[TC18] [WIP] Nissan GTP ZX-T inspired Le Mans car

[Erik Leppen]

So, let me join the fun :D

I want to have at least the following functions:

• front suspension
• rear suspension
• front steering
• rear drive - fake engine

All of those are working in the above WIP, but I probably won't have any HOG for the steering - just the steering wheel.

For my entry I'm taking inspiration from this: the filename says it's a Jaguar XJR19, which I'm not sure is even correct as I couldn't find other pictures of the same car.

I won't be using green though, I don't have a good variety of small parts. Not sure yet which color I'll do instead. Maybe yellow, since that would give me axles to work with.

Because front suspension, steering, seat, engine, rear suspension and rear wing are all in a row behind one another, my model is rather long. In fact, it's somewhere between 40.9 and 41.1 studs long (hard to measure exactly), so I'm not sure it's even a valid entry right now...

I'd like to make it shorter (i.e. move the rear axle forward), not only for the competition, but also to match the reference better. Problem is, I don't know how. The rear suspension with the ball joint takes a lot of space, but I see no way to make it shorter. I already saved space by leaving out the 1x3x5 trapezium-shaped engine connector block and using "only" 4 cylinders. Also, the rear suspension and drive are working quite well now. But ideas to make it shorter are welcome! I could place the engine on the suspended part, but somehow I don't like that solution.

So yeah, the result will probably be that I keep this chassis layout (and hence, keep the somewhat out-of-proportion length), postpone working on this problem, and just continue working on other parts of the car.

Replies are welcome :D

Edited May 2, 2020 by Erik Leppen
reference identified

[Jeroen Ottens]

Can you mount the balljoint the other way around (ie at the back of the car)?

[Seasider]

I’ve no idea what that car is but it’s not an XJR-19 as that doesn’t exist. It looks like the image is from a computer game of some sort, could be a Tata race car as I’d say that was the main logo. It looks like a late 80s-90s Le Mans car but could be something from a completely different series or even just made up, or someone painted it to be a Jaguar in the game.

looking forward to seeing what you come up with though

[brickless_kiwi]

@Seasider Is correct it's not a jag but a  Nissan GTP ZX-T.  They raced imsa gtp so your engine only needs to be a v6 :) 

[amorti]

10 hours ago, Seasider said:

I’ve no idea what that car is but it’s not an XJR-19 as that doesn’t exist. It looks like the image is from a computer game of some sort, could be a Tata race car as I’d say that was the main logo. It looks like a late 80s-90s Le Mans car but could be something from a completely different series or even just made up, or someone painted it to be a Jaguar in the game.

looking forward to seeing what you come up with though

Tata is the Indian company which owns jaguar. Good spot that it's a video game image though.

[Erik Leppen]

23 hours ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

Can you mount the balljoint the other way around (ie at the back of the car)?

The thought crossed my mind, but I would expect this would ruin rigidity and would have a huge ugly thing protruding in the back, so I dismissed that idea. But I gave it another shot today and I think I have found a nice solution that is much more compact, even though it's indeed less rigid. No pictures right now because no daylight, but will take pictures tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestion! :D

The next challenge will now be to fit the new rear end to the existing chassis. (Because I like the previous chassis for it's simplicity and relative strength)

I think I mis-renamed the file by accident on my computer a while back while sorting files.

16 hours ago, brickless_kiwi said:

@Seasider Is correct it's not a jag but a  Nissan GTP ZX-T.  They raced imsa gtp so your engine only needs to be a v6 :) 

Wow, thanks for finding the correct car! (I renamed the topic.) This helps a lot because I can now find other angles.

Also, maybe, because of the more compact rear suspension, I might actually fit in a V6 using the standard cylinder parts. :D

[1980SomethingSpaceGuy]

Very nice build! Looking forward seeing more! 

[Erik Leppen]

Thanks, @1980SomethingSpaceGuy :D

Ok, so as promised, pictures of yesterday's rear suspension build.

As you can see, the engine is much closer to the rear axle (4.5 studs to be exact). It's somewhat less rigid, but I hope to solve that later. Also, the suspension travel is now only about 0.4 studs. Which, I think, for this type of car, is fine.

I don't even use the ball-joint, so that might serve as some kind of "exhaust" (necessarily).

The 20t from the diff is directly meshed with a 12t above, which is on a hinged axle. This in turn drives the 20t near the engine, which meshes with the 12t below on the crankshaft. So an added bonus of this setup is that the engine also runs about 3 times as fast.

I might change the engine to V6 when joining this part to the front half.

[1980SomethingSpaceGuy]

Very smart and compact solution! 

[Erik Leppen]

Sorry for not updating for so long, but I have continued building on this and I think it's going very well.

First thing you may notice is the ugly white "seat panls" at the front. Yes, I'm not happy with those either, (or with the white front in general) I'm looking for alternatives there.

So I'm going for a black-and-white color scheme. Kinda dictated by the parts (especially the white suspension arms). Also, yes, I'll be having doors that open. Kinda scissor doors. I played with having a ball-joint in the roof, but this becomes too bulky really fast and has limited movement. In the end I figured that having 2 well-positioned ball joints at the front gives the same effect.

I have no mechanism for opening the doors yet, and since there's no friction they'll fall shut, so I want to devise something for that. No concrete ideas yet.

This gives a better shot on the suspension arms for the doors, as well as for how the roof is attached (via the seat, and various ball joint linkages. So the roof is not "in system", but together with the seat it gives enough rigidity. (The dark-gray link above the 20t gear has no structural use, it only holds the large white panels).

Also as you can see the engine is now V6.

This is now the rear. The 5x4 ball joint frame works as an exhaust, but for the rest there's no bodywork yet. Not sure what I'll do here. Anything I add would make it bulkier I'm afraid.

A picture from below.

Replies welcome :D

[Seasider]

I agree the white seat panels on the nose don’t work. I’m not sure if it the image (the one from the front 3/4 view) but to me the vehicle looks too long and tall compared to its width. I think the front overhang is definitely a couple of studs too long. What does it look like if you do a pure side view ?

the back end looks great though

oh and referring back to an earlier comment ... I’m well aware Tata own Jaguar, I work in the industry:)

Edited May 2, 2020 by Seasider