Looking good! I like seeing so much dark bluish gray at once 

After a month break from building the hog for TC19 I got back on it today and built the second engine. I’m waiting on a load of parts in order to complete the camo scheme but it was nice to get both engines built and also to add the mechanisms for the control surfaces on the tail plane. 

 

 

Dayum... that thing is HUGE. Seeing it next to the Ford and Kadena bike really shows the proportions...

Looks stunning! Keep it up!

1 hour ago, Rudivdk said:

Dayum... that thing is HUGE. Seeing it next to the Ford and Kadena bike really shows the proportions...

Looks stunning! Keep it up!

Thanks man. Yeah it’s got pretty big. They always look bigger in the flesh than on the plans though!

I’ve made the decision today to re design the rear retract mechanism. At the moment I have low torque high speed coming from the central distribution box and a low profile worm drive mechanism in each wheel pod. This relies heavily on thin bevel gears and they snap easily. Also, it’s very tricky to get them synchronised with each other. I plan to move the worm mechanism to a single one in the centre of the fuselage at wing height, then undercarriage driven with one axle out to each pod. I think it will need a locking mechanism too.

Also, I’ve made the turbofans completely modular and they can be removed intact in the spirit of the real plane. All control surfaces are interchangeable with their opposite counterparts. Same with the engines.

Pics of revised undercarriage to come.

21 minutes ago, MinusAndy said:

I think it will need a locking mechanism too.

If you don't have ideas already, I'd suggest you to have a look at the instructions of the bigger Technic planes (42025, 42066 for example) and study/build some of those landing gear legs. Most of them have some sort of lock built into their system, either in the leg hinges themselves, or in the lever/gearsystem that drives them. Might get you off to a flying start (pun intended ).

Edit On a totally different note: I have to get me some of those 3-way connectors you have in dark brown in there. Those are really nifty parts for cylindrical builds! I'm still playing with the idea of the F4-U so have to build me a radial engine at some point...

Edited February 16, 20214 yr by Rudivdk

23 hours ago, Rudivdk said:

If you don't have ideas already, I'd suggest you to have a look at the instructions of the bigger Technic planes (42025, 42066 for example) and study/build some of those landing gear legs. Most of them have some sort of lock built into their system, either in the leg hinges themselves, or in the lever/gearsystem that drives them. Might get you off to a flying start (pun intended ).

Edit On a totally different note: I have to get me some of those 3-way connectors you have in dark brown in there. Those are really nifty parts for cylindrical builds! I'm still playing with the idea of the F4-U so have to build me a radial engine at some point...

Those brown three way connectors are great, especially combined with the axle version. I really struggled to make radial and round objects without them.
 

Great advice. I’m going to have a look at those. Fortunately the A10 has really simple robust undercarriage and the rears do not fully retract so you can land with the wheels up. The undercarriage doors are directly linked to the leg so they can be blown down by the wind if the system fails.

Here’s the original design with the worm gear in each pod and the new version which is much simpler and works so much better.

and the new version with a more appropriate door design too.

Thanks for looking. 

I’ve had a busy weekend and redesigned the retract system, the rears now have a single common worm drive in the fuselage. They don’t lock but the force taken through the leg when the plane is stood on it is three studs behind the pivot point and it pushes directly on the main spar.  I’ve slimmed out the back of the fuselage as it was too bulky before and built the nacelles into one solid unit. I still need to work on the reliability of the front retract as it often catches on the side of the door. It also needs moving one tooth round on the worm gear as it needs to be more vertical.

I’m pleased with the stance of the plane, redesigning the undercarriage forced me to address that issue.

 

 

 

Quite impressive that such a big plane can stand on it's own landinggear

This looks amazing so far, but (and this is no fault of yours) the turbofan cowlings' ribbed aesthetic is really jarring. It's a shame that's the only way to use Technic to get circular cylinders.

9 hours ago, Bartybum said:

This looks amazing so far, but (and this is no fault of yours) the turbofan cowlings' ribbed aesthetic is really jarring. It's a shame that's the only way to use Technic to get circular cylinders.

Yeah I know man, I’m not up for using system for them and I figured I’d use a similar technique on other areas like the nose so as to make them fit in as a building style. If I can get the ends to blend in more I think it’ll help. If anyone has any suggestions I’m all ears. 

3 hours ago, MinusAndy said:

If anyone has any suggestions I’m all

I could only really suggest either curved panels or wheel pieces with something on the outside, but idk how you'd make that

Yeah I’ve tried loads of things like wheel rims and curved bricks but that way seems the best, especially in terms of getting rotating parts inside. Luckily the Hawg is pig ugly in real life so the model gets a bit of slack in that department. 
I tried using curved panels when I first started building it but they didn’t work as well as using the radial parts inside. 

 

This thing must be huge, I have a car in the same scale as your RS200 next to me and on your pic it looks quite small compared to the massive gray monster...And it will be a lot bigger if the wings are completed. I think it might not fit into your building shed 

I would have gone with system pieces for the turbines for sure, I always choose the piece that fits best. I like to combine system and technic. but that is a matter of preference and style I guess.

 

I’d probably have used system for them if tlg made a 4x4 curved piece with a curved top but they only do a 3x3 so I think it would have looked bitty. 
mom open to suggestions though.

A quick update: I’ve been working on the nose shape and cockpit. I’ve added a mid air refuelling door to the nose and started the canopy. It’s slightly too bulbous at the moment but it’s getting there.

I was thinking of using the new tapered panels that came on the Sian for the nose but though the temptation to use them as they are an easy fix is marred by them not quite being right. I’m tempted to use similar techniques as the engine pods to add a bit of cohesion to the design. I have also made an ejector seat which has the hub behind it so you pop the seat out to get to the batteries.

the moc as it stands is 114 studs long. This means it will be about 120 studs wingspan.

 

Just amazing!!!

On 3/25/2021 at 7:22 PM, Pato Sentado said:

Just amazing!!!

Thanks man.

I got this built to the point that I have an idea how to shape most of it but I found loads of mechanical things that needed improving so I stripped it down to square 2 and started over. 
I now have a tricycle with all working components and just need to add the HOG and controls.

the new gearbox/apu has rotary switches to change outputs and direction while the l motor runs constantly.

The 2 main functions from that gearbox are controlled by the bionicle teeth on the side.

When the undercarriage is up, an automated switch puts the drive back into neutral and vice versa.

Thanks for looking, I’ll post up more pics soon.

 

Never seen so much grey look so enticing

On 4/12/2021 at 11:31 PM, suffocation said:

Never seen so much grey look so enticing

Thanks man.

UPDATE:

The proportions are a little cartoonish, which I don’t mind but it is getting too long (125 studs) and in order to get the canopy cover to the right height I had to lose the small bulge behind it, which I rather like, soooo...

I need to make the fuselage 2 studs lower. This means a total rebuild of the power distribution and HOG (no pun intended) box.

 

 

 

Love this build! Looking forward to the next steps.

Some of the larger grey panels of the 42113 osprey would fit beautifully in the nose section. Hope you can get a hold of them.

The landing gears and wing structure will carry a lot of weight when it's done. Can't wait to find out how you'll solve any potential bending issues.

 

Wow... interested to see where this is going, looking good so far!

14 hours ago, roeltheworld said:

Love this build! Looking forward to the next steps.

Some of the larger grey panels of the 42113 osprey would fit beautifully in the nose section. Hope you can get a hold of them.

The landing gears and wing structure will carry a lot of weight when it's done. Can't wait to find out how you'll solve any potential bending issues.

 

I was gutted about the osprey as that was going to be a great donor. I bought those new curved panels in line to see if they fit. If they do I’ll splurge for some grey ones!

Fortunately the hawg is ,at its heart, a boxy bulletproof tricycle and this means I can overbuild the wing root and undercarriage area to cope with the weight whilst the rest of the wing can be less so. 
I’ve been experimenting with a 3 stud thick wing built from panels on the top and bottom with frames inside. It seems pretty strong and light but ultimately it’s a big bird and pretty heavy so we shall see how she hangs together.

I’ve shrunk the controls down by 2 studs from my original design. I have to put the linkage for the elevator above the fulcrum as there is no room underneath it because BBBBRRRRRRRRT!

the three universal joints are the outputs from the rudder pedal, elevator and aileron controls.

It’s been a while since I posted any progress on the uglybird. Partly because it has taken me a while to work out how to automate the undercarriage switch so that it works reliably and partly because I quit smoking weed and ironically it has had a catastrophic effect on my Lego productivity!

Because I wanted the motor to run constantly as the APU would do on the real plane, and functions to operate using a distribution box it meant that when the undercarriage reaches its upper and lower limit it must be disconnected from the motor drive in order to prevent it binding up and skipping gears. I tried using rotary catches for this but sadly when the changeover catch is under load the rotary catches seem to lock up. I have now settled on using the older style changeover lever. A red 1/2 lift arm is driven by a worm drive and as the undercarriage reaches its limit it pushes a sliding lever which disengages the gearbox. The neutral and up and down positions on the switch are kept in place using a spring loaded ball on the sliding arm. If I used the white centres to the changeover catches there is too much resistance for the switching mechanism so I had to make a system that meant I could adjust the tension on the position selector.

I have also used an angled l-motor to keep the drive down low so that there is room for the control surface mechanisms to fit inside a fuselage which needs to be lowered.