For those of you who miss the work of the amazingly talented Firas Abu-Jaber (currently inactive but the elves beg for his return), here’s a rather fine Ferrari F50 from StarScream Soundwave (now that’s a name!) in a familiar style. Enjoy it at MOCpages.
MOCpages hasn’t been fixed for a week yet, and already the LEGO Community has moved onto a new calamity. You see, a crisis has arisen on Flickr. Well, we say crisis, in reality it’s no more than some children (AFOLs actually – but we amount to the same thing) getting annoyed at Flickr upgrading the site to make it more mobile-device friendly. AFOLs don’t like change. It’s like our kryptonite or something.
As such there are rumblings of an exodus not seen since Moses asked Pharaoh to let his people go. Why does this matter? Well, Flickr is one of the largest LEGO communities on the web, and as such it provides over half the creations for The Lego Car Blog (just take a look through past months’ posts to see its influence).
We’ll be monitoring the situation, and if it appears that we need to redirect a few Elves to a new photo-sharing website (e.g. ipernity) we’ll ensure we give them a nudge in the right direction.
So how can you help? Let us know if you, or others in your LEGO community, are going to make a move from Flickr to another photo-sharing site, or if you are going to stay Flickr-ing and wait for the storm to pass.
Wherever you choose to call your home though, we’ll continue bringing you the best LEGO vehicles that the web has to offer.
*Or don’t – it’s not sinking, management has just changed the lunch menu.
A double post today, to stop the two Elves that found these fighting over who gets their find published first. On the left we have Fredoichi‘s ‘MicRod’ (Micro Hot Rod), which seems to find a use for all those fiddly little parts that we can never be bothered with. On the right is Thietmaier‘s Tractor, which he rather accurately describes as ‘small, red, and a little ugly’. Swap the colour and it describes the Elf that found it too. See more of both creations on Flickr.
Picture courtesy of PetricaK
Today a rather exciting milestone was reached here at The Lego Car Blog. We’ve published five hundred posts! Well, five hundred and one including this one, but that’s not as snappy a title. Fittingly it’s one of of our newest writers who hit the big five-oh-oh too.
So a rare congratulations to the Elves (we may get them a cake, if we’re feeling generous), and also to you, our readers, without whom we’d have no reason to write. You’ve also contributed 40 or so suggestions to the grand total! (But you don’t get cake.)
As always, keep your suggestions coming, and if you’re interested in joining the team here at The Lego Car Blog, get our attention via the Feedback page in the main menu.
Building classic cars in LEGO is fun, largely because a lot of LEGO’s newer smooth pieces look perfectly designed to end up on a mid-’30s roadster.
Here’s a beautiful example of the above; a dinky classic ’30s roadster by Xtopher. See more at MOCpages by clicking the link.
Well, it is a Lamborghini, after all. It’s a Technic Supercar too, with the full suite of steering, engine, gearbox (5+R) and suspension – the latter by pushrods, no less. Francisco Hartley is your guide to its many secrets.
This magnificent wartime Opel Blitz supply truck is the work of Vibor Cavor aka Veeborg on Flickr. We’ve featured a few of his models on The Lego Car Blog before, but this one made our jaws hit the floor in awe. It might just be the best truck we’ve ever blogged. We can’t come close to doing it justice here, so head over to Vibor’s photostream for all the images and details. We’ll see you there.
What is it with you lot? All the Elves are finding on MOCpages, Flickr and Brickshelf are machines of death. And we’ve stopped them watching war movies so we know it’s not TV’s fault. This particular one is a KZKT Rusich Tank Transporter made by Sariel, and it’s a follow-up to his previous K2 Black Panther Tank. It’s truly humongous too; we’ve cut the tank-transporting trailer out of this post so it fits on the page! See the full model on MOCpages here.
And will someone please build something more peaceful! Preferably with swirly paint on the outside and hippies on the inside.
This ridiculously fun looking buggy is apparently Light Strike Vehicle (LSV), as used by the Singapore Army. To us it appears to be a Baja Racer with a gun mounted on the front, and is therefore probably the most masculine thing we’ve blogged since the ThunderCougarFalconBird. See more at LP Technic’s MOCpage.
Following last week’s Mech Monday we’ve continued the alliterative theme with today’s post. It’s also a little heavier in tone than normal, but occasionally we like to shine a light where we can. If it’s not your bag then please skip this text and normal service will be resumed shortly!
First up is Mad Physicist’s P-61 ‘Black Widow’ diorama, complete with Willis Jeep and refuelling tanker. The Northrop P-61 was the first aircraft specifically designed to use radar, intercepting enemy aircraft at night and allowing Allied fighters to do their stuff. Used in the Pacific in response to the atrocities committed by Japan (the Nazi’s murdered 26 million people during World War 2, Japan – often forgotten – murdered 30 million) it proved effective, being used right up until the Japanese surrender. At which point the U.S undid all their good work and granted immunity to those responsible for torture, rape, and biological and chemical weapons testing (on civilians) in return for the ‘research’ data. Yay America.
Which brings us onto the second of today’s posts, a superb Soviet T-72 AV tank by Chris L. Sold by Russia to various dubious regimes, the T-72 is currently in action in Syria, the Government of which is using chemical weapons against its own people. Syria largely buys its weapons from Russia, which developed its chemical weapons during the Cold War in response to the U.S. And as we know, the U.S got much of its chemical and biological weapons research via the immunity granted to Japan upon surrender. So there we have it; two models, 40 years apart, from rival superpowers, linked by mankind’s propensity for destruction.
Sometimes when we see a great military Lego creation it’s worth stopping to remind ourselves why they exist in the first place.
Kit Bricksto’s ADAC Rescue Helicopter is one of the nicest choppers we’ve seen in ages. It makes a nice change from all the military-themed aircraft too. Check it out here.
Everyone knows that red is the fastest colour. It’s a scientifically proven fact. Using the racing colour of choice to great effect are Hot Rod Vince with his ‘Little Racing Bike’, and Tyler Sky with his ‘Formula One Space Speeder’. See more of both on Flickr.
oLaf is back, and he’s brought some little green adolescent crime fighters with him. The TMNT franchise always annoyed us slightly. They’re not turtles. They’re tortoises. It’s a different animal people! Anyway, see more of oLaF’s micro-scale VW ‘Turtle’ Van on Flickr.
And to celebrate, here’s a rather fine Ferrari California from Harry Gravett…
The elves were delighted by the roof mechanism – and the ability to see it on their favourite site at last. Until it crashes again…. the site, that is.
“Michael Knight, a lone crusader in a dangerous world. The world… of the Knight Rider.” The narrator forgets to warn us that Michael drives a slightly uptight and very camp Pontiac Trans Am, but it did have a cool red thingumy on the front and seemed to predict the advent of sat-nav with stunning foresight. Mad Physicist recreates the Knight Industries Two Thousand from Lego brilliantly on Flickr.
Small car master Angka Utama returns with a tiny Nissan GTP Le Mans racer. See more at Angka’s photostream in the link.
This superb photograph of the Circuit de Catalunya pit-lane exit, complete with 2013 Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 car, was discovered on Brickshelf rather brilliantly just after the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix. It was built and photographed by lluisgib, and when we say photographed we mean it – there’s no photoshop trickery here! See how he did it at the link above.
Picture courtesy of Mark Kelso
Yes, it’s that time of the month again. MOCpages, the largest exlusively-Lego creation community in the world, is experiencing technical difficulties.
MOCpages is one of the four high profile sites that The Lego Car Blog Elves plunder for content. Unfortunately the current issues mean that the Elves are increasingly reluctant to visit, as no new creations means no meal tokens for them. As such, we’ll be redirecting most of our slovenly workforce towards more fruitful pastures. It also means that we’ll probably be blogging slightly less frequently during MOCpages’ downtime, as creations are harder to come by. However, as always, you can help us by suggesting suitable creations via the Feedback and Submission Suggestions page in the top menu or via the Comments.
Summary of MOCpages’ situation:
Should we uncover any further details regarding MOCpages’ status we will of course pass these on. However, as even the MOCpages Moderators don’t know what’s happening we fully expect not to know anything until the issues are resolved.
…
Right… we are The Lego Car Blog, but this post and the one beneath it are planes… what’s going on?
While we’re contemplating our lack of focus we’ll break the rules again, and highlight these awesome models by Mad Physicist; his previously featured F-105 Thunderchief (left) and an F-106 Delta Dart (right). Both are blog worthy on The Lego Car Blog, so the Physicist’s latest work gets another feature.
With a definite TailSpin vibe (the Elves were watching cartoons this morning so we had to expect some Disney related nonsense) Nate DeCastro’s ‘ZK-12 Sabertooth’ fighter plane has got us reminiscing about the days when kid’s TV featured bears at the controls of aircraft fighting airborne pirates…
Sheepo, probably the best Lego Technic vehicle builder in the world right now, is back with a bang. This incredible Caterham 7 is his latest work. The remarkably accurate bodywork is constructed almost entirely from studless beams, but it’s what’s underneath that really impresses.
Featuring an inline 4-cylinder engine, working remote control drive, steering, all-round brakes, suspension and a remotely operated sequential 5+R gearbox with automated clutch, Sheepo’s model ’7 is more technologically advanced than the real car.
To see the full details of how Sheepo created his Caterham visit his brilliant Blog, see the gallery on Brickshelf, or watch the video below. We’re going to do all three…
YouTube Video:
One of our favourite racing car builders- bobalexander!- is back, with this simply magnificent 1970 Gulf-Porsche 917. Powered by a monstrous flat-12 engine the 917 was capable of over 240mph, but with limited aerodynamic knowledge (this was the early ’70s) it was also notoriously difficult to drive. Despite the handling issues the 917 has become one of the most legendary racing cars ever built, and in the most famous Gulf Racing livery it might be the best looking one too. See more of Bob’s incredible Model Team version on Flickr.
Mech Monday, which we’ve just made up, is upon us and as such we have two walking weapons for your delectation. The first (above) comes from the dark corners of the oneman‘s mind, and is surely one the most beautiful mechs ever built. Featuring custom stickers and perfectly lit in every photograph, his ‘Überfallmachine’ really is worth clicking on.
The second (below) is Zane Houston’s MATILDA Mech. Which is not beautiful. At all. In fact, it’s one of the ugliest mechs we’ve seen in ages, and it’s all the better for it. See more of the fat lady via the link above.
