Jeroen Ottens

Hi, A small update this time (most of my time went in setting up my website, finishing my latest commission and a complete overhaul of the digital version of this one). I changed the roofline and the rear a bit and I added the mirrors (finally) of the real life version (I also designed the interior, but that is mostly digital, I first need to get the necessary parts): So what do you say? Good enough to start working on instructions? EDIT: the gray part in the center of the rear will be replaced with an orange one... Leg godt, Jeroen

Incredible creation All functions are driven locally, right? So no geartrains inside the model, only wiring? How did you achieve the weightbalancing of the superstructure?

Hilarious, my laugh was strong with this one

I really hope you find a solution for this. In my experience this is nearly impossible to make with a single input, unless you go for a linear system like Sheepo's. I have tried a lot of variants with the pulleywheel as drivingwheel (since that has 6 positions), but never succeeded. I have tried schemes where you always have two drivingrings engaged and use differentials to combine the outputs (I think I wanted to have reverse in as well, that was mathematically impossible), but also without succes. It actually might be easier to go for an eight-speed gearbox with three driving rings. You can check my DB11 thread for an explanation of how to make such a gearbox. But I must say, even though it is quite compact for what it does, it only fits in a 1:8 scale car...

Very nice find indeed, I like the compactness of this

Amazing. I just love those lighted scenes [nostalgia] It reminds me of the old trainbooks from Lego where they showed the electric train layouts with electric lights [/nostalgia]

Thx for all the suggestions... @Didumos69: The black gears are indeed HoG steering & shifting, both work like a charm. The paddleshifers work OK, but not as well as the HoG shifter (you sometimes have to switch twice to push it into gear). I'd say 80-90% succesrate. @Appie: Those systemparts will be replaced, but I don't know how yet. I may have to redesign the entire trunk door, as it is now it doesn't help to get those lines 'smooth as silk' as you eloquently put it @Lipko @brunojj1 @drakmin : The roof definitely is a bit off. Still some shaving to do... I will experiment with a configuration where the panels are mounted transversal, that should also solve the straight line syndrom at the front. The doors are a bit of a compromise, with 4 studs width they are indeed too wide, but with this panel orientation the flow from bonnet to rear is super fluid now. I did a quick try yesterday with the old doors, but than the transitions are quite distracting... As for tapering the bodywork directly after the frontwheel: that is also a compromise I haven't found a better solution for. Ideally the small area between the wheel and the door should indeed slope inwards a bit, but at the top the little rotor doesn't need that inward slope, so somewhere the inward slope has to curve back to a straight line at the top... At least that was the thoughtprocess that blocked me from finding another solution in this area. To my untrained eye all the modern sportscars like the DB11 and the jaguar F-type are almost identical except for a few details. And those details typically get lost easily when transitioning to Lego... I'll make my next project 'inspired by' [insert real life vehicle] to get some more artistic freedom

You're an insanely fast builder. It is very black though... I know the original is as well, but maybe you can add some colour to it? A horizontal LBG or silver stripe might already do wonders I like the purple lights next to the hood, and (I hate to admit it but) I do like the wheel wells. I normally abhor from liftarms over flexaxles, but here it realy works (and I can't think of a better way to get that shape. I do like the Porsche wheels better. Too bad the rims are only available in black.

And you were right... I have shortened the chassis with one stud. I redesigned the central column, added some more bracing to the rear, cleaned up the board behind the rear seat and fixated the silver flexaxles: I have redesigned both the door pivots and the area between the door and the rear wheels. And I have used black side skirts. I think it is an improvement over the previous version: Finally some shots to show the rear & front: I redesigned the rear lights as well. I am not entirely happy with the area above the lights though... Still to do: - mirrors - get that silver roofline looking good from above as well - did I already mention I don't like designing seats? - front wheel suspension. The addition of a second spring meant the bracing had to move two studs away from the pivot point. That clearly is too far, the balljoints just pop out now - EDIT: and the hood. I'm still not sold on the curved panel in the center So thanks everybody for the criticism & constructive feedback. I hope I was able to convert your comments into a better car still.

Hi Bill, Thx and welcome to Eurobricks. To answer your question: I do not have it assembled anymore. But I do have most of it in digital form. What I don't have is the 4 section boom. I never designed that part. If you want mre information please send me an email at jjottens (at) onsmail.nl (replace the (at) with @). Jeroen BTW: It is frowned upon to bump an old thread to ask for instructions, hence my request to continue this conversation outside the Eurobricks forum

You shouldn't make comments like that You know what kind of perfectionist Didumos is, now he will have the perfect excuse to delay his bodywork designing even further EDIT: But I do agree, it is definitely a bonus if the steeringwheel is perfectly aligned with the wheels

Interesting features on this car. I like the suspension height adjustment feature, but I don't like the implementation you've chosen. A kneebone mechanism would be a better way of achieving the lock in either position. If you use a 0.5 stud lever (like the ones used in the fake engines) you can make a 1 stud travel that is always locked at either end of the travel. You don't need wormgears then to keep the springs in place. Another thing I don't like (but that is more a personal, than a practical problem) is the use of liftarms with holes pointing upwards. I know this technique is used a lot in the Porsche as well, but it makes the chassis rely on friction (friction-locked structure) instead of ABS breaking strength (form-locked structure). If you (virtually) bend the chassis and imagine that the pins have no friction you can see what I mean. The chassis will simply fall apart. If you use beams that have holes pointing sideways the chassis can be bended without falling apart (unless you bend the chassis sideways). But like I said, that is a personal tick from me. In practice these chassis hold together perfectly fine on friction alone. I do agree with Didumos on the height of the suspension setup, I fear it is too high for the hood, plus I do not see the need for such a high setup. I'm sure you can do better

Thx. The black sideskirts might indeed be a good idea. I started out with a grey chassis since I saw this picture: But orange works much better with black (I already updated all the grey from the hood to black for the same reason). Having a WIP topic is definitely improving the model. People see other things than you do yourself and can be quite helpful in pointing out the weak points in the design. At the same time praise comes easily in this forum as well which is a good stimulant to hang in and keep working on it even when at times you feel like giving up (which always happens to me at some point in any build). And seeing the amount of traffic that the WIP topics generate I would venture a guess that showing WIP is appreciated (I myself certainly like to follow others WIP topics as well).

Agreed with your edit. The B-style is too far out, and if I move it in the paneling will not flow nicely either... So here is definitely some rework needed, but it looks like it could solve both the shoulder and the step... Thanks This angle of photography icw the turned wheel does make the worst of this part. In the real car that inner panel is in the same colour as the bodywork, but I agree that it detracts the eye, so I'll give the black panel a try. The orange tube is too thin I'm afraid, that would distract as well. I have contemplated using some #3 connectors to build an arch, but I already use a boatload of these while they are not in production, plus I don't think the arch will be much better than what I have now, while it definitely will look more cluttered...

Thanks for the elaborate comments, if you don't mind I'll go over them one by one: Side window: Where do you see the step? And do you mean the doorwindow or the window behind the door? Area behind the first wheel: Can you elaborate on what you find ugly? Is it the stacking of the two panels or is the area behind these two panels? Shoulder: Thanks for pointing that out, I see what you mean... back to the drawing board for that area Roof silhouette: Those flexaxles definitely need an extra support point to keep them in the right position. I'm still working on that, but I haven't found a connection yet which doesn't break the flow of these lines...

Hi, After finishing the McLaren (I will show the results early next year) I had some time to work on the DB11 again Here is my latest version: I'm not sure whether I like the curved panel in the center of the hood to be honest. What do you guys think? Things that have improved with respect to the previous update: - The front wheels have been moved one stud inwards. I did this because they were protruding too much at the front end. It turned out that this also solved the rubbing against the paneling at the back - The suspension of the front wheels is reinforced. I now use double hard springs on each side. The rear still feels a bit better in terms of responsiveness, but I think I have to settle for what I have now in the front - I changed the door and it finally is looking right I think - The flappy pedals work without too much trouble. It turned out that I was testing too early last time (not all paneling near the steeringcolumn was in place). Now that the whole assy is braced properly it works pretty well So this is the look from the side: As you can see there is a little one stud hole in the door... That is because I changed the hinges of this door. Originally I wanted the doors to lift slightly upwards when opened, but that only works when there is a two stud gap between the bonnet and the door and even then the doors only open for 30-40 degrees. On this side I experimented with the traditional vertical hinge. This enables a one stud gap between the door and the bonnet (which can even be partially filled with a bionicle tooth) and an opening angle around 75 degrees. On the downside, if I go for this solution I will have to shorten the whole car by one stud, which means a pretty big redesign of the whole chassis... So the question is: Do you prefer the looks of a closer paneling and a well opening door, or do you prefer the anatomically correct upwards swinging door with larger gaps and limited opening angle? Leg godt, Jeroen

Compact as ever , looking forward to see this grow

Thx, You can send me an email on jjottens (at) onsmail.nl (replace the (at) with @). I do not have a blueprint for this plane, but we can see if we can work something out.

Welcome to Eurobricks Great MOC, with fantastic colourblocking

It's good that you used two wedge plates at the front, otherwise I would not have known this is a Lego model Incredible details

Nice little car, with some very sexy lines I just love that frontview

You are right. That'll teach me answering questions while I'm just awake... Also on the other side there are some axles in the way as well, it all fits snugly now.

Hmm, interesting thought... I can see I can save one knobgear i theory (move the left most knobwheel 4 studs up and thereby eliminate the one it currently engages with), but I can't see how to save the second... Still, room for optimization, thanks for pointing out

Here you go: The top 2 shifters are a 4 speed gearbox with slightly changed gearratios. The lower shifter is the high-low shift that automatically kicks in when the top moves from 4 to 1 or from 1 to 4. At all ratios one of the gears of the top 4 is engaged and one of the gears of the bottom 2. The drive-neutral-reverse switch is in the center column (where the reverse is always at a fixed ratio comparable to 1st gear). If you have any questions, just ask.

Wow, it looks fantastic! It's so smooth and still so many functions And the remote is frightingly awesome