Vehicles
I like building vehicles too! Who doesn't love a good car or truck or tracked crane!
Peterbilt 379
July 2018
Inspiration: In 2013 I built a yellow and white Semi Truck. I was still proud of the design up until 2017, when I decided to take it apart because I needed parts from it. Around that same time, I wanted to create a detailed scale model of Optimus Prime's Truck mode, a Peterbilt 379. I had printed out a blueprint for that, and had filed it away under "to to build sometime" folder. Well, I felt inspired by the 4x4 macaroni bricks and tiles to build the wheel arches in a way I had never seen before. While I was originally going to build it in Optimus Prime's colors, (which I did later render) I ended up reusing the yellow and white color scheme from my previous Semi Truck.
Features: The steering works with a hand of god steering wheel which can be added to the top of the sleeper section. The interior of the front cab section is fully detailed.
Size: 1:33.3 Scale, the model is 34 studs long, (10.5 inches, 27 cm) 14 bricks tall, (5.5 inches, 14 cm) and 10 studs wide (3 inches, 8 cm).
The graffiti version was a first draft of that model before I had decided on a color scheme. I like how it looks though and thought it deserved to be on here as well!
Flickr | Instagram 1 | Instagram 2 | Rebrickable | Flickr (WIP)
Pickup Truck With Welder
January 2022
I built this on commission with the request of building a pickup truck with a welder in it's bed. I pulled inspiration from a number of real trucks, and took the opportunity to build in a 5-wide scale. I'm quite proud of this basic truck frame, and I hope to adapt it to more small pickups in the future!
Features: Opening Doors, Opening Tailgate
Build time: A week
Ford Mustang
January 2022
I built this on commission, modeling it after the Client's car. The limited parts selection in Dark Azure made for a fun but difficult time building the complex and iconic shapes of the Ford Mustang.
Build time: A few weeks
6th Gen. Ford B-Series Bus
August 2021
Inspiration: This bus, is based on one I spent time in and around last summer and is a faithful minifigure-scaled adaptation of the Sixth-Generation Ford B-Series that was produced from 1980-1994. The model features an opening front and back door, removeable roof, and a detailed, albeit chair-less, interior. This model was first displayed at Bricks Cascade 2022.
Build Time: A week
VW Beetle
January 2022
Inspiration: I designed this as a commission, which I was happy to do since I love VW Beetles. As I was doing research for this project, I was devastated to discover that VW stopped making Beetles in 2019.
Build time: 2 days
Truckla
December 2019
Inspiration: I started building this because I was a huge fan of Simone Geirtz's work and thought it would be a really fun vehicle to build. I was right. When Simone asked to buy the model I made a number of improvements to the overall design.
Build Time: 2 days, modified over a period of months
For more information and pictures of the whole model, see the commissions page
Fire Truck
May 2020
Inspiration: I built this for Iron Forge, the seed part was the technic connector. I was messing around with it and bucket handles, and made a simple suspension system. I built a base off of it and built a fire engine straight upward. The design was based on various fire trucks I found on Google.
Build time: 3 days
Jurassic World Jeep
January 2021
Inspiration: I designed this for my New Elementary article using an obscure LEGO part from a line of racers included in cereal boxes in 2009.
While technically this is a fictional vehicle, it's rooted enough in reality that it made more sense in this section.
Build time: A few days
Pizza Truck
May 2019
Inspiration: The colors are from the 2019 LEGO City Pizza Truck set. I got this set in April, and wanted to improve upon it. For one, it was missing an actual pizza oven. My new design was supposed to be a modified Mercedes Benz Sprinter, and I am indebted to Brick Designers as much of the shaping is from their beautiful Sprinter Ambulance. I don't know how the inside of theirs is held together, but I'm assuming it can't be too different from mine since the external shaping is the same..
Features: The sides flaps open, the back doors open, and the roof comes off. The interior includes an oven, a sink, a deep fryer, and a refrigerator.
Build Time: 2 days
Excavator
January 2018
Inspiration: Set 10255, Assembly Square, includes a large Technic excavator scoop, used as roof detailing. But for a LEGO Rebrick contest, I built the rest of the excavator only using other parts from this one set. It turned out better than I anticipated, and the arm can even bend, utilizing the few hinges included in the set. This is one of the few models I've made a video of. It's an old video, and violently shaky, so watch at your own risk.
Flickr | YouTube | Contest (broken link)
Space Shuttle
January 2021
Inspiration: Built for Round 3 of the Iron Forge with the seed part of the trapezoidal flags. Perhaps using them as wings wasn't entirely revolutionary, but I had fun figuring out how to get all of the other shapes right at this scale. I'm particularly proud of the cockpit window and roof area, achieved through the use of two 1x1 brackets, a 1x1 stadium tile and a tooth plate.
Build time: a few hours, then too much time searching for a second black tooth piece (not pictured)
Hot Air Balloons
January 2021
Inspiration: The first of my ideas for using the banana during Iron Forge Round 2, this model uses minifigure hands clipped onto the bananas hooked into a bucket mounted into the wall. This was very finicky and took lots of trial and error to get the bananas to lie correctly.
Build Time: 2 days