Fast-forward five decades and we arrive at the U.S military’s modern equivalent of that Second World War Jeep, the ‘High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle’, or (more catchily) the Humvee.
Like yesterday’s Willys, this brilliant creation is constructed only from the pieces found within the 10317 Land Rover Defender set, and includes working steering, suspension, opening doors, and a few wartime accompaniments, including a hefty machine gun.
Previous bloggee M_longer is the builder, there’s more to see at both Eurobricks and Bricksafe, and building instructions are available too. Switch your 10317 set from rural England to Operation Desert Storm via the links above!
Iraq. It seems to be known more as war than an actual country where people live, work, and study.
But it is a country, and a beautiful one at that, despite the seemingly endless shenanigans it continually endures, whether that’s at the hands of despotic dictators, western invaders, or the cancer within it.
Still, one bastion of Iraqi freedom lies in the north, where the Kurdish Pershmerga resisted Saddam Hussain, were instrumental in the (probably temporary) defeat of of Islamic State, and, for complicated reasons, are sworn enemies of Turkey.
For even more complicated reasons, despite their sacrifice, the Peshmerga have since been largely abandoned by the west, but they have at least been left with some cool hardware with which to defend their territory.
This neat Peshmerga-issue Humvee comes from Evan M of Flickr, who has equipped it with a variety of equipment, chief among which is an enormous TOW missile mounted on the roof, which could probably reduce most things to a smoking crater if required.
Head to Northern Iraq courtesy of Evan’s photostream via the link above. The bits the aren’t smoking craters really are lovely.
Saddam Hussein didn’t have the best record during his leadership. Despite his relative religious tolerance, creating world class healthcare and high quality education systems, and being an advocate for womens’ rights, Saddam still falls within TLCB’s unofficial ‘brutal scumbag dictator’ category.
Gassing his own people, crushing opposition, and numerous human rights abuses make sure the scales tip towards the negative, as does invading a neighbour in a despite over oil and effectively sending 50,000 Iraqi troops to their deaths, knowing full well the world would respond.
And respond it did, with a coalition led by the US of over thirty countries formed to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqi invasion. And it got a really cool name.
Operation Desert Storm restored Kuwaiti independence around seven months after the Iraqi invasion, with the final push into Kuwaiti City by coalition forces depicted here by Nicholas Goodman, in which a US tank and Humvee are cruising through a perfectly generic middle-eastern street.
Custom mini-figures, decals and weaponry add to the realism and there’s more to see of Nicholas’s recreation of Kuwaiti City in February 27th 1991 via both Flickr and the Eurobricks discussion forum.
America, like much of the world, is on lockdown as Coronavirus deaths accelerate. At the time of writing 85 Americans have died from the virus, which is nearly as many as the number of Americans who die every day through firearms (103).
Clearly we’re in uncertain times, and America has responded in the only way it knows how; by buying more guns, with some states are reporting a 180% increase in firearms sales. That’ll show the microscopic biological infection agent who’s boss!
For those that want to go a step further, Robson M (aka Brick Designers) might have the answer, in the form of this mighty military spec Humvee. Outfitted with a variety of weaponry, including a rotating machine gun turret (above) and an, er… whatever the hell that is (below), you can be sure it’ll keep you and your family safe from any virus that dares to challenge our freedom.
Click the link above to see all of the optional weaponry available at Robson’s photostream, and then go any get yourself a gun! Alternatively; wash your hands, check on your elderly neighbours, and avoid going to crowded areas – where there might be Coronavirus, but there will definitely be guns.
The first Gulf War – initiated when moustachioed douchebag Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, defied a UN resolution, and then gassed his own people – saw the US deploy its new ‘High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) in large numbers for the first time, as president George Bush Sr. and other world leaders responded to Iraq’s aggressions.
Twelve years later and George Bush Jr. decided to finish what his dad had started, and – for reasons we’re still not sure of – defied a UN resolution and attempted to overthrow the Hussein government. There was good reason in 1991, but in 2003? Er… 911? Nope. Weapons of mass destruction? Nope…
Whatever the reason behind Bush Jr.’s invasion, overthrow the Hussein government he did, and the Humvee played as pivotal a role in the outcome as it did in the liberation of Kuwait a decade or so earlier.
This superb 10-wide recreation of the iconic military vehicle comes from previous bloggee Manuel Cara, who has recreated the desert-spec Humvee in quite astonishing detail. All doors, the roof hatch and the tailgate open, and if anything what’s underneath is even more detailed than what you can see here.
You can head over to Manuel’s photostream via the link above for the complete gallery of images, and if you’re wondering what’s become of the Humvee another decade-and-a-half on from Iraq Round 2, well the old stalwart is finally due for replacement.
The Humvee is still doing service in Iraq though, as the U.S. left many units behind upon their withdrawal from the country to equip the new non-Saddam-run Iraqi military, and because shipping them back to the U.S would have been really expensive.
However the recent rise of Islamic State – due in no small part to the vacuum left as Saddam Hussein was removed from power – has meant that many Humvees have fallen into the wrong hands. There’s an irony there that would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic.
It’s a bumper crop today at The Lego Car Blog! Previous bloggee de-marco has been very busy of late, building a plethora of 5-wide Town-style vehicles.
Ranging from beautifully constructed classic pick-up trucks above, through a Humvee, an airport luggage tug, and even a Baywatch-esque coastguard vehicle (allowing us to get Pamela Anderson into the tags), de-marco’s small-scale creations are wonderfully life-like replicas of their real-world counterparts.
You can view each of the 5-wide models featured here, plus lots more besides, courtesy of de-marco’s Flickr photostream. We’ll get you started with the Lada Niva pictured at the top of this post, which is our favourite – but then we’re a bit weird like that. Choose your own via the link above!
To Battle! Right after we express deliver these packages.
This chunky lump of yellow is Private Pyle‘s ‘Mine Resistant Ambush Protected’ vehicle (MRAP), just the thing for going to parts of the world that are a bit explode-y. The Lego Car Blog Elves like this, as their quest can take them to some downright hazardous places too at times. Once three of them were trapped inside a broken MOCpages for nearly a week. Talking of which, MOCpages is where you need to head (if it’s working).
Today’s post was suggested by the owner of the MOC in question. We’re not in the habit of fulfilling self-requests, but this story is quite a nice one, and the model featured is well worthy of your time, so we bent the rules a little.
LegoKitteh1138 wrote to us detailing his Technic HumVee. Built and refined over the course of 7 years it shows what you can do with patience and practice, even if you don’t have all the pieces you need at the start or haven’t yet mastered all the techniques required. As is the way with many of the current crop of Technic vehicles, this model features Lego’s excellent Power Functions remote control system for drive and steering, as well as independent suspension, All-Wheel-Drive and working lights. Read the story behind it at LegoKitteh’s blog.
Although LEGO’s ethics policy means no modern conflict sets are produced, there are plenty of peices that can be reappropriated for military use. Mak_s has done a superb job, creating this desert-spec HumVee and LVSR. Titled “Brothers in Arms”, it can be viewed on Flickr.
