Author Archives: Dr Asp Menace

On the Right Track

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Red Tracks 01

Another day in the office at TLCB Towers and another group of 23 Elves contentedly squabble over a single bright red Smartie. It’s their reward for finding this rather nice Tracked Articulated Tractor. This is the third vehicle built by František Hajdekr using his extremely compact track modules. The tractor is a neat blend of a hinging Technic chassis with a System body which features so many headlights that we’re not sure which is the front or the back end.

František’s first machine to use his track modules was his Tracked ATV, based on the standard Lego motorbike pieces, shown below. This looks very like quad-bikes that actually exist, using the Litefoot conversion system for travelling in deep snow. You can see more photos of both machines, plus details of the construction of the track modules and the Tractor’s chassis, by clicking this link to František’s Flickr Photostream.

Red Tracks 02

Tuk, tuk, tuk, tuk…

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Tuk tuk

The cheap and simple to maintain “tuk, tuk” is spreading everywhere today. Especially in Asia, Africa and South America they are thronging the roads of cities transporting both goods and people. Recently, a team of Elves have been using a tuk tuk to haul their Lego finds back to TLCB towers. Fortunately this noisily annoying vehicle was smushed into the carpet by another group, equipped with Sariel’s Liebherr Loader.

Tuk tuks have now made it into space, thanks to Pico van Grootveld’s entry into this year’s Classic Space Pocket Money Contest. His Tequilatron theme might explain why 1980s spacemen were always happy and smiling. Pico has also just published photos of his awesome ORCA MK II gunship. Click this link to his Flickr Photostream to see more of both builds, including the alternative models made from the Tuk tuk’s parts.

ORCA II

If you can find them…

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A-team van

We love it when a plan comes together, here at The Lego Car Blog. Using the Elves as our workforce has proved to be both cheap and successful over the last few years of brick-built, automotive exploration. Unfortunately some of the Elves were locked into their cages over the Christmas break with welding gear, a full set of Halford’s tools and various pieces of scrap machinery. They escaped into the Los Angeles underground, where they survive by finding creations for a flower arranging blog. Their colleagues are happy, as there are fewer mouths to compete for the Smarties.

Speaking of which, we gave out a rare, black Smartie to the lucky finder of Angka Utama’s A-Team GMC van. You can see it higher resolution by clicking this link to Flickr.

Wet ‘n’ Wild

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According to The Lego Car Blog’s Submission Guidelines, the Elves prefer models to have, “Clean, contrasting backgrounds…”. We had to make an exception in the case of Petris Sprogris’ “Project_BLACK” vehicle. The rusting metal panel, which looks very like the top of the TLCB beer fridge, does actually contrast nicely with this all black build. Adding a spray of water, some carefully chosen lighting and a good macro focus has given Petris some winning photos. The Elves also liked the reversed tires, angled windscreen and blend of System and other parts. Click this link to MOCpages or this link to Flickr to see more.

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Yellow Car!

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Normally finding two quality vehicles would leave The Lego Car Blog Elves happily munching away on Smarties. In this case it would be yellow ones, because they’re the best kind. Unfortunately the Elves have also just discovered the rules to the Yellow Car Game, causing the biggest Elf-Fight that Mr. Airhorn has ever had to quell.

LatLug member Rolands Ķirpis has created a beautiful Porsche, very much in the style of the great Malte Dorowski. The car – previously blogged here – features a nicely detailed interior and can be seen in the company of an excellent Model Team style breakdown truck by clicking this link to the Latvian Lego Users Group Photostream.

The second excuse for one Elf to hit another was provided by Joe Perez (Mortal Swordsman). Working on a commission for the UK’s Lego professionals, Bright Bricks, Joe has built a ’69 Mustang. The car has opening doors and bonnet, with an engine underneath. The build is all the more impressive, as the subject was chosen by readers of Auto Trader magazine and Joe chose his supply of Lego pieces before he knew what the car was to be. There are more cars to follow in this series, so it’s worth clicking the link to Joe’s MOCpages account or his Flickr Photostream to see what happens.

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V-Bombers

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VV Vendetta

Back in the days when the Royal Air Force spent as much on moustache wax for its pilots as it did on jet fuel, three mighty bombers were designed. The Valiant, Victor and Vulcan. The latter two were aerodynamically advanced for their time*, with the Vulcan’s huge delta wing looking particularly graceful in anti-flash white. Powered by four Rolls-Royce Olympus engines, Vulcan XH558 still wows the crowds at shows today, whilst also reminding us the dark days of the Cold War.

If they had continued this series of aircraft, would British designers have used the name “Vendetta”? It is certainly appropriate for this sleek, aggressive looking craft from American builder Tim Clark. Tim’s Vic Viper includes a spacious cockpit, angled brick built wings and highlights in Lego’s latest shade of yellow. You can see more of this ship on Tim’s Flickr Photostream.

It’s a fairly certain bet that the Ministry of Defence would never have chosen the name “Valium” for a bomber. According to its creator, Stuart Lucas, a big feature of this ship was the first ever coffee machine designed to work in zero gravity. Stuart cites influences from those other vintage Cold War jet aircraft, the twin boomed de Havilland Vampire & Venom series. Click this link to Stuart’s MOCpages to see more of this unusually shaped Vic Viper.

VV Valium

*The Elves have just tried to eat Kuchmen’s Carrots.

Like a Cat Outta Hell…

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z 109

The Elves have just returned from a dawn raid on MOCpages. They swooped out of the sun to scoop up two models of classic WWII fighter aircraft. First up is c bigboy99899’s Bf 109. As he says, this was one of the first truly modern fighter aircraft of its era, with its all metal, stressed skin construction and closed cockpit. The Bf 109 was incredibly successful, with somewhere around 34,000 being built, which is a bigger production run than many of the cars that we feature here. Examples were used by airforces all over the world, with the Spanish retiring their last example in 1965. Click this link to see more of this Bf 109, plus a pair of LDD versions in alternative colour schemes.

Early in the Second World War, the Bf 109 easily outclassed many of the aeroplanes flown by the Allies, especially the carrier based Sea Gladiators and Martlets (Wildcats) of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm. This was also true in the Pacific, where the famous Zero could outmanoeuvre anything in the sky. Pilots such as the RN’s Eric “Winkle” Brown had to use cunning and tactics to stay alive. Things changed when Grumman produced the Hellcat, with vastly upgraded performance. Jim McDonough normally builds ships but is building a whole squadron of Hellcats (and another of Avengers) to put on the deck of his next creation. This epic project is going to be an impressive sight when it’s finished. Click this link to Jim’s MOCpages to see more of his aeroplanes and ships.

z Hellcat

Before we go, if you’ve some spare time, click this link to BBC Radio 4’s website and listen to the stories and music of Capt. Eric “Winkle” Brown on Desert Island Discs. It’s classic edition of the programme with a man who has lived a life of real adventure. The Lego Car Blog writers also hope to be buying their latest sports car when they get to the age of 95!

Two Trucks

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Green Truck

Like magpies, the Elves are attracted to pretty, shiny things. This lovely little truck by South Korean builder bigcrown85 was an instant success with them. It features a neatly detailed body, with some novel parts usage such as the steps and the hammers to which the mirrors are attached. Fortunately the hammers are minifig scale. This allowed only slight damage to be inflicted in the ensuing Elf-fight over the green Smartie that the finder was rewarded with.

The truck’s wheels are very delicate and we suspect the application of a bit of “Kragle” to achieve this. However, we’re not too purist at TLCB* and so we’re happy to feature this neat build. Click this link to Flickr to see details of the chassis and the alternative van version.

We’ve previously featured bigcrown85’s superb Dakar Support Truck, when the Elves found it on MOCpages. You can now revisit it on Flickr and view its amazing detail in high resolution by clicking this link to bigcrown85’s Photostream.

Green Truck Not

*We can’t be, we work with the Elves.

Duelling Pullbacks!

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Gene Lunchbox

In contrast to the feature packed Technic models of our recent posts comes a pair of builds from Gene 3S. Gene’s Flickr and MOCpages listings feature an array of cute vehicles, with his latest including LEGO’s pullback motor for added fun. Tamiya’s Wild Willy and Lunchbox radio controlled cars have been delighting drivers both young and old for 15 years now. The Jeep also features a roller on the back to hold in position as it wheelies across the floor, as do both of Gene’s cars.

Gene Wild Willy 2

The Elves who found these builds have been giggling all day. This is partly because of the sugar rush from the yellow Smarties that they were rewarded with and partly because of the rather rude names that Tamiya chose for these RC vehicles. The Elves have minds almost as dirty as their smelly, unwashed bodies and enjoy a good double entendre. They’ve also been having fun trying to recreate Gene’s brilliant YouTube video, which you can watch below or click this link to see more photos on MOCpages.

Toscana

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Toscana Front

Many of Angka Utama’s cars are like the Elves, complex and small. The Toscana is a good example of this, including a drop down rear engine. Actually, on second thoughts the Elves are a worryingly simple bunch. On third thoughts, the Elves’ diet of sugary Smarties and fizzy drinks means that they’re getting a bit tubby too. Please click on this link to Angka’s Flickr Photostream to have a closer look at the Toscana’s features, whilst we go and find some better similes.*

Toscana Back

*I didn’t want to be a blog writer anyway. I wanted to be a lumberjack.

Mysterious Ma.Ktober

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We’ve almost come to the end of Ma.Ktober without featuring any of this year’s builds. This is possibly due neither us nor the Elves really understanding what it’s all about. Time to rectify the situation, with this build from :VolumeX:. His Zank7-FIU has some of the strangest wheels that the Elves have seen but this has been a trend with their recent sci-fi discoveries. A neat bit of design keeps the trim on the hubs horizontal as the Zank rolls along. Click this link to Flickr to have a closer look.

Viva Italia!

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Vespa-Pascal

Another day in the office and another Elf sits happily munching a yellow Smartie, whilst fending off its envious colleagues with a bit of Technic. It has just returned with this lovely, brick-built Vespa scooter by Pascal (Pasukaru76). Click this link to Flickr for a closer look.

Two Tiny Trucks

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Tint Fire Engine

It’s red and blue Smarties all round for the Elves at The Lego Car Blog today, as they’ve returned from MOCpages with a pair of little trucks. First up is a micro fire engine from Taiwanese builder Chung-Po Cheng, whose bin lorry we featured a couple of days ago. You can click this link to MOCpages to see more of the details that have been squeezed into this truck.

Second is Tommaso Garosi’s Unimog. Christmas is coming (there have been decorations in the shops for weeks now) and Tommaso’s crew are busy loading trees onto their truck. Underneath this classic 4×4 are prop-shafts and difs, which you can see by clicking this link to MOCpages. You can compare this with LEGO’s new, official model by clicking this link to our mini 2015 City preview.

Tiny Unimog

Daisy, Daisy

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billyburg bicycle

TLCB regular billyburg has come up with another in his series of super Classic Space vehicles. In contrast to F@bz’s creative solution to futuristic two-wheeled transport that we featured two days ago, billyburg has gone thinner, bigger diameter and side-by-side. The Elves have never seen wheels like this in all of their travels around the internet. Click this link to billyburg’s Flickr Photostream to see the details of exactly how he’s achieved it.