Category Archives: Lego

Intergalactic Circus

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It feels a lot like we’re all living in a circus right now.

The world’s most powerful man is an orange megalomaniac, the streets are filled with protests, riots, and people wearing masks, history is being decided by those who shout the loudest, and governments are walking a tightrope between economic ruin and mass mortality, from which they will almost inevitably fall. It’s enough to make you want to leave Earth altogether.

Unfortunately Flickr’s Blake Foster has ensured that there’ll be no respite in space, with his Space Clowns already in occupation.

“Did you leave Earth to escape the constant chaos, noise, and bustle? Then you’re out of luck, because the Space Clowns are bringing all those modern inconveniences to space. Making noise, chasing hapless astronauts, and causing mostly-harmless mischief is their mission.”

A variety of cosmic comedy is evident, with the Jugglebot able to “instantly master juggling in any environment” and the Monopod Mech “Chasing astronauts with its water gun and banging cymbals. Operating for long hours may cause headache”.

Still, a pair of giant walking robots operated by pilots whose very job description is incompetence might yet be better than staying here and watching BLM and the Alt-Right screaming at one another whilst the Commander in Chief tweets about drinking bleach.

You can join us at the Intergalactic Circus via Blake Foster’s album on Flickr, where there’s more to see of the Space Clowns’ mechanised mischief, and very probably the best brick-built text fonts we’ve ever seen.

Espace F1

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Renault were on top of their game in the mid-’90s; winning the Formula 1 World Championship with Williams, the BTCC with their rather pretty new Laguna, and running a two-wheel-drive Megane in the WRC. Plus they had the Nicole and Papa Clio adverts…

In celebration of the above (well, mostly the F1 thing), they built this; the Renault Espace F1. Taking the second generation of the Espace that defined the European MPV segment, Renault’s partner Matra shoved their 800 horsepower 3.5 litre V10 Renault F1 engine into the middle, creating an MPV that could do nearly 200mph and an immediate icon.

This instantly recognisable Speed Champions recreation of one of Renault’s finest moments comes from dazzz99 of Flickr, who has captured the ’94 oddity superbly, and there’s more of his creation to see at the link above.

Mining Hibernia

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We’re often asked why we don’t feature more digital builds. Well mostly it’s because they don’t look like this. ‘This’ is Finn Roberts‘ Mining Truck, built to serve the icy world of Hibernia that seems to be popping up all over the place in the online Lego community of late, and rendered so well you’d be hard pressed to know it’s a digital build.

What makes the renderings even more impressive is that they showcase the model’s ‘working’ features, like its enormous tipping bucket, folding entry ladder, and four-wheel-steering system. Head to Hibernia via the link above to see more, where there’s also a link of to an animation of Finn’s model in action.

The Chances of Anything Coming to Mars…*

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TLCB debutant First Order Lego is taking coronavirus quarantining to the extreme with this vignette. Still, the bat-based biological agent is unlikely to be on Mars, so perhaps this jovial mini-figure has got the right idea. Join him on the red planet via the link, although that might scupper the whole point of his trip…

*Today’s marvellous title song.

Flight of Fiction

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This incredible looking co-axial(?) helicopter is not a recreation of a real aircraft. But it is ridiculously cool. Flickr’s Robson M (aka BrickDesigners) is the designer behind it and there’s more to see of his superbly built and presented concept helicopter gunship at his photostream via the link.

Lego in Lock-Down

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Lock-down is easing here in TLCB’s home nation, but for many of you it’s still very much in force. Plus it’s not like Coronavirus has gone away, so we fully expect it to return, with the world watching on in horror, like a second Trump presidency.

However you guys have been busy during your time indoors, utilising your existing LEGO sets to create new models and maybe bag yourselves an awesome SBrick Plus Pro Pack! We’ve got three blog-worthy competition entries for you today, starting with  David Bersia’s brilliant Formula E racing car, built only from the parts found within the 42093 Technic Chevrolet Corvette.

Being electric the Corvette’s V8 engine naturally makes no appearance here, but Davide’s model does include working steering and a properly good execution of Formula E’s Gen 2 bodywork. Click here to head to Flickr to see more of Davide’s creation, where building instructions and two other Lock-Down B-Model contest entries can also be found.

You don’t need a Technic set to enter TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model competition though, as our next two entrants demonstrate. On the left newcomer 14sandee has redeployed the pieces from the excellent 75895 Speed Champions Porsche 911 Turbo set to create his neat single-seat racer, whilst on the right previous entrant Tomik has used the 40171 Friends Hedgehog to construct, er… a hedgecopter? Points for originality with that one!

There’s more to see of 14sandee’s Porsche 911 Turbo B-Model via the link above, and Tomik’s hedgecopter on Flickr and Eurobricks, where he has published some other ingenious B-Model contest entries too…

Not a Car

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This is not a car, but it is beautiful. Modelled after a USS Brig, the ‘Europa’ features a beautifully constructed brick-built hull, complete rigging, a crimson deck (to hide the blood), a functioning capstan to raise the anchors, a working tiller-controlled rudder, and an unusual man-fornicating-with-bull figurehead design. Built by TLCB debutant TomSkippy there’s more to see at the Eurobricks ‘Pirate’ forum – click the link to set sail.

Two Trucks Tuesday

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Two Elves returned to TLCB Towers today, each with a red truck, and each hoping for a meal token as reward. Long-standing readers of this impoverished backwater of the internet will know that this usually only leads to one thing, and duly an Elf fight between the two applicants immediately erupted. Fortunately for them both finds are worthy of blogging, so both were patched up, awarded a meal token, and given a red Smartie. It’s nice to be nice sometimes. Anyway, the builds!

First (above) we have Lasse Delueran’s superbly rendered Renault Magnum. Named after a gun… or an ice cream… or a condom… the Magnum had the tallest cabin of any truck in production. We’re not sure why that matters but nevertheless the Magnum had it and it did look quite cool. Lasse’s version includes Power Functions remote control drive and steering, free instructions are available, and there’s more to see here.

Today’s second truck comes from Fuku Saku, and it too is a European ‘cab-over’, coming from rival truck manufacturer Mercedes-Benz. Fuku’s Arocs cab is mounted on an eight-wheel chassis with a tipping dump bucket behind it, and it includes one of the fiddliest, most fragile-looking, and most excellent grilles we’ve seen on model of this size. An extensive image gallery is available to view (demonstrating some really stunning photography too) and you can make the jump by clicking here.

Benz Patent-Motorwagen

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This is the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, first produced in 1886 and widely considered to be the first production motor car. Designed by Karl Benz (and financed by his wife Bertha, what a woman!), the Patent-Motorwagen was powered by a 1 litre single-cylinder engine producing around 3hp. That might not sound much but of course the Patent-Motorwagen was once the world’s fastest production car. And simultaneously the slowest…

Around 25 units were built between 1886 and the early 1890s, and newcomer Jacob Anderson has added one more, with his rather stylish Lego recreation of motoring’s genesis. A neat Victorian-era street completes the build and there’s more to see of his excellent Benz Patent-Motorwagen via the link above.

TLCB Lock-Down Competition – One Month to Go!

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We’re half way through TLCB Lock-Down B-Model Competition!

Whether you’re stuck inside due to that pesky virus thingy, because your streets are burning after another senseless killing of an unarmed black man by a white police officer, or even if you’re not locked-down at all, we want you to build something new from what you already have.

That’s the joy of LEGO, and it also rails against the consumerist throw-away nature of society. Oh, and you can win an awesome SBrick Plus Pro pack and bring programmable bluetooth remote control to your creations!

We have three more blog-worthy competition entrants to share today, so without further pre-amble, on to the contestants…

First up is Pauls Technic‘s ‘concept racer’, constructed only from the parts found within the 42022 Technic Hot Rod set. Looking like a cross between a sand rail, short track racer, and an Indy car, Paul’s alternate includes working steering, a mid-mounted V4 engine, opening cabin roll cage, and an adjustable rear wing. Head to Eurobricks via the link above to check it out!

Next we have Jan Geurts‘ 31046 B-Model, the ‘Jeebuggy’; a mix of… you guessed it, a Jeep and a buggy. Which looks rather fun. You don’t need a giant set with which to create your B-Model (although you certainly can use one of LEGO’s most enormous sets should you wish), and Jan’s model gets right to the heart of the competition by creating something new out of a standard and unremarkable LEGO set. See more on Flickr.

Our third mid-point entry comes from previous bloggee (and a previous entrant into TLCB Lock-Down Competition) Serge S, who has redeployed the pieces found within the 10252 Creator Volkswagen Beetle set to create this beautifully presented muscle car. Opening doors, hood and trunk all feature, as does a detailed interior and engine bay, and there’s more to see of Serge’s excellent alternate at his photostream via the link above.

If you’d like to enter your own alternate and be in with a chance of winning an SBrick Plus Pro Pack take a look at the competition details by clicking the link below, familiarise yourself with our Submission Guidelines, and submit your B-Model before the end of June!

TLCB Lock-Down B-Model Competition Details

Not a Car

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It’s been a weird sort of day here at The Lego ‘Car’ Blog. A post about Minion-operated mechs, one about bird watching, and now this. Whatever this is.

‘This’ is a ‘Beetle Skyvan’, according to its builder, previous bloggee and inventor-extraordinaire Vince_Toulouse. A myriad of parts from LEGO’s more unusual themes has been used to create it, including ‘ant wings’, a Scala staircase, and even some trusty Galidor pieces.

Head to Vince’s album on Flickr via the link above to see if you can spot them, and to see more of what is a rather remarkable (and surprisingly large*) build.

*That’s what she said.

Mighty Minion

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Minions is another new LEGO theme we don’t really understand, but one we’re sure will sell rather well. Ah, we think we understand…

Looking like some sort of cute War of the Worlds alternative reality, previous bloggee ianying616 has built the Minions their very own mech, complete with googly eyes and a mini-figure Minion sitting inside the domed head. And if you’re thinking “They’re really stretching TLCB’s brief with this one…”, you’re right – so here’s a Minion racing team too!

Head to ianying’s photostream via the link above for more Minions-based madness.

The Miles Aren’t Coming Off!

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If you bunk school and steal your Dad’s Ferrari 250 GT California (we’ve all been there), hoping to run the car in reverse later to take the miles off the clock, ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ taught us it doesn’t work. Even less so if you kick the car whilst it’s running so it reverses through a window and down a hillside. Your Dad will definitely notice that.

Thankfully it wasn’t a real GT California (these days a >$20million car), but a modified MGB in the scene in question, but it looked pretty good to us. As does this, x_Speed‘s recreation of both the 1960s Ferrari and the famous movie scene in which it featured. Clever techniques are in evidence throughout the build and there’s more to see of x_Speed’s Ferrari 250 GT California, Ferris Bueller, Cameron Frye, and Cameron Frye’s Dad’s garage on Flickr via the link.

What’s in a Name?

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‘Gran Sport’ itself is not a bad name. However it does have certain connotations that may be hard to live up to. You probably wouldn’t want to attach it to a lumbering barge of Americana with about as much sporting pretension as a fridge full of cake for example.

Still, that’s what Buick did – without a hint of irony – in 1973, attaching the ‘Gran Sport’ name to their third generation Century, a car with a three-speed gearbox and as little as 190bhp. In body roughly the size of a grocery store. Full of cake.

That said, the ’73 Century GS did look rather wonderful, at least compared to most of the other crap General Motors was building at the time, and Flickr’s Thomas Gion has done a splendid job recreating it in Lego form. Head to his ‘Buick Gran Sport’ album via the link to see more (and find a link to building instructions), whilst we go an eat some cake.

Zupra II

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Toyota have been fiddling with their BMW-platformed A90 Supra, most notably by jumping power by around 10%, so it finally surpasses the old A80 version. SP_LINEUP has been fiddling with his A90 Supra too, and it looks even better in white than it did in blue. Instructions are available and you can find them and more of SP’s brilliant Speed Champions creations via the link above.