Loaded like a freight train
Flyin’ like an aeroplane
Feelin’ like a space brain
One more time tonight
No, we don’t know what Axl Rose was singing about either, but seeing as we also don’t know about sci-fi it seemed like a good fit.
There’s more to see of Oscar Cederwall’s fabulous floating freight train at his Flickr photostream, and you can listen to Guns N’ Roses singing about, er… something possibly train-related by clicking here.
Making something static appear to be in motion is a tricky thing. Of course photo editing means almost anything is possibly digitally, but adding movement purely in brick-form is something we rarely see.
Today though, two builders have absolutely nailed it, by deploying some ingenious techniques to give their creations the appearance of speed.
Taken from the Japanese Manga ‘Dominion’, David Collins‘ ‘Bonaparte’ police tank has arrived on the scene in violent sideways fashion, kicking up a shower of broken asphalt and smoke as it does so. It’s a killer technique and one that would work brilliantly for rally cars, drift cars, and off-road motorbikes, and you can see more of how David has done it via the link.
Today’s second build manages to convey both ponderous movement and agile flight, as MadLEGOman recreates the iconic ‘Battle of Hoth’ scene from ‘The Empire Strikes Back’. An AT-AT is striding through the snow towards the Rebel Alliance base from which this A-Wing has departed, with cable in tow in hope of tripping the attacker.
Mad has cunningly used the cable to both support the A-Wing in-flight and depict the path it’s taken, to brilliant effect. Click the link above to jump to Hoth for more movement illusion.
The Camel Trophy was a worldwide exploration challenge that visited the world’s most inhospitable places, running 20 years from 1980 to 2000. Named after the cigarette-making sponsor company (because nothing says outdoor adventure like lung cancer) the challenge used Land Rover vehicles throughout its 20 year history, which were all painted Camel’s iconic sand yellow colour. Following the demise of the Trophy in 2000 Land Rover restarted the event under its own sponsorship, renaming it the Land Rover G4 challenge and switching the famous cigarette-yellow paintwork for bright orange.
Sadly the global economic crisis in 2008/9 put an end to the G4, but you can still sometimes see ex-Camel and ex-G4 Land Rovers on the roads as they were sold after the completing the event. One careful owner, never used off-road…
