Founded by independent designer Daniel Siskind in 1999, Brickmania has become known for offering high quality building kits made from genuine LEGO® brand parts, but in subjects falling outside the company's official product line at the time of their release. These include medieval and renaissance castles, age of pirates and colonization and military models from World War I, World War II and modern warfare. 10:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. 952.854.9850 352 East Broadway Click here forparty details! Named after Major General William Lendrum “Billy” Mitchell, the North American B-25 Mitchell was one of the most prolific bombers of the Second World War, with almost 10,000 units produced and operating in every theatre of the war. The B-25 saw service until as late as 1979, giving it a four-decade long role in the skies, and this superb Lego version is a by Flickr’s Dornbi fitting tribute. There’s lots more to see at Dornbi’s photostream – click the link above to take off.
But it was made by a car manufacturer, and very probably their most famous product too. This is of course a Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter from the Second World War, and it’s been neatly recreated in Lego form by James C of MOCpages. James’ updated build includes a mini-figure pilot, working landing gear, and custom decals, and there’s more to see on MOCpages via the link above. The Ta-152 was the ultimate expression of Focke-Wulf’s Fw 190 fighter aeroplane of WW II. The particular version built by Maelven on Flickr is the Ta 152H, optimised for high altitude flight. The modifications included a pressurised cockpit, an increased wingspan and a Junkers Jumo 213E V12 engine with two speed, two stage supercharger and intercooler. With methanol-water & nitrous-oxide boost, the engine could produce 2,050PS and made the Ta 152 one of the fastest piston engined aeroplanes of the war with 472mph at 41,000 feet. Maelven has displayed his model with its cowling open, displaying the mighty engine.
What was the aircraft like to fly? This was described by the world’s most experienced test pilot and fluent German speaker, Capt. Eric Brown RN is this article. For more views of Maelven’s model, click this link. Image courtesy of FujiiaThis beautiful recreation of the Vought F4U4 Corsair is the work of Flickr’s Dornbi, making his return to TLCB. You can check out all of the images at Dornbi’s photostream – click the link above to make the trip. This modified garbage-can arrangement is apparently a Semovente M47 Audax Battle Mech. Created by Flickr’s Marco Marozzi, the Semovente was engineered after an alien ship crashed in Italy in 1933, following which the facist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini put it to work to reverse the losses Italy were facing in North Africa during World War 2. The mech and its backstory might be fictional, but sadly Mussolini wasn’t, joining forces with Hitler to regain an Italian empire during the Second World War, despite the fact he actually thought Hitler’s ‘Aryan race’ ideas were nonsense.
Still, a nice man he was not, brutally crushing all opposition to take absolute power, persecuting the Christian faith, and dividing Italy to create his own Italian Social Republic. The Italian King finally managed to overthrow Mussolini in 1943, upon which he was jailed – his new puppet state lasting just 19 months. The Germans helped him escape from prison in 1945, but the war was almost over and he was promptly recaptured and executed by Italian Communists. Had an alien ship really crashed in secret in 1933 though, the outcome of the War, and the future of Europe and North Africa, could have been very different… There’s more to see of Marco’s alternate dieselpunk reality on Flickr – click the link above to take a look. …but probably the most popular plane to appear here at The Lego Car Blog. Lego builders love the Mitsubishi Zero, and they keep finding new ways to recreate Japan’s most famous fighter. This version comes from MOCpages’ James C, and he’s captured the Zero’s iconic shape beautifully.
There’s more to see at his MOCpage – click the link above to fly over. “Like a Bat Out of Hell…”just like most of this B-25J’s brothers have gone to the great hangar in the sky. Despite a production run of nearly 10,000, which would be impressive for many of the marques of car that we feature here, there are fewer than 50 B-25 Mitchells left flying today. The B-25 first flew in 1940 and finally retired from military service in 1979. Being an unglamorous, workhorse, medium bomber, the B-25 didn’t get the fame of the fighters or the heavies such as the B-17 or B-24. However, it was famous for being flown off an aircraft carrier in Lt Col Jimmy Doolittle’s raid on Tokyo. Modern audiences will know it as the aircraft of Capt Yossarian in Joseph Heller’s classic “Catch-22”. The version featured here was built by Florida Shooter on MOCpages. He has built it in the markings of the 499th Bomber Squadron – “Bats Outta Hell” and we like how the squadron’s distinctive nose art has been brick-built, rather than applied with stickers.
The particular mark is the B-25J2, with the “strafer nose”. Click this link to view the detailed photos and see if you can spot all 18 of the aircraft’s Browning M2 machine guns. The Lego Car Blog has featured numerous Mitsubishi A6M Zeros over the years, and Flick’s Daniel Siskind has been refining his mini-figure scale version of the famous fighter aircraft for almost as long. This is his latest version, and it’s pretty much perfect. See more at his photostream via the link above. No, not that Black Friday. Our Elves are feeling quite sinister today (which means they might be plotting something), and thus we have a few dark and moody creations to share. First up is TLCB regular piratecox‘s superb hot rod hearse, giving mini-figures the chance to go out in style. It looks the perfect funeral vehicle for a chap like the one below, who mixes driving his brutal-looking rat rod pick-up with piloting a jet-black Corsair fighter plane. Sydag is the builder and you can see more of his stunning build on Flickr at the link above, whilst we try to work out what the Elves are up to…