Monday, September 7, 2009

Who's Your Big Daddy? Round Up

Welcome to this month's round up for the only challenge that asks...Who's Your Big Daddy? In other words, it was all about honoring legendary car builders. It turns out, some of us have a few big daddies in common. Lets check it out, shall we?

j0n4th4n_d3rk53n sets the pace to this challenge on the first day with Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's Pentrike. Its one of Ed Roth's lesser known vehicles but Johathan pulls it off flawlessly with its strange five-wheeled configuration! Did you know Ed Roth invented the picture t-shirt? Yep, its true! Before he printed his wild Rat Fink monsters on them, t-shirts were plain white and only worn as underwear.




Our new LUGNuts moderator Tim "rabidnovaracer" Inman honors legendary model car builder Tom Daniel with this rendition of Hangman, the quintessentially classic showrod truck originally designed for Monogram Models. Tim...and...um...Tom gives us all hope...that you can be a legendary car builder without actually getting your hands greasy. But when not building with Lego, Tim also gets his hands greasy, but not Tom. Confused yet? It'll only get worse from here!

Tom Daniels' Hangman

For his second entry, Tim honored another Tom...er...Thom with this Alternomad originally designed by Thom Taylor. Tim and Thom took a new Chevy Caprice wagon and grafted it with a '57 Chevy Nomad. It sounds stupid, but in the able hands of Thom and Tim they pull it off nicely. Great job, Tim...and um...Thom!

Thom Taylor's "Alternomad"

It turns out Raphy's big daddy is none other than Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. Here is a crazy rod that Mr. Roth was known for...but, um...Raphy. Where is the screamin' Rat Fink, man? Where's the monster with huge bulging eyes and a tongue that drags on the ground and snots and flames shooting out his nose? Ed Roth would be rolling in his grave if he saw this without the rat Fink...probably.

'Ed

Just like Ed Roth, Raphy's other big daddy was plucked from this world too early. But Raphy shows the legendary Boyd Coddington some love with this tiny rendition of his famous Junkyard Dog. In case you can't tell from the 4-wide model, the car is a '57 Chevy Bel Air. Yeah, I kinda see it.

Minigarage - Boyd Coddington's custom 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air: "Junkyard Dog"

Lastly, Raphy jumps on the Tom Daniel bandwagon with his famous model called "Badman". Its a '55 Chevy so its totally different from his '57 Chevy. See, they don't look the same at all! Raphy says it was done in a hurry and submitted at the last minute so don't blame him for a crappy job. Maybe the last minute passed in Poland, but little did he realize he still had like nine hours before the real deadline would pass. Plenty of time to crank out 60 more 4-wides. Heh, silly Raphy!



Philip Ryman reaches for his trusty red bricks and cellphone cam to build George Barris' T Wagon. Its sort of...um...squarish but has a neat delivery door in the back and suicide doors. Phillip says he wished he could get the curve on the roof better, though.

Barris T Wagon

Speaking of getting the curve on the roof right, Nathan Proudlove takes a cue from Rabidnovaracer with his own Tom Daniel's Paddy Wagon. Just look at that engine, those fenders...that wicked cool roof! The term wicked cool comes from New England...and so does the term paddy wagon. Know what it means? Paddy is an old derogatory term for folks of Irish origin. A large number of men on the police force were Irish Catholics...and incidentally a large number of drunken criminals being hauled away...were also Irish. Hence the Paddy Wagon. And now you know!

Paddy Wagon

Later in the challenge Nathan takes us back to our childhoods...well, those of us old enough to remember one of the greatest Hot Wheels cars of all time...the iconic Stagefright originally designed by the great Larry Wood. Unlike the old Hot Wheels car, this new rendition has power functions! Be sure to check out the video of this model racing around the floor. Wicked awesome!

stagefright1

Lino Martins jumps on the Ed "Big Daddy" Roth bandwagon with his world famous Mysterion. Originally built in 1962, Ed Roth made the bubble top famous. 47 years later, lego comes out with the Agents Robo Attack set with a large bubble dome...and, well, this reconstruction was sort of inevitable. At least in my mind, anyway. Part showrod, part dragster and part UFO, this strange rod has not one, but two totally chromed Ford 406 engines! Far out, Daddy-o!

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's Mysterion!

Charger Hornet shows Tom Daniel some love with this great new Vanbulance. Cool, wacky, powerful, dumb, "engine in wrong place"...these are so many reasons why this model was built and why we all should love it. I would also add its wild asymmetrical design, trans-blue windshield and strange gull wing van door to the list of things to love. Too cool!

Tom Daniel's Vanbulance

Charger honors Tom Daniel once again but this time with the iconic Baja Beast! This Volkswagen Micro Bus has a chopped roof, menacing pipes and an aggressive stance that can tear through the desert! I'm digging the opening door and the beefy engine located in the rear cabin. I wonder if the inhabitants inside would get sick from the engine fumes. Eh, it doesn't matter...its all about looking cool!

Baja Beast by Tom Daniel

But for the sensible, practical mind of Ralph "Mad Physicist" Savelsberg, things like an engine in the same space occupied by humans, bubble tops, crazy Rat Finks and the frivolous excess of show rods in general just doesn't make much sense. Not his "cup of tea", he says. Which is why he honored Virgil Exner and his '57 Chrysler New Yorker. He was the chief designer for Chrysler in the 50's and one of the main proponents for tail fins on cars. But we salute Ralph for reminding us that the likes of George Barris, Boyd Coddington, and even Ed "Big Daddy" Roth would be nothing without Virgil Exner.

57 Chrysler New Yorker (1)

Also not into the wild show rod scene, but we all know that Lego 911 likes fine crafted Italian machines. So it's no surprise that he came up with the 1962 Ferrari 250 GT Bertone Berlinetta originally designed by Giorgetto Giugario. This model looks classy in dark blue. I'm digging the mirrors and grille and its overall subtle shape. Like Ralph, 911 shows us that you don't have to be a hot rod builder to be legendary.

Ferrari 250 GT Bertone

So what did we learn from this challenge? We learned that Ed "Big Daddy" Roth invented the picture t-shirt, a lot of Irish drunks were hauled away in paddy wagons, and Tom Daniel is THE MAN! That pretty much sums up this challenge. Stay tuned this month for Zombie Apocalypse Killfest '09! Headed by the mean and nasty Sgt. Rex Malone, he motivates us to turn ordinary civilian vehicles into post-apocalyptic zombie killing machines! So lets turn that Honda Civic into something badass! Booyeah!

Friday, August 28, 2009

A really, really big rig.

LUGNuts member M_longer has built a great looking rig. He does some fine work in this scale. Check out the back of the cab in this photo. I can never manage to put that kind of detail in.

Wind turbine nacelle transport

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Millennium Marvels Round Up

Welcome to Millennium Marvels, the only challenge so far that honored cars manufactured exclusively within the 21st century. Yanno…21st Challenge, 21st century. Get it? Yeah, I didn’t think it was all that clever either. Lets just get to the round up and see how we did, shall we?

Usually we see Ralph “Mad Physicist” Savelsberg toward the middle or end of the challenge but this time he races in first with a couple of cars built for a larger secret project he’s working on. My personal spy satellites were programmed (for some reason) to only detect nudists sunning themselves on their rooftops so I have not been able to gather info as to what Ralph is building. Unless he starts doing it nude on his roof we’re just going to have to settle for these in the meantime…think Chevy Impala meets Ford Crown Vic.

US sedans (1)

Then later in the Challenge, Ralph teases us again with this trio also for his super secret project. One is inspired by the Ford F-150, the other is a Chevy Suburban and the third is the Ford Mustang. This project must be big!

US Cars (1)

Next J0n4th4n D3rk53n shows us his fully electric GV Moose van…the only car that’s either purple, blue or red depending on which picture you look at. I guess he was experimenting with the picnic edit photo section. No matter what color it is, its green because its fuel efficient.



Then later in the challenge he just had to do something sporty, so naturally he entered the Caparo T1. Neat shape!

Caparo T1

Finally he finishes himself off with the Honda Civic. Economic and fuel efficient, the Honda Civic is one of the most popular cars in his neighborhood…and everyone’s neighborhood probably. Its like the Walmart of cars.



Next nolnet chimes in with his shiny new little Abarth 500 SS. It has a very nice shape and a lot of very advanced build techniques. It also goes vroom, apparently. Sweet!

Abarth 1

Phillip Ryman amasses his trusty red bricks to construct a fleet of little modern marvels. First we have the 2003 Ram SRT-10.



Next comes the sporty 2004 Viper SRT-10.



Then we’ve got the 2000 Corvette C-5



And then the 2005 Mustang GT .



And later in the challenge Phillip chimes in with the new Lotus Evora.

Lotus Evora

Lets see, the photo quality of each is pretty good…each little MOC actually follows the rules of the challenge this time and well…darn, I have nothing to pick on…no jokes to crack at Phillip’s expense. For once I’m stumped. Good job, Phillip!

Rabidnovaracer checks in with the awesome Ariel Atom…the seemingly perfect car for this Millennium Marvels challenge. So perfect, in fact that Dylan Denton chimed in with his own version shortly after. Both guys assure us this was a coincidence and if you’ve followed the Lino/Nathan phenomenon I can attest that sometimes great minds just think alike. Normally I wouldn’t lump the two together in one write up but you have to appreciate both the similarities and differences of these two entries. Both emulate the complex shape of the vehicle very well. Great job, guys!

Ariel Atom

2004 Ariel Atom

As the Smart car was already predictably taken in this challenge, Dylan later chimes in with its direct competitor from Japan…the ironically named Toyota iQ. Leave it to the Japanese to dream up a little car that’s even more technologically advanced and fuel efficient than the Smart car…and leave it to Dylan to accurately reproduce its likeness in Lego!



No millennium marvels challenge would be complete without the aforementioned Smart car…which is why I’m glad scottblank obliged with this cute little micro entry. With increasing urban sprawl, difficulty in parking and fuel becoming expensive and scarce, it seems the little car that looks like it has already been crushed in a collision is the wave of the future! Um…yay, I guess.

Smart car!

Raphy builds his fave dream car…the car he was meant to build in a scale that…um…well, he was meant to build over and over again. It’s the Audi RS4 in blue! Raphy liked the challenge so much he promised to enter several more times.



And as sure as a pigeon will poop on your car just after you wash it, he makes good on his promise with this cute little 2007 Ford Mustang GT-500 Shelby Super Snake. Say that five times fast!

Minigarage - 2007 Ford Mustang Shelby Super Snake

Then comes the pudgy little custom European Ford Focus rally car. Nice shape!

Ford Focus rally car

Followed later by the equally pudgy 2007 Dodge Ram SRT-10 in yellow.



Next comes another pudgy 4-wide…um…no wait! Is this still Raphy? Yes, it is! It’s a miracle, Raphy constructs an 8-wide 2009 Ford F-150 Raptor! He says its awful and was rushed through it but I think this 8-wide configuration allows for so much more detail and with practice, I’m certain he can pull off some stunning vehicles in this scale. I think its time to graduate from the childish 4-wides and step up to doing this more often. This is the way to go, Raphy!



Don’t get me wrong, folks…I’m not dissing small scale vehicles. Check out, for example this pretty cool 5-wide custom Ford F-150 built by Petr Struchly. I’m digging the racing stripe and exhaust pipes. This build is chock full of tricky intricate SNOT techniques. Oh, this is unrelated but Petr is primarily an Origami paper folder. You have GOT to check out some of his Origami creations…they are mind boggling! I can see that some of the intricate attention to detail used in paper folding translated to Lego here…so in that regard, maybe it was related after all.

closer to f-150...

Until now, Lino Martins has never built a modern car. With an affinity for American classics, I’m quite used building cars with copious chrome and fins that go on for miles. That’s why this little 2005 Mini Cooper S needed a whole new mind set and a whole different set of build skills. As the Mini has a classic history, its no surprise I chose the modern remake for my entry. I haven’t the slightest clue what that typewriter looking thing is under the hood but modern car enthusiasts tell me I have accurately depicted the turbo charged Mini Cooper engine. Note the minifig space helmets for mirrors and the English side steering wheel. Bloody smashing, as the British would say!

2005 Mini Cooper S

Just as I was thinking…yanno, someone (but not me) should build the new 2010 Camaro for this challenge…my musings were answered. And BOY were they answered! Jason son weighs in heavily with the new Chevy racer in grey and red. This build speaks to my affinity for larger scale and detail. I’m digging the netting, which Jason said was his son’s idea and the silver against grey rims…are surprisingly nice looking on this model. Its something I never would have thought of. Be sure not to miss the engine and interior details. Great job Jason son…and um…Jason’s son!

Main camaro

Blood Red Dragon chimes in with his silky smooth entry, the Koenigsegg CCX. Yep, it’s a real car. Maybe you all knew that already but I had to look it up…and in doing so, I see that Dragon’s use of that weird black piece that I think can only be found in the new Star Wars AAT set was a very good choice for the windshield. Tiny Turbo builders rejoice…there’s a weird new piece that’s kinda useful!

Koenigsegg CCX

Ricecracker shows us what he’s made of. It turns out he’s made “Ford tough” with this 2009 Ford F-450 tow truck in patriotic American colors…or French colors…or British…depending on your point of view. Neat!

2009 Ford F-450 Tow Truck

He also has built the rugged 2009 Volvo VHD tractor trailer complete with an equally rugged looking mustachioed driver. The truck uses the R/C chassis, which makes it very cool!



And finally he tears up the road with the 2008 customized Land Rover Range Rover HST. Its shiny and sleek for all your luxury offloading needs!

Custom 2008 Land Rover Range Rover HST

Remember “At The Races” When lego911 went a little nuts with 40-someodd record breaking entries? We thought that challenge would never end! Then he disappeared for two challenges to recoup his supply of pieces…and probably his sanity. But now he graces us for this challenge and quietly sneaks in this very neat Ferrari 458 Italia 2010. It doesn’t come with a racing team, pit crew, family history or a legion of competitors…it just stands alone as one beautiful solo entry. Good to see you still have the magic, my man!

Ferrari 458 Italia 2010

Sharpspeed presents us with the Rogue Eco…not a real car, it turns out. But he made it boxy, green and white for that “21st Century feeling”…and if by 21st Century feeling he means something out of Mad Max or Death Race 2000 with retro suicide doors then…yeah sure most of the century hasn’t happened yet so this could be plausible. Its called the Eco because it’s Eco-nomical and I’d guess its green because its also Eco-friendly. Alrighty then!



Neither green nor eco-friendly…but still a millennium marvel comes this 2009 Ford F-350 built by Charger Hornet. He says he just couldn’t resist building this truck and with rear dualies and massive exhaust pipes, I can see why. The grille and front bumper looks very accurate. The Ford F-series has been particularly popular with this challenge…and the American market as even in an increasingly eco and space conscious world of Smart cars and Toyota iQs, this remains a top seller.

Ford F-350 Super Duty 2009

Sometimes you think you have a builder pegged. Sure, Firas Abu-Jaber loves supercars so maybe it was certain he was going to build one Ferrari or a Ford GT or another. Any of them would have looked great with his signature sleek style, but Firas managed to knock us sideways and squelch any accurate predictions we may have had. Sure, he went Lamborghini this time…and knowing Firas isn’t much of a surprise…but this time he has built not one car, not two…but an entire showroom full of sleek Lambos! The detailed showroom itself, even without the cars, is a site to behold with it’s red carpet and luxurious styling. We all know Firas is a good car builder, but this should put him on the map as a great Lego architect as well. In my opinion, this has been the perfect way to end this build challenge!

Lamborghini Showroom

With a good variety of entries and everyone sticking to the rules of the challenge, I think we did well on this one. Be sure to also show us what you can do in this month’s challenge called “Who’s Your Big Daddy?!” Where we honor legendary car builders such as George Barris, Carroll Shelby and the aptly named Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. Thanks for reading everyone! Be sure to let us know you’ve been here by leaving a comment. You know we appreciate it.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Fire And Ice Roundup

This challenge was based on duality...and equal balance of the very important elements of Fire and Ice. How did we do? Well, some of us nailed it...and others...um...was more like lukewarm fire and melted ice. Lets review!

J0n4th4n D3rk53n sets the trend that lots of others will follow by interpreting fire as red and ice as white with this sort of neat panel truck. There's some cool curves on here. Yep. Sure is an interesting tour so far. Anyone want to raid the candy machine in the lobby? No? Ok, lets move on then.

Panel Truck

Ooops, wait, we're still with J0n4th4n here! He says after 7 long hours the masterpiece is finally finished...and so early in the challenge too! Usually the heavy hitters come later in the challenge but what do I know? This is a three window coupe...mostly fiery red with a white blower and stripes representing ice. Looks like he got his thumb in the way of the picture in the lower left there.

3 Window Coupe Street Rod

I bet you're thinking this tour wouldn't be complete without a virtual entry from J0n4th4n, right? Well, your prayers have been answered! Its a...um...bus! Its almost tall enough to be one of them London double decker buses except the whole bottom deck is windowless...perfect for when you don't want your friends seeing you travel in one of these.

Greyhound Bus

But wait there's more! (Is it too soon to crack a Billy Mays joke? Yeah? Ok then.)For when you need to haul several tons of gasoline across the arctic tundra to Bjork's house, here is the Gasnowmobile! Say it with me now...gasnowmobile. With any luck at all, it just might explode once it gets there.

Gasnowmobile

Aaron Dayman heats up the challenge...and some chicken wings with this...um...Zamboni Barbecue! His interpretation of Fire and Ice is more clever than anything I can come up with so lets use his own words; "In my fave team the Detroit Red Wings colors. Red (fire) and White (ice). Built to celebrate the Wings (fire) impending victory over the Penguins (ice) to win yet another Stanley cup championship. After which this vehicle might come in handy seeing as its a Zamboni (ice) and a mobile BBQ (fire) to not only clean the ice(ice) but fire(fire) up some snacks for the celebration as well." Now that's smart thinking, Aaron!

Go Wings Go!

Let's say I'm skating on thin ice, trying to impress some girl with my slick moves and I break through and get my fool self submerged in the freezing cold water. Then I'm going to need Ricecracker's Ice Swift/Water Rescue Truck, pronto! It comes equipped with tread wheels for better traction on ice and a boat and net for water rescues. just the name of his vehicle makes me feel safe...but I'm pretty sure this means the girl is not impressed and the date is over. Oh well...hope you also have some hot chocolate on that thing!

Ice/Swift Water Rescue Truck

New guy Pitrek02 shows us a unique interpretation of Fire and Ice with this pair of quad ATV's...one fiery hot and the other icy cool! I'm seeing some pretty advanced build techniques here. I want to take them for a spin! I wonder if the minifig girls will be impressed if I can do donuts on the thin ice.

Red & Blue Quads

Pitrek02's next entry, I wanted sooooo much to be perfect! Here we see he obviously has some raw talent with this very nice interpretation of the Hummer H3. I mean, check out those reversed tires over Lego motorcycle rims...and he's pulled off details flawlessly that is so difficult in this small scale. But in a challenge that demands a perfect balance of Fire and Ice, I see the fire...but where's the ice? From such a clearly talented builder, I'm hoping this is just a temporary lapse in integrity. If the gray rocks were instead the same piece only in white...he would have nailed this challenge perfectly.

Hummer H3

Sometimes when you mix two awesome things together you get something else awesome...like chocolate and peanut butter. When you mix the greatest Japanese battleship ever constructed in both real life and Lego with the great city of Hiroshima you get...um...well the Yamato Hiroshima...a 4 wide sports car thingy with a spoiler and some kind of...um...snowplow/cattle prod looking thing up front. Sharpspeed said he built this to honor those who were bombed in Hiroshima in 1947. (Great, just what they wanted!) Oh and...um...Mr. Speed...the bombings took place in 1945...NOT '47.

LUGNuts entry: Yamato Hiroshima

Next Sharpspeed brings us a pair of what he calls his iconic Rogue Firepower GT, one in fiery red and black, the other in icy cool blue and white. In Sharpspeed speak that has to be followed by like 14 exclamation points but...I don't know, I'm just not feeling the excitement. At least he followed the rules of the challenge and didn't attempt to honor some historic event he barely understands. Anyone wanting to raid the candy machine in the lobby now? No? Ok, lets move on.

LUGNuts:Challenge 20: Iced Rogue

Dylan Denton interpreted Fire and Ice with this admittedly cool pair of Formula 1 racers, one in fiery red and the other with just enough red trim to somehow still call it ice. I like the use of shifter bases as helmets. Good call! Dylan tells us not to worry...that his next entry will be bigger and better and a little more clever than just a two toned vehicle. Sounds great!

Formula One Racecar



As promised, Dylan's second entry is bigger and...um...is a two toned vehicle. Not very clever, but its a good build anyway. Its a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. Anyone excited for that new Lambo Gallardo set? Meh, I think it looks exactly like a yellow version of all the Ferrari sets we've seen but it does have new rims and the steering wheel is black and not the usual gray. Looks like some great parts in it. You know why we have so many Ferrari sets? Its because the CEO of Lego and the CEO of Ferrari are friends. Too bad the CEO of Lego isn't friends with George Barris or Chip Foose!

Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder

Raphy thinks a little outside his normal box with this Hot Rodded ice cream truck called I Scream. Yeah, that was the name I gave my Ice Cream clown truck a few months back, but hey, ya got to dig the concept! It has a fiery paintjob and the other side has a window with three ice cream flavors...red, yellow and...um...gray. Yuck!



But for something a little more flavorful, Raphy tackles an unusual interpretation of Fire and Ice indeed. Here we see an icy blue firetruck! At first I thought blue firetrucks just don't exist but further research proved that they do. Still, they're a rare breed and this quite possibly be the first blue firetruck built in Lego. Way to go, Raphy!



On that note...sigh...Philip Ryman, what are we going to do with you? All month long, I bit my tongue on this one...I waited patiently...maybe at the last minute he would submit an icy car and all would be right with the world...or so I hoped. As its obvious my round up jokes at your expense in hopes to improve your integrity are going way above your head, let me word this so that you can easily understand. Philip Ryman...you failed this challenge! I see the fire but where's the ice? What part of Fire AND Ice, NO EXCEPTIONS did you not understand? Every challenge has one weird little rule that everyone must follow. Do I do this because I'm rule crazy? No...but without just one unique rule to follow all the challenges would be exactly the same. We never would have survived through 20 plus challenges if they weren't fun and unique. You insult me and everyone else when you can't even follow just one rule! Please take a break from LUGNuts until your reading comprehension and your ability to follow directions improves.



Ok...sorry everyone, but had to be said. Now we move on to someone that knows how to dazzle us time and time again. Firas Abu-Jaber ditches his modern super cars for this challenge and takes a cue for me and Ralph with this classic Volksrod. The lowered stance, fenderless design and flaming hot paintjob are spot on! And the icy cool interior...I'm digging the spinner-without-the-spinner technique to make sort of a white on blue snow flake effect. All around, this vehicle is so cool its HOT!

Volksrod

Nathan Proudlove and Lino Martins once again puts their collective huge noggins together for a buddy team up to construct these iconic 70's era losers straight from the list of the 50 worst cars ever made. First comes Nathan's icy cool white and blue '75 Pacer called Brain Freeze. With stylish rims, Lambo doors and a video game console in the back, this is one loser of a hatchback I'd be proud to own! Next, Lino heats up the dragstrip with his fiery hot '70 Pinto called Hot Flash. Why am I referring to myself in the 3rd person? Anyway, he...I spent most of my early childhood strapped into a babyseat in the back of a Pinto and little did I know I was traveling in the car dubbed..."the barbecue that seats four". The Pinto had a reputation to explode in a rear end collision as illustrated by this humorous reverse flames design. It also has a wheelie bar, icy cool seats and opens like a funny car...proving that even a stinker like the Pinto can be made totally hot!

brain freeze 02

1970 Ford Pinto!

Who says a Fire And Ice entry had to be red and/or white? Not Tim "rabidnovaracer" Inman. His all black entry still suits the rules for the challenge...its a '96 Chevy Impala SS that has been refurbished into a Zamboni by Jesse James and friends on that Show Monster Garage. Incidentally, that's the show that helped turn me into a car builder...albeit just a lego one. With his skill at fabricating, his unwavering coolness and bad attitude, I wanted to be just like Jesse James. Then he stopped caring about his own show then went and married Sandra Bullock...and I found other car builders to admire. Oh and check out the flaming zoomies! Nice one, Tim!

1996 Chevy Impala SS Zamboni

Kin.lego interprets Fire and ice with this sleek fiery red Honda NSX LN20. The Icy elements are the white interior and the blue engine. The C32B engine is modified by dropping in a turbo and an intercooler to boost the horsepower to a staggering 400hp. Why did he choose the Honda LN20? because kin.lego says its named after the challenge. Huh? Ooooh, I get it! LugNuts 20th challenge! great job!

Honda NSX LN20

Our resident Mad physicist, Ralph Savelsberg has had one hell of a month! First he gets a few of his fine quality aircraft indoctrinated into the UK's Museum of Science and Industry, then he gets voted by his fellow AFOLs into the top three nominees spot as Lego Ambassador for flickr. (Final results still to come!)THEN he goes and wins two top prizes over at the military group for MOCs he's entered there! We're proud of Ralph but he doesn't stop there. Somehow he finds the time to enter our build challenge with his interpretation of Fire and Ice with a red hot Fire Department Ambulance and an icy cool reefer truck. That means refrigeration, you stoners, so don't go thinking its supposed to deliver your stash! I don't know how Ralph found the time to enter this challenge with all the cool stuff happening to you but we're certainly glad you did!

Fire and Ice

Cole Blaq and Orion Pax tear a page from the good Nathan/Lino Buddy Build Challenge Rule Book to construct this very neat pair. I like the mix of old and new here...completely different car cultures...but together they make it work. Cole built the icy white Citroen GT with gull wing doors, blue interior and very neat trans light blue headlights. Orion goes more oldschool with this fiery Lowrider with highly unusual round skylights and...get this...working hydraulics! They even made the four hour trip necessary to photo the two vehicles together. Take notes, my friends...this is how to succeed in a buddy challenge. Great job, guys! Way to dedicate to the cause!





We could have ended the challenge with Cole and Orion's sweet pair and called it done. But Blood Red Dragon takes a misguided cue from Philip at the last minute and builds...sigh...an all blue and white Hailstorm RC car. The name is cold...the paintjob is chill...but where is the Fire? C'mon, man, do I really ask for that much? Why must the same people disappoint me over and over again? What am I to do, here? Anyway, kudos to everyone who did an awesome job. And for those who repeatedly just don't get it...I don't know. Maybe something needs to be done.

Hailstorm RC

This next challenge is Millennium Marvels where we try our hand at building only modern cars. If our inspiration was manufactured on or after January 1st, 2000 its good. That's pretty much our only rule for this one so we're hoping its going to be foolproof. But I seem to think that of every other challenge thus far and well... Lets see how this one goes.