What the Frack?

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This is a Tatra T815-7 10×10. Plus a few other things.

Built in collaboration across five companies and two continents, this remarkable machine is a mobile fracking rig, capable of extracting shale gas from deep inside the earth. The base is a Tatra T815-7 10×10 off-road truck, powered – in this case – by a six thousand horsepower diesel engine mounted behind the cab.

The reason for all that power is what is you can see at the rear of the vehicle, a GD-2500 Quintiplex well-pump constructed by American pump specialists Gardner Denver – itself rated at 2,500bhp – used to propel a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the well to force the shale gas to the surface.

The engine powering this pump comes from German company MTU, whose designs are more normally associated with ships than land-based vehicles, with a Czech Talosa auxiliary gearbox allowing the twelve cylinder diesel to drive both the pump and the truck itself.

Cylinder deactivation drops the power for driving the truck, so you don’t have 6,000bhp to play with (although that does sound like it would be fun), with this ‘one engine’ solution and the vehicle superstructure created by engineering company M.G. Bryan Equipment.

It’s an amazing real-world vehicle, recreated here in LEGO form (and to an equally amazing standard) by Pavol Vanek aka Paliason. Measuring a metre long and weighing 8kg, Pavol’s brick-built replica of the M.G. Bryan ‘Percheron’ Tatra T815-7 is a huge creation, and it features a host of impressively engineered features underneath the superbly well executed Model Team exterior.

A complete 10×10 chassis, with nine differentials, full suspension, and steering on the first, second, fourth and fifth axles accurately replicates the real truck, with the steering alone driven by four linear actuators and an XL Motor.

A working twelve-cylinder piston engine sits behind the cab, LEDs illuminate the head and taillights, and there are opening doors and control panel covers.

It’s a phenomenal recreation of a unique real-world vehicle, and there’s loads more of Pavol’s astonishing model to see at both Flickr and the Eurobricks discussion forum. Click here to visit Pavol’s ‘M.G. Bryan ‘Percheron’ – Tatra T815-7 10×10′ album on Flickr, and here to visit Eurobricks where full details of the model, the real truck, and how it is used to frack for shale gas, can be found.

Hook & Tipper

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The Elven experiments are continuing here at TLCB Towers, as we move on from hoisting Elves via a remote control forklift to seeing how many can fit inside the container of Vladimir Drozd‘s excellent Scania P440 hook-lift truck.

They are – so far – willing participants, but they’re yet to discover that Vladimir’s model uses a motor-driven liner actuator to tip the container, not that we’re about to use it to tumble them into a washing-up bowl of soapy water…

Four wheel steering, working suspension, a functioning hook-lift, and a drawbar trailer are also included, and you can see more of all of that on Flickr via the link above, whilst we surprise-bath an undetermined number of Elves.

The Colour of Money

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Since when did fast Mercedes become so obnoxious? Even the badges shout loudly (and inaccurately), with C’63’ referring to an engine size Mercedes-Benz no longer makes. They couldn’t make the number smaller (and truer) though, because well… then it would be smaller.

Fast Mercedes also tend to be painted in stupid colours these days, with unnecessarily large exhausts, showy ‘aero’, and blingy wheels, conveying the taste of the nouveau riche douchbages that think they’re the coolest thing ever.

This is Lachlan Cameron’s C63 AMG, complete with a stupid colour, unnecessarily large exhausts, showy ‘aero’, and blingy wheels, and we think it’s the coolest thing ever.

Resplendent in lime green, Lachlan’s C63 captures the real car brilliantly, and features the complete set of Technic Supercar functions underneath, including a working V8 engine, suspension, LED lights, remote control drive and steering, and much more besides.

There’s more of Lachlan’s impressive build to see at his ‘Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG’ album on Flickr. Join us and the other nouveau riche douchebags there via the link above!

A Good Forking

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It’s not all super cars and drag racers here at The Lego Car Blog. Mostly, but not all.

This is Shimon‘s remote control Technic forklift, and it’s excellent. A suite of Power Functions motors deliver drive, steering, lift raising/lowering, and tilt, with the latter two clutched to ensure smooth operation.

Half a kilogram can be lifted, which equates to about four TLCB Elves by our experiments, and there’s more of the model to see on Eurobricks. Get forked via the link above.

Technic Tributo

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LEGO’s new for 2021 Technic sets look rather good from the outside, with no less than three officially-licensed real-world vehicles revealed so far. However, whilst attention has been paid to decals and exterior design, many are a bit light on actual technical functions. Boo.

Proving you can do both in a mid-size model is paave, who has recreated Ferrari’s amazing F8 Tributo in Technic form, and not only does it look great, it’s packed with features too.

Despite the relatively small size paave’s F8 includes all-wheel independent suspension, a working V8 engine, ‘Hand of God’ steering, adjustable seats, and opening doors, hood and engine cover. Which is more than LEGO’s own 42125 Ferrari 488 GTE AF CORSE set.

You can check out all of those features on Eurobricks and via the video below, both of which include links to building instructions should you wish to build this F8 Tributo for yourself, plus you can see LEGO’s offically-licensed 76895 Speed Champions version of the F8 by clicking here.

YouTube Video

Fifteen Horsepower of Fun

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We’ve featured some very cool, very fast motorbikes here over the years. The Honda Mini Trail ‘Monkey Bike’ is not one of them.

However we would take this diminutive 125cc practical joke of a motorcycle over literally any other two-wheeled machine, because it’s hilarious.

Powered by a 15bhp 125cc engine (or engines even smaller), Honda’s Mini Trail is not going to win any off-road competitions, but it going to make the rider look very funny, and that’s reason enough for us to love it.

This near-perfect Technic replica of the Mini Trail 125cc comes from ianying616, and we can confirm that with a TLCB Elf strapped atop, it’s just as funny as the real thing. Click the link above for 125cc of fun!

Dodgy Restomod

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Despite the title this is not a badly-restored classic, ‘repaired’ in Billy-Bob’s garage in the hope of making a quick buck. No, restomods, when done well, are rather excellent, bringing modern tech (cooling systems, brakes, suspension etc.) to cars from a very different era of performance. Flickr’s Brick Flag has turned his very capable hand to restomoding his own ’60s Dodge A100 model, in the final of his five ‘forward-control’ classic vans. There’s more to see of Brick’s excellent creation on Flickr via the link above, and you can see all five brilliant classic vans side-by-side by clicking here.

Centodieci

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This is the Bugatti Centodieci, a Chiron-based, $9million, 10 unit hypercar. But if you’re a bit short of $9m, Fabrice Larcheveque has the answer. Suggested by a reader, Fabrice’s Speed Champions version of the Centodieci captures the real car rather well, despite wheels that are Speed-Champions-but-not-hypercar appropriate, and there’s more to see on Flickr via the link.

Game of Bricks – Light Kit (10277 Crocodile Train)* | Review

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*Plus a few Speed Champions kits.

Being lazy, er… we mean tremendously generous, we’re handing over to another reader today for a review of more LED lighting kits for the 2020 LEGO sets, courtesy of LEGO-compatible LED lighting experts Game of Bricks. John Olive is the lucky recipient/willing reviewer, who has fitted some twinkly lights to his 10277 Crocodile Locomotive, and a few Speed Champions sets too – over to John!

…

Lights are only good for 3 things. Driving in the dark, for decorating a Holiday tree, and for lighting up LEGO sets. You know that feeling you have when you’ve finished building an official set that cost you an arm and a leg, and you have the desire to take your build to the next level? Well, for a good price it’s time to look to lighting your set or own creation with a good set of lighting kits.

While the current lineup of LEGO lighting kits are few and far between, a majority of builders have to turn to 3rd party vendors for all their lighting needs.

I had the distinct pleasure of getting hooked up with some lighting kits from Game of Bricks. Curious on the build quality and lighting ability, I had 3 kits sent to me in the United States. Two were for Speed Champions sets and the third was for the 10277 Crocodile Locomotive.

While shipping did take a little while, I was pleasantly surprised that when the package arrived, the kits were packaged nicely in thin black boxes. Inside all 3 kits, were the necessary components for each set and all came with a disclaimer packet. I was thrown off for a hot second because there weren’t any installment instructions and I didn’t know which lighting kit was for which set. I was quickly corrected by my 6 year old as he noticed a sticker on each kit with the set number on there. Go figure.

I had to refer back to the website for instructions as the kits didn’t come with an installment guide which was conflicting with their website offer of having instructions in every set. The instructions online were geared towards folks that have built the corresponding set already, so it included tear down instructions prior to adding the lights. This was extremely helpful for the Speed Champions sets and Crocodile. With only receiving digital instructions, I don’t hold that against them as I prefer to use digital instructions. The pictures were clear and provided a close up view of what was happening. I may have been distracted by the model’s fingernail in some pictures, but as I replicated the instructions on my own desk, it was apparent that Game of Bricks had given some thought in this phase of the installment. While the sets I reviewed were somewhat newer, hopefully older sets have the instructions right out of the box. Just in case customers don’t have the internet.

Let’s get to the actual kits.

The quality of the lighting kits was high just by the look and feel of the components. The website promises top notch quality, and while I’m unsure of the specific requirements to that, my experience with lighting kits confirms that it’s true. The extremely thin Connecting Cables are wound tightly and I didn’t notice any unraveling wires when running the cables in between the plates and bricks. Connecting the cables to a light strip has to be done ​very carefully​ and will be rewarded with an audible click when it slipped in there correctly.

*Veteran tip: A classic technique requires you to use your fingernail to push the connector into the port when dealing with such small components.*

Once cause of concern when dealing with any kind of lighting kit is the size of the LEDs used, but luckily Game of Bricks comes through with the perfect size. On the Crocodile Locomotive set, there are several 1×1 translucent clear pips that mimic the lights.

The LEDs from GOB fit nicely inside the pip. On the flip side, the light kit for the 75894 Mini Cooper S Rally & 2018 Mini John Cooper Works Buggy came with 2 sets of pips that had small holes that snaked the connecting table inside for you. This was because the Crocodile lights had their clear pips connected to a brick that allowed the cable to be hidden. When it comes to creating lighting kits, attention to the smallest detail allows for an easy installment. Spending time with a set when developing these clever little work-arounds is important because not only does it need to be installed correctly, the cables need to be hidden in order to pull off that realistic component of the set. No one likes a gorgeous set with clunky wires being exposed. With that, Game of Bricks is going to receive good marks when it comes to hiding cables.

While it makes sense to light up a locomotive like the Crocodile, Speed Champions sets like the MINI or Jaguar were a wild card for me. In all my years going to brick shows, it is rare to see those small cars being lit up because it becomes difficult to hide those clunky battery boxes. Luckily the battery boxes provided in the lighting kits aren’t much bigger than a zippo lighter, and comfortably hold 3 triple A batteries. Just make sure that you are hiding that box behind the set as it is clear that these lighting kits are more for display than for running trains on a train layout. A nice little tidbit is having the on/off switch on that battery box and some sets like the Crocodile include a secondary battery box for two 3 volt round batteries. This extremely thin box allows for installment underneath the set and is hidden from view. The finished models shined brightly in all the right places. For example, on the Crocodile Locomotive, the main cabin’s lights shine a dull yellow, mimicking this 1919-1986 model, while the lights at the front and rear “snouts” shone a bright white light. I appreciated the thought behind those decisions.

Having so many options for kits leads to the biggest question that I will leave to others to debate. Are there certain LEGO sets that should be MODed for lighting kits or are there sets that should not be lit?

Game of Bricks throws all that into the wind with their wide selection of lighting kits and says, you shouldn’t let anybody tell you what LEGO set to light up. Their catalog of lighting kits is ever growing, and just by the looks and experience of using their lighting kits, it’s hard to not think of a LEGO set they don’t have a kit for. If they don’t have one available, you can make suggestions which I appreciate as a consumer.

As LEGO continues to pump out new sets, Game of Bricks appear to be doing a great job of creating new kits for them. With their robust catalog of kits, and accessories for your own creations, I believe that Game of Bricks is here to light up the competition.

Little Red Wagon | Picture Special

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It’s 1965, and drag-racers Jim Schaeffer and John Collier have got their hands on a Dodge A100 ‘forward-control’ truck. The pair decided to install a 426 Hemi in the bed, and any non-essential items were removed. The resulting ‘Little Red Wagon’ was the world’s fastest 1/4 mile truck, setting an eleven second time at the first attempt. However, the modifications also tilted the weight bias rearward a bit…

The unintended consequences of this rear-biased weight distribution were a vehicle that proffered to drive only on its back wheels, and in fact the ‘Little Red Wagon’ could complete an entire 1/4 mile race without the front wheels ever touching the ground.

Such crowd-pleasing shenanigans caught the attention of Dodge, who not only used the ‘Little Red Wagon’ in commercials, they all arranged for its purchase by Super Stock Champion Bill Golden to use as the first ‘competition wheelstander’, a class it created single handedly.

Of course having your front wheels in the air limited steering somewhat, and the ‘Little Red Wagon’ crashed in 1969. And 1971. And 1975. That last wreck took the truck out of service, and Golden converted a new truck to continue his wheel standing antics, setting the Guinness World Record for the longest (at nearly 3/4 of a mile!) in 1977 and racing it until his retirement in 2003.

Today a recreation of the ‘Little Red Wagon’ tours alongside the wrecked original, whilst Golden’s own replacement wheel standing truck sold for over $500,000 in 2009.

Flickr’s Brick Flag, who is fast becoming one of our favourite builders here at TLCB, has converted his own Dodge A100 model into a ‘Little Red Wagon’ wheelstander, with his spectacular Model Team version amalgamating the different versions of the real truck that were built over the years.

Superb design, detailing, and decals are evident in abundance and there’s heaps more to see at Brick’s ’60s Dodge Little Red Wagon’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to head down the drag strip on just your back wheels, and here to see the real ‘Little Red Wagon’ in action courtesy of a glorious period video!

Two Tiny Tractors

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We often feature enormous, hugely complex models here at The Lego Car Blog. Whilst these are amazing accomplishments, they can feel a little unachievable for many Lego builders, particularly those with a parts to talent imbalance. But it’s definitely better to be that way round, as talent can almost always make up for a deficit in pieces.

These two tremendous micro-scale tractors by Flickr’s František Hajdekr are proof that you don’t need a million bricks and an unlimited budget to build something of blogworthy excellence. Each is constructed from just a handful of common parts, yet capture their subject matter perfectly with beautiful presentation too.

There’s more to see of František’s excellent-yet-simple creations at his photostream via the link above, and to get a few tips on how you can present your models as professionally as these two take a look at our photography tips here.

Julius Jr’s Journey

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We hadn’t heard of Julius and Clancy before, but a quick Google reveals the cartoon critters by Paul Frank are every bit as terrifying as Brickbaron‘s brick-built versions.

Horrific though they undoubtedly are, so are most children’s TV characters (we mean, just look at a Teletubbie), and their message is a sweet one, as evidenced by this catchy tune – which maybe a few politicians should watch. Plus cheaply animated kids cartoons are a lifesaver for parents the world over, however disturbing the protagonists may be.

Anyway, back to the creation; Julius and Clancy are in a tuk tuk for some reason, which Brickbaron has presented beautifully. Built using a range of excellent techniques there’s more to see of Julius and Clancy’s tuk tuk taxi ride on Flickr, where we’re sure a wholesome song can’t be too far off…

Turbo

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Is there anything more Turbo-y than a classic Porsche 911 Turbo? We’d say no, and not just because ‘Turbo-y’ isn’t a word.

This is SP_LINEUP’s 964-series 911 Turbo, and it is remarkably lifelike considering the scale. Opening doors and front-trunk are included, as is a detailed interior, and there’s more to see at SP’s photostream here.

Swiss Stork

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This is a Fieseler Fi-156 Storch, a short take-off and landing aircraft designed in Germany in the late 1930s. Oddly, despite Germany being a bit of a bad neighbour at the time, it was also built in the Soviet Union (before the German invasion) and France (during and after the German invasion).

One country not invaded was neutral Switzerland, which is where this Fi-156 Storch (or Stork in English) hails from, being used in the Alps for search and rescue.

Built by Flickr’s daviddstone, this brick-built recreation of the Swiss Stork captures the design brilliantly, including wing and landing-gear struts, skis for snow landings, and a lovely Swiss Cross tail-fin.

There’s more to see of daviddstone’s creation at his photostream – click the link above to fly over the Alps in the 1940s.

LEGO Technic 42118 & 42119 Monster Jam | Set Previews

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LEGO’s officially licensed vehicles continue with two more new-for-2021 sets! 42118 and 42119 join the Technic range as the pull-backs for 2021, and like the 42109 ‘Top Gear’ rally car, each is licensed to not a car brand, but to an entertainment company.

‘Monster Jam’ is a North American stadium institution, in which monster trucks freestyle around an arena filled with squashed cars, dirt ramps, and a whooping beer spilling crowd. Which sounds great. Because it is.

Two of the main protagonists are ‘Grave Digger’ and ‘Max-D’, which LEGO have chosen to recreate for their 7+ Technic sets.

It’s normally at this point when we’d deride the new pull-back sets for being total garbage, but this year we can’t. Because they’re awesome.

Each set contains around 250 pieces (although there’s no ramp this time – which surely these were made for – but you can build one of those at home), including excellent wheels and tyres, and a giant Jolly Roger/Angry Chief flag.

Expect 42188 and 42119 to cost under $20 when they reach stores next year, and for Monster Jam arenas built from books, cushions, toy cars, and other household objects to appear in homes everywhere. Good stuff.