Monthly Archives: August 2023

Detroit to JDM


There aren’t many Japanese cars that can challenge bona fide supercars, however the Toyota Supra Mark IV did just that, being faster and having more power than 1990s supercar exotica.

Cue this splendid Technic example, which is constructed only out of the parts from a genuine supercar; the LEGO Technic 42154 Ford GT.

Built by Eurobricks’ Alex Ilea, the Supra features working steering and suspension, a piston engine under an opening hood, and opening doors too.

There’s more to see at the Eurobricks forum and at Alex’s Bricksafe gallery, where links to building instructions can also be found, and you can convert your 52154 set from Detroit to JDM via the links above.

Steak Dinner

This is a DAF 95.500 Super Space Cab truck, complete with a trailer full of tasty… er, we mean delicious… um, flaverous… no – let’s just say ‘wholesome’ – animals. See, vegans are welcome here too!

Built by Arian Janssens, there’s more to see of the DAF and the livestock trailer it’s pulling at his photostream.

Click the link above and make ours a medium-rare.

Skippy

Following a vehicle that appeared here earlier in the week (which the builder has now updated with an indolent, tracksuit-wearing, oxygen-wasting, fly-tipping scumbag after reading the post, earning themselves 100 TLCB points), this is how you should actually dispose of waste, via a properly licensed skip company.

Cue previous bloggee damjan97PL (aka damianPLE), and this rather excellent Technic Scania P-Series skip lorry. (Damian also earns 100 TLCB Points for calling his build a ‘skip lorry’, rather than a ‘container truck’ as LEGO would.)

Wonderfully realistic, Damian’s Scania not only looks the part, it also features some fantastic manually-operated and pneumatic functions, including rear outriggers, ‘HOG’ steering, a working inline 6-cylinder engine underneath a tilting cab, and a pneumatically-powered boom, able to perfectly lower and hoist a neat brick-built skip.

Damian has made building instructions available and there’s more of his top-quality Technic Scania skip lorry to see at the Eurobricks discussion forum, his ‘Scania Skip Loader’ Bricksafe gallery, and via the video below.

Click the links above to dispose of your waste without vandalising the local environment, and keep indolent, tracksuit-wearing, oxygen-wasting, fly-tipping scumbags out of business.

Flight 714 to Sydney

The news that Putin’s… er, “chef” has been killed in a private plane “accident” is the top story of the moment, but private air travel seems fraught with peril even if you haven’t pissed off an under-endowed dictator, with a long list of celebrities lost to private air disasters over the years.

Of course it tends to be the rich and famous using private jets, a theme that French comic ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ explored way back in 1968 with ‘Flight 714 to Sydney’. Owned by a ‘millionaire who never laughs’, the fictional Carreidas 160 jet was hi-jacked by Tintin’s arch-nemesis Roberto Rastapopoulos in an effort to steal millions from the aircraft owner’s Swiss bank account. Also there was a volcanic eruption, telepathy, and aliens for some reason. 

Anyway, the plane ended up in the ocean, adding further weight to the cool-but-perilous argument, and Tintin flew commercial thereafter.

This lovely recreation of the aforementioned fictional jet – and the characters from the comic – comes from Stefan Johansson, who’s used some lovely techniques to capture the swoopy shape. An opening cabin door and detailed landing gear also feature, and there’s more to see at Stefan’s ‘Carreidas 160 – Flight 714 to Sydney’ album via the link above. It’s just probably best you don’t get on board…

400-Pieces to F40

The Ferrari F40, even with the immense fame and riches brought in by running this site, is a long way out of reach. Thus the closest this TLCB Writer is going to get to one is in the brick, but fortunately Flickr’s Fuku Saku has it covered, with his stunning 8-wide rendition of the Maranello masterpiece. As realistic as small-scale building gets, Fuku has recreated the F40 in stunning fashion, and he’s released instructions so that you can own the iconic Ferrari too. 400 pieces is all it takes, and you can find out more at Faku’s ‘Ferrari F40’ album via the link above.

Meals on Wheels

This is a Chevrolet P30 Step-Van, a ‘multi-stop’ truck primarily designed for the package delivery industry, and a common sight across America. This particular Step-Van is much more interesting though, being of the food truck variety, and therefore containing, well… food.

Built by previous bloggee Max Ra, who has used some excellent sideways building techniques, this 8-wide Chevy P30 could only be more realistic if it included a queue of brick-built hipsters waiting to place their order.

Join us in the queue at the serving hatch via Max’s photostream at the link above!

On the Fly

The most hated vehicle in TLCB Office, and very probably the entire of TLCB’s home nation, is the tipper van.

Often seen with tatty and deeply ironic ‘Eco Recycling’ type decals on the doors, they are used to collect people’s waste (for a fee), and then dump it at the side of the road. Or in the middle of the road. Or in farmers’ fields. Or in lay-bys. Or anywhere that isn’t a recycling centre.

Cue this superbly-engineered Technic example by kralls_workshop, which features working steering, an opening bonnet, and a two-way tipper that can tip both rearwards and sideways for maximum illegal dumping ease.

It doesn’t include an indolent, tracksuit-wearing, oxygen-wasting, fly-tipping scumbag at the wheel though, which would’ve been nice for maximum realism.

Anyway, there’s more of the truck to see at Krall’s ‘Tipper Van’ Flickr album, and you can vandalise a quiet lane in the countryside via the link above.

Trio of Tractors

The Elves, being simple creatures, like tractors very much. TLCB staff, being simple creatures, also like tractors very much. Today we have three, so everyone is very happy, and there’ll be rather fat Elf waddling around the office later. Flickr’s Frank is behind this lovely trio of tractors and there’s more to see of each – as well as his other excellent vehicular creations – via the link in the text above.

Citizen Cane

Reboots of beloved classic franchises always go well

Unlike Hollywood at its laziest, 1saac W. isn’t rebooting vintage LEGO theme Indiana Jones, er… we mean ‘Johnny Thunder’, but he is letting us know what IndianJohnny‘s friend Harry Cane got up to after retiring from his pilot-based adventuring. A shark-toothed Ford ‘Tudor’ hot rod shows Harry hasn’t lost his need for adrenaline and there’s more to see on Flickr.

Now if you could build a matching plane 1saac, perhaps we’d even get on board for a reboot…

My Other Car’s a Camaro

Are you a fan of the LEGO Icons 1034 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, but don’t have a handlebar mustache and spend your nights chucking dice in an alley? Then why not rebuild your Camaro set into something altogether different?

Cue Nathanael Kruipers‘ stunning Pontiac Firebird, constructed entirely from the pieces found within the 10304 Camaro set, yet rebuilding the set to create a car driven by… OK, exactly the same stereotype.

Still, the Camaro and Firebird were the same cars underneath, so perhaps that’s not surprising, and it makes creating the Firebird from the Camaro rather appropriate.

Building instructions are available and there’s much more of Nathanael’s brilliant 10304 alternate to see at his photostream. Click the link above to join him in the alley.

Get Low*

There’d better not be speed-bumps near 1saac W.‘s house. Still, much underside worry is probably worth it to look as cool as this. Inspired by a real car in Instagram, there’s more to see of this fantastic custom ’52 Chevy on Flickr. Click the link above to get low.

*Today’s title track. Because we’re street.

Sci-Fi Sunday

OK, we’re not always strictly a car blog here at The Lego… er, Car Blog, but today’s sci-fi creations do have wheels! Well, two of them do, and enough to average 4.67 wheels per model in today’s post, which is good enough for us!

First up is Capt. Dad‘s Neo-Classic Space ‘Mobile Research’, because there’s nothing the mini-figures of Classic Space (or indeed, Neo-Classic Space) like more than researching stuff. Much greebling, many opening compartments, and a brilliant interior all feature, and you join in the research via the link above.

Next up is a creation from Neo-M-Tron, a sub-theme which we’ve just invented. This is the ‘Gigatron Flux Inductor’, a giganormous 6×6 cross between the mole thingy from Thunderbirds, a steam train, and a petrol tanker. Created digitally in Bricklink Studio plus copious editing programmes, Ghalad‘s creation is apparently the latter, and you can fill up your stranded lunar rover via the link in the text above.

Today’s third and final sci-fi build features no wheels at all, but it does use two LEGO transparent ball pieces for, um… reasons. Sylvain Daunais‘ ‘Universe Explorer’ looks superb however, and there’s more to see of his excellent Neo-Classic Spaceship on Flickr. Click the link above to take a look, whilst we find some things that have definitely got wheels…

Light Truck

This is a Kenworth W900 truck, and the more eagle-eyed reader may have noticed it’s been subtly modified with a little chrome and a few extra lights. Which means that if you’re six, a TLCB Elf, or from Texas, we’re sure you’re going to love it.

Truth be told we love it too, particularly as its creator Jonah Padberg (aka Plane Bricks) has included an opening hood under which lies a brilliantly detailed engine, a realistic interior, and working steering and suspension too.

There are more excellent images to view at Jonah’s photostream and you can light your way there via the link above.

Cyber Datsun

In a seedy bleak cyberpunk future, you could do worse than a classic Datsun pick-up. Notoriously hardy, the Datsun 720 is the perfect tool for collecting disused electronics ready to harvest the internals. Or whatever it is these colourful characters are doing. Ids de Jong knows, and you can ask him at his photostream via the link above.

Certified Ship

This is the ‘HMS Certitude’, an early-1800’s 26-gun ‘fourth-rate’ warship, as built by the rather talented hands of TLCB newcomer Powder Monkey.

Monkey’s creation packs in a boatload of features, including 26 working cannons across two decks, opening hatches and grills to reveal a beautifully detailed interior, a functioning capstan, woking rigging to set the sails, and an extensive crew of ‘Redcoat’ mini-figures.

Whilst a Navy ship, the Certitude does also feature a few ‘illegal’ (you could say piratical) techniques, including cut rigging, polyester cloth sails, and a few parts connected together in ways that LEGO wouldn’t countenance in an official set, but the result is a first rate, er… fourth-rate ship.

An extensive gallery of superb imagery is available to view at Powder Monkey’s ‘HMS Certitude’ Flickr album, or you can join the discussion at the Eurobricks forum. Click the links above to weigh anchor and set sail.