johncarpenter

This is the skid steer loader that I built last year. It was my second build after my long dark ages. I selected the Caterpillar 226B as a reference and selected the 62.4 wheels for this build. I realized only much later that the scale (especially the width) was very challenging. If I were to build this again, I would probably compromise and make it 2 studs wider. However, the biggest challenge on this build was something unexpected: the center of gravity. I started off with the power functions battery box. Due to the size of the model, the only place to put it was at the very back. With the first mockup, it was already clear, front wheels were never going to touch the ground. To fix this, I switched to the AAA battery box, as the AAA batteries weigh much less. This improved the balance, at least it sat still on all 4 wheels. However, it still did a wheelie every time it started to drive. My final card to play was replacing the two IR receivers with an Sbrick, to have less weight at the back. This improved things to the point where I thought that the whole model could work. It was still a wheelie monster, but there was hope. After that, I revisited each part of the model and redesigned to have as much weight as possible at the front. The bucket was brick built to have more weight at the front. The forward chassis had all empty spaces possible filled with liftarms. All empty holes were filled with pins, axles. I could see that I was getting there, but had to take some more extreme measures. In some places I used two thin liftarms instead of a normal liftarm. The cabin was designed to have smaller bricks at the front and so on... It was ridiculous, but in the end, it all helped, and the balance was fixed. Here are some more pictures of the finished model: The arms and the bucket work really well and quick enough. The drive is the weak point on this model, as it is only with M motors. Driving full speed is fine, no problems there. However, they have issues starting to drive with only part throttle, especially with 1.2v rechargable batteries. Due to the balance issue, I considered abandoning this project at several points along the way. However, I'm glad that I kept going, and I'm really happy about the result. Technical details Length: 30 cm Width: 13 cm Height: 17.5 cm Weight: 1.16 kg Power functions 2 x Power Functions M motor for skid steer drive PF L motor for arm lift PF L motor for bucket tilt PF AAA Battery Box Sbrick for control Here is the video with the model in action:

Hmm, I don't really agree with this one. I think that parents do value the B model, simply because it provides twice the value, i.e. the kid is occupied for 16 hours instead of 8. I think this is also what helps justify the high Lego price tags in the eyes of parents, as "it is expensive, but you can build 2 models with this set". For a parent, not having a B model needs that they will need to buy another set sooner. I guess that this may contribute to profits short term, as it encourages buying more sets. However, in the long run, I fear that it will only accelerate the move to other brands, as it will get harder and harder for many parents to justify paying the higher and higher price tags.

Regarding the second point: one of the issues lately, in my opinion, is that many sets do not have a B model anymore. Nowadays, for myself, I do not really care, as I build my own stuff. However, I think a nice B model is quite critical for beginners in "breaking the ice", as in taking the A model apart into pieces and building something else with it. Otherwise the A model sits on a shelf never to be touched again, because there is nothing to facilitate taking it apart. Now, I understand that a B model for a Bugatti or whatever is not easy and perhaps not wanted. However, I really do not get, why sets like the 42108 do not have a B model anymore. It feels like Lego does not want to encourage free building anymore. I'm aware of the many excellent alternate builds that the community produces, but many Lego buyers are not aware that such things even exist.

Electric Scooter Features: Steering Front and rear suspension Electric motor Removable battery pack under the seat Video:

Thanks everyone for the feedback! I've decided to rename the build to Electric Scooter, which I think fits the end result better. Perhaps I will do a more futuristic one in the future, who knows. Finally, here is the video:

Thanks! I tried a lot of at the front to use the bionicle teeth, but I did not come up with anything that looked good. So I stuck with a classic round headlight and taillights as well. Anyway, after getting the panels in the correct panels, and adding a stand and a removable battery, the futuristic scooter is pretty much done. To be honest, it is not as futuristic as I imagined at the beginning, but I like it a lot! Well, here is the finished model. I'll add a video and then make my entry post for the contest...

Really nice build, well done. In some places, the colors are a bit busy, I'm guessing due to parts availability. Nevertheless, it looks fantastic, I think you captured the shapes very well. The back is just excellent. I would be really interested to see the long wheelbase version as well. Are you planning to build that, after the competition?

Here is the next update on this build: I revised the front panels and after several iterations, came up with this: I think it looks a lot better than before. The orange middle section is there to try it out, I'm not sure that I will keep it. Next, I rebuilt the center section of the chassis to be more stiff. I worked on the rear side panels, trying out many different combinations. The main issue was clearance, both with the rear wheel, but also with the brackets holding the springs on the arms hitting the panels. After a lot of back and forth, I settled on this solution, which looks good and has no clearance issues. I also added a simple seat in the meantime. The gray panels are just placeholders, the seat will be black. With the rear panels finalized, I tried out some rear lights. I think I will go with the round ones. Next up, I need to figure out some kind of stand. Then finish up the front, put on the handlebars, tidy up some details, and that should be it.

Yes, the bedsheet over drier works really well.

Now, the images work for me, but they didn't when I saw the thread for the first time. Not sure what, if anything, changed in between.

Sound cool, but I cannot see any of your pictures, you might want to check them.

Thanks a lot for the feedback! I tried out some bodywork with some older panels, still don't have a good idea what fits better. I'm still undecided on the back. Also tried out another white panel, but it looks like the rear is the easier part to style, so I went back to working on the front. First, I hooked up the steering using two cv joints that can telescope. I need that because the axle moves up and down with the suspension, and I don't want the handlebars to move. Also, the angle changes when the front suspension arm swings up and down. With the two joints, it works fine. It looks a bit funny because the whole joint moves back a lot, but this is the best solution I can think of at the moment. I also added some panels at the front. I like this nose so far, but it feels unfinished. I also need to think about where the headlight(s) can go. Next, I will try to complete the bodywork at the front, and add some stiffening to the transition from the middle to the front. I feel like the white fairing #4 (first picture) looks really fitting for a futuristic scooter. Unfortunately, I have only this single one, not a matching pair... At the front, I think I need to continue the panels up a bit more, will experiment to see how it could be done.

Hello everyone! This is my build for the TC19 concept, a futuristic scooter. I have no experience at all with any bikes, so I wanted to keep it simple, and not try to build an existing or convential bike closely. That is also the reason I chose to do a scooter, so it would not be too bad if it looked a bit odd. I have a good selection of white panels, so I was thinking to have the build mainly white and gray, maybe with a bright accent color. This build has taken quite a few twists and turns, here is the story so far. I started off with the front wheel and wanted to have something different to a normal fork. I was just experimenting with how the fork could come from the sides of the wheel. Of course, this restricts the possible turning angle of the wheel. After some iteration, I came up with the following solution: The supports that hold the front wheel can slide back and forth slightly using a pivot in the chassis. This solved the small turning angle of the front wheel, and I quite liked the solution. I put together a very basic lower chassis together with this front wheel. I had the drive to the rear wheel gear driven, but I did not yet know how I would forward this inside the chassis. At this point, I was wondering if I could also incorporate front suspension into this otherwise simple build. I added a pivot between the front section and the chassis, and tried both the front and rear shock springs horizontal. This gave me the idea to have height adjustable suspension. The springs meet the 3l thin liftarms which are on opposing gears. I wanted to then have a worm gear which would adjust the height of the suspension. I also started on some bodywork. Unfortunately, I could not figure out a way to package this. Neither could I find a way to place the worm gear for the ride height, but also it was impossible to transmit the power from the rear wheel into the chassis with this configuration. With the goal of getting something finished before the end of the contest, I settled on having only rear suspension and tried to move forward. I pushed forward to complete the bodywork, but it did not work out so well. Obviously, this was far too low and long, with completely wrong proportions. Working without a blueprint is flexible, but it does make getting the proportions more difficult, as I was quickly learning... My next iteration was still not pretty, but a bit more successful. The bodywork still needed more, but at this point my main problem was that I could not figure out a way to transmit the motion from the rear wheel into the chassis. As it would be a futuristic scooter, I wanted to have an electric motor and a battery. However, with the front wheel mechanism eating up a lot of the space, this was not possible. Also, the overall scale, given by the wheels that I had on hand, was simple too small. At this point, I decided to order other wheels and start over, with the same ideas but a bigger scale. I thought that the wheels from the set 8417 would be suitable for a futuristic scooter. Also, they were not as large as some of the other motorcycle wheels, which I preferred. So, starting off with the larger scale from stratch, I went back to the adjustable ride height to see if that would work. It still did not seem like I could package everything in. Again, I could not find a good place for the worm gear for the ride height. Also, the spring for the front suspension would interfere with how I wanted to bring the steering linkage up. I think it would have been possible if I went for a look having a lot of mechanicals outside. In that case, maybe the spring could be on the outside edge, leaving space for a motor in the middle. In the end, I decided to abandon the ride height adjustment. I may come back to it for another build in the future, but for now, I decided to go without it. Next, I built the arm for the rear wheel, including the gear driven drivetrain. As this is a small scooter, I decided to have just a simple transmission without multiple gears. I would have loved to have a small piston engine, but it just did not seem to be futuristic. That's why I decided to go with an "electric motor", with yellow accents. I had to revise this part several times to have gearing down from the motor to the wheel, so that the motor runs faster when the bike is driven. After this, I continued with the back part of the chassis and hooked up the rear suspension. This is where I'm at with the build right now. Next up, I'll be looking at how to hook up the steering and to start with the bodywork.

This is looking really nice. Do you have a picture of the chassis from the top and the back? I would be interested to see how you packaged the motors and gears for the arms and the bucket. Is the chassis 11 studs wide? I built a skid steer a while back, in a smaller scale, and had a lot of headaches packaging everything in. My chassis was 9 studs wide, so only 7 studs wide inside.

Thanks everyone. It's a shame that it's not a Lego tire, it looked nice. Though I must say the new Wrangler tires do look nice for many projects as well.

Hello everyone, I've recently bought a bunch of mixed Lego, and came across a single, small tractor tire which looks nice. Unfortunately, I was not able to find this tire anywhere, and I'm starting to suspect that it is not a Lego part. There are no markings on it, it looks like this: I would appreciate it if any one can identify this tire, and whether it is Lego or not.

Some nice details on this truck. I especially like the spare wheel and toolbox. I see that the IR receiver is mounted upside down. How well does that work?

Looking very nice already. What is that black piece used for the seat?

Great build! I like the styling as well as the great packaging, very nice and compact. What about some kind of scissor lift next?

Yes, there are two versions of this vehicle, one with sliding doors and one with standard doors. As @HUWI mentioned, the first two pictures of the original show the standard, swing out doors, sorry for the confusion on that. I could not find a clean picture of the one with sliding doors. The third picture in my first post shows the detail of the sliding door version. I tried to capture how the sliding door mechanism works, by taking out the seats: The grey part is hinged and offset 1 stud to the inside of the red door frame. When the door slides back, the grey part rides up on the wheelwell and pivots up: This is how the grey "swing up" part of the door looks from the outside. @Jundis, yes, I tried those brackets as well, but somehow it did not work out so well. I cannot remember exactly why, maybe the bottom edge did not look good. Anyway, after the move, I will try that, it could be better with those brackets.

Thanks for the encouraging feedback. I've gotten all the pieces in the correct colors, so the exterior is now finished. I have done some work on the interior, but will probably refine it a bit more. The lever in the cabin to lock or unlock the trailer coupling is now working, you can see it between the seats. Also, I want to do a matching luggage cart. Unfortunately, these two will have to wait a bit as I will be moving in the next months, and my legos are now packed up.

Was there a particular reason why you used 3 cables? Just due to the layout of your model, or are they necessary? By the way, if anybody wants to see what the project was, I've posted it here.

Thanks for your comment. I had the same idea about using only one motor for both normal driving and "button driving". The 2 speed gearbox could definitely be done. However, the part which I could not figure out is how to hook up the same motor to be driven by both the IR receiver and also the onboard pf switch. I asked about that in this thread, but it looked like this was creating more issues than it solved (2 switches etc...). I still might try that when I get an extension cable. If it works, I will rebuild it with a single drive motor as it is the more elegant solution.

Here is the next update on this build: I decided to widen the model to 15 studs, to have any chance of fitting everything in. With that change, I could move the battery up, and the mechanicals down. The deciding factor for the layout was the clutch mechanism to switch between the main motor and the "button drive" motor. I started out with an L motor for the main drive. Due to the space available, I was not able to fit in any gear reduction, and it ended up far too fast and jumpy. As there was no available space for any other gearing, I decided to switch out the L motor with an XL, whose speed is about half as much as the L. This made the driving much steadier. The obvious place for the servo was in the middle, and the right side of the model had the M motor for the "button drive" motor. I started out trying to hook up the M motor using normal gears. However, it was difficult to get enough gear reduction in the restricted volume while still having enough gear reduction. Finally, I tried out a worm gear, which worked out much simpler and easier. The way this function works is as follows: The clutch just forward of the differential takes power from either the L motor or the M motor. The L motor for normal driving is connected to the IR receiver. The M motor for the button drive is connected to a PF switch. To switch to the "button drive" the yellow liftarm sticking out of the left side towards the back is pulled out. This switches the clutch to the M motor. Then, the liftarm can be tilted back and forth, for driving backwards and forwards. The red sliding 8t gear engages a 24t gear below, which is connected to the PF switch below (barely visible in the photos). The two small 2l red liftarms prevent the tilting when the liftarm is not yet pulled out to enable the function. I was really happy with how this feature came out. The last feature is the trailer coupling at the back. I made a little handle which can be used to open or lock the coupling. Also, the function is forwarded all the way into the cockpit at the front. I will add a level there so that it is also possible to actuate the function from the cockpit. After breathing a sigh of relief that all the functions fit inside, I completed some of the exterior details. I started on the load area, and added a swing up part, which will be used to access the battery box. This is pretty close to how the real thing is. This is how the whole model looks at the moment. Next, I will add some seats and other details to the cabin, and finish the shallow load area. Many of the details still need the pieces in the correct colors, most of which are on the way. The one headache is that the curved 4 long piece I used at the back corner is super expensive in dark bluish grey. I checked the similar but 2 long piece, but that one is not available in dark bluish grey at all. I looked around for other pieces that have the same curvature, but was not able to find any part that would replace it. Does anyone have ideas on this?

Sorry, pictures should be fixed now...