We have no idea what this robot is or what it does, but seeing as it’s towing the world’s most dangerous vehicle filled with LEGO and it looks a little bit like Futurama’s Fatbot, we’re posting it here. Because we can. It comes from Eero Okkonen of Flickr, it’s been built for a Brickset competition, and there’s more of it to see by clicking here.
This spectacular creation is a squid fishing boat by Flickr’s Hoang H Dang (aka Know Your Pieces), and it is surely one of the most beautiful ships we’ve ever had the pleasure of publicising. A clever brick-built hull supports a ludicrously detailed cabin, but – very unusually for TLCB – it’s the background that amazes us the most.
The incredible undulating ocean has been painstakingly constructed from 5,000 blue antenna pieces, each capped by a blue technic pin and a translucent 1×1 brick of varying colour, creating the jaw-dropping effect you see here. It’s a technique that would work brilliantly for grass, animal hair, and a hundred other scenarios, but one we think is unlikely to be repeated often!
You can see more of how Hoang’s utterly amazing build at his Flickr photostream by clicking here, where you can also find images showing both the fishing boat and sea under construction.
Flickr’s Jonathan Elliott has appeared here numerous times over the years with his excellent small-scale vehicles. Fellow builder JohnniD has too, but has since departed Flickr for pastures new. To pay homage to his old building buddy Jonathan has reworked one of Johnni’s classic designs, this lovely ’49 Chevrolet Pick-Up, and re-published the results. Clever techniques and superbly recognisable design cues are visible in abundance and there’s more to see on Flickr via the link above.
Regular readers of this dilapidated little corner of the internet will know that here at The Lego Car Blog we do not have an unconditional love for Star Wars. In fact, in a couple of ways (primarily any form of dialogue whatsoever), George Lucas’s most famous movie franchise is so awful it’s almost a parody of itself.
However, in plenty of other regards the Star Wars movies are an absolute triumph, one example being the incredible attention to detail paid to the vehicles in the Star Wars universe. This is one of the most famous, the Koensayr Manufacturing BTL-S3, or ‘Y-Wing’ as it is commonly known.
A multi-role starfighter/bomber, the Y-Wing could serve in both atmospheric conditions – where it could hit 1000km/h – as well as in space, and was in use within the Republic Navy as early as 22 BBY. No, we don’t know when that is either, we pulled it from ‘Wookiepedia’, so best direct any follow up questions there…
This jaw-dropping recreation of the famous Star Wars spaceship comes from Jerac of Flickr, who has recreated the Y-Wing in unbelievable detail. The build is made all the more impressive when you consider that whilst it may not look it, Jerac’s model is only mini-figure scale.
There’s much more to see of Jerac’s incredible creation at his photostream via the link above, which includes the Y-Wing in both its movie and original specifications (which might just be the nerdiest thing we’ve ever written), and if you’d like to learn more about the ‘real’ spaceship (and to see where we plagiarised the stats from) you can visit Wookiepedia here or wait for one of the proper blogs to find this creation too…
Neither of the two creations featuring in this post are cars. Which means our explanations are likely to be mediocre at best. So, on to the explanations!
First up (above) we have Marco Marozzi’s ‘Ma.K 7 Anti Riot Urban Mech’ which looks terrifying enough to quell any dissent. Maybe we should ask him to make a bigger one for us to control the Elves with here at TLCB Towers…
Second, and following on from his build that featured here last month, we have Blake Foster‘s ‘Prickly Minnow Assualt Craft’ which features two enormous ion cannons mounted above and below the tiny cockpit, inside which a fantastically aggressive mini-figure pilots the controls. And we totally knew that and didn’t just rob it from the description.
There’s more to see of each build on Flickr via the links above, and we’ll be back soon with a car and a proper description…
Despite a politically strained relationship at present, the United Kingdom and the United States of America can achieve great things when they work together. Here are two of the greatest, the magnificent Ford GT40 and AC Cobra.
Both cars were designed in the UK, but powered (and funded by) Ford USA, and both dominated racing in the 1960s. These two brilliant Speed Champions style models of the Gulf Racing GT40 and Cobra 289 are the work of previous bloggee Jonathan Elliott who has captured each car beautifully.
There’s more to see of each build at Jonathan’s photostream – click the links above to take a look at the complete image galleries for both cars.
Tesla. If there’s one car company you cannot criticise on the internet due to frankly fanatical supporters it’s Elon Musk’s electric automotive brand. Here goes…
Tesla were not actually founded by the creator of Paypal back in 2003, but Musk has pretty much led the company ever since, from it’s first car (the Lotus Elise based Roadster) to its position today as the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer. This is a simply astonishing achievement, particularly as it’s Tesla that have brought EVs to the mainstream, forcing the established car manufacturers to take EVs seriously. The raft of new EVs about to reach the market are in large part due to Tesla proving the business case.
They’ve also brought a sense of fun to the often staid motor industry, with models that literally spell ‘S3XY’, a drive mode named ‘Ludicrous’, whoopie cushion seats, and host of other mischievous features. Plus the Tesla Model 3 is the safest model ever tested by the Euro NCAP. And yet, would this TLCB writer buy one?…
Nope.
For all Tesla’s technical innovation and engineering brilliance the company’s primary function is to build cars, and they’re shockingly bad at it. Designs that use four times as many parts as they should (making repairs complicated, eye-wateringly expensive and slow), risible paint quality, panel gaps that you could drive another car through, and chronic unreliability plague Tesla’s range. As the company tries desperately to meet demand (and to make money) the ‘finished’ cars are far from it, recreating the ownership experience of a 1970s British Leyland.
Whether Tesla can, or even wants to, sort these issues out is debatable. However what isn’t is that Mercedes-Benz, the Volkswagen Group, BMW, and many more besides wouldn’t be scrambling to go electric if it weren’t for Musk and what all started with an electrically-powered Elise. Which means when this writer is driving an EV he’ll be able to give a nod of thanks to Tesla, even though his car probably won’t actually be one.
Oh yeh, this neat digitally rendered Tesla Model 3 comes from Robson M of Flickr and there’s more to see at the link!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Heroes in a Half Shell
Turtle Power!
The lyricists of TMNT taking the ‘Batman’ approach to theme-writing there. We’d forgotten that LEGO released a TMNT line back in 2013, which is probably a good thing to be honest. Still, the availability of Turtle-mini-figures has helped Flickr’s Hobbestimus to create this radical LEGO recreation of the Party Bus, complete with Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael and a host of ninja-based weaponry. Head to the sewers via the link above!
Fabuland, LEGO’s 1980s range of anthropomorphic animals (and frankly one of the weirder things the company has done) seems to have been hijacked of late, by builders intent on seeing the peaceful critters blow one another’s brains out (see here, here and here).
It’s refreshing therefore to see that there are still harmless, some would say pointless, gentle adventures underway in the Fabuland world, thanks to Pete Strege and his most excellent ‘Billy Goat’s Steam Boat’.
Of course The Lego Car Blog Elves are absolutely incensed by this lack of violence, and have left the office in disgust, so a side benefit is that we can now have harmless gentle adventures too. This TLCB Writer might even read a book.
There’s more to see of Pete’s lovely paddle steamer at his Flickr album by clicking here, and we’ll be back shortly with something far more Elven…
These marvellous Lego recreations of the vehicles that starred in ‘Mad Max – Fury Road’ – some seen before here at The Lego Car Blog – have recently been re-imaged by their creator, Flickr’s Nicola Stocchi. Nicola’s models capture the insanity of the real cars brilliantly, and there are now instructions available for all four builds so you can create your own War Rig Convoy at home! Click the link above to become shiny and new.
This creation is, clearly, not a car. However it does sport a classic Honda racing livery, however unintentionally, and that’s good enough to grab our attention! Blake Foster is the builder behind this ‘Pegasus Class Anti-Frigate Attack Fighter’ and there’s more to see of his superbly executed design on Flickr.
Surely reading out the countdown is the best job in the space industry? See more of Lia Chan‘s utterly brilliant ‘KSC Launch Complex 39B’ on Flickr. 10… 9… 8…
The retina-searing slice of lime is a 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS and it comes from serial bloggee Simon Przepiorka, who is probably going to need his own shelf in TLCB Archives at the rate he’s going. With an opening hood, detailed engine, and some very cunningly applied stickers, Simon’s Chevy is about as accurate as 1:24 scale gets. Head over to Simon’s photostream via the link above for more photos of the Chevelle and his incredible back-catalogue of small-scale cars.
The Cold War. A fantastically pointless game between two megalomaniacal superpowers that very nearly destroyed half the planet. Still, at least we won’t repeat that mistake again. What’s that? We are?!… Sigh. Better start storing tinned food.
Anyway, this hulk of Soviet terror is a ‘Rubezh’ coastal missile launcher, shown here in East German specification where it was deployed up until the fall of the Soviet Union and Germany’s reunification in 1990.
This expertly recreated mini-figure scale version comes from Ralph Savelsberg (also aptly known as Mad Physicist) of Flickr and there’s more to see of this Cold War monstrosity at his photostream via the link above.
This isn’t Henrik Jensen’s first Vought F4E Corsair. In fact he built one way back in 2014, which didn’t feature here as it didn’t quite meet our standards. Or we weren’t paying attention. One of those two anyway. Henrik’s second iteration updates his previous design with LEGO’s latest dark blue parts and folding wingtips, and adds a gloriously cool brick-built checkerboard engine cowling that frankly every plane should have. Custom decals complete the aesthetic accuracy and there’s more of Henrik’s superbly realistic F4E Corsair to see at his Flickr album by clicking these words.