[WIP] Supercar in 1:8 scale

[Erik Leppen]

That's a good critique, @Didumos69, about the linkage of the rear axle. Indeed I notice sometimes the dark gray 1x2 cross block has slid off a little (a quarter stud or so). In fact they are "form locked" in that sense that if one axle joiner is moved outwards, it moves the other inwards via the two steering links, but I agree it's not optimal. However, if they don't slide there's very little play, and after looking at it a bit I notice that I can replace the 1x2 cross blocks by 2x2 bent pin joiners, which have a third hole that can be connected securely, to the 5x7 frame (if pointing down) or, of pointing upwards, by replacing the 5L axle with 7L. So I'll be changing that (at the expense of having to use a rarer part, but oh well).

Edited June 24, 2017 by Erik Leppen

[Erik Leppen]

Today's progress is a little bit more modest - I reinforced the structure and added details to the interior. The steering wheel is now finished and some panels added to the interior.

There is a beam over the engine that connects to the frame, so that is now sturdy chassis.

I replaced the dark gray 1x2 cross blocks in the rear axle by 2x2 bent pin joiners which can be reinforced, thanks to @Didumos69's advice.

Here's another picture of our favorite side:

Next up: starting with the body. I usually start with the lower front (the nose), the lower rear, and the sides. I have some ideas about the color scheme, which you will see in due time :)

[Didumos69]

On 24-6-2017 at 11:58 PM, Erik Leppen said:

I replaced the dark gray 1x2 cross blocks in the rear axle by 2x2 bent pin joiners which can be reinforced, thanks to @Didumos69's advice.

This looks indeed better, now it no longer slides I suppose.

On 23-6-2017 at 9:14 PM, Erik Leppen said:

I copied the front axle, but replaced the steering by fixed links. I could have used non-steering hub parts, but I liked the similarity between both modules.

On 24-6-2017 at 0:53 PM, Didumos69 said:

I like the similarity with the front module too, but I think you could also obtain similarity with fixed links.

I couldn't get this out of my head, so I made something I would regard as the non-steered equivalent of your front module. It uses more parts of course, but it's form-locked and does not use ball-joints, LXF-file can be found here. The way I installed the suspension assemblies required a little stressing of parts (see images in the spoiler, there's also a short video), but the whole module can be build legally, i.e. without stressing parts. Btw, it was very rewarding to build this, because now I got to really feel how the extensive lever arm operates .

Spoiler

Edited June 28, 2017 by Didumos69

[Paknaloid]

.

 

Edited January 4, 2018 by Paknaloid

[DugaldIC]

Looking good so far! I look forward to the bodywork 

[HorcikDesigns]

I really enjoy watching supercars grow. Than You @Erik Leppen for sharing the progress. :)

 

7 hours ago, Paknaloid said:

The green interior makes me think a British racing green jaguar could look good for the body

Not for the engine. However, XJ200... :D

[Meatman]

On 6/23/2017 at 3:14 PM, Erik Leppen said:

@PorkyMonster

@Lipko

 

Does this help? But again, I don't think it's my design. It's a while old already, I don't know where I saw it first. I don't know if you can see it, but the 16t side of the diff drives 1st, 3rd, 5th gear 16t clutch gears. The 20t (on the axle of the 8t gear) drives the reverse-gear. Because it's 3x as fast as the diff, reverse gear has similar speed as first gear. The other 20t (on the same axle as the whtie gear) drives the 2nd, 4th gear clutches. The level above it, with the clutch gears, is the same as in set 8448 (directly next to the 5x7 frame you see the two pairs of 12-20).

 

Perhaps a similar design from maybe the Predator or before that the Vampire GT. You may have seen it in one of these models first.

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=482973

This looks like it will be a fun model to watch progress. I really don't like the tumbler tires on it though.

Edited June 27, 2017 by Meatman

[Didumos69]

19 minutes ago, Meatman said:

Perhaps a similar design from maybe the Predator or before that the Vampire GT. You may have seen it in one of these models first.

That sounds odd to me. All though the Predator used a thin 3×5 lever and the Vampire GT uses single shocks on top, they are both very different. Predator's front suspension incorporates at least caster angle and Erik Leppen's setup has a much longer arm of momentum than the Vampire. 

[Meatman]

46 minutes ago, Didumos69 said:

That sounds odd to me. All though the Predator used a thin 3×5 lever and the Vampire GT uses single shocks on top, they are both very different. Predator's front suspension incorporates at least caster angle and Erik Leppen's setup has a much longer arm of momentum than the Vampire. 

It probably sounds odd because I was replaying to his comment about the gearbox.

[Didumos69]

35 minutes ago, Meatman said:

It probably sounds odd because I was replaying to his comment about the gearbox.

Hahaha, sorry, I have been so much focused on the suspension of this vehicle's that I can hardly imagine anyone posting a comment that is not about the suspension. My bad.

Edit: I can confirm the gear layout corresponds with the one in Paul's Vampire, albeit a little less compact. The Vampire gearbox is also known as Paul's AWD transmission.

Edited June 27, 2017 by Didumos69

[Lox Lego]

Really great job on the chassis!! I'll be following this build for sure. Green interior is an awesome idea, keep it up!

[Erik Leppen]

I see a few things have happened since my last visit. @Didumos69, thanks for designing that rear suspension unit. I like it, but I don't know whether I'll use it or not. I'll test it out to see if I like it enough.

Anyhow, there's quite some progress. Not everyone is going to like it maybe, but a start has been made to the body.

The lower part of the body will be medium blue (from the 42066 jet). It may not be everyone's taste but I like it. Above that, but not displayed yet, the main part of the body will be white (some of the current medium blue will be replaced by white, as the medium blue is meant to be only for the lower part). The top (roof, windscreen etc.), now dark gray, will be either dark gray or black, whatever looks best. It's a lot of colors, but I like playing around with colors, and look for combinations that I haven't seen used before. Also, I recently got the 42066 and ordered a bit of medium blue over Bricklink, so I wanted to use the new parts.

As you can see, there's also some gearing around the engine and on the sides, behind the seats that you may wonder what that is for. What I am planning to do is have gear-driven opening doors and front and rear hood.

I understand the pictures aren't the best, but hopefully you can get something from them.

The tan axles are meant for those same type of pop-up headlights that 8880 has. They're not yet connected to the dashboard yet, that's a challenge that remains. Also I want to add fixed lights between the panels.

The rear. Not much to see, except a better view on some gearing, and an empty space. I am planning to have the gearing motorized, so I need a battery box somewhere. I'm personally not happy with the design of the rear yet, so I will probably try different versions to improve it. It's a bit of a hard color to work with because only a few types of parts exist. Fortunately I got some connectors from Bricklink, becuase the sets only contain panels and beams.

So, what do you think? :) As I said, I'm more of a chassis person, so I am looking for advice and feedback. Be honest, also if you don't like it, I'm looking forward to tips about how to improve :)

More pictures, as always, on my Brickshelf folder: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=570177

Next up: the door mechanism. I'm not sure how to do those yet, but the leftmost tan 20t gear you see in the last picture will drive the left door.

Edited June 29, 2017 by Erik Leppen
Added Brickshelf link

[brunojj1]

You´re not waisting too much time, very good job so far! I was a fan of your black hypercar ever since – it has no suspension, but features some cool basic ideas, screams for a nice playability, looks very sporty and aggressive.

Now I´m curious where this one is going to lead. The balloon tires and light blue body reminds of some kind of retro NY police car or something. IMO green interior is somewhat strange in contrast with light blue bodywork, but why not try something new and unusual . Probably a light blue / white combo (body) could be an option to achieve some good result?

Edited June 29, 2017 by brunojj1

[Jeroen Ottens]

This is an interesting colour combo. As for the paneling I would recommend to rotate some panels in more than one direction to prevent a too squarish look (unless of course you aim for a 80's square design).

That steeringlock looks quite decent

[Erik Leppen]

Ah, is that the magic trick, @Jeroen Ottens? That's a really helpful tip! All the time I wondered how people create these flowing curvy looks, but your description sounds so logical and practical.

I read your reply yesterday and the first think I did after that was rotate a beam that was straight so that it's slightly running outward, and I think that single move was an improvement alraedy. I will point to the beam in today's progress.

Because quite a lot has been added since my last post! The color scheme is now really taking shape:

(Yes, I only do the left side, because everything is in draft anyway, so I'll mirror everything when I think it will be almost final or when I need it to test structural things (beacuse at the moment, the windscreen part is really weak)

Personally I find that the color scheme works quite well. I personally really like the Lego white, and the match with medium blue looks pretty cool I think. The dark gray top seems to work well too, but I find dark gray to be a bit of a hard color to work with because it doesn't have everything. (For example, no panels except large flat ones, no flex axles, and it seems the axle/bush connector is missing too in my collection). So the top will be a bit of dark gray and a bit of black. I try to have the lines in dark gray and the details in black. Unfortunately the ball joints for the doors had to be light gray.

Jeroen, the beam in quetsion is the dark gray 15L that forms the side of the rear window. My first instinct was to have it run straight to the back, tapered verticall but from the top view it was horizontal. I rotated it a bit to create a more curved line. I think it works really nicely. Also I try to let beams run with the holes horizontally, so you get the smooth side up.This does make it a bit harder to connect them. Those that don't work, get some tiles to cover them.

My current goal is to do Ferrari Enzo-like doors, using the same linkage as set 8653 where the doors are ball-hinged at the roof and at the front. The system does not work yet (it's held up by a beam in this picture). I hope I can get it to work, that would be really nice. Fortunately I don't use the damped spring, so I don't have to ensure "push-to-close" functionality. So this makes it a bit easier.

Also, I'm lacking flex axles in white, so I'm afraid these four plus maybe one or two somewhere will be all. I'm in doubt about whether it adds or detracts. I mean, if there are so few, could it be "out of style" in a way?

I will happily continue building, and hopefully get the doors to work soon, and find a way to use the unused fourth motorized function to do something useful (right now I'm thinking about an adjustable spoiler. The spoiler itself will probably be dark gray with two 3x11 panels.) It looks like it's pretty far on its way, but a lot has to happen in the details. Also I noticed that the HOG and steering wheel are slipping, so some reinforcement is needed somewhere deep inside. So, a lot to do! :)

 

[Jeroen Ottens]

It is coming together very nicely. I hope you make those doors work, they look great. It is less boxy already

AFAIK the only flexaxle in DBG is 11L, so you can use that maybe.

[JTS]

Very impressed with the build so far. I do love that medium blue colour!

I hope you do a breakdown of that front axle so I can steal incorporate some of your ideas ;)

[Rudivdk]

Wow Erik, looking very good sofar! Colorscheme is not your average, but I think it works very well and I always like the unusual. 

[steph77]

Hey wait! Great Moc incoming in here 

I appreciate the way you place the panels. Finding those angle is always a little difficult.

Good job until now. keep it up!

[HorcikDesigns]

I really look forward to see this car finished - and not just because of the color. :D

[Edwin Korstanje]

Wow Erik,

The updates comes so fast and looks great already.

Keep going the amazing work.

[BusterHaus]

Good gravy, I'm impressed with the speed you build at.  Did you do a (partial?) digital build before starting this?

[Aleh]

Hi, nice topic! Looked through both pages. I admit the complex suspencion and the interior colour theme is unusual, which does not make it worse! Also like your idea of using tumbler wheels!
But I can't say anything about the bodykit yet I deside like it ir not..

[Erik Leppen]

On ‎2‎-‎7‎-‎2017 at 3:54 PM, JTS said:

I hope you do a breakdown of that front axle so I can steal incorporate some of your ideas ;)

I'm considering doign instructions, but the model is over 2000 pieces already so I'm not sure my LPub can handle that. And apart from the rear, it's not very modular.

 

On ‎3‎-‎7‎-‎2017 at 6:24 PM, steph77 said:

I appreciate the way you place the panels. Finding those angle is always a little difficult.

Thanks. One of the reasons I think is that over the last few years I backed quite a collection of white panels. So I don't have to do many concessions due to lack of parts there.

On ‎4‎-‎7‎-‎2017 at 4:54 AM, BusterHaus said:

Good gravy, I'm impressed with the speed you build at.  Did you do a (partial?) digital build before starting this?

It looks fast, because basically I built whole days the last two weekends and sometimes whole evenings through the week. Let's call it enthousiasm, because IMO, things are going great :) And yes, when I started the topic, everything that was built in real I had built digitally as well. Also, the rear axle was basically a copy of the front, with the steering removed, so that was a quick change. So the build started longer ago than the topic (otherwise I wouldn't have anything to show in the first post). Also, it's not based off a real model, so it's easier :)

There will be progress soon. I did the door mechanism (was simpler than I expected), added more paneling to the rear, and mirrored the one-sided bodywork so its symmetrical now. It's starting to look like a finished car, but I haven't yet fixed the HOG problem. Pictures soon :)

 

[Rishab N]

This is looking fantastic so far! IMO something about it reminds me of the Jaguar XJ220 not sure why. Also nice that it incorporates pop up headlights