Jeroen Ottens

Hi, The third incarnation of the bodywork. I followed @Didumos69 advice and have moved the A-pillar 2 studs back and elongated it with 2 studs, which makes the roof a lot shorter. Furthermore I cleaned up the area near the doorhinge (it is a bit colourvomitious ATM, especially the black 3x7 panel should be dark azure) @Meatman: this nicely fills the gap behind the fender I think. Finally I widened the body with 2 studs, so the wheels are now too far inside: I also made a first bonnet that is somewhat acceptable I think. It still lacks flow though, so more work to be done in that area. In all other areas the panels really start to flow well into each other, I actually caught myself stroking the bodywork because it feels so smooth Comments and advice is appreciated as usual.

That is a good looking excavator. Looking forward to the video. The photos are a bit dark, some editing wouldn't hurt

Time for the next update. I concentrated purely on the bodywork. A lot of areas have improved I think (most notably the flow of the paneling is much better): The proportions are still off though. I just realized the A-pillar is way too far to the front, it has to move back with at least 4 studs... @Aleh: I added headlights, what do you think of them? @Didumos69: I have redesigned the area near the doorhinge, but because the A-pillar is completely off it will be redesigned again. @LvdH: You were absolutely right about the curved panels in the back. How about this solution? I also added some meat to the roof so it doesn't look so skinny anymore. Next steps: Move A-pillar back, shorten roof, lower rear (it is more a ford GT40 now). Big decision will be whether I should widen the whole body with 2 studs... Especially when looked upon from the front the model does not have that super low profile that is asked for with this car I think. For comparison, the Chiron is 31 studs wide, this one is 27 studs...

It is nearly a year after my first post I just realized, so this is way overdue, but here is another update on this project: As you can see I have finally found time to work on the bodywork of this car. This is a first sketch so to say and even though I am in general happy with it there are many things wrong with it I feel. I think the roof is too high, the rear drops too steep because of that, the doors are sloping upwards too much, the area near the hinge of the door is too cluttered and the hood is meh. Furthermore on the chassis the suspension is not stiff enough (I feared a single shock per wheel was not enough and I should have trusted my gutfeel), the sequential shifter is not reliable enough and it sits one stud too far to the outside making the bodywork structure difficult. But, on the positive side, I always wanted to make a self-contained bodywork and in that I succeeded: So it is back to the drawing board now, redesigning the bodywork and the chassis (again). Perseverence will pay off in the end .

Another signature build. That video is a labour of love

Time for another update: It now has a working front wheel cap move thingy and scissor doors. All motorized and controlled with 3 up/down levers on the back. The front wheel cap thingy will first move sideways, and than rotate 90 degrees to be atop of the wheel. The wheel itself will lower so that it sticks below the floor of the spinner. To do: - increase the speed of the motorized functions (too much downgearing ATM) - add chairs - build IRL in correct colours - stickers? - building instructions?

Weren't the competitions started in the first place to get some activity in this forum? In that light it is a bit odd to move them to a special subforum. There is a lot of traffic now, but that is also due to the reviews, you could also put them in a separate subforum I guess?

Could this be a good opportunity to use a minifig stand plate instead of the 4x1 tile? The 4x3 plate with four studs in the center?

Super original , good luck with tweaking it to achieve maximum glidetime

Nothing beats building with LEGO after a long sorting session, doesn't it? Seeing these 'older' models being built up again is an added charm to this thread I find. It makes me relive those sets again.

So, I changed the topic title and stuck to the spinner. Here is an update on the bodywork: Working with dark azure does prove to be a challenge, as does the shaping of the rear. But all in all I am not too unhappy with the progress so far... Maybe the front wheel wells are a bit out of scale though...

, That is not how my mind works. I spend my time on the things that I think are interesting. I can try working on other things, but once I have found something more interesting I will always be drawn back to that first. In my experience there is no point in fighting that urge once it is there...

No problem, you make the rules. I might have to choose between developing this one or joining the competition now

Change of plans... Completely the other way around, this is from the (near) future, the infamous spinner from Blade Runner. I managed to design the front wheel well, with the wheel nicely tucked inside: It is pushing against the boundaries of the competition, so @Jim: would this entry be allowed?

No worries, I’ll find my favorite soon as well I think

In the real planes a big counterweight is added to the crankshaft. Since the P38 is already being developed I'll have to think of a new plane (maybe I'll go futuristic instead).

That pitch controller is a step-up from mine using the small turntable. Do you mind if I copy that idea?

You can reduce the impact of slack by adding a big gear reduction near your control surfaces. If you add wormgears for instance near your controlsurfaces you will need to turn the gears on your stand many rotations, but you will be able to control the surfaces very well and even a few degrees of slack in the drivetrain will only result in a very limited slack in the controlsurface. Of course it does mean that you can't use a joystick-like controller on your stand.

Very nice, compact model with good looks and functions. I'd say, job well done

Lucky for you the Chinook is a big bird, so there is ample space to put these mechanisms in. I hadn't realized the operation is so different from ordinary choppers, but it makes sense once you start thinking about it. Happy building

That is an insane plane , I've never seen it before But hurts my urge for symmetry too much I'm afraid

I hope to get everything before Christmas. But there is still some work to do, so it will be tight I'm afraid.

I contemplated on doing a Chinook as well, but I decided that I'd probably loose interest in the model once I had the controls figured out, so I ditched it. But I am very excited to see you try it. With your AW169 under your belt you should be in a good shape to make this work.

Ooh, that tri-axle controlstick is so cool. Is there enough forward/backward movement possible? The blue parts seem to restrict the green part for that or not? Anyway it should be easily solvable by not using a #6 connector, but an axle-axle connector with a 3L axle instead. I do worry with you on the scale though...

Hi, Unfortunately my Blade Runner spinner doesn't qualify for the TC15 rules, but since the spinner stuck in my head I decided to change the topic title. I'll keep the radial engine here for those who want to use the design. Here is my WIP topic for the TC15 contest. Building airplanes and being called immortal, what more can a man wish for, so I couldn't resist this one. After some deliberations on what I wanted to make I decided to go for a propellor plane (after dismissing various helicoptervariants). I want to incorporate adjust blade pitch and a radial engine (or engines). So here is my first protoype engine & propellor: I think I will stick to a one-engine plane, otherwise it gets out of hand scalewise . I don't think I will model it after a particular plane, but it's probably going to be some fictional WW-II fighterplane. So if anybody has any suggestions... Functionwise I'd like to get: - Fake radial engine - Adjustable blade pitch - landing gear - landing gear bay doors - control surfaces operated by stick in the cockpit (and HoG somewhere) - opening canopy Browsing a bit through the net I also saw the P38 lightning... Interesting shapes to say the least, but no radial engines... So should I ditch the radial engine and make a P38 with proper V12's or make a P38-like one with radial engines? I'm interested to hear your opinions. Leg godt, Jeroen