Big Foot II
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This Monster Truck is the creation of grazi
(http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31042).  It shares several similarities with the
8466 Off Roader such as the same massive wheels/tires and basic footprint, however Big Foot has
significantly higher and more complex suspension.  I built a single MPD file starting with the
individual component LDRs posted by grazi.  I then updated all the parts to recent releases and
generated a parts list and instructions for myself.  Here are the functions of this model:

- Suspension:  This is the real point of this model.  Each bogie (front and rear) is rigid in that
there is no independent suspension between the wheels.  Each bogie pivots on 4 links of roughly
equal length, keeping the assembly parallel to the ground.  Since each link has ball joints at each
end, the whole bogie can also pivot side to side (pendular).  Another pair of links reach up to 4
shock absorbers housed in the chassis.  These are independent left to right.  Because the
suspension is housed in the chassis instead of the bogie, HUGE changes in elevation are possible
that could not have been accomplished using the control arms supporting the wheels.  The front and
rear bogies are identical, giving this model a total of 12 suspension links.  There are control
arms at each wheel, but they are fixed.

- Steering:  All 4 wheels are steerable using the cv-joint assemblies from 8466 and rack/pinion
systems.  A motor in the chassis powers the steering through a clutch gear.

- Drive:  Another pair of motors in the chassis drives the wheels using 3 differentials.  The
gearing is extrememly low so this model moves at a snail's pace.  Worm gears are used at the bogies
which means that you cannot just push this truck around since the gear system is effectively locked
from the output side.

- Body:  The body is constructed from Technic panels and piles and piles of angle connectors.  Some
corrugated tubing rounds out the look.

- Engine:  There is a faux 6-cylinder engine in the front with an apparent supercharger.  The
engine is not actually connected to the wheels.  Rather, and independent electric motor drives it
at high speed.


I've included a parts list in case anyone would like to procure the parts to reproduce one of these
like I am did.  This model uses a huge number of links, panels, angle connectors, and thin
liftarms.  Getting enough of them will take you a while.


The first two renders (big_foot1 and big_foot2) use grazi's original models with a white sky
sphere, radiosity, and a transparent background.  The second included significant perspective to
invoke a sense of scale.

The 5 colored pictures (black, blue, red, yellow, irridescent) were created by me when I was
preparing to acquire the parts to build this.  The first four are possible to build.  The
irridescent render shows panels which do not actually exist in this color.  I just did that one to
see what the irridescence would look like.  It doesn't look very good.  These renders just use the
default lighting.

I chose blue for my final model, but I changed the color of a few of the corrugated tubes to
brighten it up a bit.  This is shown in big_foot_colors.jpg.  It turns out some of these blue
panels are quite rare, but I managed to find them all.  This render uses radiosity.


- Blakbird 2009