Tag Archives: british

This is the Self Preservation Society

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It’s 1969, career criminal Charlie Croker is out of prison, and he’s just learned that his friend has been murdered by the mafia whilst planning a $4 million gold heist. Charlie decides to continue the job left by his departed fellow thief, breaking back into prison to enlist the help of crime lord Mr. Bridger before heading to Italy with a convoy of fast cars, a converted coach, a minibus, a Land Rover, and three Mini Coopers.

What follows is the greatest movie car chase of them all, with the definitive cliff-hanger ending, and the vehicles from which Flickr’s FifthPixel has recreated brilliantly in brick!

His adapted Bedford VAL Harrington Legionnaire coach, Land Rover Series 2A Safari, and – the target of the whole operation – OM Furganato Sicurezza Bullion van beautifully encapsulate the period motors from the movie, plus he’s constructed the Ford Thames 400E minibus, Alfa Romeo Guilia police cars, and construction machinery used by the mafia to dispatch their foes too.

You can find FifthPixel’s entire ‘The Italian Job’ vehicular cast at their photostream; take a look via the link above plus you can click here for a few snippets from the film’s wonderful chase sequence.

A Virtual Triumph

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The Triumph 2000-series was, like so many British cars of the time, fantastic. Beautifully styled by Michelotti, powered by a range of smooth 6-cylinder engines, and with over 400,000 built in five countries, it was one of the finest mid-sized saloons of its era.

Which of course meant that British Leyland would go on screw it – and all of Triumph – up, as exemplified by the fact that its predecessor was a Standard and its successor a Rover. And if that makes no sense… you’re right, it doesn’t.

But let’s not get bogged down in the collapse of the British automotive industry, because back in the late-’60s and early-’70s it was still riding high, with the Triumph 2000-series a big part of that success.

This one is a 2500S estate, as superbly recreated in digital form by Lego Professional Peter Blackert (aka lego911). Alongside the excellent exterior the doors, tailgate and hood all open and there’s a detailed engine and interior too, with more to see of Peter’s virtual Triumph at his photostream. Take a look via the link whilst we fantasise about buying the real thing…

Schneider Trophy

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Just a decade on from the aeroplane’s invention and there were already international races occurring. One of the most famous was the Schneider Trophy, in which teams from across Europe sent their finest flying inventions to race a course to glory.

Racing ceased in 1914 due to an international disagreement, but returned again in 1919, when said dispute had been mostly-kinda-not-really-resolved. The aforementioned wrangle had continued to dramatically further the development of the aeroplane though, so that was nice.

Cue these two superb brick-built entrants into the Schneider Trophy, as constructed by TLCB debutant Hod Carrier of Flickr. Above is the Sopwith Tabloid, Britain’s valiant entry into the 1913 Monaco event, whilst below is the remarkable Italian Savoia S-21 floatplane, which went on to be flown by a cartoon pig for some reason.

Each recreates its real-world counterpart beautifully in miniature, and there’s more to see of both aircraft, plus other Schneider Trophy entrants in both digital and real-brick forms, at Hod Carrier’s album of the same name. Click here to race through the skies above a European sea over a century ago!

Speed in the ’50s

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The fastest cars in the world weren’t always million-pound Bugattis, Koenigseggs or Hennesseys. They used to be Jaguars.

Launched in 1954, the XK140 was an evolution of the equally gorgeous XK120, a car that held the production car top speed record for six years, even though it only cost relatively normal sports car money.

This beautiful replica of Jaguar’s fabulous mid-’50s sports car has been created by the hands of the legendary Firas Abu-Jaber, who has captured its graceful shape brilliantly in brick.

Ingenious building techniques, working steering, a life-like interior, and the finest presentation in the Lego Community make Firas’ Jaguar a jaw-dropping build, and there are more stunning images to see on Flickr.

Click these words to visit Firas’ ‘Jaguar XK140’ album for the complete gallery, plus you can find out about the man behind the model via his Master MOCers interview by clicking here.

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.

I Want a Painted Mac*

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The McLaren F1, once the fastest production car in the world, a Le Mans 24 Hours winner, and – if you are very rich indeed – a default choice for the car collection.

3D supercarBricks, whose Le Mans winning McLaren appeared here earlier in the year, has now turned his very talented hands to the road car, building this stunning maroon Model Team version as a commissioned piece.

The spectacular detail is achieved via some ingenious building techniques, plus 3D-printed wheels and maroon spray-paint, which aren’t strictly purist, but we suspect the owner of the real McLaren F1 (and member of the Bin Laden family) is probably used to things being rather more tailored than us peasants.

There’s more of the model to see at 3D’s ‘McLaren F1’ album, and you can make the jump to an air-conditioned garage somewhere in Saudi Arabia via the link in the text above.

*Today’s (butchered) title song.

Seventy Years of Service

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HM Queen Elizabeth II

1926 to 2022

Limey

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We’re not really sure why the British are named after fruits. Australians call them ‘Poms’ (short for pomegranate) whilst in the U.S. they’re ‘Limy’. Whatever the reason (probably something to do with boats and avoiding scurvy), it’s a good fit for today’s post, which is both British and very lime indeed.

These two searingly-coloured creations are Aston Martin Vantage AMR GTE racers, which competed in the GTE Pro category at Le Mans 2018, and made a rather wonderful noise to boot.

Previous bloggee Lasse Deluran has recreated the #95 and #97 cars beautifully in Minland scale, replicating their very lime liveries superbly too.

There’s more to see of Lasse’s Aston Martin Vantage AMR racers at both Flickr and the Eurobricks forum, where you can also find a link to building instructions should you wish to recreate these for yourself. You may need to buy some lime coloured bricks though…

Heyday

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TVR and MOCpages have much in common. Unreliable yet much loved, they both enjoyed a glorious peak and then slipped into obscurity.

But there is hope.

TVR has a new owner and a new car on the way designed by McLaren F1 legend Gordon Murray, whilst MOCpages can, if the moon is in the right place and the servers are working, still reveal an absolute gem. This is one, created by a builder prolific during the site’s heyday, and it’s a car from TVR’s glorious mid-90’s heyday too.

Nick Barrett built this lovely TVR Griffith as a commission for an owner of the real thing, and he’s captured the British sports car superbly. You can head to MOCpages (if the site is working*) for all the photos, plus you can read Nick’s interview here at TLCB as he now builds Lego models for a job. And it all started on MOCpages.

*Or here if it’s not. Just like a TVR owner, it’s best to have a back-up.

Broadside

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Blam blam blam blam! You don’t frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur-king, you and all your silly English knnnniggets!* Blam blam blam blam!

This French vs. British battle might not contain a car, but it’s about as good a scene as you’ll even find in Lego. Wesley of Flickr is the man behind it and there’s more to see at his photostream via the link above.

*If you have no idea what we’re on about…

Model Team Marcos

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Lego Marcos 1600GT

It’s getting tight at the top of TLCB Summer Building Competition! This 1960s Marcos 1600GT has arrived from previous bloggee and Featured TFOL Harry Gravett, and it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Marcos were founded in 1959 by Frank Costin and Gem Marsh (MARsh and COStin), and manufactured kit, racing and production cars primarily for the UK market.

Frank Costin was an aircraft engineer who worked on the wooden framed De Havilland Mosquito bomber. Following the war his brother, Mike Costin (who later founded Cosworth), started work at Lotus, and he asked Frank to join the team to bring his aerodynamic talents. Frank used his engineering skill to design cars for Lotus, Maserati and Lister, before deciding to create his own lightweight wooden chassis, setting up Marcos with his business partner Gem Marsh.

Lego Marcos 1600GT

Like rivals TVR, Marcos sourced parts from volume manufacturers such as Ford and Triumph, and fitted these to their own glass-fibre bodywork. As is always the way with small British sports car builders, they faced several financial problems during their history, finally ceasing to produce in 2007.

Marcos’ glory days came in the late 1990s when their hugely powerful sports cars were raced all over the world. Still loosely based on the original 1960s design, the cars had swelled and distorted almost beyond recognition, and were perhaps some of the more aesthetically challenged sports cars on the market.

Not Harry’s though – his 1600GT is true to the original (well, apart from the third brake light at the rear), being simple, pretty and light. Which are not any of the characteristics TLCB Elves look for in a vehicle. Luckily Harry’s got that covered and has built a striped, be-winged and huge engined version just for them. He even put a box of ‘Smarties’ in the back, which the Elves immediately ate and are now regretting.*

Lego Marcos GT Racing

You can see more of Harry’s beautiful Model Team Marcos on both MOCpages and Flickr, and you can enter your own model into TLCB Summer Building Competition by clicking here.

* ‘Shitting bricks’ has never been so literal.

TLCB Summer Building Competition

When Time Stood Still

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Lego Morris Minor Van

Remember a time when it took months of waiting to get a telephone connected? Henrik Jensen does. He’s made this splendid Morris Minor British Telecom van to remind us. Enjoy it on MOCpages.