Modulex Motorsports: Taking the Pole Position in Sculpting Formula 1 Cars

Strolling the aisles of Brickworld Chicago is always an experience. Rows and rows of tables, each with LEGO MOCs more impressive than the next, invite the public to lose themselves in a sea of bricks that is hard to stand out from. Yet every year there is an individual that manages to do just so, and so it came as no surprise that I found myself returning to Chris Rozek’s display again and again.

No stranger to Brickworld—he is featured on their website, rocking a life-size brick-built guitar, and has been nominated for the coveted Brickworld Master award before—Chris is what I’d consider an anomaly in the AFOL community. He refers to himself as an AFOOL, an Adult Fan Of Old LEGO, and as such, is a respected collector of some of the oldest and most obscure LEGO items out there. His basement’s display cases are filled to the brim with wooden toys, Town Plan era 1:87 cars, and—as you will soon see—he also dabbles in collecting Modulex, that often-forgotten architecture-focused offspring popular with, of all things, modular planners.

What makes him an anomaly, though, is the fact that these treasures actually see the light of day. Rarely do you see Modulex on display, and even rarer do you see it being used in a MOC. Some builders own a handful of Modulex, some own enough to build a small MOC (here’s a Flickr group celebrating both). Chris however has spent years amassing his collection, most of it all the way from Europe. So it is only fitting that what I kept coming back to was a replica of an iconic Italian race car:

A self-described “big car guy, race fan, petrol head“, Chris is no stranger to building LEGO cars. When we chatted, he said he loves merging his two passions as it gives him a way to own a dream car that he could never afford in real life:

“Can’t buy a one million dollar Ferrari? Well, might as well build one!”

I’d argue that Modulex can’t be that much cheaper but it surely makes for a more unique display. Motivated to take Modulex off the beaten path of architecture and mosaic models and wanting to move the needle in regard to what was possible, he needed a curvy subject matter in a unique color with an interesting scale. Being a lover of Formula 1 and having collected a lot of red parts over the years made the choice of car quite obvious:

The Ferrari 640 was Ferrari’s bid for the 1989 Formula One World Championship, winning three races that year. Consequently also known as the Ferrari F1-89, it was considered a shining example of engineering and aerodynamics and pioneered the semi-automatic gearbox. 

By Maurizio Cefariello - Nigel Mansell Ferrari F1, CC BY 2.0

Chris’ model might lack the gearbox but the aerodynamics are undeniable. And those weren’t easy to get right:

“The real F1 car is curvy and building with blocks is not. It does help that I have a Tamiya 1/20 scale diecast model of the car that I could use as a reference model.”

Taking basic measurements and building test sections might sound like an easy affair in theory but it is a long-winded process, often requiring redoing whole sections, and something that took Chris months to finish. It’s a lot of trial and error, staring at reference imagery and trying to get it just right: 

“I am very visual when it comes to design other than sketches, so I like to look at photos of the real car, and I like to do test models. Often times I just use whatever random color of parts to just try to achieve shapes, and then I will replicate to the final color.“

While he didn’t have before-and-after images of his F1 car to share, Chris was kind enough to share some shots of when he was working on his Porsche 911 RAUH-Welt Begriff “Nakai“, illustrating that process where colorful placeholders sooner or later turn into an automotive masterpiece:

If one digs deep enough into his Instagram channel, one does get treated with a few teasers of Chris working on the Modulex car. Starting out with just the tires, soon the car takes shape—clearly still waiting for pieces to arrive. And there’s something beautiful in sketching on a clear baseplate, isn’t there?

The inherently retro-looking studs-up design, incredibly reminiscent of what you’d find in a LEGOLAND Miniland model, makes for an eye-catching design in the nowadays world of smooth curves and tiled surfaces. And while Chris briefly considered using tiles, leaning into the Miniland style was an interesting change for someone who clearly mastered replicating clean and studless lines in LEGO.

What also made the MOC stand out for me was the fact that Chris chose to present it on a black base, evoking the tarmac of the race tracks this car would have called home. The clean Modulex lettering just adds to the presentation and completely elevates the model. It’s interesting as it’s another clue to how intertwined Chris’ various interests are:

“I feel like a high-quality model needs a nice base to sit on. In the model car world, high-quality cars come with a nice base for the car to sit on.“

Something that might be hard to believe is how accurately some of the details were captured. The car looks stunning from both front and back:

Chris’ favorite detail however is located somewhere else, and being the collector of rare oddities, it came as no surprise that it featured rare elements: 

“My favorite detail is the interior. I managed to use some of the rare Modulex slopes and brackets to make the seat and steering wheel.“

“What can be conceived can be created“—what was once a great tagline for Ferrari ads in 1982 now perfectly sums up what Chris has achieved here: A crazy idea of taking Modulex into uncharted territory turns his Modulex Ferrari F1-89 640 into a gorgeous tribute to both an icon of motorsport as well as an almost forgotten part of The LEGO Group’s history. I for once would welcome more such Modulex Motorsports endeavours!

Best of BrickNerd - Article originally published January 18, 2023.

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