Size Matters Round Up.

Welcome to the Size Matters round up. The title of this challenge makes about 90% of us feel just a little uneasy, while the other 10% smile knowingly for some reason. Beats me as to what thats about. So what happens when we give everyone free rein as to what vehicles they can build...but insist upon multiple scales? Building smaller or larger than your usual is not as easy as you'd think. Lets see how we all did, shall we?

Steve "kwycstix" Walker shows us right off the bat that size (big or small) is nothing to be feared with this massive flatbed hauler designed to haul off Steve's now wrecked Eleanor's Sister. No Eleanor's Sister is not some giant relative wrecked on booze...its a car. You see, there was this movie and Eleanor was this car...and now we have Eleanor's Sister and here are the big and little haulers built to haul it away. Somehow this makes Steve Eleanor's Sister's father...aww never mind! I'm confused already.



Jonathan proves he's no slouch when building multiple versions of an industrious Mobile Crane. The little' un has just as much detail and functionality as the bigg'un. Be sure to check out the video showing the power functions of the bigger crane.



Guess who else isn't a slouch? Peter Blackert shows us some size magic with this sleek set of Bugatti Veyrons. Peter does the unusual thing and actually upscales his normal with a stunning 1:15 scale (or Lino scale) model. Then he presents his familiar 1:20 scale, followed by a smaller 1:28 and if that ain't enough, he lays on a tiny 1:43 scale about the size of a Matchbox car.



Not to be outdone by his own self, Lego911 also presents a more classic Bugatti, this time a Type 35B in lovely dark blue. He repeats the same four scale pattern with this set so we have the old and new Bugattis in four distinct scales. Neat!



Toward the end of the challenge Lego911 still had some steam left so he whipped up this foursome of classic "Bowler Bentleys". While James Bond chased after secret spies and hot women in an Aston Martin in the movies, Peter tells us the Bowler Bentleys were the suave agent's vehicle of choice in the original Ian Fleming novels. And now you know!



Dylan Denton shows us the Ford Escort can be cool again with this fiery pair of 1978 Escort Mk2 Rally Racers complete with fog lamps and racing number. The bigger model contains detailed roll cage, fuel cell and even firefighting equipment inspired by yours truly. Word on the street is this might be some of Dylan's best work yet. What do you think?



Well if you're undecided, Dylan brings back his classic Ford Bronco from the LUGNuts calendar and conjures up a smaller, cuter version of the same. The litte'un is just a tough as its bigger brother and just as iconic. Dylan says he bent the rules a little but as he is well aware, once you get at least one solid entry down, bending the rules becomes so much more forgivable. Plus its such a neat little Bronco and good to see the old classic again.





July and some of August has been all about Iron Builder for Lino Martins. Holy crap, was it ever! I spent just about every waking moment in July building something or another in a desperate attempt to outdo my friend V&A Steamworks. Because I love LUGNuts so much, I figured out a way to build a legitimate Iron Builder entry (by using the requisite white curved arch secret ingredient) with this Mountain Pearl custom pickup. The littler version of itself satisfies this challenge. I hope to win, but as of writing this, judging is still pending. Wish me luck!



Sangi13 submits this big and little pair of red dump trucks. They're surely dump...truck...ish. And red. Time for a snack. I'm having Brie cheese with honey. Brie is sort of a soft, melty cheese like no other kind of cheese I've seen. You all should give it a try. If you eat it on a cracker with your pinky out you can look and feel classy. That's important.



A guy named oldeconoline builds...what else? An old Econoline! He already had the littler version from before but this time presents us with a larger, more detailed version with a large racing engine in the back. Speaking of cheese, he tried to find a gray cheese wedge for the smaller engine so it more closely matched its larger counterpart but his daughter was hogging all the lego pieces for her Oregon State Fair LEGO competition. Awwww cute, I hope she wins!



Aaron F1...not to be confused with LUGNutter Aaron (colon parentheses smiley face) Dayman...whips up a pair of Audi S1 Rally cars for his first ever LUGNuts entry. I'm digging the red and yellow paint scheme and the logo up front is distinctly Audi.



Dohoon Kim makes use of a whole slew of black pieces and some oldschool style with this pair of 1935 hot rodded pickups. Some cool techniques were used for the mirrors and check out that wicked tilt on the larger engine!



Proving he's not down for the count yet, Dohoon Kim comes up with a second entry pair, this time a couple of tractor trailer trucks. Hey, they remind me of the official LEGO creator set number 4955...only these are its smaller siblings. Am I right? They totally look similar.



If anyone knows that size does indeed matter its The Big Rafalski. I mean he's got "big" right in his name! And Rafalski. That also implies big...somehow. Put them together and you've got The Big Rafalski. Probably "The Huge Rafalski" and "The Giant Rafalski" was already taken by other members of his family. Anyway, here's a neat pair of old Ford hot rods.



So what does the undisputed king of Tiny Turbos do when faced with a Size Matters challenge? Does he go bigger with a real life sized gargantuan Volvo like whatshisname built? No, Raphy goes even smaller! The 4-wide '87 Buick GNX looks like a monster next to its 3-wide, 2-wide, and 1-wide little siblings.



Next (actually first but I flipped it around for continuity purposes) Raphy builds us a tiny Dodge Challenger SRT10. 'Sup, dudes, Raphy tells us. He sounded kinda cocky about it. But where is its bigger counterpart, you may ask? The rules specifically states you must provide multiple scale entries so what gives? Yeah, I'd be cocky about it too...



Raphy recruited the help of none other than his bigger, more...um...Middle Eastern-er brother Firas Abu-Jaber to provide the larger version of the same Dodge! No slouch when it comes to highly detailed muscle cars, this BMOC (Big Man On Campus) of the LUGNuts scene tells us this was one of the most difficult cars he's ever built. Firas and Raphy should be most proud for pulling off this epic pair!



Not to be outdone in a challenge chock full of great team work, the odd couple Ricecracker and our own Mad Physicist pulls off another stunning team venture...this time a stunning pair of Scania R500 Wrecker trucks. Both trucks feature a working winch, boom and outriggers...Ralph's larger version is powered by Power Functions. They only went by photos and neither has seen each other's MOCs until their debut. It takes lots of communication, team work, and almost an eerie sixth sense to pull off a buddy pair this well. Good work, guys!





Well, I can't think of a better way to end this great challenge. There wasn't much participation this time around but with what few entries we have there were a lot of great surprises...and some phenomenal buddy teamwork. Stay tuned to see how we all do with this month's newest challenge called The Scuzz And The Fuzz...all about law breaking and/or law biding vehicles...the criminal scuzz and the heroic fuzz sworn to chase them down. Thanks for reading! Let us know you've been here and we'll keep cranking out the round ups.

God Save The Queen Round Up

In this month's God Save The Queen build challenge we were tasked to build British only cars, trucks and bikes. They have a rich automotive history and I figured it would be great to tackle some very Eurocentric designs...plus listening to a bunch of British punk rock while building was an added bonus. At least that's what I did, anyway. Lets see how everyone else faired, shall we?

Normally you'd have to wait awhile to see a creation from Ralph Savelsberg, but this time he had a little advanced insider info on the challenge as his acute automotive knowledge was needed to flesh out this British only theme. The result; this stunning Jaguar Mk VII complete with a happy newlywed couple. I couldn't think of a better way to start off this jolly good challenge!



Then this happened. Asman5 had a short run with us. He sort of lived up to his name and the irony of that wasn't lost on anyone. He could barely grasp the English language, yet he insisted upon taking a leadership role by launching his own "bild chalig" and running with it. His photos were dark and grainy...like this "convertaball mini". This was actually one of the only photos our moderators could accept as the others were not even clear as to what they were.



His quality of LCAD renders were...um...slightly better but still under par from what we expect from passionate and talented automotive enthusiasts such as yourselves. Even though he was brand new, he seemed to want to take over the group from within with his odd phonetic way of writing. Even with warnings and personal counseling, he seemed unwilling to change so the other LUGNuts officers and I rightfully decided it was best to let him go sailing off into the sunset.



With that unsettling business behind us, we move on to something we prefer to see in our group...this elegant pair of LCAD Rolls Royces by Superkalle. One is a Rolls Royce 1957 Silver Cloud and the other is a 1925 Rolls Royce Phantom. Great job all around!



Our co-founder Nathan Proudlove has been keeping himself pretty busy lately but being a good sport, he found the time to squeeze in this sweet little entry, a minifig scale gray Land Rover Defender. It uses some rare retro parts underneath for the suspension and the result is rough and tumble...all British, all Land Rover action!



Great minds think alike...or at least they did almost two years ago when Bill Ward built this Land Rover...also in gray. LUGNuts challenges are generally for NEW MOCs but yanno...Bill is the founder of Bricks By The Bay and an all around stand up nice guy. With no prizes, sometimes you can just let little things slide...the fact that it's a pretty sweet Rover certainly helps. We're still onto you, Bill. ;)



Speaking of sweet, Firas Abu-Jaber drops by with this stunning Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead convertible. This car exudes elegance and class from every angle. This is what makes British automobiles...and Firas' model great. And just when we thought Firas' talent was derived from the Gods, did you see his recent pics? Both he and his girlfriend are drop dead hotties! Good fortune certainly smiles on that one and we're sure glad to have him on board.



And what drop dead hottie would be complete without this 1997 Aston Martin V-8 Vantage built by Tim Inman? Tim is already a talented builder, but we've seen some vast improvement with last month's challenge and this month proves that wasn't a fluke. Build and photo quality has been noticeably better as evidenced by that elegant roofline and front air intake. The shiny hubs, courtesy of Chromebricks finishes off this build very nicely.



Tim keeps the high photo and build quality going but switches up the color scheme with this 1976 Jensen GT. Tim tells us that only slightly more than 500 of these little British bad boys were ever made in its two year production and was powered by a snappy little Lotus 4-cylinder engine. As the British would say...smashing!



When I first wrote this challenge, I had a short list of British automobiles I'd hope to see. On it was a classic Mini Cooper so that's why I'm glad that someone as talented as Jason Son had pulled through with my telepathic request. As if reading my mind, he also made it a white rally racer complete with roll cage and fire extinguishing equipment. Jolly good!



And Speaking of Rally racing, roll cages and firefighting equipment, Lino Martins (hey, that's me!) conjures up the most underdogginest of British cars with this Hillman Imp. As mentioned before, I listened to a lot of punk rock while building so its no surprise I've also included a proud British punker fig to go with it. "Oy, bloody hell bollocks!", he would say if he wasn't made of Lego.



I wonder if his name derives from dyslexia...or perhaps I have dyslexia, because when I see this name typed out...daxolesa, I get dyslexia. Try saying that ten times fast! Anyway, dyslexia...er...um...I mean daxolesa breaks a long streak of all white cars with a tiny Rolls Royce in charming blue.



Rambunctious Raphy builds us a tiny Jaguar Series II E-type coupe. From the back it sort of looks like a Deora front but the real front is all Jaguar front. Confused yet? The back looks like a Deora front but but its a Jaguar back and the front looks like a Jaguar front...ah, never mind!



Dohoon Kim enters a McLaren F1 in red. He tells us its his first time photographing a MOC outside. Don't worry, Dohoon, we're all nervous the first time. Actually, come to think of it, I've never photographed a MOC outside. All my business is done strictly indoors. I guess that makes me a big, fat, 38 year old MOC outdoors virgin. Yep. I haven't lived.



Alexander Hoogerwerf musters up a brand new Bentley Mulsanne in sparkling red. He tells us its very British, something the Queen herself would be driven around in. With the sparkling crown as a hood ornament, we're just going to have to believe him on that one. Good show, old chap!



No stranger to outdoor MOC photography, Dylan Denton takes his 1981 Lotus Esprit Turbo outside and photographs it exposed in front of God and all the world to see. Adding to a long string of white cars. this fine auto has pop up headlights and nice green trim. Hey, Lotus, your headlights are showing!



J0n4th4n D3rk53n builds us a neat little custom Metropolitan Austin in yellow with a red and white flag on the roof. I didn't recognize the flag as being English so I looked it up. Turns out, it is very English indeed. First hoisted in 1191, the historic Flag of St. George became England's flag in 1278. It was only later when the diagonal red cross of St. Patrick (Ireland) and the diagonal white cross of St. Andrew (Scotland) was added make the iconic Union Jack we know today. Smart, Jonathan. Very smart!



Lego Guy pulls through with another very British vehicle on the short list I'd hope to see...the iconic red and yellow LDV Royal mail van. Being an American, its easy to think that all mail trucks are stubby little white and blue numbers but its great to see the world has a lot of variety to offer. Why we could do a challenge just strictly on mail delivery trucks of the world and not be bored with it. Just a thought.



sam2442 offers us a 4x4 Land Rover powered by 2 power functions xl motors, with return to centre steering (also powered by pf motor), 4 bar suspension, portal axles, working headlights, and rechargeable battery. Thats all tecno-babble for one tough and capable mamma-jamma! Brilliant!



What would LUGNuts be without our usual end of the month run from Peter Blackert? He starts us off with "not a white car, nor a Land Rover" but instead one of the most successful British Formula 1 Racers - the 1968 Lotus 49 Grand Prix racer adorned in lovely early 1968 livery, British racing green, with yellow stripe. Perfect!



Next on the slab is an Aston Martin DBR9 Gulf Racer - 2008 in traditional light blue and orange Gulf colors. The old English red and white flag adorns the side proving that the rest of the world already knows the origin of the British flag...I humbly plead ignorance. Sigh.



And "for all you eco-greenies out there" Peter whips up the 1985 Sinclair C5.Designed by ecentric technology millionaire, Sir Clive Sinclair, the C5 was designed to take advantage of Uk road rules and to not exceed 15 mph (24km/h) and was made to be driven without a driver's license. Hear that, Ralph? This could be your chance!



Peter takes requests with this new green Aston Martin V8 Vantage Coupe. He tells us Lego green is hard to photograph but I think he pulled it off really well. On a side note, I find that anything purple totally freaks out my camera. The purple object turns blue and a white background turns fiery yellow or orange. Has anyone else encountered that or am I the only one not bright enough to work that out? With me not knowing about the original English flag I'm willing to admit I might be the only dumbass around here.



Another British vehicle on my short list that I'd hope to see is a traditional Routemaster RM London Red Double Decker Bus and Peter pulls through with pizzazz. Peter tells me the 384 number out front is the same number as the official Lego London bus set of yore...cool! And check out the Lego Times mosaic work on the side.



Another classic car on the London scene is the Austin FX4 Classic Black Cab.The car itself is great, but I'm digging the Miniland figure to go with it...love the detailing on his jacket!



Lastly on the lego911 slab is this Ministerial Rover P5 3.5 Litre Saloon done up in dark gray. All three can be seen either alone or in a stunning diorama featuring Classic London Street life from 1965-1975.



Interspersed throughout Peter's end of the month showdown is Ricecracker's Ford Transit farmer's truck done up in lovely blue complete with oversized carrots and apples. I'd happily buy those from that little farmer!



jake shows up with a classic MG TC. He tells us its his first classic car and I'd have to say it turned out pretty well. Jake tells us cheerio, pip-pip and all that good British dialog...turns out Jake really is from England. Blimey!



LegOscar graces us with a black Rover SD1. In a build challenge filled with photographic firsts, Oscar tries placing the model on a sheet of plexiglass for the first time for that nice reflective surface effect that the likes of Firas and others use. I'd say the effect worked out pretty well. The model is great looking all around...even its undercarriage.



marioman3138 gives us his first LUGNuts entry, a Jensen Interceptor. He tells us help would be appreciated...I say welcome to the world of LUGNuts...with practice and patience your automobiles will only get better from here.



Well that was a nice end to our all British build challenge I think it turned out bloody smashing! As scary as that sounds here, its actually a major compliment in England. Incidentally, this challenge tied in with another non-car related group...there wasn't as much hubbub in that group but be sure to check out the entries in the Battle Bugs challenge also called God Save The Queen, including a hornet built by yours truly. Lets see how we do this month in Size Matters...a challenge where we build any car, truck, or bike we want...in multiple scales! See ya on the flip side, old chaps!