Normally you'd have to wait awhile to see a creation from Ralph Savelsberg, but this time he had a little advanced insider info on the challenge as his acute automotive knowledge was needed to flesh out this British only theme. The result; this stunning Jaguar Mk VII complete with a happy newlywed couple. I couldn't think of a better way to start off this jolly good challenge!
Then this happened. Asman5 had a short run with us. He sort of lived up to his name and the irony of that wasn't lost on anyone. He could barely grasp the English language, yet he insisted upon taking a leadership role by launching his own "bild chalig" and running with it. His photos were dark and grainy...like this "convertaball mini". This was actually one of the only photos our moderators could accept as the others were not even clear as to what they were.
His quality of LCAD renders were...um...slightly better but still under par from what we expect from passionate and talented automotive enthusiasts such as yourselves. Even though he was brand new, he seemed to want to take over the group from within with his odd phonetic way of writing. Even with warnings and personal counseling, he seemed unwilling to change so the other LUGNuts officers and I rightfully decided it was best to let him go sailing off into the sunset.
With that unsettling business behind us, we move on to something we prefer to see in our group...this elegant pair of LCAD Rolls Royces by Superkalle. One is a Rolls Royce 1957 Silver Cloud and the other is a 1925 Rolls Royce Phantom. Great job all around!
Our co-founder Nathan Proudlove has been keeping himself pretty busy lately but being a good sport, he found the time to squeeze in this sweet little entry, a minifig scale gray Land Rover Defender. It uses some rare retro parts underneath for the suspension and the result is rough and tumble...all British, all Land Rover action!
Great minds think alike...or at least they did almost two years ago when Bill Ward built this Land Rover...also in gray. LUGNuts challenges are generally for NEW MOCs but yanno...Bill is the founder of Bricks By The Bay and an all around stand up nice guy. With no prizes, sometimes you can just let little things slide...the fact that it's a pretty sweet Rover certainly helps. We're still onto you, Bill. ;)
Speaking of sweet, Firas Abu-Jaber drops by with this stunning Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead convertible. This car exudes elegance and class from every angle. This is what makes British automobiles...and Firas' model great. And just when we thought Firas' talent was derived from the Gods, did you see his recent pics? Both he and his girlfriend are drop dead hotties! Good fortune certainly smiles on that one and we're sure glad to have him on board.
And what drop dead hottie would be complete without this 1997 Aston Martin V-8 Vantage built by Tim Inman? Tim is already a talented builder, but we've seen some vast improvement with last month's challenge and this month proves that wasn't a fluke. Build and photo quality has been noticeably better as evidenced by that elegant roofline and front air intake. The shiny hubs, courtesy of Chromebricks finishes off this build very nicely.
Tim keeps the high photo and build quality going but switches up the color scheme with this 1976 Jensen GT. Tim tells us that only slightly more than 500 of these little British bad boys were ever made in its two year production and was powered by a snappy little Lotus 4-cylinder engine. As the British would say...smashing!
When I first wrote this challenge, I had a short list of British automobiles I'd hope to see. On it was a classic Mini Cooper so that's why I'm glad that someone as talented as Jason Son had pulled through with my telepathic request. As if reading my mind, he also made it a white rally racer complete with roll cage and fire extinguishing equipment. Jolly good!
And Speaking of Rally racing, roll cages and firefighting equipment, Lino Martins (hey, that's me!) conjures up the most underdogginest of British cars with this Hillman Imp. As mentioned before, I listened to a lot of punk rock while building so its no surprise I've also included a proud British punker fig to go with it. "Oy, bloody hell bollocks!", he would say if he wasn't made of Lego.
I wonder if his name derives from dyslexia...or perhaps I have dyslexia, because when I see this name typed out...daxolesa, I get dyslexia. Try saying that ten times fast! Anyway, dyslexia...er...um...I mean daxolesa breaks a long streak of all white cars with a tiny Rolls Royce in charming blue.
Rambunctious Raphy builds us a tiny Jaguar Series II E-type coupe. From the back it sort of looks like a Deora front but the real front is all Jaguar front. Confused yet? The back looks like a Deora front but but its a Jaguar back and the front looks like a Jaguar front...ah, never mind!
Dohoon Kim enters a McLaren F1 in red. He tells us its his first time photographing a MOC outside. Don't worry, Dohoon, we're all nervous the first time. Actually, come to think of it, I've never photographed a MOC outside. All my business is done strictly indoors. I guess that makes me a big, fat, 38 year old MOC outdoors virgin. Yep. I haven't lived.
Alexander Hoogerwerf musters up a brand new Bentley Mulsanne in sparkling red. He tells us its very British, something the Queen herself would be driven around in. With the sparkling crown as a hood ornament, we're just going to have to believe him on that one. Good show, old chap!
No stranger to outdoor MOC photography, Dylan Denton takes his 1981 Lotus Esprit Turbo outside and photographs it exposed in front of God and all the world to see. Adding to a long string of white cars. this fine auto has pop up headlights and nice green trim. Hey, Lotus, your headlights are showing!
J0n4th4n D3rk53n builds us a neat little custom Metropolitan Austin in yellow with a red and white flag on the roof. I didn't recognize the flag as being English so I looked it up. Turns out, it is very English indeed. First hoisted in 1191, the historic Flag of St. George became England's flag in 1278. It was only later when the diagonal red cross of St. Patrick (Ireland) and the diagonal white cross of St. Andrew (Scotland) was added make the iconic Union Jack we know today. Smart, Jonathan. Very smart!
Lego Guy pulls through with another very British vehicle on the short list I'd hope to see...the iconic red and yellow LDV Royal mail van. Being an American, its easy to think that all mail trucks are stubby little white and blue numbers but its great to see the world has a lot of variety to offer. Why we could do a challenge just strictly on mail delivery trucks of the world and not be bored with it. Just a thought.
sam2442 offers us a 4x4 Land Rover powered by 2 power functions xl motors, with return to centre steering (also powered by pf motor), 4 bar suspension, portal axles, working headlights, and rechargeable battery. Thats all tecno-babble for one tough and capable mamma-jamma! Brilliant!
What would LUGNuts be without our usual end of the month run from Peter Blackert? He starts us off with "not a white car, nor a Land Rover" but instead one of the most successful British Formula 1 Racers - the 1968 Lotus 49 Grand Prix racer adorned in lovely early 1968 livery, British racing green, with yellow stripe. Perfect!
Next on the slab is an Aston Martin DBR9 Gulf Racer - 2008 in traditional light blue and orange Gulf colors. The old English red and white flag adorns the side proving that the rest of the world already knows the origin of the British flag...I humbly plead ignorance. Sigh.
And "for all you eco-greenies out there" Peter whips up the 1985 Sinclair C5.Designed by ecentric technology millionaire, Sir Clive Sinclair, the C5 was designed to take advantage of Uk road rules and to not exceed 15 mph (24km/h) and was made to be driven without a driver's license. Hear that, Ralph? This could be your chance!
Peter takes requests with this new green Aston Martin V8 Vantage Coupe. He tells us Lego green is hard to photograph but I think he pulled it off really well. On a side note, I find that anything purple totally freaks out my camera. The purple object turns blue and a white background turns fiery yellow or orange. Has anyone else encountered that or am I the only one not bright enough to work that out? With me not knowing about the original English flag I'm willing to admit I might be the only dumbass around here.
Another British vehicle on my short list that I'd hope to see is a traditional Routemaster RM London Red Double Decker Bus and Peter pulls through with pizzazz. Peter tells me the 384 number out front is the same number as the official Lego London bus set of yore...cool! And check out the Lego Times mosaic work on the side.
Another classic car on the London scene is the Austin FX4 Classic Black Cab.The car itself is great, but I'm digging the Miniland figure to go with it...love the detailing on his jacket!
Lastly on the lego911 slab is this Ministerial Rover P5 3.5 Litre Saloon done up in dark gray. All three can be seen either alone or in a stunning diorama featuring Classic London Street life from 1965-1975.
Interspersed throughout Peter's end of the month showdown is Ricecracker's Ford Transit farmer's truck done up in lovely blue complete with oversized carrots and apples. I'd happily buy those from that little farmer!
jake shows up with a classic MG TC. He tells us its his first classic car and I'd have to say it turned out pretty well. Jake tells us cheerio, pip-pip and all that good British dialog...turns out Jake really is from England. Blimey!
LegOscar graces us with a black Rover SD1. In a build challenge filled with photographic firsts, Oscar tries placing the model on a sheet of plexiglass for the first time for that nice reflective surface effect that the likes of Firas and others use. I'd say the effect worked out pretty well. The model is great looking all around...even its undercarriage.
marioman3138 gives us his first LUGNuts entry, a Jensen Interceptor. He tells us help would be appreciated...I say welcome to the world of LUGNuts...with practice and patience your automobiles will only get better from here.
Well that was a nice end to our all British build challenge I think it turned out bloody smashing! As scary as that sounds here, its actually a major compliment in England. Incidentally, this challenge tied in with another non-car related group...there wasn't as much hubbub in that group but be sure to check out the entries in the Battle Bugs challenge also called God Save The Queen, including a hornet built by yours truly. Lets see how we do this month in Size Matters...a challenge where we build any car, truck, or bike we want...in multiple scales! See ya on the flip side, old chaps!
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