MSE-6 Build notes

[Roger Booth]

The R/C chassis arrived yesterday but by the time I'd got in from work it was too late to do much with it apart from strip off all the old radio gear.

   

Took a quick photo in the garden to get an idea with the base on, still have to work out how to attach the chassis, will do some head scratching on this later.

[kresty]

You doing the wheel recesses later?

[Roger Booth]

I'll be working with two R/C chassis now.
First car was too wide at the front wheels, they would be sticking out from under the wheel arches way too far so I got a second chassis with a narrower width at the front, I'll cut down the middle and join up with the rear from the first car.

First car chassis
   

   

Second car chassis with narrower front wheel width
   

   

Might be settling on fibre glass/carbon fibre sheets for the chassis and remount everything needed from the two cars onto one frame. 
Not sure if this will work but I'll give it a go.

[kresty]

Some folks use hub extenders to get skinner wheels to the right widths.

[Roger Booth]

Some folks use hub extenders to get skinner wheels to the right widths.

These are the wheels I've bought, did quite a bit of searching but couldn't find anything better in the UK.
(If you can get in the UK can I have the link?)

They are World GT wheels, I think they are a pretty good match and will certainly do the job.

   

   

I have adapters so the wheels fit the chassis and I'm happy with the widths I'm getting.
I've only offered the bits together but the back wheels do stick out from the back wheel arch and front wheels are level or a little inside of the front wheel arch. 

What sort of angle should the upper shell sit at, it looks as though the original is sitting lower on the front axle?
Are there any measurements for the clearances between shell and road for the back and front?
This will help with the chassis build.

[kresty]

I've seen some at angles, however most of the mice I've seen are flat. Eg: skirt is parallel to the floor. The original's cutouts for the front wheels are lower than the rears partially to keep the mouse flat and partially because the wheels are smaller I think.

IMO the "real" photos look pretty flat to me.

I'm not sure about clearance (which would be even all the way around following that theory).

[Roger Booth]

Been away camping in North Wales for a week, The IC holders and boards arrived the day before we left so I had to have something to do whilst there!

   

First arrangement looked too small so Had to re-arrange to get the correct size, I had planned to finish the circuits whilst on holiday but the weather was too good to sit in the tent gluing bits of a mouse droid together. Will complete these soon.

[Roger Booth]

Whilst away, I had a chance to do a bit of thinking about the chassis design.

Some earlier thoughts were to make the chassis from sheet fibreglass but the outer shell on the lower section is plywood the same as the top so my initial experiments have been with aluminium and ply.

I had some worries over the shock absorbers not been strong enough to hold up the ply shell so I've got rid of these, it might be a bit of a rough ride but it should be ok, I might try and incorporate some rubber to act as a shock absorber.

So the rear gear box and wheels are attached.

   

   

   

I think the back wheels are sticking out the correct amount and I'm happy with the look but I'm not sure if the wheels could do with being a little bigger!?

   

Front wheels next!

[kresty]

Looks pretty good to me.  I'm biased from seeing MCK-Y every day, but I don't think the wheels stick out a ton. 

Lara's Lego Mouse ended up using the suspension, but put a rubber hose over the shocks so they don't bottom out.

[Roger Booth]

Looks pretty good to me.  I'm biased from seeing MCK-Y every day, but I don't think the wheels stick out a ton. 

Lara's Lego Mouse ended up using the suspension, but put a rubber hose over the shocks so they don't bottom out.

Have the springs been compressed by the hose pipe section or is it replacing the spring?