Category Archives: Technic

My Other Supercar’s a Lamborghini

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LEGO’s new 42115 Lamborghini Sian FKP37 adds another monumental Technic set to their line-up of real-world vehicles. Even if we hadn’t heard of the actual car and the real set seems to be getting somewhat mixed reviews, thanks in part to the new colour (or rather colours, as it seems to be in reality).

Cue James Tillson of Flickr, who has dissembled his 42115 Lamborghini Sian so fast we suspect he may not have built it in the first place, and used the pieces to create another epic limited-run hypercar, the 2002-2004, 400 unit, 650bhp Ferrari Enzo.

Ferrari Enzos definitely didn’t come in green (or even the various greens that the 42115 set seems to contain), but apart from the colour anomaly James’s Technic recreation is instantly recognisable as Marenello’s most famous product. A working mid-mounted V12 sits underneath the opening engine cover, with the model also featuring realistic inboard suspension, functioning steering, opening scissor doors, and much more besides.

There’s much more of James’s spectacular 42115 B-Model Ferrari Enzo to see at his photostream by clicking here, and if you’d like to enter your own alternate build into TLCB Lock-Down B-Model Competition you still have a few hours left.

My Other Truck’s a Truck. And a Bugatti…

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…and a whatever this is. Making their TLCB debut with not one but three creations is Wojtek Hildebrandt, who has constructed a trio of alternates for TLCB Lock-Down B-Model Competition.

The first is – apparently – a ‘Mechanical Ant’, built from the Technic 42080 Forest Machine set, and it’s terrifying. Particularly if you’re an Elf, because through a combination of mechanical, pneumatic, and motorised functions, all of those spiky-looking implements can be made to whirl menacingly. There’s articulated steering too, making the ant easily manoeuvrable, and a rotating and raising cabin to get a better view of the carnage occurring beneath. Head to Wojtek’s ‘Mechanical Ant’ album on Flickr by clicking here to see more.

Wojtek’s second contest entry takes the enormous Technic 42078 Mack Anthem set (which includes instructions for one of LEGO’s best B-Models in years), and adds another alternative build, this rather brilliant Mack terminal tractor. A working six-cylinder engine sits alongside the offset cab, which features a rotating seat and working steering. The huge parts source has also allowed Wojtek to build an assortment of towing options, including an articulated trailer and a sliding container mount for the truck itself. Find out more by clicking here.

Wojtek’s final competition entry is even more unusual, and takes one of LEGO’s most iconic recent sets, the spectacular Technic 42083 Bugatti Chiron, to create this; the ‘Bugatti EB-Double’. A twin V8-engined truck complete with a Bugatti grille and taillights from the Chiron, Wojtek’s creation features working steering, a huge deployable rear wing (that operates automatically depending upon which of the four gears is selected), working suspension, and a cab that does something very weird indeed, converting the ‘EB-Double’ into a Mercedes-Benz Renntransporter-esque vehicle for maximum originality points. There’s more to see of Wojtek’s amazing alternate on Flickr – click here to make the jump!

Rally Classic

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A Technic Supercar must contain many things. It must steer, include an engine driven by the wheels, a working gearbox, and suspension. This tends to make them rather large and parts intensive, but not so this one, which features all of that (and more) in a model about 1/4 the size of most of the Supercars we feature here.

Built by 1980SomethingSpaceGuy of Eurobricks, this ‘Vintage Rally Coupe’ packs in so much technical goodness we’re beginning to think that LEGO themselves need to step up their game a bit. A V4 engine up front is driven by the rear wheels via a working gearbox, all four wheels are suspended (with a period-correct combination of independent shocks up front a leaf springs at the rear), the steering wheel turns the front wheels, and the doors, hood and hatchback all open.

In summary, it’s glorious; a proper old school Supercar, just a whole heap smaller. And we absolutely love it. See more at the link above, it’s well worth your click.

The Final (Lock-Down) Countdown

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There’s less than 48 hours to go in TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model Competition, with a flurry of builds joining the shortlist to win a fantastic SBrick Plus Pro Pack!

That doesn’t mean lock-down is ending of course (for those of you in it), particularly when morons shout “I’ll die for that flag!” during a protest against protective measures, as if somehow wearing a face mask to prevent the spread of a deadly disease is contrary to that bit of cloth at the top of a pole. Still, they may well ‘die for that flag’ by not wearing one. Unfortunately they might cause a few others to as well.

Rant over (but seriously, do as you’re told. Unless you’re an expert in infection disease control, sit down and shut up), and on to the first of today’s entries; this awesome Sherp-looking 4×4 tipper built from the 42099 Technic set. BadIdeasPoorlyExecuted is the builder behind it, and in the current situation a vehicle which allows escape into the wilderness doesn’t look to be a bad idea at all. The Elves rather like it too, seeing as it’s bright orange and remotely controlled. There’s more to see of BadIdeas’ B-Model build on Bricksafe – click here to take a look!

The second contest entry in today’s post utilises a set we’ve seen chosen a few times, the 42098 Technic Car Transporter set, but deploys its pieces in a rather unusual way. Scraping through our image quality criteria, but making up for it in mildly-unhinged inventiveness, Saberwing of Eurobricks has constructed this wild-looking attack helicopter.

The model features working rotors with – somewhat amazingly considering the unlikely source set – collective pitch control. A brick-built swash plate joins working landing gear and an enormous mechanically operated gun turret with both rotation and elevation functions. You can guess which feature is the Elves’ favourite…

The final entry in today’s Lock-Down B-Model update is actually two. Or three. Built by Kostq of Bricksafe, this ‘Big Rig’ is constructed from the parts found within the 42106 Technic Stunt Team set, and for added points it’s towing another two alternates, with a trailer made from 42103 and racing car from 42104.

Kostq’s B-Models are shown here in digital format but they have also been built for real, the photos of which you can find here, along with links to building instructions should you wish to build them for yourself. Plus, proving you can enter a B-Model no matter how small, here’s a bonus build too.

Lego in Lock-Down

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With less than a week to go in TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model Competition we have three more alternate builds to share, each of which has made the shortlist to win an awesome SBrick Plus Pro Pack!

First up (above) is a B-Model from one of LEGO’s newest sets, the 42111 Fast & Furious Dom’s Dodge Charger. Built by Matt Walker aka cleansupgood, this excellent prototype endurance racer features working steering, a mid-mounted flat-8 engine driven by the rear wheels, front and rear suspension, and an opening engine cover. Matt let us know about his competition entry via Facebook and there’s more to see of his 42111 B-Model on Bricksafe via the link above or on Flickr here.

Today’s second competition entry comes from Kieran Gutteridge who is making his TLCB debut with his 42093 alternate off-roader. Using only the parts found within the official LEGO Technic Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 set, Kieran’s off-roader features a working inline-4 engine, rear suspension (cunningly using a flexible axle from the donor set), and working steering by both ‘Hand of God’ and the steering wheel. Head to Kieran’s photostream by clicking here to see more!

Today’s third and final entry is also the work of a newcomer, 13 year old Ondra Chlopcik, whose father let us know about his entry. Using the parts from the 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS set which has been chosen a few times in the competition so far, Ondra has crafted this brilliantly accurate Porsche 918 Cayman GTS, complete with opening doors, hood and trunk, a removable ‘convertible’ roof, a 6-cylinder engine and a two-speed gearbox.

There’s more to see of Ondra’s excellent 52056 alternate on his publicly available Google drive, and if you’d like to enter your own B-Model into the competition you have until June 30th to upload your creation. You can do so on Flickr, Eurobricks, or Brickshelf (or any other freely available platform if you let us know where we can find it!), and you can read the competition rules by clicking here.

My Other Crane’s a Telehandler

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LEGO’s slightly uninspiring Technic 42108 Mobile Crane set has certainly proved, er… inspiring, with several awesome B-Models being built from it for TLCB Lock-Down B-Model Competition. Joining previously blogged 42108 alternates like this roll-off container truck and this rotator tow truck, Brickshelf’s mpj has constructed this fantastic JCB telehandler.

With a wealth of mechanical functionality mpj’s B-Model is every bit as technical as the model from which it’s derived, and includes working stabilisers, boom elevatation, extension and fork tilt, all-wheel-steering, and a rotating superstructure. It’s a brilliant build, showcasing both why LEGO is such an incredible toy and the reason why we started this contest; to use what you have to make something new. And awesome.

There’s much more of mpj’s 42108 B-Model competition entry to see on Brickshelf, and there’s still time to enter your own B-Model into TLCB Lock-Down B-Model Competition; click here to read the competition rules and see how to enter.

B-Model Bussing

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We’re in the final two weeks of TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model Competition, where you could win an incredible SBrick Bluetooth Control Pack! Hoping to do just that is Davide Bersia, with his superb Technic city bus, built only from the parts found within the 42098 Car Transporter set.

Featuring working steering, suspension (cleverly re-using the donor set’s rubber pieces), a working rear-mounted V6 engine, and mechanically operated opening doors, Davide’s 42098 alternate is both unusual and brilliant. Davide has also made building instructions available too, so you convert your own 42098 set into this bus at home. Click here to head to Flickr to find out more!

YouTube Video

Brick Dominance

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The 2019 Formula 1 season belonged to Mercedes-Benz. As did 2018. And 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014. This year of course, who knows, seeing as we should be approaching the mid-season break and the Championship is yet to start, thanks to the virusy dick that is COVID-19. It’s hard to see it being anything other than another Mercedes whitewash when it does start though.

Still, whilst they may seem like an all-powerful dominant force now, it’s worth remembering that the Mercedes-AMG F1 team came out of the defunct Honda F1 team that first became Brawn, who rose from the ashes to win the World Championship in their debut year (whoops, Honda), in part thanks to Mercedes giving them an engine to enable them to run.

This excellent Technic recreation of the title-winning 2019 Mercedes-AMG W10 comes from Mane of Eurobricks, who’s made instructions available too so you can have your own Championship-winning Formula 1 car at home! Mane’s 1:8 model features a working V6 engine, functioning steering and suspension, a removable front wing, engine cover and HANS device, plus an operational DRS on the rear wing.

There’s more of Mane’s Technic Mercedes-AMG W10 to see via the link above, including full build details, further images, and that all-important link to building instructions.

When 2 Become 1*

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BMW’s stunning i8 is soon to be retired. A three-cylinder Mini Cooper engine and electric motors delivered kinda super car performance with kinda supermini economy. Except it didn’t really do either of those things. But it did look great.

Also looking great is James Tillson’s Technic version, built from the parts found within the 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS and the 42093 Chevrolet Corvette sets. James’ model features working steering and suspension, a three-cylinder engine, gearbox, and the option to add an electric motor to drive the front axle.

Whilst not qualifying for TLCB Lock-Down B-Model Competition as it’s made from two LEGO sets, James has already entered the contest with another build (also derived from 42056), and you can build a qualifying competition entry from two official LEGO sets, provided each set’s RRP was under $25 at launch.

There’s more to see of James’ excellent B-Model at the Eurobricks forum and on Flickr, the former of which where you can also find a video demonstrating the model’s features and a link to building instructions if you’d like to turn your own Porsche 911 GT3 RS and Chevrolet Corvette sets into a BMW i8 too.

*Today’s title song. We’re nothing if not diverse…

EXP.SUV

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As regular readers of this muddy puddle in the corner of the internet’s parking lot will know, we’re not fans of pointless, gargantuan, ‘assertively’ styled SUVs. With some kind of arms race underway, they just keep getting bigger and uglier. This one nearly made us throw up.

However, in a move that is either deeply hypocritical or some kind of counter-cultural protest, we do like proper off-roaders. Land Rover Defenders (not this one though), Mercedes-Benz G-Wagons (not this one though), Toyota Hiluxes and so forth are marvellous machines unencumbered by status and a radiator grille the size of Disneyland Paris.

Which is probably why we rather like this ‘EXP.SUV’ by TLCB favourite Horcik Designs. Planetary hubs, long travel suspension, and a winch make this the real deal, whilst a LEGO Buggy Motor hooked up to a BuWizz bluetooth battery make it surprisingly quick. It certainly caught a few inattentive Elves unawares when it came rampaging through their cage room. Best of all though, it’s not got a luxury badge on its hood and Tarquin and Olivia in the back being transported between the gates at the school to the electric ones at their house, less than 1/2 a mile away.

There’s more to see of Horcik’s ‘EXP.SUV’ on Flickr and at the Eurobricks discussion forum, plus you can also watch a video of it in action where it belongs – off-road – below. Click on the links above to take a look whilst we take the BMW X7 to pick up Tarquin and Olivia from school…

YouTube Video

 

T’was a Telehandler

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There are three weeks to go in TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model Competition and there have been so many brilliant entries so far! Eurobricks’ Tomik has entered several builds in the hope of bagging an awesome SBrick Plus Pro Pack, with his latest B-Models both coming from the parts found within the 42061 Technic Telehandler set.

An off-road buggy with working steering and a mid-mounted piston engine, and a light helicopter with simultaneously turning main and tail rotors are the products of Tomik’s ingenuity, and there’s more to see of both creations by clicking here, where you can also find a link to building instructions if you’d like to rebuild your own 42061 Telehandler set too!

My Other Truck’s a Crane

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LEGO’s seemingly endless supply of yellow Technic cranes continues with the new 42108 set released this year. Whilst the yellow eight-wheeled crane formula has been done to death, the 42108 set does include instructions for a more interesting B-Model, that being a heavy duty forklift that’s far more original than the main model it shares its pieces with.

However you guys are using TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model Competition to do even better, first with the brilliant 42108 roll-off container truck published here last month, and now with this; newcomer oficinadelegodoandre‘s excellent rotator tow-truck, also built only from the parts found within the 42108 set.

A fully working rotating crane complete with a linear-actuator operated boom lift and working winch is the centrepiece of Andre’s alternate, whilst functioning stabilisers plus front and rear axle steering feature too.

There’s more to see at Andre’s ‘42108 B-Model’ album on Flickr via the link above, and you can read the competition rules and find out more about the prizes by clicking here!

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…

What’s the Matter? Chicken!

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There’s clearly one vehicle that’s the most famous from the ‘Back to the Future’ movie franchise, even though it was actually a fairly poor car and one mired in one of the greatest auto industry scandals of all time.

Far less famous, but a far better car, was Marty McFly’s Toyota Pick-Up (that’s all they called it) SR5 in ‘Back to the Future – Part III’, which Eurobricks’ RM8 has recreated brilliantly in Technic form using his previously blogged Toyota Hilux as a base.

An XL motor powers all four wheels whilst a Servo controls the steering, with a third-party SBrick allowing the model to be controlled remotely via bluetooth. Solid axle suspension features front and rear, as do opening doors, hood and tailgate, working LED headlights, plus the model features a removable body and cargo bed.

There’s more to see of RM8’s superb SR5 at the Eurobricks forum by clicking here, and the obligator title reface can be found by clicking these words!

Black Horse

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The officially-licensed 10265 Ford Mustang set is one of the coolest products to come from LEGO’s burgeoning partnership with real-world auto makers. We think there’s room from a Ford Technic set too (Raptor or GT anyone?!), but until then it’s up to the Lego Community to fill the void.

Cue Bartonius of Eurobricks and his excellent Technic recreation of the first generation Mustang that LEGO chose for their Creator set; arguably the most iconic and famous iteration of Ford’s evergreen pony car.

Bartonius’ Technic version captures the mid-’60s Mustang superbly, and adds in a working (and beautifully detailed) engine, functional steering, and opening doors, hood and trunk.

There’s more to see of Bartonius’ ’64 Ford Mustang at the Eurobricks forum – click the link to see all of the images and tell Bartonius to iron his sheets…