Under the bus :) . You can see, how the lifting mechanism will work. I installed wheel hubs, because there is lot of pressure on the tires, and axles.

It need more place, but with clever install can work. The steering mechanism is the same with the 42038 set, the steering rack is above the hub to keep it in place, and keep the weight of the bus.

You can see the compressors under the chassis. Ikarus has high chassis, so there is enough room to install the pumps, and the regulator switch.

You can see the regulator switch. It has very tight place here.

It will work with an axle, and operated outside.

I needed to use old switches.

The new switches have lot of resistance, and will work with very high pressure. (connected with pneumatic cylinder).

So I used the old parts with PF converter cables.

Edited August 29, 20168 yr by josszo

On foot:

This is looking great. I'm curious, the new pneumatic switches are they harder to move then the old ones? My middle son loves buses and is watching this getting built.

The PF electronic switch has more resistance. The pneumatic cylinder has been connected to a lever and the switch, that can switch the motors on or off. I used the old 9V switch. (From the 8480 set)

Compressor, and the regulator:

I started to build the huge body:

Edited September 1, 20168 yr by josszo

Busses are not my cup of tea, but as the project, I follow with great interest till the final result.

I am wondering, if You could add the well known black exhaust gas (a.k.a.: cloud) as pneumatic function.

Edited September 1, 20168 yr by agrof

Are you from Hungary too Agrof? :)

Yes I am, I was lucky not only see these busses, but also to smell.

I'm from Hungary too. Interesting to meet other people from the same country here :)

This is a fantastic build! Pneumatics are a perfect fit for bus builds, with the doors and kneeling functions and so on.

I'll continue following this topic, good luck with the build!

I'm from Hungary too. Interesting to meet other people from the same country here :)

Me too. You can set up in your profile, so others can see it.

About the moc: interesting, I never saw such a great chassis and pneumatic system in Ikarus 280, good luck in the contest.

You captured very well the proportions, too. Type 280 is really recognizable.

Edited September 4, 20168 yr by Tamas Juhasz

I built from home parts, but now I need to order some bricks, and lot of pneumatic tubes :(

Some boring bodywork:

The back of the bus:

The licence plate is tilted, not in the same line with the body.

Front face:

Under the hood :

The bus is really huge, but in this size you need to build a very strong base. The front and the rear axle unit with the suspension need a lot of place, and these are the weakest points. Because this moving parts (move up and down the suspension), you cannot build a low floor reinforcment, so the main strong item of the chassis is above the axle units. This main strongest item has only 1 thick height, and run through the bus.

The strong base need lot of beams, and pins, so there are only little empty spaces in the bus. I used the opposit sides of the doors to install the compressor motors and the battery box. I installed the battery box on the left side, but with the batteries the bus is unbalanced. It needed to install some weight on the right side too...

But this structure will be strong only with the body, that not allow to bend the chassis.

The face is very characteristic! It's going to be awesome.

Wow! Really amazing match with this bus face! Still remember these buses from the times of childhood :)

I`m a bus driver, so I`m waiting for final project :)

This bus is my second big project, and first in any competition, so I'm curious of the final result :)

It is indeed a great project, I like the technical solutions you applied. Besides it warms my heart too, as I spent my childhood commuting by these smelly, noisy (BKV blue and VOLAN yellow) buses.

(Since I'm an MI-6 agent I can't reveal my nationality publicly.)

Good luck for the rest, I'll follow the progress.

The base construction is near at the end, but the most interesting things need to develop after this.

The doors, and the most interesting control panel will be build later.

The back is very characteristic: :)

The project is very huge, and need a lot of time to develop the new parts, and the deadline is close.

I hope, I can finish the bus before the deadline.

I have an idea. The control panels (I think it will be 2 pieces) will be hide "under the hood". It means, I will fix it in the line of the roof, and above I build a mobile unit, that can take on, or off. (looking such as a modern gas tank, or air conditioner unit) When you no play with the bus, you take it on, and the outfit is a real looking bus. If you play, you take off the units, and can acces the pneumatic valves, and the HOG steering. I never seen it before this idea, so i'm curious the final result. I hope you will like it :).

Edited September 20, 20168 yr by josszo

Some brain games with master switch logic:

Edited September 27, 20168 yr by josszo

This bus is very crowded...with hoses and pneumatics...  So far so good, indeed lets hope you have it finished in time!

When I cut the tubes to the rights size, it would be no problem anymore. :)

The working door mechanism with the pneumatic cylinder. It needed to rebuild 4-5 times to fit perfectly, but it works well. The problem with the pneumatic cylinder: Under the roof has only little free space, so I can use this new cylinder. And need to use this long cylinder. After the build, i'm happy with this result, because better than 2 cylinder/door, and work with less compressed air. The only big problem with the prize...

With this 1 cylinder/door, the visual working is the same with the real bus. The half doors don't opening at the same time. First can open only one side, only after this the another. Real ikarus feeling.