White Elephant

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Is there a car we hate more than the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG? Ok, maybe the Audi SQ7. Or the Hummer H2. No… no, with think this takes it. We hate it on a cellular level. From its stupid bodykit to its stupid wheels via its stupid interior, we hate it.

That said, this Lego recreation of the G63 AMG by Flickr’s Noah_L is awesome. Recreated with incredible attention to detail, Noah’s stunning model perfectly replicates Mercedes-Benz’s most ludicrous SUV, from its stupid bodykit to its stupid wheels via its stupid interior.

There’s more to see of Noah’s genuinely phenomenal build, including a link to building instructions, at his ‘Mercedes-AMG G63‘ album – join us there where we’ll be simultaneously viewing the images in awe and hating it.

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!

Sukhoi Su

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Russia may have a current political direction as backward as America’s, but – like America – they sure know how to make a fighter jet. This is the Sukhoi Su-35, a multi-role air-superiority fighter conceived as the Soviet Union collapsed around it. The design survived though, and the first iteration entered service in the early ’90s whilst an updated version (this one) followed in 2007. In service in the Russian Air Force and the ‘People’s Liberation Army Air Force’ (aka the Chinese Air Force), just over 100 Su-35s are in use, with Egypt and Indonesia placing orders too.

This superb Lego recreation of the Sukhoi Su-35 comes from previous bloggee Lennart C aka Everblack, who has captured the real aircraft beautifully with some seriously smooth building techniques. There’s more of Lennart’s Su-35 to see at his photostream, where it joins a wealth of other excellent builds. Click the link above for some Russian air-superiority.

60075 Redux

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We’ve featured a few models here at TLCB that have brought an old set into the new age, however Flickr’s Thomas Selander has kinda done the opposite, taking the 60075 set from 2015 and making it rather more classic, at least in using a 1960s-’70s Volvo F88 truck as inspiration for his tipper. It’s an excellent Town build and considerably slicker than the official set it emulates, and there’s more to see at the link.

My Other Car’s a Mustang

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LEGO’s brilliant 10265 Ford Mustang set is one of the finest additions to the Creator line-up yet. That it has spawned so many B-Models too, is testament to how great a set it really is. In fact, it inspired this whole competition.

Joining a host of other builders to use 10265 as their chosen set in TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model Competition, Flickr’s monstermatou has taken the Mustang in a very different direction, recreating one of the most technologically advanced and unusual cars of all time; the glorious Citroen DS19.

Despite using only the parts from the 10265 Ford Mustang set, monstermatou has replicated the DS19’s spaceship exterior absolutely beautifully, from the roof-mounted indicators to the hidden rear wheels. The superb realism doesn’t stop with the outside either, as behind the four opening doors is a brilliant interior with a working steering wheel, a detailed engine sits underneath the opening hood, and even the trunk opens too.

Things are getting tough at the top for the competition judges, and if you’d like to enter your own B-Model into the competition (where the winner and runner up will receive some awesome prizes) there’s still plenty of time; entries close on June 30th.

Until then you can see more of monstermatou’s stunning Citroen DS19 at his photostream by clicking here, where you will not only find a huge gallery of pristine images, there is also a link to building instructions so you can build it for yourself, plus monstermatou has a whole range of other incredible B-Models to view!

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…

Not a Car

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This is not a car, but it is beautiful. Modelled after a USS Brig, the ‘Europa’ features a beautifully constructed brick-built hull, complete rigging, a crimson deck (to hide the blood), a functioning capstan to raise the anchors, a working tiller-controlled rudder, and an unusual man-fornicating-with-bull figurehead design. Built by TLCB debutant TomSkippy there’s more to see at the Eurobricks ‘Pirate’ forum – click the link to set sail.

Mortal Engines

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Markus Ronge is back! Creator of the spell-binding Netbrix epic ‘Full Steam‘, Markus has returned bringing Mortal Engines into the brick. And the finest photo editing you will find anywhere in the Lego Community.

The ‘Jenny Haniver’ is a stunning demonstration of this; an enormous sky-fi airship packed with incredible building techniques and a phenomenal attention to detail, surpassed only by the way it is presented.

Sailing through the clouds Markus’s build looks as though Lego has come to life, and that surely is the definition of the art. An enormous gallery of images is available to view on Flickr, showing how this amazing model was constructed (very carefully we would think) and the details within it.

Head skywards via the link in the text above.

Two Trucks Tuesday

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Two Elves returned to TLCB Towers today, each with a red truck, and each hoping for a meal token as reward. Long-standing readers of this impoverished backwater of the internet will know that this usually only leads to one thing, and duly an Elf fight between the two applicants immediately erupted. Fortunately for them both finds are worthy of blogging, so both were patched up, awarded a meal token, and given a red Smartie. It’s nice to be nice sometimes. Anyway, the builds!

First (above) we have Lasse Delueran’s superbly rendered Renault Magnum. Named after a gun… or an ice cream… or a condom… the Magnum had the tallest cabin of any truck in production. We’re not sure why that matters but nevertheless the Magnum had it and it did look quite cool. Lasse’s version includes Power Functions remote control drive and steering, free instructions are available, and there’s more to see here.

Today’s second truck comes from Fuku Saku, and it too is a European ‘cab-over’, coming from rival truck manufacturer Mercedes-Benz. Fuku’s Arocs cab is mounted on an eight-wheel chassis with a tipping dump bucket behind it, and it includes one of the fiddliest, most fragile-looking, and most excellent grilles we’ve seen on model of this size. An extensive image gallery is available to view (demonstrating some really stunning photography too) and you can make the jump by clicking here.

Happy*

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It might seem crazy what I’m ’bout to say
Sunshine she’s here, you can take a break
I’m a hot air balloon that could go to space
With the air, like I don’t care baby by the way

This happy hot air balloon comes from ExeSandbox who has built it for a sub 250-piece Lego Ideas competition. Head to the skies via Flickr at the link.

*Today’s title song.

Teal Kobelco

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Lego don’t produce many teal coloured parts. However the range is increasing, and with a little ingenuity, and maybe a few custom pieces, a complex teal creation can be built, and the results can be – if this amazing Kobelco SK210 HLC excavator is an accurate reflection – pretty special.

Built by Maciej Szymańsk this fully remote controlled tracked excavator is all LEGO, apart from the pneumatic cylinders which are bespoke, matching LEGO’s teal colour and offering far greater reach than official components, and an 11V battery box.

In fact 5.5kgs of LEGO pieces have been used to recreate the Kobelco SK210 HLC, a Japanese excavator which – according to the decals at least – is a hybrid, although how a that works in practice we have no idea. We can’t see much regenerative braking going on and it would likely need about a month to charge up if it’s a PHEV.

Maciej’s creation carries its power on board, thanks to that custom battery, powering LEGO Power Functions motors and a suite of LED lights. The motors drive the tracks, superstructure rotation, and the compressor for the pneumatics, giving the model superbly accurate movements which you can view on YouTube here.

There’s much more to see of Maciej’s incredible build at Eurobricks and at his Kobelco SK210 HLC Flickr album, where you can find the full gallery of imagery including WIP shots, close-ups of the excellent brick-built tracks, and a version that switches the bucket shown here for a set of pincer-y jaw type things that we’re glad the Elves didn’t find. Click the link above to make the teal transition.

Benz Patent-Motorwagen

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This is the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, first produced in 1886 and widely considered to be the first production motor car. Designed by Karl Benz (and financed by his wife Bertha, what a woman!), the Patent-Motorwagen was powered by a 1 litre single-cylinder engine producing around 3hp. That might not sound much but of course the Patent-Motorwagen was once the world’s fastest production car. And simultaneously the slowest…

Around 25 units were built between 1886 and the early 1890s, and newcomer Jacob Anderson has added one more, with his rather stylish Lego recreation of motoring’s genesis. A neat Victorian-era street completes the build and there’s more to see of his excellent Benz Patent-Motorwagen via the link above.

Feeling Blue

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It seems a slice of the online Lego community is feeling rather blue right now. On top of Coronavirus, rioting in America, another example of systematic racism and police brutality, and a rising mass of unemployment, the place where it all started for many – MOCpages – has been expunged from the internet. Which is quite remarkable really, as very few things ever leave the internet for good. Just ask your Mom. Anyway, here’s a deeply blue hot rod by Flickr’s Jonathan Elliott to sum up how we’re all feeling in a model, and there’s more to see on Flickr via the link.

In all seriousness, if you’re reading this and struggling with any of the above or anything else, things will get better. Talk to someone in confidence here (US) or search ‘Samaritans’ in your home nation for support.

My Other Car’s a Mustang

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We’re just over half way through TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model Competition, and choosing the winners who will receive an awesome SBrick Plus Pro Pack just got harder! This is Nathanael Kuipers’ entry, a simply brilliant AC Cobra built purely from the parts found within the excellent (and very B-Model-suitable) 10265 Creator Ford Mustang set.

Capturing the look of the ’60s Anglo-American sports car brilliantly, Nathanael’s alternate includes opening doors, hood and trunk, a wonderfully lifelike interior, and a detailed engine too. The Elves are also happy because it two giant racing stripes down the middle of it.

Not only that, Nathanael has made instructions available should you wish to build his Cobra for yourself, earning him extra TLCB points. You can see more of Nathanael’s brilliant 10265 B-Model at his photostream by clicking here, plus you can read a round-up of some of the other alternative builds that the 10265 Ford Mustang set has generated (including a few other designs by Nathanael), by clicking these words.