I modded my Lego Armored Assault Tank 8018 with non-Lego bricks!

Hi there and welcome back to Bricks and Figs!  In case you are wondering, no, this is not a bootleg of the Lego Armored Assault Tank 8018 set.  It's the real deal, except I made some subtle changes and did it using some extra non Lego bricks.

This is  what the original 8018 Lego set looks like, here is a pic of the Star Wars assault tank  I found on the Internet.

And here's my version.  This tank lives in a parallel universe where  Star Wars doesn't exist.  Instead the tank is used by some members of bootleg Hazmat team.   Hey look, it's hovering!

A couple of days ago, I decided to resurrect the Assault Tank and had just about finished rebuilding the original version, when I tried moving it on my carpet floor.  Totally un-satisfying.   I thought to myself, how cool would it be to make the tank look like it was hovering off the ground.

As you can see, I kept about 90% of the original set design.  To make the tank look like it was hovering, I put some small wheels underneath, then proceeded to add an extra layer of skirting to hide the wheels.

In addition to the skirting, I replaced the round shield with a windscreen.  Other changes include changes to the secondary guns and the cladding on the primary gun.

Here's how you board the assault tank from the rear.  The door is in the open position in the above pic.

And here's the door in closed position.  The slope bricks flanking the entrance aren't Lego.

For easier access, you can access the inside by lifting the roof.

Here's a closeup shot of the front.

Side view with the primary gun in raised position.

The turret above rotates.  I'm planning on making the turret a bit wider and deeper so that a minifig can fit inside.

I've flipped the tank over so that you can see the underside.  More non Lego bricks here.  Actually I used some of the Pogo minifigure baseplates here.

These are the three wheels that I've added.

Hope you like my modded version of the Lego 8018 Armored Assault Tank.  See you next time!

Bela 10541 Emma's House and Enlighten 1119 Delivery Mashup

Yup, I did it again.  I made another little modular building by using parts from other building block sets.  In this case, I used parts from the Enlighten 1119 QM Delivery set and the Bela 10541 Emma's House set.  Let's do a quick review of the sets individually before I delve into my MOC.

Enlighten 1119 QM Delivery

Pictured above is the Enlighten 1119 Express Delivery building set.  The 337 piece set consists of a small delivery depot, a delivery truck and motorbike.  The set also includes 4 minifigures.  Sticker sheet is provided for the store signage and delivery truck.  Brick quality and clutch is good, consistent with the newer Enlighten block sets.  It's a set that is designed by Enlighten and not a bootleg of a Lego set.

I think this set cost me $16 USD which wasn't really that cheap.  I just checked Aliexpress and you can get this set for 13.75 now.  Here's the link if you are interested:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Ilumina-1119-Ciudad-Estacion-de-Entrega-Express-Courier-Camiones-Kits-de-Edificio-Modelo-Bloques-Minifigure-Ladrillo/32743362087.html

Anyways, I built the set and then promptly disassembled it, so I didn't really do a formal picture review of it.  The truck is nothing special and the shop is merely a door with some pillars without any walls or roof.  The minifigs are ok though.

Bela 10541 Emma's House

This set is a bootleg of Lego 41095 of the same name.  I reviewed my set here:
https://its-not-lego.blogspot.ca/2016/10/bela-10541-emmas-house-friends-building.html
After the review, I promptly stripped the set down for parts, and so I had a surplus of lavender coloured bricks which was hard to incorporate into my other building sets and MOCs.

The New MOC

So it kinda occurred to me that the orange and lavender coloured brick pieces might go together without looking too gross.  I followed my standard method of construction for a small modular:  ie.
using a 16x32 stud baseplate and making a little building that has a depth of about 16 to 18 studs.

The pieces that really define the Enlighten Delivery shop are the giant orange sign with uplighting and the orange door and awning.  As I designed my MOC, I decided to retain as much of the original look as possible. Essentially I was supplying the walls and roof that the original building was missing.  I was able to keep the front facade mostly orange and white with just a small lavender accent stripe.

Here's a corner view of my new MOC building.   You can see that the walls make good use of the lavender bricks from the Bela Emma's house.  In fact, because all the bricks are from the same set, there's no colour variations in the lavender, unlike some of my other MOC sets where I use bricks from different brands.

This is another side view of the building.  If you wanted to create a backstory for it, it could have previously been a beauty salon which was then converted into another type of store, maybe an ice cream shop or something.  Now, the building is back up for lease or sale.  That's why it's empty on the inside.

Here's the rear of the building with a back door.  I left a couple of orange bricks in, to make it look like the building has been repainted at some point.

As with all my MOCs, I make sure that the roof can be removed, for interior viewing and access.

 Right now the building is just being used for storage.

Here's the little store MOC placed next to my MOC KFC.   Sally the realtor is waiting for one of her clients to meet her for a viewing at the shop.

Hey, turns out the client was already here and checking out the rear of the building.  Well, there you have it.  Please let me know what you think of this little creation, and what kind of store I should turn it into.  Thanks for looking and visiting my Bricks and Figs blog!   See you next time.

Kopf Brand Canada Superhero Minifigures KF357 and KF358 Review

Hey bootleg brick fans!  A very long time ago, when I had just finished high school, I got hired by the now defunct toy maker Parker Brothers to give Yo-yo demonstrations.  I used to have to drive around towns and cities and perform yo-yo tricks in malls and toy stores.

In my off hours, I would visit book stores and buy their used comic books to read.  I remember coming across a Marvel series called Alpha Flight and it was all about these Canadian superheroes, which was pretty cool, me being Canadian and all.  Wolverine was actually in Alpha Flight before he became a member of the X-Men.

The leader of the Alpha Flight team was Guardian and so when his minifigure showed up on Aliexpress, I knew I had to get the minifigure of him.  That's him on the right with the Canadian flag on his uniform.

Another Canadian superhero is Captain Canuck who had his own comic but was not part of either the Marvel or DC franchises.  Both of these figures are part of Kopf's 8 minifg set KF6029.   Individually, Alpha Flight Guardian is KF357 and Captain Canuck is KF358. 

It should be noted that both of these Kopf figures are bootlegs of the custom designs by Engineerio.

 image source: ebay

image source: ebay

If you want to get the legit versions of Guardian and Captain Canuck, you can find them on Engineerio's ebay page here.

Here's a look at the backsides of each of the characters, Captain Canuck on the left and Guardian on the right.  FYI, Guardian never had a shield, especially not one so generic.  Engineerio's version didn't have one either, so not sure who decided to give him one.  Print quality is excellent on both of my bootleg figures.

And just so you know, they aren't the only Canadian superheroes.  Here's Deadpool and Wolverine with Captain Canuck and Guardian.

Update: Feb26 - I had a few people ask how to find these minifigs on Aliexpress.  You can search by the numbers "kf357", "kf358", or "alpha flight" or "captain canuck" in the Blocks category on Aliexpress.

Thanks for looking!