Redo And Redemption Roundup

This month's LUGNuts challenge was called Redo And Redemption. The idea was to take an embarrassing, crappy old creation, redo it better, provide a link to the shameful stupid old creation and make the universe all the better for it. From there we can right all those we have wronged in our silly younger days and then begin the long path toward healing and forgiveness...at least that's what they tell ya in Alcoholics Anonymous. How did we do? Well, aside from Peter's entries, there weren't too many others. Seems like everyone else decided that, like Mary Poppins, they are practically perfect in every way. That's OK, I'm not up for a long round up anyway. You see, I just bought an awesome new electric guitar...an Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy Custom Plus EX in Midnight Sapphire and I've been just a little distracted by it. The kicker is, I don't even know how to play. Yep, not one note, lick, chord or badass solo. But I am trying to learn. Damn these tiny womanish hands of mine! Seems I have to strengthen my left hand and train each finger to move independently...otherwise all I have is nonsensical noise. So lets get to Eddie Van Halen's power solo...uh, I mean...this roundup.

First up in a very long string of entries is Peter Blackert's Shelby Daytona Sports Racer...originally built for the 18th challenge called At The Races where he was trying to beat his own record for the most awesomest power riff or something.



Next on the slab was requested by me, a redo of his Mercedes-Benz W210 E430 T Estate from like 20 years ago. He didn't provide the link but the original was a laughable squarish box on wheels. Redone...and definitely redeemed.



Not only is Peter redeeming old MOCs, but true to Peter style,he is also doing it by request. Here is a Mercedes-Benz 300SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe as requested by new guy dluders. It features gull-wing doors, the Mercedes logo, EMG-85 Humbucker pickups at the neck and an EMG-81 by the bridge.



Here is a redone classic pair of one of his very first LDD models, the 1955-56 Packard Caribbean, in Hardtop and Convertible forms. The hard top sports pink and white two tone color scheme while the GX version features your choice of Black Cherry and Heritage Cherry Sunburst with gold hardware.





Next is another great pairing, a Toyota MR2 MkII in red convertible while the blue sports a hard top and a satin-back, trim-tapered neck for ultimate heavy metal shredding!





No stranger to pairing up rides, Peter strikes a chord again with these Ford Fiesta B256's, which include rally stripes and elegant pearloid and abalone block and triangle inlays on the 1,3,5,7,9,12, & 15th frets and individual volume and tone controls for each pickup.





If you want classic shape and style, you can't go wrong with Peter's pair of Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadsters. You also can't go wrong with a Les Paul, whose timeless classic shape has been lovingly described as caressing a woman's well rounded hips and bottom.





And speaking of a well rounded woman's bottom, Peter's BMW E9 CS Coupe in lovely brown...well, looks nothing like a woman's bottom at all. But how else was I going to segue into how a man feels for his new guitar? I'm sure you see the dilemma here, you sweet piece of mahogany and rosewood, you!



Yes, I'd love to learn the haunting and alluring riff to Led Zeppelin's Kashmir, thanks for asking. Peter also presents an Audi C3 100 Saloon in lovely red...or what I like to call Vintage Cherry.



Another great pair is the Ford Falcon BF XR6 in Midnight Ebony or the 5.4 litre V8 XR8 version in Midnight Sapphire. The first was Peter's first all-new car. Great fun and very fast, but a bit thirsty and impractical, he tells us. Agreed, but if you want to impress guitar enthusiasts and novices alike, its a good idea to spend a bit more on the high quality Prophecy EX or GX.





My buddy Dave is soooo jealous of my new ax! He says dude, its much sweeter than his Les Paul. Even the dudes at Guitar Center were all like...whoa, this thing is much sweeter in person than it looks in the catalog. It barks with authority and has a tougher, grittier, and edgier attitude than the typical Les Paul...which suits my personality nicely. Oh, and Peter presents us the Audi 100 Quattro Avant.



And as an encore performance to round out Peter's entries is a trio from France, the Citroen DS Series I,Citroen DS Prestige Series II, and the elegant Citroen DS Decapotable (Convertible) Series I. Viva la France!







Is that all of them? Great! Time learn to shred with the best of 'em! Oh wait...there's more. OK, almost there. Here goes. The very first thing TechnicNick built with his son's bricks when he was little was the Italian Job bus and now he redoes it better. Its OK Nick, its always best to start small and easy. Learn Smoke On The Water first, then you'll be rockin' out to Crazy Train in no time.



Tim "Rabidnovaracer" Inman revisits his black Mercedes G-Class and this time turns it grey and gives it a second set of rear tires and made it a monstrous 6x6. Don't forget to also check out the video Tim provided of Mr. Les Paul himself, playing his hauntingly beautiful version of Sleepwalk. It brings tears to your eyes.



What also brings tears to the eyes is Lino Martin's redo of his old VW Dragbus. Its German engineering meets American...uh...need to go stupidly fast in a straight line. It was hailed by metal players the world over as the ultimate combination of tradition and innovation and the perfect guitar for serious shredding, all within the stylish lines of the classic Les Paul form.



Lastly Ralph Savelsberg revisits his old Chrysler Concorde 10 wide and plays it again with a tricky 11 wide configuration. In the process its been made better...like when Johnny Cash covered Trent Reznor's Hurt. Now Trent can't even perform the song anymore cuz Mr. Cash spanked him so hard by making his own song so much better.



Ok, is that all of them? Yes it is! Sweet baby Jeebus ,its time to plug in and play! While I do that, come on back next month to see how we do with a little challenge we call Super 70's Sensation...all about 70's era cars, trucks, and bikes. Will yours be a custom super van with shag carpeting and wizards and druids airbrushed on the sides...or will it be a black and gold Trans-Am with louvres and a stereo that only plays Lynyrd Skynyrd? Or maybe a Ford Pinto is in your future. Either way, you're gonna have to come back next time to see how we pull it off. Now, lets see if I can learn Smoke On The Water. 3-6-8/ 3-6-9-8/ 3-6-8/ 6-3. By jove, I think I've got it! See ya next time.

Amazing Vehicles Book Review

If you’re anything like me, you enjoy a good cup of coffee, long walks on the beach, and you’ve faked your own death and changed your name to avoid paying for cable. Allegidly. You also get asked to do book reviews occasionally. My case in point, the good folks over at No Starch Press asked me to review The LEGO Build It Book: Amazing Vehicles. Our very own LUGNuts member and LEGO Technic designer Nathanaël Kuipers wrote the book while Mattia Zamboni lays out the graphic design and step-by-step instructions. Together they make a cohesive team...the book is well laid out and, with tips and suggestions, it is fun to follow.

It works on the notion that...what if you were a builder on a budget? What could you do if you had a small LEGO collection? Or better yet, what could you do if you only had one LEGO set? Like say...set # 5867. With the limitless imagination of Nathanaël Kuipers, Amazing Vehicles takes you through ten different vehicles of varying degrees of difficulty...everything from a baby stroller to a rescue truck. Seasoned builders may not get a lot out of it but the section on advanced build techniques has valuable tips that can turn any novice into a pro.
My only gripe, even hot off the press, this book is outdated, somewhat. Ideally it would be neat to buy the LEGO set along with the book, but set number 5867 has long been out of production and is no longer available at the LEGO store or Shop-At-Home. You’d have to pay exorbitant prices on Ebay or Amazon to obtain it, but this is remedied by a list of parts at the beginning of the book. Most parts are common and can be easily ordered...it was even encouraged to improvise with an alternate part or color if you can’t obtain the necessary pieces from your collection.
After awhile I wished everything wasn’t so...oh, I don’t know...red, but Nathanaël Kuipers, does what he does best by creating alternate models from an existing set and shows us ten vastly different possibilities from not a lot of parts. If you like this book, then Volume II comes out later this month.
My thanks goes to No Starch Press for my copy and thanks to Amazon for the photos cuz I was too half-assed to take photos myself what with running from the law and all. Plus Brothers Brick posted their review on like the same day I was gonna do mine so I had to wait awhile. What the hell is up with that?! Anyway...
Now about that cable bill. I think I’ll go with Damien this time. It has a good ring to it. Thanks for reading.

Summer Of '69 Roundup

It was before my time, but the 1960’s were a tumultuous time of great political change, social revolution...and bra-burning. Yep. Women burned their bras as an act of independence and liberation from their male oppressors and us male oppressors couldn't agree more! Burn those torturous bras and let the twins hang free! Wooo-hooo! Wait, who were these male oppressors anyway? Were there actually guys in some board room somewhere stating that women's breasts needed to be bound at all times? Were they nuts? I would welcome any lady who wants to shed their undergarments...and hang around my place for a few cocktails. Maybe watch some braless movies from the 60's and 70's. And if jumping jacks on a trampoline just happen to spontaneously occur, then who am I to complain, really? Think about that, won't you? And while you're thinking about it, we have a collection of LEGO cars for you to feast your eyes on. They were built by our happy little car group for a challenge we like to call Summer of '69...all about 60's era cars. How did we do? Well, sit back, relax, unclasp your bra, and check out our entries here.

Jonathan Derksen starts us off with a boat of a car, the 1968 Chrysler New Yorker, inspired by Mad Men. Cool car, but unfortunately I've never seen the show. Were they called Mad Men cuz they were on the board that said women needed bras? I'm so glad I was able to slip a bra joke in so early after the intro. Usually you gotta wait like five entries in but not this time.



Next Aaden H doles out a titillating 1966 Shelby G.T. 350 in red with white rally stripes. Not only is it totally balls out awesome, but he listed all the builders who helped inspire this car. Kudos to you, Aaden!



You know who's a real doctor? certainly not Dr. Phil, Dr. Dre or DoktorZapp. But if our resident doctor can't perform a mammogram to save his life, he sure knows his way around an overly ornamented Vaspa scooter like the mods of England tooled around in in the 60's. It has no less than 120 headlights. Far out, man!



The Bing-Bong Brothers get in on a technicality with this 1972 Porsche 911 STR. While built in 1972, the Bing-Bongs tell us the Porshe's style went virtually unchanged since the 60's. So they (Maybe even he/she or it) could have just said it was from the 60's and no one would have known the difference.



Wait...is this happening already? It is, isn't it? Ok, get yourselves comfortable. get yourself come cheese and crackers. Maybe a glass of wine. Its the start of Peter Blackert's long run starting with his own personal ride throughout the 90's...a 1965 Renault 16. What some commenters thought was a stereotypical Frenchman with a striped shirt and baguette was actually Peter himself in apparently the only shirt he has ever owned...a striped rugby type polo.



Did you know I have a phobia of Polo shirts? Yep, I do, and I've read online that I'm not the only one. Its called Koumpounophobia...fear of buttons, but mine is specific to polos or henleys but not dress shirts or bowling shirts. This form of the phobia is somewhat common. Pretty weird, huh? But I have no fear of this sweet pair of 1961 Dodge Polaras...Hardtop and Convertible models with their lovely...also models posed next to them.





Onto a subject close to Peter's heart, the 1960 Ford XK Falcon Deluxe Sedan and Wagon. You see, Peter is an engineer for Ford Australia, the Falcon is arguably the most revered and important Australian vehicle out there, and Ford Australia announced that they will stop production of the Falcon by 2016. My heart goes out to you, mate. Even if you do wear polo shirts.





Next on the Peter slab is the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTC 105-Series Cabriolet accompanied by a lovely lass in a pink swimsuit. Ah, what a cutie. She could even make my dad's rusted out Dodge Aries K wagon look good!



Nope, I just googled it and absolutely no one looks good next to an Aries K wagon. Care to garner some fame? I challenge you all to be the first on the internet to photoshop a sexy model next to an Aries K. I say photoshop cuz it'll never happen in real life, obviously. Trust me, it has never been done. Be sure to show it to me and I'll fave it or something. In the meantime enjoy Peter's'64 Ford Falcon 2-Door Hardtop - XM.



Ah cripes, there still like a bazillion entries for Peter. Ok, starting with this Caddy Coupe DeVille, I'll write only the punchlines. This was popular before. Here goes: Is the poop deck really what I think it is?



As smooth as a swede's bottom!



It says here on your resume, Mr. Cheney, that you shot your 80 year old friend in the face.



Father teaches his son how to fly into rage over completely inconsequential bullcrap.



And he says to the waitress...but you deep throated a hot dog in front of me. What the hell was I supposed to think?



Not so much a bellwether of the failed economy, but a bellwether of the fact that I dipped my wang in the butterscotch.



If I had a lawn, I'd tell you midgets to get the hell off of it.



Shotgun blast to abdomen just pisses Wilfred Brimley off more.



Masochist dog enjoys being walked around on a leash while naked.



If life gives you lemons, make lemonade... then try to find someone whose life had given them vodka and have one hell of a party.



Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.



The weather is here. Wish you were beautiful.



And that is how I got my head out of a peanut butter jar. How I got it stuck in there in the first place I have no idea.

A swift kick to his throbbing manhood ought to keep the insurance agent at bay.

Adam was a Canadian. Who else would stand beside a naked woman and be tempted by a fruit?

Puerto Rico is the Caribbean's number one exporter of apparel, rum, and noise complaints.

Kangaroos hate rainy days because their children play inside.

I take my coffee like I take my women... alone and in front of the computer.

The theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are made entirely by lost luggage.

A child's face can say a lot... especially the mouth part of the face.

Is that all of them? Yep I think it is...ok, moving right along then. Ralph Savelsberg chimes in with his first entry, Eleanor, the 1967 Shelby GT500 from Gone in 60 Seconds. One time I walked by a bunch of unattended pies and ate them. They were gone in 60 seconds. I was wondering why so many people were cheering. Turns out I had unwittingly stumbled into a pie eating contest and didn't even know I had won.



No stranger to pie eating is Inspector Morse in Ralph's second entry. Actually I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. I've never seen or heard of the show so I don't know if he eats pies or not. Cool 1960 Jaguar Mk II though.



Isaac W. has a little Dodge Fever with this 1969 Dodge Polara California Highway Patrol vehicle. Isaac tells us it was more muscle car than a lot of muscle cars were in those days. Plus, as the old saying goes, nothing outruns a radio. So true, bro...so true.



Raphy tells us he almost entirely forgot to post this '65 Mustang. Good thing he did. Otherwise the entire universe could implode due to the Butterfly Effect. You know what that is, right? Someone kills a butterfly in China and next thing you know Howie Mandel is stuck in a Texas well.



No stranger to getting stuck in wells is Lino Martins. I didn't spend all that much time building this LEGO replica of Carl Casper's Popcorn Wagon, nor did I use many tricky build techniques. Yet it has become within your top 5 faved images of mine of all time. There's an unfair lesson in there somewhere about not trying hard but still coming out on top.



SamBoRG tries hard with his 1967 Ford Falcon XR Panel Van. The result is like mashed potatoes...white, lumpy and would taste a hell of a lot better with some butter. Nah, actually its a pretty cool MOC. It really could use some butter though. Maybe some bacon bits too.



NKubate does what he does best...building alternate models to official LEGO sets. F'instance if you're already bored with the totally awesome 42000 F1 racer set, you can mod it into this totally awesome Street Rod.



And his second entry is an alternate mod for his all-time favorite Creator set 5867. Oh, by the way, No Starch Press sent me a copy of his Amazing Vehicles Volume 1 book to review with the promise that I would get off my ass and actually review it. Yep. So be on the lookout for my review as soon as I get off my ass.



Rolands Kirpis gets off his ass and builds us something to really enjoy the summer - a '67 VW dune buggy. Neat! Although on second thought most LEGO building, and book reviewing for that matter, is done while firmly planted on one's ass. So I'll review the book as soon as I get off my ass...and then back onto it.



I've never said ass so many times in one entry. Last but not least is LegoNoitallMOCs who rounds out the ass end of this roundup with this 1969 Chevy Camaro. He tells us this is part of a MOC-off with Peter Blackert. I see one entry to Peter's like 30. One thing you never want to do is get into a MOC-off with Peter. You will be humiliated like that masochistic dog who likes to be paraded around on a leash while naked.




And on that bombshell we end out roundup. How'd that go down for ya? For me it was smooth with a creamy aftertaste but I realize now is giving me a bit of indigestion. Maybe I should have left the pies well enough alone. What can I say...I can't resist a good lemon meringue. I also can't resist a chance to redo an old MOC from my shameful, dirty, sinful past. You too can make the universe right by joining us for this month's challenge called Redo and Redemption. The rules are simple. Redo an old car, truck, or bike. Make it better. And provide a link to your shameful, laughable, stupid old MOC that inspired it. Then begin the forgiveness and the healing. Its like Alcoholics Anonymous except without all the donuts and group hugs. Although I'm not opposed to either. Actually donuts and group hugs sounds like fun. Just don't get any powdered sugar on my new shirt. OK? OK. See ya next time, hug buddies!