[WIP] Miura concept [FKA Codename Silvestros]

[Jeroen Ottens]

Hi,

It has been quit in this topic for quite some time, so it time to show what Marco and I have been doing the past weeks. First of all Marco has provided a couple of exterior sketches for the car:

As you can see I assume that I can use the wheels of the upcoming Chiron (fingers crossed that that model is indeed dark-azure/black combo). I also made a first attempt at converting that into LEGO with just panels:

This actually turned out to be pretty bad , the second version of the chassis was rubbish, no stiffness in the central column at all... Also shaping a body with only panels and a limited part selection is hell. I really, really hope that the Chiron comes with a few flexaxles in dark azure, because doing it with only panels will be a massive challenge.

So I set out to first sort out the issue I had with the chassis. I completely redesigned it from the ground up for the third time. This time I used 5x7 frames in the central column instead of the 11x3 curved panels with 10 holes that I usually use. And it gives a much better result. I also raised the engine another stud to simplify the routing of the switching mechanisms. That whole part is now working like a charm, I'm really happy with that.

 

[pagicence]

I really like the working shifting pedals. A nice, elegant and compact design.

[brunojj1]

Thank you for sharing all the pros and contras of your WIP. Let´s see the revival of the legendary Miura in a new spectacular shape ! I envy you for the opportunity to cooperate with such a talented designer.

Now, after having seen your sketches of the bodywork, the whole thing becomes more interesting (to me), although I´m not so superficial or ignorant of course, knowing how important the chassis workings are for the end result. Engine raised by one stud causes a new problem: the engine hood won´t fit the parameters of the scaled side view shown above, which btw is beautiful and very challenging to keep the proportions.

The paneling in dark azure seems to be very hard. Did you think of using third party pneumatic hoses in this color instead of flex axles as alternative?

[Aventador2004]

The sketch looks great! Best of luck.

[AFOLegofan66]

 I think that dark azure/white/black interior is a good choice for color and panel availability. It's going to take quite a few panels to do this car justice!!

[Jeroen Ottens]

11 hours ago, brunojj1 said:

Thank you for sharing all the pros and contras of your WIP. Let´s see the revival of the legendary Miura in a new spectacular shape ! I envy you for the opportunity to cooperate with such a talented designer.

Now, after having seen your sketches of the bodywork, the whole thing becomes more interesting (to me), although I´m not so superficial or ignorant of course, knowing how important the chassis workings are for the end result. Engine raised by one stud causes a new problem: the engine hood won´t fit the parameters of the scaled side view shown above, which btw is beautiful and very challenging to keep the proportions.

The paneling in dark azure seems to be very hard. Did you think of using third party pneumatic hoses in this color instead of flex axles as alternative?

Keeping the proportions will be a challenge indeed, but I think there will be just enough space under the bonnet for the engine in it's current position. If you look closely in the sideview sketch you can see that the engine was sitting quite a bit below the bonnet, so a stud higher should be possible. The choice for dark azure will haunt me for some time I am sure... However I am not going to use third party hoses. If needed I might use black or silver flexaxles to shape the body more. "Graenser skaeber kreativitat" I learned at LEGO. "Constraining yourself forces creativity", so I hope I will find an interesting solution for this lack of flexaxles

[Lipko]

Nice progress so far, the sketches are beautiful but honestly, I would be happier with a design that's guided by Lego parts than a forced/unnatural build to match the sketches.

[Jeroen Ottens]

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 .

[LvdH]

A lot of weird angles on this one... not sure how I feel. It seems a bit narrow on the roof. Those two curved panels at the back don’t resemble the sketches at all. But I like the hood, and the “angled” door looks great!

[Aleh]

Curious about the headlights.. How they're going to look like... :)

Definitely profile view reminds some supercar.. like Miura or sth like that.

[Didumos69]

8 hours ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

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.

Nice work already! I agree the roof seems too high, but maybe part of the issue is that the flanks near the hinge of the doors are too low. The dashboard rises higher than those parts of the body. I think it will give a more sporty look when the cabin sinks a little more into the body, if you know what I mean.

EDIT if you could move the 3x7 panels directly too the sides of the dashboard 1 stud upwards and 2 studs forward, so they overlap the 3x11 curved panels, you might get a higher flank without losing the flow of the fenders.

EDIT2: I think it would also be better when the hood would arrive at the bottom of the windscreen a bit higher. In real cars there is always space for windscreen wipers underneath that part of the hood. This would also help sinking the cabin a bit more.

Edited December 26, 2018 by Didumos69

[Paul Boratko]

I think that you're heading in the right direction.. This is a very difficult color to build in due to the limitation in Dark Azure parts..

[Jeroen Ottens]

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...

[LvdH]

That is much better! Those headlights... 

[Aleh]

@Jeroen Ottens I'm not sure about them, sorry. Is it supposed LED will be under each round trans clear plate?

Maybe try and kind of Madoca style lights OR lights using bionicle trans clear teeth. Or even combine this two!

[Didumos69]

5 hours ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

I have redesigned the area near the doorhinge, but because the A-pillar is completely off it will be redesigned again.

 

5 hours ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

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...

Or move them back by 2 studs and make them 2 studs longer and combine this with moving the curved panels in the roof to the back.

[Meatman]

Looking pretty nice there. Just wish there wasn't those gaps between the curved panels and the fender arches. Guess there isn't much that can be done about that though. That is one thing that I dislike about the 42056 set.

Edited December 28, 2018 by Meatman

[pagicence]

On ‎12‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 3:06 PM, Aleh said:

Maybe try and kind of Madoca style lights OR lights using bionicle trans clear teeth. Or even combine this two!

 

21 hours ago, Didumos69 said:

Or move them back by 2 studs and make them 2 studs longer and combine this with moving the curved panels in the roof to the back.

I'm with these guys. Also looking at the scathes (on top of the page) I’m not so sure that you will benefit from recreating the rear end. On first attempt it reminded me of a Nissan 240Z, now it's better. But looking at the technic model I think that it might benefit from a bit of a lifted tail. Or if you want to make a flat rear cover maybe you can “drop it in” between the rear wheel arches. Something similar like the Porsche does with the front hood, and then cut it off and make it drop inwards (like on the scathes).

Edited December 29, 2018 by pagicence
typo

[BrickbyBrickTechnic]

If the you want to keep the front bonnet looking like that (the area with the headlights and such) I would suggest you add some dark Azure to the bottom (below the grille).

Otherwise, looking great!

[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.

Edited December 30, 2018 by Jeroen Ottens

[Aleh]

Ha ha! I told you all it looks like Miura 

[Lipko]

The rear is still a too pushed down. Most modern cars and I think pretty much all sport cars have continuously rising contour from front to rear.

EDIT: maybe you are just trying to follow the designer's concept drawing (which has fine proportions) but somehow it's character is lost. Maybe the door is pointing upwards too much.

Edited December 30, 2018 by Lipko

[Didumos69]

It looks a lot better already, but I still have the feeling there is a 'crack' between the front-section and the mid-section, which is emphasized by the front fenders being straight and the doors being inclined. Also, imo the drop in the hood towards the windscreen is overdone and causes the windscreen to stick out too much.

As for the 'crack', can't you incline the front fenders with the same angle as the doors (so the fender and the doors make parellel lines) and make a small drop with the panel in-between the fender and the door, so they don't make a single straight line. And maybe also incline the rear fender with the same angle.

Edited December 30, 2018 by Didumos69

[grum64]

You're making a habit of building really beautiful looking cars 

[KD123]

I think the roof is too high and too curved relative to the drawings, but otherwise nice progress and thanks for sharing in your WIP with us.