Author Archives: thelegocarblogger

Dumping Cat

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As has been documented here before, TLCB Team – as a rule – dislike cats. We appreciate that’s a controversial thing to say on the internet, which is very possibly ruled by cats, so prevalent is their content, but we’ve probably said worse.

We do like this cat though, Sariel’s huge Caterpillar 797F dump truck – which is currently filled with Elves riding it up and down the corridor here at TLCB Towers – and it’s packed with functions.

Firstly, that enormous bucket they’re piled into features a remotely operable dumping mechanism thanks to a Mindstorms EV3 IR sensor, which we’ll test out on our unsuspecting workers shortly. The choice of a Mindstorms control unit is an usual one, as they don’t often feature in models here at TLCB, but Sariel’s decision to use one is rather cunning…

The Mindstorms EV3 not only controls the tipping bucket, it also measures the suspension tilt and applies an automatic motorised correction to keep the Caterpillar level. Self-levelling suspension is a system relatively common on SUVs (as well as mining trucks), but it’s one that requires such ridiculous ingenuity in Lego form that we don’t even know how Sariel began. But then our cleverness peaked with the title on today’s other post, so it’s no surprise that this is way over our heads.

Sariel’s Caterpillar also features remote control drive and steering via LEGO’s Power Functions system, non-LEGO ‘Baja Claw’ RC tyres fitted to standard LEGO wheels, and a host of accurate details and decals to replicate the real 797F.

A complete gallery of imagery is available to view at Sariel’s Caterpillar 797F Flickr album by clicking here and you can join the discussion plus watch a video the the model in action (including a demonstration of the clever suspension) by visiting the Eurobricks forum here.

Harvard Reference

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Well we’re never going to write a title cleverer than that… On to the build. This is a North American T-6 ‘Harvard’ a World War 2 training aircraft, and sometime fighter, as built here beautifully by previous bloggee Henrik Jenson. Henrik’s Harvard is shown in Danish livery, one of the many airforces that operated the T-6 from the 1940s until the 1970s, including some that the U.S. has subsequently fought against. See more at Henrik’s album on Flickr via the link above.

How I Met Your Mother

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It’s the late 1970s. Your Dad is on vacation with his mates at the lake, and he’s just been rumbled watching the girl from the Winnebago in plot 44 getting changed. She knew exactly what she was doing though, starting the chain of events that led to a drunken night out, shotgun marriage, and you. Followed by years of regret, but hey, that’s not the Winnebago’s fault.

This brilliant ’72 Winnebago Brave D20 is just the thing for making mistakes at the lake and comes from JLiu15’s Lego Studio of Flickr. Featuring a detailed interior, opening doors, and no curtains at all there’s more to see at JLui’s Winnebago D20 photo album. Click the link above to join your Dad at the lake. Just don’t distract him or you might start Back to the Futuring…

Green Machine

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We like a good tractor here at The Lego Car Blog. After all, they’re responsible for the production of the tasty vegetables and even tastier meats that reside in TLCB Fridge. This excellent Technic tractor comes from previous bloggee Thirdwigg and it’s a John Deere 6130R, complete with a working piston engine, front and rear power take-offs, steering and drawbars. There’s more to see of Thirdwigg’s build on Flickr, Brickshelf, and at the Eurobricks discussion forum – head to the farm via the links above.

Timber Wolf

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This is a Timber Wolf. Nope, us neither, but it’s a very cool build and there’s more to see courtesy of Kale Frost on Flickr. Click the link to make the jump.

Looks Like a Fish, Moves Like a Fish, Steers Like a Cow*

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This magnificent Octan Space Racer – imagined for the iconic video game ‘Wipeout’ – comes from TLCB favourite David Roberts, who has very much taken the ‘more is more’ route with power, and the ‘it’ll be fine’ route with steering. Kinda like a Camaro.

To quote the builder “Built for speed, it was equipped with two massive engines from Whatt & Pritney. Much of the underside of its nose was given to heat exchanger pipes. This cooling array boosted the power of the engines considerably. If the designers had paid as much attention to the steering it might have been a successful racer.”

Yup, a Camaro then. See more at David’s photosteam via the link above.

*TLCB Points available if you know the link.

Head Scratcher

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We don’t know who Poe Dameron is, what a Head Starter is, or even where the head in this model by Flickr’s ianying616 has come from (is it LEGO?). However we do know it’s shiny, has a racing stripe, and an implausibly enormous engine, which means had we not have featured it the Elves would’ve started a riot. There’s more to see at ianying’s photostream via the link above where you can try to work it out.

Restoration Ralph

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Restoring a car is a tricky business, but it’s slightly easier on an old pick-up truck such as this Ford F100. Everything bolts on and off a frame, there are virtually no electrics, and about three spanner sizes will undo every bolt. Of course it’s easier still in LEGO form…

This neat F100 restoration scene comes from regular bloggee Ralph Savelsberg, who has depicted the classic pick-up in various stages of reassembly. A variety of tools are included too and there’s more to see of Ralph’s restoration on Flickr via the link above.

Beetle Drive

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The Elves, driven by hunger and a strict ‘find us a bloody car’ policy have started to return to TLCB Towers. They’ve come up trumps too as this most excellent Volkswagen Käfer (or Kaefer) Racer comes from Lino Martins and is his first car for almost two years. Pictured alongside the Hot Wheels toy it’s based on, Lino’s heavily modified Beetle features a removable body, a mid-mounted V8 engine, and official LEGO decals. See more on Flickr at the link.

Fictional Fighter

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From one strange vintage aircraft to another, only this one isn’t real. This oddly-shaped aircraft comes from the mind of Jon Hall, being constructed in his trademark ‘sky-fi’ style, and featuring some rather lovely detail and decal work. It’s called the ‘P-65 Tomahawk’ and it looks a bit like one of those terrifying crab thingies or the alien from Alien. Head to Jon’s photostream via the link above to check it out, whilst we enforce a strict ‘Bring Us Back a Bloody Car’ policy on our Elven workforce. We’ll see you in, er… a few days? A week? It depends on what you lot build…

Lightning Bolt!

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Lightning is always cool. OK, not always; this guy took some liberties. But other than that it’s cool. One of fastest and most terrifying forces in nature, lightning also makes a for a great aircraft name. It’s been used twice that we know of, the second being the unhinged English Electric Lightning and the first being this; the glorious Lockheed P-38J Lightning. The Lockheed P-38’s usual (and we think quite beautiful) twin boom design makes it an oddity in the aircraft world, and even more so considering it first entered service in 1941.

Deployed as a bomber, a long range escort fighter, a ground attack craft, for photo reconnaissance, and as a night fighter, the P-38 flew throughout the entire American involvement in World War Two in a vast array of theatres, with over 10,000 produced in just 4 years.

This colourful mini-figure scale version of the iconic warbird comes from previous bloggee John C. Lamarck of Flickr, who has done a wonderful job recreating the P-38 Lightning in lego form. The hand-drawn decals add to the cartoonish nature of the build too, and there’s more to see at John’s photostream by clicking here.

Not a Car

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But a pair of Abt locomotives that are, well… beautiful. We thought Abt were a motorsport company specialising in Volkswagen Group products, but then we are a car blog after all. Sharing a name but otherwise totally unrelated are these Abt locos built for the Mount Lyell Mining Company’s narrow gauge railway on the Tasmanian West Coast. And they really are built for Tasmania’s West Coast, as builder Alexander (aka narrow_gauge) was commissioned to create these for The West Coast Wilderness Railway who now run the real restored locomotives. Custom decals, 3D printed valve gear and motors complete the realism, and there’s more to see at Alexander’s photostream via the link above (or at the The West Coast Wilderness Railway Museum).

Creamsicle

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Porsche and Volkswagen have history as long as the two companies’ existence. A shared dark past links the Beetle and the 911, the 1980s 924 was powered by a VW van engine, and more recently Volkswagen have bought Porsche outright, adding the brand to their ever-increasing and possibly slightly evil empire.

But before ‘dieselgate’, some of the largest fines and lawsuits in corporate history, and an ongoing criminal investigation, Volkswagen and Porsche collaborated to create something rather more charming than breathing difficulties and lung cancer. This is that collaboration, the slightly odd but utterly wonderful VW-Porsche 914/916.

Launched in 1969 the VW-Porsche 914 was produced until 1976, with 120,000 made during that run. A flat-4 engine powered the Volkswagen version, whilst it was joined by an optional flat-6 in the Porsche, giving the two ‘914/4’ and ‘914/6’ names depending upon the engine specified, with power ranging from 75 to 110bhp.

This gorgeous Technic recreation of the Porsche 914 comes from newcomer Wilbert Engels who has built the ’70s oddity beautifully in Lego form. Wilbert’s model includes working suspension, steering with Ackermann geometry, pop-up head-lights, a removable roof, adjustable seats, a gearbox, and a choice of both the flat-4 and flat-6 engines that powered the real cars.

There’s much more to see of Wilbert’s brilliant Porsche 914 at both his Flickr album and at the Eurobricks discussion forum, including a full gallery of images and build specifications.

Take a look via the links in the text above, and cross your fingers that Volkswagen and Porsche can return to making cars like this, rather than an ever expanding range of depressingly identikit SUVs.

Pair of Old Grannies

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We love Ford’s classic Granada. Once worthless banger fodder (and still banger fodder sadly), the Granada is slowly but surely becoming rather cool. There might not be any left by the time it does though, so if not here are two brilliant small-scale examples built by Mateusz Waldowski of Flickr. Mateusz’s brown station wagon has appeared on these pages before and has now been joined by the more common sedan variant, both superbly recreated in 6-wide form with the help of a few stickers/silver marker. Head to Mateusz’s Mk1 Ford Granada album via the link above to see all the images.

Drop It Like It’s Hot

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Crap. Sci-Fi. Well the proper Lego blogs will probably pick this up at some point, so you can read some actual descriptive text about this when they do. Until then, this is Rat Dude‘s ‘Red Morn One’ ‘drop shuttle’, with lots of quotation marks going on as we don’t know what any of that means. It is a lovely build though, and it’s micro-scale too, making it a rather chunky thing to boot. See more on Flickr via the link, or at the proper blogs when they find it.

*Today’s title track. You don’t get that at The Brothers Brick (although you do get professionalism).