Eight Wheeler

Guest Vehicle !

You may remember a few articles ago, I offered you the opportunity to win on that blog an eight wheel military vehicle. The winner is back and presents his price perfected with some modifications of his own. What is most amazing about the whole story is the fact that the private owner managed not to cause havoc in the streets with his armoured cannon bearing troop transport 8x8, and not having it confiscated. This deserves to be recognized!

HDH C.V. Durobot in front of his armoured troop transport.

KA-POW !

Guest Vehicle !

Holy Ka-Pow Robin! This is Batman's Tumbler!

A rendition of the famous Batman's Tumbler from the The Dark Knight Trilogy directed by Christopher Nolan. After the vehicle designed by Nathan Crowley for the films.

Our thanks to Mr Durobot for allowing us to share with you theses images of this amazing vehicle.

Old Car Crank

Guest Vehicle !

What an impressive sight! The baron of Frontenac, Madame of Frontenac and their daughter Amethyst of Frontenac, all perched on top of the baron's pride and joy, his old and still going Mercedes car from the very early 1900's. The baron has been restoring this amazing mobile treasure and his family and himself have since been enjoying tips to the countryside or the forest for a picnic or a visit to a fellow member of the nobility. This bolid is theoretically capable of reaching breathtaking speeds of almost 45 km/h, even if the baron will warn you that if the car could in theory reach such incredible speeds, the human body has not been conceived to travel at such a gallop and your heart would stop. The car is still very much a work in progress and details may be added or modifications brought to the model.

 The Baron of Frontenac and his family on top of his old Mercedes car. (By the way, don't worry for me if I seem foolishly standing in front of the car : I could walk backwards and still never be rolled over by this cranky contraption!)

Lowered Expectations

Guest Vehicle !

HM Louis de Bourbon and myself posing next to his car, a simple urban vehicle with lowered front. This type of vehicle is perfectly sufficient to go about your daily business in the city.

Modified vehicle from Lego City Set 60081.

Holy Molly!

Guest Vehicle !

This monster is the exact opposite of the car you can see in the previous post. One of the most impressive and capable pickup trucks of His Grace's personal collection, it is based on an average SUV model, Lego set 60117 (as still shown by the front licence plate). The original car has been extended to accommodate both the double cab and the open bed. The wheel arches have been replaced by bigger ones, to allow room for bigger wheels. The huge ground clearance of the model makes it a very effective off road vehicle. Even if I suspect it is used more often on the nice asphalt of our city streets than on the dirt and muck of some countryside roads. In fact, in might even spend more time in the garage than on any type of roads!

The owner of the truck, Mr Durobot, and myself posing next to this breathtaking tuner car.

Modified pickup truck based on Lego City Set 60117.

Crappy Car

Guest Vehicle !

The presentation of this little vehicle inaugurates a series about guest vehicles. While you have seen at length the many cars I was susceptible to travel in in Couteau, I thought it interesting to give you an idea of the vehicles I was most likely to come across while driving on the roads of the Duchy. Some are impressive, others completely unlikely or damn right crazy, but this one certainly belongs to the rolling garbage category. Yet, this happens to be the average ride for many folks, and a lot can't even afford a car as complete as this one. You'd have been unable to miss the hideous colour and the ridiculous shape; note also how it seems to miss a front and rear bumper. To finish with this insult to taste and human dignity, let me tell you I've heard that owners of this model avoid at all costs to park their car in the street on garbage collecting day. I wonder why.

The fuel tank is so tiny on that model and the fuel gauge so unreliable that you'd better be prepared to give it a push back home more often than not. An advantage in that situation : it's so tiny that you're likely to be able to push it by yourself. That's lucky as probably nobody would have helped you anyway : folks do have their dignity!

We would like to thank the owner of this car, Mr D., for allowing us to photograph his car and share the images on this blog.

Armoured Car

Guest Vehicle !

For once, I'm proud to present a vehicle which I don't own. Nonetheless, I've borrowed this very fine Armoured Car for a few days in order for me to test it after its restoration and tell its owner -- His Grace the Duke of Couteau -- if all is alright with it. So far, so good!

This Couteautish designed and produced Armoured Car was made a few years after the Second World War, in 1949. In fact, the design process started in December of 1948 when His Grace the Duke ordered his military designers to imagine and produce a vehicle fit for both reconnaissance missions at the border and urban fighting against the communist opponents to the regime. If the not ideal off-road performances of the Armoured Car somewhat restricted its capabilities as a scout car (it is a 4 wheel drive, but it has somewhat too narrow wheels for its weight and therefore has a bad tendency to get too easily stuck on boggy terrain), its efficiency in street fighting proved invaluable for the Duke's soldier. The armour is indeed very thick, even by today's standards, and the car was practically invincible when deployed in urban areas and properly supported by the infantry. The Ducal Police in Couteau even obtained 6 of these vehicles, of which this particular car is today the sole survivor (the gray livery of our model is the one adopted by the Ducal Police at the time). Yet, the model has been used successfully, both by the police and the military, up to the early 1980's. One model, used by the police in charge of the protection of Couteau airport, even retired as late as 1991. Quite a long road for such a small little car!

The crew of two access the driver's seat or turret by the rear hatch. Its position comes in handy if the vehicle is struck and damaged by enemy fire coming from the front and the crew must abandon the car. In urban settings though, the fire could come from virtually any direction, including from higher buildings, which rendered the sealed cupola on top of the machine gunner indispensable.

The machine gun itself, mounted on the cupola pivoting 360° by hand, is a 14.5 mm KPV soviet design heavy machine gun. It has an effective range of almost 2000 meters and can penetrate up to 30 mm of armour at 500 meters. The fact that a soviet produced gun was used to fight, among others, communists is quite ironic! At last, note that the police had generally no camouflage or fake or real branches on top of their cars, unlike our model, but some police units patrolling the countryside around Couteau sometimes used this type of cover, as shown on some photographs of the time.

We wish to thank His Grace the Duke of Couteau for allowing us to present this Armoured Car on this blog.

Flame Tank Update 2 : Add a Cannon

There was a very slight design flaw with my Flamethrower tank. OK. To be fair, a terrible one. We had two flamethrowing nozzles at our disposal on the turret, but no main cannon! The absence of a respectable piece of artillery on the turret left the tank extremely vulnerable to almost any serious enemy. Even with our two machineguns, we needed something a little more substantial to be taken seriously in any serious engagement. This is now done with the addition of a proper cannon which takes the place of one of our flame throwers. We still have one flamethrower, which give the tank many options to engage an enemy according to circumstances.

As you can see on the picture above and the one below, we made some minor adjustments too, adding for example lifting eyes / towing hooks on the front, or bigger air intakes for the engine on the rear.

In the hull itself, I added a proper dashboard, a fire extinguisher and a small water tank.

Can you be more battle ready?

WIN A TANK !

WIN A TANK !!!

GAME OVER! 
CONGRATULATIONS TO 
OUR WINNER!

IMPORTANT INFO : • you must live in the Duchy of Couteau to enter this game.

                                    • you must be considered a VIP to receive the prize.

Answer the following question and 

WIN my flamethrower tank!* 

The first person to write the correct answer in the comment section of this post and have it confirmed by me will win! One try per person. Cheaters will be prosecuted.

Question : What tank model is represented on the picture bellow?

Not an easy one! But you can win  A FREAKING TANK for Christ's sake!
Good day and good luck!

* You can win a model similar** to mine and not actually my tank.

** The model offered in this game is a basic model, similar to the one shown on the top right corner photograph above, and not a modified version like the one I own.

If no correct answer is given before 11:59 p.m. Paris time on Monday October 31st, 2016, Mr Dubarbar will keep the prize for himself and do what the hell he wants with it. No driver licence or special permit is necessary to be awarded the prize. You need to check your local legislation if you are allowed to possess a tank or drive it on public roads. The awarded vehicle is meant to be used as a collection item only. The owner should in any case abide by  the law. The organiser of this game, Mr Conhan Dubarbar, declines all responsability in case of any damage caused by the winner of the game with the awarded tank. Once awarded the prize, the winner of the game becomes officially the owner of the prize and therefore the sole legally responsible individual about it. For full Terms and Conditions, please contact Maître Baudile C. Durobot, lawyer in Couteau.

Flame Tank Update

My wife and I patroling on my newly modified Flamethrower tank.

We are very proud to show you the modifications brought to my recently acquired Flamethrower tank. First of all and most importantly, I'm now able to fit inside the tank, which is quite convenient! I'm absolutely fully protected when driving the thing, using two levers. The following picture has been taken when the tank had its top half removed while being modified inside our shop. Above the right lever, note the driver's machine gun trigger mechanism. As you can notice too, the motor is not fully isolated from the driver. The tank is so small you have to make some concessions!

Myself at the levers of the tank, in my workshop.

Among the improvements to my tank visible on the first photo are the new driver's viewport, fitted with the last generation of bulletproof glass, the blackout light, and the driver's machine gun. On the turret, you couldn't have failed to notice the brand new large caliber machine gun equipped with high-tech optics and high capacity magazine. Unfortunately, you need that in Couteau today if you want to be shown at least some respect. Note that the double flame throwing canon has been upgraded too, and we also completed the turret's armement with a double grenade launcher.

A side view of the tank in the fields near Versailles.

Apparently, the very principle of a flamethrowing tank is now quite obsolete on the modern-day battlefield. If I have no doubt about the fear such an ominous weapon could still inspire in the modern soldier (because, after all, we modern humans can burn as well as our forefathers of the last century), it is true that you have to be very close to your target (at the very most 200 meters) to be effective. And at that distance, you are of course very vulnerable to any modern anti tank ammunition that could be thrown at you. This is why I keep this beauty as a curiosity and a museum exhibit, though in working order, and don't intend to go to war with it! Still, I should be able to defend myself nonetheless with my modern machine gun and grenade launchers if attacked on my peaceful sunday stroll...

Doing my duty as a Couteautish citizen and law enforcement officer, standing guard in a field at a flame's throw from the Boreal border.

Imagine that suddenly coming at you at the top of a slope in a field!

If you're close enough that you can see me inside my tank, too late! You're fired!

Thank you for your attention and see you soon!

Mega Bloks ® set 95420 Flameslinger MODified.

WIN !

WIN this SELF PROPELLED GUN !!! NOW !!!
The Game is now close!
CONGRATS TO OUR WINNER!

By answering this simple question :

What was the name of the British Flame-throwing tank, part of 'Hobart's Funnies', used during the allied invasion of Normandy in 1944? 

Send me your answer in the comment section of this article!

The first person to answer correctly will receive this marvel of military equipment, made by E.Z.Blox.

Please, note that you can only enter this game if you live in the Duchy of Couteau.

The game ends when the first correct answer has been acknowledged in the comment section of this article. 

One answer and one participation per person only.

If no correct answer is given before 11:59 p.m. Paris time on Monday October 31st, 2016, Mr Dubarbar will keep the prize for himself and do what the hell he wants with it.

Only VIP's can receive the above mentioned prize. 

No driver licence or special permit is necessary to be awarded the prize.

You need to check with your local legislation if you are allowed to possess, use this vehicle or drive it on public roads.

The awarded piece of artillery is meant to be used as a collection item only. The owner should in any case abide the law. The organiser of this game, Mr Conhan Dubarbar, declines all responsability in case of any damage caused by the winner of the game with the self propelled gun. Once awarded the prize, the winner of the game becomes officially the owner of the prize and therefore the sole legally responsible individual about it. For full Terms and Conditions, please contact Maître Baudile C. Durobot, lawyer in Couteau.

Flame Tank

Hi people! That's me and my beloved daughter on my brand new Flame Tank! For those of you absolutely impervious to military dialect, this is nothing more, nothing less than a tank equipped with a flamethrower instead of a classic canon. The flammable liquid is stocked in a container fixed behind the tank. Needless to say, I don't intend to let all hell break loose in the streets of Couteau or Versailles (and neither does my daughter, hopefully...). I'm just your regular vehicle collector, with a special interest for tracked vehicles. Maybe I'll work on my Flame Tank to modify it a bit, in which case I'll show you the result right here. OK, for those asking, yes, I suppose you could, theoretically, set some police cars and vans on fire, but (and that's a big "but" -- as you'd here from time to time about Madame the Duchesse) this tank is intended to be enjoyed as a collection item, not to be used as a weapon of any kind. Now you are reassured about my intentions, just have a look at the back of the thing, where you'll notice the red fuel and compressed nitrogen propellant container. Also note that to my knowledge, this tank is the only flame throwing tank in running order privately owned in Couteau. Let me know if you plan a barbecue!

Flameslinger by Mega Bloks ®, set 95420

Clean Record

This is the last vehicle I have in my collection of personal cars. And what vehicle! Nothing less than the fastest car in the world! This rocket car is able to break the sound barrier easily, but I try to avoid that on open roads. I don't use it very often, granted, but it is pretty convenient if I'm late to a meeting. I'm even able to depart after the time at which the meeting should have started and still get there ahead of time.

Hope you liked the vehicles shown so far! See you if I purchase a new vehicle or for a post about a guest vehicle!

Lego Technic Set 42033

Rail-Road Vehicle

One thing I like is vehicles combining several modes of transportation in one. The following rail-road service truck is a perfect example of that. Once again, it is the only element of Lego City Set 3677 I have got, having ordered from Lego the few parts I missed to complete the truck. I changed for example the color of the railings in the back, but the most important addition I made is a coupler in the rear to allow my truck to be towed by my 60052 locomotive. By lowering the special wheels in the back and in the front, the truck is able to be driven on the rails themselves, either coupled to a train or engine or independently. Note that I also added an extra powerful light on the roof for lighting night work. 

Truck from Lego City Set 3677

Expedition Camper Van

There is only two vehicles left for me to show you after this one; and then, you'll have to wait until I add to my collection or that I present you a guest vehicle for you to read another post... But for now, this is the vehicle I worked on the most in my whole collection : my expedition ready extreme camper van. The base of the truck is Lego City Set Snow Plow 60083, with an added cab section and slightly extended. For the rear section, I used the caravan from Lego City Set 60117, which I modified to make it eight studs wide instead of six. Oh, and the spare wheel comes from Lego City Set 60126!

Lego Mod Expedition Camper Van

Red Motorbike

That's not because I have got a simple scooter and a bicycle that I don't have also a proper motorbike! And this one is... oh! Red! Like the other ones! How original! This civilian motorbike is the same model as the one originally developed for police use, and the custom made saddlebags have also been developed for those police bikes. 

Lego City Set 60000

It's easier for me to ride this type of bike since I got rid of my spare tire recently (though I still have the saddlebags!), but I'm also quite sedentary in the summer season (despite all those cars I own! How paradoxical!), and have yet to enjoy a long ride on my bike...

Digging Loaders

This thing is mean, badass and really powerful, and it has never seen a speck of dust! Despite me having my own construction and heavy machinery company, the present front loader is part of my private collection and like most of my vehicles, rarely used. I like heavy equipment for their sheer power, ingenuity and beauty, and collect them without necessarily having the need for their use!

Lego Technic Set 42032

Snowmobile

Still waiting for some snow here! In July, better be prepared for some disappointment though! Just a few words about my snowmobile, which I bought because I needed a 2 x 6 flat orange tile (the one I forgot to order) to complete my snow crawler number 2, and the present little set having even two of those, I just used the one that formed the base of the very simple trailer, and thus ended up having got this snowmobile, I didn't even need to take apart.

Note the front skis though : pretty interesting element that could be used in place of the front wheels of my half-track, to give the vehicle extra proficiency on snow and ice, and give it something of the look of the first vehicles of this type, in particular the ones engineered by Adolphe Kégresse for the Tsar of Russia is the early 20th century. (Although Kégresse's vehicles had skis underneath the front wheels, wheels that weren't removed, it still is an option for a half-track to have skis in lieu of wheels). I hope to show you this configuration in pictures, possibly on real snow! But in how many years?

Lego City Set 60032

Please, also note my only modification here, replacing the existing front red lights by white ones.

Half-Track

From Lego City Set 60071

There is I think, paradoxically, a sense of fragility and vulnerability in all armoured vehicles. Granted, when aboard them, you're protected from a greater or lesser amount of offensive weapons depending on the age of your vehicle and its type of armour, and you may have weapons aboard yourself. And yet, the fact that you are in such a vehicle in the first place, and that you are protected, and armed, is just a proof that you are a target from the start, for whatever reason, and all who try to destroy a target will find in the end a weak point to do so. 

You should certainly feel more vulnerable than protected if you were to go to war nowadays in an open style half-track vehicle such as mine. Even with a machine gun on the roof!

Fortunately, mine is just a civilian version which just happens to have a machine gun on the roof, more for looks than for anything else, and because all good half track must have one! 

This vehicle is, I guess, a MOD, for modified vehicle, as I worked on the base of the Lego half track from City Set 60071 and modified it. I made it longer, added two ladders to climb to the cab, made the bed bigger and added benches all around, added a gate at the rear which, when open, becomes a ladder to help you climb in. I fixed a winch in the front and beefed up the bumper. Oh, and did I mention the machine gun on the roof?

I do not own set 60071 and ordered from Lego the parts for this one (got the wrong wheels, asked for the right ones, got the right ones, and there we are).

Arctic Crawler 2

I had already got my first Arctic Crawler for two years maybe when I decided this wasn't a reason not to have a second one, especially this one which I found particularly attractive. Having no use for a plane though and no money to put in a plane or anything I don't need, I referred to the instructions for the crawler and ordered the parts needed directly from Lego. After some mishap due to the wrong type of wheels having been sent by Lego (but when I complained by email, they very rapidly contacted me back and sent me the right ones in the end), and when I had my hand on a 2 x 6 orange tile I had forgotten to order (so we're equal!), I finally managed to put that one together, added some details, and here we are!

From Lego City set 60064

I added two lights on the front, because when the blade is up you can't use the two original lights to light the road! I added the chimney stack and the antenna alongside it. I added the the roof rack to which the top of the chimney stack is secured. I added a short ladder to help me get to the roof where I placed two more lights to light the rear (very useful when you do some work by night, like looking for something in you trailer or securing it for instance), a small satellite dish and a couple more warning lights. The covered on the side contain a fire extinguisher, binoculars and a pick axe (I think!) and I have a pair of skis and batons inside the cab. You surely feel very secure and snow storm ready in this one, even in the worst arctic conditions!

There is only one seat in the middle of the cab, and you drive like you drive a tank, by using two control sticks. Let's hope for some snow this winter!