ER0L

MOCs: Pimp your Town ride or City vehicles for grown-ups

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Hi all,

it's quite interesting to see how things change over the years, yet there are some aspects that stand the test of time. The wrecker looks like this now:

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Long Nose Trucks - updates 

The container truck is being changed to something matching better into the scale system I'm using, see https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/97314-larger-city-scale-range-of-vehicle-widths/

Anyway, there's a new vehicle fitting in here quite well:

#4: Joe the Plumber's Badass Step Van (70811 MOD)

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Joe the Plumber's Badass Step Van (70811 MOD) 

Like the Ice Cream Van not really a MOD since the 70811 vehicle is completely changed. I can't tell an exact scale here - there had to be a decision between 7w and 8w regarding step vans, maybe it's slightly too wide for a 1/40 scale vehicle, however the height looks okay - seems to be rather difficult to get the exact measurements of a more or less matching prototype.

Main points here were the sbs seating of the figs (which isn't a problem on an 8w vehicle, of course) plus the set down, "pimped" look which required an upside down solution on the wheel wells - the wheels not spinning very well to be honest, but at least sitting nicely where they belong. Both requirements prevented a more elaborate door solution which otherwise would be something to be featured on a step van.

Thanks for looking!

Edited by ER0L

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7 hours ago, J4ck said:

Awesome vehicles ER0L! My favourite is the Plumber’s van.

Thank you, glad you like it! 

As a comparison, both step vans side by side plus the new 8w semi truck: 

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Group Shot

The 8w version is more to scale, however I'll leave the Ice Cream Van as it is, I guess.

Now there's still the Trash Chomper set 70805 though I don't have a proper design idea for that one yet - should be something from the seventies or eighties to match the other vehicles. Regarding Lego Movie 2 vehicles the sets as such are quite nice, however I haven't found something yet for this kind of approach. As a City vehicle, the Pizza Van 60150 is still awaiting a conversion (which has been done by others in the meantime, too). 

Edited by ER0L

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I think the Ice Cream truck works very well as a 7w, especially with that 3 wide grille and the 1x2 brick with hole as the headlamp housing.

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3 hours ago, bootz said:

I think the Ice Cream truck works very well as a 7w, especially with that 3 wide grille and the 1x2 brick with hole as the headlamp housing.

Nice to hear from you bootz, thanks for your estimation, glad you like it!

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#5: Sunshine Surfer Van/Volkswagen T2 "Bay Window" Camper Van (Creator 31079 MOD)

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Sunshine Surfer Van/Volkswagen T2 "Bay Window" Camper Van (Creator 31079 MOD)

6w, 1/35 scale.

Another minifig scale conversion of a Creator set. Since I understand the original 8w vehicle as a reminiscence of a Volkswagen T2 „Bay Window“ Camper Van I tried to emphasize some typical design aspects of this classic, especially the rounded frontend. The end result is of course a compromise between shaping and playabilty. Scale is about 1/35 (instead of about 1/25 on the set vehicle) though admittedly the vehicle is still too tall (which for some reasons would be hard to fix even on a more sophisticated model).
 
However It should be emphasized that this set is really worth a conversion, especially when purchased on a discount: It has lots of useful parts (e.g. you may use one half of the windscreen as a back window, and the back window as a windscreen), a nice interior which can be reused also on a consinderably smaller vehicle. nice accessories and last but not least 2 great figures (which by the way still fit into the cab). 

Even though you need quite a few additional parts there's a huge pile of parts left afterwards that can be reused for other projects.
 
The furniture are taken from the set with the exception of the table - which I assume is not the first time it's done this way.

Thanks for looking! 

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On 5/5/2019 at 1:30 PM, peedeejay said:

Fantastic mod to the camper van!

Thank you, glad you like it!  

 

Edited by ER0L

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On 5/8/2019 at 9:36 PM, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

Wow the big ice cream looks fantastic! :excited:

Yeah, that's why I didn't touch it. That's the idea of the whole thing: Keep what's actually working and change what's necessary to match the builds you already have or the setup you're aiming at. 

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Scale Check: Chevrolet K5 Blazer from set 75810 (design by Misterzumbi)

I'd like to draw your attention to this vehicle since I think it is one of the best stock minifig scale cars of at least the last few years:

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I don't own the set thus I threw together a civilian version with what was at hand to check the scale and to take a further look into some design aspects. There are only a few minor changes, thus it can't be even called a MOD.

The original design of this part of the set stems from Adam Grabowski (= Misterzumbi) which at least for me also explains why it's that good - as a car aficionado the K5 Blazer was the first thing catching my eye when I first saw the "Upside Down" set (in spite of the other eye-catchers the set definitely has). 

There are several aspects to be pointed out - first of all the overall scale which isn't too far from what can be used in a proper Town surrounding (see the scale breakdown above). Another aspect is that typical minifig scale vehicle elements like mudguards or large wedge parts are missing completely which makes the whole thing more individual. Finally, the subtle half-plate offsets at the frontend and hood plus those nice angles at the hardtop give the car some fine lines and make it easily identifiable. 

Compare this to your regular Speed Champions ride ... Anyhow, if you're interested in having a really cool K5 Blazer within your town (and you're not as picky regarding scale as me who thinks a full-size SUV like a Blazer should be a 7 studs wide vehicle) you should build one of these. 

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