This International Harvester Metro van is America’s equivalent of the UK’s ‘milk float‘, except not as slow. Because nothing is as slow as milk float. Regular Bloggee 1saac W. is its creator, and an absolutely wonderful job he’s done too, with some of the finest shaping and lettering we’ve seen this year. Grab yourself a bottle of the white stuff at the link above.
In April of 1992 a young man by the name Christopher McCandless set out across Alaska on foot. With minimal supplies, a rifle, and a new alter ego (Alex Supertramp), McCandless left civilisation behind to live simply off the land in Alaska’s remote wilderness.
After hiking along the snow-covered ‘Stampede Trail’, McCandless discovered the old Fairbanks Bus 142, a 1946 International Harvester K-5 that was one of several that had been outfitted as shelters for a construction crew repairing the trail in the early 1960s.
When the mine that used the trail closed in the 1970s the buses were removed, all apart from Bus 142 which – thanks to a broken axle – was left behind in the wilderness. Already fitted with beds and a wood burning stove, it became McCandless’s new home.
McCandless attempted to leave the area in which the bus was abandoned several times, but the thick Alaskan undergrowth and swollen rivers made progress impossible, and so he returned, trapped in the shelter.
After 113 days, and weighing just 30kg, McCandless died of starvation and poisoning from wild potato seeds, his final diary entry on day 107 simply reading “Beautiful Blue Berries”. Days 108 to 112 contained only unintelligible slashes, whilst day 113 contained nothing at all.
Two weeks later a group of hunters entered Bus 142 looking for shelter, and discovered McCandless’ decomposing body inside a sleeping bag.
McCandless’ tragic story has since become a book and a movie, and the bus – deteriorating more each year – is now an attraction for Alaskan tourists. This beautiful recreation of the International Harvester that became Chris McCandless’ tomb comes from TLCB favourite and Master MOCer Andrea Lattanzio (aka Norton74), of which there is more to see at his ‘Into the Wild’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to take a trip to the wilderness around Fairbanks Bus 142. Just don’t eat the wild potato seeds.
This is an International Workstar 7500 Series, and like this week’s earlier 007 set reveal, it includes some rather interesting modifications…
Despite looking like something your Mom might use, the items mounted on the rear of the truck actually belong to the Centre for Severe Weather Research (CSWR) based in Boulder, Colorado. This truck is a storm chaser.
Known as ‘Dopplers on Wheels’ these trucks are some of the very few vehicles that can get inside storm cell at ground level, all whilst carrying X-band radar and an on-board mobile weather station. The doppler radar enables meteorologists to read internal storm wind-speeds, track storm movement, measure rotation (to identify tornado risk), and conduct other nerdy weather-related stuff.
This excellent recreation of one of CSWR’s storm chasing trucks comes from sponki25 of Flickr, who has included a brick-built radar unit, extendable stabilisers, mobile weather station, and what looks like a TV aerial on a long stick. There’s much more to see at both Flickr and MOCpages – click the links to chase the storm.
The other Lego blogs may have beaten us to this creation, but we’ve got the best title! This International Harvester ice cream truck (see – we’re geniuses!) comes from TLCB favourite, previous Master MOCer, and all-round Lego-building legend Firas Abu-Jaber. Featuring a fully accessible and highly detailed interior, Firas’ Harvester is as cool on the inside as it is on the outside. Give it a lick at the link above.
The Lino Martins‘ bakery knows how to deliver in style. This is a 1940s International Harvester Metro van… with one or two subtle modifications. Pick up a loaf at Lino’s photostream via the link above.
This beautifully built International Harvester roll-back wrecker, complete with ’70s Buick, comes from TLCB regular Ralph Savelsberg aka Mad Physicist. There’s more to see at Ralph’s photostream, plus you can read his interview as one of the eleven builders in TLCB’s Master MOCers series by clicking here.
