Large-scale LEGO car builders never cease to amaze with their dedication to realism. Greg_998 specializes in Porsche racecars, and his Le Mans Porsche 962 is breathtaking. Not simply a plastic shell, the well-sculpted bodywork hides a host of details below, such as a fully detailed engine compartment and a fittingly spartan interior.
Not content with just the 1980s’ 962, Greg has built a several generations of Porsche racing.
In early February we announced that LUGNuts, which is the online group for LEGO car lovers, was celebrating its 100th monthly challenge by organising a car building contest. Prizes were sponsored by TBB, among others. The cars to be built were randomly assigned to the contestants from a list compiled by LUGNuts admin Lino Martins. He has announced the winners to the group’s members and it is my pleasure to present them here to you.
In first place: Firas Abu-Jaber with the very classy Rolls Royce Springfield Silver Ghost Playboy Roadster.
Thanks to a certain magazine, its name may not sound particularly classy nowadays, but it’s a beautiful car that is well built and very well presented. If you think you’ve seen it before, this may very well be because it was featured in a post by Elspeth little more than a week ago.
The entry that won the second prize is a bit gassy rather than classy: “El Laxante” by Andy Baumgart (D-Town Cracka). His assignment was to build a Chevrolet El Camino, which he brought to another level by putting it on tracks, among other things. It’s crazy, over the top and in real life would probably be smelly and very loud, but it’s fantastic.
Showing a degree of prescience, Elspeth’s earlier post also included the 3rd prize winner: Martien Nijdam (Pino) with his rendition of a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. It’s another classy classic car.
These winners were decided by combining top five lists of each of the five group admins and moderators.
The contest got an impressive 77 eligible entries and there were a lot of great models to chose from.
Other entries that were on several of the judges’ lists, but that didn’t quite gain enough points to end up among the prize winners, were the Volksrods by _Tiler, the Chrysler Town and Country woody by Velocites and the studly Ford F100 by TechnicNick. On behalf of TBB and LUGNuts, I’d like to congratulate the winners and thank everybody who participated for making this the best LUGNuts challenge to date.
Christopher Bassett‘s walker tank/rover looks to suit the needs of Futuron explorers. I enjoy treaded quadrupeds, especially this one where the exposed mechanical bits in the treads complement the slick cabin and body. While I myself am not nostalgic for many space themes pre-Exploriens, as they were before my time, Christopher’s rover is a great build to carry the Futuron colors.
Christopher has many more fascinating sci-fi builds (including more walker tanks!) on his Flickr.
If you’re feeling the need for some chunky near-future military hardware, Carter Baldwin has you covered. A delicious blend of dangerous angles, muddy colors, and isolated studs for texture give this Armored Personnel Carrier a real sense of grunt. I can just imagine this thing’s engine noise.
The APC is roomy enough to carry a full squad of troops. These guys look serious…
Although Jon Blackford calls this creation an Eco Rover, its unusual fuel source raises doubts regarding its environmental credentials. Genetically modified cows? Kept in a hermetically sealed dome and encouraged to produce methane? Doesn’t sound very green to me!
However, regardless of ethical and environmental issues, it’s a lovely model. I can imagine herds of these pottering about an airless planet’s surface, pumping methane out to create a runaway greenhouse effect.
Whilst the star of the show is the cow in the rear, the color scheme and greebly details rock. The rover’s cockpit is pretty cool too — check out that chair…
Once you’ve flicked through Arjan Oude Kotte’s photo stream, be sure: You’ve seen the best of brick-built vessels. But every ship needs a harbor to tie up in, and where there’s a harbor, there are huge dock cranes. Arjan has just finished one, and this is not an ordinary crane. This one is a beautiful copy of a vintage iron giant from the 1900s. It is extremely realistic, including an amazing lighting system, which looks utterly charming.
The notion of zombies walking the earth strikes me as completely ridiculous and I never got into the whole ApocaLEGO theme either, but yet, somehow, I am completely hooked on The Walking Dead. I first saw an episode about two years ago and since have binge-watched the first four seasons and am camped in front of the TV for every new episode. I can’t really explain why. Perhaps it’s because some of the characters are so unsympathetic that the thought of a half-rotted zombie tearing their guts out is something to look forward to. Nobody seems safe, however, and whenever the more likeable characters are killed off, such as Dale Horvath in the 2nd season, I feel pretty much gutted myself (pun intended). A lot of fan-built LEGO models based on The Walking Dead are focussed on customized minifigures, but I wanted to have a vehicle from the show as part of my movie car collection. My choice: Dale’s Winnebago Chieftain RV.
Click through to learn more about this LEGO Walking Dead RV
To be a memorable villain, you must have an undeniable sense of style. Jonas Obermaier knows this well, and has built a slick Art Deco roadster for a spooky 20s fiend. With curves, chrome, and a crow hood ornament, this devilish car would no doubt strike terror into anyone it stalks from a paranoid-inducing distance.
Alexey Chukin, a talented young Russian builder, proudly presents the final result of a two month project – a stunning scale copy of Mack B75.
Extremely precise and well-balanced, the model is fully remotely controlled with Power Functions elements. While some truck builders might prefer placing the battery box right behind the cabin, Alexey has left it inside, just where the passenger’s seat is. It might be not the most elegant solution, but the smooth exterior of the cabin looks pretty neat as a result.
I’m not normally a big fan of non-original chrome parts, but in this case a gentle amount of chrome gives the truck a dazzling appearance. The whole album contains many more close-up details including the awesome custom Mack logo stickers on the rear splash guards.
Fans of the video game Destiny will immediately recognise this creation by Paul Jeong. For the uninitiated, Destiny is a first-person shooter that incorporates role-playing and multiplayer online styles. Jumpships, such as the Arcadia-class model, are a means of transportation in the game and help you in your quest to save the last safe city of Earth from naughty aliens.
The ship has some lovely shaping thanks to some clever Technic use and plenty of curved slopes. The design is very accurate to the game, as you can see from Paul’s comparison shot.
I love the colors; orange and blue are opposing colors and work so well in this model due to the varied LEGO palatte. There are more images of Paul’s ship in his Flickr album, and it’s worth taking the time to check out the close-up views.
Our latest social media cover photo is this “Solar Rover” built for the recent FebRovery contest by Stuttgart-based builder Kevin Wollert. The dark tan background and use of transparent red elements gives this intricate little rover a Classic Space feel. Although the inclusion of tracks actually makes a lot more sense than all the wheeled vehicles that used to dominate LEGO’s own Space themes!
Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then acquaint yourself with the submission guidelines and submit your LANDSCAPE ORIENTED photo today.
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The March wave of LEGO sets brings us lots of new sets, including the new Elves Dragons and Speed Champions we’ve already reviewed. But it has a more cartoonish face too, by the name of Mighty Micros. This new line brings to LEGO Superheroes (of both Marvel and DC persuasion) the chibi-fied look that’s now familiar to LEGO Star Wars fans through the popular Star Wars Microfighters line. Today I’m taking a look at two of these new Superheroes sets, provided to us courtesy of LEGO. Both 76063 Mighty Micros: The Flash vs. Captain Cold and 76065 Mighty Micros: Captain America vs. Red Skull retails for $9.99 USD.
