Category Archives: Model Team

Mighty Mini

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This is the Mini JCW Dakar Buggy, and it has about as much in common with a Mini you can actually buy as a fish does with the international space station. But it is throughly awesome!

Powered by an I6 turbo-diesel, the RWD-only John Cooper Works buggy won the Dakar Rally in 2020 and 2021, and has been recreated in stunning detail by Flickr’s Martin Vala.

Removable bodywork, an internal space-frame, a complete brick-built drivetrain, and some superb photography and presentation make Martin’s build an excellent way to kick-off 2022.

Head to Martin’s ‘Mini JCW Buggy’ album via the link above for over forty stunning images.

The Year of the Tesla

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What’s the most annoying element of current car culture? Nope. It’s Tesla. More specifically, the fanatical members within it who worship at the Cult of Elon.

Don’t get us wrong, we love what Tesla have achieved. They’ve brought the widespread adoption of EVs forward by about a decade, created easily the most fun car features ever seen in the industry (whoopie cushion seats everyone!), and created the fastest accelerating road-legal vehicle on the planet. Which can seat five. And take their luggage.

But for every wondrous innovation Tesla have made, there’s a huge mound of dog crap countering it at the other end of the scales. Abysmal quality, the continuing ‘Autopilot’ lie, a wildly inflated unsustainable stock market value, and – most depressingly – the awful pay and conditions in which men, women and children work in Africa to mine the battery materials, so that a rich westerner can feel environmentally smug driving one mile to the store to buy organic kale, without a hint of irony.

The world’s richest man has had the issue of child labour, death and injury raised at Tesla board meetings (by Congolese nuns no less), where any changes proposed to better safeguard supply chain workers were rejected. Because he’s an absolute assclown.

As you can tell, we’re not members of Elon’s cult, but we do still appreciate his cars. When they’re not broken.

Cue 3D supercarBricks, who has recreated Europe’s best selling car in 2021, the Tesla Model 3. 3D’s model includes opening doors, tailgate and front trunk, beautifully accurate bodywork, and a life-like interior, with the realism further enhanced by custom replica wheels and LED tail light guides.

And the panel gaps are more consistent than the real thing too.

It’s a great build that’s definitely worth a closer look, and you can do just that at 3D’s photostream via the link in the text above, where an array of other excellent Lego cars can also be found.

Finally, if you’re a member of the Teslarati (or would like to raise awareness of the abuses occurring in their supply chain with those that are), take a look here and talk about it every time someone evangelises on Tesla’s behalf.

Yule Logs

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We’re back on track! With today’s other posts being a vehicle we vehemently hate and one with no tenuous Christmas link whatsoever, here’s one that ticks both boxes.

We love the classic ’70s Mercedes-Benz Unimog, and Lego recreations of it surely don’t come any better than this; proran’s beautiful Christmas-coloured Model Team U406 tipper, a creation five years in the making.

One image in particular caught our eye, in which proran has replicated a real-world U406 beside a log pile with wonderful attention to detail. We rarely publish images of real vehicles, but this is such a gorgeous composition we simply had too. Plus it makes the title work.

Alongside the stunning exterior, proran has faithfully recreated the Unimog U406’s mechanicals too, with solid-axle suspension, working steering via the wheel, four-wheel-drive linked to a 4-cylinder engine, a tipping bed, and front and rear PTOs selectable from within the cab.

A Power Functions motor can be applied to demonstrate the model’s functions, which you can watch via the excellent video at the end of this post, and an extensive gallery of imagery is available showing proran’s creation and the real-world U406 that inspired it via Bricksafe.

Click the link above to take a closer look, or here to visit the Eurobricks forum for full build details and to join the discussion.

YouTube Video

BRX(mas)

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Desert travel before the steam or combustion engine was a slow and sometimes dangerous business. The wise men may have taken a very long time to reach the baby Jesus, with no thanks to meeting a megalomaniacal king on route.

Today desert crossing could even be considered easy, thanks to vehicles like this; the Prodrive BRX Hunter. A purpose built Dakar rally buggy, the BRX is designed specifically to cross the desert as quickly and easily as possible, thanks to carbon-fibre construction and a mid-mounted V6 engine.

Inspired by the BRX is Martin Vala’s ‘BX T1+’, a stunning desert-crossing buggy complete with gull-wing doors, a gold roll cage, and the best brick-built chassis we have ever seen.

Due to our Christmas break, The Brothers Brick beat us to posting this (it’s a Christmas miracle!), but the Elves are now back on their travels once again, so normal service should be resumed. And their search shouldn’t be delayed by any megalomaniacal kings.

There’s more to see of Martin’s incredible Prodrive BRX-inspired ‘BX T1+’ on Flickr by clicking here, and we’ll be back soon with more tenuous Lego-based links to Christmas!

что-то странное в окрестности

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If there’s something strange
In the neighbourhood
Putin’s gonna call…
Ghostbusters!

If there’s someone gay
Or gender misunderstood
Putin’s gonna call…
Ghostbusters!

He ain’t ‘fraid of no ghost
He ain’t ‘fraid of no ghost

But he’s hearing things
That should not be said
Putin’s gonna call…
Ghostbusters!

A political threat?
Then you’ll end up dead!
Ow, Putin’s gonna call…
Ghostbusters!

Have we butchered the classic Ghostbusters theme song by Ray Parker Jr. just to tenuously link to Vladimir Putin’s human rights record? Yup! But to be fair it’s been ages since we received a good death threat.

Plus, of course, this rather wonderful creation is a VAZ/Lada 2104 estate that has been brilliantly converted into a Soviet Ecto-1, which makes re-writing that song almost mandatory.

We also happen to think it might just be cooler than the original Ghostbusters’ Cadillac ambulance. OK, no it isn’t, but it is a Lada converted into an Ecto-1, which does probably make it the coolest Lada ever.

Flickr’s Tony Bovkoon is the builder who has brought Ghostbusting to Russia, and there’s more to see of his fantastic Lada Ecto-1 on Flickr.

Click the link to call…
Ghostbusters!

My Other Car’s Also a Classic Truck

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This is a UAZ 452-3303, one of many imaginatively named Soviet off-road van truck thingies designed during the Communist era.

The UAZ 452 was launched in 1965 with a 75bhp 2.45 litre petrol engine that could run on fuel as low as 72 octane (basically spicy water), and it’s still in production today, with nine different variants available.

This one, the 3303 dropside pick-up truck, is affectionally know as the ‘tadpole’, because it looks rather like one, and has been recreated beautifully in brick form by ArtemyZotov of Eurobricks.

It also continues our run of B-Models, being constructed entirely from the 10290 Creator Pickup Truck set. Opening doors, dropping bed sides, and a load of fruit and veg all feature, and there’s more to see – including a link to building instructions – at the Eurobricks forum via the link above.

My Other Car’s a Porsche

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LEGO’s excellent 10295 Creator Porsche 911 set has produced some wonderful alternates to date, and this might be our favourite so far.

The Chevrolet Corvette C3 was America’s answer to the Porsche 911 of the time, and is – at least in the eyes of this TLCB writer – still one of the best looking American cars ever made.

Capturing the C3 Corvette brilliantly, and using only the pieces from the 10295 Porsche 911 set to do so, is Lego-building legend and TLCB Master MOCer Firas Abu-Jaber.

Firas’ expertly presented creation recreates the iconic classic Corvette in T-bar form, with pop-up headlights, opening doors and hood, a superbly detailed engine bay and interior, and a removable targa roof.

It makes for one of the finest alternates from any set that we’ve seen yet, and best of all if you own the 10295 Porsche 911 set you can turn it into a Chevrolet Corvette C3 yourself, as Firas has produced building instructions too.

Head over to Firas’ ‘Corvette C3’ album on Flickr for the complete gallery, you can find the building instructions at his website here, and you can click here to read Firas’ interview in the Master MOCers series if you want to find out more about how he creates his amazing models such as this one.

My Other Car’s Also Really Small

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Fiat’s original 500 was really small. But back in the 1950s you could go even smaller.

Microcars, often dubbed ‘bubble cars’, were popular in post-war Europe, thanks to limited metal supplies, a need for cheap transportation, and a population that was still largely moving itself about by motorcycle. Or horse.

This is one of the most well known bubble cars, the BMW Isetta. Less well known is the fact it was actually an Italian design by ISO Rivolta that BMW produced under license, so it’s fitting therefore that this one is also built from the bits of an Italian car.

The work of previous bloggee Tomáš Novák (aka PsychoWard666), this beautifully presented BMW Isetta is constructed only from the parts found within the official 10271 Creator Fiat 500 set, although such is its accuracy you’d never know. Unless you see it alongside the 10271’s rather pointless easel of course…

Building instructions are available and there’s lots more of Tomáš’ BMW B-Model to see (including that give-away image) at both Eurobricks and Flickr – click the links above to take a look.

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry

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This one’s both. And it has a name as tricky as the tongue-twister title. This is a DAF FAQ CF 430 8×2 hook-lift truck (with three axle trailer), and it comes from Arian Janssens of Flickr.

Constructed to carry a variety of big metal boxes, Arian’s DAF FAQ CF (etc.) is a beautifully built Model Team version of the real truck, complete with a working hook-lift, three steering axles, and an unfurling grab crane mounted behind the cab.

An extensive gallery of images shows the DAF ReallyLongName in a variety of configurations, with and without various containers, the trailer, and the crane operating.

Make the jump to Arian’s album on Flickr to see the complete set of photos via the link in the text above.

The Ferrari The Ferrari

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Almost a decade on, the Ferrari LaFerrari is still the stupidest name ever given to a car. And yes, we have heard of the Mazda Bongo Friendee.

Powered by a 6.3 litre V12 with Hybrid KERS producing almost 1,000bhp, the Ferrari The Ferrari did have the performance to back up being named twice though.

This stunning 1:16 Model Team replica of the Ferrari The LaFerrari Ferrari is the work of previous bloggee Noah_L, and features opening butterfly doors, front trunk and engine cover, along with some of the finest presentation you’ll see anywhere in the online Lego community.

Noah has made building instructions available too, so you can recreate your own spectacular Ferrari LaFerrari The Ferrari model at home. Click on the link above to find the complete image gallery, along with build details and the link to building instructions.

My Other Car’s a Bus

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This is a Trabant 601 Combi, one of the great mobilisers of the people, and it comes from Eurobricks’ PsychoWard666 who has constructed it solely from the parts found within another historic people mover, the 10258 London Bus.

Both the Trabant and the AEC Routemaster bus are icons of their time and location, and – despite being rather different classes of vehicle – are more similar that you might think.

Each was designed to mobilise as many people as possible, and thus had a monopoly in its respective market, and both designs endured long beyond their intended lifespans, with the Trabant produced from 1960 right up until the fall of the Berlin Wall, whilst the Routemaster remained in service until 2005, outlasting far more modern bus designs.

Of course whilst this meant each became a symbol of the society they mobilised, they were also seen as polluting, noisy, uncomfortable, and dangerous by the end of their lives. And if you don’t think a Routemaster is dangerous you’ve never been on one at 2am. Although to be fair that applies to all of London’s buses.

Back to the model, and PsychoWard’s Trabant 601 captures the East German peoples’ car beautifully, particularly considering the parts limitation of the 10258 donor set. Building instructions are available too, so if you own the 10258 London Bus set and you’d like to turn one classic transportation icon into another you can find out how to do so at the Eurobricks forum – Click the link above to take a look.

Lego Lambro

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Nope, not Lambo, Lambro. Which is even more exciting! We’ve seen dozens of Lamborghinis in Lego form, but until now we’d never seen Lambretta’s 550cc tuk-tuk built from bricks.

The Elves of course, don’t get our excitement one bit, preferring V12 engines and racing stripes, but as they’re a workforce of mythical creatures their thoughts on the matter are moot.

We, TLCB staff, are rather pleased to have found this Lambro 550 by Flickr’s Hoang H Dang (aka Know Your Pieces), because humble workhorses like this have made a far greater contribution to far more people than an Italian supercar ever could.

This superb Lego recreation of the little scooter-powered pick-up captures the aesthetic of the real vehicle beautifully, and is depicted here as one of the countless Lambro 550s that have been exported to Vietnam since the 1960s.

Wonderfully accurate detailing, working steering, and fantastic brick-built lettering make Hoang’s Lambretta Lambro 550 one of our favourite creations of the year, and there’s loads more to see of it and the lovely Vietnamese street-scene of which it is part via the link above.

I Feel the Need…

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The sad state of cinema at the moment means that the only films that currently get made are sequels, prequels, re-boots, or all three, as part of some ‘cinematic universe’ bollocks (we’re looking at you Marvel).

Cue next year’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ release, an unnecessary sequel arriving some three decades after the (magnificent) ’80s original. Still, at least it provides the opportunity for a repeat homo-erotic beach volleyball scene to an astoundingly suggestive soundtrack.

More interesting to TLCB than yet another movie reboot is this Maverick; the Can-Am Maverick RS, a wild off-road buggy built to take on the Dakar Rally.

Well, this one hasn’t been built to take on the Dakar Rally, being rather smaller. And constructed from Lego. But it is still more interesting.

Martin Vala is the builder behind it, and he’s recreated the Can-Am Maverick RS in wonderful detail, right down to the steering and suspension, which are brick-built from System pieces.

Authentic decals and stunning presentation complete the build, and there’s lots more to see of Martin’s Maverick at his ‘Maverick RS’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to feel the need for speed.

Building Big

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Really, really big.

The human in the above picture is Beat Felber, a Lego builder of gigantic proportions. His models we mean.

Surrounding Beat are ten spectacular fully remote controlled pieces of mining equipment, many of which have featured on these pages over the years, including the Komatsu D575A-3 Super Dozer, the Marathon LeTourneau L-1200 loader, the Marion 204-M Superfront cable-operated mining shovel, the Terex 33-19 Titan mining truck, and the astonishing Marion 5760 ‘The Mountaineer’ 2,750-ton mining shovel. 

Beat’s assembly is even larger and more impressive than your Dad’s collection of speciality magazines, and we suspect it makes Beat more than capable of tunnelling underneath his own house should he choose to.

Head to Beat’s photostream via the first link for a closer look at the jaw-dropping image above, and you can check out some of the individual models pictured within it via the links in this post or via the search function on this page.

My Other Car’s a Pick-Up

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LEGO have released a whole host of Porsche 911 sets in recent times, including the enormous 42056 Technic 911 GT3 RS, the 42096 Technic 911 RSR, the 10295 Creator 911 and the 75895 Speed Champions 911 Turbo 3.0.

But what if you own the 10290 Creator Classic Pick-Up set instead of any of the above, and you’d like to join the 911 club too? Ex-LEGO set designer Nathanael Kuipers has the answer!

This lovely early Porsche 911 is built only from the pieces found within the 10290 set, and – save for a few mis-coloured hinges – you’d never know there was a strict parts limitation.

Building instructions are available and there’s more to see on Flickr by clicking here.