ThePlasticWerks Posted January 16, 2014 (edited) Hello! This is my first ever post here. I have recently started getting back into Lego - my childhood pile was donated a few years ago (but for a few vintage printed pieces and chewed-up 1x4 plates that I saved). This project mostly came about because I wanted to build a Lego version of my beloved truck, a 2010 Nissan Xterra, which I have heavily modified: I have done all of the modifications myself, including fabricating many of my own parts (I'm a welder). We'll come back to this in a moment :) For those of you not in the western hemisphere or a market where the Xterra is sold, the Nissan Xterra is a 4x4 SUV based on the Nissan Frontier/Navara platform, designed and primarily built in the US. My first attempt at a Lego Xterra was a modification of 4433 Dirt Bike Transporter; you can see the results of it on MOCPages here. I decided to make it a police truck, mostly because I wanted an excuse to buy some BrickArms weapons. The first major revision of this model saw bigger tires with working suspension, along with a lot of fine-tuning in the bodywork: See more here. I was pretty happy with this one, and then decided to order parts to build a model of the actual truck I own. This version features representations of the stock bumper and tires I had at the time, as well as the rear hatch ladder. Its latest revision has a better roof fairing, as well as the mud-terrain tires, custom-painted rims (and yes, I committed the cardinal sin of painting Lego to match), and tire carrier: See more here. I could help but build one more, this time inspired by the City Elite Police: See more here. And I pretty much left that there for most of the year. I bought a few sets in between to help flesh out my off-road vehicle collection, but I had an itch to do something unique. I thought about making a version of the Mercedes Ener-G-Force concept, then about a civilian SUV version of the SHIELD truck from 6867. I pursued the latter option and it evolved into a concept Xterra that I call the X3 "Super Xterra": See more here. This MOC has all the bells and whistles I could think to put on an off-road SUV - live axles front and rear with differential detail (both articulate as you can see), hidden winch inside the front bumper, which also has a prerunner stinger bar, built-in lighting all around, intake snorkel. Here it is compared to the previous version (latest revision): And that's a custom decal for my face. I'm sure I'll be pushing them as I discover better elements (or Lego comes up with better ones - I need a windscreen with much more rake!). I have a few other MOCs, of course, which will be showing up in due time, but I thought I'd kick off my membership with a doozy. Edited January 16, 2014 by ThePlasticWerks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sin Posted January 16, 2014 Very cool! I was wondering about the black rims until I got far enough into your post to see how that happened Your suspension looks really nice, a lot of travel in the front axle! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Guy Bri Posted January 16, 2014 Nice job recreating your truck. I sort of did the same for my 92' Isuzu Trooper (RIP), more of a mod to 7635. I think you could probably lengthen it a couple studs, though. The wheelbase looks a bit short. How did you build the suspension? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThePlasticWerks Posted February 16, 2014 Oops, forgot all about this thread. Suspension is dead simple. Clip on a jumper: Which goes to a 2x2 axle plate. Play your cards right, you get a ton of travel. It's not super secure (the cheese wedges keep the axle straight inside a groove; this is not the case with the X3) but it works. Sorry for the blurry pics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Train 12 Volts Posted February 16, 2014 Very nice work, also on the real model! ;-) I like the details ...the piece I like the most is the inverted dish used to simulate the differential! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BimmerBoy Posted February 16, 2014 Cool, nice to see off-road suspension articulation in a small model. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreadnaught2005 Posted March 5, 2014 got any dowloads of it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThePlasticWerks Posted March 30, 2015 (edited) Check out Version 3.0! Here's a rundown of the updates, compared to the Elite Police which is still a 2.0. Wheelbase lengthened by one stud, "belly" filled in to accomodate - note the reduced rear overhang. Major redesigns to fender flares, rear reconfigured and roof rails lowered. Roof fairing is held on by an illegal connection (green sticker). Minor details overhauled. Incorporation of Mixel joint steering (see: http://www.eurobrick...howtopic=104589). Rear axle articulation retained. New coilover detail. Trying to incorporate an articulated design. New drop-down tire carrier (the Real Thing has a horizontal swing arm). Also note that rear hatch articulation has been sacrificed for build stability. Hi-lift jack It's always had the ladder, but I've never shown a minifig using it... Ready for offroad action. New bag/fuel can accessories by Si-Dan Toys. Edited March 30, 2015 by ThePlasticWerks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bradleybrand Posted April 8, 2015 I would love to see that being released into a proper Lego set, looks really good! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ecmo47 Posted April 9, 2015 Oh, that's a jack on top! I thought the latest upgrade was a mounted M240G Medium machine gun! Great detail on such a small scale. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jfbat Posted April 9, 2015 Love the new lightbar on that policecar... nice use of those popsicles! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Andy Posted April 10, 2015 Amazing off roaders!I like mainly the bigger one, but both of them are pretty cool. The stickers and the suspension are great. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
