Category Archives: Lego

Biking Through the Stars

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It is just over a year since racing car building legend and TLCB Master MOCer Luca Rusconi (aka RoscoPC) tragically died in a motorcycle accident. His works remain amongst the finest that this site has ever published, and continue to inspire countless other Lego builders.

One such builder is Mirko Soppelsa, who has applied Rosco’s trademark style to his Star Wars Storm Trooper speeder bike, complete with a glorious retro Scuderia Ferrari livery.

Mirko’s incredible presentation is match for the builder that inspired him, and you can join Rosco forever biking through the stars via the link to Mirko’s Flickr album above.

Crossing the Atlantic

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Jean Bugatti’s personal Type 57SC Atlantic mysteriously disappeared almost a century ago. Estimated to be worth $100 million today if found, it’s one of just four Atlantics created by Bugatti in the mid-1930s, and perhaps one of the hardest cars ever built to recreate from Lego bricks. Flickr’s NV Carmocs has done just that though, replicating the incredible curves beautifully in Speed Champions scale. Spectacularly presented, NV’s Atlantic may not be worth $100 million but it’s sure worth a closer look, and you can cross the Atlantic via the link to his photostream above.

Happy 250th USA!

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The United States of America is 250 years old! Which makes it not quite as old as this TLCB Writer’s church. Still, a quarter of a millennium is worth a party, and what better way to do that than by renaming an airport, starting a war with Iran, and putting a slightly crap fair on the National Mall. Or, alternatively, building a giant gatling-gun-armed mech with George Washington’s face on it! Flickr’s Julius von Brunk knows how to celebrate a semiquincentennial anniversary and you can join him on the Whitehouse Lawn via the link above! USA! USA!

Nazi Chase

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TLCB Elves are all happily watching ‘Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark’ today, thanks to previous bloggee _Tyler and this excellent recreation of the 1937 Mercedes-Benz 320 Staff Car that starred in the movie.

A recreation of a real 1937 Mercedes-Benz 320 itself, the movie car saw action in a chase involving a several vintage German vehicles, a gaggle of Nazis (we’re not sure their collective noun is), and a horse, with the car eventually coming off worse in an exchange with Dr. Jones’ stolen military truck.

There’s more to see of _Tyler’s creation on Flickr via the first link, plus you can watch the famous movie scene in which it starred via the second. Take a look and start humming the theme music…

Insert Moderately Monied Male

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The early-‘00s Porsche 911 (997) is driven by exactly one sort of person. They may or may not wear sunglasses, a shirt or a blazer, be forty-six or sixty-four, but they will – without exception – be a Moderately Monied Male.

This means that none of TLCB Team have an early-‘00s Porsche 911 as we only fit half of the required characteristics, but if you’re more fiscally successful than we are you can get your hands on this one courtesy of Flickr’s ilyabuilder724, who has made building instructions for his excellent Speed Champions Porsche 911 Carrera S available. Take a look via the link!

M is for MAN

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Lots of companies are called Muller in Europe, but seeing as we only know what one of them does, we’re going to assume this lovely MAN TGX truck and trailer combo by Flickr’s Keko007 is full of those divided yoghurts that contain a compartment of fruit or chocolatey balls. Superb brickmanship abounds, particularly evident in the excellent Muller ‘M’ logo, and you can tip the little balls into the yoghurt via the link above.

Nyckelback

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Built for Sweden by the Dutch in 1627, the Kalmar Nyckel was a full-rigged warship that also served to transport Finnish and Swedish immigrants to America, making eight such transatlantic crossings. After being decommissioned by the Swedish Navy it returned to its makers, serving as a Dutch escort ship before eventually being sunk in the Anglo-Dutch War in 1652.

However the story of the tall ship didn’t end there, as in the ‘00s a painstakingly reconstructed replica brought the Kalmar Nyckel back to life, and it now serves to educate visitors about the journeys the early American settlers made from the European continent.

The replica we have here is rather smaller, but still wonderful to behold. Constructed by Flickr’s Kevin J. Walter, it captures the Kalmar Nyckel beautifully in miniature, and you can set sail from Sweden to America some 400 years ago via the link above.

Lost (the plot)

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Hollywood loves a plane crash on an uninhabited island. ‘Cast Away’, ‘Lost’, ‘Send Help’, and of course the fantastic book that inspired all of them – ‘The Lord of the Flies’ – explore what happens when man is left alone. Well, except ‘Lost’, which instead explored the limits of audience patience after taking a good idea and then abandoning it in favour of whatever would elongate the series the most.

Anyway, Loïc Gilbert is also exploring island survivalism through his brilliant brick-built diorama. The remains of a wrecked airliner offer his mini-figures some shelter, and there’s much more to see at his photostream where you can explore morality, instinct, and order versus anarchy. Or whatever it was ‘Lost’ ended up being about.

Click the link above to join the survivors.

Two-Tone Truck

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TLCB’s Rover 200 is two-tone, but somehow beige-and-rust doesn’t look quite as good as Sseven Brick’s classic orange-and-white Ford F-250.

Cleverly constructed in 7-wide, the white portion of the bodywork has a depth of 2½ plates, and we’re not even sure that’s possible.

However he’s done it there’s more to see at Sseven’s photostream, and you can two-tone over via the link whilst we ponder if an orange rattle-can could transform the office Rover…

Diagonally Bricking

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We like a brick-built livery here at The Lego Car Blog, as they – like their real-world counterparts – are able to turn something rather ordinary and ubiquitous (like a DAF 95 truck) into something rather more visually interesting.

Cue Flickr’s joopatkleppie, whose DAF 95 wears the ‘90s livery of haulage firm Jonker Veendam, and that means diagonal stripes…

Jooptakleppie has managed it though, and you can check this diagonally-striped DAF at his photostream via the link.

Grave Robber

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Everyone knows grannies are loaded with cash, but Nonna Vittorina’s grandchildren can expect a larger payday than most. The wheeled bandit’s latest score complete, she makes her escape as the banknotes from her heist blow behind her.

We suspect she’s not acting along though, and a shifty looking Loïc Gilbert is a likely accomplice. Follow the trail of loot back to Loïc’s photostream via the link above.

Super Nova

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Here in TLCB’s home nation we know the ‘Nova’ as an early-‘80s to early-‘90s supermini that was everywhere, and then nowhere, as rust and neglect killed – like all ‘80s economy cars – almost every last one.

In 1960s America however, an ‘economy car’ meant something rather different, and General Motors used the same nameplate for the Chevrolet Nova, the base engine for which was more than twice as big as the largest engine ever fitted to its later Vauxhall namesake.

But we’re not interested in the base Nova, not when there was a V8 engine of over five litres available in the Super Sport variant. Imagine that in a Vauxhall shopping car…

This beautiful ‘67 Chevrolet Nova SS is the work of Flickr’s PleaseYesPlease, and it’s about a billion times cooler than the Novas we got. Superbly built and presented, there’s more to see at Please’s photostream and you can take a look via the link.

Studs for Pixels

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2015’s ‘Rocket League’, wherein teams of players use rocket-powered buggies to play football, has become something of a cult phenomenon. Despite a somewhat ropey physics engine, the game attracted over 40 million players by 2018, has been rated as one of the greatest games of all time, and even has a professional e-sports championship. Which proves that Fun counts more than Realism (and hence why we employ mythical Elves).

This awesome Miniland scale recreation of the ‘Octane’ – one of the three base cars within ‘Rocket League’ – comes from recent bloggee Joey Klusnick, who has captured it brilliantly. There’s more to see at Joey’s photostream and you can swap pixels for studs via the link above!

Industry of Machinery & Tractors

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Before Yugoslavia dissolved into seven separate countries (we’re counting Kosovo – live with it Serbia), it was a communist dictatorship like so much of Eastern Europe. And with the usual foibles of Communism, that meant magnificently unimaginative naming.

Cue the Industry of Machinery & Tractors (IMT) 533, a 33hp tractor licensed from Massey-Ferguson and built in large numbers from the 1950s and for decades thereafter.

This neat Lego example comes from Flickr’s Keko007, and pulls an equally neat wooden drop-side drawbar trailer. There’s more of the model to see at Keko’s ‘IMT 533’ album and you can head to the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia via the link.

N Vision

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We still don’t have many Hyundais in our Archives. Which is strange, as they’ve been around for decades, they make reasonably interesting products, and they’re one of the world’s largest automotive manufacturers.

In fact all but one of the Hyundais in the Archive are this, the awesome N Vision 74. Constructed by Flickr’s jklu17legodude this Miniland scale version captures the wedge-shaped concept to perfection, and you can check out the only Hyundai that seems of any interest to Lego builders via the link above.