Formula 1 Update

After some trial and error, I have the general shape, size and technical sides of my RC Formula 1 Project. As it turned out, custom U-joints weren't necessary, and the Buggy motors are quite capable of getting the weight of the car up to speed!

The body is still a very much work in progress.. I want it to have the general shape of a Formula 1 car, maybe from the '90s, while still keeping the weight as low as possible. The current body is just to test weight and the general shape.

The entire underside, except for the current front wing, is flush with the lower arms of the suspension.

New MOC WIP, RC Formula 1 car

I feel like there are certain things one has to create as a MOCer (unfortunately, as once I am done with one, I almost immediately start work on the next project, which I really don't have the time to do).

I have made some construction vehicles that turned out pretty well, and now also a large truck, with some nice, unique functions.

After receiving the RC Buggy equipment, I set my eyes on making a Formula 1 type car, with the added awesomeness of RC Buggy motors.

I first made a prototype rear axle, incorporating two motors, and realistic push rod suspension. Main challenge was to make it as narrow as possible, but still make it look like formula 1 suspension, with long double wishbones, and the characteristic push- or pull rod suspension. Due to the motors taking up a lot of space vertically, I opted for Push-rod, even though most modern F1 cars have pull rod (I think)

Never done a setup like this before, so it turned out not too good. Mainly due to the suspension having too much travel, so this will be fixed in the final version.

Also, due to the combination of relatively high weight that the vehicle will end up having, and the POWER of the RC Buggy Motors, I seriously worry that the U-joints will be shredded once I try this.

I am trying to design an alternate model in LDD, using two custom U-joints, unfortunately they are a lot bigger, requiring a slightly wider (roughly 3 studs) wheelbase.

However, this setup should be able to handle a whole lot of torque! The pivot of the suspension is offset from the pivot points of both U-joints, so I designed it with roughly one and a half stud travel. Have no idea how this will work until I actually build it=)

And yeah, I'm not using the Unimog tyres on the actual model...

The front axle was easier, and is built around the RC Buggy Steering unit

Building on experiences from designing the rear axle, the suspension works flawlessly, and the steering unit provides nice, consistent steering. Features Ackermann geometry.

Also, the battery box/receiver unit is placed as close to the front as possible, to hopefully induce some drifting when the car is finished.

Like I said, it is all still very much a work in progress, will come back with more over the weekend!

Pneumatic Tow Truck part 2

I'm now pretty much finished with the MOC, having added some more functions today.

Firstly I added a front winch, and then I made the towing fork extendable using a long, old style cylinder. It retracts via rubber bands, eliminating the need for superfluous pneumatic stuff (old pump and distribution block)

The below image shows the front, with the cabin removed. The horizontal cylinder on top of the engine is the one used to tilt the cab. You can also see where the front stabilizer cylinders are attached, as well as the extra grey springs on the suspension, needed because of the high weight of the model

 The outriggers on this MOC are all actually needed, as pumping on either side of a vehicle with full suspension makes it wobble from side to side.

Next is a picture of the base of the crane, as well as a lot of the pneumatic stuff. You can also barely see the two cylinders used for slewing the crane, in the same way as is done on the infamous 8868 Air Tech Claw Rig from the early nineties. The gears is for the extention of the boom on the crane. A crank on the right hand side of the chassis, drives axles and gears up through the turntable, and finally to a wor gear, that extend the boom.

A close up of the outrigger mechanism. You can also see the "wishbone" parts used in the rear suspension. Although it is live axle, using this part instead of the more common 6L link with ball sockets on either end, restricts movement to two axis', instead of the usual three (the drive shaft has too much slack to be effective alone). It worked really well! The rearmost axle has a different setup again=)

These are the front axles. Nothing special here really.. the different turning radiuses is achieved using a short axle with gear reduction (12:20) for axle number 2.

 Will have a video in the next couple of days (hopefully tomorrow)

Technic pneumatic tow truck "Pneumayhem"

I am in the finishing stages of building my version of a heavy duty tow truck, trying to make a model with a high level of platability, without using any electric parts at all. At first I just tried to make an 8x4 chassis with full independent suspension (double wishbone on the front two axles, and Live axle for the rear two axles. The below picture is close to the final result, but some modifications have been made as I went along, including a differential between both driven axles (located more or less amidships), and more springs in the front to support the massive weight.

This is not a complete presentation, as the truck isn't finished yet, more of a teaser of some of the functions (mostly pneumatic) and features of the model.

The cab, is loosely based on the one from the beloved 8258 Crane Truck, however the roof is a design of my own, as is the grille and also a lot of other details, as later pictures will show.

The above picture shows the truck in a more or less completed state, but several improvements have been made since this picture was taken.

The above image shows the front sans cab, with the pneumatic air tank, and the two manual pumps.

Minor changes have been made, amongst others a pneumatic cylinder to facilitate lifting of the cab.

Here you see the improved cab, featuring opening doors and a better looking front assembly thingy.

You can also see parts of the self sustained automatic electric compressor unit, that can be placed inside the cab instead of the seats and steering wheel. It is then connected to the pneumatic circuit, and will maintain pressure, without having to use energy yourself.

A closer view of the rear outriggers, towing fork and small winch, as well as the main boom lifting cylinders. The boom extention is via a crank on the right hand side of the chassis. it drives a worm gear in the main boom, through an intricate system of axles and gears from the chassis.

Some more progress before I go on vacation:

Trying different things here, like smaller wheels and such

Done some more LDD work on my Mk II Swingloader, and this is the current state of things:

It is turning out a lot smaller than the original it would seem, but that may be a good thing! Unfortunately, routing five axles through the articulation requires a minimum of 9 studs in the z-direction (5 for the actual axles, as well as 1 stud between each of them), in order for the rest of the build to be reasonably contained in the x- and y-directions. 

However, still a very much work in progress, will continue to update as i make more progress!

Done some digital work for my "Swingloader Mk II", trying to make the things that were not so good in my initial model better. There were a lot of half ass solutions, amongst other things poor connections, and a lot of U-joints used where gear transmissions would have been better (and would have saved a lot of my U-joints from breaking).

Anyway, this is what the original model looked like:

And this is how far I've come with the Mk II motor/transmission setup in LDD:

Will still have all motors in the back, more or less directly above the rear axle, but all the transmission of power onto the vertically parallell axles are now done by gears.

Will post more pictures as the progress continues.=)