Seasider

Been off the forum a while and came back at the right time. I remember a tyre machine was a C model from an old technic set. Understand what sort of machines you’re after, but I have found it humorous with all the people trying to squeeze one type of vehicle or another into the competition. But I do understand how it’s difficult to clearly define a thing that moves trying to remove cars, boats, etc but enable animals. I’ll have to get my thinking cap on.

Mines a J-Limited II from 1994 … but moderately modified now. Few more bits to do and then I’m finished modding it.

It’s the production code. N for the MX-5/Miata and then A for the first generation. So you have NA 1st gen, NB 2nd gen, NC 3rd gen and ND 4th gen which is the current car. Some generations then have a 1 or 2 after their code to denote a facelift. And yes the Mk1 is Naturally Aspirated for both 1.6 and 1.8 although lots of people turbo or supercharge them. Mines still NA

Are there a lot of differences in the structure between manual and powered versions ? as I’ve commented on your other post I’m interested in this being a mk1 owner. I haven’t bought instructions off rebrickable for ages, so was surprised at how much instructions cost compared to others. Can appreciate time and effort to develop a model but the cost seams high.

Hi @brictric, I’m surprised no one has pointed me in the direction of this thread. I’ve got a Mk1 MX-5 myself (had it for 10 years as weekend toy) and also about 3 years ago I started to build a 1:8 scale car. But between life in general, building official LEGO sets and Eurobricks Competitions I’ve been lacking the motivation so never got far with it. i think you’ve done a good job of trying to capture the spirit of the car but as others have commented it looks a bit cartoonish / off in some of your proportions. I think some of it is going for a modified look with flared arches that make the car look fatter and also the nose is too stubby and the mouth a shade too small. But overall it looks like a great model and attempt at capturing a 5. And it’s given me some inspiration that I need to pick up my build again. ill have to look at your instructions over on Rebrickable. well done

There’s normally 2 competitions a year and often one “big” competition and one smaller. If you’re wondering when the next is I’d guess some time over the winter.

Well done to the winners and thanks for @Jim and @Milan for another great contest. Had fun and a good challenge doing my little build.

I’ll have to look it up and see what those rods are, but I don’t think they’re the Panhard. You normally only have one rod, not 6. where did you get the drawing from?

Regarding the Panhard rod, found this for you … “The R was for roadholding, and it added much-needed suspension enhancements that were dictated by then engineering director, Mike Dunn. These changes included stiffer anti-roll bars and firmer damping, along with a Panhard rod to limit the lateral movement of the rear subframe. It worked.“ I can tell you that Bentley uses isolated rear subframes (mounted to the body via bushes, not hard bolted) and so adding a Panhard rod would limit the Subframes lateral movement in a similar way to a live axle on leaf springs.

@MP LEGO Technic creations - sorry missed the comment about the Panhard rod. I’ll see if I can find some info for you.

Have all the entrants voted ?

Just voted. I hope as we’re all adults and these competitions are for fun that we’re not that childish or unsporting to do any of these things to try and rig/sway the votes.

@Michael217 shows what I was talking about with the front axle and a-post Also it took me a while to work out what the conversation about “threshold” was about. I’ve worked it out, you’re talking about the “Sill”. Yes this is a crucial design element. If you look most (not all) cars that have a conventional door hinge/opening won’t have the door as the full height of the side of the car, there will always be some sill shown. This is so you can open the door over a kerb/pavement/sidewalk. in terms of the roof the high point is just above the b-post. Perhaps this is possible with plates/tiles? but taking a further look of the side profile I think you need to check some of your dimensions in the scale you’re using. But I also think that because you’re building such a large scale model that the details become more important and sometimes harder to capture in Lego as they’re needed to not make it look like blocky Lego. One example is the slight slope you’ll see on the top of the front fender (wing)

I’ve gone back and looked at your model a few times and I can’t work out what’s off. I’ve found some side views of the Arnage, the car that replaced this, and found a few things. 1. I don’t think your wheels fill the arches enough (too much air gap) 2. I think the relationship between the a-pillar (windscreen pillar) and front axle is wrong. If you draw a line down the a-pillar this line should be behind the axle. 3. I agree with @_Electro_ that the roof is too flat. They do have a slight crown to them but I think in general the model looks too flat and long and not tall enough somehow, difficult to explain where it feels off. I’ll try and find some side images of a Turbo R edit - here you go an eBay advert for a Turbo RL LWB I think this shows the issues I see https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266969920641?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=sKislBlDSSW&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=Rv3OAP9sSQO&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

You’re more than a bit late for the competition it’s closed. The deadline was the 2nd. why don’t you go back to your original idea and just build the van for fun?

I’ll have to do some digging around but on first look you’ve got a US spec LHD car in the top image and a U.K. spec car in the lower image. So that could account for something, but I’d need to ask someone who knows more about this era than me. Found it … the smaller door quarter glass is from RT which was the end of the Turbo R vehicles. So you have two cars from the start and end of production there. As to your illuminated mascot. The current Flying Spur has an option for an illuminated Flying B. and in terms of wheelbases lots of Bentleys have been done in various wheelbases some even just for a single customer or very limited numbers. looking forward to seeing how you capture the 6 and 3/4 engine

An interesting idea. I’d create a pod/box on the back like you get as a simulator at a show. I’ve never seen them with a small plane or aircraft Seen these lots of times and been in a few.

On the 17th June @Jim gave a list of all the wheels that were allowed. It’s the list from Bricklink of the wheels that officially fit the tyre. As to a fuel tank, on these vehicles the fuel tank is hidden between the chassis rails underneath the rear bed. So you wouldn’t see it, and I wouldn’t be able to package it! These vehicles are tiny in real life, not like a normal truck.

Some more photos

90’s Kei Truck Functions: HoG steering with moving wheel in the Cabin Opening Doors Switchable 4WD - switch in Cabin to select RWD or 4WD just like the real vehicles Fake 3 cylinder engine Front and Rear Differentials Tipping rear bed - controls on both side of the vehicle under bed Folding sides to the bed

Model is all finished now. Just need to find the time to take some better photos and make a very short video. And hopefully @Jim will open the entry thread as I’ll be away on holiday when the deadline is.

They’re #3 connectors at the moment, mainly as I wasn’t sure where the bed would end up relative to the piston stroke. I need to see if I can swap out for #4 as I agree they’ll look better. I know the engines on these vehicles often sit at an angle to save space. and talking of the rear bed. A couple of hours of playing today … Chassis needs some bracing around the rear now to support this

Bit of an update from me. Some Bricklink orders came in so switched out the temp parts. Did a lot of work under the skin, lots of little updates where parts in Stud.io didn’t work in reality. Got the switchable 4WD in there, so RWD or 4WD. Bed is just for sizing at the moment. Yes they are #4 connectors at the base of the A Post

Has anyone created a sand base so that R2 can match 3PO ? Ive bought both and intend to display together but don’t like the idea that R2 doesn’t have a matching base

A lot of progress this week with my digital model as the better half has been away so an hours worth of building per night trying to solve problem after problem. So today I thought I’d finally switch back to physical and see how it all hangs together, see what doesn’t work and also work out which bits I don’t have in my inventory. So here you go … … the keen eyed will notice I’ve got some lovely new engine cams and “pistons” (couldn’t resist). So lots of progress and I’m generally happy … but lots of things to solve.