The Lego Car Blog Team do not like hornets. They’re like wasps, only they’re even bigger bastards. This though, we do like. It’s an F/A-18E ‘Super Hornet’ carrier-based fighter, and it’s been brilliantly built in brick from by previous bloggee Plane Bricks. There’s an opening cockpit, folding wing-tips, fully working landing gear, and an array of angry-looking weaponry, and there’s a whole lot more to see on Flickr. Click the link above to make the jump.
We’re rounding out the weekend with something rather special. This bewitchingly beautiful Ferrari Testarossa is the work of car-building legend Firas Abu-Jaber, and it is – as you can see here – astonishingly good.
Firas’ spectacularly presented creation is 100% LEGO (those excellent rims are genuine LEGO pieces that have been custom chromed) and includes a superbly detailed engine and interior inside the opening engine cover and doors.
There’s much more of Firas’ Ferrari to see at his Testarossa Flickr album by clicking here, and you can read our interview with the man behind the model by clicking here.
From one wonderfully ridiculous tracked vehicle to another now, and D-Town Cracka‘s gloriously unhinged ‘Belville T-42 ‘Sugercube’ Multiple Launch Rocket System’.
Apparently developed during the ‘Stable Wars’ of the late 1990s (we all remember those right?), the T-42 ‘Sugarcube’ earned a fearsome reputation thanks to an armament of ten ‘Heartbreaker’ rockets and its on-board tea station. It was probably more about the rockets…
Head to D-Town’s photostream via the link above to join the fight.
When Theodore Harold Maiman built the world’s first laser back in 1960 it seemed like there was nothing it couldn’t do, with movies using it for blowing up people, blowing up plant pots, blowing up planets… you get the idea.
The reality of Maiman’s invention was far more mundane though; reading CDs, scanning barcodes at the check-out, and removing your Mom’s unwanted hair.
Fortunately Jon & Catherine Stead have put the laser back to a much cooler use – mining rocks in space!
‘Designed to cut away sections of rock from mountains, cliffs or crater walls of the moon to facilitate mineral extraction… via a huge, nuclear powered laser cutting system’, Jon & Catherine’s ‘Tracked Laser Mining Vehicle’ is reclaiming the laser for improbable space-related tomfoolery.
The huge tracked vehicle on which the aforementioned laser is mounted is worth a look too, and you can do just that via the link in the text above. But not before you watch what just might be the best classic laser movie trailer of all time…
Whilst in the U.S the answer to every car based question seems to be ‘Miata’ (and rightly so), in Europe it seems to be ‘Golf’. Well, it used to be – now it might be more ‘bland crossover SUV’ – but there are about fifteen Golf-based versions of those so in a way the answer is still ‘Golf’.
It’s mostly decades of clever marketing as the Golf isn’t really any better than a myriad of other hatchbacks, but somehow it’s still the default choice.
Back in the mid-’70s though, the Golf really was way ahead of the competition, thanks to sharp styling by Giorgetto Giugiaro, front-wheel-drive, and the fact that it didn’t fall apart like every other car of the era.
This near-perfect Model Team replica of the Volkswagen Golf Mark 1 comes from Serge S who has captured the classic hatchback brilliantly. There’s a realistic interior and engine bay, opening hood, doors and boot, and there are even instructions available too. Click the link above to get to the default answer c1976.
We’ve all been there. Is that going to go down? Crap, the water’s rising in the bowl faster than it’s going out! Please stop… Please stop… Phew, it’s going down… it’s going down. Better flush again just to be sure… Crap!
Thankfully Joe the Plumber is on hand with an assortment of de-clogging equipment in his ‘Badass Step Van’ to get things flowing again. Previous bloggee ER0L has thoroughly reconfigured the LEGO 70811 ‘Flying Flusher’ set from The Lego Movie into this most excellent 8-wide creation. Contact Joe for an emergency plumbing call-out via the link above.
What’s this? Have the permanently smiling spacemen of Classic Space gone rogue and built themselves a giant cannon on the moon? Apparently not, as Flickr’s Jon Blackford claims that this installation is an ‘Asteroid Defence’. Sure Jon, and Japan’s whaling programme is just for ‘research’. Whatever those Classic Spacemen are up to you can check it out by clicking here.
Huge, ungainly, and a regular picking up truckers. No, it’s not your Mom, but this enormous fully remote controlled Technic Kenworth tow truck by TLCB debutant Anatolich.
With twelve Power Functions motors, a 70cm length plus another 70cm of boom, and a 5kg weight, Anatolich’s Kenworth is one of the largest models of the year so far.
Those motors power a range of functions, with four taking care of the 8×4 drive, a Servo the steering, and the axle lift, outriggers, boom lift, boom extension, two winches and towing fork powered by a motor each.
If that wasn’t enough there’s also a V8 engine, working suspension, and no less than ten openable doors and compartments.
There’s lots more to see of Anatolich’s hugely impressive creation at both Eurobricks and on Flickr. Click on the links above to call for a tow.
We know we’ve posted about four hundred Mustang models recently, but thanks to a recent LEGO Ideas competition they’re popping up all over the place. Plus this one’s yellow and it’s got a supercharger and racing stripes. This modified Mach 1 Mustang comes from TLCB favourite Pixel Junkie and is pictured in his previously featured (and utterly glorious) workshop. Head to Flickr to see more.
This is a Stryder Titan Class from the Titanfall game, and – frankly – that’s all we know, not having played it. But it does look seriously good. Built by Marius Herrmann there’s more to see of this mechanised monster at his photostream. Click the link above to make the jump.
We have a herd of horses for you today, thanks to LEGO Ideas‘ current Ford Mustang competition celebrating the new Creator 10265 Ford Mustang set. Unusually for a contest the entries will be judged on their scenery as well the car, which has led to some wonderfully inventive designs. Flickr’s JS_Ninjerd is certainly one of them with his brilliant canyon-top build, featuring a Boss Mustang and possibly the coolest mini-figure we’ve ever seen. TLCB Master MOCer Andrea Lattanzio (aka Norton74) has entered two scenes, each featuring a neat classic Mustang in a building setting, from barn find* to specialist workshop, complete with tools and a ubiquitous American flag. There’s more to see of all the builds on Flickr – take a look via the links in the text.
*Add some dust and dirt Andrea!
Movie making causes probably more vehicular destruction than teenagers, the elderly, and NASCAR combined. It seems no car is off-limits, no matter how awful the movie*. It’s not just the cars that make the final cut either, as often different angles, test shots and failed attempts multiply the kill-count far beyond what you see on screen.
TLCB favourite Pixel Junkie gives us a glimpse into the carefully choreographed world of cinematic car killing with this superbly-shot scene involving a mini-figure film crew, two 70’s Ford Mustangs, and one big accident. Being Lego though, Pixel can rebuild his cars and send them in for the wide-angle shot after the crew’s coffee break. Head over to Flickr via the link above to see more of Take 6.
*Yes that really is a real Porsche Carrera GT getting smashed. How they managed to make it look so fake is beyond us…
LEGO have released literally thousands of brick designs over the years (anyone know how many?). Some of them weren’t even bricks either (take a look at this, this, and even this monstrosity…).
That can make identifying one a real pain, but good news! Cue the nerdiest thing we’ve ever posted (ok, since this at least) – PIQABRICK!
PIQABRICK is effectively a 3D scanner that can identify any LEGO piece, even the oddities above, revealing the part code that can be dropped into third-party brick marketplaces such as BrickOwl and Bricklink.
Now obviously you have to own the piece that you want to identify already, but for those more seriously into the art of LEGO model making, or the few that do it professionally, PIQABRICK could save hours of research.
Take a look at the video below see how it works, and click here to follow the project in advance of its launch on Kickstarter.
YouTube Video
1997’s ‘The Fifth Element’ had it all; alien opera, robotic turkeys, Milla Jovovich, a malevolent cosmic entity, and – of course – flying yellow cabs. This is Bruce Willis’ hover taxi and it comes from Davdup of Flickr who has done a superb job of recreating it in Model Team form. There may not be a super-hot-saviour-of-the-universe in the back seat, but it’s got everything else. Click the link above to hail a ride 250 years in the future.
We’ve often mocked Russian vehicles here at The Lego Car Blog, and rightly so – they’re largely crap. However modern Ladas are essentially just Renaults and Dacias, making them now perfectly respectable, if thoroughly boring.
That said we probably wouldn’t trade a modern Renault with a Lada badge on the front for one of their old catastrophes, apart that is, for one car. Launched in 1977 the VAZ (now Lada) Niva was a superbly capable off-roader, more sophisticated than a comparable Land Rover of the era, likely more reliable, and a fair bit cheaper too.
The Niva is still being built today too, and is infinitely better than the monstrosities that the G-Wagon and Range Rover have become. This most excellent Technic version of Russia’s iconic off-roader comes from TLCB favourite Horcik Designs, who has recreated it in Technic form, both with and without Power Functions components.
It’s the remote control version we have pictured above, complete with suspension, all-wheel-drive via an XL Motor, Servo steering, a Li-Po battery, and third-party tyres.
There’s more to see of Horcik’s Technic Niva at both Flickr and Bricksafe – take a look via the links.