March 2024 48-hour MOC Challenge Entry/WIP Topic

[Aurorasaurus]

Now, the keen eyed among you may notice the high gear wasn't used in this video. It does work, its just not as good offroad. Still works though! And sorry for the awful video quality.

[letsbuild]

8 hours ago, Stereo said:

Mid-90's Ford F350 Hi-Rail.  1:25 ish so it can run on Technic Trains track (7 stud gauge).  HoG steering and hopefully a lever to lower the rail wheels.  If I can't make it work from one, then separate front+rear.

Ultimately it'll have 4 axles - 2 rail, 2 road.

At this size I think some system's inevitable, if you want a relatively gapless build.  I'm going for 10 wide cab, 11 wide utility box.

I won't be able to build it in a single colour this weekend, but if I get the functions designed enough, I'll run up a test build.  With aiming for a specific scale, working from a reference pic, and trying to make tiny mechanisms fit past each other, it's much easier for me to use Stud.io than actual parts.  Mix of studded and studless Technic in the chassis because it uses the old 1x6 Technic plates steering setup.

Man this is awesome! I can't wait to see how it turns out, you've got quite the packaging challenge in there.

11 hours ago, 2GodBDGlory said:

I've also got most of the tricky parts of the crosslinking system in place

Wow, that's awesome. I was considering doing a cross-linking system but it seemed too difficult at this scale.

12 hours ago, 2GodBDGlory said:

Ah, so yours is an 8x8 too! Nice job with that complex steering!

Also, I can tell that you're Canadian because of that Mastercraft screwdriver on your desk! (Not to mention the obvious mention of it under your name)

Thank you!

And yes, good eye! I use these o-ring picks to get into places my fingers can't reach

12 hours ago, Aurorasaurus said:

Here's where I stop for the daytime

Holy crap that's a big guy

 

I've started implementing the electronics of the truck now, I'm really impressed with the performance overall. The battery box is not in its final position. It'll go between the two motors.

the suspension is a too stiff for this weight, but I only have one super soft spring (rear left) and I don't think I can acquire all seven others today

[2GodBDGlory]

7 hours ago, Aurorasaurus said:

Now, the keen eyed among you may notice the high gear wasn't used in this video. It does work, its just not as good offroad. Still works though! And sorry for the awful video quality.

Impressively big and fast!

 

5 minutes ago, letsbuild said:

I've started implementing the electronics of the truck now, I'm really impressed with the performance overall. The battery box is not in its final position. It'll go between the two motors.

the suspension is a too stiff for this weight, but I only have one super soft spring (rear left) and I don't think I can acquire all seven others today

Wow, you're using a Mindstorms NXT motor for drive, with two adapters to get it to run off a PF receiver? That's pretty unusual and cool! Why did you choose to go that way?

 

8 hours ago, Stereo said:

Mid-90's Ford F350 Hi-Rail.  1:25 ish so it can run on Technic Trains track (7 stud gauge).  HoG steering and hopefully a lever to lower the rail wheels.  If I can't make it work from one, then separate front+rear.

Ultimately it'll have 4 axles - 2 rail, 2 road.

At this size I think some system's inevitable, if you want a relatively gapless build.  I'm going for 10 wide cab, 11 wide utility box.

 

I won't be able to build it in a single colour this weekend, but if I get the functions designed enough, I'll run up a test build.  With aiming for a specific scale, working from a reference pic, and trying to make tiny mechanisms fit past each other, it's much easier for me to use Stud.io than actual parts.  Mix of studded and studless Technic in the chassis because it uses the old 1x6 Technic plates steering setup.

Interesting choice of model! Yep, that's technically four axles!

[Stereo]

Bit of a sunk cost thing on the design where I don't like the half-stud gap between cab and box anymore (wheelbase is 15.5 studs, which does help with a half stud clearance for steering) but everything's connected so I don't want to do it over.  The grey lever on the side of the box controls the train wheels by sliding forwards, and there are a couple cabinets on the side that don't have any interior surfaces yet.

There's some amount of unintended geometry in the train wheels (hypotenuse 4, height 1, length 3.87 while stored) so I'm going to go ahead and build the chassis, see how everything actually functions at the moment.

[letsbuild]

3 hours ago, 2GodBDGlory said:

Wow, you're using a Mindstorms NXT motor for drive, with two adapters to get it to run off a PF receiver? That's pretty unusual and cool! Why did you choose to go that way?

I knew I wanted good torque, so it was two L motors or an XL motor, but the way the driveshafts are super close together so I realized that the Mindstorms XL motors are perfect. I also had a Mindstorms to 9v adapter, so with a PF extension cable I was able to get it hooked up to a V2 IR receiver (needs to be V2 to handle the amperage)

57 minutes ago, Stereo said:

Bit of a sunk cost thing

I understand fully, I was in the same boat with this frame this morning, but eventually I bit the bullet and basically redesigned the rear and mid frame.

 

As for me, after nine hours, I lengthened my frame, made it strong, moved the battery box lower in the frame, and strengthened the motor mount.

This is where it was before the change, such a hodgepodge of beams

So I tore that apart and started laying out the two halves

I'm not very happy with how long the gap is between axles now, but I can't think of a better way to fit the battery box and the motor in the same space.

Everything is packed in tight in the middle.

You can see the driveshafts placed right beside each other.

[Stereo]

I did end up with a half stud extension on the linkage to get both working together, using engine crank parts, not ideal, but it's not in the way of anything I planned to build.

With the black lever forward, the train wheels are down and locked.  It also locks steering in the centre.

Pulling the lever backwards, which is somewhat tricky with just the bare chassis, raises both up.  The front wheels go straight up and the rear ones swing backwards because I'm controlling opposite parts of the linkage; rear moves the 5L thin beams, front moves the 3L thick beams.

On flat ground the road wheels end up a stud off the ground, it's pretty sturdy.  The 2x8 plate that bridges stud to studless will of course get sandwiched between Technic bricks later, and fix the bend in the middle.  I just had to tackle the function before covering everything up.

If you're not familiar with LEGO Technic TRAINS on YouTube, it's worth checking out.  I don't have the space or budget to do it properly, but I built a 4-2-0 pneumatic locomotive (and then had to add a counterweight for it to have traction + flywheel inertia).  1:25 is about halfway between minifig and Technic fig scale, average people are 7.5-8 studs.  So the minifigs are 1m tall and Technic are 2m.  And even the smallest locomotive dwarfs a regular pickup truck.

Edited March 9, 2024 by Stereo

[2GodBDGlory]

Looks like some good progress! I've found myself busy with lots of non-Technic things this weekend, so I honestly haven't spent as much time on this as I'd like. Still, I think the functionality might be done now, with a fully cross-linked suspension with lots of articulation, all the necessary motors in place, and a workable chassis. Now I guess I just need to neaten things up, build a bodywork, change anything required in testing, and then maybe see what other functions I can add. A winch, maybe?

 

[2GodBDGlory]

Got some bodywork slapped on! It'll need some detail work to make it look better, but it's good to at least have the bulk of the space filled out:

[Aurorasaurus]

Struggling with motivation for a bodywork. I want to do something similar to the warthog from halo, but I cant get the windshield anywhere close to good.

[2GodBDGlory]

Just now, Aurorasaurus said:

Struggling with motivation for a bodywork. I want to do something similar to the warthog from halo, but I cant get the windshield anywhere close to good.

I feel it... Chassis work is fun for me, but getting the bodywork done was a struggle, and so I guess I just threw together a pretty lazy shell for now

[2GodBDGlory]

Alright! I've gotten a roof rack, some lights, and some bumpers on, and generally cleaned stuff up, so I think I'm at a point where this could be done! Maybe I'll make a few tweaks yet, but probably not much

[Aurorasaurus]

https://bricksafe.com/files/Aurorasaurus/miscellaneous/20240310_120914.mp4

Still not sure if I actually like it, but there's something coming along here.

[letsbuild]

5 hours ago, Stereo said:

I did end up with a half stud extension on the linkage to get both working together, using engine crank parts, not ideal, but it's not in the way of anything I planned to build.

With the black lever forward, the train wheels are down and locked.  It also locks steering in the centre.

Pulling the lever backwards, which is somewhat tricky with just the bare chassis, raises both up.  The front wheels go straight up and the rear ones swing backwards because I'm controlling opposite parts of the linkage; rear moves the 5L thin beams, front moves the 3L thick beams.

On flat ground the road wheels end up a stud off the ground, it's pretty sturdy.  The 2x8 plate that bridges stud to studless will of course get sandwiched between Technic bricks later, and fix the bend in the middle.  I just had to tackle the function before covering everything up.

Wow, the functions you're packing into that truck is awesome!

4 hours ago, 2GodBDGlory said:

Looks like some good progress! I've found myself busy with lots of non-Technic things this weekend, so I honestly haven't spent as much time on this as I'd like. Still, I think the functionality might be done now, with a fully cross-linked suspension with lots of articulation, all the necessary motors in place, and a workable chassis. Now I guess I just need to neaten things up, build a bodywork, change anything required in testing, and then maybe see what other functions I can add. A winch, maybe?

A winch would be awesome, and looks like your suspension has plenty of articulation!

2 hours ago, Aurorasaurus said:

Struggling with motivation for a bodywork. I want to do something similar to the warthog from halo, but I cant get the windshield anywhere close to good.

I feel ya man, the mechanical is so much easier than body.

1 hour ago, 2GodBDGlory said:

Alright! I've gotten a roof rack, some lights, and some bumpers on, and generally cleaned stuff up, so I think I'm at a point where this could be done! Maybe I'll make a few tweaks yet, but probably not much

Looks good!

1 hour ago, Aurorasaurus said:

Still not sure if I actually like it, but there's something coming along here.

Seems like you got the warthog look started, keep it up!

 

Here was my first run at the body, I mostly scrapped it for the final product.

Here's how it currently sits and probably will sit in here for the rest of the contest, I mostly just want it to be durable enough to roll over a few times on 😅

Edited March 10, 2024 by letsbuild

[Stereo]

Better look at the linkage (grey plates).  In the forward position the corner plate hits the crossing 1x10.

Then, sliding it backwards, the plate doesn't block the steering anymore, and the thin liftarm is the steering stop.

Made some changes as I went, had some unanticipated intersecting parts around the front tires, and I wanted a higher roof.  The truck cab's essentially done so I think that's a good stopping point for today.  Little bit of fiddling on the doors and more white parts if I can find them.

Edited March 10, 2024 by Stereo

[Aurorasaurus]

I put a great big truck bed on the back. Now I just need to do something with the sides and im happy to call it done. Thanks everyone for the support!

[2GodBDGlory]

1 hour ago, letsbuild said:

A winch would be awesome, and looks like your suspension has plenty of articulation!

Thanks!

I'm probably not going to bother with a winch anymore, since space is tight, and, well, motivation is lacking. Actually, I've spent a few hours this evening working on a completely separate MOC that I'm enjoying quite a bit!

The suspension does have some really cool articulation and floatation, but there are some issues with stability, I'm finding. It's a good way to get an idea of the advantages/disadvantages of this style of suspension, though!

1 hour ago, letsbuild said:

Here's how it currently sits and probably will sit in here for the rest of the contest, I mostly just want it to be durable enough to roll over a few times on 😅

Good to see some bodywork coming up on there! It's simple, but enough to make it a truck rather than just a chassis

1 hour ago, Stereo said:

Better look at the linkage (grey plates).  In the forward position the corner plate hits the crossing 1x10.

Then, sliding it backwards, the plate doesn't block the steering anymore, and the thin liftarm is the steering stop.

Made some changes as I went, had some unanticipated intersecting parts around the front tires, and I wanted a higher roof.  The truck cab's essentially done so I think that's a good stopping point for today.  Little bit of fiddling on the doors and more white parts if I can find them.

The mix of System and Technic here is fascinating! It's just such a different style from anything I'm used to! Very interesting functions too!

6 minutes ago, Aurorasaurus said:

I put a great big truck bed on the back. Now I just need to do something with the sides and im happy to call it done. Thanks everyone for the support!

Looking cool!

Edited March 10, 2024 by 2GodBDGlory

[Aurorasaurus]

And with that, I think im done!

[2GodBDGlory]

1 minute ago, Aurorasaurus said:

 

And with that, I think im done!

Yep, that fills in the space! Are those extra wheels able to rotate? That could help off-roading a bit, as in this truck:
http://sariel.pl/2010/09/fiat-spa35-dovunque/

[Aurorasaurus]

1 hour ago, 2GodBDGlory said:

Yep, that fills in the space! Are those extra wheels able to rotate? That could help off-roading a bit, as in this truck:
http://sariel.pl/2010/09/fiat-spa35-dovunque/

Yeah, they spin really freely, so they could work as they do in that model. We'll pretend I thought about that :)

[Fluwoeb]

On 3/9/2024 at 10:53 AM, letsbuild said:

the suspension is a too stiff for this weight, but I only have one super soft spring (rear left) and I don't think I can acquire all seven others today

@letsbuild, what if you raised the shock absorbers by one stud where they connect to the chassis? That would at least help level the suspension arms out a bit.  Although ik the front ones wouldn't be as easy to move up on the chassis... great design btw! Very compact and efficient.  I myself have too many shock absorbers... I think I have over a dozen at least, if not two. 

Also, @2GodBDGlory, the idea of a 48-hour MOC challenge is great! I especially love how accessible it is to everyone (maybe partially bc of the very limited criteria XD). The timeframe is a bit short though, at least for the level of functionality most everyone puts into their models. 

(I might put in a few pics of something later today before the deadline... )

Edited March 10, 2024 by Fluwoeb

[Stereo]

I'm fairly dependent on natural sunlight to take good photos, so here's the best I can do with it currently overcast and snowing.

 

1990s Ford F350 Hi-Rail.

Featuring steering, opening doors and side compartments, hood, and a lever that switches the rail wheels up and down.  I'll do a more complete write-up when I get a sunny day and can do better photos.

[2GodBDGlory]

5 hours ago, Stereo said:

I'm fairly dependent on natural sunlight to take good photos, so here's the best I can do with it currently overcast and snowing.

1990s Ford F350 Hi-Rail.

Featuring steering, opening doors and side compartments, hood, and a lever that switches the rail wheels up and down.  I'll do a more complete write-up when I get a sunny day and can do better photos.

Nice! It's quite an interesting model

Anyways, good job to all the participants, and thanks for joining! I think it was a fun experiment to try, so maybe we can try another one at some point!

[Jundis]

Completely forgot about this event this weekend :-/

But seeing your builts, I am kind of intimidated! I expected way smaller builts, more like in the size of @Stereo's cute truck :-)

Especially @Aurorasaurus Monster would have been a month-long work with my building speed :D

 

[Aurorasaurus]

1 hour ago, Jundis said:

Especially @Aurorasaurus Monster would have been a month-long work with my building speed :D

Behhh it didnt really work that good though. I tried to do some climbing angle tests tonight and was thoroughly disappointed at the strength of the knob gears in the rear. It needed more reinforcement.

Anyway, hope you can join us next time!

[Stereo]

Ok, here's a Bricksafe gallery with higher quality photos.

Particularly, these are the moving parts:

The linkage goes all the way through the cab so it doesn't really have interior details.  An elastic band on the rear axle helps it to "latch" into the raised/lowered positions.

Overall, it's 30.5x11x11 studs, or 29x11x12 with the rail wheels down.

Edited March 11, 2024 by Stereo