Lego Carbon Racers: Tan Commander

I had a different model in mind for this week's Lego Carbon Racers blueprint. However, as I prepared to assemble the post, I realized it'd be coming out on Memorial Day Weekend; what better way to commemorate the military than with a combat model, the Tan Commander? (That's a rhetorical question, BTW. There are plenty of better ways of commemorating the military.)

Although I believe this was a model I built later in my Carbon Racers series, it didn't get shorted on good parts--in my opinion.

Yes, that's a missile pod in the truck bed. This might not be my largest model, but it's no sissy.

Another model that looks pretty darn good when it's spinning out of control.

The Tan Commander is kind of based on a real-life Humvee and on this truck from Lego Tiny Turbos set 8681, Tuner Garage. I actually had this set; I begged my parents for it, and the night before my birthday, two of my three dreams involved me getting the set as a present. Apparently, that tipped the odds in my favor, for I unwrapped Tuner Garage the next morning, and it was the best thing ever (although, for some reason, one of the big billboard pieces was missing; Lego, what was up with that?). Just looking at the art for this set is bringing back great memories.

You know, I probably could've put that sloped piece in Step 1 instead of Step 2 . . . nah, that'd be too much for the first step. Never mind.

You could also use square 1x1 black (or tan) pieces for Step 4 instead of round ones. I just have more round ones--and I also think they look pretty good anyway.

Does it usually take this long for colored pieces to enter the blueprint? Also, why on earth didn't I combine these two steps into one?

Bumper!

Bumper attached! Looks formidable.

Building up the cab and the truck bed. I'm pretty sure those 1x2 clips in Step 12 came out after the Tiny Turbos line had concluded; can you imagine what kinds of cars we would've gotten with those? Well . . . with Carbon Racers, I guess you don't have to imagine.

Did this have to be its own step?

Missile pod! I keep thinking of the Jericho missiles from Iron Man when I see this part.

Those bars in Step 18 really bring the whole military truck look together for me.

That antenna makes a nice roof-mounted machine gun; it could even be a remote-control turret. Do military trucks have those? I thought they did. It'd be expensive but safer.

Let's put the spotlight on this spotlight . . .

Add the spotlight, tires, and wheels, and we're done! It's nice to have a model that has these all-terrain tires; the last Carbon Racer I used them for was the Brown Beaver, and that was only because they gave the lowriding car a little ground clearance.

Happy Memorial Day, everybody (unless you're not reading this on Memorial Day)! I hope you enjoy the Tan Commander. We'll return to the planned post lineup next time, but stay tuned; this isn't the last military vehicle. There's also a tank.