Monthly Archives: February 2022

Under the Mask

Most LEGO pieces can be used in almost infinite ways. It’s the very purpose of LEGO. However there are a few parts that seem to be defiantly single-use. The Primo ride-on elephant. Anything from the awful Galidor range. And the wearable Bionicle mask.

Designed so that kids could pretend to be defending Mata-Nui or something, the mid-00’s were clearly a difficult time for LEGO. And yet out of adversity comes triumph, in the form of Scott Wilhelm‘s magnificent ‘Mobile Reactor Transport’.

Wearing the life-size Toa face like a tortoise wears its shell, the until-now-pointless-part looks purpose-made for Scott’s half-track rover. Delightful greebling is visible through the mask’s orifices and there’s more to see of the build, including the epically inventive parts usage, at Scott’s photostream.

Click the link above to see what’s under the mask.

Theory of Evolution

LEGO’s Speed Champions range has evolved a bit over the years. Jumping from six studs of width to eight has upped the realism, as has a the more widespread use of decals, allowing for the recreation of real-world liveries and sponsorships.

Previous bloggee Fabrice Larcheveque has moved with the times as well, updating his Peugeot 206 T16 rally car to fit LEGO’s latest Speed Champions aesthetic, with it looking rather wonderful a as result.

Fabrice’s original 205 T16 featured on this site half a decade ago, and The Lego Car Blog has evolved a bit since then too, with the standard of presentation required to appear here considerably higher than it was back then. The incompetent writing and woeful site management remain though…

Fabrice’s significantly upgraded and perfectly presented Peugeot 205 T16 is available to view on Flickr, where building instructions are now available too. Click here to join the evolution.

Build in Blue & Yellow

We published a post last year in which some famous lyrics were mildly amended to highlight a certain murderous rat-faced tyrant. In it we wrote, but then left out, a verse about his intent to invade Ukraine. It was too provocative and an unnecessary addition we thought. We thought…

Perhaps we should build only in yellow and blue this week.

Clearly Roving

2022’s Febrovery is drawing to a close, in which Lego builders from around the world have united in their creation of other-worldly transports. Today we round out the roverest of months with four intriguing space-based builds, each of which has deployed a few of LEGO’s more unusual pieces in the pursuit of roving brilliance.

First up is Robert Heim‘s ‘Spaceport Fire Rover’, which features so many LEGO pieces of which we know nothing it’s making us doubt we can do this job. The wheels look like cupcake cases and the rotating cockpit appears as if it’s made from a kid’s sand bucket. We have absolutely no idea what sets they’re all from, but you can find out more at Robert’s photostream via the link.

Next we have martin.with.bricks‘ impressive eight-wheeled rover, which actually looks rather like something we could well see in our lifetime. A determined-looking mini-figure sits at the controls inside the same clear buckety-brick cockpit, whilst a minimalist brick-built lunar surface passes beneath the tyres. Centre articulation and an opening rear hatch add to the fun and you can see more of Martin’s rover on Flickr at the link above.

No longer used as the cockpit, but still featuring prominently in the design, Frost‘s colourful ‘Biotron Corp Spaceplant Relocation Rover’ utilises the same transparent buckets, this time for some sort of lunar re-wilding project. A trans-lime half-dome continues the funky cockpitting however, and there’s more to see of Frost’s space-based conservation via the link above.

Today’s final Febrovery creation takes a rather more utilitarian approach, and is very possibly the reason that Frost’s ‘Spaceplant Relocation Rover’ above is required. Andreas Lenander‘s ‘Dome-rover’ is smoothing its way across a lovely brick-built moon-scape, thanks to some genius tracks and a wonderfully pink classic spaceman sealed within a transparent orb. Andreas has used said orb in other cunning ways during Febrovery ’22 too, and there’s more to see of this and his other Febrovery builds at his photostream via the link above.

And that completes our Febrovery 2022 round-up, which took on quite a transparent theme this year. Febrovery will be back in 2023, but until then there is still a whole month to go in TLCB and Bricknerd’s ‘Festival of Mundanity’ competition, in which we’re looking for vehicles that are rather more earth-bound. What better way to move on from other-wordly oddness than a white Toyota Corolla looking for a parking space…

Topless Curves

1saac W.‘s superb classic Volkswagen Beetle has appeared here before, but – unlike this TLCB Writer – it looks even better topless. 1saac’s 1950 Hebmüller Cabriolet also allows for a title that’s sure to snare a few newcomers expecting to see something entirely different. There’s more to see on Flickr via the link above!

Automotive Cool

’60s Italy was, in the mind of this TLCB Writer, the peak of automotive cool. The Vespa, the Fiat 500, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lancia, and – of course – Alfa Romeo.

This glorious 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA takes us back to Italy’s golden era, having been wonderfully recreated in brick form by 5eno of Flickr.

A realistic interior is accessed through opening doors, a brilliantly detailed engine resides under the opening hood, and there are more images of the model to see at 5eno’s Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint album.

Head back to ’60s Italy via the link in the text above, when every vehicle was infinite cool.

LEGO 10298 Vespa 125 | Set Preview

The single most Italian thing possible is a pretty girl on a Vespa (you’re welcome). Cue the brand new LEGO 10298 Vespa 125 set, the latest officially-licensed vehicle to join LEGO’s 18+ range. And it looks gorgeous.

Constructed from 1,106 pieces, most of which are the lovely light blue used to such great effect with the limited edition 77942 Fiat 500 set, 10298 measures around 35cm long and features working handlebar steering, a folding kick stand, removable engine cover, and even a brick-built helmet and bunch of flowers.

Available from March 1st, 10298 will cost around $99 / €99 / £89, and we love it. You’ll have to build your own pretty girl for authentic Italian completeness though.

Beetlejuice

The Lego Car Blog Elves are rewarded with a meal token and maybe a Smartie when they return to TLCB Towers with a blog-worthy creation. The Elf that found this beautifully presented red Volkswagen Beetle by Flickr’s 1saac W earned itself a red Smartie of course, which – with delightful circularity – are coloured using crushed beetles. Every day’s a school day! There’s more to see of 1saac’s wonderful ’59 Beetle at his photostream, or click here if you’re grossed out by crushed beetles in your candy…

Komatsu Krusher

This TLCB Writer was having a peaceful day scrolling through the delightfully tedious entries our Festival of Mundanity competition in collaboration with BrickNerd. There’s a bar of soap, a rental car lot, a white Toyota Corolla… and the sound of Elven screaming. Sigh.

A wearisome trudge to the corridor revealed the culprit, and the vehicle under their jurisdiction; this huge BuWizz-powered Komatsu HM300 6×6 articulated dump truck.

Discovered on Brickshelf by the jubilant Elf at the controls, gkurkowski‘s creation had churned several of our smelly little workers into the carpet, before – admittedly rather cleverly – deploying the linear actuator controlled tipper to dump a load of glitter on them. How it got into the stationary cupboard we’re not sure. And why is there even glitter in there anyway?

Whatever the reasons, the result is a very sparkly mess, which this writer now has the pleasure of tidying up.

Whilst he gets on with that you can check out gkurkowski’s seriously impressive build at the Brickshelf gallery, which includes extensive imagery, renders, close-ups of the 6×6 drivetrain and tipping mechanisms, plus a link to building instructions should you wish to create the Komatsu HM300 at home.

Click the link above to make the jump and here to read more about the awesome third-party BuWizz bluetooth battery that’s powering it

The ‘I’s Have It*

Everything has an ‘i’ prefix these days. We have Apple to thank for this chronically unimaginative naming convention, which has now infiltrated cars too (we’re looking at you Hyundai and BMW). However before Apple stuck an ‘i’ in front of generic words like ‘phone’, ‘i’ meant something.

Take ‘I-beam’ for example, which featured no marketing-focus-groups to determine its name, and simply meant two wheels attached to a suspended straight beam. Because it was really cheap. And it was the shape of the letter ‘I’.

Modern vehicles use far more sophisticated suspension of course. Except when they don’t, and ‘I-beam’ is renamed ‘Torsion Bar’, because it sounds fancier. Or it did until Apple came along.

Anyway, ‘I-beams are pretty rare at the front of vehicles these days, but Eurobricks’ paave has created a vehicle that kicks it old-school, with brilliantly off-roady I-beam front suspension, live axle rear suspension, HOG steering, a working piston engine, and opening and locking doors.

Building instructions are available and there’s more of paave’s creation to see at the Eurobricks forum at the link above and via the video below, which shows the I-beam suspension in action.

YouTube Video

*Seven hundred TLCB points if you’ve figured out today’s title.

Moon Muscle

Flickr’s Febrovery build-a-thon is drawing to a close. There have been some wonderful entries so far which we have… er, missed completely, seeing as a) we don’t understand sci-fi and b) we’re interested in things far more mundane at the moment…

Had we not blogged this one though, TLCB Elves would’ve started a riot, as it’s really not mundane at all. Frost (aka TFDesigns) owns the mind behind this glorious rover-based muscle car homage, which is fitted with some of the most splendid wheels we’ve ever seen.

Racing stripes and a giant wing complete the Elven excitement, and there’s more to see of his marvellous moon-based muscle car at his photostream. Take a look via the link above, and we’ll be back with some things far more mundane tomorrow…

How to Make (and Sell) Building Instructions!

The single most common comment we receive here at the Lego Car Blog (besides “Buy cheap Cialis here”) is “Can I have building instructions?’

In some cases it’s a yes, but most of the time the answer is no. They’re tricky, and it can be seen as a bit of a dark art. However the very talented SaperPL is here to explain how you can do it!

Yes, we’ve finally got round to the fifth instalment of the ‘Become a Lego Professional’ series, in which previous bloggee and prolific building instruction creator SaperPL provides the top ten tips for writing your very own LEGO building instructions.

Fame, glory, and maybe even a few $ could await! Read how you can get started in the building instructions game via the link below.

Become a Lego Professional – Part 5;

SaperPL – How to Make (and Sell) Building Instructions

Brown Rat

You’re never more than 6ft from a rat. Or something. We’re OK with that here at TLCB Towers, because we’re certainly never more than 6ft away from a TLCB Elf, which is probably worse.

Cue Sergio Batista and his brown rat rod, which makes us all very close to a rat today. There’s more to see at Sergio’s photostream, where you can get even closer should you wish. To his rat, not a TLCB Elf. You wouldn’t want that…

Bulkwagen

This is a DAF FAS 2600 ‘Bulkwagen’ in Hendrix livery, and it comes from DAF-building specialist Arian Janssens. Arian’s classic DAF 2600 joins his extensive line-up of Dutch trucks, with some simply exquisite detailing throughout to accurately capture the (somewhat odd) design of the 1960s original.

Replica decals, vintage Technic wheels, working steering, and excellent presentation make this worth a closer look, and you can do just that via the link to Arian’s photostream above.

Big Red Truck

If you’re a TLCB Elf, seven, or indeed a member of TLCB Team, then you probably like Big Red Trucks.

This Model Team / Technic Freightliner Classic is definitely a Big Red Truck, and what’s more it has some proper Technic functionally too, with working steering, inline-6 piston engine, and fifth-wheel hitch, plus opening doors and hood.

Anton Kablash is the builder and there’s more to see on Flickr here, if you like Big Red Trucks too.