Best way to make an accordian connector?

[Luke McAwesome]

To start off, I wasn't sure where to put this...

I'm currently making the trailers from The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and to do this correctly I'm going to need to find a way to make an accordian connector that's sturdy, can connect the trailers, and have it be able to bend in any way.

For those that don't know what an accordian connector is, just think about this. It's the thing that connects a bus and it's trailer in some cities, or connects the car on a monorail, or sometimes they're even on trains.

But this is where the MOC experts come in.

I need your help! If you have any ideas at all, please post them here.

Thanks for reading.

-Striker

[SlyOwl]

This thread may help, but beyond that I can't really help you (yet - I'm thinking about this)

[Luke McAwesome]

Thanks for the link, SlyOwl. I'll read more of it it a minute.

I was thinking, I need something like this that goes all the way through, with some sort of technic connector or something.

Sort of like this tubing, except it'd need to go through all the way.

[The Who]

I was thinking, I need something like this that goes all the way through, with some sort of technic connector or something.

<snip>

Sort of like this tubing, except it'd need to go through all the way.

Well, unless you use several pieces of tubing or just plain string, I can't really think of how to get it to go all the way through.

Does it absolutely have to go all the way through to make the model work, or is it to be movie accurate?

[Luke McAwesome]

Does it absolutely have to go all the way through to make the model work, or is it to be movie accurate?

I'd prefer it to be as accurate as possible to the Fleetwood RV in the film.

Here's the best picture I could find:

I remember finding this a while back on Brickshelf, but I still don't understand how he did it.

I know he used technic beams, a technic connector, and some netting, but that's all I can see from this picture.

Edited October 18, 2009 by Striker

[Zepher]

You just put on the netting and then thorugh the netting put little 1 stub pieces on the back, and then you put tiles connecting to them. A member on CABG used it in one of their MOCs, this was their description:

You take the tiles and put them on one side of the net, then attach them to 1x1 round studs on the other side of the net followed by off-set 1x2 plates. This gives the tiles mobility needed to position them like so.

Hope between those two decriptions you get the general idea!

Edited October 18, 2009 by Zepher

[Carbohydrates]

Perhaps you could have a center section attached by turntables? Here's a quick mockup:

Range of motion:

Pros:

+ Solid and stable

+ Able to bend either direction

Cons:

- Large / bulky,

- Can see into the inside of the MOC (could probably be worked around; this is a pretty rough mockup)

[Milan]

It looks like good solution, Carbs!

It should function well and look nice, if the model would not be too heavy.

[Luke McAwesome]

Carbohydrates, thank for that! It's brilliant!

Actually, though, I was going to make a diorama of the cliff sequence, and sadly, it need's to be sturdy enough to hold up the trailer off said cliff, and be able to bend in a sort of elastic way to leave the RV on the top of the cliff. That's why I don't think I'm getting many results.

Maybe I'll just try my own netting structure, and see how it works out.

[prateek]

Carbohydrates, thank for that! It's brilliant!

Actually, though, I was going to make a diorama of the cliff sequence, and sadly, it need's to be sturdy enough to hold up the trailer off said cliff, and be able to bend in a sort of elastic way to leave the RV on the top of the cliff. That's why I don't think I'm getting many results.

Maybe I'll just try my own netting structure, and see how it works out.

For hat I agree the net would probably be the best solution.

[Ricecracker]

Actually, though, I was going to make a diorama of the cliff sequence, and sadly, it need's to be sturdy enough to hold up the trailer off said cliff, and be able to bend in a sort of elastic way to leave the RV on the top of the cliff. That's why I don't think I'm getting many results.

Why don't you attach the trailer to the cliff, and make a weaker but better looking accordion section?

[Ezechielle]

Perhaps you could have a center section attached by turntables? Here's a quick mockup:

>snip<

Pros:

+ Solid and stable

+ Able to bend either direction

Cons:

- Large / bulky,

- Can see into the inside of the MOC (could probably be worked around; this is a pretty rough mockup)

That's a very good idea!