Vehicles: light mods

[Werlu Ulcur]

Hey guys!

I don't know about you, but sometimes I think Lego designers could have done a little better when it comes to some parts of some sets. Case in point, a few of the vehicles in super-heroes' sets. Sometimes I look at a vehicle and find that there's just a little detail that's off, that could have been better to my eyes. I'm sure that many people wouldn't mind, but sometimes just a simple part swap will make a big difference. I'm not talking about accuracy to the real thing, since in most of the super-hero sets that Lego produces the vehicles aren't supposed to be a replica of a vehicle seen in the movies or comics. I'm fine with that, since if you want, you can replicate anything to your heart's content, and I like to see the ideas that Lego designers come up with - I usually really like their models. But sometimes things can be made better.

What made me come up with these photos and post was the Batmobile from "Batmobile and the Two-Face Chase" set (#6864). I loved the car, but something was off. And then I saw the problem: the yellow wheels. I swapped the wheels and the yellow headlights and changed a bit the fenders and voilà! The car shined:

The same happened with "Kryptonite Interception" (#76045). Though I'm aware that the car in the movie was not black but a dark grey (bley?), and that the front wheels should have some sort of armor, but a few part swaps and to my eyes the Lego version now looks better:

The Batbike (I don't know what to call it) from set "Gotham City Cycle Chase" (#76053) is a typical case of Lego's creativity IMO. As far as I know, there never was nothing similar to that in the movies or comics, but I really liked the model. However, the way Batman had to "hang on for dear life" to ride it bothered me, so using just a few parts from my parts bin it now looks nicer. I really like the "Full Throttle" (anyone remember that?) look of it.

I've seen quite a few renderings of Ghost Rider's flaming motorcycle in comics and cartoons, and being honest, none look very much like what Lego delivered us. And that's because traditionally, what is on fire are the wheels, something you'll never be able to reproduce in brick form unless you resort to pyrotechnics. So considering that, I say that Lego did a nice job with what they did in set "Spider-man: Ghost Rider Team-Up" (#76058). BUT, once again, I thought I could make it a little better:

As you can see, all the examples above are very slight modifications, what I call "light mods". Nothing major, just a few part swaps, but to my eyes the models look a little nicer now. One thing that I've noticed is that you have to have the model in hands and then, with your spare parts, start changing things to see what can be done. Sometimes what seems to be a good idea won't look very hot in brick form, so you have to try it out. These are just some really simple mods, basically cosmetic details, that usually requires just a few different parts that most of us will have in the bin. Right now I'm waiting for parts for the Batmobile from "Batman: The Riddler Chase" (#76012) and as soon as "Jokerland" (#76035) set arrives I'll also do a light mod to both of those Batmobiles. Can't show the #76012 Batmobile yet because I ran out of black wheels .

So, anyone else in the light mod business ? Sometimes you just need to see a photo of a moded model/set for things to click and you'll notice what your model needs to get better.

[Bricky Dee Williams]

I was mostly wowed by the BvS Batmobile. As soon as I saw it, something about it looked so elegant, it flows even better. Well done with all of them though, I have yet to open my Ghost Rider bike yet.

[fordtruckin]

Really nice and simple mods. Thanks for sharing. I agree yours look a lot better!

[bricklover]

Great job! The second one is my favorite.

[Werlu Ulcur]

Thanks guys!

I'm glad you enjoyed them. Hopefully these mods will serve as an idea for someone's future projects.

And about the BvS Batmobile, I did try to adapt some form of armor to the front wheels. Though it is possible, the solutions that I came up with made the car too bulky up front, ruining it's sleek look. So I opted to keep it less accurate but cleaner.

[r5-j2]

I did a MOD of the B.vsS. Batmobile ,but like you I couldn`t see a way to get the armour around the front wheels.There is space under the nose guns for attaching and also you have attachment possibilities where the clear headlight pieces are .But the vehicle`s scale is just a bit too small and makes things really awkward, I tried using mud-guard pieces but they didn`t work..anything else ,just looked over bulky!

IMG_1954 by kenny burns, on Flickr

IMG_1945 by kenny burns, on Flickr

[Werlu Ulcur]

r5, I tried to attach some sort of "floating" armor, like what we have in the back, using the front part (under the guns) as the anchoring point, but the wheels are too wide to accept anything like that, and the armor ended up looking like mere fenders. The other idea i had was to use the place where you have the clear 1×1 headlight as the anchoring point, but then things looked really bulky, so I also scratched that idea. I came to the conclusion that I would have to basically redesign the whole front end around the front armor, and that would be far from a light mod - almost getting into MOC territory.

Still, even without the front armor I really like the car the way it is.

PS: Nice touch with the exhausts at the back. I have to try that.

[Werlu Ulcur]

Yesterday my "Jokerland" (#76035) set arrived, so I spent last night and a good part of this afternoon working on that Batmobile. This is a very interesting version of the Batmobile, since it's basically based on the so called "Keaton Batmobile", the car that appeared on the films "Batman" (1989) and "Batman Returns" (1992). Of course you can find some VERY good MOCs of this car, much more accurate to the real thing, but this being a light mod, I think it came out ok:

Well, maybe it's a medium light mod, since I did make some structural changes, but it's basically the stock model without the bat wings and some part swaps. I have to admit this is now my favorite Batmobile so far, since I think I managed to make it look better and even a little bit more faithful to the real one.

[Buildingwon]

r5, I tried to attach some sort of "floating" armor, like what we have in the back, using the front part (under the guns) as the anchoring point, but the wheels are too wide to accept anything like that, and the armor ended up looking like mere fenders. The other idea i had was to use the place where you have the clear 1×1 headlight as the anchoring point, but then things looked really bulky, so I also scratched that idea. I came to the conclusion that I would have to basically redesign the whole front end around the front armor, and that would be far from a light mod - almost getting into MOC territory.

Still, even without the front armor I really like the car the way it is.

PS: Nice touch with the exhausts at the back. I have to try that.

I tried something extremely similar. Much too bulky. I haven't been able to find a way to make front armor without a total overhaul or adding bulk. Glad I'm not alone

[r5-j2]

Yesterday my "Jokerland" (#76035) set arrived, so I spent last night and a good part of this afternoon working on that Batmobile. This is a very interesting version of the Batmobile, since it's basically based on the so called "Keaton Batmobile", the car that appeared on the films "Batman" (1989) and "Batman Returns" (1992). Of course you can find some VERY good MOCs of this car, much more accurate to the real thing, but this being a light mod, I think it came out ok:

Well, maybe it's a medium light mod, since I did make some structural changes, but it's basically the stock model without the bat wings and some part swaps. I have to admit this is now my favorite Batmobile so far, since I think I managed to make it look better and even a little bit more faithful to the real one.

I fr#$*ing love this!!!... it`s a great link back to the Michael Keaton/ Tim Burton Batman movie (and losing the crazy wings doesn`t detract from the build at all! ).............it`s fantastic!!

Kenny.

Edited August 27, 2016 by r5-j2

[Werlu Ulcur]

Hey guys!

Another one. This time the most famous Batmobile of all: the 1966 TV series version (set "Batman Classic TV Series - Batcave" - #76052). I honestly thought that this one I would leave alone, but what assaulted my eyes were those two stud shooters on the hood. i understand the value of play features on a Lego model, but this feature ruined the car. So the first thing i did was remove both cannons. But it still looked a bit off, and after a few days of swapping parts, this is how it came out:

I also raised the edge of the hood and removed the red grills on the trunk, and added the yellow plate under the hood to mimic the cartoonish version of the car. You can see there's a little red bleeding from under the central part of the hood, but that's intentional. I though that a little "pin striping" would do nicely.

After I 'fixed" the hood and front, I still thought there was something wrong with it . A few days later I finally saw it: the car was too fat with the bley plates underneath. I just pulled them off (the model is still absolutely solid and swooshable) and now it looks much better:

Once again, nothing major, but now it looks a little better .

I fr#$*ing love this!!!... it`s a great link back to the Michael Keaton/ Tim Burton Batman movie (and losing the crazy wings doesn`t detract from the build at all! ).............it`s fantastic!!

Kenny.

Thanks Kenny! I have to admit that even after getting the 1966 version i still think the Keatonmobile is my favorite in Lego form.

[r5-j2]

Another great "tweek", but it does make you wonder if the LEGO design team are really fans of the "genre" that they are tasked with designing sets for. We look at these builds and see little imperfections that we can improve on, but they probably don`t see things the way that we do. Most of the mods that have been done wouldn`t add much (if anything at all ) to the production costs of a set. Sometimes it`s a simple color change that can make the difference!

Edited August 28, 2016 by r5-j2

[Werlu Ulcur]

Thanks r5!

But speculating on what you said, I think that Lego designers have a few constraints that we don't have. Cost sure is a very important one, but what I've done to the Barris Batmobile made it cheaper, since I basically deleted more parts then I added (and the ones I added are cheaper then the ones I removed). However, even if the model is now cheaper, it has less color and less features. We don't play with these sets, we basically build them and display them, but they're all intended to be played with by children. So I guess sometimes the designers are forced to choose who they want to please more.

[Werlu Ulcur]

Last one:

Finally received the windshield and stickers, so I could complete Batmobile from the Batman: The Riddler Chase set (#76012). Being honest, this is my least favorite of all my Batmobiles, because it's too big - almost not minifig-scale. Other then the size, what bothered me on the car was the use of translucent orange, specially the windshield. So the first order of business was swapping everything for a more "Batmanlike" color (yep, black):

Now, after I got rid of the orange and the gold rims, I think it looks much better.

With this I think I'm done with (minifig scale) Lego Batmobiles. I don't have sets "The Batman Dragster: Catwoman Pursuit" (#7779) or "The Batmobile: Two-Face's Escape" (#7781), but the first one I don't think is a Batmobile, and it looks ugly, and the second one, though it is a proper Batmobile, I think was a bad attempt in replicating the Kilmer version of the car. And yes, I sure do need a Tumbler, but that will have to be MOCed. Soon, I hope .

[daryen]

And yes, I sure do need a Tumbler, but that will have to be MOCed. Soon, I hope .

For a cheap starter effort, just make a black version of the Bane tumbler. Bonus points to modify it enough to allow Batman's cowl to fit.