Here’s a rat king riding a train. Because shut up, that’s why. There’s a Duplo train base under there somewhere, and you can check it out at Kristof‘s photostream.
King Rat
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Category Archives: Lego
Fashionable for the Family
Following on from his excellent 1959 Dodge Coronet that recently featured here, Flickr’s SFH_Bricks has now built the estate version, the Custom Sierra, and has there ever been a cooler way to move several kids and a dog? Jump back to when family cars were a billion times more interesting than a generic jelly-mould crossover via the link above!
Moving Boxes
Here at The Lego Car Blog most of the models we publish are supercars, sports cars, and giant off-roaders. Because we’re six. But if we were a vehicle, we’d probably be a crappy old van.
In our home nation that would most likely mean a Ford Transit, which isn’t just the best-selling van, but the best selling vehicle. However despite the massive numbers almost none survive beyond about fifteen years old (with many dying much younger), thanks to the disposable nature of vehicles used as tools, high repair costs, and a very robust annual inspection process.
In many parts of America though, there is no such inspection (leading to some truly terrifying vehicle conditions unthinkable in our home nation), and thus battered vans from decades past can are still a common sight.
This is one such van, a 1997 Ford Econoline, as built by newcomer yellowsquadron, who has utilised some sun-yellowed white bricks to superb effect to recreate the knackered exterior.
Posable steering, opening doors (including the sliding side door), a detailed engine under an opening hood, a realistic under-chassis drivetrain, and a wonderfully life-like interior all feature, and you can check out all the imagery (plus a link to building instructions) at yellow’s ‘Ford Econoline 1997’ album. Move some boxes via the link above.
Love and Rockets
It’s SHIPtember, the annual spaceship-building bandwagon for sci-fi creations measuring over one hundred studs in length.
This one comes from Flickr’s Ryan Olsen and is a ‘Stiletto Class’ destroyer, so named because of its narrow pointed shape. That and it’s captained by Tiffany and comes from the Stripper Nebula. We may have made that last bit up.
You can take a closer look at Ryan’s gargantuan space shoe via his ‘Stiletto Class Pickett Destroyer’ album, plus you can see the other SHIPtember works-in-progress and finished builds at the SHIPtember Flickr group.
Dedicated Follower of Fashion*
American automotive design was at its most outrageous by the late ’50s. Increasingly wild shapes, jet engine tail lights, and tail-fins half the length of the car were redrawn every two years, with manufacturers reusing the same (often rather tired) underpinnings underneath constantly new fashion-conscious exteriors. ’50s American cars had lifecycles as short as LEGO sets…
Of course there’s probably a metaphor there somewhere about what actually matters being what’s on the inside, as by the ’70s the wheels were starting to come off, but in 1959 no-one was thinking that far ahead. In fact no-one thought further than the next 24 months.
Today’s creation epitomises this time; the fabulously extravagant 1959 Dodge Coronet. The fourth generation car we have here lasted from just 1957 to 1959 (with its predecessors each lasting no more than two years also), measured nearly 6 meters long, and was powered by a range of six and eight cylinder engines, some of which dated from the 1920s.
This lovely 8-wide Speed Champions recreation of the ’59 Coronet comes from previous bloggee SFH_Bricks, who has added it to his ever growing roster of classic automotive Americana. With so many short-lived designs crammed into America’s golden age, SFH has no shortage of real-world cars to replicate, and you can check out this wonderful Dodge and much more besides via the link in the text above.
Acceptable in the ’80s
A simple, efficient, small, pick-up truck would probably do brilliantly in 2024. But because they don’t cost much less to produce that monstrosities like this, guess what manufacturers choose to make…
Back in the ’80s though, and you could buy a simple, efficient, small, pick-up truck, with Toyota’s being so simple it didn’t even have a name, being called simply the ‘pick-up’.
It did in the rest of the world though, where the ‘Hilux’ gained a legendary reputation. This neat grey Technic recreation of the ’80s icon (pictured in front of some equally grey ’80s wallpaper – buy some white card paave!) comes from previous bloggee paave, and features four-wheel-drive linked to a 4-cylinder engine and a high/low gearbox, leaf-spring suspension, working steering, plus opening (and locking) doors, hood and tailgate.
There’s more of paave’s ’85 Toyota Hilux to see at the Eurobricks forum, where a link to building instructions can also be found. Build yourself a simple, efficient, small, pick-up truck in 2024 – even if it is from the ’80s – via the link above!
Golden Warrior
The ‘Golden Warriors’ might sound like a Japanese kid’s cartoon or an army in ‘Game of Thrones’, but they are in fact a U.S Navy strike fighter squadron based out of Virginia.
Flying the F/A-18A since 1986, the VFA-87 ‘Golden Warriors’ were deployed in Operation Desert Storm, Bosnia, and the second Iraq War, before switching to the upgraded F/A-18E Super Hornet in 2015, in which they shot down the first manned aircraft since 1999 (a Syrian Su-22), in the skies over Syria.
It’s the upgraded F/A-18E Super Hornet we have here, courtesy of TLCB Master MOCer Ralph Savelsberg (aka Mad Physicist), whose phenomenal recreation of the U.S Navy fighter is pictured on a slice of the carrier deck from which the aircraft operates.
Folding wing-tips, detailed armaments, and retractable landing gear all feature, and you can find all of the superb imagery at Ralph’s ‘F/A-18E Super Hornet’ album.
Team America: World Police
If you subscribe to ‘Guns n’ Ammo’, election conspiracy theories, and the NRA, this post is for you!
The U.S military’s High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (or ‘Humvee’ more colloquially) has been in service since the mid-’80s, operating in a quite staggering number of conflicts, wars, counter-terrorism and anti-drug operations.
The invasion of Panama, the Gulf War, the Somalian Civil War, the Invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, the Philippines, Iraq again, and – currently – the Yemeni, Israeli, and Ukrainian conflicts, have all involved Humvees, with over sixty nations (plus independent militaries, armed groups, and even dickbags Islamic State) on the operators list.
It could be argued that few vehicles have had as much of an impact on the world as the Humvee, and this splendid ‘M1025’ variant captures the immense U.S. military export brilliantly in brick form.
Constructed by previous bloggee Jakeof_ there’s more of the build to see at his ‘M1025 HMMWV’ album on Flickr, where it’s photographed and presented beautifully. Shout ‘Freedom!!’ whilst clicking the link above, plus you can click here for a bonus civilian Hummer, which really is driven solely by ‘Guns n’ Ammo’ reading, election conspiracy theorising, NRA members.
Old Man Semi
We’re not all racing cars, sports cars, and monstrous off-roaders here at The Lego Car Blog. Nope. Because today we have a road-worn ’80s MAN truck. And a title referencing erectile disfunction.
This battered MAN F90 ‘cab-over semi’, or just ‘truck’ to our European readers, is the work of Sseven Bricks, who has deliberately constructed it to look well used. And to great effect. Cunning techniques and excellent presentation make this worth a closer look, and you can click the link above to see more of Sseven’s old MAN semi.
New Millenium Racer
Early-00’s Le Mans began the ‘Prototype’ era, most famously via the open-cockpit Audis that won almost every race that decade.
Inspired by the 2000’s LMP racers, previous bloggee and TLCB Master MOCer Thirdwigg has created this neat Technic version, complete with working steering, a flat-8 piston engine, and removable bodywork.
Free building instructions are available and there’s more of the model to see on Flickr. Click here to head to Le Mans circa-2004.
Collection of Letters
This is a Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE, which is very boring name. It’s not a boring car though, being designed for the World Endurance Championship’s GT-Class (which includes Le Mans), and being the single loudest thing that this TLCB Writer has ever heard*.
Built by newcomer Reddish Blue, this superb Speed Champions example replicates the works cars that competed in the 2017 championship and came 4th in class at the famous 24 hour race.
Building instructions are available and you can find out more about Reddish’s Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE at his album of the same name via the link above.
*Except for your Mom last night.
Muppety Relations
Kermit and Miss Piggy might be the world’s most famous puppet-based couple, but the mechanics of their relationship are probably not something upon which to ponder too deeply. Cue this green pig, as however nightmarish the offspring of a frog and a pig might be, in car form the result is fantastic.
Previous bloggee PleaseYesPlease is the builder behind this stunning Speed Champions modified Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2, which – even in American-safety-bumper form – looks the business.
Stretched tyres and a little window stickerage aren’t strictly purist, but then we started this post with an amphibian-swine sex metaphor, so don’t go looking to us for formality.
There’s more to see of Please’s gloriously green Porsche 911 at the link above, plus you can find every time their works have appeared here to date via this bonus link.
All Night Smokin’
Back in the 1980s, anything that was bad for you could be found on the side of a racing car. Which has got to be cooler than the crypto currency and credit cards we get today.
This particular mobile billboard for cancer comes courtesy of Porsche, and the last time they won the Le Mans 24 Hours with the 962C, when Hans-Joachim Stuck, Derek Bell and Al Holbert crossed the line twenty laps ahead of the second-placed car. Which was also a Porsche 962C.
Built by SFH_Bricks, this exquisite Speed Champions replica of the 1987 race winner includes a superbly authentic livery thanks to Brickstickershop, custom wheels, and building instructions are available too.
Head for post-race cigarette via the link above.
Bat Soup
Bats in water aren’t at the top of many menus. This is because a) how many other meats do you have to reject before ending up at bat?, and b) the aforementioned dish may have paralysed the world for two years. Thanks China.
Anyway, today we do have a bat in water, courtesy of ABrickDreamer‘s diorama depicting the moment The Dark Knight launched the Tumbler through a waterfall in 2005’s ‘Batman Begins’.
There’s more of Brick’s Batmobile to see on Flickr; click the link above to take a look and maybe start a global pandemic.
Summer of ’59
As uninspired, dreary and monotonous as American cars have been since the late-’90s, they were spectacular, inventive, and pioneering in the late-’50s. Tail-fins, chrome, and delightful shapes abounded during America’s automotive golden years, with two high watermarks being Chevrolet’s gorgeous C1 Corvette and iconic Impala.
Recreating these icons of Americana is SFH_Bricks, who has begun a new series building the most famous ’50s cars in Speed Champions scale. Joining his previously blogged Cadillac El Dorado, the Corvette and Impala pictured here capture each classic Chevrolet beautifully in miniature (with the pieces used for the Impala’s tail-lights in particular perfectly formed for the task).
There’s more to see of SFH’s wonderfully presented classic Chevrolet Corvette and Impala models (including details on building instructions) on Flickr via the links, where we’re sure a fleet of ’50s American classic will be sure to join them.
