Professor Moranis' Practical Carplane

[kemcab]

Story:
Professor Moranis came across a set of power crystals during his his trips through time and space. However, after his anti-gravity time machine broke down, he decided to come up with a different, more practical mode of transportation - the carplane.

Behind the scenes:
Earlier in the week, I was playing around with gears and mechanisms, and decided to come up with a fan driven car. My initial concept was pretty hideous, and the gears and axels all took up too much space. After an hour of tweaking and testing, I came up with a more condensed system as seen in the photos and video. Once that was covered, and having watched Transformers 4 last weekend, I began adding a transformation via flight with wings. I reworked the chassis, engine compartment, and spent a couple hours coming up with variations on how the wings should fold and unfold. I like how the overall vehicle turned out, especially how the wings provide an interesting, harshly angular shell and protection to the cockpit.

The detail and greebles in the cockpit were a pain to add since it was so small with finding the proper studs for the flexible tubes being the worst.

Here's the video of the wheel-driven propeller and transformation in action. Any comments or criticisms are welcome. Enjoy!

Car - upper right


Car - front


Car - front above


Car - behind


Car - side


Plane - right side


Plane - front above


Plane - side close up

[ncbarrett]

Nice job! Looks really great. I personally never thought of using gears as wheels.

[vynsane]

Very cool! I would only suggest trying to someday recolor it in brown, tan and gold, which would make it a lot more steampunk.

Nice job! Looks really great. I personally never thought of using gears as wheels.

I don't see a wheel, or... three... other wheels...

[kemcab]

Thanks for the suggestion! Unfortunately, I found that I actually don't have that many pieces (especially plates) in gold or brown, beyond some 1 x 1 round plates. I should really look at picking up some sets with those colors, or just ordering a variety from bricklink.

[StClair]

Very cool build! I agree with Vynsane it would look great with brown and gold highlights simply because it is very steampunk"ish". The great thing about Steampunk too is that the gears and mechanisms don't have to be hidden. They instead add to the appeal. I look forward to seeing more of your builds in the future

[vynsane]

Thanks for the suggestion! Unfortunately, I found that I actually don't have that many pieces (especially plates) in gold or brown, beyond some 1 x 1 round plates. I should really look at picking up some sets with those colors, or just ordering a variety from bricklink.

Oh, I hear ya in terms of palette limitations! When I first started out I really only had white, red and the grays.

You seem to have an interest in, and knack for, these steampunk type builds, so I think as the timing and budget allows, adding a heaping helping of gold, brown and tan, as well as a bunch of gears as StClair mentioned, could really help. Take a look through this topic for inspiration and an idea of what pieces are available, and the flickr group for more inspiration!

[kemcab]

Oooooh, thanks for the links! Love the Flickr group. That'll provide a lot of help in piece/color combo location.