The story of the Tortoise and the Hare is nature’s most famous race, designed to teach kids about… we dunno, perseverance or something? Anyway, the bunny seems to have won in the end, claiming all the chocolatey glory of Easter. Out of the two it’s the tortoise that actually lays eggs though (although eating them is probably illegal), so perhaps it should be the anthropomorphic representation of Easter instead.
We’re not sure where we’re going with this.
It’s nearly Easter, and the two protagonists in the aforementioned race have returned to duke it out once more courtesy of KaleFrost of Flickr, who has certainly upped the stakes by equipping each with a Technic hot rod. Pick your Easter winner via the link above!
We all know Batman only works in black (and sometimes very very dark grey). After the extravagant campness of his appearances in the ’60s this is something of a relief, but if he were to pick a new colour the Dark Knight could do well to take advice from ianying616 of Flickr.
ianying616 has recreated the amazing Batpod from The Dark Knight trilogy and given it an exterior somewhat shinier than the mat-black original. The result is spectacular and there’s more to see of ianying’s all-chrome Batpod at his photostream. Click the link in his name above to see all of the stunning imagery.
This is a Pagani Huayra, one of the fastest, most aerodynamically clever, exclusive and expensive cars ever to reach production. Unobtainable then, but not this one. This is Jeroen Ottens’ incredible Technic recreation of the Pagani hypercar, and you could own it as the model is due to be auctioned for charity.
With working cantilever suspension, gull-wing doors, steering, an eight-speed sequential gearbox, highly detailed V12 engine, and even the Huayra’s active aerodynamics, Jeroen’s Technic Supercar is one of the most technically advanced yet. Just like the real car.
There are more images to see at Jeroen’s Pagani Huayra Flickr album by clicking here, where you can also find details on the charity action date and a link to the complete build specs.
An XL Motor delivers the drive (also turning a 6-cylinder piston engine), whilst a Medium Motor powers the articulated steering and another the bucket tilt. Lastly a Large Motor raises and lowers the bucket arm with enough power to raise the whole model off the ground.
There’s much more of Kio’s remote controlled Volvo L120H front loader to see at the Eurobricks forum here, where a link to videos can also be found in the discussion thread. Click the link above to check out the complete gallery of images and join the discussion.
Aircraft are not often created in Technic form. Now we’re a car blog so that’s not really a problem for us, but it is a shame, as their technical features are perfect for the principles of Technic. A case proved by previous bloggee Lipko, who has constructed this wonderful two seat light aircraft and packed it with ingenious technical functions.
Lipko’s plane features realistic working ailerons, tail rudder, elevators and flaps, each controllable via the cockpit and/or a Hand of God mechanism. Up front is a flat-4 engine with propellor pitch control, there’s retractable landing gear with a steering front wheel, an opening canopy and engine cover, and a clever ‘manual propeller drive’ that allows the propellor and engine to be spun.
There’s much more to see of Lipko’s excellent aircraft via both Eurobricks and Brickshelf, plus you can watch all those features in action courtesy of the YouTube video below. Take a look and join the Mile High Club via the links in the text above.
America has mixed form when it comes to supercars. The excellent Ford GT is at one end, the Corvette is in the middle, being now pretty good but mostly fairly hopeless, and the Dodge Viper… yeh, that’s still crap.
But that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t want a go in one. Especially this variant, the mad ACR edition. With the Viper’s V10 engine tweaked to 645bhp, carbon ceramic brakes, and a seriously extreme aero package the ACR was… well, still nowhere near as good as anything from Europe or Japan.
That didn’t stop it heading to the Nurburgring with aim of claiming the road legal lap record though. Three attempts ended with a wrecked ACR and no record, but it was the fastest road-legal-American-rear-drive-manual-transmission-car to lap the Nurburgring. Possibly because it was the only one to do it.
No matter, because this fully remote controlled Technic Dodge Viper ACR designed by previous bloggee Lachlan Cameron (aka Lox Lego) and photographed by Jeff McClain is every bit as good as the real car isn’t. Alongside the remote control drive and steering are working suspension, LED lights, a V10 engine underneath a flipping clamshell hood, and opening doors and tailgate.
There’s more to see of Lachlan’s amazing ACR at his Flickr photostream – click the link above to attempt the lap record…
Some of our least favourite cars are SUVs. The Hummer. The Cadillac Escalade. The Chevrolet Suburban. And, despite its depth of engineering and wonderfully utilitarian roots, the latest Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon can probably be added to the list, seeing as these days it seems to be driven entirely by insufferable douchebags. There is a shining exception though, a leafy oasis in a brash and ostentatious desert that seems to be expanding every year. The utterly wonderful Suzuki Jimny.
Recently updated for the first time in almost twenty years the new Jimny is an excellent looking thing, far more charming than its predecessor anyway, yet just as brilliant off-road. A 1.5 litre engine drives all four wheels via locking differentials and tiny overhangs make the humble Suzuki a veritable mountain goat when the going gets rough.
This excellent Technic homage to probably our favourite recent off-roader comes from damianple of Brickshelf, and it’s every bit as marvellous as the real thing. With remote control all-wheel-drive and steering, suspension on all wheels, LED lights, and opening doors and hood we think it would make a most excellent official Technic set. Take a look via the link above and see if you agree, where damianple’s Suzuki Jimny Brickshelf album includes photos on-location off-road plus some neat chassis imagery too.
Ken Block might be a less-than-successful racing driver, but he makes one hell of YouTube video. DC Shoes owner Block’s ‘Gymkhana’ series has become an internet phenomenon, with views in the hundreds of millions and major corporate backing from the likes of Monster Energy and Ford.
The seventh film in the ‘Gymkhana’ series took the formula to the sheets of Los Angeles, and with it brought a new car into the Gymkhana garage; very probably the wildest first generation Ford Mustang ever built. With twin-turbos, almost 900bhp, and all-wheel-drive, Block’s ‘Hoonicorn’ Mustang is a very different proposition to the lovely but (let’s be honest here), rather comfy cruiser that was the original.
The results are as spectacular as you would expect, and have inspired previous bloggee Lachlan Cameron to build his very own Gymkhana 7 ‘Hoonicorn’ Mustang in Lego Technic form.
With accurate decals, wide arches, and wheels from the official 42083 Bugatti Chiron set, Lachlan’s Mustang certainly looks the part, and with a full remote control Technic ‘Supercar’ chassis, including all-wheel-drive, all-wheel-independent suspension, and a beautifully chromed V8 engine (complete with two turbos), it goes the part too.
The mantis is surely one of Nature’s weirdest creations. Only not terrifying because they’re pretty small, if you saw a picture of one with no concept of scale you’d undoubtedly flee to the hills convinced mankind was about to be enslaved by a superior alien race.
Car makers love naming their vehicles after odd animals though, and the mantis is no exception, being used on Marcos’s early-’70s sports car that looked every bit as horrific as the insect which gave its name.
Fortunately their mid-’90s sequel was – if still not brilliant – far more palatable, but neither were as good to look at as this concept supercar from Flickr’s R. Skittle. Suggested to us by a reader, Skittle’s ‘Koncept Mantis’ is an interesting looking thing, with a full remote control drivetrain hidden under the unusual bodywork.
A pair of Power Functions motors drive the rear wheels whilst another controls the steering, there’s clever pushrod suspension, and an even cleverer automatically deploying airbrake that raises when the car ‘brakes’.
It’s been a while since the last act of outrageous Elven violence here at TLCB Towers, but fear not readers, the little scumbags were back in business today. This is Desert752 aka Kirill Mazurov’s ‘Grinder’* tank from the classic video game Red Alert 3, and it’s nuts.
Controlled via bluetooth thanks to no less than threeSBricks, Kirill’s Grinder* features ten Power Functions motors, six alone just for drive. A seventh powers the articulated chassis steering, the eighth the boom lift, and a ninth the huge rotating cutter on the end of it.
But what about the tenth you say? Well the lucky Elf that discovered this remote control monstrosity kept that one secret for a bit.
Driving it through the halls of TLCB Towers, Kirill’s Grinder* was frustratingly slow, certainly much too lethargic for the Elf in question to mow down any of its brethren. The other Elves in the office quickly got cocky, taunting the Elf at the controls by standing in front of the approaching tank with its whirling cutter, before jumping out of the way at the last second to much cackling and – we suspect – Elven profanity.
But that tenth motor had yet to be used, and after lulling its colleagues the Elf in control deployed motor No.10. With the secret high-gear engaged the Grinder’s* speed instantly trebled, and the taunters simply couldn’t get out of the way quickly enough.
Fed under the wheels by the cutter, then squashed by the Grinder’s* huge tyres, before being rolled flat by the tracks that followed thereafter, there has probably never been a worse machine to be run over by than this.
We were quite impressed by the Elf at the controls’ subterfuge too, and it’s now enjoying a blue Smartie whilst we have a go with the Grinder* ourselves.
There’s more to see of Kirill’s remote control behemoth at the Eurobricks discussion forum, the complete Red Alert Grinder* gallery can be viewed on Flickr, and you can watch the machine in action via the video below.
From the depths of the ocean to the clouds in the sky now, although the route there may have been a little wobbly. This is a Boeing Stearman Kaydet PT-17, the U.S military’s default training aircraft of the 1930s. Flight was a risky business back then, and even more so with a seventeen-year-old student at the controls. This marvellous Technic recreation of the aeronautical equivalent of a driving school car is the work of Flickr’s Mihai Dreve and it’s been built as part of a competition currently underway at Eurobricks. Click here to find out more, and the link above to view the Kaydet PT-17’s complete album.
The iconic Spinner from the 1982 sci-fi epic ‘Blade Runner’ has appeared here in multiple forms over the years. From large scale brick-built versions to smaller mini-figure builds, there’s a spinner for everyone. Except Technic fans, who have – until now – been unrepresented.
Syd Mead’s infamous design has finally been Technic-ed, thanks to previous bloggee Jeroen Ottens who has created this utterly wonderful (and brilliantly motorised) version of the Spinner in Technic form.
With doors that open electrically and a motorised transformation from ground to flight modes, Jeroen’s design is more than a visual treat too. You can watch that transformation in action by clicking here and you can see more of the build on Flickr, where a link to instructions is also available.
*We haven’t had a title song in a while. Here’s today’s.
Another day in TLCB Office. It’s cold outside, there’s snow on the ground, and pictures of Margot Robbie won’t look at themselves. Sadly TLCB Elves care not for this writer’s quiet contemplation and a cacophony of noise smashed through the doorway from the corridor. Sigh. Considerablepastexperience meant this writer knew that a long morning was in store.
A weary trudge to the source of the commotion revealed a grey box on wheels spinning furiously atop several decidedly squashed Elves. Mr. Airhorn was deployed, the spinning box ceased its rotation, and an unseen Elf jumped down from a low shelf and ran off, cackling wildly.
With the box now stationary we could uncover what it was, and what it was was a small Technic version of the amphibious Russian oddity known as the ‘Sherp’, and it was ridiculously powerful.
Just how ridiculously powerful? Well take a look at the video below…
YouTube Video
With a separate and fully-suspended motor powering each of the four wheels, plus a BuWizz bluetooth battery brick providing up to eight times the power of LEGO’s own battery, there has probably never been a more capable Elf-smushing creation than this. Ever.
Technic-building legend Sariel is the evil genius behind the Technic Sherp ATV and he’s made a wealth of high-quality images available via Flickr. Click these words to take a look at the model in greater detail at Sariel’s photostream, whilst we spend a morning trying to get Elf blood out of the carpet, and maybe dispatch a few of the fallen to the ‘Elf Hospital‘…
Since the Technic Car Chassis set back in 1980, LEGO have brought increasingly realistic ‘supercar’ sets to market, from the all-wheel-drive and directly-named 8880 ‘Supercar’ of ’94 and the beautifully styled 8448 ‘Super Street Sensation’ of ’99, to the latest Porsche and Bugatti partnership sets which include everything from W16 engines to working paddle-shift gearboxes.
The Lego Community has also got in on the action, building Technic Supercars that rival (and even eclipse) the official sets. To qualify for ‘supercar’ status a model must include a functioning drivetrain (engine, gearbox and driven wheels), working suspension, and functioning steering.
These days with the prevalence of Power Functions remote control components the lines have become a bit blurred, but we’re willing to overlook a few missing functions in today’s post because a) it does indeed replace a piston engine and gearbox with a suite of electric motors, and b) it’s all been squeezed into a model considerably smaller than we’re used to from Technic Supercars.
Designed by previous bloggee Kevin Moo, this Porsche-esque ‘supercar’ is powered by twin L Motors, with a Servo providing steering. All-wheel-suspension is taken care of independently up front and via a clever Watts multi-link system at the rear. Opening doors and hood also feature, and there’s a whole lot more to see on Flickr, where Kevin’s album also contains renders of the drive and suspension systems, and on Eurobricks, where a video of the model is also available to view. Take a look via the links.
A few Formula 1 drivers may well be able to say that their other car is a Bugatti Chiron. Today through, we’re reversing that, as this single-seat open-wheel racing car is constructed purely from the pieces around within LEGO’s flagship 42083 Technic Bugatti Chiron set.
Designed by Technic legend and TLCB Master MOCer Paul Boratko aka Crowkillers, this brilliant Bugatti B-Model includes a four-speed paddle-shift gearbox with a reverse and neutral switch, working steering and suspension, and a V10 engine.
Paul calls his B-Model a Formula 1 car, but we’re more in the mind of an Indycar or Formula-E racer, what with the Bugatti’s large wheels and the swoopy bodywork, although that enormous V10 is most unlike Formula-E (and even Formula 1 these days).
Whatever it is it’s a fine B-Model that’s well worth a closer look, especially if you’re lucky enough to own a 42083 Chiron set yourself. Head to Eurobricks by clicking here to see more images and a video of the model’s features.
