Tag Archives: Allies

Flight of the Camel

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The First World War was pretty pointless, but it did hasten aircraft technology at a rate so astonishing we’re unlikely to see any sector advance so quickly ever again. At least until AI becomes sentient, and then we’re all doomed anyway.

One of the products borne out of this intense pace of development was this, the British Sopwith Camel. Entering service in June 1917, the Camel was the peak of fighter aircraft technology. Powered by a hefty radial engine, armed with twin synchronised machine guns, and with 90% of its weight in its first two meters imbuing it with incredible agility, the Camel scored numerous kills… Until the middle of 1918, when it was obsolete.

This lovely brick-built Camel comes from Thinh Thi, who’s recreated and presented the (briefly) dominant World War 1 fighter superbly, complete with posable ailerons, ‘wire’ wing bracing, and an appropriately attired mini-figure.

There’s more of the model to see at Thinh’s ‘Sopwith Camel’ album, and you can claim air superiority in 1917, or air mediocrity in 1918, via the link above.

1917

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Nowhere has the pace of development through conflict been faster than in early aeronautics.

Less than a decade-and-a-half after the first ever powered flight – in which the Wright Brothers climbed 10ft into the air and travelled 120ft at 6.8mph – pilots could climb to 19,000ft and fly for 300 miles at well over 100mph. At least, you could if you were piloting a Sopwith F.1 Camel.

In service from 1917, the Camel scored more enemy kills than any other Allied aircraft during the Great War, and was a formidable fighter in both dog-fights and ground attacks. Until a year later, when it was obsolete.

Today just eight Sopwith Camels survive, but you can take a closer at this one courtesy of Flickr’s _Tiler, who has recreated the famous First World War fighter beautifully in brick-form, and presented it rather nicely too.

Head into the skies over France in 1917’s top fighter aircraft via the link above.

Super Supermarine

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It’s the 29th of December 1944, and RCAF Squadron 411 is in a battle with a group of Luftwaffe fighters over Osnabrück in western Germany.

At the controls of his Supermarine Spitfire IXe, Fight Lieutenant Dick Audet has an FW190 in his sights. The Spitfire’s guns tear into the enemy aircraft, until – after a moment – it rolls over and plunges downwards to destruction.

Audet watches for a few seconds, before snapping back to the fight raging around him, and turns his sights to the next German fighter. Over the next five to seven minutes Audet destroys a further four enemy aircraft, astonishingly becoming both an ‘Ace-in-a-Day’ and the only Spitfire pilot to achieve Ace status in a single sortie.

Audet would go on to fly over fifty sorties, claiming eleven enemy kills, before he too was killed in action, brought down in March of 1945 by the anti-aircraft defences of the German train he was strafing.

This spectacular homage to Fight Lieutenant Dick Audet was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr, and comes from crash_cramer, who has recreated Audet’s glorious Supermarine Spitfire IXe in massive 1:9 scale.

Measuring over a metre long and with a 120cm wingspan, this incredible brick-built replica doesn’t look like LEGO at all, such is its phenomenal realism. Admittedly, that might be because a few components are not in fact LEGO, with the propellor spinner, exhausts, wheel caps, guns, aerial, and outer-wing leading edges meticulously 3D-printed, whilst the cockpit canopy is vacuum-formed.

A green vinyl wrap recreates the Spitfire’s camouflage, with superb decals replicating the roundels and squadron markings of Audet’s fighter.

The result is very probably the most accurate aircraft that this site has ever featured, and you can find all of the stunning imagery, plus read more about the build and the amazing story of Fight Lieutenant Dick Audet, at crash_cramer’s photostream. Join us there via the link in the text above.

Pistons Past

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This beautiful creation is a Hawker tempest Mk.V, the last British piston-engined fighter, and one of the fastest aircraft to ever fly in the Second World War.

Able to shoot down V1 flying bombs as they made their way across the English Channel, the Tempest excelled at low altitude interception, and later evolved to become the carrier-based the Sea Fury.

This example wears the markings used for the 1944 Normandy landings, and was flown by ace Wing Commander Roland ‘Bee’ Beamont, who shot down nine enemy aircraft and thirty-one V1 flying bombs.

Constructed by Juliusz D., the incredible Tempest pictured here includes working landing gear, flaps, and vertical stabiliser, and joins his other spectacular Second World War aircraft including the Supermarine Spitfire and P-51 Mustang.

There’s much more of Juliusz’s beautiful Hawker Tempest to see at his photostream, and you can fly over Northern France in Britain’s last piston-engined fighter via the link above.

Brothers Rolls-Royce

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The phenomenal Rolls-Royce Merlin engine is surely one of the reasons that Nazi Germany and the Axis Powers were eventually defeated, bringing World War 2 to its end. Fitted to a huge array of aircraft, including JuliusZ D.’s recently blogged P-51B Mustang, the 27-litre British V12 is perhaps most famous for one particular application; the beautiful Supermarine Spitfire fighter.

Joining his P-51B Mustang, Juliusz has updated his Supermarine Spitfire model, photographing the two Allied fighters together (as shown in the image above), and refining the design much like the British engineers did during the conflict, with this variant being a Mk.XVIe as operated by the Polish Air Force.

Juliusz’s stunning build quality and presentation are immediately evident, and you can see more of his spectacular Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XVIe, plus the North American P-51B Mustang which shared the Spitfire’s iconic Merlin engine, at his photostream; click these words to take a look.

Winged Horse

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The Lego Car Blog has published dozens of Mustangs over the years. But not all of them are the four-wheeled variety.

This is the North American P-51B Mustang III, built to bolster Allied fighter number numbers over Europe during World War Two.

Outfitted with the British Rolls-Royce Merlin supercharged engine, the P-51 Mustang scored an incredible 6,000 kills, many delivered by the Polish Air Force as they battled for air superiority over Germany in the final two years of the war.

This astonishing Lego version of the British-engined, American-designed, Polish-operated North American P-51B Mustang III is the work of JuliusZ D. of Flickr, who has captured the iconic fighter in magnificent fashion.

Accurate brick-built camouflage, an authentic livery, working control surfaces, and retractable landing gear all feature, and there’s more to see of JuliusZ’s phenomenal P-51B Mustang model at his Flickr album. Click the link above to fly over hostile Germany in 1944.

What is it Good For?

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Humanity still enjoys a good war every now and then. And, because it’s been five minutes since the last conflict in the Middle East, a new one is pulling more and more nations, factions and regions towards it.

Of course for those caught within its gravity the conflict is a necessity, a fight for justice, freedom, and the will of God. Whichever side they are on.

The Second World War was perhaps a clearer fight between, perhaps not Good, but certainly against Evil. The Nazis’ ideology, with all of its death, pain and dehumanisation, was eventually defeated, and – whilst countless nations made enormous sacrifices – had the U.S remained neutral an Allied victory would have been all-but-impossible.

Hitler never sought to invade the Unites States, yet over 16 million Americans served during the conflict, of which 300,000 never returned home, and financing the war cost almost 40% of America’s GDP by 1945.

Capturing one tiny moment amongst the thousands in which the U.S contributed, previous bloggee Nicholas Goodman is here depicting the U.S push across Europe in the summer of 1944. A Willys Jeep, Sherman tank, and custom mini-figures pause to regroup, all carefully and accurately recreated in brick-form.

There’s more of Nicholas’ beautiful wartime builds to see on Flickr; take a look via the link above, and you can click here to see one way you can help today, as war spirals out of control once again.

Battle of Britain

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There are a few machines of the many that were borne out of the Second World War that changed the course of it. The Russian T34-85 tank, the American Willys Jeep, and this; the British Supermarine Spitfire.

First flying just before Britain entered the conflict, the Spitfire became the backbone of the Royal Air Force’s defence of the skies over the British Isles, which – had they been lost – would have enabled a German invasion and likely a very different world to the one we live in now.

Produced throughout the entire conflict, both the Spitfire and the formidable Rolls-Royce Merlin engine that powered it were upgraded and improved multiple times in just a few years, with the design operating not only with the Royal Air Force but with several Allied partners, with this example representing a unit flown by the Canadian Air Force.

It’s the work of Juliusz D., who has captured a ‘clipped wing’ variant of the Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. XVIe beautifully in brick form.

Wonderful building techniques, excellent decals, and top quality presentation make this a model worth a closer look, and you can take to the skies over Europe in 1944 in the defence of liberty via the link above.

Easter Cors-Hare

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Today’s title is about as tenuously linked to Easter as it’s possible to get, but seeing as egg-laying rabbits have about as much to do with Easter as a 1940s fighter aircraft, we’re going with it.

This is a US Navy Vought Corsair, made Eastery with only a minor spelling amendment, created and presented in this wonderful vignette by Nicholas Goodman of Flickr. Pictured in the Solomon Islands in 1944, Nicholas has deployed superb attention to detail, using fantastic building techniques, custom mini-figures, and hiding a few period-correct easter eggs in the vignette too.

See, it was Eastery all along!

There’s more to see at Nicholas’ photostream and you can head to the Solomon Islands in 1944 via the link in the text above, or alternatively click here for something actually Easter-related.

I Fold

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The results of the last TLCB poker night have caused this writer to owe a substantial beer-based debt to our editor (You have until Monday. Ed.). Knowing when to fold is everything it seems, and whilst this writer definitely doesn’t, TLCB newcomer Dan Nguyen sure does, with this wonderful 1940s Vought F4U Corsair.

Being a carrier-based fighter, the F4U Corsair needed to fit inside flight-deck lifts and on-board hangars, and as such featured wings that could fold neatly upwards whilst in storage before returning to their horizontal position for flight.

Dan’s model captures this feature beautifully, using some cunning techniques to recreate the Vought’s complex wing shape and fuselage, and enhancing the realism further with accurately replicated US Navy decals.

There’s more to see at Dan’s ‘Vought F4U Corsair’ Flickr album, and you can learn when to fold via the link in the text above.

Kirov Your Enemies Close

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This is a Kirov-Class Cruiser, built between 1933 and 1944 for the Soviet Union and deployed on the Black Sea during the Second World War.

The largest ships operated by the Soviet Navy post the Russian Civil War, the Kirov-Class ships featured technology from a variety of nations, with the design being Italian, the radar systems American and British, the boilers British, and the aircraft catapults German.

All of which were countries that the Soviet Union was either at war with or directly hostile to during the time the Kirov-Class ships were in service. It’s a funny world.

This spectacular recreation of a Kirov-Class Cruiser comes from Kirill Simerzin of Flickr, who has replicated the real ship beautifully, from the Italian propeller on the bottom to the American radar systems at the top.

There’s more of the build to see at Kirill’s photostream – click the link above to keep your enemies close…

Show Your Metal

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This astonishing creation is a the uncovered airframe of a First World War Sopwith Camel F.1 fighter, and it’s not quite, entirely, all LEGO.

But it is wonderful, and the use of supporting metal throughout not only replicates the structure of the real biplane, where wood and canvas were tensioned by wires, it proudly showcases the metalwork that is doing exactly the same job for the plastic bricks surrounding it.

Builder Crash Cramer details how and why the metalwork is used, including for the functional control surfaces which are steered via the cockpit, at his Flickr photostream, where a host of beautiful images are available to view.

Join us in taking a closer look via the link in the text above.

Catalina

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This beautiful aircraft is a PBY-6A Catalina, as built by Henrik Jensen of Flickr. Introduced in 1936 over 3,300 Catalina were constructed, making it one of the most widely used flying boats during the second world war. The Catalina saw service in maritime patrol, night bombing, anti-submarine warfare, and search and rescue, with some still in use today as fire fighting water bombers.

The PBY-6A Catalina depicted here was operated by the Royal Dutch Air force, and has been recreated wonderfully by Henrik using a myriad of clever building techniques, with a few stickers enhancing the realism too. There’s more to see of Henrik’s Catalina at his photostream – click the link above to head there and take a look.

Dog Years*

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This is an M8 Greyhound 6×6 Light Armoured Vehicle (or something close to it, as builder Robson M doesn’t specify!), built by Ford in the 1940s for Allied troops during World War 2.

The British, who like naming their military hardware after animals and the weather, gave it the ‘greyhound’ name, as it could sustain 55mph on reasonable roads, which was very quick for the time. And – at least in this one’s case – it was grey.

Much like a real greyhound though, the M8 wasn’t particularly well armoured, especially underneath, and nor was it very good off-road, despite being a 6×6. However it was useful enough that 8,500 were made, and – again like its namesake dog – many found new homes after being retired from their first military owner, with some M8s still in service around the world as late as the 2000s!

This neat Town scale version captures the M8 Greyhound rather well, with Robson using a few custom decals and a custom machine gun mounted on top to add to the model’s realism. There’s more of Robson’s build to see at his photostream – click the link to make a visit to the dog track.


*Today’s lovely title song.

Silver Bird

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We’ve featured many creations here at TLCB that include custom chromed pieces. We don’t mind doing this as a) it’s not really against the spirit of LEGO and b) they usually look awesome. However, it is sometimes nice when a builder uses only LEGO’s own silver parts.

There aren’t many silver LEGO pieces, which makes BigPlanes‘ recently re-photgraphed (and superbly presented) Boeing B-29 Superfortress even more impressive. Custom decals and mini-figure crew complete the build and there’s more to see of this speculator recreation of the historic bomber at BigPlanes’ ‘B-29’ album on Flickr. Click the link above and head to the skies.