The Desert Run 5000

[LittleJohn]

My latest free-build for Kaliphlin, and also an entry for Classic-Castle's Flag of Your Kingdom Contest. The ostrich rider design was borrowed from Kayne.

I would like to claim UoP credit for: General Building, Minifig Posing.


The Duke of Ferrari is well known for his annual Desert Run 5000 and the competition is stiff this year. Ferrari’s representative is in the lead, while the ostrich and camel rider are not far behind! The mummy with his scorpion chariot, however, is a full lap behind the rest of the competitors.

















There are more pictures on brickbuilt.
Thanks for looking, your comments and suggestions are always appreciated

Edited September 22, 2016 by LittleJohn

[TitusV]

Very Nice build, with my favoured detail being the watertrough!

[Henjin_Quilones]

This is a fun build, nicely incorporating some elements from modern race sets with the days of yore in Historica. I was hoping the duke would have a horse-emblazoned Ferrari shirt on, though, rather than just his red armor...

But seriously, this is well-done. The red looks good as an accent color throughout, appropriate to the Ferrari theme, and are those stacked tiles creating the brick effect on the corners? There looks to be too much of a groove to be mere plates. It looks great either way. There are many lovely details, like the brown flower pieces on the duke's canopy and the staggered stands to create an angled racecourse. My one real complaint is that I do not like the solid blue for water in the water trough; I would have preferred some type of trans-blue to be used, but it is a good detail anyway. Also, (and I think there is no way around this so I am not sure it is a fair complaint,) it seems remarkably static for a race scene; the horses are the only steeds that look to be moving in any way, with the camel, ostrich, and scorpions all looking like they are just standing there. That is the fault of the pieces, since they are made that way, but I wish there were some way to imply that they are all hurtling along at breakneck speed instead of perhaps being out for a leisurely stroll. The crowd, though, is full of action, and looks very vibrant, though it would be nice if they were also wearing Ferrari clothing (or perhaps representing the other teams, too, a bit more obviously--besides the mummies, of course).

I also love the two chariots, especially the mummy's. The way you hooked up a team of scorpions is delightful! Another great build from you, LJ.

[Kai NRG]

Very creative build LJ, and lots of neat techniques to look at - I really like the 1x1 rounds inside the donut pieces (or whatever 2x2 round tiles with holes are called). The Ferrari chariot is really well done too!

+1 for the UoP credit!

[Graham Gidman]

Such a clever idea, and executed nicely. Well done, John!

[Brandon Stark]

I really like the idea of this, as you took something modern and fit it into the medieval world of Historica. The roof technique is also something I don't see often. A nice addition is the scorpion pulled chariot, which I have to admit is pretty funny.

[gedren_y]

UoP DoH +1

[LittleJohn]

On 9/20/2016 at 2:42 PM, TitusV said:

Very Nice build, with my favoured detail being the watertrough!

Thanks Titus! Glad you like the water-trough, that was one of my favorite parts too

On 9/20/2016 at 3:45 PM, Henjin_Quilones said:

This is a fun build, nicely incorporating some elements from modern race sets with the days of yore in Historica. I was hoping the duke would have a horse-emblazoned Ferrari shirt on, though, rather than just his red armor...

But seriously, this is well-done. The red looks good as an accent color throughout, appropriate to the Ferrari theme, and are those stacked tiles creating the brick effect on the corners? There looks to be too much of a groove to be mere plates. It looks great either way. There are many lovely details, like the brown flower pieces on the duke's canopy and the staggered stands to create an angled racecourse. My one real complaint is that I do not like the solid blue for water in the water trough; I would have preferred some type of trans-blue to be used, but it is a good detail anyway. Also, (and I think there is no way around this so I am not sure it is a fair complaint,) it seems remarkably static for a race scene; the horses are the only steeds that look to be moving in any way, with the camel, ostrich, and scorpions all looking like they are just standing there. That is the fault of the pieces, since they are made that way, but I wish there were some way to imply that they are all hurtling along at breakneck speed instead of perhaps being out for a leisurely stroll. The crowd, though, is full of action, and looks very vibrant, though it would be nice if they were also wearing Ferrari clothing (or perhaps representing the other teams, too, a bit more obviously--besides the mummies, of course).

I also love the two chariots, especially the mummy's. The way you hooked up a team of scorpions is delightful! Another great build from you, LJ.

Thank you, Henjin! They are indeed tiles at the corners of the tower. I would've given the duke a Ferrari shirt, but we only had two and I really wanted the racer and his pit-stop companion to be wearing them Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll keep them in mind for next time!

On 9/20/2016 at 4:30 PM, Kai NRG said:

Very creative build LJ, and lots of neat techniques to look at - I really like the 1x1 rounds inside the donut pieces (or whatever 2x2 round tiles with holes are called). The Ferrari chariot is really well done too!

+1 for the UoP credit!

Thanks Kai! It was fun getting to use those inverted quarter dome pieces for the chariot

On 9/20/2016 at 8:20 PM, Graham Gidman said:

Such a clever idea, and executed nicely. Well done, John!

Thanks Graham! Glad you like it

On 9/20/2016 at 8:35 PM, Brandon Stark said:

I really like the idea of this, as you took something modern and fit it into the medieval world of Historica. The roof technique is also something I don't see often. A nice addition is the scorpion pulled chariot, which I have to admit is pretty funny.

Thank you, Brandon!

On 9/20/2016 at 9:17 PM, gedren_y said:

UoP DoH +1

Thanks gedren

[Gunman]

Sweet build there mate :)

[soccerkid6]

Love the brickwork with red and tan Very nicely incorporated printed parts, they fit the medieval setting surprisingly well.

 The drummer up in the tower is great

[LittleJohn]

On 9/22/2016 at 10:36 AM, Gunman said:

Sweet build there mate :)

Thanks Gunman!

On 9/22/2016 at 3:27 PM, soccerkid6 said:

Love the brickwork with red and tan Very nicely incorporated printed parts, they fit the medieval setting surprisingly well.

 The drummer up in the tower is great

Thanks Isaac! It was fun to finally use a bunch of those red 1x2 tiles from the PaB wall