Everyone’s favourite vehicle as a toddler was a red tractor, and as we’re basically toddlers here at TLCB, that’s what we have here today. Proving you don’t need a million bricks to build something blogworthy, Stefan Johansson‘s Massey Ferguson tractor recreates the toddler favourite beautifully, and there’s more to see at the link.
Grey, ugly, and slightly depressing. Most Soviet items, whether architecture or vehicular, seemed to follow these designs rules, but at least the UAZ-452 got a good nickname.
‘Bukhanka’ means ‘bread loaf’*, and became attached to the UAZ-452 thanks to its slightly loaf-like aesthetic.
The 452 has maintained said shape since its launch in 1965, and it’s still being sold virtually unchanged today, even taking until 2011 to gain seatbelts and anti-lock brakes.
Used as a van, ambulance, pick-up truck, military vehicle, minibus, and countless other applications, the ‘Bukhanka’ is common sight across Eastern Europe, and has been recreated brilliantly in brick-form by previous bloggee PalBenglat.
Pal’s 6-wide ‘Bukhanka’ captures the design of the original wonderfully and there’s more to see at his ‘UAZ-452 Bukhanka’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to loaf on over.
*And not, as it turns out, when several gu… nevermind. Google carefully kids…
Why is it that kid’s toys are used as horror movie staples (LEGO thankfully excepted)? Sentient dolls, those horrific clapping monkeys, and tricycles pedalled around a creepy old hotels.
Perhaps our subconscious is dialled into imagined horrors thanks to said genre of film, but we’re wary of this seemingly unridden tricycle by Flickr’s dicken lui.
We won’t be taking a closer look for fear of blood-filled elevators and terrifying twins, but you can make the jump to the probably-innocent brick-built toddler transport via the link above.
There’s little cooler than a hot rod, but a modified classic car hauler will do it. Flickr’s Johnni D is the builder behind this one, and he’s thrown a hot rod in too for good measure. See more at his photostream via the link.
Mazda have just launched their most powerful production car ever. And it’s a crossover SUV. Because of course it is. Is anything not a going to be a crossover SUV these days?
Back in the ’90s things were far more varied, with a whole array of sports and GT cars available from mainstream brands. This was one of the most interesting; the rotary-engined Mazda RX-7.
Powered by a 1.3 litre twin-turbo twin-rotor wankel engine, the third generation RX-7 was produced from 1992 to 2002 during which, in TLCB’s home market at least, only a few hundred were sold. Sigh, perhaps we only deserve crossover SUVs…
Of course subsequent popularity meant thousands more RX-7s were ‘grey imported’ from Japan, and the car now enjoys a cult following with prices that go along with it, so the closest most of us will get to one now is in brick form.
Fortunately Flickr’s Fuku Saku has got us covered, with this glorious Speed Champions style third-gen. Mazda RX-7 for which building instructions are available so you can create it too. There’s more to see at Fuku’s photostream and you can take a look via the link above.
Hasbro’s ‘Moveable fighting man’ G.I. Joe wasn’t called that in TLCB’s home nation. He was known as ‘Action Man’, and this Writer’s parents still didn’t let him have one, what with him being ‘too violent’. In hindsight, they may have had a point.
But no matter, because here at TLCB we’re fantastically violent. Probably something to do with not being allowed Action Man toys as children…
Thus today’s creation, in the original American ‘G.I. Joe’ Action Man form, is a giant tracked ‘Wolverine armoured missile vehicle’ that was somehow deemed to be an acceptable toy. Not by this Writer’s parents of course.
Recreated in brick-form by Big Easy Bricks, there’s a rotating rocket launcher, opening ammo store and cockpit, plus authentic-looking G.I. Joe decals, and there’s more to see at Big Easy’s ‘G.I. Joe Wolverine’ album on Flickr.
Click the link above to take a look, whilst this TLCB Writer investigates counselling…
This wonderful 1971 LAPD Plymouth Satellite police car was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr. It comes from regular bloggee Jonathan Elliott, whose Speed Champions scale models are beautifully diversified from the usual Ferraris and Lamborghinis that dominate the genre. Details and presentation are top-drawer and there’s more to see of this, and Jonathan’s other brilliant Speed Champions style builds, at his photostream here.
This is a BR44, a heavy steam locomotive built from 1926 to 1949 to haul giant loads across Germany’s mountainous regions.
Able pull 1,200 tons through the hills, or 600 tons up steep inclines, the BR44’s were hugely impressive machines. We suspect much of what they hauled from the late-’30s was rather different from that originally intended though, with a simplified versions (ironically given the least simple title of ‘Übergangskriegslokomotives’) designed to speed up production during Germany’s phase of, er…. European ambition.
This brilliant brick-built recreation of the BR44 comes from Bricks_n_Trucks, who has not only replicated the design beautifully, there are two Power Functions L-Motors and a BuWizz 2.0 hidden inside to bring it to life.
There’s more of Bricks’ creation to see on Flickr, and you can travel into the mountains of wartime Germany via the link in the text above.
The war in Ukraine (or ‘Special Military Operation’ to our Russian and Belarusian readers) continues, with more devastation, civilian killings, and Kremlin lies. So far though, the Ukrainian flag continues to fly, being raised over areas retaken from the invading Russian forces in recent days.
Showing his support is Jonathan Elliott, whose neat hook-lift truck is pictured raising the Ukrainian flag in container form. If you’d like to show your solidarity with Ukraine too, please do build in blue and yellow, and you can donate to the enormous refugee crisis Putin has created via organisations such as the Disasters Emergency Committee.
A fallen AT-AT, T-47 Airspeeders overhead, and somewhere Luke Skywalker is making a sleeping bag out of a Tauntaun carcass. It’s the Battle of Hoth, a Star Wars fight between the Dark Side and Jedis or something, of which we know nothing besides what Wookiepedia told us.
Still, TLCB’s usual sci-fi incompetence aside, this micro-scale scene by Flickr’s Pasq67 is fantastic, and sure to excite fans of George Lucus’ overlong space saga. If you’re one of them you can take a look at all the details via Pasq67’s ‘Micro AT-AT’ album via think above. You nerd.
We all need a little lift now and again, and that’s what we have here. Built in ‘Miniland’ scale, newcomer Joey Klusnick‘s Hyster forklift captures the real deal brilliantly, alongside which it’s pictured too. Fork your way over to Flickr for all the photos.
Judging the near one-hundred entries submitted to BrickNerd and TLCB’s Festival of Mundanity is underway, but before we reveal the winners there’s time for a few entries that snuck in before the deadline.
First up, and managing to span both the ‘Object’ and ‘Vehicle’ categories, is Caleb Flutur‘s ‘3x Upscale 6654’. “A mundane set, in a mundane theme, from a mundane year” to quote Caleb, his digital super-sized 6654 doesn’t just inflate the scale of the model, but each individual brick used in its creation.
A monumentally clever undertaking, this competition entry is both appropriately mundane and fascinating in its construction. With Caleb vowing to build his design in real super-sized bricks soon, we’ve never been so intrigued by something so dull. Big points.
Equally clever yet unexciting is Sberwing007’s Festival of Mundanity entry, that most forgotten of vehicles; the scissor-lift.
Not just a dull machine, but a dull machine designed to enable dull tasks, Saberwing’s Technic scissor lift captures the dreariness of the real thing beautifully, including its operation, with working tight-radius steering, an extending platform, and – of course – a linear actuator operated lifting mechanism.
There’s more to see of Saberwing007’s scissor lift at both Flickr and the Eurobricks discussion forum, where further details and images of the creation’s really rather clever mechanisms can also be found.
Click the links above to complete such boring tasks as changing a lightbulb, de-leafing the gutter, and removing that dead pigeon from the air-conditioning duct.
Before we sign-off our final Festival of Mundanity post prior to the Winner’s Announcement (and a review of the awesome BuWizz 3.0 Pro prize on offer), here’s a secret bonus link to an entry which recreated the most boring vehicle of all time. Every single one of us will have ridden in this vehicle, multiple times, and yet we’ve never once thought about it. Maximum mundane points!
Besides Megan Fox, TLCB Elves’ greatest televisual delight is ‘Mad Max – Fury Road’. Although they haven’t seen ‘Death Race’ yet.
The combination of wild vehicle chases and considerable violence ticks all the Elves’ boxes, albeit there are only two (wild vehicle chases and considerable violence).
Recreating the mechanised mayhem from Mad Max in miniature is the aptly-named iluvkillerobots of Flickr, who is here making their TLCB debut with suite of ‘Fury Road’ vehicles.
Despite their small size, all are immediately recognisable as their movie-star counterparts, and include the incredible ‘War Rig’ (top), the tracked Howe & Howe Ripsaw ‘Peacemaker’ (middle), and the ‘People Eaters Limousine’ (below).
There’s more to see of all killerobots’ creations at his ‘Fury Road’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to join the Elves imagining post-apoc vehicle chases and considerable violence. Only smaller.
War is once again raging in Europe. However despite the shock of one country invading another in 2022, Europe has been involved in conflict almost constantly. From fear of nuclear annihilation during the Cold War (which this TLCB Writer fears may be about to return) to involvement in far-away combat, war is sadly never distant.
Today’s models remind us of this past, with the first (above) the undoubtedly beautiful but rather sinister Handley-Page Victor nuclear bomber.
Built as part of the UK’s nuclear defence in the late 1950s, the Victor was part of a long line of V-Bombers (that also included the incredible Avro Vulcan), before it was repurposed for high altitude reconnaissance and later air-to-air refuelling.
This wonderful recreation of the Victor comes from previous bloggee Henrik Jensen, who has recreated its amazing shape beautifully in brick form. A full description of the build and further imagery can be found at Henrik’s photostream, and you can bomb on over via the link above.
Today’s second military creation (below) recreates a scene from countless Vietnam War movies, with a Bell ‘Huey’ helicopter in front of a (superbly built) shell-damaged building. The Bell and background come from Nicholas Goodman, who – like Henrik above – has deployed a few custom pieces to enhance authenticity.
There’s more to see of Nicholas’ ‘Battle of Hue, February 1968’ on Flickr. Click the link above to fight a pointless war that ends in failure and retreat. In that respect we hope that history is about to repeat itself.
Wealthy criminals, Dubai-based influencers, rappers, and oil sheiks – this is your car.
The Mercedes-Benz AMG G63 6×6 is probably the most pointless vehicle produced today. OK, apart from this one, but the brief is pretty much the same; be an Ostentatious Asshat.
Still, if you’re reading this and you’re seven, a TLCB Elf, or one of the aforementioned Ostentatious Asshats, here at TLCB we cater to all tastes.
Cue w35wvi’s rather excellent recreation of Mercedes-Benz’s most improbable vehicle, which captures the absurdity wonderfully, and – rather appropriately – it’s presented in some kind of over-the-top underground garage too.
Instructions are available and there’s more to see at w35wvi’s ‘Mercedes-Benz AMG G63 6×6’ album on Flickr. Join us and other Ostentatious Asshats via the link!
