2GodBDGlory

Now that I finally figured out how to hook up my high-powered motor to Lego without harming pieces (much), I'll have to make some fast off-roaders! Maybe I should wait for spring, though. That looks like quite a fun toy!

Fun! I don't know if I've ever seen someone take mixing colors in a Lego model that seriously! Not a Technic one, at least...

Thanks! I'm not actually building MOCs quite that quickly as it looks, though, because I have been catching up on all the backlog of models I made before I joined Eurobricks. I'm finally done that job, though! Thanks! I liked the character those panels have it, and I always like seeing rainbow-colored trucks on the road.

This model was a follow-up of sorts to my '95 F-150. It used the same joystick 5+R manual transmission, but with a much less complex model overall. I am pleased with how well it drove, and with the appearance. Functions: -Front independent suspension -Rear live axle suspension -RWD with two Buggy motors and a V8 piston engine -Steering with a PF M-motor and working steering wheel -5+R RC manual transmission -Opening doors, hood, and trunk -Folding rear bench More details: Aesthetics: I was quite pleased with the bodywork. The car's boxy profile made it fairly easy to model, and I believe I built 99-100% of the bodywork in a single day! Opening stuff: Interior: Suspension: Nothing special here Drive: The car was driven with two RC Buggy motors, powered by a Lego rechargeable battery and a homemade Lithium battery. There was a V8 piston engine under the hood (under the battery) Planetary hubs on the rear axle helped a lot with gear reduction, and its driving ability was impressive, with strong performance in all gears, and enough torque to push stuff around in the low gears. With the car's weight, it was never going to be fast, but it was nimble enough to be enjoyable to drive, something that cannot be said for many of my models. Steering: The steering was done by a PF M-motor through a complicated drivetrain to a small linear actuator, which moved a lever, which moved the linkages that moved the wheels. The steering wheel was driven off of the motor's shaft through a worm gear, some universal joints, and a pair of bevel gears. The steering system was reliable, but there ended up being quite a bit of backlash, largely due to the tiny hubs' location of the steering attachment so close to the steering pivot. Gearbox: The gearbox was taken complete from my Ford F-150 model. It is a manual 5+R design, with reverse slower than first, but instead of working the lever by hand, it is controlled by two PF Servo motors, one for sliding the lever left/right, and the other for rotating its axle. Sariel originally came up with a similar idea years ago, but I know of no instance of its incorporation into a model. When controlled from a joystick on the controller, it becomes a very cool, very slick way of shifting through the gears. All gears on the gearbox performed well, though reversing the drive motors in fifth gear sometimes caused some skipping. Images of the loose gearbox show the gearbox used in the F-150; there may be slight differences between it and the Mustang version. Controller: Overall, I was quite pleased with this model. Complexity was low, which allowed for a better-looking, better-performing model than many of my others, and the gearbox was a lot of fun! Images at: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/1983-ford-mustang And with that, I am finally caught up on posting stuff, for the first time since I joined EuroBricks, nearly a year ago! Yippee!

This model featured a few unusual functions, such as its joystick-controlled, RC, 5+R manual gearbox, its Twin Traction Beam front suspension, and its full complement of working controls in the cab. It was designed to look like the kind of truck a rural, American(or Canadian) teenage hooligan might drive, and thus had a number of mismatched body panels, oversized tires, and a lift. Functions: -Twin Traction Beam front suspension -Floating-axle rear suspension -Opening doors, hood, and tailgate -Drive with two buggy motors and a V8 piston engine -Working gas pedal with a PF Servo motor linked to the drive motors -Steering with a PF L-motor and a working wheel -5+R manual gearbox with working lever, controlled by two PF Servo motors -2H/4H/4L transfer case with working lever, controlled by PF L-motor -Pneumatic brakes (disc/drum) with working pedal -Clutch with working pedal, controlled by PF M-motor -Parking brake (rear drums) with working pedal -RC pneumatic compressor with PF M motor You may note that this model actually uses ten independent IR channels, which is not possible with original Lego. My little secret is that I used a knock-off receiver and remote, which happen to operate on different channels than Lego ones do. Here are some more details: Aesthetic: I was fairly pleased with the aesthetic, though it could surely use some polishing. Thankfully, the boxy design of these old trucks makes bodywork relatively easy. One little feature I liked was that the entire bed could be lifted off after disconnecting the battery on/off switch and four pins. Opening stuff: Suspension: The front suspension was the Twin Traction Beam design used on Ford/Mazda light trucks in the 80s and 90s. It is similar to a swingarm (Tatra) design in that wheels are attached by only one pivot, and thus undergo camber change, but rather than having the differential between the swingarms, it is housed on one of them, allowing the suspension pivots to be placed further from their wheels, minimizing camber change. This image from a Ford Ranger (taken from this website: https://www.therangerstation.com/tech/ford-ranger-dana-44-ttb-conversion-faqs/) demonstrates the principle fairly well. Note the universal joint between the two swingarms. My design worked fairly well, and was sprung with one 6.5L hard shock per side. The rear suspension was a much more conventional live axle design, sprung by flex axles simulating leaf springs. Drive: Two coupled buggy motors drove the truck, along with a V8 piston engine. Each motor had to have its own battery, so I used my Lego rechargeable box and my camera battery. A Servo motor was coupled with the drive motors to move the gas pedal. In the end, performance was awful, with the truck only driving grudgingly in 4L, second gear. Steering: Steering was done with a PF L-motor, which ran a worm gear to a 24T gear, which moved a beam left and right, which steered the wheels. The top of the worm gear drove some 8T gears, which drove the steering wheel. Gearbox: The gearbox was somewhat similar to a design Sariel displayed years ago, in which two PF Servo motors would control a six-speed gearbox. My design used instead a 5+R transmission I designed, with the reverse gear placed after fifth. One Servo motor ran some bevel gears to rotate the axle the shifter was on, and the other moved a 6L link left and right to slide the lever. This could be controlled with a two-way joystick on a PF remote, and was a very cool, very authentic, way to shift the gears, and it was especially cool to see the stick in the cab move realistically. Transfer Case: A PF L-motor ran a small linear actuator, which moved a 2L beam, which rotated an axle, which pulled (with a rubber band) a selector into 4WD, and then shifted the truck into low range. It is quite a complicated mechanism to describe, but it merely functioned to shift the truck sequentially through 2H, 4H, N, and 4L. There was also a lever in the cab that moved a bit as the case shifted. Brakes: The front wheels had basic disc brakes, with one small pneumatic cylinder for each. These brakes weren't especially strong, but were much stronger than any huge-backlash mechanical solution I could have come up with. The rear axle, being a straight axle, was much easier to brake, and also much stronger. It used a long, skinny pneumatic cylinder to press 2L rubber axle joiners against drums. Drum brakes were new for me! A small pneumatic cylinder on the same circuit moved the brake pedal. A PF M-motor flipped two pneumatic valves to engage this function (Two valves were needed, because the rear brake had to be on a separate circuit in order for the regular brake and the parking brake to both work). Clutch: The clutch was a simple affair with a transmission driving ring, controlled by a PF M-motor through a complicated linkage. The clutch pedal moved, thanks to semi-rigid tubes and string. Parking Brake: An additional M-motor flipped a single pneumatic switch to engage only the rear drum brake as a parking brake. A setup of string and semi-rigid hoses worked the foot parking brake. Compressor: A PF M-motor ran a compressor to power the brakes, but it proved totally inadequate (Not that the truck needed any help stopping...) Controller: The controller was massive! Overall, I was quite pleased with the truck, except for its disinclination to drive. It packed a lot of interesting functions into a mid-sized model, and it had a lot of character, too! My favorite feature was the simulated manual gearbox, which was deserving of a more driveable car (said more drivable car is finished and on my desk right now.) Images at: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/1995-ford-f-150 Imagine this die-hard Ford fan's chagrin if he were to ever discover the Chrysler references hidden in his grille!

I recently built this famed set out of my collection, just to see what it was like. The way my collection is, it ended up being built in my trademark LBG, with many painted panels. Before long, though, I decided to chase RC performance. I installed my near-hobby RC motor backed by a planetary hub for gear reduction where the piston engine once went, replaced the differential with a "square" of two 12T bevel gears, a 28T bevel gear, and a 28T bevel gear from the new differential (because it couldn't have an axle hole). This setup spreads out forces much more evenly than a simple set of two bevel gears, which is key when this much power is at play. I disconnected the gearbox, locked out the rear suspension and replaced the CV joints with straight axles, and added some grease to the drivetrain. I then added the near-hobby servo motor up to the steering system and disconnected the steering wheel, found a place to tuck the circuit board for control, and dumped the 9.6V lithium battery in the passenger footwell. Amazingly, this high-power setup in a heavy car didn't destroy a single drivetrain element! Testing of the car was a lot of fun! The modifications were shockingly reliable, and the car could actually drift with a fresh battery! I tried conducting some top speed tests in the longest hall in our house, which was not nearly long enough, and reached a top speed of 9 km/h. I would be curious to know how much faster it could go, given more space. It was a great toy, given the good appearance of the original set, and the good performance of the modification. Perhaps I will apply a similar mod to other sets in the future! Dom's Dodge Charger would fit the theme well, but I don't have the tires... Drivetrain mods: Steering mods: Control mods: Images at: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/porsche-911-gt3-rs-mod My video of the car got rather destructive!

1987 Suzuki Nuda Concept Functions: -Dual Swing-arm suspension -2WD, with shaft drive -Hub-centered steering, with a bit of a virtual pivot -6-speed sequential gearbox (pedal operated, no ratchet) -Clutch (lever-operated) -Front disc brake (lever-operated) -Rear disc brake (pedal-operated) -I-4 piston engine Main image Left side Underbody shot Bare Chassis

Now is the time to make my final presentation of this model. If you've been following the WIP of this model, you might be wasting your time reading this, but I want to add a more concise summary of the final model. I finished it and took it apart weeks ago, but am prone to procrastination in posting stuff. The only change made since the last update was the addition of a couple black stiff hoses to shape the seat cushion. As most of my contemporaries will know but future viewers may not, this model was built for EuroBrick's TC19 motorcycle contest. I decided to go for an all-in complexity approach because: A. I like building extremely complex stuff, and B. There's no way I can compete with the masters in the fields of appearance and refinement. In the end, I settled on making a model of Suzuki's wild 1987 Nuda concept, and stayed fairly true to its mechanical features. My model had the following ones: -Dual Swing-arm suspension -2WD, with shaft drive -Hub-centered steering, with a bit of a virtual pivot -6-speed sequential gearbox (pedal operated, no ratchet) -Clutch (lever-operated) -Front disc brake (lever-operated) -Rear disc brake (pedal-operated) -I-4 piston engine More details follow! Aesthetic: I was pleasantly surprised with the final model. It had a tubular frame, because, and I quote (myself) "It is using a more skeletal approach, since I couldn't see how I could fill it in without: A. Using more System slopes than the "no Model Team" rules allows, B. Using my painted light blush grey panels, which is not allowed, or C. Making it ugly." Suspension: Both wheels had a swing arm suspension, with the front one sprung by two 6.5L hard shocks, and the rear one sprung with one shock. Unfortunately, both sides ended up requiring a vertical axle to prevent the wheel from tilting side-to-side. The suspension ended up being stiff, particularly in the front, where the semi-rigid hose for the front brake worked as an additional, unintended, spring. Drive: Both wheels are driven by shafts. The rear wheel was simple, with merely a pair of bevel gears, but the front had to use bevel gears, two universal joints, and a sliding section of axle, to drive it. After going through the clutch and gearbox, the wheels drove the I-4 piston engine. Steering: Steering was meant to be hub-centered, and used a virtual pivot setup. In the end, though, after I added the axle to stabilize the suspension, the working pivot likely ended up being around this axle, which was at any rate very close to the wheel. The handlebars pushed a 6L link, which moved a beam forwards and backwards, which moved a 9L link forwards and backwards, to steer the wheel. Transmission: The model had a 6-speed sequential gearbox, with three driving rings controlled by a single rotary shifter, thanks to unusual spacing. The shifting mechanism was very simple, though, with a simple pedal that would rotate 360 degrees to shift through all the gears. It was also very easy to shift the gearbox into multiple gears at once, because of the tight spacing of driving rings.

Yeah, I agree about sticking to the boxy. It lets me put in less effort, while still having a better-looking result!

Here a couple pictures of the two Audis together:

Well, there are pros and cons to each. The old hubs are good on models where the steered wheels need to be driven, especially when ground clearance is important. The tiny hubs mentioned are especially handy in tight spaces, but make drive nearly impossible, and steering more challenging and imprecise.

Yes, thanks a lot!

This small-scale model was meant to pack as much functionality as possible into a small-scale model. It came about when a friend and I decided to each build a model of the same vehicle at the same scale. Quite naturally, this grew into a technical arms race! Functions: -Independent double-wishbone suspension front and rear -All-wheel-drive using a buggy motor, with three differentials and a micro V8 piston engine -8-speed sequential gearbox, shifted via Servo -Basic brake with M-motor -Pneumatic compressor with L-motor -RC LED lights -Suspension height adjustment (independent left/right, controlled by two Servo motors) -Four-wheel steering with M-motor and pneumatics -Pneumatic opening front doors -Manual opening rear doors -Pneumatic opening hatchback Here are some more details and images of the car's features: Aesthetic: I was pleased with the appearance, but it was undoubtedly boxy, and the exterior was greatly constrained by the space the mechanics took up. Suspension: The suspension is of a double-wishbone independent design, as far as the wheels are concerned, but the drive is more complicated. The differentials are inside ball joint frames, which attach them to the chassis. Directly out of this frame come the CV joints that drive each wheel. Because my width only allowed for these two CV joints, the driven part of the axle resembles a solid axle, but each end of the axle hooks up to a double-wishbone system which attaches to the wheel. The system would have worked fine, but in practice the model was fresh out of ground clearance once all the cables were routed underneath, so it was more a novelty than anything else. Drive: Drive was done with a buggy motor, in a bid to get tolerable performance in a package smaller than a pair of L-motors would have been. After drive went through the gearbox, it drove a 16/24T differential, which then went to the two axles, where new HD differentials took the drive to the four wheels. There was also a micro V8 piston engine in the front. Performance was shockingly good when tested partway through the build, but in the end, the addition of bodywork and cables that scraped the ground severely degraded performance until it would only drive, grudgingly, in the lower gears. Gearbox: The gearbox for this model was lifted straight out of my Ram Rebel TRX model, and was as such seriously overbuilt for such a small model. (Not that an underbuilt one would be much smaller). Rather than controlling it with PU, as in the Ram, it was controlled using a PF Servo motor with a ratcheting mechanism. As with drive, early tests were promising, but the cramming in of hoses and wires ended up causing the motor to jam all too often, though it did work fairly well.

Was it ever considered to make the top and bottom attachments of the Ducati shocks rotate relative to each other, like the old adjustable-hardness ones? This would have some advantages, and seems like it could have been implemented easily, but would perhaps cause unnecessary wiggle when used in motorcycle forks.

I think that is one of my favorite ones so far! It has a good mix of complexity and appearance, and I just have a soft spot for those knobby tires. Good job!

I don't have any AAA battery boxes, but I will say that my 8878 battery has been excellent, far better than my AA ones. Although the AA/AAA boxes offer higher voltage when using non-rechargeable batteries, voltage drops significantly as the batteries are used up, while the 8878 box offers a steady, reliable 7.4V. I do realize, though, that 8878 is getting to be stupidly expensive used, and I probably wouldn't buy a replacement if mine died.

Interesting! I have had only a few blue 3L pins break, but about half of the 20 or so old black ones I have are broken one way or another! I still use them, though.

Nor Canada

Thanks!

I wonder if any of that has to do with the fact that the similar 9398 Crawler existed to fill the market for play value

Yep, the old 14T gears work just fine inside chain, making them the smallest working gear!

Wow! I am surprised they were available that recently! $3 is a fair price for such a rare part. I bought an old cylinder a while back, but it leaks on retraction, so I think the upper seal is bad. Do you guys have any suggestions on how to fix that, or on a similar thread?

Interesting! Do those mesh with the rounded, plate-based gears they came out with recently?

I think they were shown; I tried to go through all the functions, but it has been a few months since I filmed it, so I am not sure. Thanks for the comments, guys!

That's fun! It would be interesting to know how long motors can run at such high voltage! I wonder what purists would think of doing a similar thing with only official Lego power supplies. It would only use Lego, though certainly not in a way Lego expects it to be used!