42115 Lamborghini Sian MODs and Improvements

[stevenhalim]

10 hours ago, jb70 said:

In my build the new gearbox and the V12 engine run smooth as butter. Even better and smarter to push the car in 1st gear compared to the Pimp up my Bugatti, although we have increased engine speed a little bit (14% more RPM as the Bugatti). 

@stevenhalim I am sorry, but also happy, that I could not confirm your test results with problems in 1st and 5th gear. If all the other gears run smooth in your build, there must be some problem in your build with the gears involved in 1st and 5th gear. You should check and maybe rebuild that section.

Hi jb70, ok good news then.
It means the issue is on my side.
Time to resume experimenting this weekend instead of giving up with (ignore gear 1).

Yeah only gear 1-5 stutters in my current build and 1 the most problematic due to lack of gearing down from first gearbox

7 hours ago, Filthy Fox said:

@stevenhalim  Your friction problems may be due to slight variations in parts from the factory. That's what has happened to me, as my Sian doesn't work well in a certain gear, and I've ruled everything, I mean everything, out. It's truly tragic, this problem can especially show in complex gearboxes.

Ok, time to do one more thing... 
I have collected Lego Technic since 2012 and many older sets are in disassembled state.
Let's try... swapping some questionable parts.
I will test again this coming weekend.

6 hours ago, suffocation said:

I think the stacked frames may be an issue. Stacked frames don't quite measure up to their theoretical height, so e.g. four stacked frames will measure a fraction of a mm less than four studs, which is more than enough to generate unwanted friction, especially between bevel gears.

I will switch T-Beam 3X3 W/Hole Ø4.8 at page 18 Step 22 with DOGBONE Beam I -Frame 3X5 90 Degr. Hole Ø4.85 (so that it can block out the popped out 4L axle at gear 1 that I reported earlier, of course I will shorten the axle to 3L).
This Dogbone has many holes and I plan to connect it with each layer of the stacked 11x15 frames so that the height is as similar as possible?

27 minutes ago, Didumos69 said:

@stevenhalim, what @Filthy Fox is saying makes sense. You should also check for bent axles:

On 6/23/2020 at 7:59 AM, allanp said:

Which hopefully solved by swapping some parts (including axles, small tan bevel gears) with my other parts.

On the issue of "bending", I notice one more potential bending problem in stock build (not yet fixed in the mod).
Page 66, step 40 and Page 67, step 41
The upper layer of middle console is connected to the gearbox/engine with just 2 black 2M Fric. Snap W/Cross Hole.
I experienced "engine not rotating" when experimenting various setup earlier (without body) and the 5.5 axle that connects middle console to engine can detach.

I dare anyone who already has 42115 fully built to do this: put the Sian on your lap, and then push both front and rear axle downwards...
I think it will break in the middle, this weak part, making the 5.5 axle pops out from your V12 engine (it will be quite hard to put back...).

[Didumos69]

3 minutes ago, stevenhalim said:

I dare anyone who already has 42115 fully built to do this: put the Sian on your lap, and then push both front and rear axle downwards...
I think it will break in the middle, this weak part, making the 5.5 axle pops out from your V12 engine (it will be quite hard to put back...).

If this section is so vulnerable to bending, then that axle probably also suffers from friction.

[jb70]

v1.0 has been published on https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-46782/jb70/42115-pimp-up-my-lamborghini/

 

Thanks a lot to all of you for your contributions so far! 

[jbuccino]

1 hour ago, jb70 said:

v1.0 has been published on https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-46782/jb70/42115-pimp-up-my-lamborghini/

Thank you so much. You and all the contributors are amazing. I am looking forward to a complete disassemble and rebuild of my 0.16.

[DataNinja]

7 hours ago, jb70 said:

v1.0 has been published on https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-46782/jb70/42115-pimp-up-my-lamborghini/

Cannot tell you how excited I am for V1, thanks @jb70 for all your hard work on the instructions and mods, kudos to @Didumos69 and @stevenhalim for their contributions as well!  Rebrickable to the rescue, parts on order but not letting that slow down my partial build already in progress with mismatched colors and substitutions.  I guess when parts arrive I'll just have unbuild and start all over!

I know you take pride in offering high quality instructions for your Pimp Up series at no cost, have you considered a paypal donations page?  I would gladly contribute

[jbuccino]

1 minute ago, DataNinja said:

Have you considered a paypal donations page?  I would gladly contribute

+1

[suffocation]

9 minutes ago, jbuccino said:

+1

+2

Not to mention the inspiration coming from your (jb70's) Mocs.

[stevenhalim]

Hi all,

Rebuilt report of v0.16 (or is it v1.0 now?), swapping some axles and gears -> success :).
Now gear 1 is smooth enough (playable, roll-able on the floor, but won't categorize it as "smooth as butter").
This is probably at the edge of possibility with my current build.

Gear 2 is my best performance (in terms of the one that makes fast rattling noise of the engine yet smooth enough) so probably will use it as "default" gear and only occasionally go down to gear 1 with this current build.

Thanks all for the contributions so far.

[Didumos69]

1 hour ago, stevenhalim said:

Gear 2 is my best performance (in terms of the one that makes fast rattling noise of the engine yet smooth enough) so probably will use it as "default" gear and only occasionally go down to gear 1 with this current build.

What about Reverse as the default? Should be as smooth as second gear with the rpm of 1st gear.

Edited July 4, 2020 by Didumos69

[stevenhalim]

1 hour ago, Didumos69 said:

What about Reverse as the default?

After two weeks of tinkering with your/jb70 8 speed+reverse with center differential gearbox, it will be more appropriate to set forward gear 2 as the default so that I can occasionally appreciate gear shift when I am the one "playing" with it :).

But most of the time, I left the car on the floor at home so my kids will push it along mostly at default setup.
Leaving it at gear 1 (working now) with kids abusing it will be a bit dangerous :).

Btw, I have updates on Ackermann steering setup.

Here is my latest Sian's belly shot.
Let's focus on the front wheel.
In stock build, there are 7M+15M to stitch the chassis-frontaxle-partofnose.
The Ackermann steering setup that you guys added in causes rubbing with the 15M without the gear rack limiter, so jb70 added one at page 51 step 17.

Let's quote Sian's promotional material again.
"It seemed a shame to go to the trouble of simulating the intricate workings of the 8-speed sequential gearbox only to hide it away inside the model..."

Here:
"It seemed a shame to go to the trouble of simulating Ackermann steering to then limit its power again ..."

So here is my version of this aspect.
I took out the 15M black beam and reroute the "stitching part" to behind.
So lengthen the black beam on the left of the original 15M beam, connect it with the front axle indicated with blue box,
then use the space indicated in green box to connect it with the front section of the care (just before the nose).
Hopefully it is clear enough?
This setup is weaker than just using one long 15M beam of course but this solves the rubbing problem.

Now when the car turns at maximum angle (picture below - left side, I push the wheel with force), the Ackermann setup will make the inside wheel turns more, but the removal of 15M beam will make the rubbing problem gone.
PS: for picture below - right side, I show that the outer wheel doesn't rub with the 3M white (I ran out of 3M black beam) beam as it should be with Ackermann setup (and you can even shorten it to 2M beam if you want to).

With this mod (i.e., not using gear rack limiter at page 51 step 17), you can now have Sian that turns tighter inside your room :D.
I can say it turns tighter and better compared to stock build that doesn't have Ackermann setup and center differential (of course).

Edited July 4, 2020 by stevenhalim
to clarify that I have undone the gear rack limiter mod

[Polarlicht]

Painting wheels step 1. Used a standard glossy black spray paint. Some people might not like this and want it to be all original and thats fine, but the original gold was also painted and is not really strong, you can scratch the gold off with your finger nails.

Next step will be metallic silver Revell color "pinstripes" to get the two tone diamond cut finished look.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by Coolusername

[therealjustin]

That looks fantastic actually.

Just curious, what color is underneath the gold paint?

[Polarlicht]

23 minutes ago, therealjustin said:

That looks fantastic actually.

Just curious, what color is underneath the gold paint?

I think its tan or maybe light bluish grey...

When i got the set i scratched off a little bit between the 3 pins on the inside, but it was "dark" in there and didn't look twice really. I kept the gold when painting. But removing the gold won't be worth the hassle with all those spokes and tiny holes in between. And nobody wants tan wheels anyway ?

[Polarlicht]

Step 2, added Revell color. Last step might be a clear coat and then it's done

Looks way better than the gold

[SamuelYsc]

1 hour ago, Coolusername said:

Step 2, added Revell color. Last step might be a clear coat and then it's done

Looks way better than the gold

The wheels look so nice! I like this black and white color.

[Polarlicht]

Its not white, its silver. In real this area would be shiny as a CD due to the diamond cut process, but that shininess can not be done in lego, so i used silver paint.

[thekoRngear]

Just now, Coolusername said:

Its not white, its silver. In real this area would be shiny as a CD due to the diamond cut process, but that shininess can not be done in lego, so i used silver paint.

superb, that paint sprays can be found on amazon, right?

[Polarlicht]

9 minutes ago, thekoRngear said:

superb, that paint sprays can be found on amazon, right?

The black spraypaint can be found anywhere, the silver is Revell color in a tiny 14ml can. I applied the silver with a toothpick onto the wheel.

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

20 hours ago, Coolusername said:

Step 2, added Revell color. Last step might be a clear coat and then it's done

Looks way better than the gold

Wow, those wheels look a thousand times better. Really like the pattern you get by not highlighting all of the spokes.

Is it just a trick of the lighting, or have you managed to recolour the 1x1 round badges in the center as well?

[Polarlicht]

1 hour ago, BrickMonkeyMOCs said:

Wow, those wheels look a thousand times better. Really like the pattern you get by not highlighting all of the spokes.

Is it just a trick of the lighting, or have you managed to recolour the 1x1 round badges in the center as well?

Lighting! Have not touched those tiles!

[Polarlicht]

Added a clear coat, now they are done

My painting skills are not the best as you can see in the close up picture, but from distance it looks awesome :D

[Polarlicht]

Alright, one last picture. Hope to see more people do this, maybe in a different color if they want.

[LegoHoops]

Finally the Lamborghini 42115 arrived on my door step! Over the last month I had been building the chassis, primarily the back-end getting my head around tidying up closer to the actual Sian. 
I have dodged a bullet with some of the panel colour variations, the wing was awful when built - too many different elements that were too many shades of Lime, so my initial Black wing has stayed. It adds a bit of contrast to the rear and ties in the Black side panels.

 

Built the Pimped Lamborghini Sian version, thanks to the guys for their input on that. I’ve tried to eliminate as many Blue pins as possible, replacing with Black. 

The steering also has an upward tilt to it, replacing the original straight version. Centre console highlighted in Lime instead of the Light Gray.

When I started playing with the shape of the rear of the car, I saw these sloping wedge shapes in my daughter’s Ninjago dragon’s - so I got a selection of similar Lime wedges and slopes via BrickLink to play around with. The exhausts pipes are one module further out, two reasons - I like it better and the exhaust structure is tied into the very small panel fairing underneath, aligning them better. Also two additional very small panel fairings were installed vertically either side of the wing mechanism box.
Purchased a sticker sheet from a Lamborghini Speed Champions set for a panel were the number plate would sit and the ‘63’ decals for the side panels (yet to be applied). Used a couple of leftover Lime pins with holes to clip the two wishbone elements together.

The Lamborghini will probably get a few other mods along the way and I’d like to ditch the gold wheels at some point too. Maybe if a 42115 set comes up a good price in the future, maybe a Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 might be worth a crack.

Edited June 13, 2023 by LegoHoops
image host

[gethema]

Now that vacation is finally here, I've decided to re-build the Sian, this time in the pimped version.

One of the things that bothered me most with the original model was the fact that the doors and the spoiler frequently didn't stay in place, especially when lifting, moving or tilting the model to see its belly. 

So, having a few spare springs lying around, I tried to integrate simple spring-loaded locking mechanisms for the doors and the spoiler, with minimal to no changes to the chassis of the car (and with as little extra parts as possible).

Turned out it wasn't so hard at all, but just see for yourself:

doors:

  

spoiler:

(sorry for the bad pictures, its hard to capture on photo but the spring is secured in the empty section right next to the front suspension)

in action:

Going forward, I will try and connect the engine cover to the chassis, eventually integrating an assisted opening mechansim as well. I just don't like those 'loose parts' scattered around on my models ;)

Edited August 19, 2020 by gethema
added video

[SNIPE]

23 minutes ago, gethema said:

One of the things that bothered me most with the original model was the fact that the doors and the spoiler frequently didn't stay in place, especially when lifting, moving or tilting the model to see its belly.

Going forward, I will try and connect the engine cover to the chassis, eventually integrating an assisted opening mechansim as well. I just don't like those 'loose parts' scattered around on my models ;)

Good idea, Thanks.

Edited August 19, 2020 by SNIPE