Yes, yes… this is a digital build, but rules are made to be bent. Plus we really like Futurama! It helps that this replica of the Planet Express ship, digital though it may be, is an utterly perfect mini-figure recreation of the famous cartoon vessel, right down to the complete interior. Nicola Stocchi is the designer behind it and you take a trip to the world of tomorrow by clicking here.
This impressively slick creation comes from newcomer Chiho Kim and it was suggested to us by a reader. Built in a similar scale and style to LEGO’s officially licensed Creator sets like the Caterham Seven, Mini Cooper, and Volkswagen Camper, Chiho’s replica of the infamous Jeep Wrangler Rubicon is packed with details.
There are opening doors, a detailed engine under the opening hood, a fully replicated interior and a detachable rear soft top. There’s lots more to see on both Flickr and MOCpages, where you can also find details about how you can help this design become an official LEGO set alongside the examples above.
And now here they are! The most daredevil group of daffy drivers to ever whirl their wheels in the Wacky Races, competing for the title of worlds wackiest racer! The cars are approaching the starting line… Lurching along is the Creepy Coupe with the Gruesome Twosome!
We’re loving these superb recreations of Hannah-Barbera’s iconic ’70s cartoon racers, and builder Redfern1950s is showing no signs of taking his foot of the gas with his third instalment from the franchise. Join in the fun on Flickr at the link above, and Red; if you keep building these we’ll keep blogging them!
We like featuring the unsung heroes of the automotive world here at TLCB. Today’s post is one of them, the humble reach stacker, used to retrieve and pile containers in thousands of depots the world over. The chances are that something you’re using or looking at right now was moved by one of these, and that makes it a more important vehicle than the Bugatti Veyron.
This neat Technic version of the humble automotive sherpa comes from previous bloggee Anto of Eurobricks, and it features rear-wheel steering, a lifting and extending arm complete with functioning clamp, and a working piston engine. There’s more to see at the Eurobricks discussion forum, and you can see LEGO’s own soon-to-be released reach stacker set as part of our 2017 Technic Preview by clicking here.
And now here they are! The most daredevil group of daffy drivers to ever whirl their wheels in the Wacky Races – competing for the title of The World’s Wackiest Racer!
Redfern1950s made us a happy bunch when the Army Surplus Special appeared in the office a few weeks ago courtesy of a grubby Elf, and we immediately issued a challenge for more. Challenge accepted, as right on their tail is the Red Max (driving the half plane, half car Crimson Haybaler)! Check it out here…
This stunning replica of Lamborghini’s Aventador SuperVeloce could only have come from one builder. Yes, the infamous Firas Abu-Jaber is back, and his latest build (a commission piece) is one of his finest yet. There’s lots more to see of Firas’ newest masterpiece at his Flickr photostream, and you can read our interview with the man himself by clicking here.
Black Friday is upon us once again, that unique time of year when people are willing to trample their fellow man to death to secure a discount on an electrical appliance. We hate Black Friday.
As has become traditional, unlike the proper Lego blogs we’re not taking part in the annual greed apocalypse, and instead we’re offering some alternatives to help you to avoid becoming just another mindless, soulless zombie with an unquenchable thirst for acquiring ever more pointless landfill.
The awesome Creations for Charity campaign is back for another year, with some incredible fan-built models available to buy and where all proceeds are used to provide LEGO sets for underprivileged children. There’s just one week to go – to see what’s available and make a real difference to a child this Christmas visit the Creations for Charity 2016 page here.
Oxfam, Tearfund, Christian Aid, Unicef
Finally of course, just by being here you’re doing a little bit of good. All profits generated from the advertising you see here at The Lego Car Blog are donated to those who need them more than we do, including the charities above and also at a more local level around TLCB Towers. A huge thank you for your clicks – they mean the world to us.
TLCB Team
2014’s Second World War movie ‘Fury’ was a surprisingly good film. Some big names made up the key cast members, but the real star was the tank around which the story revolved. Named ‘Fury’, the M4A2E8 Sherman was tired and battle-worn even at the start of the story, and was well outclassed by the superior German machinery. But being an American film, the American tank performs some amazing feats, and no doubt will inspire countless builders.
One such builder is previous bloggee Tommy Styrvoky, who has spent three months recreating ‘Fury’ in fully-working form. We’re not quite sure why the tank crew look naked, but other than that Tommy’s tank is visually brilliant. Underneath the model is just as accomplished, with twin Power Functions drive, working suspension, piston engine, remote gun elevation and turret rotation.
There’s lots more to see, including cut-away shots of the tank’s interior and mechanics, at both Flickr and at the Eurobricks forum. Click the link to jump back to Germany in 1945.
…but a brilliant build nonetheless, Robert4186‘s beautiful mini-figure scale wooden ship is packed with stunning details. There more to see, including some cunningly photoshopped images with real-world backgrounds, on Flickr. Click the link above to set sail.
Angka Utama is a regular here at The Lego Car Blog with his beautifully unique Lego concept cars. This is his latest, and it has an unusual trick up its sleeve. Find out what it is here.
Yes it’s that time of year again, when a crack team of Elves ‘volunteer’ to be fired over the perimeter wall of The Lego Company’s HQ, tasked with bringing back the brand new Technic sets due for release next year. Elves that manage to successfully navigate the maze of air-conditioning ducts and dodge the guard dogs return as heroes, by which we mean they get fed, and we get to reveal LEGO’s newest Technic sets before they hit the shelves in the new year. On to the sets!
Pictured above, the LEGO Technic 42066 Air Race Jet puts the Technic line-up’s on/off relationship with aircraft back into the ‘on’ position. Clearly based on a well-known military aircraft, 42066 covers up its death-from-above intentions with some jazzy stickers, but they look passable if nothing more than that. The set features working elevators and tail rudders, folding landing gear, and an opening cockpit, and will sit in the middle of the 2017 Technic range when it’s launched early next year.
We have absolutely no idea what this is. None. Built purely for play value rather than a demonstration of technical engineering, 42065 does – admittedly – look like a hoot to drive with twin Medium motors and skid-steering. We’ll leave that to someone else though, as its aesthetics are about as appealing as the Elves that make up our workforce. Next.
This is more like it. 42062 is the first double-vehicle set of 2017, and it looks like a lovely way to introduce Technic to builders stepping up from City and other simpler themes. The neat articulated truck features working steering whilst the heavy-duty forklift includes rear-wheel-steering and a mechanically operable boom lift and grab. Good stuff.
2017’s other multi-vehicle set also sits towards the bottom of the Technic range and it too looks like a good introduction to more complex building. The truck features working steering and a tipping load bed, whilst the excavator includes a mechanically operable shovel. Both vehicles feature a few stickers and more visual detailing than Technic sets of old, and should be priced well within pocket-money ownership.
Pull-back motors. Nothing else. Next…
An unusual vehicular streak seems to be running through the 2017 Technic line-up, as a second aircraft joins the range. The 42057 Ultralight Helicopter actually looks more like a gyrocopter to us, but as we assume both the main and tail rotors are connected to the inline two-cylinder engine 42057 is indeed technically a helicopter. More stickers abound and the tail fin steering, controlled via a hot rod style pitman arm, looks novel. Expect 42057 to be priced under $20 when it arrives in stores next year.
Things are starting to get really weird now. This attractive looking ship, complete with a helicopter and submersible, looks more like a City set rather than something from the Technic line. And it may as well be, as so far as we can tell it does nothing more than the equivalent City set would. If it wasn’t for the superb-looking BMW R 1200 GS Adventure set revealed here earlier in the month we’d be wondering what the hell’s happened…
Finally, some redemption. 42061 is a long way from being the best Technic set ever made, but it is probably the best non-licensed Technic set of the 2017 H1 line-up. All-wheel steering, a mechanically extending boom, and a tilting bucket all feature, and its simple construction should mean 42061 is reasonably priced too.
So there you have it, all nine 2017 Technic sets due to reach stores in the new year. Aside from some decent starter sets in 42060 and 42062 we’re somewhat underwhelmed, although there are three empty spaces in the 2017 range due to be filled later in the year. At least there’s that brilliant BMW…
This incredible motorcycle is the work of TLCB debutant Kieran Chamberlain, and it’s an absolute masterclass in Technic engineering. Riding on brick-built wheels and constructed from over 3,100 pieces Kieran’s motorbike is probably the largest that we’ve ever featured. The engine is something spectacular too, featuring four working cylinders with overhead cams, working valves and a twin-screw supercharger. It’s hooked up to a functioning footshift-operated gearbox and the whole lot is powered by an L motor and battery box mounted inside the frame. You can see more of Kieran’s jaw-dropping 1/3 scale bike at his Flickr photostream – click here to go for a ride.
We don’t particularly like the Hennessey Venom GT. There, we said it. Cue the wrath of the internet. OK, we’ll explain. The Venom GT is a Lotus Exige with a GM V8 shoved in it. There’s nothing wrong with a Lotus Exige with a GM V8 shoved in it, but it’s a long way from being the greatest car ever made ever, which is how much of the internet views the Venom.
In fact we get the feeling that the Venom was built purely to satisfy the aforementioned keyboard warriors who only look at the stats of a car to judge how good it is. If the Venom is the fastest ‘production’ car in the world it must, therefore, be the best. Which it isn’t. At all.
Anyhoo, this Technic recreation of a car we don’t particularly like is a model that we do like rather a lot. Built by Lachlan Cameron it’s packed with working features, and it looks spectacular too.
Underneath the wonderfully replicated Exige-on-steriods bodywork is a full Power Functions remote control drivetrain, electronically deployable rear wing, working V8 engine, all-wheel suspension, and opening doors, engine cover and roof.
There’s more to see of Lachlan’s Venom GT at both his Flickr photostream and the Eurobricks forum – click the links to join the discussion.
If you’re a gym bro, juiced on protein shakes and creatine, and wondering where the headaches are coming from, this post is for you! This absolutely enormous Liebherr HS 895 tracked crane is the work of Eurobricks’ Shineyu, who is steadily becoming one of our favourite Technic builders here at TLCB Towers, and it can lift big.
Weighing over 5KGs Shineyu’s remotely controlled Liebherr can lift over a kilogram via its reel winches, and it can even drive too (sort of…). There’s more to see at the Eurobricks discussion forum, where there’s also a video of the crane in action; click the link above for some mad gains.
Nope, Ikea haven’t started selling Italian super cars, these two gorgeous Ferrari mosaics come from Ryan Link of MOCpages, and they are quite astoundingly brilliant.
Unlike many Lego mosaics, where the pieces simply slot together but are unattached to one another (or worse, when someone just runs a photo from the internet through a computer programme), Ryan’s stunning images are completely brick-built and every piece is connected. You can see how it’s been done thanks to a ‘behind the scenes‘ shot, and if anything it’s even more impressive than the images here, with some fiendishly difficult connections.
There’s more available on MOCpages – click here to see the beautiful Ferrari 625 TRC and here to see the Ferrari Enzo.
