Sign in to follow this  
Ralph_S

MOC: US wrecker truck

Recommended Posts

indexed.gif V-LC-09E

Several years ago I bought 'The ultimate LEGO book', a book full of pictures of the wonderful models built by professional model builders for LEGOLand parks, including some fantastic cars. They have had a large influence on my own building style. Probably my favourite model in the book is a 1/20 scale model of a US wrecker truck. I've built a few large scale models of similar trucks, but in the last few days I've been having some fun building a minifig scale model of the truck in the book:

3255453574_017efdedaa.jpg

3254622837_dc4bf60c41.jpg

Cheers,

Ralph

Edited by Phred

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oh my! I didn't think it was possible to make a wrecker that good in that scale! :wub: Does the mini-fig go inside?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Perfect work :thumbup:

I really love this, it looks so amazing. A bit like the older sets from 1960-1980.

So really great work and thanks for sharing :sweet:

'Bricks'

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great job. It reminds me of one of the old "Model Team" trucks from back in the day. I really like the amount of detail you achieved with relatively straitforward building techniques and the feeling of "largenes" you managed to capture in a relatively slim 6 wide vehicle. It's a great size comprimies that would look great pulling 4, 5, or 6 wide vehicles.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great moc! Looks just like the real thing. Great detail!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for your comments guys. I'm glad you like it. It was a fun build.

Oh my! I didn't think it was possible to make a wrecker that good in that scale! :wub: Does the mini-fig go inside?

That is more-or-less what I aim for. I think LEGO has done a great job with its trucks (the garbage truck and the cement truck, for instance) in the city line. I really like them, but they are models that are designed such that they can be built by and played with by children. As an AFOL I'm not restrained by those criteria and can take the detail and the construction just a bit further. The minifig can indeed sit in the cab.

Fantastic wrecker truck and a wonderful SUV.

The SUV is something I built a few months ago as part of a series of cars that I built to go with a car transporter. I just needed something to hang behind the wrecker with a bit of ground clearance, but I am glad you like that too.

Perfect work :thumbup:

I really love this, it looks so amazing. A bit like the older sets from 1960-1980.

So really great work and thanks for sharing :sweet:

'Bricks'

LEGO did have some pretty nifty 6-wide vehicles in the 'sixties. I haven't looked at any of them when building this, but I was constantly reminded of the Model Team highway rig from 1986 when building this.

Great job. It reminds me of one of the old "Model Team" trucks from back in the day. I really like the amount of detail you achieved with relatively straitforward building techniques and the feeling of "largenes" you managed to capture in a relatively slim 6 wide vehicle. It's a great size comprimies that would look great pulling 4, 5, or 6 wide vehicles.

It is actually 7 studs wide and I think that gives just enough room to do a few things I couldn't have done otherwise. Part of what gives is the look of largeness, I suppose, is that there are quite a few sections with different width. The radiator is four studs wide, the cab five, the sleeping cab six and the wrecker body and the front mudguards seven. This gives it some volume. I'm not really known for being on the cutting edge of building techniques, but I sure love half-stud offsets and there's also a bit more SNOT-work in there than might be obvious at a first glance.

Cheers,

Ralph

Edited by Ralph_S

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Beautiful! Nice wrecker truck! Looks like the Technic one made in 2007 with pnuematics function! Nice size and great details! Thanks for sharing! :thumbup:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I'm not really known for being on the cutting edge of building techniques, but I sure love half-stud offsets and there's also a bit more SNOT-work in there than might be obvious at a first glance.

That just proves you don't need to be cutting edge with techniques, to get something to look awesome. I really like this, and how you captured its shape so well.

Fantastic piece of work. :thumbup:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
That just proves you don't need to be cutting edge with techniques, to get something to look awesome. I really like this, and how you captured its shape so well.

Fantastic piece of work. :thumbup:

Thanks :blush:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

very nice truck.

great color scheme.

the size is very big, but it really fits the minifig size.

great work. :thumbup:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
very nice truck.

great color scheme.

the size is very big, but it really fits the minifig size.

great work. :thumbup:

Thanks. I actually build my vehicles on a fairly small scale. it is roughly 1/45. Which just goes to show quit how ridiculously big the real trucks are. It would seem that a lot of people build on a larger scale to enable two figures to sit inside the cabs of their vehicles side-by-side.

Cheers,

Ralph

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I really love your stuff, Ralph. Your talent is amazing. Thanks so much for sharing all of your creations with us. This is such a beautiful truck and it's built on a great minifig scale. It fits in well with a minifig-scale town without having to be too wide or appear out of scale with other cars or buildings like, for example, the Coast Guard trucks. The one thing I would change if I were to ... borrow ... this design would be the windshield. I'm curious as why you chose to brick-build it instead of using a six wide windshield. Would you consider adding doors? Aside from that, this is just an amazing work. I really love the way you achieved the gas tank and the storage compartments. At least I think they're storage compartments. :blush: My knowledge of trucks is limited. Great work and thanks again for sharing it with us here at EB. :sweet:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I really love your stuff, Ralph. Your talent is amazing. Thanks so much for sharing all of your creations with us. This is such a beautiful truck and it's built on a great minifig scale. It fits in well with a minifig-scale town without having to be too wide or appear out of scale with other cars or buildings like, for example, the Coast Guard trucks. The one thing I would change if I were to ... borrow ... this design would be the windshield. I'm curious as why you chose to brick-build it instead of using a six wide windshield. Would you consider adding doors? Aside from that, this is just an amazing work. I really love the way you achieved the gas tank and the storage compartments. At least I think they're storage compartments. :blush: My knowledge of trucks is limited. Great work and thanks again for sharing it with us here at EB. :sweet:

I am glad you like it. The reason for the windshield is very simple. The cab is five studs wide, so there's really no single existing one-piece part that will fit. I agree it isn't the highpoint of the model. I could probably put doors in the cab, albeit not with the red and blue stripe running down the truck's side and since I was building a minifig scale version of a larger scale truck in LEGOLand, I felt I shouldn't change the colour scheme. You are right, the doors in the wrecker bed are storage compartments.

I've found a picture of the larger model in LEGOLand on brickshelf.

Cheers,

Ralph

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I am glad you like it. The reason for the windshield is very simple. The cab is five studs wide, so there's really no single existing one-piece part that will fit. I agree it isn't the highpoint of the model. I could probably put doors in the cab, albeit not with the red and blue stripe running down the truck's side and since I was building a minifig scale version of a larger scale truck in LEGOLand, I felt I shouldn't change the colour scheme. You are right, the doors in the wrecker bed are storage compartments.

I've found a picture of the larger model in LEGOLand on brickshelf.

Cheers,

Ralph

I actually really love it! I knew which truck it was because I have that book and looked it up when you posted. I see why you did what you did with the windshield and doors. Makes perfect sense. I just have an obsession with fitting a mini-fig into everything. Would you ever consider dabbling in custom stickers to solve things like the pattern on the doors here?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Very god work with that tow truck :thumbup:

I went looking to your other cars in your gallery and you have some awsome MOCs there too.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I actually really love it! I knew which truck it was because I have that book and looked it up when you posted. I see why you did what you did with the windshield and doors. Makes perfect sense. I just have an obsession with fitting a mini-fig into everything. Would you ever consider dabbling in custom stickers to solve things like the pattern on the doors here?

Well, in that case I'm glad you really love it. I actually have used quite a few custom stickers on my military MOCs and my larger scale cars, but for the minifig scale things I've been going completely purist. I can put a minifig in the cab by removing the roof and that really is enough for me.

Very god work with that tow truck :thumbup:

I went looking to your other cars in your gallery and you have some awsome MOCs there too.

I've been building quite a lot in the last few years, so you will find quite a few cars in there. This minifig scale stuff is all fairly recent. I'd more or less given up on minifigs until little more than a year ago, when Brickish organised a competition that involved building a cafe-corner compatible building. I had great fun doing that and I immediately built two cars to go with it. I think it's fair to say that it snowballed since then.

Cheers,

Ralph

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is really great!!

It does indeed look, like some others said, big, but that´s just cool, and that ´bigness´feeling is hard to capture in a minifig-scaled model. Here, however, you´ve done it great. :thumbup:

:wub: this!

(A little off-topic; have you posted the in-build pics of your dark red car on BS or FlickR yet? :blush: )

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
This is really great!!

It does indeed look, like some others said, big, but that´s just cool, and that ´bigness´feeling is hard to capture in a minifig-scaled model. Here, however, you´ve done it great. :thumbup:

:wub: this!

(A little off-topic; have you posted the in-build pics of your dark red car on BS or FlickR yet? :blush: )

It is a big truck, so if you guys think it looks big, I'm happy :)

I've completely forgotten to make pictures of the dark red car. Sorry. I'll let you know when I've done it.

Cheers,

Ralph

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
It is a big truck, so if you guys think it looks big, I'm happy :)

I've completely forgotten to make pictures of the dark red car. Sorry. I'll let you know when I've done it.

Cheers,

Ralph

Ok, thanks. :classic:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.