Green Light*

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This astonishing creation is a Peterbilt 389 quint-axle dump truck, and it comes from Master MOCer Dennis Glaasker aka BricksonWheels after four months of painstaking work.

That work included custom chroming hundreds of parts, the recreation of the Cummins X15 engine, MAC dump body and Hendrickson pusher axles, and the fitment of 120 Brickstuff LEDs.

Those LEDs make the truck look even more special at night, and you can see the complete image gallery including nighttime shots at Dennis’ ‘Peterbilt 389 (1:13)‘ album on Flickr. Click the second link in the text above to make the jump, and the first to read how Dennis creates spectacular models like this.

*Today’s title song.

White House Extraction

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With the U.S Presidential Election recounts being rejected or – more amusingly – undertaken and still delivering the same result, rumour has it that a vehicle like this has been spotted on its way to the White House ready to extract America’s incumbent Commander in Chief.

Seeing as he spends most of his time either Tweeting or playing golf we’re not sure why he’s so bothered, as he can definitely continue to do those exciting pastimes once retired, but it seems that hoisting Trump out through the Oval Office roof might be the only way to remove him.

Much to our entertainment we can re-enact this upcoming squatter removal fantasy here in TLCB Towers, despite being thousands of miles from Washington DC, thanks to Dawid Szmandra and this fully remote controlled Liebherr LTM 1250-5.1 mobile crane.

No less than seven Power Functions motors are hidden inside Dawid’s model, providing a huge array of remotely controlled functionality. Along with working drive, all five axles can steer; turning both in unison or in opposite directions front to rear, allowing it to both ‘crab’ and steer conventionally, whilst the enormous crane boom can rotate, elevate, and extend.

Combined with a working winch this meant we could lower the hook into various Elves’ cage and pluck the unsuspecting inhabitants out through the top, in much the same manner as we hope the U.S authorities will do on January 20th. They probably won’t drive an enraged dangling Trump to the toilet and drop him in it though…

Whilst we dream of that unlikely eventuality via a tenuous Elven simile you can check out more of Dawid’s superb Liebherr LTM 1250-5.1 crane at his Flickr album and on YouTube, where a link to building instructions is available too.

LEGO Technic 42123 McLaren Senna GTR | Set Preview

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It’s that time of year again, when shadowy figures scurry through the night in search of things they didn’t know they wanted. No, not Black Friday, but the annual Elven unearthing of LEGO’s new Technic sets!

One of the ‘lucky’ Elves chosen to be catapulted over the walls of The LEGO Company HQ returned a little while ago with this (and only a few Alsatian teeth marks), which we can now show you following LEGO’s official unveiling. This is the new for 2021 42123 McLaren Senna GTR.

Following the brands’ previous partnership within the Speed Champions line-up, the Senna becomes the first McLaren to become an official Technic set (although it won’t be the only real-world car to be immortalised in Technic for 2021…).

Expected to cost around $50/£45 when it reaches stores, the 830-piece 42123 McLaren Senna GTR looks quite pricey for a mid-range set despite the high parts count, but perhaps the ’10+’ on the box hints at a complexity within that justifies the price of admission.

We’d be surprised though, as 42123 appears only to have working steering, a miniature V8, and opening doors, which is a long way short of what we would usually expect from a Technic set targeted at ages ten and up.

Still, what 42123 misses in working features it attempts to cover (literally) with a great many stickers, with a vast array of printed and be-stickered parts helping to add visual realism to the set’s complicated (and parts intensive) bodywork.

We’re sure that LEGO know what they’re doing and their focus groups have determined that stickers trump features in the minds of ten year olds, but we’d happily trade a few ‘GTR’ decals for working suspension.

The other officially-licensed Technic 2021 set it is then…

Green Machine

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As TLCB’s home nation has just confirmed that the sale of new non-zero emission vehicles (that’s petrol, diesel, LPG, and Hybrid) will be banned in just nine years time, this humble corner of the internet is getting with the times and posting something green. Well, it is.

Lasse Deleuran‘s John Deere 6130R is very green indeed. In fact it’s very nearly as green as LEGO’s own excellent 42054 Claas Xerion 5000 set, with which Lasse’s model shares its scale and rear hitch mechanism (meaning implements designed for the Claas set will also fit this).

It also includes a wide range of mechanical functionality, including a working 4-cylinder engine, functioning steering, and a selectable PTO via a lever in the cab.

There’s more of Lasse’s John Deere 6130R to see on Flickr, where you can also find a link to building instructions should you wish to go green for yourself.

Tim’s Van

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This is Tim, and this is his 1965 Chevrolet Sportvan, complete with vintage slot-mag wheels, flat-black paint, a modded 230ci inline-6, shag carpet interior, and more than a little rust*.

Previous bloggee Tim Henderson really does drive this ’65 Chevy van in real life, having owned it since 2003. He now has a Lego version too, and there’s more to see of this lovely little build on Flickr. Click the link above to read more.

*The office Rover 200 shares precisely one of Tim’s Van’s features. Can you guess which one?

Lead Sled

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The Elves are happy today. Not only has one of their number found a shiny red hot rod, but there’s a scantily clad girl too. Cue Elven giggling. We have Master MOCer and previous bloggee Redfern1950s to thank for our sniggering workforce of mythical little turds, and his ’50s Mercury-based ‘lead sled’ built in his trademark style.

Smooth curves (the car, not the girl) and chrome embellishments (again…) complete the look, and there’s more to see of Red’s Lead Sled at his vehicle-packed photostream. Click the link above to head to Flickr for a closer look, but no giggling!

Phantom Rising

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This glorious McDonnell Douglas F-4N Phantom II was found by one of our Elves on Flickr today, and it proves – at least in USS Coral Sea livery – that more was more for the U.S Navy when it came to applying stickers.

Of course ask any 7 year old (or TLCB Elf) if stickers make something faster and you’ll get an answer along the lines of ‘Duh… Yeah.’ or whatever it is 7 years olds say these days.

The Phantom II confirms this entirely scientific fact as it was phenomenally fast, setting multiple world records during the ’60s and ’70s. Of course this speed was in no doubt helped by the addition of a shark’s mouth, US Navy motifs, red racing stripes, and rising sun/rainbow/gay pride arrangement on the tail.

Flickr’s Jonah Padberg (aka Plane Bricks) has captured all of that stickerage brilliantly, applying them to his beautifully constructed F-4N Phantom II model that comes complete with opening cockpits, under-wing armaments, and folding landing gear.

There’s much more of Jonah’s impressive Phantom II to see at his photostream; click the link above to take a closer look, whilst we see if applying some stickers to the office Rover 200 can work the same magic…

Meet the Fokker

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Are three things better than two? Engines? Yes. Beer. Yes. Stool legs? Yes. Wings? Er… no, probably not. However, whilst the triplane idea was abandoned by 1920, it was a widespread aeronautical design before then, being used by pretty much every plane-building nation of the time.

Most notably triplanes were the mainstay of the German Air Force in the First World War, with aircraft such us this extravagantly painted Fokker Dr.1. used extensively (and successfully) throughout the conflict.

This superb small-scale recreation of the Fokker Dr.1 – made famous by the ‘Red Baron’ Manfred von Richthofen – comes form Flickr’s Henrik Jensen, and there’s more to see at Henrik’s ‘Fokker Dr.1’ album via the link above.

Going Cottaging

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This is a walking cottage, designed to survive the spider apocalypse. Because of course it is. Letranger Absurde owns the mind behind it and there’s more to see at his photostream on Flickr. Click here to go cottaging. Sorry, we mean here. We’re nothing if not educational!

Yellow Off-Road**

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You really don’t need a billion bricks and a friend at The Brothers Brick to be blogged*. It does help if some of your bricks are yellow though…

This is de-marco‘s 4-wide ‘Yellow Off-Roader’, it’s excellent, there are building instructions available, and there’s more to see at the link.

*Unless you want to be blogged by The Brothers Brick of course.

**Another excuse for us to link to this. Sorry, we’ve had a lot of sugar today.

The Future’s Bleak

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The future of motoring is bleak. Cars will make zero noise, they’ll steer and brake automatically by law, travelling above the speed limit will be impossible thanks to GPS limiters, and on top of all that – if the video game Cyberpunk 2077 is accurate – they’ll look like this. Boo.

Sheo‘s ‘Economy Class Car’ from the aforementioned video game captures this miserable future superbly, with opening doors, a detailed interior (complete with a surely superfluous steering wheel), and an exterior design somewhere between a Bond Bug and a skip.

Visit 2077 at Sheo’s photostream via the link above, whilst we find videos of noisy V8s and pretend the inevitable isn’t happening.

Deere John

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This most excellent John Deere 6R tractor, complete with a big red plough, comes from Damian Z (aka Thietmaier), who has created it in rather wonderful detail considering the small scale. There are lots more images of both the tractor and plough to see on Flickr – take a look via the link above.

*Today’s title song. Don’t say we’re not diverse!

My Other Car’s a Fiat

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LEGO’s brilliant 10265 Ford Mustang set has been turned into all sorts of B-Models by the enterprising online community. So too has the equally marvellous 10271 Fiat 500 set, but this is the first time one set has been used to create the vehicle from the other!

This excellent 1960s Ford Mustang fastback comes from Flickr’s Gerald Cacas, and it’s been built only from the parts found within the 10271 Fiat 500 set. Like the official LEGO version Gerald’s model includes opening doors, trunk and hood, under which there’s the option of fitting a gloriously oversized hood-protruding engine. Combine that with it being both yellow and adorned with racing stripes and you have a car almost made for TLCB Elves.

There’s more of the creation to see of Gerald’s Ford Mustang 10271 Alternate Build album, where you can also enquire about building instructions should you wish to convert your own 10271 Fiat into Ford’s iconic ’60s pony car.

Now if only someone could build a Fiat 500 from the 10265 Ford Mustang set to complete the circularity…

SXSW

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Three engines are better than two. They might even be better than four, just because of how cool they look. This is the Boeing 727-200, the brand’s 1960s narrow-body airliner and its only tri-jet. Over 1,800 727s were built between 1962 and 1984, with a handful still in use today by some airlines it’s probably best to avoid.

This marvellous Lego recreation of the 727-200 comes from a time when they were in regular service with mainstream airlines however, being recreated beautifully in Southwest’s 1980s livery.

Previous bloggee Big Planes is the builder, and like his past work there is a complete mini-figure interior, retractable landing gear, and functioning flaps too, with much more to see at his photostream. Head south by Southwest via the link above.

My Other Car’s a Boat

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LEGO’s 42093 Chevrolet Corvette set spawned several B-Model entries into our 2020 Lock-Down B-Model Competition, including off-roaders, sports cars, and even a Formula-E racing car. This is Grohl’s 42093 alternate, and he’s decided to create something altogether more buoyant.

The Corvette’s body panels have been repurposed into a rather neat looking speedboat hull, inside which is a V8 engine turned by hidden wheels, which drives the rear propeller. Said propellor is also synchronised with the rudder and concealed steering front wheel, so they all work beautifully as the model is pushed across the floor. You can see how it works on YouTube here, and you see further imagery – plus a link to building instructions – at Grohl’s photostream by clicking here.