Monthly Archives: August 2020

Frieghtliner

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This slab of white enormity is a Frieghtliner FLA 9664, and it comes from Michael217, who has managed to combine the best of Model Team and Technic building styles into one superb creation.

The chassis is constructed from modern studless Technic, with a complete remote control drivetrain consisting of two XL Motors for drive, an L Motor for steering, and a Medium Motor to power the tilting cab hidden within it.

The lifelike Model Team exterior is matched by an accurate engine and a brilliantly detailed interior behind open doors, with all hatches inside opening too, and there’s more to see of all of that at Michael’s expansive Frieghtliner FLA Bricksafe gallery and at the Eurobricks forum by clicking here.

A Sight to Behold(en)

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This is a Holden Torana A9X, Australia’s late-’70s muscle car and dominator of the Touring Car Championship. The ‘A9X’ option added the race V8 motor usually reserved for the sedan to the hatchback body style, with just 100 units produced in this combination. Now worth around $500k AUS, the Torana A9X is a ridiculously sought-after car, but fortunately we have one today that’s far more attainable.

Built by TLCB Master MOCer Lachlan Cameron (aka Lox Lego) as commissioned model, this stunning Technic recreation of the Torana A9X captures the real ’70s muscle car in spectacular fashion, with a full remote control drivetrain and BuWizz bluetooth brick, LED lights, accurate live axle rear and torsion beam front suspension, custom chrome pieces, opening doors, hood and trunk, and – of course – a replica of the A9X’s famous five-litre V8 engine.

It’s one of our favourite cars of the year so far and there’s plenty more to see of Lachlan’s incredible creation his ‘Holden Torana A9X’ album on Flickr and the Eurobricks discussion forum. Click the links above to set the lap record at Bathurst in 1979.

Silver Bird

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American Airlines have a great paint scheme. Both retro and futuristic, their shiny silver overlaid by a tri-colour stripe is surely one of the best liveries in the industry. This particular TLCB Writer was most excited to get on an AA aircraft for the first time, newly painted in the shiniest of silvers, before realising the interior was last refreshed in the American Civil War. It was a l.o.n.g flight…

Perhaps that’s a metaphor for much of American produce; shiny on the outside, shit underneath. Anyhoo, equally shiny, yet wonderful underneath too, is this spectacular Boeing 757-200 airliner from Flickr’s BigPlanes, complete with the iconic American Airlines livery and a fully-fitted mini-figure interior.

BigPlanes’ 757 also features beautifully working landing gear, moving flaps, and lighting, which – admittedly – worked fine on this writer’s real-world American Airlines flight, but the interior wasn’t a patch on this! There’s much more to see of BigPlanes incredible creation at his ‘American Airlines Boeing 757-200‘ album; click the link to head to the departure gate, before wishing you’d flown Virgin Atlantic instead.

Galactic Redux

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LEGO’s 928 Galaxy Explorer from 1979 has become something of a legend, being recreated endlessly by countless members of the Lego Community. Here’s another, and it’s done so well we’re forgetting we’re supposed to be a car blog for a bit.

Built by Flickr’s Tim Goddard, this Neo-Classic Space ‘Galactic Explorer’ is a spectacular mesh of superb building techniques, complete with motorised landing gear, a working rear hatch, and a smiling Classic Spaceman at its centre.

There’s more to see of Tim’s brilliant 928 redux at his photostream – click the link above to make the jump to a future version of the future in 1979.

We’re Going to Need a Bigger Gun…

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Following Mars Corp.’s hunt for dog food ingredients earlier this week, it seems that sources of cosmic meat require slightly more firepower to harvest than originally anticipated.

Cue the ‘Ares Long Range Artillery Platform’, armed with a twin railgun, twelve ‘hammer’ missiles, and a triple-barrel machine-gun. We suspect the meat won’t even need to be mushed up (or whatever the dog food term is) once the Ares has done its thing…

Like the previously featured ‘Mars Corp. Hermes Mobile Command Centre’, Flickr’s BobDeQuatre owns the mind behind this and there’s more to see at his photostream by clicking here. Din-dins!

Build-A-Bronco

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Ford’s new 2020 Bronco looks right in a way that Land Rover’s new Defender just doesn’t. Who’d have thought that, after Ford mis-managed Land Rover (and Jaguar, Volvo, and Aston Martin…) into the ground only a decade or so ago, before bailing on all of them.

Anyway, Ford seems to have nailed it with their homage to their own classic nameplate, and fittingly today’s bloggee LoMaC has nailed his homage to Ford’s, er… homage.

Capturing the 2020 Bronco in Technic form, LoMaC’s recreation features working steering (by both the wheel and HoG), independent front and three-link rear suspension, a working engine, opening doors, hood and trunk, plus a detailed interior with adjustable seats.

We think the new Ford Bronco would make a fine official LEGO set (which maybe is on the cards with Ford and LEGO’s fruitful partnership), but until then you can build LoMaC’s brilliant Bronco for yourself, as building instructions are available!

Head to LoMaC’s Ford Bronco Bricksafe gallery to see all the images and to the Eurobricks forum for full build details and that link to building instructions.

Website of the Month | Bricks Garage

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OK, we can’t even remember the last time we featured a Lego website, and we’re not going into TLCB Archives to check, what with there being a band of feral Elves in there somewhere. But no matter, because even if this should more accurately be titled ‘Website of the Year’, ‘Bricks Garage‘ would still qualify. Because, thanks to Bricks Garage, you can now build the very best Lego car designs anywhere in the world for yourself!

Yes, TLCB Master MOCer – and probably the best known vehicle builder of them all – Firas Abu-Jaber, has released the instructions for his incredible creations for download, so that you can recreate his astonishing Lego cars at home.

Fifteen of Firas’ models are available via the new Bricks Garage site, each with downloadable PDF building instructions, a BSX parts list (allowing an import directly into Bricklink), and a CSV file for Rebrickable.

Models include the legendary Nissan Skyline R34, iconic Ferrari Testarossa, wild Pagani Zonda, and – perhaps our favourite – Firas’ beautiful Ford GT (above), a model that featured on the world famous Top Gear website.

Some of Firas’ newer creations are available too, including his brilliant alternates for sets such as the 10265 Creator Ford Mustang, with instructions for three superb B-Models in one bundle, with a current sale price of $25.

Many of the instructions for Firas’ models are currently on sale as part of Bricks Garage’s launch, with further savings available for multiple purchases.

If you’d like to add some truly world-class creations to your collection (and perhaps learn a few tips on how to design models like these for yourself), take a look at the Bricks Garage Shop via the link below, choose from the list of amazing creations on offer, and bring one of the most iconic real-world vehicles to life in Lego form at home!

Click here to visit the Bricks Garage Shop

Mars Corp.

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It’s sometime in the future, and the Mars Corporation seems to have branched out a little from making Skittles, Pedigree dog food, Dolmio, and, er… Mars bars. At least according to Flickr’s BobDeQuatre.

Able to carry a crew of six on long-range missions, the ‘Hermes’ mobile command centre also features a hefty rotating turret that is apparently for ‘defensive firepower’, although we like to think it’s for acquiring the ingredients for dog food. Head to Bob’s ‘Hermes’ album on Flickr to join the hunt find out more.

Grey Square

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From the confusingly round to the very square indeed, and this magnificently upright Mercedes-Benz Actros 8×4 truck by Dani Brickzone (aka Brickzone52). Brilliant attention to detail is evident throughout and there’s more to see of Dani’s spectacular creation on Flickr via the link.

A Wheel Within a Wheel

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Wheeling across a planet, within Neo-Classic Space
A spaceman’s on a journey, with a smile upon his face
Like a boulder down a mountain, or a supersonic boom
Blasting into space, pointed directly at the moon
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping, in a never-ending race
As the universe expands, at an ever-growing pace
Like the circles that you find, in the windmills of your mind…

One of music’s most mind-meltingly trippy songs, doctored by a TLCB Writer who really should be doing something more useful, to accompany a mind-meltingly trippy vehicle from builder martin.with.bricks. There’s more to see of Martin’s Neo-Classic Space monowheel speeding across a planet at his photostream – click the link above to enter the windmill of your mind.

Blue Monday

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It’s Monday and work/education drudgery is back on the agenda for many of us for another five days. Ageing 4x4s like this one offer an escape at the weekend though, being big enough to fit bikes, boats, and animals in or on them, and old enough for a few scratches and dents not to matter.

This lovely remote control Technic 4×4 by Eurobricks’ paave captures the look of a number of 1990s off-roaders into one model, and features working suspension and opening doors, hood and tailgate alongside its Power Functions all-wheel-drive and steering.

Wait for the weekend at the Eurobricks discussion forum via the link above.

*Today’s marvellous title song.

A Quick Cig

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The FIA is hardly a bastion of morality, but it has at least outlawed cigarette advertising on racing cars. Unless you’re Ferrari of course. Back in the ’90s though, promoting cancer was so acceptable that Williams not only had Camel cigarettes adorning its 1992 Adrian Newey-designed FW14B, they teamed it with alcohol sponsorship too.

We’re not sure the Camel or Labatt’s logos enhanced the FW14B’s speed in any way, but the money they brought sure helped, and Williams duly won the 1992 Championship – and made Nigel Mansell World Champion – with a then-record 9 race wins.

This brilliant small-scale replica of the title-winning Williams comes from TLCB Master MOCer Luca Rusconi (aka RoscoPC), who is better known for his hugely detailed large-scale Formula 1 recreations. Built using a fraction of the pieces but just as recognisable, Luca has turned his hand to historic racing cars on a much smaller scale, with the advantage of course that these are easier for others to build at home.

Suggested to us by a reader (and past bloggee themselves), Luca’s Williams FW14B is available to view on Rebrickable, where instructions can be purchased alongside those for a host of other famous classic F1 cars. Click here to see all the images and find downloadable building instructions to turn 169 pieces into William’s championship-winning cigarette advertisement.

Soviet Station Wagon

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The Soviets may have hated America, but they sure liked its cars. This is the GAZ-24, specifically the 2402 station wagon produced from 1971 all the way up until the mid ’80s, despite looking like something straight out of America in 1963.

Powered by either a 2.5 litre four cylinder or an American-aping 5.5 litre V8, the GAZ-24 was famed for its toughness, and whilst limited numbers were exported, it wasn’t really available to the common Russian man, being reserved only for those with a special permit that allowed its purchase. Because Communism.

Matthew Terentev has got himself a 2402 though, by building this most excellent Technic recreation, complete with accurate leaf-spring rear and independent front suspension, a working inline 4-cylinder engine under the opening hood, ‘Hand of God’ steering and a working steering wheel, plus opening doors and tailgate.

There’s lots more to see of Matthew’s superb Soviet station wagon at his photostream on Flickr – grab your special permit, click the link, and pretend you’re a 1980s Russian pretending they’re a 1960s American.

Miniature Toothpaste

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This is a Renault Floride, named after – we assume – a toothpaste, and built only from the parts found within the LEGO 10242 Mini Cooper set. Flickr’s monstermatou is the builder behind it, who first came to our attention via his brilliant Lock-Down B-Model Competition entries, one of which came this close (holds fingers microscopically close together) to taking a prize position.

Following his other superb B-Model builds, monster’s Floride alternate beautifully replicates Renault’s 1 litre convertible built between ’58-’68, and you can take a look at all of the images at his photostream – click here to clean your teeth.

Flying Wing

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This is the Northrop XB-35, one of America’s amazing ‘flying wing’ experimental aircraft that would, eventually, lead to the modern B-2 Spirit ‘Stealth Bomber’.

But 1946 was a long time before the B-2, and the ‘flying wing’ idea was still in its infancy. The much smaller N-9M proved the concept enough (despite crashing quite a lot) for Northrop to build a version three times larger, the XB-35, initially powering it with four huge contra-rotating ‘pusher’ propellors driven by Wasp R-4360 radial engines.

The vibrations were awful though, so as the design entered the jet age it was upgraded with eight turbojets, becoming the YB-49 – although the aircraft was still far slower than conventionally winged bombers like the B-47.

It’s the original mid-’40s propellor-powered XB-35 we have here though, created in astonishing detail in 1:40 (mini-figure!) scale by Flickr’s BigPlanes. The detail is beautiful on the inside too, with a complete four-seat cockpit and accurate landing gear underneath.

BigPlanes’ incredible creation is due to go on show at the 2021 Virginia Brickfair event (COVID-19 depending), but you can see it via the spectacular imagery at his ‘XB-35 Flying Wing’ album on Flickr.

Click the link above to take to the skies c1946, and watch the horizon go all blurry and your tea jump out of your mug as four enormous contra-rotating props start shaking the world’s weirdest wing to bits.