We all know that song Lowrider from the classic funk band called War. I know it, Nathan knows it and J0n4th4n D3rk53n knows it. He proves it with this...decidedly nice Low Rida model with opening hood and trunk. Same trusty red pieces as most of his other vehicles but this one is a pretty good direction, I think. All...my...friends know the lowrider. The...low...rider is a little higher. Sing it with me, now!
Jon4th4n reaches for his trusty red pieces again but this time builds for the ever difficult All But Four challenge. Its a three wheeled truck. Its kinda tall, kinda boxy, kinda...three wheeled. Yep, there it is. I still got that Lowrider tune stuck in my head now.
Its not often bricksonwheels enters something for our challenges. I imagine being the world's "go to" Lego big rig authority takes a lot of time and patience to get those shapes just right. But when he does enter something...Oh boy, is it ever cool! For example, check out this "Insanity Ride" Peterbuilt 379 semi with trailor. There's no skimping on the details here. I'm digging the flared pipes, the subtle curving shape, the checker pattern...everything! it was built for the All But Four challenge. Lets see it has two front tires, 6...10...14...um...I lost count. Ok, it more than qualifies!
New guy Mark Dock proves the All But Four challenge to be pretty popular with his first ever entry...a very cool lego chopper. I'm digging the menacing rake of this thing and its low profile. He's incorporated some bionicle parts in there and its chock full of good details. Mark doesn't build much but could prove to be a pretty accomplished vehicle builder as well as a great photographer, so lets hope this isn't all we'll see from him. Good job, man!
A LUGNuts challenge would be nothing without one of Firas Abu-Jaber's Italian mid-engine super cars...or so I thought. As he loves sleek modern amenities, its no surprise he went for the Millennium Marvels challenge but this time he ditched his usual super car influences for this equally sweet Mitsubishi Evo X. This thing is 17 studs wide and takes a lot of cues from Ralph's tricky half stud offset techniques. Firas set out to make this his most detailed model to date...and, by golly, I think he pulled it off!
There is a such thing as a Trailer Queen, and no, it isn't my friend, Tiffany. A Trailer Queen is a show car that is too pretty to be driven so it travels from show to show on a flatbed or inside a truck trailer. The opposite of a Trailer Queen would be Olafo's Smog Queen built for the Junkers and Clunkers challenge. This low down and dirty rat rod is chock full of bad attitude and noxious fumes...kinda like my friend, Tiffany. She lives in a trailer park. Thats why I like her so much!
Raphy shows the ever creepy Fear and Loathing challenge some...um...fear and loathing with this Appaloosa D8-F8 stretch limousine. Nyctohylophobia is the fear of the dark and this limo is...dark. Yanno, if I had my own limosuine it would be called...a Linosine. Heh! I can't believe how funny I am sometimes! Wasn't that a great joke? No? Aw c'mon, guys! Ok, lets move on, shall we?
In Raphy's second entry honors the Play That Funky Music challenge with a decidedly watered down country sounding tune called Sideways, by Dierks Bentley. Never heard of him. To go with the song, Raphy builds a little yellow and white drift car. Sideways...drift car...ok, thats kinda clever. Yanno, ever since that movie Sideways, I've wanted to walk into a hoity-toity wine tasting place and dump a spit bucket of Merlot on my head. That, I think, would be one of my life's greatest achievements. Because of that movie, I also have a thing for Sandra Oh.
Improbcat proposes a challenge...in the middle of the challenge (but doesn't build anything for it!) and suggests that anyone who can coherently combine as many past challenges as possible into one MOC will get a Lego Camper 7632. You had to tag your pics with "improbcat's dumb challenge" and bribes were highly encouraged. The rest of us couldn't be bothered but Raphy, ever hungry for new Lego pieces, submitted a heavily modified Edsel that seems to fit a whole slew of challenges. Also he was the only one to actually follow the stipulations of the challenge within a challenge, so it looks like Raphy is going to be a proud owner of new new Lego camper! Raphy, let me know if that doesn't work out and I'll step in to make sure it happens.
Kin.Lego built a sleek little Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 that coherently fits five challenges. He fears the charging bull(don't we all!) that is indicative of the lambo logo...its spoiler and overall shape makes it perfect for At The Races...and red and white represents Fire and Ice. This is a Millennium Marvel originally designed by Luc Donckerwolke, so there's two more challenges right there. I'm digging the dark background on this thing...the gullwing doors, the white interior...all amazing!
Kin.Lego is most comfortable building 1:17 scale super cars. This is why it was cool to see him scale down to a minifig sized rat rod. This heap of junk looks like it used to tear up the race track...about two decades ago. I like the broken axles and the plantlife invading the rod's roof. That minifig greaser is going to need a bigger shovel to dig that rat rod out of that mess! Oh, check out the dead Lego rat laying sideways in the photo. Kin.Lego says it was completely unintentional. Ooops!
When you ask Nathan Proudlove "Who's Your Big Daddy?", he might tell you this time around its Aaron Grote, the original builder of this Ed Roth inspired Atomic Punk bubble top showrod. The MOC is awesome all around, but Nathan is the first to ever use the new Christmas ornament clear dome in a MOC. At least one other MOC has followed suit so far, but when you're the first to do something, you pretty much own it. This would have been a perfect solution to my Mysterion a couple months back but I'm pretty sure the 9 stud wide half sphere part didn't even exist back then. Oh, and get this, Aaron Grote...the man, the myth, the automotive legend himself had seen and favorably commented on Nathan's MOC. Hows that for awesome?!
Sharpspeed seems to relish in the power of the written word. Why else would he demand the roundups month after month just hours after the new challenges start? He also relishes in 4-wide racing cars. Here we see a trio of tiny turbos...all three qualifying for the "Millennium Marvels" and "At The Races" challenges. They are the Scaletti Vespa, Hydra and Zardo...all completely made up cars.
Then much later in the challenge...like a day after it was over with, Sharpspeed squeezes out one more entry with this HCMDF (hey, isn't that a German industrial rock band? Oh, wait, I'm thinking of KMFDM!) tank that fits in the Fear and Loathing challenge. Necrophobia is the fear of death, Phonophobia is the fear of loud sounds (supposedly made by the gun turret) and Algophobia is the fear of pain...which would surely happen if you stepped on this little guy with bare feet. Ouch! See, if I actually launched this roundup just minutes after the challenge ended as presumably Sharpspeed thinks I should, this entry would not have been included. Can anyone else smell the irony here?
Ever get a special tune stuck in your head...besides that old Lowrider tune just now? Has it ever haunted you for years but drove you nearly crazy because you have no idea the name of it or who its written by? Do you ever hear it in those times when you fancy yourself as a badass cowboy who takes crap from no one and rides off into the sunset after saving the day? Well, this has happened to Lino Martins. Hey, that's me! Finally, I learned the name of that tune. Its called Apache and was written in 1960 by a band called The Shadows. I built this 1960 Chevy Apache...in honor of that song. It has diamond pattern seats like that of a diamondback rattler and features a Badlands base complete with scorpions, a buffalo skull and a vulture on a cactus.
Tim "Rabidnovaracer" Inman kills two birds with one stone. I guess that means he hates birds...but what he does in his back yard is his own business. But he also satisfies two challenges with one MOC...oh, thats probably what he meant by that whole two birds thing. Anyway, here we see an awesome Grim Reaper chopper, Originally designed by Tom Daniel and has two tires so qualifies as an All But Four entry. It sports a wicked coffin-shaped gas tank, king 'n queen seats, some copious Lego chrome and the whole thing is topped off with a menacing iron cross. Nice use of SNOT techniques and cheese slopes for the cross. Its all around badass and its good to see Tim build his first ever (I think) bike!
A different Tim...Tim "Gambort" Gould, teams up with Mike Psiaki to build a redux of set number 6357, the Stunt 'Copter N' Truck. For our purposes, it fits the All But Four challenge but a set redux seems like a pretty fun idea that I wouldn't mind trying myself. Maybe I'll even make it an official challenge someday. (Let me write that down.) I'm digging the color scheme and the chrome pipes. Apparently Tim digs the whole thing too as I'll quote him as saying, "Besides which I'm really happy with it so you can all suck it up ;)" Alrighty, then!
Ricecracker has labored over this MOC for two and a half months. (Yikes!) The end result is a Toronto ETF's Ford F550 Armet Armored Vehicles Trooper. This little beast is only six studs wide but it sports opening doors, complex curved sides and roofline, opening gun ports, and even flashing lights. I suppose this is what's needed when Canadians get really rowdy...not like the disorderly hockey fight rowdy but like the holy mother of crap, its a mob riot kind of rowdy! Remind me not to vacation in Canada when that happens. I'm confused enough by the whole metric system and the fact that they put beavers and loons on their money.
So Peter "lego911" Blackert (Alright everybody, get some coffee. Sit back, make yourself comfortable, this is going to take awhile. You kids go to the bathroom now while you can! I don't wanna hear halfway through the trip that you need to tinkle. So help me, God, don't make me turn this car around!) builds a bright yellow Ferrari Spyder that fits the Fear And Loathing challenge depicting Arachnophobia. Cool!
Next on the lego911 slab is the 1968 Jaguar XJ Series I that fits the "Who's Your Big Daddy" challenge to honor Sir William Lyons, who is the founder of the Jaguar Car Company. This model was built in lovely green and features opening doors and the classic signature Jaguar shape.
He then ditches his usual classic luxury/super car configuration in favor of this neat little Police K-Bike that satisfies the All But Four challenge. He originally built this bike in 1986 (way before some of you were born!) but Lego has since put out plenty of sweet new pieces, so he has updated the build in 2009. Amazingly he's kept the old bike so don't miss the comparison photo in his stream.
If you all remember the Agent Janus challenge, lego911 breaks some records by building twenty something cars in a month only to double his own record later in the At The Races challenge. Well, its no surprise he was going to revisit the Agent Janus franchise again, but this time with a Ferrari 458 Italia Berlinetta in silver and dark blue...the iconic colors of the official Lego Agents sets. This deadly little car has a supercharger, guns and rockets. Oh, yeaaaah!
Peter unfortunately missed the original Fire and Ice challenge but recoups rather nicely with this his and hers Ferrari set. The icy cool is the Ferrari F430 Spyder while the red hot is the ferrari F430 Berlinetta. Two cars...one challenge. it just goes to show how completely dedicated Peter is to our challenges. But it doesn't stop there...not even close!
Next he revisits the Zombie Apocalypse challenge with this LCAD Ford Falcon XB Sedan Police Vehicle from the movie that arguably invented the post-apoc vehicle, Mad Max I. The movie was filmed in Peter's country of Australia pretty near where he lives so it makes sense he would revisit this theme again. Plus this is an Aussie Ford Falcon and as Peter works for Ford, this is pretty much his thing.
If any of you were losing any sleep in anticipation of how the Raphy/Ralph/Peter '59 Caddy triple build off was going, well rest your weary little heads because the results are in! Raphy bailed out due to lack of time as he probably had all the problems that the rest of us suffer from...yanno, hectic work schedule/nagging boss/paying bills/bad credit/sore back/hungover/dealing with the cable company/prostate exams/and reckless driving. But Peter pulled through first with these LCAD versions in both red and white.
Then, true to Peter's style, with only minutes to spare, he later submits a very sleek brick built version in red, just as Halloween and incidentally this challenge was winding down. Ralph had also pulled through with his stunning '59 Caddy that will be mentioned later in this roundup. First, we still have plenty more of Peter to go over. Are you comfortable? How's that coffee? Mine is a Pacific Roast from Tony's Fair Trade, Shade Grown Organic coffee. Yep, just like Quintin Tarantino's role in Pulp Fiction, I don't mess around when it comes to coffee. Nor do I have any storage for dead guys. Guess you'd have to see the movie to get that one. Lets move on.
His next entry fits the Millennium Marvels bill and its a 2011 Ford F-350 Power Miners Fuel Tanker...complete with three cute little minifig power miners. Awww, look how cute they are. The one behind the wheel looks like my six year old nephew that I let drive us home one time. You see, we were all hanging out at a friends house and we were all really drunk, like the kind of drunk where I woke up in a puddle of my own puke only to realize the puke was not my own after all. You know what I mean? I was seeing triple and I had the spins something fierce, so I figured I'd give the keys of the VW Microbus to my six year old nephew and let him deal with it if we get pulled over. I'm just kidding...I never had a VW Microbus. Or a nephew.
Moving right along, Peter submits this sweet Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, for the "Whos Your Big Daddy" challenge honoring Pinin Farina, cheif styling house to Ferrari in the 1960's. Cool!
As the late, great Billy Mays would say...but wait there's more! Like any good spy novel, the Agent Janus franchise is chock full of characters and plot twists. I provided the basic guidelines, but you all made up the rest as you went along. Here we see a wheelchair bound Dr. Nothing with his sinister looking...and I presume wheelchair accessible Citroen DS.
Peter's next entry...is Dr. Nothing himself. A trap for Agent Janus backfired, rendering Dr. Nothing with a broken spine (yikes!) and wheelchair bound. But, like any handi-capable evil genius, I would imagine his wheelchair is chock full of dastardly spy villain gadgets and gizmos suitable enough to make any secret agent shudder in his tuxedo.
Finally, comes Peter's silliest entry ever, its Stacey the Roller-skating Stegosaurus! Stacey has 16 wheels of skating pleasure, fitting the All But Four challenge, and no short measure of elegance and grace. With the weight of nearly four elephants and a brain the size of a walnut, how would a stegosaurus handle roller skates? I bet nothing good can come from that, but luckily for this poor dinosaur, roller skates weren't invented until later...like minutes after the cavemen invented the wheel. You historians look that up and get back to me on that, will ya? Thanks.
Ralph "Mad Physicist" Savelsberg has also enjoyed the Agent Janus challenge the first time around, so it only makes sense that he'd revisit the idea again but this time with a modern new twist. Forget the glitz and glamor of spy novels of yore, forget the French Riviera and fancy Lamborghinis, the modern agent's life is more gritty. They work for the FBI and drives a very utilitarian government issue GMC Yukon in the punishing sun bleached setting of the American southwest. According to Ralph's story, after serving some time in prison, Dr. Nothing is possibly a modern terrorist working out of New Mexico. Exciting stuff with a modern twist!
Next comes Ralph's aforementioned '59 Caddy in lovely pink. As part of the caddy build-off, this also best fits in the Play That Funky Music challenge as Elvis had plenty of pink Caddies, but not a '59. Country legend David Allen Coe writes about a pink Cadillac and so does Bruce Springsteen. I think its safe to say we're all very impressed with its complex shape, given the limitations that such a rare color provides. This model sports more pink pieces than probably ten of our separate Lego collections combined. That pretty pink Lego parts pack is looking real good to me right about now!
Steve "kwycstix" Walker has entered a one horse power cart for the All But Four challenge. It's a pretty simple construction, but most impressive is the very advanced horse cart shock absorbers he has constructed. I was at Steve's house the other day and we were talking about Ralph's pink Caddy and damn it, wouldn't you know it, Steve had the pretty pink Lego parts pack I wanted! Pink pieces has never looked so good until now. We also played this very cool racing video game on the X-Box. It turns out I suck at racing. Eh, its all about "low and slow" for me anyway.
Dylan Denton submits this very neat custom 1966 Ford Bronco complete with working suspension and a removable white roof. This rough and tumble little ride looks like it can go over most terrain and fits the first LUGNUts challenge ever...Modified Machines and also fits Fire And Ice due to its red and white color scheme. Nice!
Dylan's second entry is a clunky Model T rat rod called "Pack Rat". It has a large rear luggage box with plenty of junk in the trunk...just like my aforementioned friend, Tiffany who lives in a trailer park. She has "junk in the trunk" too. She'd probably kill me if she knew I kept equating her to rat rods. But, yanno, she does live in a trailer park so she kinda has to own up to it. She's a great gal, one of my closest friends. I never said I had class, but you all probably figured that out already. ;)
LegoExotics...as his name implies is very much into...um Lego exotic cars...yanno, like Ferraris and Porsches. But this time he tries his hand at a rat rod wrecker called Tiffany...uh, I mean "Lucky Nutty", The Old Little Tow Rod. It has suicide doors (not suicidal doors as LegoExotics writes), a working winch and a totally awesome V-8 engine. The name comes from the cute little squirrel head mascot placed on the radiator and fits within the Junkers and Clunkers challenge.
LegoExotics then lives up to his own name with this exotic Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce. This sleek car fits in the Millennium Marvels challenge and he jokes that it fits into the 342nd Challenge called "Longest Names On Vehicles". He has high hopes that LUGNuts will still be going strong 29 years from now. Wait, is my math right? I don't know, what am I a physicist? You guys figure that out and get back to me on it. In the meantime, he also alludes to the fact that this is fitting for next month's challenge as he emulated Firas's style. Which is a perfect segue to this...
That wraps up this month's round up! Looks like we had a great time. Be sure to join us for this month's "I Wannabe Like You", the challenge where we honor each other's styles and ideas. Will you build a sleek super car like Firas, or a totally unpredictable rod like Nathan would? Only time will tell. See ya for next month's roundup, thanks for reading!
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