I wanted for a while to build a RC car which was powerful, fun and reliable. I have started to build a 4×4 transmission on a little car like the Fiat Panda 4×4 but because of the friction of the drive-train, the car was not really powerful. I decided to create a propulsion car with the return to center steering and based on the Lancia Montecarlo but again it was a fail because of the design. The scale was too small to manage enough detail, consequently, it was ugly. I was not able to increase the scale because I wanted a powerful car so the lightest car as possible. Therefore, I have searched a way to manage the problem of power and design links to the scale and have found thanks to the half life 2 game : the jalopy.

In deed, the jalopy has not a complete bodywork, which permits me to obtain a nice design without overload even through the small scale. Also I have placed a RC motor on the rear axle in order to obtain enough power and have placed laterally the steering motor with 12/12 bevel gear which makes possible the building of a complete system of suspension.  Consequently, the front axle has independent suspensions with double wishbones system which comes from the Rebel Wrecker. Concerning the rear suspension, the motor is attached to the double swinging arm with the shock absorbers on the left side.

The main difficulty was to build around the battery box. In deed, the battery box had to be placed on the center of the car for weigh repartition and it had not compromise the design of the interior. I have solved the problem by using the battery box as a part of the frame : it contributes to the stiffness of the frame. To finish with the return to center steering, I use a modified version of Sheepo’s RTC steering which is very reliable and reactive. Conbining to the power of the RC motor and the fun of the suspensions : the jalopy is a fun RC lego car.

[View with PicLens]

I have made the building instructions, you can watch them by browsing the blog or

downloading the high definition PDF building instructions. HL2 charger  by Nico71 – 10 mo, PDF

Want to check before if you can build the HL2 Charger  ? The Charger has been indexed to Rebrickable.com, the website which matchs your parts with mocs !

[View with PicLens]

I am an old car and motorbike enthusiast and I own a Honda CG 125, so why not making a replica in Lego ? In order to give you a short history, the CG was made for developing nations in the 70’s. The basic aim was to build a reliable, simple and powerful motorbike with scarcely maintenance and servicing. In deed, the environment was really hard and many of buyers didn’t take care of their motorbikes. The engine was really simple with a 4 stroke OVH with gear camshaft rather than distribution chain. Also, a waterproof housing has been mounted on the rear transmission chain in order to reduce the wear and tear by environment. Consequently, the Honda CG has become the most widespread motorbike in developing nations and was produced during 35 years (today again !) with of course improvements.

Concerning the Lego replica, I wanted to build the replica like the real motorbike : with a frame and a separated bodywork.  In order to set up different bodyworks and make some variations according to widespread modifications in the 70’s. That is why the bodywork including the saddle and the fuel tank had to not contribute to the stiffness of the frame. The second important point was the design of the fuel tank and the saddle, especially the shape. In order to manage to create the shape of the tank, I used one end of Hose 75 in order to assemble the two sides and accept some deformations. Concerning the saddle, I used two soft axles to build the back shape. The last important point was the engine. I knew that at this scale, I couldn’t manage to create the OVH system so I chose to make the maximum of details around it. Finally I have ordered some chromed part in this store to complete the engine, the turn signal, the exhaust and the headlight.

As I wrote before, I have also created two other widespread modifications of the CG : a Café Racer and a Scrambler also known as Dirt Track. The Café racer version receives a special saddle and handlebar and the Dirt Track is a CG purged of all accessories with dirt tires.

I have also ordered some other chromed parts for future bike I will create.

[View with PicLens]

I have created the building instructions.

downloading the high definition PDF building instructions. Honda CG 125 1676 by Nico71 – 10 mo, PDF

Want to check before if you can build the Honda CG 125  ? The Honda CG 125 has been indexed to Rebrickable.com, the website which matchs your parts with mocs !

[View with PicLens]

Let’s back to January 2007, it was the end of my dark-age thanks to the 8420. During 8 months, I created moc with my small collection only composed of the 8420, 8436 and 8284. It was mainly trucks and cars. In September, I discovered the french community Setechnic, I was consequently not alone working with Lego. Then with my diligent work at setechnic, I became a moderator and continue to create mocs. In December, 2010 I decided to create my own blog in English, why ? For many reasons : I have tried Mocpages but it was not really good (loading time, convenience, user-friendly). At the same time, I was featured many time on Technicbricks and started to read Eurobricks Forum. That is because I had had English readers that I decided to create this blog. In order to reduce the amount of time to manage my website, I decided to put all my work on my blog for English people and used the blog for the storage of building instructions.

Nico71.fr, what is it ?

Nico71, it is :

• 1000 visitors / day
• 3500 read page /day
• 90 mocs, 40 building instructions
• 123 videos / 3400 pictures

My website groups all my work with Lego, as far as I started to take pictures. Since 2009, I decided to create the building instructions because people always asked for it. The statistics show that it is the most searched things for those who read the blog. That is why, I recently decided to group all the building instructions on nico71.fr rather than Brickshelf. Also, I have decided to put online exclusively HD pictures on nico71.fr, the lower resolution are hosted at brickshelf and are used for forum convenience. The aim is to regroup all you need here to build my moc, including of course the building instructions, the bill of material and picture taken from the finished model. This is the purpose of this blog :

Some statistics about Nico71.fr

Here are some stats about my blog. I would like to thank you my source of traffic like Sariel, Sheepo, Crowkiller, Technicbrick Rebrickable…

The most searched pages by users :

It is not surprising that the most searched things on this blog are the building instructions or things related to.

The most source of traffic :

Stats are displayed for one year.

The YouTube Partner Program

Since February, 2010, I was invited to join the partner program from YouTube. This program enables the broadcasters to display ads on their video and receive incomes for that. Today, All my video are monetized. In order to put music on my videos without problem of commercial uses or copyrights, I have decided to put music under common licences with authorization of commercial uses. This kind of music are not easy to find but I use ccmixer.org.

I have always the same questions about the partner program : how many do I earn ? I wouldn’t answer because of the TOS of google and because it is out of place to talk about money in a passion. But, if you want an estimation, I earn enough money to buy all Lego set in a year I want, what I do not because of the place I have in my collection. I have of course also some expenditures for running the blog (host and domain) which are covered by the monthly earning. An other advantage from the partner program is the possibility to display special background on my channel with is in fact a copy of linked nico71.fr’s banner.

Regarding youtube statistics, here are some :

• 2.500.000 views for all videos
• 123 videos
• 2500 subscribers

The most viewed video is the Crawler Excavator which is clearly NOT my favorite video. In 2010 I buy a bridge camera with HD video in order to make better videos, and I think I am on the good way to do the achievement. The best marked videos are the Morgan three Wheeler and the Pneumatic Vehicle which are in fact exotic mocs. The Morgan is one of my favorite moc, with the Trial Jeep, Tatra T815, Roadster and some excavator I did.

Development of the blog – past and future

As I said, the development of the blog has started in December 2010. I have started with some written posts and gallery but I have implemented many other functions after. The first was of course the browsing gallery which enables me to manage the pictures and the gallery with the thick-box navigation system. I have implemented after the YouTube box and the facebook account and write the Frequently Asked Questions because I was tired t to always repeat the same thing in comment of by email.

In 2011 I have decided to group all building instructions on the blog, either in PDF file of ZIP file. This is the best achievement I did because now all is on my blog, there are not building instructions on brickshelf or elsewhere. There is only one place to get all needed things to build my mocs. Of course, all mocs who have digital instructions have been indexed on rebrickable in order to facilitate the matching with your parts.

At the moment, I think the functions of the blog are quite sufficient to follow my work, read and comment. Today I am mainly working to increase the speed of the blog and searching options.

Concerning creating moc, I always create moc with lot of ideas. You have certainly noticed that I have not made construction equipment for some time, that is why I was quite tired by this field and consequently decided to create some more exotic things like machines, specials car and so on. The last choice I decided is to make more building instructions. Now when I have made a moc that you like, I made building instructions as well as photo-sequence and a bill of material by using the part picker from Rebrickable. That is why you can now match your parts with my mocs even if there are not digital files for the moc. To compare with using SR3D builder and then Lpub4.0 for rendering the building instructions, it takes me really less time to create the instructions using a photo sequence and the part picker of rebrickable, which I think is enough for building my mocs.

To finish, I would like to thank you for your remark, comment and your support and wish you merry Christmas and happy new year !

Nico71

This CVT was based on Zblj’s works. It enables a variable ratio on the output from 1:1 to 1:5. The CVT chooses the most suitable ratio functions of the resistive torque on the output. The principle is based on two differentials which are connected side by side with a first gear : 1:1 and a second gear on the other side : 1:5. The side with the 1:5 gear has also a friction pin in order to limit the rotation.

While there is not resistive torque (or low), the rotation goes through by the 1:1 gear because the 1:5 has locking torque thanks to the friction pin. When a torque is detected, the friction pin starts to spin and the rotation goes through the 1:5 gear which reduces the speed and increases the torque, the speed of the motor remains constant.

The two mechanical tachometers are not useful for the functioning of the CVT, they are useful to visualise the instantaneous speed of the motor (on the left) and of the output (on the right). Of course when the torque become too high, (around more than 5x motor torque), the speed of motor is reduced.

This CVT enables to have :

• A constant speed of the motor (200 rpm)
• A infinity of variable ratio between 1:1 and 1:5
• A variable speed between 200rm (1:1) and 40 rpm (1:5)
• A variable torque between 50N.cm (1:1 = motor torque) and arround 250N.cm (1:5)

Of course, some torque are lost because of the friction pin but the torque is increased by 5 so the loss is negligible regarding the increase.

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Here is some pictures in order to re-built it. You can also download the ZIP file – 2mo.

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]]> http://www.nico71.fr/continuously-variable-transmission/feed/ 4 http://www.nico71.fr/piaggio-ape/ http://www.nico71.fr/piaggio-ape/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:00:54 +0000 Nico71 http://www.nico71.fr/?p=1219 Read the Rest...

An icon of Italy, features drive, steering, suspensions, and fake engine.

A short time after come back from Italy, I decided to create one of the most emblematic vehicle in Italy : the Piaggio APE. My model was based on pre-70′ APE which have a lot of curved shape and a mudguard attached on the front wheel.

Regarding the functions, a Xl drives the rear differential, then two CV-join power the rear wheels. The steering is operated by a M-motor with a worm screw on a 24t clutch gear and then a connecting rod with a lever. The suspension are composed of two swinging arms on the rear and one on the front. In addition, a fake engine was placed on the rear which is connected to the differential with 20/12t gear multiplication. Of course, some parts of the moc can be opened for instance the doors and the tool-storage.

The frame was built for two purposes : simple and robust. That is why the frame is composed of HOT beam underneath in order to gain room. Then the bodywork was arranged to fit on this frame with some connections and of course a rounded shape thanks to new panels. To finish, the Piaggio is fully remote and functional :

[View with PicLens]

I have created the building instructions. You can watch them by browsing my website or

downloading the high definition PDF building instructions. Piaggio APE by Nico71 – 8 mo, PDF

Want to check before if you can build the Piaggio APE  ? The Piaggio APE has been indexed to Rebrickable.com, the website which matchs your parts with mocs !

[View with PicLens]

]]> http://www.nico71.fr/piaggio-ape/feed/ 6 http://www.nico71.fr/morgan-three-wheeler/ http://www.nico71.fr/morgan-three-wheeler/#comments Sat, 01 Oct 2011 10:20:22 +0000 Nico71 http://www.nico71.fr/?p=1010 Read the Rest...

]]> An English exotic car, features steering, suspensions, big block Harley Davidson engine with pushrods and rockers, gearbox and boot which opens.

I have been planning for a while to build a 3-wheel car. This exotic car is made by the British manufacturer Morgan. The big block Engine is a Harley Davidson’s Engine with pushrod system and rockers. Usually, the engine has two push-rods and two rockers by cylinder (inlet and exhaust valve). But on the lego version, I had only 3 stud-width available so I decided to put only one pushrod with rocker because of the room. I also decided to have visible moving part to be more expressive (real version doesn’t have visible pushrods or rockers). Then the drive-shaft goes to the gearbox ,which is an 4-speed gearbox based on #8880 modified version. The following ratios are : 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:6. Then, the drive-shaft goes to a bevel gear, and finally the main drive-chain.

Regarding the suspensions, the front suspensions are composed of double wishbones with hard shock-absorbers. The rear suspensions is a swinging arm with two soft shock-absorbers. Note that the center of rotation of the rear arm is not the center of rotation of the pinion-chain. The body was the most difficult part of this moc, because of this shape and the room. The first thing I have done is to design the hood. Then, I designed the right and left panel while trying to be homogeneous in the shape (discontinuity in alignment). To finish, I have made the rear shape and that was the most difficult part. All designed lines had to cross each other to be elegant, including the opening of the boot.

The interior shape has also received a lot of attention. I have managed the global shape by using flex parts all around the interior and by matching the panel with the flex (there was not much space to include gearbox, seats and interior). The shape is not perfectly accurate but the global shape and scale are respected. Also, the boot can be opened (in the correct direction) and the Hood can be removed as on real version.

[View with PicLens]

I have created the building instructions. You can watch them by browsing my webiste or

downloading the high definition PDF building instructions. Morgan Three Wheeler by Nico71 – 20 mo, PDF

Want to check before if you can build the Morgan Three Wheeler ? The Morgan Three Wheeler has been indexed to Rebrickable.com, the website which matchs your parts with mocs !

[View with PicLens]

Designed in 2011

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In June, Nathan Thom contacted me to discuss about a website he was developing. He asked me for using my moc on his website and asked for advices if I had some.  Then I saw the website and I found that it had an incredible potential.

What is Rebrickable ?

Rebrickable is a website which allows the user to match his collection of parts with the bill of material of a chosen moc. The builders can add their moc to the database of rebrickable, therefore users can match what they like.

Why is it awesome ?

Brickstore can already do that so why rebrickable is better ? First of all, rebrickable is an online website which not requires installation or registration. Secondly, the matching algorithm is really better than Brickstore. For instance : if a builder build his CAD model with old pins, then the user want to match with his collection of new sets : it will not work. Because old pins and new pins are not the same part. Despite they have the same function. The strength of Rebrickable is to manage this problem with closed parts, this is called Part Normalisation. Because it is the function which is important and not the part number. Nathan succeeded in managing this problem with listing closed part like pins, plate, cylinder, spring, U-join… and color scheme.

How does it work ?

On the first page, you can click on set or on Moc designer (Rebrickable also enables the matching between sets). Click on designer and you should have this :

Then click on a moc you like, for instance the Trial Jeep :

Then click on Build This Moc to enter your collection :

I have entered some set I have to test the matching, then click on Find Sets To Build. I advise you to choose the Close Match.

Now you can see the part you don’t have. Rebrickable has compared the bill of material and your collection. Be aware :

-This is the builder who creates the CAD file of the model (here is the jeep). So we can make mistakes which are prejudicial for the match. For instance a 8-stud length Axle Gray. This part in this color doesn’t exist so whatever the set you have, you will not have 100% matching. Pay attention to recheck the missing part.

-Sometime, composed part are missing for the matching, for instance the shock-absorbers or the U-join. The fact is rebrickable compares the spring with the part in the set (here is the 8297) so the builder (again me) has to choose the correct part in CAD modeler. If not, the matching problem can occur. The problem for the builder is that in the Ldraw library, there are for instance 10 different part for the shock-absorbers (the same of course). I don’t know why but this is very annoying. Also, in the library of set on bricklink, it is not always the same  part which is chosen in the database (regarding set, years and revision). I have informed Nathan of this problem in order to figure out. A list of advised part will be released to help builder to choose the correct parts.

When you have made the matching, Rebrickable can advice you some set to acquire in order to increase the match :

You can also try the “ignore match” which ignores the color.

I recommend to create an account (for free of course) to enter and save your collection. With an account, you can enter more than 6 sets for matching. And your collection is always saved so it is more handy.

To finish, some tips for builders who want to have their moc on rebrickable : prefer the .ldr or .mpd file from Mlcad or SR3D Builder than .lxf from Lego Digital Designer. If you have .lxf, you can try to convert with the .lxf to .ldr tools on Ldraw Website. You can contact Nathan for submitting CAD file at support[@]rebrickable.com

Useful links

• http://rebrickable.com/ : Main page of rebrickable
• http://rebrickable.com/blog/ : Blog page to follow the improvement
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rebrickable/244447922243907 : Facebook page of Rebrickable
• http://rebrickable.com/designer : Main page for moc and for contact Nathan.
• http://rebrickable.com/designer/nico71 : My rebricakble page, where all my digital moc has been indexed.

]]> http://www.nico71.fr/rebrickable/feed/ 2 http://www.nico71.fr/watto-workshop/ http://www.nico71.fr/watto-workshop/#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:31:19 +0000 Nico71 http://www.nico71.fr/?p=990 Read the Rest...

My entry for the Star Wars contest on setechnic.com. Features lot of details.

This entry was made during summer holiday, the aim was to enter the competition without Star Wars parts. The fact is I have only technic parts ! First of all, I had to design the main curved workbench to set the scale and because it is the most difficult part of this moc. I have chosen a curved shape with connector #2 for the frame and flex plus L-shaped beam for the top.

This step was figure out, I have worked of details and homogeneity of the creation. The creation features lot of details including the workbench, parts, robots, generator, control panel, tanks and other parts in mess. The purpose was to fill the space with thing but with homogeneity regarding the color and the shape. The problem was I only had 3 colors which match with the subject : gray, dark grey and black, no tan parts. Not easy to greeb with technic parts !

Considering the fact I have had only technic part in few colors, I am quite proud of my entry for this contest !

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Designed in 2011

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The first Unimog I designed was in the 2008 and had good climbing abilities for his technology (no frame, no portal live axle and no panels). Today, my new unimog is far better and many things were improved.

• Portal live axles : high ground clearance with strong and reliable axles
• Reinforced hubs : thanks to a new design of hub, enables the truck to not have too camber angle in downhill
• 94mm wheel : more ground clearance than the 81mm one
• Double wishbone chassis : build around the battery box, which enables to have not lot of parts and a lower center of gravity, based on Jeep’s frame
• Gear ratio : 12/20 and 8/24, 9 time faster than the first unimog, 3 timesfaster than the Jeep.
• Ackerman steering : enable to turn with a smaller turning radius spite of the lack or differentials

Concerning the design, the cab is also new. It fits with the new scale and global design of U5000 series. The doors can be opened and the bonnet too. The fake engine is a 4-cylinder engine lengthways mounted (the first unimog had a crosswise engine, which was a mistake).

Regarding the climbing abilities : they are better than the jeep. Because of the lack of the differentials but the turning radius is bigger as wel. Here is a small board to compare Lego version angle and real unimog.

Real version VS Lego Version

• Turning radius : 14.5m – 50cm
• Weight : 11t – 1.2kg
• Power : 180hp – 6W (0.008 hp)
• Clibbing angle : 45° – 45° (100%)
• Aproach and departure angle : 45° – 60°
• Side Slope Angle : 38° – 45°

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I have created the building instructions. You can watch them by browsing my webiste or

Download the high definition PDF building instructions. Trial Unimog V4 by Nico71 – 27 mo, PDF.

[View with PicLens]

Design in 2011

This slot machine was designed to be the most reliable and most simple as possible. It is composed of a mechanism which stores the lost ball thanks to a ratchet, a mechanism which sets the probabilities and a mechanism which loads the balls. The ball is loaded in the entrance of the machine, then the action of the main lever pushes it in the rear and the ball rolls over the slides. The probabilities mechanism is composed of slides and triangle parts which divide the way into two possibilities. There are two triangle parts therefore one chance over four to win each time.

When the ball rolls on the right slide and fall on the red part, the trap door is opened. Then after using the lever, the trap door is re-locked thanks to the ratchet mechanism. You can see the ratchet mechanism on the right of the machine. The ratchet mechanism and the load mechanism is linked to the main lever which is put back with a rubber. Simple, reliable and very fun !

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The building instructions are available. You can watch them by browsing my website or

Download the Zip Archive of the Slot Machine’s instructions, 7 mo, ZIP.

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Designed in 2011