2GodBDGlory

For this contest, I decided to go with a classic Technic set rather than a System one, largely because of the easier interpretation of the rules, and my greater knowledge of classic Technic sets. My parts collection essentially limited me to building only black, light grey, and red models, and eventually I settled on the classic Whirlwind Rescue helicopter set, which was (in my opinion) the most advanced Technic helicopter from 1991 until 2012. The original set's functions include crank-operated rotors, a folding crane arm, a winch, retractable landing gear, and a joystick-operated rotor tilting mechanism, which works in all four axes. My plan is to keep all of the original functions, but to replace the rather unrealistic tilting rotor with a proper cyclic pitch mechanism, using a swashplate. The first step in the build process was to build the original set as a reference, which naturally ended up being very ugly due to my lack of studfull pieces. No matter! After this, I set about designing a swashplate design that would fit in the model without looking too ugly (following the time-tested maxim of "Start with the hardest part!", and eventually came up with this design. Next, I started throwing together a rough frame, copying the original model fairly closely, and started hooking up landing gear and the rear propeller. This is where the model stands currently, and it may stay in this state for a little longer while I finish up a large project I have almost completed. I imagine the hardest part will be hooking up the joystick to the pitch mechanism, but I doubt the model will prove a great challenge. My main worry is that it lacks imagination, but I'll see what happens as I proceed with the contest. Thanks to all those who helped set up this contest! (Contests are great for forum activity! We've had five new posts of contest entries in the last three hours!)

Looks interesting! The small scale could be a real challenge, though, but I look forward to seeing what you'll come up with!

Sheesh! A micromotor! They really do want to compete!

It does look pretty nice in that color!

Also, could an exception to the proposed no-motors rule be made to allow equivalent electronics, but only in sets that originally included motors? There are some very appealing classic sets (control centers, multi model control set, barcode multi set, space shuttle, etc) that really cannot be rebuilt manually without losing most of what made them special in the first place.

Before the frenzy starts, I'm going to claim my set, the 1979 classic, 875 Red Beams with Connector Pegs. I've even got my entry ready! In all seriousness, this contest doesn't hugely excite me, but I get that you can't please everyone all the time. I'll probably find something to enter, though, just because contests are so much fun!

That's what I'm wondering. Rebuilding a set with only the original functions would likely result in only simple functions being included, which would be a bit of a turnoff for me. (Choosing a topic carefully could help, though) Well, my studded set collection is limited to two >100 piece motorcycles, but I do have enough studded parts in my collection to more or less rebuild the majority of studded sets (ie, I rebuilt all the classic supercars in wild colors), so a lot can be done with a little. It would also be necessary to determine which sets are studded and which are studless, since some sets really blur the line.

Nice! Even more reduction could be achieved by replacing the 12:24 gearing with a 8:28 one, though.

I think I'd enter a modular car contest. It would give me a great excuse to build a scale model without bodywork!

It sounds like a competition like that has already been done in at least one local community, so such a contest would lack interest for at least a few users here.

Very nice! I like the focus on functionality, especially the gearbox and front-wheel drive, and the crisp white look is good as well! As a heads-up to North American users, we got this car badged as the Acura RSX, rather than as the Integra.

My solution was to buy up 40 fake ones for a mere $4 after all but one of my Lego ones cracked. At that price, I don't really care if they're expendable.

I like the use of the LBG wheel covers. As far as I know, they are only available as a single copy in the Volvo Hauler's dashboard, but that doesn't stop folks from ordering up a full set from Lego! Otherwise, it is a very good looking car!

It's a very cool product, and the speed graphs shown in the video really demonstrate the performance I'm leaving on the table using the Lego 8878 battery. Sadly, it is really just too expensive for me to justify... Is there any chance of a clearance sale on old 2.0s? Also, the slight curves on the bottom would prove very useful in RC motorcycles in which the battery slides left and right to change weight distribution, as this edge can easily catch otherwise.

Nice work! I always get a little excited whenever I see an F-550 with the standard pickup bed, which has only happened a few times!

Now, if the top half of the cup is full of water, and the bottom half is truly empty (a vacuum), you may get to watch the lower half of the glass implode!

Speaking of plastic engines, I remember reading this article recently about testing plastic pistons in a real engine. It doesn't go well... https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a36317881/plastic-pistons-test/

I certainly appreciate the mechanical brilliance in GBCs, and I can see myself enjoying building them, but they tend to be very dependent on System parts, particularly lots of tiles, and my System collection is too weak to easily sustain this sort of building. (And I'm too cheap to buy more!) I guess I'd also have to find some balls to use... Maybe I could get a handful next time I order stuff from Lego.

Of the three most seriously considered contest ideas lately (GBC, static, and studfull to studless), the only one I would personally plan on entering would be the static model one, for what it's worth, mainly just because I have no GBC experience, and the studfull to studless one would focus more on appearance and strong design rather than the functions I favor. This is just my opinion, though!

That sounds like a nice, cheap lube! Maybe I'll use it someday on my hobby-powered models.

It seems like a good idea, but as others have said, some scale models don't really have anything to do with Technic. Scale models of machines, for example, I have no problem at all having on here, but scale models of static objects don't really make sense to be on the Technic forum. I don't browse the scale modeling forum myself, though, so I don't know what the actual proportion is between static and dynamic models over there.

Yeah, it is a huge pain. I have been using a different program for my videos with a much less intrusive watermark, but I run into problems with my powered up models, because I can't film with my phone and control it at the same time. I've taken video with my old digital camera (Ram TRX) and with my mom's phone (Jeep Cherokee and this model), but then I have had trouble getting them onto my phone in the right format for editing. This time, I gave up after an hour or so of trying to get the videos onto the phone, so I just used my old annoying converter. Hopefully I can come up with something better in the future! I'm glad to see interest in this concept, so I'll plan on doing some more in the future. A likely prospect is a modern reinterpretation of Sheepo's fascinating Porsche PDK transmission, with separately controlled friction clutches.

This model is the start of a potential series of drivetrain models. The idea for this came from the original Koenigsegg Jesko's unique transmission design. Between the transmission and several other notable features, I had considered building a full 1:8 scale Jesko model, but I'm still hesitant to spend much time on bodywork that could be spent building interesting mechanical features. Eventually, the idea struck to build a sort of display model showcasing the drivetrain of this car, but without the encumbrances of bodywork. In the end, the model is essentially the drivetrain and rear axle of the car, on top of a paneled base, with a pair of lever-operated controls as well as Powered Up control for other functions. Features: Suspension Rear-Wheel Steering Drive 9-speed, 6-clutch nonsequential transmission Differential Lock Aesthetic: There isn't really an aesthetic, though I tried to keep the mechanical bits black, and the base is a constant LBG. Suspension: Perhaps I would have limited this model to a basic transmission demonstration, were it not for Koenigsegg's unusual triplex suspension design. Taking inspiration from previous Lego renderings of this design, I designed a suspension with hard shocks for each wheel, the central spring (heave spring?), and the Z-shaped anti-roll bar. Steering: Because the real car features rear-wheel steering, I did so too. There is a basic PF Servo design with a rack, with the motor being controlled by a PF switch connected to an external wheel. This switch is hooked up to the custom camera battery stuffed inside the PU hub. There is also castor angle and kingpin inclination. Drive: There is a hidden PF L-motor, controlled by a switch, like the steering motor, which runs the V8 piston engine and then the rear wheels, after passing through the transmission. Transmission: The transmission is naturally the highlight of this build, and aims to replicate the real car's complicated setup. The real car has six individual clutches, and is built in a 3x3=9 setup. There is then one clutch for each of the two sets of three gears, and because all the shifting is done by simply clutching and unclutching gears, without any mechanical setup, shifts can be wildly fast, and can jump from any gear to any other gear immediately. Additionally, there is a clutch to engage reverse, as well as a clutch controlling the rear differential, for eight clutches in all. In my simplified design, each side of each transmission driving ring acts as a clutch. The basic gearbox is, like the original, composed of two sets of three-speed gearboxes, with one also having an additional reverse gear, making it a 9+3R transmission (two Rs are ignored). I also connected a driving ring to the rear differential to simulate the locking of it, but in order to simplify design, it is connected to one of the other clutches through a linkage, such that the lock is always engaged in gears 1-3. This makes partial sense, given that slip situations in a car like this are most likely in hard launches, but is also kind of stupid in that most corners are taken in lower gears. I probably should have made an individual motor control it, but I didn't think of it in time. The shifting itself was controlled using all four of my PU motors, two Ls and two XLs, each one controlling one of the driving rings for the 3-speed and 3+R transmissions. With complicated programming, I was able to create a realistic control setup. This consisted of a 3x3 square of blank dots, which corresponded to gears 1-9 in the same pattern as my calculator. Beside this were three buttons with square symbols on them, controlling Park, Reverse, and Neutral. There was also + and - buttons to allow for sequential shifting through the gears, as well as a dial to indicate which speed was in use (1-9 for the normal speeds, and 17, 19, and 15 for P R and N, since they are the 17th, 19th, and 15th letters in the alphabet, respectively). This control allowed for shifting in both sequential and nonsequential modes. Of note is the Park setting, which engaged two gears at once on the output gearbox, locking the wheels, while leaving the input gearbox in neutral, so that the engine could continue idling, as in a real car. To really understand its operation, it is probably best to watch my video, below. Overall, this was quite an interesting model to build, and I liked the basic concept of building an interesting drivetrain without having to build a model around it. The Powered Up was also very cool to watch as it shifted very smoothly and reliably through gears, directly to any gear I selected. My images are at: https://bricksafe.com/upload

Is that even a PF train remote? It does look like one, but it has much more black on the front than is normal. Perhaps it is some chinese remote, or it simply has stickers or parts on top of it.

I was thinking it would be fun to build a true off-road bike too. If I try it, I'll think I will go with the "stuff-the-tires-with-marbles" strategy described in the RC Motorcycle thread. This should allow better stability at lower speeds.