Ralph_S Posted January 9, 2011 As some of you may know, LUGNuts -THE group for LEGO car lovers on flickr- has monthly challenges. This month, the challenge is titled Octan Racing. Members are to build a vehicle for a racing team for LEGO's own oil company. You may already have seen J4ke's entry. He and I had similar source of inspiration: the Dakar Rally. I chose to build a truck. By the way, I posted it in the town forum because Racers generally aren't minifig scale and because the cab is based on cabs of LEGO city trucks, with a few twists, obviously. The model is loosely based on a Dutch GINAF Rally truck and the real trucks use the same basic cab as commercial trucks as well, but with a bespoke 4WD chassis. Enough talk already, time for some pictures! Octan Dakar race truck (1) by Mad physicist, on Flickr Octan Dakar race truck (3) by Mad physicist, on Flickr Octan Dakar race truck (2) by Mad physicist, on Flickr Octan Dakar race truck (4) by Mad physicist, on Flickr The stickers come from a variety of different sets, but mainly from the Twin Extreme IR remote control racers set. I have had one of those for a while now, but parted it put straight away and didn't realise until I looked it up right now that one of the models you can build with it is an off-road racing truck as well. Still, mine looks better IMO the stickers are fantastic . My hat is off to the people at LEGO who designed them. The brand names are completely fictional, but I think you will agree that the logos and graphics look as though they could easily be real. On flickr I've been getting a lot of comments on the use of minifig seats for the mudguards. It was my idea to do it on this truck, obviously, but I feel I should point out that the idea of using seats as mudguards isn't mine. I have no idea who did it first, but I've seen it done many times by different people. Cheers, Ralph Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt. Stabbin Posted January 9, 2011 Great job Ralph!!! Your models are always amazing and have great detail! Good luck in the contest! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningtiger Posted January 9, 2011 AWESOME creation 'Ralph_S' and I never thought of using seats as wheel arches before ! Dam, you are good at trucks eh ? Good luck in the contest, oh yeah cool roll bars and mirror mounts too ! Brick On 'Raplh_S' ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Guy Bri Posted January 9, 2011 Awesome rally truck Ralph_S! How did you invert and attach the seats for wheel wells? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ralph_S Posted January 9, 2011 Thanks guys. While I appreciate the sentiment, there's no need to wish me luck. The build challenges are not contests. It's all just for fun. Lightningtiger, I do quite like trucks and that probably helps. The inverted construction that holds on the seats/mudguard uses a few technic plates on the inside of the truck like this one: The half stud offsets are done using jumper plates on the front mudguard and 1x1 plates stuck into the bottom of the seats at the rear. Cheers, Ralph Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
XimenaPaulina Posted January 10, 2011 Excellent Octan Truck Ralph_S! I agree that is a very clever way of using those chair pieces for the wheel arches. The color scheme is spot-on, and the protective bars in front are well done details too. Great job as always! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rick Posted January 10, 2011 Great truck Ralph. I really like the cab design with the protective bars. But I especially like the 4WD chassis with the bigger 'inverted chair' fenders. Excellent work! I've been thinking of using 2 x 2 flags for fenders on 4WD trucks, but this looks so much better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ralph_S Posted January 10, 2011 Excellent Octan Truck Ralph_S! I agree that is a very clever way of using those chair pieces for the wheel arches. The color scheme is spot-on, and the protective bars in front are well done details too. Great job as always! Thank you. The protective cage was the first part I designed. I did want the cab to look like a cab on a regular truck, but also not too much! I needed something to make it more interesting and make it look like a racer and most of the real trucks have something something similar. I don't remember ever using minifig chairs for this purpose before I built this truck, but they do seem to work rather well on this. Thanks. Great truck Ralph. I really like the cab design with the protective bars. But I especially like the 4WD chassis with the bigger 'inverted chair' fenders. Excellent work! I've been thinking of using 2 x 2 flags for fenders on 4WD trucks, but this looks so much better. Thank you. I guess it depends on the type of mudguards you;re trying to model. I've used flags for the rear mudguards or mudflaps on trucks before. Cheers, Ralph Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AussieJimbo Posted January 11, 2011 This is a great truck. Really captures the Dakar look very well. :classic: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Solscud007 Posted January 11, 2011 Damn, that is nice. I love Dakar Rally. Although I have only watched Race to Dakar with Charlie Boorman. I have the playmobil Dakar Rally truck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_spock Posted January 11, 2011 Very nice truck. Great job. I have seen the seats used as mudguards before. I can not remember who did it first. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buddy Posted January 11, 2011 Outstanding MOC! Some of the techniques used are very clever and make the model look even more realistic. Extremely well done. ~buddy~ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ralph_S Posted January 11, 2011 Thanks guys. I am glad you like it. This was actually a pretty quick build by my standards. I often spend weeks planning and thinking about the things I build. From start to finish, this truck only took a few days. I considered a few different ideas for the build challenge including a Baja race car, but settled on a Dakar truck after seeing a programme on it on TV. I always try to figure out how to build certain parts that I reckon will be difficult before I start building -the cage and mudguards in this case- and I ran into very few problems once I finally started putting bricks together. It was done in a few hours. By the way, I wasn't aware that Playmobil have a Dakar truck -I always go straight to the LEGO section Cheers, Ralph Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ACCURATEin Posted January 12, 2011 Very nice design. I love the use of the red seats. Those are a PaB element. When I was 13 I built a 4 wide octan pickup truck, with a trailer and a speed boat. I should find the photo and post it online. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
