[TC12][MOC] The Banana Scorpion

[mocbuild101]

Question: What do you get, when you cross a tank, with a banana, a scorpion, a V8 engine, and a bunch of stud-shooters?

Answer: The Banana Scorpion!

 

Color scheme: Yellow, with some black and grey.

Driver: A Big Giant Banana-eating Tiger!  (this one)

Powered Functions:

• Drive: Tank tracks - powered by 2x M-motors. (also used for steering)
• Steering: Tank type skid steering.
• Engine: A massive V8 - powered by a high speed motor.
• Wacky function 1: Lifting hull mechanism - powered by M-motor.
• Wacky function 2: High speed spinning sweeper - powered via V8.
• Wacky function 3: The ability to tank-wheelie!!! (with some help...)

Manual Functions: (aka: weapons)

• Cannon: A giant cannon mounted on the end of the adjustable scorpion tail.
• Stud-shooters: Front: 2x six-round, and 2x single-round - Rear: 4x single-round.
• Spring-shooters: 2x rear-mounted. (can be triggered by driver)

 

The story of how The Banana Scorpion was built:

Spoiler

Days 1-10: Thinking of, then discarding many ideas. (including a banana monster truck, a jet powered brick, and a Yeti-mobile)

Day 11: I finally know the perfect thing to make - a banana tank!

Day 12: Built a test for the suspension, created WIP topic.

Days 13-15: Built and tried multiple types of suspension, which none of them were right for the size of tank I'm building. (including torsion bars - which were too wide - and standard tank suspension using shock absorbers - which was too long/tall)

Day 16: I abandoned the suspension after finding it was too difficult, and because had an idea of a much wackier function.

Day 17: Built a prototype of my idea, which worked, then built a more refined version.

Days 18-20: Improving scissor mechanism, trying to work out how to attach LA.

Day 21: I realized 1 LA wouldn't be strong enough, so started trying to figure out how to fit 2 LA's in such a small space.

Day 22: I worked out how to power 2 LA's with a L-motor.

Days 23-29: I made very little progress, as I had quite a lot of distractions...

Day 30: I decided it was time to start building again, and I made a fairly major design change: get rid of the LA's and motor, and save some space! (which means I completely removed the mechanism shown above, and making the lifting function manual)

Day 31: I made even more design changes (of the better kind), and changed the name accordingly. Made the concept drawing:

Day 32: Brickstormed some ideas for the revised lifting mechanism, the mouth (with not much success), and the tail.

Day 33: Put together the V10 engine, then tested it, and made a video of it. (because of it's awesome sound!)

Day 34: I realized that the engine was too long to fit in the space I had, so I changed the design, and also added two more cylinders!

Day 35: Decided to cover the outside of the tracks - to make them look better.

Day 36: Built the other side of the tank. (just a mirror of what I had already built)

Days 37+38: I started work on the motorized lifting mechanism again (it seems to work quite well!), and made a short video of it (without tank attached).

Day 39: More work on lifting mechanism - building the hull around it, fitting it between the tracks.

Day 40: Built scorpion tail (with cannon attached!), some more work on tank hull and engine. (which got shrunk back to V10 again)

Day 41: I put all the major components together (tracks, lift mechanism, engine, and tail), to see how they fitted together.

Day 42-45: Completely rebuilt hull, extended the whole tank by two studs and shrunk the engine down to V8 so I could fit in the PF receivers.

Day 46: I started to shape the hull with some slopes - to make it more like a banana, added some stud-shooters. 

Day 47: I needed some parts, so I put in a Bricklink order.

Day 48: I started looking for a new driver, and found one in the form of a Tiger! (this one)

Days 49-52: Continued shaping the hull, built a spot for the driver, and added even more stud-shooters!

Day 53: I decided that I needed another wacky function, and I realized that I could use the V8 to power it, and managed to squeeze in a small spinning sweeper.

Day 54: My Bricklink order finally arrived, so I was able to finish the shaping of the hull, and rebuild the tracks - which meant I was finished building! And with that done, I took some photos...

Day 55: Filmed the videos of all the functions, and started editing them - including the removal of these two bloopers!

Day 56: More editing of the video...

Day 57: Finished the video, and uploaded it:

Day 58: Posted in entry topic - I'm finally done!!!

 

Edited November 7, 2017 by mocbuild101

[Superkoala]

1 minute ago, mocbuild101 said:

 

Functions:

• Drive: 2x M-motors. (also used for steering)
• Steering: Tank type skid steering.

Your idea sounds and good and crazy but i would recommend you to ask @Jim if the skid steering is acceptable for the contest. 

[mocbuild101]

5 hours ago, Superkoala said:

but i would recommend you to ask @Jim if the skid steering is acceptable for the contest. 

Agreed, but I think it is... (and I really hope so, because if it's not, I will have to change my idea again! )

On ‎15‎/‎08‎/‎2017 at 5:07 PM, Jim said:

7: My Wacky needs to be able to steer. What do you mean by that?
Your vehicle needs to have functionality to change direction, so there needs to be a steering mechanism.

 

Edited August 27, 2017 by mocbuild101

[1gor]

Perhaps offer him a banana discount 

[Superkoala]

1 minute ago, mocbuild101 said:

Agreed, but I think it is... (and I really hope so, because if it's not, I will have to change my idea again! )

Not a big change, technically this is a tank with a steering wheel 

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/3e/3c/f9/3e3cf98ec59a593ed463422c78301a25--division-wwii.jpg

(Sorry i can't use the spoiler tool on mobile)

[mocbuild101]

55 minutes ago, Superkoala said:

technically this is a tank with a steering wheel

That's great for plan B!

1 hour ago, I_Igor said:

Perhaps offer him a banana discount 

I think the bananas might be a bit too chewy...

[1gor]

You probably have natural banana and not genetically modified 

When we discouss about modifications, perhaps simple steering modification would be enough. But banana tank is original idea. At the first I thought it is all about tank that uses banana as munition 

[mocbuild101]

Just now, I_Igor said:

At the first I thought it is all about tank that uses banana as munition

Well I do have something like that in mind for one of my weapons, but not exactly...

[1gor]

13 minutes ago, mocbuild101 said:

Well I do have something like that in mind for one of my weapons, but not exactly...

...imagine if you have guests with appetite for bananas - it would be expensive banana party 

[MattL600]

1 hour ago, Superkoala said:

technically this is a tank with a steering wheel 

LOL! I did a half track quite recently, would be a great idea.

Would be fitting for a cannon of some sort :3

[mocbuild101]

Just now, MattL600 said:

Would be fitting for a cannon of some sort :3

That's what I meant by what I said in the comment above, and it will have some very strange ammunition! (not bananas)

[MattL600]

Just now, mocbuild101 said:

That's what I meant by what I said in the comment above, and it will have some very strange ammunition! (not bananas)

A super long poking stick? 

[Aventador2004]

I read it was allowed in rules, you should leave it.

[mocbuild101]

16 hours ago, Aventador2004 said:

you should leave it.

I'm going to stick with the normal tank design. unless @Jim does't like it, which then I would change to plan B - which is a half-track.

Edited August 28, 2017 by mocbuild101

[1gor]

17 minutes ago, mocbuild101 said:

I'm going to stick with the normal tank design, unless @Jim does't like it, which then I would change to plan B - which is a half-track.

Aha you have an A model and B model - just like typical LEGO set 

[Aventador2004]

22 minutes ago, mocbuild101 said:

I'm going to stick with the normal tank design, unless @Jim does't like it, which then I would change to plan B - which is a half-track.

I checked the rules, it is allowed.

[mocbuild101]

16 hours ago, I_Igor said:

Aha you have an A model and B model - just like typical LEGO set 

No, I have one model - which is what my original idea was, and I am currently building.

16 hours ago, Aventador2004 said:

I checked the rules, it is allowed.

I heard you the first time... I just wanted @Jim to confirm it. (so I will PM him, and end this debate!) Done!

 

Edit: @Jim has confirmed that it is allowed!  (so there's no need for plan B!)

 

Edited August 28, 2017 by mocbuild101

[Aventador2004]

Just now, mocbuild101 said:

 @Jim

I heard you the first time... I just wanted @Jim to confirm it. (so I will PM him, and end this debate!)

Ok, I wasn't sure.

[mocbuild101]

Okay, update time...

I'm sorry about the lack of (any) updates, but I had some trouble making the right suspension...

 

Days 13-15: Built and tried multiple types of suspension, which none of them were right for the size of tank I'm building. (including torsion bars - which were too wide - and standard tank suspension using shock absorbers - which was too long/tall)

Day 16: I abandoned the suspension after finding it was too difficult, and because had an idea of a much wackier function.

Day 17 (today): Built a prototype of my idea, which worked, then built a more refined version, which you can see below. (but can you guess what it does? )

 

Which means... This is what I have built so far:

I know, not much...

Edited September 7, 2017 by mocbuild101

[1gor]

Aha (new suspended) banana has returned 

[mocbuild101]

1 hour ago, I_Igor said:

Aha (new suspended) banana has returned 

There is no suspension anymore... only LA's

[1gor]

8 minutes ago, mocbuild101 said:

There is no suspension anymore... only LA's

I thought that black liftarms are connected to shock(s) from the back side.

I can see that you have small battery box and nothing more...

[Jurss]

On 8/27/2017 at 11:05 AM, mocbuild101 said:

Wacky function: You will have to wait for that...

Some banana shooter ...

[1gor]

17 hours ago, Jurss said:

Some banana shooter ...

I have suggested few days ago but munition would be rather expensive 

Edited September 2, 2017 by I_Igor

[mocbuild101]

13 hours ago, I_Igor said:

I can see that you have small battery box and nothing more...

Yet...

11 hours ago, Jurss said:

Some banana shooter ...

I decided not to make that, as it's way too obvious... But I probably will add a cannon of some sort.