What do you do when you have too many old white bricks, that have yellowed to a point where they are really more tan like white? Yes, of course you could use hydrogen peroxide to whiten them again… but apart from that, if you don’t really want all the hassle? Build something that looks suitingly rundown and neglected! Something where the word shabby really fits as a description. Something like… Ulf’s Garage!
I had the idea for the character of Ulf a while ago, when I rewatched the (relatively unknown) German 90s comedy Kleine Haie. The protagonist is hitchhiking to Munich and gets picked up by a wild looking rocker in a Camaro, who drinks beer while driving and plays metal at a deafening volume. A hilarious scene – and the Motorcycle Mechanic from the collectible Minifigures Series 10 looks just like him! The only thing I had to change was giving him proper long hair! (and maybe give him a black muscle car later as well!).
What the film-Ulf does for a living isn’t revealed and doesn’t really matter. My Lego version though, apart from being the roadie of the band Damage Case, runs a shady little garage in the outskirts. The sort of place where you pay in cash and don’t get asked questions.
He also has a trainee, who might not be the most motivated person in the world, but at least he can stay inside in the dark and play with his pet spider and doesn’t has to talk to people.
He is also quite often told to go somewhere (doesn’t matters really where) or look away for a while, when there is some “special” job to do. It works well for him and leaves him plenty of time to read some Poe or Lovecraft or write depressive songs – and the pay is good!
Ok, sometimes Ulf has regular clients as well.
I kept the look and feel of this build intentionally oldschool and simple. As mentioned above, it is mainly a project to use up some old pieces I had leftover and to add some shadiness to my Lego City collection. And I think it does that pretty well. Ironically, a lot of the pieces originally belong to the Police Station from 1983. I’m sure some of you have noticed. I am especially delighted that, after all these years, I still had all the pieces for the rolling shutter gate! The spanner-sign outside is from a breakdown service car and the quite unique blue jack is – surprise surprise: from an actual car repair set. Who would have thought that!
Little Worlds 