Lego scale models of aircraft and helicopters (warning: photo heavy)

[Ralph_S]

After mainly lurking on Eurobricks for the last three years I was drawn out by the current hot rod contest. I've already posted some of my cars in the town and train section of the forum, but suspect that my aircraft are perhaps better known. They don't really belong in town, some I am posting them here separately.

B-1B Lancer flanked by an F-15E Eagle and F-16C Fighting Falcon

F-14D Super Tomcat "Vandy One"

(an earlier version of this aircraft was in brickjournal issue 2)

Su-27 "Flanker-B"

E-2C Hawkeye

CH-46E Sea Knight

Mi-24V "Hind-E"

More pictures can be found in my wings and rotors photosets on flickr as well as in my brickshelf folder (link in my signature)

They're all built as close as I could to 1/36 scale. Before you ask, the cockpit canopies aren't LEGO. I know purists don't like that, but sculpting them out of transparent plate or trying to use star wars canopies, for instance, in most cases simply wouldn't give a result that looks realistic enough.

Tell me what you think,

Cheers,

Ralph

[goggleson]

:'-) These are the best jets I've ever seen! Welcome to eurobricks http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showforum=17 < you should make a thread there so we know you better.

I love the way you've used bricks where some people would use stickers! :'-)

[Clonecommando007]

Wow! These are amazing!

I'm a huge aircraft fan, and I love your attention to detail in all of these! Aircraft carrier tailhooks, accurate custom cut canopies, proper decals, accurate sizes, these are great!

I know it would be a huge burden but if you ever put up instructions for these, let me know. :-P Great job!

[Blitz]

That was so great!The planes are heavily detailed and i especially luv that Playboy avatar!!! *sweet* It is also a nice idea to make the window with transparent circle bricks.So great job!

[xwingyoda]

Hey Ralph I always was amazed by your sweet fighter planes on BS !!

Its great you post them here !!

You rendered my favorite fighter plane so well its amazing !! Talking about Grumman's F-14 aka Tomcat !! My fav version is the original F-14A in the original colour !! You D version is pretty sweet and that Playboy logo rocks on its tail :-D

Your B1 is also amazing.

Its incredible how you manage those opening wings so well and the scaling is really top notch !!

Here is one for Sne :-P Our Phantom nerd maniac !!

So what will be your future planes ?

Tks for sharing Ralph !

*yoda*

[Ralph_S]

Hey Ralph I always was amazed by your sweet fighter planes on BS !!

Its great you post them here !!

You rendered my favorite fighter plane so well its amazing !! Talking about Grumman's F-14 aka Tomcat !! My fav version is the original F-14A in the original colour !! You D version is pretty sweet and that Playboy logo rocks on its tail :-D

Your B1 is also amazing.

Its incredible how you manage those opening wings so well and the scaling is really top notch !!

Here is one for Sne :-P Our Phantom nerd maniac !!

So what will be your future planes ?

Tks for sharing Ralph !

*yoda*

The playboy logo on my F-14D was a fairly recent addition. The US navy had a single black Tomcat with a Playboy bunny until around 1992, when the bunny was removed in a wave of political correctness that also involved changing squadron names and logos that in some way involved the devil. American politics, sheesh! Anyway, roughly ten years later it reappeared. I recently gave my F-14D a little upgrade, rebuilding the tailfins in the process. That required new stickers and that was as good a time as any to also give mine Playboy bunny markings.

My future plans are constantly changing. At the moment I'm working on a UH-3H Sea King and I'm sure I'll build more helicopters in the non-too-distant future, for instance an AH-1W Super Cobra or perhaps even a CH-53E Super Stallion -provided I can figure out how to build a folding seven-bladed main rotor. As far as jets are concerned, I'm thinking about an AV-8B Harrier II and in the longer term possibly an F-22 Raptor. If you were to ask me the same question a few weeks from now, I may very well say something different, though.

Cheers,

Ralph

[Palin Jax]

Before today, I thought that I had scene some really cool stuff. I might have even believed I myself had concocted some cool stuff. I can now no longer feel that same way. Impressive can not begin to describe your moc's, nor can any word in our English language. I hope Lego will look into this genre of creation, though I digress, because in all honesty, Lego could never produce anything this spectacular... as your work. A sincere set of master pieces ( )... To the art of war!

[Asuka]

These´re for sure the most impressive and detailed aircrafts I´ve ever seen made of LEGO, simply a stunning and plain

beautiful work. I look forward to your future work, especially, perhaps, to your rendering of the very interesting F-22 Raptor....

The only thing where I would like to see some improvement, if possible, is for the way you present your work. Although

the picture quality´s very fine, I thought while I browsed through your folders how useful and wonderful it would be to

be able to see them, additionally, in a bigger size, just to study your brilliant techniques more closely.... Some more

detail shots could work fine as well....

[Ralph_S]

Before today, I thought that I had scene some really cool stuff. I might have even believed I myself had concocted some cool stuff. I can now no longer feel that same way. Impressive can not begin to describe your moc's, nor can any word in our English language. I hope Lego will look into this genre of creation, though I digress, because in all honesty, Lego could never produce anything this spectacular... as your work. A sincere set of master pieces ( )... To the art of war!

Thanks

Lego officially don't do military stuff, although I suppose their Indiana Jones sets could qualify as such. They also did the quite wonderful Red Baron and Sopwith Camel a few years ago, so it would seem they're not completely opposed to classic military aircraft. I would love to see a LEGO P-51 Mustang or Spitfire One can always dream....

These´re for sure the most impressive and detailed aircrafts I´ve ever seen made of LEGO, simply a stunning and plain

beautiful work. I look forward to your future work, especially, perhaps, to your rendering of the very interesting F-22 Raptor....

The only thing where I would like to see some improvement, if possible, is for the way you present your work. Although

the picture quality´s very fine, I thought while I browsed through your folders how useful and wonderful it would be to

be able to see them, additionally, in a bigger size, just to study your brilliant techniques more closely.... Some more

detail shots could work fine as well....

Thanks for the tip and the compliments. Most of the pictures should be available in higher resolution on flickr (just click 'all sizes' above the pictures) so that should help somewhat. I've taken some detail pictures of the landing gears and such of many of my older aircraft, which you can find in my brickshelf folder

I can, of course, make some more detailed pictures, although it'll take a while. There are quite a lot of them after all, and taking pictures really isn't my hobby.

The F-22 will take a while. I've been thinking and planning for months, but it just has too many things that I haven't figured out how to do yet, such as the cockpit canopy and the undercarriage. At the moment I am also running very low on grey LEGO. I think I have about four 1x2 plates left

Cheers,

Ralph

[Asuka]

Most of the pictures should be available in higher resolution on flickr (just click 'all sizes' above the pictures) so that should help somewhat. I've taken some detail pictures of the landing gears and such of many of my older aircraft, which you can find in my brickshelf folder

Strangely that´s exactly the feature I miss on your flickr folders, although I´m well able to see it on other persons flickr....

However, thank you for that BS link, although it seems from what I´ve seen by now that most pictures there´re only available

in one size though.... nevermind.

Good luck with your brick restocking mission, Wing Commander.

[Ralph_S]

Strangely that´s exactly the feature I miss on your flickr folders, although I´m well able to see it on other persons flickr....

However, thank you for that BS link, although it seems from what I´ve seen by now that most pictures there´re only available

in one size though.... nevermind.

Good luck with your brick restocking mission, Wing Commander.

My older pictures on flickr (including those of the B-1 and the Su-27) are all 640x480 and all my pictures on brickshelf are too, simply because I took them at that resolution. My newer pictures on flickr are larger. However, I've disabled downloads for people who are not on my contact list, because I was fed up with people copying my pictures (mainly on MOCpages). Perhaps that's reason why you can't see the high resolution pictures. Send me a flickrmail or comment on one of my pictures and I'll add you to the list.

Cheers,

Ralph

[Capn Frank]

Great work Ralph!

This is very impressive.

I've seen the F-16 up close.

Knowing it's one of the smaller jets used by the USAF, i was taken back by its large size!

It looks like you've done a great job at making these MOCs Mini-Fig Scale.

I love the Chinook too.

That's awesome how you've made the propellers able to fold.

[Ralph_S]

Great work Ralph!

This is very impressive.

I've seen the F-16 up close.

Knowing it's one of the smaller jets used by the USAF, i was taken back by its large size!

It looks like you've done a great job at making these MOCs Mini-Fig Scale.

I love the Chinook too.

That's awesome how you've made the propellers able to fold.

Thanks. They're actually bigger than minifig scale. Of course people have different views on what minifig scale really is because the figures have somewhat awkward proportions. I'd say anything between 1/40 and 1/45 is reasonable. My planes are 1/36. I know, a silly size, but its just about big enough for me to add things working landing gears on the smaller jets such as the F-16 or F-5s and yet small enough for me to be able to build big aircraft such as the B-1B.

BTW, the 'Chinook' is not Chinook, but its smaller and lesser known cousin: the Sea Knight. It has folding rotor blades because it's a ship-based helicopter.

Cheers,

Ralph

[zero1312]

Now these are perfectly flawless, no complain here.

I'd love to build one myself, but it might be too much

asking for instructions.

[Darth_Legois]

I've seen your HiND-E on Brickshelf it looks SWEET!!!!!

[Ralph_S]

Now these are perfectly flawless, no complain here.

I'd love to build one myself, but it might be too much

asking for instructions.

Yes. I'm afraid so. I've been asked for instructions many times and my answer is always the same: I never make them. I'd rather spend my time building than fiddling around with a CAD program. It may not be immediately obvious, but these things tend to be complicated, which turns making instructions for them a pretty big job.

I've seen your HiND-E on Brickshelf it looks SWEET!!!!!

Thanks. Quite a few people built Hinds with LEGO before I did, but many of the models weren't all that realistic. People spend a lot of time and effort building the front end and then forget about the tail. The only two that I really liked are this one by Ciamoslaw Ciamek and inevitably the CAD model by Bryce Rollins. I got my hands on some sand green and decided to try whether I could do one that I liked better. You'll see some similarities with the other two, without a doubt, but I think I managed to gave it my own little twist.

Cheers,

Ralph