made, trying to keep the original model as unchanged as possible:

Hopefully I'm allowed to mention this, but instructions are finally live on Rebrickable. It's my first time doing it so it took a bit of learning. You can take a look here

@1gor I’d be satisfied with a generic truck, as long as the functions exist IRL @Jundis ah yes the random 4am burst of energy! I feel ya

That would make sense, a much less intricate mechanism. I guess it varies from manufacturer to manufacturer as here in Italy Iveco recycling trucks don’t steer the third axle when it’s lifted. I’ll have to look into it

Man that’s some quality truck! I still haven’t fully grasped how the steering reallignes after the axle is lowered again. I suppose a full left or full right is less than 1/4th of a rotation of that yellow 4 lobed gear, so it slips into place? My solution is definitely far less refined, I’m not sure I have the skills to accomplish such a mechanism, but I’m satisfied with what I have so far. Will try to update the topic as the moc progresses

While building this I realized that most liftable axles in heavy trucks steer by themselves thanks to specific caster angles and auto-center when lifted. It's hard to replicate that function at this scale so this is my alternative to the problem (haven't done much research to see if it was implemented before): it uses a rubber joint that gets stretched when the lifted axle is locked straight, thus allowing the front axle to steer. As a side effect it allows different steering radii thanks to the fact that the rear axle has a limiter (2x4 L beam). Still have to test it under heavy loads, but i suspect that by lifting it a few fractions of a millimeter it should steer fine. https://flic.kr/p/2rbiVFx https://flic.kr/p/2rbiVHX https://flic.kr/p/2rbdjpe https://flic.kr/p/2rbhQ1V https://flic.kr/p/2rbiP1V https://flic.kr/p/2rbhPTk

Thanks @grum64 and @LEGO Train 12 Volts appreciated!

Thanks! Still wondering if I should tile off the fenders or not…

Hey everyone! While the Icons Defender is definitely a great set, I still felt it didn't properly capture all the shape and proportions I look for in a Defender. Starting with a white prototype I came up with this version over a few weeks (and BL orders ) later. The model features interiors and... not much more actually XD My only focus was getting the shapes and angles just right, so no steering, suspensions or opening doors. For anyone interested it should be relatively easy to reverse engineer, and it would be cool to see a 110 or a 130. It also should be fairly simple to recolor.

@bruhThanks!! @Milan Wow this really made my day! I would love to someday build a more offroad ready variant, with larger tires and a snorkel, but we’ll see. One thing I definitely want to do is work on istructions, if anyone out there had any interest in building this for themselves, or use it as a canvas for their own.

So, here are a few more details about the model: Work in progress pics, as I found out early on that the Icons Defender seems to scale very well to 1 stud = 10cm. I went ahead with that scale, with the added benefit of the finished product looking accurate near the Land Rover It features single hard springs both front and rear, but with the front being much heavier it sags down just enough to look intentional. Stroke of luck. I may have to add a second one if I ever get around to building a detailed engine compartment though. Here it is compared to real life. I would like to add a custom Dakar decal for added authenticity And of course, full interiors! The rear doors, as you may guess, are by far the most delicate part of the build, held together by a couple of droid arms each. But hey, they work and don't sag when fully opened. In the future it would be cool to get some custom chromed parts for the bed roll bars and side view mirrors, and possibly some 3D printed rims, but for now I'm more than satisfied with the result. Thanks for following along! If you want can find a few more pics on flickr (didn't want to overload this thread)

@Milan My bad, thanks for the heads up! I’ll try to fix things later today @2GodBDGlory Thank you! It absolutely was

Hey everyone. The model is to scale with the Icons Defender 90. Functions include steering, front doible wishbone and rear live axles, opening doors, tailgate and hood (still no engine inside though). It’s made to resemble as much as possible the one i actually used to have IRL.

This might be a good option. But we need to see how high the price of the new wheels settles, if it is too high then 3rd party large wheels could prove to be the better deal

Well, frankly it doesn’t sound so bad. I’m just hoping for the best and patiently waiting to see these changes first hand. Fingers crossed it’s not a disaster