Speed Racer Mach 5 MODs

[Brainbox]

I went to see Speed Racer the other week, then succumbed on the way home and bought Speed Racer/Snake Oiler and Racer X/Taejo Togokhan. They were on offer as well, so even better.

Anyway, I built the sets when I got home and decided (as I always seem to) that they needed MODing. Snake Oiler and Taejo's cars will probably be scavenged at some point, but the Mach 5 and the Shooting Star were to be MODed to be more movie-accurate. The Shooting Star is in development at the moment, but I finished the Mach 5 the other day, and I have to say, I rather like it. While not absolutely perfect (case in point: the car doors), I think it looks pretty cool, much better than the official, which was by no means bad.

This picture is somewhat reminiscent of one on posters for the film:

While this one's just plain cool:

I kept the basic structure of the official version, but raised everything to look better when Speed is behind the wheel. I also smoothed out the front, the back and the sides (so essentially all of the car).

The front is also more accurate to the film car.

Can you see that I missed a little on the two outer stickers?

The inside was also MODed a bit. I raised the steering wheel, changed the seats and added a gearstick. The seat bottoms should really be red, but then Speed would be too high up.

The headrest might be a little too long, but it looks better this length than one stud shorter in my opinion.

Even the underside got a bit of MODing. I had to pause a trailer on Youtube to get a good look at the underside.

The '5' on the doors is a little small, but that's TLC not me. The doors should also curve inwards at the bottom to make a sort of runner along the side of the car, but I couldn't think of a good way to do this so ignored it.

Of course, the Mach 5 also has some gadgets. I couldn't manage to do the bulletproof canopy, the homing bird, the hubcap shields, the tyre crampons or the self-inflating tyres, but I did include the jumpjacks and the sawblades.

Okay, not brilliant, but at least they're there. The sawblades fare better, and I quite like these. Notice the probably-illegal building technique designed to the blade arm from swinging about wildly.

See the open stud tucked away there? Guess what goes there...

Yep.

Note also how the windscreen is at the right height for Speed in the driving seat:

Anyway, hope you liked. Now I have to work on getting the Shooting Star MODed.

Gallery (when public).

[Adam]

Nice MODs! I like how you added the jump and cutter abilities for the Mach 5 like from the TV show. Good job, the Mach 5 looks better like this!

[Brainbox]

Cheers Adam. I was going for the look from the movie, but I guess the Mach 5 from there does look pretty similar to the TV Series Mach 5. Glad you liked it.

[adik_sa_lego]

nice MODs. how many extra pieces were involved? (aside from the perfect saw blades and cool jump jacks)

[Wilhelm screamer]

My reaction (in chronological order):

[Cyclone Titan]

Wow! That is definatly more movie accurate! I like how you actually added gadgets. And you made the car look way better. :thumbup:

[Batbrick]

Great job BB1. Love them mods, looks really movie accurate (from what I've seen) and I love your weapons. Great job on the interior too, love the seats, and nice addition of the "5" on the "doors"

It looks much better now, more solid than the rather empty set, and I can see you've put some thought into it. The weapons are nice too, especially the saws of cource.

Looking forward to the next one!

Batbrick Away!

[The Penguin]

Great work there, Brainbox! )

Though I still consider Speed Racer's cars to be a bit crap-like, your mods really make them look far better! )

Nice work! )

Good day, gentlemen! )

Edited June 26, 2008 by The Penguin

[Brainbox]

Thanks everyone. Glad you liked it.

  adik_sa_lego said:

how many extra pieces were involved? (aside from the perfect saw blades and cool jump jacks)

Um... I don't know. After a quick count, the MOD has 171 pieces. Bear in mind it was a quick count, and I'm likely to have miscounted somewhere. So, that's 171 pieces, plus 4 for Speed himself, and 22 on the gadgets (197 maths boffins). A quick scan through the instructions reveals a piece count of 112 (plus 4 on Speed, making 116).

Therefore, not counting Speed and the gadgets, the extra pieces total 171-112=59

  Wilhelm screamer said:

My reaction (in chronological order):

  Cyclone Titan said:

That is definatly more movie accurate!

Oh you don't know how long I spent trawling the internet for good reference pics.

  Batbrick said:

looks really movie accurate (from what I've seen)

Have you not seen the film then?

  Batbrick said:

Great job on the interior too, love the seats, and nice addition of the "5" on the "doors"

Even if the seats do have no actual bottom.

And like I said, the '5' is a little small, but that's TLCs sticker for you. For some reason, the didn't want a STAMP here, but were quite happy to give us one on Racer X's Shooting Star.

  Batbrick said:

Looking forward to the next one!

So am I!

  The Penguin said:

Though I still consider Speed Racer's cars to be a bit crap-like

What? I love the cars, they're fantastic. So sleek and cool, and effortlessly stylish.