So I think it's time for me to throw my hat in the ring / place down my towel.

I've decided to go small ... as in chose a small vehicle so my scale works out at 1:10.8 as my wheels and tyres are representing a something that sits on 12" wheels with a 145/80R12 tyre!

I'm going to build a 90s style Japanese Kei truck, which means it'll be approximately 37 studs long, 17 wide and 21 tall.

I'm using the Honda Acty and Suzuki Carry as inspiration for the layout and style but the design will be generic.

Started with a chassis and been switching between physical and digital, but my physical is a collection of bits so here's my digital work so far.

first goal was to position the wheels, create a 4WD drivetrain, get some steering and also a mini 3 cylinder engine. I don't think I'll be able to add suspension to the front axle so I don't think I'll add it to the rear either.

Next plan is getting the steering column in place

Might not be any updates for the next couple of weeks as away both weekends :)

 

 

Edited June 23, 2024Jun 23 by Seasider

Interesting engine, have You tried, will that Y part work? Or You will put something on those axles?

2 hours ago, Jurss said:

Interesting engine, have You tried, will that Y part work? Or You will put something on those axles?

It does work but sometimes gets stuck if you’ve got the lineup wrong with your initial push. I may put bushes on the Y pieces so that’ll give a slightly rounded end to push against the pins. Or I may just leave it as it does work

How wide is the rear axle? If it's 13 or more, you should be able to add an independent suspension. I did this with my hot rod MOC, but with a 11 stud axle and no diff. With 13 studs you should be able to connect a diff in a ball joint (a 5 x 7 frame with an U-joint will also work but it's less compact) and then connect a U-joint to each side and connect the other end to brick built wheel hubs attached in wishbones. Its downside is that it has short travel and is not very compact. As for the front axle, I think it could be possible, but I haven't tried it. You should also replace the Y parts in the engine with camshaft pieces, they work smoother.

Edited June 23, 2024Jun 23 by NV Lego technic

8 minutes ago, NV Lego technic said:

If it's 13 or more, you should be able to add an independent suspension.

A little bragging.

Steered, suspended and driven axle with 9 studs between ball joints.

 

 

3 hours ago, Divitis said:

A little bragging.

 Hey, I think it's worth bragging on just so that people like me who haven't seen your design yet can, well, see it. lol

Well, glad that you have an even better solution already. I didn't know of it, so thank you. 

39 minutes ago, Fluwoeb said:

 Hey, I think it's worth bragging on just so that people like me who haven't seen your design yet can, well, see it. lol

 

25 minutes ago, NV Lego technic said:

Well, glad that you have an even better solution already. I didn't know of it, so thank you. 

 

Thanks for the kind reactions. I hope I didn't came across cocky in the first place.

That engine configuration is super interesting btw!

Glad to see you are in another contest @Seasider. It's a fun little project you have, and I like the ideas presented so far. I love these little Kei pickups, so I'm excited to see this progress.

Will follow this one for sure :-)

Just a question: Did you integrate the little gearing just for faster cylinder movement?

And @Jurss said, I think the solution with the Y piece is a little too easy to get stuck.

Ooh, I love the concept! I've spent the last month or so on a property with a '90s Suzuki Carry driving around for the maintenance guys, and I'm in love with them again! (Though this one was an icky automatic one--I didn't even know those existed!)

In fact, I like your idea so much that I'm now feeling like I want to build one for this contest now! I probably won't--it'd likely be more enjoyable to do a more accurate one later at a larger scale, but I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Thanks for the comments all, haven’t made that much progress as been busy working and away at weekends.

@NV Lego technic I’ve switched to the cams instead of the Y piece, yes a lot smoother but just means I don’t have the piston sequence like before.

@Divitis interesting setup but I want diffs at both ends and also I’ve worked out suspension is a bad idea because of clearances. But that’s a neat idea you came up with.

@Jundis yes the gearing was purely to get the engine to run quicker, although in my latest iteration this may be ditched.

@2GodBDGlory well my scale is 1:10.8, I haven’t checked what other scales you can get to with Lego wheels. The problem will be going bigger is I think you’ll end up with a tiny steering wheel!

So some updates from me, not much progress. Bit of a rework on the chassis where I’ve lifted the engine by 1 stud (I’ve not put the cams on the stud.io model yet). I’ve then started to block out the bodywork to get an appreciation of things.

 

It is nice to see some progress.

On 7/2/2024 at 4:13 PM, Seasider said:

 

@2GodBDGlory well my scale is 1:10.8, I haven’t checked what other scales you can get to with Lego wheels. The problem will be going bigger is I think you’ll end up with a tiny steering wheel!

Yeah, I'd probably have to try making a custom one with some kind of flexible tube if I went bigger.

On that thought, though, I wonder what scale you could get with Unimog tires! Well, actually I don't wonder any more, because I just researched it. Looks like it'd be about 1:5.8!

interesting build strategy using the yellow frame to mock up the overall shape. Are you building only digital or do do develop single elements like the drive train by hand?

Is the height of the cab represented by the white panel or the white axles sticking out of it?

On 7/3/2024 at 8:00 AM, 2GodBDGlory said:

Yeah, I'd probably have to try making a custom one with some kind of flexible tube if I went bigger.

On that thought, though, I wonder what scale you could get with Unimog tires! Well, actually I don't wonder any more, because I just researched it. Looks like it'd be about 1:5.8!

1:5.8 is a huge scale ! If you do take up that challenge please do share

On 7/5/2024 at 12:47 AM, pow said:

interesting build strategy using the yellow frame to mock up the overall shape. Are you building only digital or do do develop single elements like the drive train by hand?

I build in a combination of physical and digital. At the moment my desk has 2 engines (one with Y pieces, one with cam pieces), 3 chassis and a cab. The yellow frame was the basic length width height, but as you can see not aligned properly as it goes through the axles rather than being the ground plane. Also I don’t have a large black frame to hand at the moment (actually that’s a lie as I have all the 1:8 supercars), and I’ll order one at some stage along with some other bits from Bricklink. 

On 7/5/2024 at 7:06 AM, NV Lego technic said:

Is the height of the cab represented by the white panel or the white axles sticking out of it?

The white panel is the correct height for the roof based off some dimensions of real Kei Trucks. I haven’t worked out how to do the angled A and B posts yet. I always find this tricky.

Been a while since I’ve done any work on this as life has got in the way, and still may even more. But this afternoon I managed to get a few hours to sit down and work on the bodywork.

Lots is held on by “skyhooks” at the moment. But I think the cab shape is about there. Also I’ve raised the chassis up 1 stud compared to the wheels which I think looks more like the vehicles I’m trying to represent.

I’m hoping to get some more time tomorrow. When I’ll work on a rear end and how to connect a steering wheel but I think that’s going to need some physical building.

Did some work last night trying to work out how to get the steering working and came up with this.

 

Very interesting use of parts. I like it!

That looks like a good soluation.

A lot of progress this week with my digital model as the better half has been away so an hours worth of building per night trying to solve problem after problem.

So today I thought I’d finally switch back to physical and see how it all hangs together, see what doesn’t work and also work out which bits I don’t have in my inventory. So here you go …

… the keen eyed will notice I’ve got some lovely new engine cams and “pistons” (couldn’t resist).

So lots of progress and I’m generally happy … but lots of things to solve.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but would #4 connectors look more realistic? Great build!

Bit of an update from me. Some Bricklink orders came in so switched out the temp parts. Did a lot of work under the skin, lots of little updates where parts in Stud.io didn’t work in reality. Got the switchable 4WD in there, so RWD or 4WD. Bed is just for sizing at the moment.

 

On 8/5/2024 at 6:57 AM, NV Lego technic said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but would #4 connectors look more realistic? Great build!

Yes they are #4 connectors at the base of the A Post

I meant on the engine, the angle looks a bit too large.