Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Junkers And Clunkers Round Up

In terms of popularity, this has been a relatively quiet month. Maybe folks were busy, maybe they were doing other things or perhaps the notion of building a disheveled junker just didn't appeal to someone used to producing perfectly crafted showstoppers. Who knows? But for those who participated, some have found that their creations were received very well...letting us know that maybe there's something magic to this whole junkers idea. lets get to the round up and see!

Azaghal Gabilzaramul says he cheated a little as he built this post apocalyptic junker a few months ago. It has a wooden side door and its kinda lopsided. He also said he'd come back later in the challenge with something else. And he did!

Postapocalyptic 6670 - Passenger Side

Later Azaghal finds inspiration from that show Junkyard Wars with this neat pair. Here is the red team's junkyard dune buggy.

Junkyard Wars - Red Team

Followed by the green team's half truck with caterpillar traction. Neat!

Junkyard Wars - Green Team

J0n4th4n D3rk53n puts his own spin on the junker challenge with this rusty old AMC Gremlin. Here's a car that's not sure if it wants to be red or yellow. It also has a little black thrown in in the rear fender. With a profile like an AMC Hornet with its tail chopped off and vaccuum operated windshield wipers (how does that work?!)The AMC Gremlin is among the top 50 worst cars ever made. Great!

AMC Gremlin

Rabidnovaracer lives up to his name this month with a pet project close to his heart. Everyone knows Tim owns a prize winning Chevy Nova...but exactly ten years ago (to the month!)Tim took home an ugly rust bucket with no engine and four mismatched wheels. He replicated it nicely in Lego. To show he wasn't exaggerating he provided a pic of the sad, dejected car being towed into his driveway. With lots of tender care and quite a bit of money, Tim nursed the dilapidated old husk into one sweet ride!

Hmmm needs a little sompthin...

Duq's first attempt at this build challenge resulted in a neat rough and tumble rat rod from modifying the car from the Indiana Jones set 7682 Shanghai Chase. Incidentally that's how real rat rods are made...except there's less Lego involved and more axle grease and sheet metal. But you get the idea!

7682 Rat

Then he flexes some rat rod muscle with this rusted classic 1913 390 Cadillac. According to his write up anyway, he made it seem as if this was built the way a real rat rod is done...over time. First he dropped the suspension,ditched the fenders,chopped the roof,swapped out the engine from the 5541 Blue Fury hot rod set, stretched the wheelbase and gave it some bitchin' racing tires! The result: pure rat rod awesomeness!

390 Rat

And speaking of rat rod awesomeness, get a load of Nathan Proudlove's Lockjaw! This rusty ride is chock full of not to be missed details...everything from the suicide doors to the skull carburetors to the rats nibbling at the pizza to the beer bottles right down to the greaser working under the car. Those cool headers...was a problem I couldn't solve with my gasser. I told him I wanted four exhaust pipes that became one and I couldn't do it. Looks like he succeeded nicely!

Lockjaw garage2

As mentioned with my gasser pipes, Lino occasionally fails. Yep, its true. But sometimes I hit a home run out of the park and halfway to the moon! Sure, I built this '49 Buick, sure I poured over the details and sure I posted the pictures. But after a MOC is let loose online it takes on a life of its own...a life that sometimes even its creator can never fathom. Maybe it was the heartfelt diary entry of the fictional John Brick, maybe it was the overgrown plants or the little frogs guarding this old wreck...but with nearly 2000 views and 44 faves, one image of this car became one of my most popular photos in my entire stream...overnight!

Hidden Treasure...'49 Buick Fastback

In the unlikely event that you run out of gas while on your way to the car show in your junky rat rod...executioner3 comes to the rescue with his equally junky Rat Rod Refueler. Who woulda thunk there is such a service!It features a rainbow of peeled paint and rusty colors as well as tank treads...in case you get stranded at say The North Pole. I knew we should have taken that exit right after Albuquerque!

Rat Rod Refueler

Philip Ryman, the LUGNut formerly known as Ozzy Osbourne must have gotten a cease and desist order from The Prince of Darkness himself. I'd change my name to Philip Ryman too if Ozzy showed up at my door all pissed off. I mean seriously...that guy used to bite heads off of bats! You don't mess with a maniac like that. Plus you can't understand a word he says. I remember the first time I heard "Iron Man" I was digging through my parent's tapes and put in Black Sabbath. I got goosebumps when I heard the evil heavy guitar riff, then when that scary voice came on I nearly crapped my pants! Oh...and Philip built a couple of cars. here they are.

IMG_0096

Mercades-Benz 300TD W123


The Ranger of Awesomeness pays a little tribute to me and the whole car-left-in-field-with-tree-growing-out-of-it phenomenon with this Willys jeep that has been abandoned by a farmer circa 1954. What's with farmers always leaving their stuff around like they own the place? Oh wait, they do! Anyway, I'm digging the tall weeds and the pink flowers. Nice!

Hidden Treasure -- Front 3/4

I never use the internet term LOL. Its too overused...too fake. When you're chatting with someone and every other word is LOL it makes you think...really? You're laughing THAT much? But when I first saw nolnet's flattened 1978 VW Derby, I really did Laugh Out Loud. No kidding! The accompanying story and photo about these mullet guys crushing it with their monster truck is absolutely not to be missed! And just take a sec to really appreciate the skill involved in replicating crushed metal and burst tires in Lego. Its just flawless! AND its still recognizable as a VW. I'm lovin' it!

VW Derby

New guy Sharpspeed enters in his first ever LUGNuts challenge with this Dying Thunderhead Roadbeast. It has pink flowers and weeds. Kinda like my dad's lawn. Sharpspeed says this Roadbeast died doing what it was made to do...rot in a field. Hah!

LUGNUTS ENRTY: Dying Roadbeast

Our own resident Mad Physicist seems to be a sensible, orderly guy. He probably keeps his DVDs organized alphabetically, I'm sure he balances his checkbook nicely and I'm certain he keeps his socks and underwear neatly folded and put away as opposed to strewn about the floor. This is probably why he likes neat, sensible cars. Loud exhaust pipes on a gritty rat rod just wasn't Ralph's thing...until he discovered the Volksrod. Already having an affinity for the VW bug, it was only a matter of time before the fenderless Volksrod sent Ralph's heart aflutter! Its doing it for me too!

Volksrod

Raphy told us...three times that Rusty Leaf would be his sole entry. Then he built two more. He also said this a rat truck with bent stacks that kinda look like bunny ears is going to be in a future project he's working on. He doesn't want to spoil the surprise but he tells us its going to have a trailer. That pretty much spoils everything! Hey Raphy, if you like rat trucks have your parents rent the movie "Duel". It was Stephen Speilberg's first movie ever. There's no swearing or boobies in it so that means you can watch it. I don't wanna spoil anything but its a totally suspenseful thrill ride!



Then Raphy ups the ante and the scale with this abandoned 70's era Dodge Daytona. he tries his hand at writing and according to Raphy's story, (probably influenced by my John Brick fake diary entry)this car can be found in a prairie, somewhere in northern Kansas. Sounds like a road trip to me! I'd say Raphy ought to work in 6 or 8 wide scale from now on. What do you all think?



But wait, there's more! Raphy reaches for his trusty blurred cellphone cam and recycles this...um...old...something or another from some previous contest. When you reuse old MOCs for our challenges its kinda like eating that meatloaf that's been sitting in the fridge for like five months and then immediately regretting it. No amount of pepto-bismol can wash down this bad boy!Oh my stomach! Someone call an ambulance!



Dylan Denton helps ease the upset stomach a little with this rat rod called "Blood Hound" he says its probably too nice to be a rat rod (nah!)and it also...wait...did I read this right? ANOTHER recycled old MOC?!Oh God here comes the heartburn indigestion upset stomach nausea diarrhea!

Hot Rod "Blood Hound"

Dylan's next entry does nothing to relieve the nausea...but he does put a new spin to this challenge. The 1980 Fiat Panda is both a junker and a clunker fresh from the factory. Not only is this taxi cab a loathed car...but its also a loathed MOC according to Dylan. It gave him nightmares AND he had to destroy his much adored '67 Charger to build it. You're kidding?! NO! Just like the real Fiat Panda, this MOC was reduced to scrap immediately after its debut.



New guy 6nichcar...(or is it 6 inch car?)built well...a 6 inch car. Or maybe its just 5 inches. Its kinda small but its an old farmer's ute truck. It has hay bales in the back...and a farmer guy without a farmer hat and overalls. Yep. Its also the mottled color scheme of my dad's Aries K wagon. I did it! I found a way to slip in another Aries K joke. Score!



With a tail light missing and an unfinished bed, The Big Rafalski is a little embarrassed to post such an unfinished MOC...but he has captured the spirit of this challenge perfectly with this half way restored custom '36 Chevy truck with a rebuilt V6 engine and tires good for a few drags. The black and white filter gives this beauty a nice old timey feel. Rafalski says the truck won't be winning shows anytime soon but she wins a place in our hearts and is a great way to finish off the challenge. It was just the relief for the upset stomach that I was looking for!

Lego Custom '36 Chevy Truck

That's a wrap, kiddies! Let's see how we do this month when we try to perfectly balance the essential elements of Fire And Ice! As this is a challenge based on duality you can team up with a buddy. We haven't had one of those in awhile. So let's see how we heat up the challenge and cool off our competition with Fire And Ice!