The Universal Carrier or “Bren Gun Carrier” is one of the most under-appreciated vehicles of the Second World War. Despite over 100,000 being produced, it’s frequently overshadowed by larger, more iconic tracked vehicles like the Sherman tank.
PhiMa remedies this situation with his lovely little LEGO version of this armored World War II vehicle.
PhiMa’s Deuce and a Half (M35 2 1/2-ton Cargo Truck) also has a nice heft to it, reusing canopies from LEGO Indiana Jones sets:
Jordan Schwartz (Sir Nadroj) presents a German artillery hauler from World War II, the Raupenschlepper Ost:
The tracked vehicle boasts working treads and suspension.
Though it’s unlikely to supplant the F4U Corsair as my favorite plane in real life, I love Ralph Savelsberg‘s rendition of the venerable General Motors FM-1 Wildcat (also built by Grumman as the F4F).
As much as I appreciate the plane, I also really like Ralph’s presentation, complete with wheel chocks and the textured surface of an aircraft carrier (hmmm, sounds like another potential collaboration with Ed Diment).
Even more impressive at minifig scale, Ralph’s fighter has fully functional folding wings and retractable landing gear:
Is it wrong that I think this treaded engine of death is adorable? Apparently, the M8 is a real vehicle from World War II, but that stubby little cannon is really rather cute. Keep ’em rolling, Captain Eugene.
On November 21, 1916, HMHS Britannic struck a German mine and sank, following the fate of her sister ship Titanic. Rob H. (rh1985moc) has honored the memory of this ill-fated World War I hospital ship with a microscale rendition in LEGO.
Of course, Britannic and Titanic weren’t the only ships commissioned by the White Star Line at the time. RMS Olympic served a long career, and accompanies Rob’s Britannic on the LEGO seas.
What makes both of these LEGO ships even cooler is that they’re threaded with LEDs to light up the night.
Our Polish friends over at Klocki remind us that Poland is currently observing the 70th anniversary of the September Campaign, when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union both invaded, divided, and annexed the country between them.
Ciamek (Piglet on MOCpages) recreates a German propaganda photo that implied how weak and ineffectual Polish resistance was, as a group of German soldiers easily swats aside the border barrier.
In truth, the entire scene was staged, taken two weeks after the invasion — an attempt to illustrate the Third Reich’s easy dominance over Poland.
Ciamek sets the record straight in his LEGO diorama. Fierce, valiant Polish resistance prevented any such easy scene until well after the beginning of hostilities.
See more photos on Ciamek’s website and on MOCpages, where he has several other LEGO creations related to World War II and the September Campaign.
Dan Siskind of BrickMania has just announced that his next custom kit is available for pre-order — the M4A3(76)W VVSS Sherman Tank.
I’d never bought any custom LEGO kits from somebody else, but I bought two of Dan’s kits a few months ago.
I couldn’t have been more pleased. They’re well-designed, interesting to build (well, except maybe the tank treads, heh heh), and a lot of fun to see how another LEGO builder solves interior structure problems you’d never see in a photo.
Though the printed instructions for the two kits I ordered were $10 more expensive, I found them harder to read than the electronic version on a CD.
If you’re reading this, you probably have a computer, so I recommend taking the cheaper, more legible route.
You can pre-order your own Sherman from BrickMania.com.
Ciamek (Piglet) has incorporated his Polish PZL P.11c fighter into an interesting diorama that tells a fascinating story.
Stanisław Skalski was a Polish fighter ace during World War II, credited with 18-22 victories over Axis forces. Escaping to the UK after the Nazi/Soviet invasion of Poland, Skalski later even commanded an RAF squadron.
Click the photo for lots more pics of Ciamek’s LEGO creation, and be sure to read the full story.
Ciamoslaw Ciamek gets a head start on commemorations for the 70th anniversary of the September Campaign (the invasion of Poland by both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union) with a Polish PZL P.11c fighter.
The PZL P.11.c has the distinction of being the first Allied plane to shoot down Axis aircraft during World War II. Unfortunately, the Polish air force’s outdated P.11s were quickly overwhelmed by the Luftwaffe. Only one PZL P.11 survives today.
With the second LEGO Military Contest wrapping up tomorrow, it seems that it’s a week for planes.
Motor.On‘s entry is the Douglas C-47 Dakota transport, used by Allied forces during World War II and the Berlin Airlift.
Ralph Savelsberg (Mad physicist) proves once again that he’s one of the best LEGO aircraft builders with this B-26 “Marauder” bomber from World War II.
An entry for the second LEGO Military contest on Flickr, and has working landing gear and bomb bay doors.
I also realized recently that we’ve never properly blogged Ralph’s minifig-scale vehicles, so here’s a selection of his excellent emergency vehicles from a few months back:
The brick-built patterns on the British ambulance and patrol car are especially noteworthy.
The sky’s the limit with KV Draugaer’s Focke-Wulf. Its quite a faithful reproduction and looks really swooshable too! I want to grab it and go running around the house making engine noises…
