1980SomethingSpaceGuy

The trailer is not included in the TC entry but it'll eventually go along with Whirl and Wheel on the shelf, so it had to be on par in terms of design and features. Which are quite basic of course, but needed to be made light and reliable. I adapted the support wheels' gear ratio to minimize input rotations per transition and implemented a release button in the back for the helicopter attachment system. The latter locks the heli in place and allows to grab either it or the trailer to transport both. It'll even sustain shaking. The heli can be placed on the trailer and a push on the button will lock it, or through a single move, similar to a ski boot locking into bindings. The coupler is 2 studs long to prevent the trailer from detaching on a doorstep or carpet, since no locking mechanism could be implemented on the truck's side. The front axle has some slack to accommodate pitch when on support wheels. Finally, I added a few details like air tanks and pipes to match the original model. It's definitely not the most impressive build ever, but it really binds the duo into a meaningful set with simple but perfectly reliable play features. That concludes this project, which I very much enjoyed. The work around weight reduction on the truck and the more creative features for the helicopter were both interesting and fun. I'm happy with the outcome; a very solid build that handles a table drop with grace, reliable play features that even young kids can enjoy, some creative solutions I'd never seen before and a wink to a legendary set of my childhood. Thanks again to the admins for organizing this TC!

New image links since the previous ones got reset by OneDrive...

What a beautiful build! So much detail, I'd be gazing at it same as the kid..

Hi @gijutsu-san96! Sorry about the dead links; OneDrive has reset all shared links a couple years ago. Here's some updated ones:

My daughter is in the Friends target age range. She loves those minidolls. And she's not got into the cartoon episodes yet... Indeed the color palette is painfully big and flashy and the dolls lack versatility, but at least accessories are still compatible with minifigs. Altogether, I totally agree with you; once you get over the downsides, Friends is in fact quite an interesting theme.

Yup; cleaned my browser cache, your profile pictures still don't show. Must be server side and since it's been worked on (thanks, btw) I guess we'll have that solved soon.

Good job, looks awesome!

I'm very happy to get my first podium in a TC! This build has been quite a journey and I want to thank the admins for running these contests, all voters for their interest in our models and congrat all my fellow participants; the competition was tough! Long live the TCs, see you in the next one!

Now these are cute little tracks! Sorry you had to ditch the T-Rex, hope we'll see it one day. Kudos for switching to low gear and still deliver a build for this TC!

The Snow Horse - PF RC snowmobile Meant to use a PF servo, this ended relying on a quite creative solution to actuate the skis based on the differential speed of each of the double track propulsion system. Handling is one of a kind but works surprisingly well on low friction surfaces like ice, snow or just a plain hardwood floor. Features full independent suspension with 2-axis of freedom on the tracked sled, actuated handlebars, 2 PF L motors for propulsion and steering, PF receiver and battery box.

Thanks a lot! Your model is really nice and works well with the action figure. Alas, I only have Darth Vader in this collection and his armor happens to forbid the leg movement required to sit legs spread, so it doesn't work with my MOC. Shot some last photos today for the entry: I only have a piece of white background and my mobile phone as a photo studio; it's a pain to get enough light. Anyways, thanks for watching!

Really nice bodywork, well done!

Yep, I tried that too at first. It was bending where it shouldn't and not moving enough where I would have liked to. Moreover, I had no good solution for the torsion spring. I picked this pragmatic solution with acceptable cinematic and external looks so that I could move on. But as we said, this is most likely one of the reasons why we haven't seen an official TLG model of snowmobile yet.

I have this issue with Onedrive sometimes where images won't show correctly. Clearing browser data fixes the problem.

Here's a quick render of the geometry: The upper (red) frame is attached to the chassis. The sled (blue) is on the ground. The tensionner (green) only supports the track. This allows translation of the frame on the vertical axis, in which case the magenta spring barely works: red/dbg/blue/magenta form a parallelogram that squishes down. As this happens, the total perimeter of the structure gets longer, forcing the green spring down too and spreading the load with the yellow spring. Front/back pitching happens around the pink axle (right in front of the pair of pulleys), in which case the front spring (yellow) barely works. Forward pitch (blue moving clockwise around pink) is limited by the length of the magenta spring, which is slightly compressed at rest. Backward pitch tends to shorten both the perimeter and the tensionner and both contribute to reduce track tension. This is not ideal but works for the angles allowed by the structure. Altogether, this is far from an exact reproduction of the geometry of the actual suspension system referenced in my previous posts and does not address track tension flawlessly. But it allows the two degrees of liberty I needed (translation+pitch), work well enough for the requirement and look similar enough to the real thing.