Friday, February 25, 2011

50's style Milk Churn Truck


50's style Milk Churn Truck
Originally uploaded by bricktrix

This adorable little 50's flat bed in 7 ish wide will look great on Bricktrix' upcoming display. I look forward to seeing the parts all come together. In other news, Chris wunztwice" liked it so much, he paid homage to it with his own version, tipper truck style.
50's Tipper Truck

Monday, February 14, 2011

Doggie Style!


SnoopDogg - Bones Bricks´n´Basics
Originally uploaded by "Orion Pax"

SnoopDogg - Bones Bricks´n´Basics album cover by Orion Pax is the shizzle!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Not a round-up.


Smart transporter 1
Originally uploaded by Thomas Selander

Hey all you Lugnutters, I'm posting a non-challenge related post! Check out the little carhauler by LUGNuts member Thomas Selander. I don't know how I missed his stuff before, as it fits perfectly into my minifg scale world. 6-wide trucks FTW! (That's "for the win", not the other ftw.) Cheers, Thomas, I give this creation a hearty 5 out of Smart cars.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Octan Racing Round Up

What happens when we're all asked to design vehicles based on the fictional Octan fuel company? Well, not only have we single-handedly quadrupled the amount of Octan related stuff on the internet, but made it infinitely cooler. The color schemes are all the same but the ideas produced are limitless. Lets move on and see what I mean, shall we?

Nolnet is the first to show us all how its done with this Octan Corvette Stingray Air Blaster Racer. Just stomp on the air blaster and it'll zip across the floor at break neck speed...or at least thats what I hope it does. Lets see if it'll jump through a ring of fire!

Corvette Stingray Air Blast Racer

Ricecracker is not only a diet conscious food, but he's a LUGNut that shows us the proper way to break the rules. We're not supposed to build speed boats, since this being an automotive club, but tow the said speedboat (or Hydrolift)with a matching Ford F-350 pickup and you've got the formula for success right there.

OCTAN Speedboat Transport

Looking more like a Jackson Pollock painting than a MOC is this Mitsubishi concept racer by Shunik. Apparently the well known Japanese automotive company has taken to putting their car designs in a blender and hoping for the best. I'd say the concoction needs more bananas. And rum!

Mitsubishi Racer concept

Legogil shows us the future of the Octan fuel company. Turns out its electric cars as evidenced by this cute little Honda EV-N concept complete with real working headlights. It makes sense that the forward thinking fuel company would expand to accommodate charging stations. Gil tells us the EV-N has a face like a pug puppy. I think he might be right!

Octan Honda EV-N concept

Jake gets back into car building again with this rough and tumble Octan Dakar racer loosely based on a VW. I like the mud flaps and roll cage. I'd use a roll cage to store hot buttered dinner rolls. You know...roll cage. I guess I shouldn't write on an empty stomach.

OCTAN Dakar - 3/4

Ok, I'm back and I'm full of dinner rolls. Good thing too, because jmaokoen has built a Formula 1 racer shaped like an Imperial Star Destroyer. He tells us its driven by OCTAvius ANtonelli...Octan...and was lightweight but unreliable as the drivetrain is made of Lego. Well, there's your problem, right there...its made of Lego!

Octan F1

Lino Martins also had Formula 1 racing on the brain this month as evidenced by this...um...Formula 1 racer. It has sort of a 90's era shape without all the curvy whizz-bangs and doodads that the ultra-modern F1 racers have. I'll probably never understand what all that stuff does.

Octan Formula 1 Racer

I wanted my second entry to be vastly different from the first so I went with the cute little VW bug converted to a tough as nails Baja racer complete with roll cages, "stinger" exhaust pipe, spare tire, first aid kit and working suspension. The working suspension is a first for me as my prior attempt at suspension ('60 Chevy Apache) failed miserably.

Octan VW Baja Racer

We go from the Baja desert races across the world to the Dakar desert races with Ralph Savelsberg's Octan racing truck. All the endorsement stickers seem to work well in this scale and you can bet the whole farm that the talk of the town over at Ralphland has been the very cool use of minifig chairs as mudguards.

Octan Dakar race truck (1)

There is no rule saying your Octan vehicle has to be white with red and green highlights. Thanks to a lack of white pieces in Dohoon Kim's Lego collection, he stands out nicely with this mostly red Porsche 911. We get a glimpse into Dohoon's world with the clutter in the background and a car sceatch as he says he was feeling too lazy to set up the photo studio. Here's to laziness!

Porsche 911 Octan Racer

But in a bout of...not laziness, Dohoon comes back later in the challenge with a scaled down Octan trifecta. One is a drag racer.

Octan Dragster

The next does donuts out in the high school parking lot with this Octan drift car.

Octan Drifter

And finally Dohoon calls in the Octan tow truck to haul away any wrecked vehicles. He tells us there wouldn't be many wrecked vehicles because we all know folks who drive Octan cars are the safest, most conscientious drivers out there. Or something.

Octan tower

The artist formerly known as Dylan Denton (now a bunch of weird symbols) whips up a Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo in one day. He figures since Octan colors are red, white and green, he'd build a nice classic Italian racer. Now that's a spicy meat-a ball!

Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo

Later in the challenge, Dylan scales down his ride with a custom Dirt-Track Racing Truck. I like the green rims.

Custom Dirt Track Racing Truck

Next on the Dylan slab is a cleverly built mini Formula 1 racer complete with thick racing slicks. The shifter base without the shifter serves well as the driver's helmet.

OCTAN F1 Racecar

Nathan Proudlove has been house sitting for the past month and as a result, the only Lego he has access to is some kid's hodge-podge collection. Yeah, I know how hard it is to build with some kid's collection. You get so frustrated that you just want to punch Howie Mandell in the face! But Nathan did a pretty good job with this wee monster truck considering his limited access to pieces.

Wee Octan monster truck

Speaking of wee, Lego Junkie chimes in with this wee little Octan golf cart. He apparently has two tickets to the gun show...and I'm not talking about his biceps. Check out all the guns used as windshield stanchions and door rails. I'd hate to drive that thing half cocked. Heh...these gun jokes are pretty stupid!

Octan Racing Golf Cart.

Lets move on. Fe2cruz builds us the wee-est entries of all with these tiny cute little racing motorcycles and support truck. The whole lot could fit in the palm of your hand and was built to compete against the wee Ferrari/ Shell Lego City Racing team. Oh yeah, that reminds me, Shell is the other gas company Lego sometimes endorses. Screw those yellow and red jerks, Octan rules!

Octan Moto GP R&D

Sangi13 gets on his soap box to build a soap box racer. Normally these things are just gravity driven but this one has an engine...that could also maybe be a cash register or a coffee maker. There's no room for the driver's legs but the tires are hardcore Goodyear Eagles. Now that's classy!

Octan Turbo

Speaking of classy, Kryptonheidt chimes in with one of those weird asymmetrical winged sprint cars for all your driving-really-fast-in-one-direction-on-an-oval-track needs. This car has been on my own to-do list for awhile but he pulls it off nicely here.

Sprint Racer

Not to be outdone by his own self, Mr. Heidt also builds us a Super Stock car. Vrooom Vrrrrooooooommmm!!

Super Stock

Next on the slab he chills out with this cool little Octan snowmobile. I suppose that happy little arctic dude can't wear his hood and helmet at the same time.

Snowmobile

Proving to be a busy month for Kryptonheidt, he lastly swoops in with this classic 1970 Plymouth Superbird. Now that is a car that screams down the racetrack!

Plymouth Superbird

Ace Carrera shows us that the usual Octan livery can look equally as good with a little black thrown in with this NASCAR racing truck. Livery...there's a word I've never heard of until this challenge. Is it a British thing? Is it pronounced liv-er-y or live-ry?

Stock Racing Truck

Jonathan Derksen puts away his usual blue and yellow...um...livery in favor of primarily red with white and green highlights with this 80's era Alfa Romeo 164 F1 Procar. Dark green either adds a bit of sophistication to the usual color scheme or reminds us of pasta. Either way, its pretty tasty!

Alfa Romeo 164 F1 Procar

This being an automotive group, we'd normally wouldn't accept military tanks into the mix. But I can't help but love this hilarious Octan colored Mexican tank called the TA-CO prototype built by the Bing-Bong Brothers. It was created to protect Octan's oil interests in the Middle East and also entered in the Dakar rally where it was a huge success. Viva la Bing-Bong!

"Oil Tanks"

Silcanter once again brings back the 90's era Lego Technic style with this Celeran. The outer skin is merely suggested in Octan colors so as to clearly showcase the mechanical guts within, including double wishbone suspension, manual transmission, working steering and a beefy V-12 engine. Mmmmm...beefy tacos.

Octan Celeran

This challenge has me thinking of food for some reason. Anyway, a new guy takes a break from his Bad Furday to submit this little three wheeled racer...because sometimes four wheels is just one too many. I'm inclined to agree.

Octan Racing Three Wheeler

Ussnegreli2 shows some love for the Octan colors with this little racing truck. That reminds me, remember the old Model Team Octan racing truck set? That was awesome. I wish Lego would bring back Model Team. The set is probably worth a kidney right about now. I got mine for free. Yep, free. Who wants to trade me their kidney for it?

Octan Truck Race

This challenge has caused Matthew Maulfair to join our happy little group for the first time and submit this happy little monster truck that looks somewhat like Nathan's wee little monster truck. The two of them ought to race. That would be fun!

Keep on Truckin'

Lego Monster stirs up a monstrous hybrid that is part Lamborghini, part Ferrari, part Audi R8 and all Octan! Its called the Octan Cannonballer and the sexy April and Candy figures are inspired by Farrah Fawcett and Adrienne Barbeau from the Cannonball Run movie. Ahh they were such hotties in their day. Miss Barbeau still looks good for her advanced years and Farrah...bless her soul. Be sure to check out the interior shots of this car and the pretty girl's luggage in the trunk.

Octan Cannonballer (the girls)

Having no need for matching luggage is this rough and tumble Octan Off-road racer built by Kwycstix seen here negotiating the relentlessly punishing surface of...plywood. At least I think that's plywood. Maybe its sandstone or particle board...or fine corinthian leather. Either way, its certainly Off-road.

Octan Off-road series entry

vmln8r joins our cult...er, I mean group for the first time and submits this slick remote controlled sportsbike. You can see the XL motor and battery box crammed within its tight little frame and be sure not to miss the video of this sporty two-wheeler zipping across the floor. The simple steering mechanism works phenomenally. I'd love to take the controls of this thing for about an hour!

octansportsbike1

There's something about this challenge that brings out all the first timers. Whether it was the striking color scheme, the top notch automotive eye candy or the good publicity we've been getting, either way, we're glad to have you all on board. Christophbrill makes his debut into our world with this trio of historic Octan stock cars.

Octan Racers

Certainly no stranger to our little group, Peteris Sprogis takes the Octan races off-roading with this Rally Raid truck and the team support truck. I can't get over those giant tires on each of them!

rally raid team_Octan

Next Peteris whips up this tough as nails dune buggy complete with fully functioning steering. And check out the Led Zeppelin laser light show thats going on behind these first two entries! "Whole lotta love-bbbbbbrrrrrrrreow! A whole lotta love- bbbrrrrrrrrreeeow! Dah dah dah dah da da-da-da-da-da-da!" Dude, my hand is like sooo huge, man! Awesome!

Octan_buggy

And when that Zeppelin laser show gives you the munchies for some reason, this product delivery truck comes to the rescue with coffee and snacks to be sold at all Octan gas stations. Note the green and red swirling logo done up in a complex mosaic style. The truck looks simple upon first glance but closer examination proves that most studs are either upside-down or sideways. Now that's tricky!

product delivery for Octan gas stations

We can do a whole build challenge based on the VW Beetle. There are certainly plenty of ways to construct the iconic car's complex curves. One of my favorite renditions is this final entry by Peteris. The bumpers have been removed and the springs lowered and now the car is ready to race against all the other fine vehicles of this Octan inspired challenge.

VW Beetle_Octan racer

Another new guy Isgc applies the familiar Octan colors to this Lada Rally Car. La-de-da-da! I just like saying that. Lada. Ahh those Russians and Eastern Europeans with their Ladas. What will they think of next?

Octan Lada Rally Car

I'm not sure what Lada will be doing next but I am sure that Firas Abu-Jaber just made the Dakar races that much more awesome-er with this Nissan Navara Dakar Rally Car. With removable frame, working steering and suspension and a whopping three spare tires, this model is chock full of great details. Be sure not to miss Firas' video that shows this car is actually tough enough to take a hard flip!

Nissan Navara Dakar Rally car

Another new guy, itchybreath takes my challenge words to new heights with this entry. Lets recap: "... highly encouraged to build vehicles that have never sported the Octan colors and logo. Think strange...think different...be creative." The result: this hilarious Octan Batmobile. Be sure not to miss his Octan Darth Vader TIE Fighter in his photostream. Good, funny stuff!

The Bat-Octan-mobile

NK DeSign-er fires up his LCAD program to render this off-roading Jeep. He's quite astute at building alternate models for official Lego sets. This one is for the Creator set number 5867 except in our required Octan color scheme. Neat!

Octan Jeep

Jason Son wouldn't be Jason Son without building something low and sleek. This time its a '59 Corvette...assuredly the first in the world to sport the Octan colored side swoosh and seats. Side Swoosh...that's what its called, ain't it? Whatever its called, this curvy little rendition is not to be missed!

OC5

Hgaphoto also fires up the LCAD to render this truck presumably of generic make and model. He doesn't say anything about it leaving this writer to babble on about Led Zeppelin laser light shows, my dad's Aries K wagon and how huge my hand looks right about now...or something. I bet you didn't see that coming. Hey, its been awhile since I cracked an Aries K joke.

Octan Truck

Rabidnovaracer reaches for the usual Octan colors to build this 1973 Chevy Pickup...you know, white, red, green, and brown. Wait...brown? Yep, you're gonna need a lot of brown if you're going to accurately depict your Chev as a mud racer. Be sure not to miss the alternate pic of this monster truck ripping through a deep muddy environment with flames shooting from the hood. Thats how every car should be...ripping through mud with flames shooting out the hood. The definition of awesome!

'73 Chevy pickup mud racer

When lego_nabii is not designing freakin' cool Lego sets for us to drool over, (yep, you heard me, he works for Lego!) he is gracing our presence by showing us the future of Octan Racing with this martian Polar Pavonis Rally car and support vehicle. Maybe this is also the future of Lego. I mean...designers MOCs sometimes turn into official Lego sets. I'm just sayin'....this would be awesome as a set.

16-Team-Octan

The usually talkative Raphy quietly submits the best way to drag your speedboat over mud and rough terrain with this heavy duty off-roading pickup. He also did this well within the deadline leaving me no way to crack a "coming in past the due date like spoiled milk" joke. What gives?

Octan Heavy-Duty pickup with speedboat

We haven't heard from Duq in awhile and we're happy to see he's still kickin' with this Audi Quattro S1 Rally Racer complete with detailed engine and opening doors. Man, that fierce front fender kit is like a cattle prod...assuredly made to knock would be pedestrians (and cattle) the heck out of its way!

Audi Quattro S1 Front

Tommy n chimes in on the action with this sturdy off-roading Rogue Dust Devil V10. He tells us the fictional truck was built specifically for blasting through the equally fictional Comet Canyon. Sounds like the place is crawling with snakes and scorpions. Or maybe the legendary chupacabra. Scary stuff!

Octan Rogue Dust Devil

Rogue is a fictional car company made up and preferred by all the crazy kids as evidenced by this Dakar 4x4...also a Rogue. See, and you think I don't pay attention to what you kids do! Sharpspeed also hasn't been with us for awhile as he states there must have been plenty of Overhaulin' reruns on. I know what he means, I've been watching it season after season instantly on my netflix. Its too bad they ditched the show.

Octan Rogue 4x4 "Fearr"

Checking in past the due date like spoiled milk, (Yes!) is LegoExotics and his 2011 WRC Rally Racer. He shows us a cool way to use those rare white curvy bits as flared fenders and the whole model is chock full of not to be missed details like the checkered rear mud flaps, spoiler and racing seats.

01 WRC

I'm not sure which I like better but I think LegoExotics somehow outdoes himself with this striking Le Mans Prototype. He takes detailing car models to a whole different level with string acting as wiring and flex tubing cut and used in dozens of different ways. The engine is the most detailed I've ever seen and the suspension...is that pen springs?!

C 01-11 Le Mans Prototype

What an awesome end to a great challenge! Thanks for making this one of the more successful challenges in recent memory. Now stick with us this month to see how well a bunch of Lego car casanovas can impress the ladies with this month's challenge aptly called...For The Ladies. Whether its cars with female names, cars with female drivers, famous girl related movie cars or cars dedicated to the important woman in our lives, anything can happen. Will we finally get that Valentines smooch from our secret admirers? Will we get a nice plate of cookies from our moms or a restraining order from that pretty girl at work? You'll just have to tune in next time to see!