Building a scale Lego Technic XB coupe with working bits

Phil B · 12-02-2012, 07:50 PM

Hi everyone I've just joined the forums here. I love coupes and and although I don't own one, I'm looking for one.

But 2 years ago I started building a scale model of an XB coupe out of Lego Technic due to me not growing up and loving building stuff out of it, and also not being in a position to buy a real one.

It's not just a little car, it's massive! There has to be a few thousand pieces of lego/technic in it, I've had to buy more a few times already! It has a working V8, four speed gearbox, steering (to the steering wheel and also I'm going to run another steering wheel on the roof), suspension all round with a live rear axle and leaf springs.

Just for starters here's what it looks like, though since this pic I've added the rear pillars and the frame around the boot.

And here is the rear now.

Now a few progress shots.

I used a kit (8880) as a very loose base to start from, but theres not much of that left in it anymore because it was a mid engine 4WD 4WS 4 wheel independant suspension supercar. But this is where i started, though I had to move the engine to the front, which involved turning the steering arms around.

Here is the workings of the 4 speed gearbox underneath.

Here is the front end a long way further down the track.

Engine.

I have more pics up of it in the link in my signature, I think you should be able to see them.

If anyone has any tips on what doesn't look or something then I'm happy to hear, just bear in mind the limitations of the lego platform.

I plan to keep adding pics as I do more work, which is slow at the moment, probably the same as the real thing would take!

AU Mont · 12-02-2012, 08:01 PM

fantastic !!!

Geez Louise · 12-02-2012, 08:31 PM

Nice one Phillip. Great to see you on the forum (about time you signed up!

)

Keep the updates coming. It is one cool looking model!

Cheers
Col

Phil B · 12-02-2012, 08:35 PM

Thanks Col, yeah I figured now that I'm getting closer to being done that I should put it up for people to see. And now that I'm back in melbourne and looking for a coupe, although now that I've moved back from QLD there's a few for sale up there

**SSD-85** · 12-02-2012, 08:41 PM

Now that is cool. Combining 2 favourites of mine; Ford & Lego.

Phil B · 12-02-2012, 08:50 PM

Oh and I hope to have it finished by the echuca meet next year as i will be there. while it might sound like a long time to take to finish it, I'm not living at home where it is at the moment, and I'll be heading to the NT for a year inbetween. Note to organisers of the echuca meet, dont make it in the first half of the year or i wont be happy

lol

ACEz · 12-02-2012, 08:57 PM

This is awesome ! love the gearbox, I can imagine the headaches this would have given you :P

Phil B · 12-02-2012, 09:00 PM

I cheated on the gearbox, its straight out of the kit :P although i had to move a gear along a shaft to clear something i think.

What was the worst? Steering I think to get it around the engine

jackson105 · 12-02-2012, 09:20 PM

That is Awesome mate. Well Done. My 2 favs fords and lego yay

HLC · 14-02-2012, 07:36 PM

My fav set is 8880. Got it at home in Syd. When I'm back I might just bust it out lol!!!

Phil B · 14-02-2012, 07:49 PM

lol yeah its awesome! basically i wouldnt have been able to make this without the parts from that set. I bought it off ebay with a few other sets for 300 or so which was great

though i think ive spent more than that since on bulk bundles of just black stuff from the us off ebay, wonder where all that black is going... :P
Oh and i made the 8880 in 4 hours going flat out

jaydee · 14-02-2012, 11:06 PM

Nice work. Only thing wrong is the back tyres need to be FFFFAT

Phil B · 15-02-2012, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaydee

Nice work. Only thing wrong is the back tyres need to be FFFFAT

Yeah I know but these tyres are the fattest known to lego man! And by far the closest looking to anything decent.

Road Games · 15-02-2012, 08:26 AM

Awesome mate .. are they bigger than the rims on the tractor kit ?

Dunno the No's sorry i was 14 at the time

Phil B · 15-02-2012, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR6menace

Awesome mate .. are they bigger than the rims on the tractor kit ?

Dunno the No's sorry i was 14 at the time

Done a quick search, if it was the red tractor with a trailer, or greenish tractor from within the last 6 years then the back rims are a bit bigger, 94.8x44mm versus my 81.6x34mm. But mine are about the biggest road tyres you can get before you get into the big off road/balloon tyres.

GTP owner · 15-02-2012, 09:17 AM

That's a win in my book!

HLC · 17-02-2012, 12:04 AM

Biggest rims were on the 'silver champion' F1 car which was re-released as a Williams F1 and a Ferrari F1. I don't know the set number.

However they would not work with the 8880 set/wheels as they attach with a normal black axle as opposed to the grey clips 8880 uses!

And $300 is cheap! Pretty sure my folks paid that back in the early 90's when they bought it for me! Took my Dad and I all day on Xmas to put it together!

Phil B · 17-02-2012, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HLC

Biggest rims were on the 'silver champion' F1 car which was re-released as a Williams F1 and a Ferrari F1. I don't know the set number.

However they would not work with the 8880 set/wheels as they attach with a normal black axle as opposed to the grey clips 8880 uses!

And $300 is cheap! Pretty sure my folks paid that back in the early 90's when they bought it for me! Took my Dad and I all day on Xmas to put it together!

I just looked and those wheels/tyres dont have the size markings on them like the others do, but they do look big (need to get me some lol).

And yeah then I'd need the other parts to make up the steering and suspension pieces. Though with them I would be able to make my rear axle heaps smaller because at the moment I have to run the whole double wishbone setup but mounted solidly because of those special clips (which I think are vastly better at taking the weight than just a single axle, especially because mine is probably scale weight too!)

Price on the kit, yeah I waited a while to get one cheap enough, may have helped that it came with the other kits, I'm not sure. One kit was a hovercraft, which the bumper of the coupe is made up of its rubber edge pieces

NickyN · 18-02-2012, 05:58 AM

I think it's awesome! Maybe contact Lego and see what they say? Who knows what they might offer you, ask for pics/details/something and want to display it somewhere or print it?

Did you know Lego has shops here in the US? Yup the entire shop is for Legos and has an assortment of displays everywhere. Guess the name of the shop?

Lego. Not sure if I can post a link, but here it is:
http://stores.lego.com/en-US/default.aspx

And if you're in Cali or Florida, stop by Legoland: (Lego theme park)
http://www.legoland.com/

Have fun, it's an awesome fun place to play at!

Phil B · 18-02-2012, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickyN

Maybe contact Lego and see what they say? Who knows what they might offer you, ask for pics/details/something and want to display it somewhere or print it?

Years ago my dad and I got talking to some guys who ran a tractor pull over here and thought it'd be a good idea to run Lego mini tractor pulls using Technic and the motors. Me and dad build a tractor each and we built a sled and competed against each other at home and it was tonnes of fun.

We emailed Lego asking if we could run the competition and maybe get sponsorship or something. We got a reply saying if we did any of that they would sue us for copyright. A few months later they released that power puller tractor pull kit... We emailed them again asking for recognition for the kit but we never heard back.

Those Lego shops look cool, but as you can see from my model, I prefer the older style lego, so ebay has been my friend/enemy lol.

NickyN · 21-02-2012, 09:02 PM

Maybe find a classic Lego club so you and other "Lego-ers" can share your passion? Or start one up yourself, maybe others will join your club.

Phil B · 21-02-2012, 10:19 PM

Nah pics up here for the coupe peoples works enough for me. and i plan to take it to the echuca coupe meet next year too.

MattsDisturbed · 06-03-2012, 02:54 AM

That is bloody fantastic!
Every time I see Lego models I always think to myself maybe I should have kids earlier in life than I expected so I get to play with Lego again!

Phil B · 06-03-2012, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattsDisturbed

That is bloody fantastic!
Every time I see Lego models I always think to myself maybe I should have kids earlier in life than I expected so I get to play with Lego again!

Who said you need kids to have Lego? Who says you need any kind of excuse? Same as with the real thing

smciner1 · 06-03-2012, 07:15 PM

Awesome work! I look forward to seeing it finished.

Phil B · 06-03-2012, 11:57 PM

mmm yeah hopefully it happens, i havent done anything on it now for about 6 months, really need to get it happening, problem is its 300 kays away from me at the moment, and soon ill go 4000 kays away lol

NickyN · 08-03-2012, 01:55 PM

Legos are always fun to play with!

**Revolver** · 08-03-2012, 02:03 PM

Fantastic!

IMO not the best kit to use as a base. I think kit 8810 (IIRC I bought it the other day) would be better. It's a kit that's also motorized & has flexible lines to help "shape" the body. I'll post a pic up of it later.

Phil B · 08-03-2012, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conundrum

Fantastic!

IMO not the best kit to use as a base. I think kit 8810 (IIRC I bought it the other day) would be better. It's a kit that's also motorized & has flexible lines to help "shape" the body. I'll post a pic up of it later.

What kit do you mean? I searched 8810 and its a small motorbike lol! Obviously not what you meant.

And I prefer using the old school way of building, which is why I'm building it like this. I dont have any of the new studless kits, not my style. And if i had to have bought too much lego for it I'd then have less to spend on the real thing! Once of the very few reasons not to

Also a question, do I bring it all from my parents place down to where I'm living while I study? Wasn't going to but thinking I will now or it'll never get finished.

**Revolver** · 08-03-2012, 02:49 PM

Oh not to brag, but I have both the silver champion & the Williams F1 car. The silver champion took my dad & I over 12hrs to build! We even build a stand for it so it can sit on display & not have the tyres go flat at the bottom.

The one set that eluded my was the "big rig black cat". Always wanted that one.