4 years and counting!
When I started my Facebook page four years ago, I had no goals for it. I never planned on winning the Technic Challenge twice, being featured on The Lego Car Blog, winning an award at BrickCon, and having 300+ Facebook fans (85% of which I don't personally know). Of course, this didn't all happen in an instant. I didn't wake up one morning with 300 Facebook fans and all of these achievements. It took a four year journey to get to where I am today, and today, on the anniversary of my page, I've decided to share this journey with you all.
On August 6, 2010, I
made my first post on VKTechnic, with the sole intention of
documenting my work (and possibly freeing up some space on my personal Facebook wall). It was a WIP picture of my Technic Challenge entry
for that month, a 6 wheeler truck with crane trailer:
I went on to build more
models for the subsequent Technic Challenges, pictured below:
The last model, the
Moon Tank, finally won a monthly Challenge, for which I was
awarded the 8049 Log Loader with a signed box:
After this, I built an excavator of the same scale using pneumatic autovalves and again, all four receivers. However, the next project was much more challenging: A large scale model of the Citroen C-Buggy concept. This was the first model where I put a lot of effort into replicating the curves of the car, and in this case, it involved a lot of forced pieces.
After those large scale models, my journey turned to smaller models, specifically ACC (Allround Car Competition) scale. I started by building a few cars that weren't too visually appealing -- "The Lowrider," a GMC Savana van, and a Subaru hatchback (which I never published).
At around this time, the Technic Challenge started back up, and I started building models for it. One of my notable models for the Challenge was a 4-axle Tow Truck:
After this model, I briefly returned to ACC-scale building to produce a decent-looking Toyota FJ Cruiser. It featured a working winch, opening doors, and a limited slip differential, along with R/C drive and steering.
I then returned to building models for the Technic Challenge, and in September of that year, I won the Challenge again (receiving the flagship 8110 Unimog U400). The winning model was a Unimog U500 SWB with loads of functions: remote-controlled drive, steering, gearbox, compressor, front and rear PPTO autovalves, front and rear PTOs, manual bed PTOs and PPTOs, and front and rear pendular suspension.
That October, I took the Unimog to Brickcon 2011 along with a small hexapod (pictured below). This was the first LEGO convention I ever attended, and it was definitely worth every penny (and the 3.5 hour drive).
After Brickcon, I only built two models before the next Brickcon came around. One of these was my ACC Sportscar V2, which is my most successful ACC car to date. Its twin M-motor drive made it very fast, and the front steering had a very small scrub radius as well as a negative caster.
The second model I built was a slightly unfinished mid-scale Lamborghini Gallardo. This was my first MOC with a live rear axle, and it also featured front independent suspension and opening doors.
That year at Brickcon, I showcased two small models, the first being a super compact excavator. All of the motors and switches were housed onboard, but the model still needed external power and an external compressor.
The second model I brought to BrickCon was another successful ACC car: a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. It featured two pendular axles and a 2-speed gearbox and was well received.
My next step in the VKTechnic journey began in February 2013, when I received a Bricklink order with two L-motors and four 62.4 x 20 S wheels and tires, among other parts. A month and a half later, I produced a Lucra LC470 using the new parts, which was eventually featured on The Lego Car Blog. It featured R/C drive and steering, with a bit of complex steering geometry (Side note: About a year after this project was completed, I was contacted by the owner of Lucra Cars, requesting a copy of the car. He only ever sent me one message, so this small business opportunity fell through).
That summer was the beginning of another significant project: a Nissan GT-R on 81.6 x 36 R tires. This car not only featured realistic suspension (double A-arm front, multilink rear, both pneumatically adjustable), but also had a very complicated driveline -- AWD with 3 differentials and a 3+R gearbox with a freewheel and clutch mechanism. It managed to drive fairly well, although it lacked power in third gear.
Soon after the GT-R was disassembled, I bought myself a set of Rock Crusher Micro Crawler Tires. Using those tires, I built a small rock crawler chassis as well as three interchangeable bodies. The chassis was a tad fast, but aside from that, it performed exceptionally. This was mainly due to the tires, which provided amazing traction.
Needless to say, I really liked the new tires. So much so, that when it was time for Brickcon 2013, I purchased some Axial Ripsaw 1.9 tires and built a large scale Toyota Land Cruiser 80 arctic truck. The LC80 had a 2 speed gearbox, 4WD, 4-link suspension on both axles, lights, and opening doors, hood, and trunk. This model was well received at Brickcon, and won the Most Complicated Technic award.
Of course, I didn't just bring one model to BrickCon, but two. The second model was a BAC Mono, with pushrod suspension and full R/C. It didn't win any awards, but driving it around the convention was a lot of fun.
Soon after BrickCon was over, I started building models for the Eurobricks Triple Build Contest. The requirements were 3 small to medium sized models that interacted with each other or shared a common theme. I built two entries, the first of which was a car, fake dynamometer, and centrifugal RPM gauge.
The second entry I built was an R/C arctic truck with a trailer and ice driller. I ended up submitting this entry to the contest over the dynamometer, but it was outvoted by much better models.
This whole time, my Ripsaw tires had just been sitting around (what a horror!), and so were the instruction books for the 8297 Extreme Offroader. It was only logical for me to combine the two, completely redesign the chassis, and produce a pretty awesome crawler. I even wrote up a blog post and made an LDD file for it.
That winter, I was lucky enough to get some snow, so once again, I brought out the Ripsaw tires and built another crawler, this time in the style of a "truggy." As always, I was very happy with its performance, and made an LDD file. Also, all of the electronics were in the chassis, so I might rebuild the Truggy and go mud bogging with it sometime.
My last step in the journey to 4 years of VKTechnic started in February 2014, with the decision to make a 1968 Mustang with super realistic suspension. I worked on the chassis for a few weeks, and even started working on the bodywork, when suddenly...
...I broke both of my custom made 3D-printed leaf springs. Not only did this really disappoint me, but it also set me on a creative roadblock, and I postponed the project at this state:
While the project was postponed, I built two models for another Eurobricks contest. This time, the requirements were a 200 part maximum and at least 1 function. My first model was a Mini ATV, and you can see the functions in the picture:
My second model was the following wheeled excavator:
I ended up entering the Mini ATV, and it is up for voting now. However, it seems like there are a lot of other wonderful models, so I'm not sure that the ATV stands a chance.
After my Mini contest entries were built, I decided it was time to bring back the Mustang. On July 12, I held my first Google Hangout on Air, where I rebuilt the old Mustang chassis (with a few improvements of course). Three weeks and two more livestreams later, the Mustang is basically done, just waiting for a few Bricklink orders.
Here end the first four years of VKTechnic. As for the journey, there's a long road ahead. The Mustang project still needs to be published, BrickCon 2014 is just two months ahead, and my inspiration for building with Lego bricks hasn't run out yet. Thanks to everyone for supporting me for these past 4 years, there's a bright future ahead!
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