Main Battle Tank!

A Main Battle tank by knock-off brand E.Z.Blox we substantially improved. More informations in the form of photos or a video might come soon. 

Tracked Backhoe Loader

Today we’ll have a look at two tractors, and among them one more specifically.

The red tractor on the left is one I got in 2009 when it came out. It has barely got modified since then, and I added a front bucket to it very recently.

The yellow one is a brand new custom model, in fact a backhoe loader I made based on the red tractor.

As you can see, it is also equipped with tracks instead of tires, giving it more off-road capabilities on mucky grounds, allowing it to stear more easily in tricky environements and even permitting it to U-turn on the spot, which can be invaluable to do on a narrow cliff-edge mountain road. Oh, OK, the true reason why it has tracks is because I love tracked vehicles.

Here it is again with all arms deployed.

As for the chrome chimney stack and the “50” sign on the rear, they’re here more for the looks than for anything else!

The tractor is able to do real work though.

To use the rear digger, you first have to rest your front bucket flat on the ground and lower the rear outriggers to add more stabiliy to the machine.

The cab is equiped with levers instead of the stearing wheel you’d find on a classic tractor.

Operating with the cab removed is by the way a very nice thing to do in summer, adding also a very different retro look to the machine, though I’m afraid modern health and safety regulations wouldn’t allow it on a work site!

At last, here we are off-road pretending to do some real work. (The backhoe loader belongs to my personal collection and not to my construction company and probably won’t see any real construction site any time soon.)

The old lady I met and her dog and myself posing in front of the backhoe with the shell we found when moving stones around.

I hope you enjoyed the tractor and the presentation!

Finally, if you’d like to see the machine in action in a video, here it is :

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.

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

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!

Arctic Crawler

Without further ado, this is the first vehicle I bought in 2013, was it? I still enjoy it very much, and it is an early testimony to my taste for tracked vehicles. It is so well done I didn't modify it, just added the yellow and blue warning lights on the roof, and that's it!

Lego City set 60033

This very nice and compact vehicle is quite useful to patrol the grounds around the palace of Versailles where a lot of marshy and boggy areas remain. It may come in handy in case of snow as well, but I'm not even sure there was snow in Versailles since I own this crawler. Or maybe once? Anyway, the bed (as they say in the US) is quite helpful for transporting goods or men alike -- although I suppose not that confortable for the latter; but I usually drive myself or don't ride at all. So, who cares?

Versatile, solid and easy to drive (the crawler is equipped with a steering wheel), this vehicle remains one of my favorites in my entire collection.

Please, note that all the vehicles presented on this blog are my own personal ones and may not be bought, rented nor borrowed. On demand tours of my collection may be available for VIPs only. If you are interested or have any question about the vehicles, please contact my staff or my secretariat.