We think that’s what a small bulldog is, right? Except pugs are bordering on inhumane. Anyhow, this small bulldog is not a pug, rather a miniature version of the ancient Lanz Bulldog tractor, as built by Flickr’s de-marco. He’s made instructions available and you find them and more great Town scale builds at his photostream – click the link to take a look.
Toyota have been fiddling with their BMW-platformed A90 Supra, most notably by jumping power by around 10%, so it finally surpasses the old A80 version. SP_LINEUP has been fiddling with his A90 Supra too, and it looks even better in white than it did in blue. Instructions are available and you can find them and more of SP’s brilliant Speed Champions creations via the link above.
It’s time for one of TLCB’s infamous rants! We know you’ve been missing these…
Mission Winnow. “What?” we hear you ask. Exactly. We all asked that when the world’s most famous (read ‘expensive’) Formula 1 team revealed a car emblazoned with a brand that no-one had ever heard of at the start of the 2019 season.
But Ferrari being Ferrari – i.e. having the morals of a Mexican drug cartel – we knew it was worth digging into. If only to find out what the hell a ‘winnow’ is. What it is, according to the press release, is this;
“‘Winnow’ originally referred to the removal of chaff from grain, but it came to be used more broadly to describe the separating out of the unnecessary, the extraction of the good and distinguishing what is true from what is inaccurate or misleading.” Which is so gloriously ironic that we suspect Ferrari might be taking the piss. Because Mission Winnow is a front for selling cigarettes.
Of course Ferrari have long had an association with tobacco, being title-sponsored by Marlboro since the mid-’80s. However when Formula 1 banned tobacco advertising in 2006 after learning that cigarettes may in fact be bad for you, Marlboro’s owners had to find other methods of promoting their cancer-sticks on Ferrari’s racing cars. Cue the ugly barcode thing that appeared on the rear wing or the big white chevron that featured on the engine cover for a number of years, described by doctors as simply ‘subliminal advertising’ for Marlboro.
A public enquiry and probably a quiet word from Bernie Ecclestone saw the barcode dropped after a time, but that hasn’t stopped Marlboro’s owners Philip Morris International and Ferrari continuing to pursue their partnership marketing tobacco to children.
And thus we arrive at the 2019 Scuderia Ferrari SF90, carrying Philip Morris International’s latest “We’re not trying to sell cigarettes, honest” brand message. In fact the Mission Winnow mission statement is so vague and rambling it could have been tweeted by Donald Trump;
“Mission Winnow has a simple goal: drive change by constantly searching for better ways of doing things. And by committing to learning and knowing more, it’s easier to make choices that improve the future for everyone. To make this happen, we’ll get inside the minds of outstanding innovators and change-makers, to see why and how they achieve excellence.”
By ‘achieving excellence’, we can only assume they mean Selling More Cigarettes.
Oh yeah, we’re a Lego blog… this superb Technic recreation of Marlboro’s mobile advertising board is the work of Mane of Eurobricks, making their TLCB debut (sorry about the rant Mane!). Looking wonderfully accurate, Mane’s Scuderia Ferrari SF90 includes front and rear suspension, a working V6 engine, steering, and DRS on the rear wing, a removable engine cover and front wing, and brilliantly accurate ‘Mission Winnow’ (amongst other sponsors) decals.
There’s more to see of Mane’s wonderful creation on Eurobricks (where building instructions are also available), plus there’s an extensive image gallery at Bricksafe. Click the links to take a closer look, and then go on Scuderia Ferrari’s social media accounts and tell them to shove Mission Winnow up their arse.
This is the most interesting Lego creation that you’ll see this year. By a mile.
Built by newcomer Alfred Boyer, this huge Technic steam locomotive really works, and is built from 100% standard LEGO pieces. Of course fire and plastic bricks don’t mix that well, so instead of superheating water to generate steam, Alfred’s astonishing creation uses air pressure to drive pistons, which is essentially exactly the same operation as a real steam engine, only without setting fire to coal to generate the energy.
Four LEGO pneumatic cylinders turn the eight drive wheels, with two speed ‘gearbox’ – if you can call it that – controllable from the cabin. Also controllable from the cabin are working brakes, with shows that press against each wheel through pneumatic pressure, and -amazingly – a working whistle, which diverts air pressure through some hollow bricks to create the sound. It’s a good thing the Elves haven’t figure this out otherwise it’s all we’d hear all day.
It’s a phenomenal piece of engineering and one that probably takes LEGO’s pneumatic system further than any model before it. The only way to really appreciate Alfred’s creation is to take a much closer look – head to Eurobricks by clicking here for the complete build details (where you can also find a link to it on LEGO Ideas), and definitely watch the video below!
YouTube Video
This is a Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic, one of the rarest and most expensive cars ever produced. Just four SC Atlantics were built, named for Ettore Bugatti’s friend whose plane crashed into the Atlantic after an engine failure. Today the cars command a price in the millions, so it’s quite cool to see one built (almost) from the parts of a vehicle far more humble, the Volkswagen Beetle (and VW of course who now own the Bugatti marque).
95% of the Bugatti’s pieces come from the Creator 10252 Volkswagen Beetle set (606 of the 640 used), meaning that builder ZetoVince almost qualifies for TLCB’s B-Model Lock-Down Competition. But not quite. Still, it’s an excellent build and one you can see more of at Zeto’s photostream; click the link above to make the jump and take a look, and if you’d like to create your own B-Model and be in with a chance to win an awesome SBrick Plus Pro Pack take a look at the competition by clicking here.
The police are distracted, the roads empty, and the hot rodders of Willow Springs are about to race for cash! Betting agents, ‘shady looking bikers’, and a wonderful rural gas station filled with details add a suitably illegal atmosphere to the proceedings of Faber Madragore‘s ‘Street Racers’ Haunt’ diorama.
Built for Model Expo Italy, which was cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak, Faber’s brilliant scene finds a second life online. There’s loads more to see on Flickr where you can head to take in all the details – grab some cash, click the link above, and place your bet!
A film about a flaming motorcycle and little else, Ghost Rider is up there as one of the worst Nicholas Cage films in recent memory. And there are so many. Drive Angry, Outcast, Rage, Season of the Witch, Left Behind… they make us want to push his flaming motorcycle over in disgust at crimes against cinema. Fortunately that’s just what the contestants in the Lego Masters Australia TV show got to do with this incredible life-size motorbike by certified LEGO Professional Ryan McNaught and his team of builders.
Built from over 75,000 LEGO bricks, and with its hollow interior filled with loads more loose parts like some sort of brick-based piñata, the bike was smashed to provide pieces for an episode in the second season of the Australian version of the Lego Masters show entitled ‘Smash & Grab’. We suspect its destruction took a lot less than the 135 hours it took to build it, but that it made for great TV!
There’s more to see of Ryan’s life-size Lego motorbike on Flickr via the link above, and if you’re a German-speaking reader the Lego Masters show is looking for contestants for the German version right now! Click here to read about how to apply and maybe even score a TLCB Recommendation. For our non-German speaking readers (which will be most of you!), don’t worry – you can learn how to become a Lego professional via our aptly named ‘How to Become a Lego Professional’ series – click here to see how some of the bloggees here at TLCB have done it!
YouTube Video
It’s not often that TLCB Team are stunned by a model brought back by one of our smelly little workers. We are of course experienced professionals, experts in Lego creations, and with a wealth of building talent ourselves. Oh, sorry – that’s the Brothers Brick – we’re still as incompetent as ever, but nevertheless it takes a lot to genuinely excite us, so blasé have we become through years of blogging. Today however, we are all spectacularly impressed, thanks to All.About.Lego and his amazing Technic Lancia Fulvia HF rally car.
Built for the current Eurobricks small car contest, this incredible recreation of one of rallying’s all-time-greats not only looks absolutely wonderful (and superbly accurate, despite being the difficulty of being a Technic build), it features more working functionality than models five times its size. So much in fact, that this tiny Lancia really is a Technic ‘Supercar’.
A working V4 engine is driven by the front-wheels (yup, the fronts, as per the real Fulvia and we have no idea how All.About.Lego has managed it), whilst a rear-mounted gearbox (technically a two-speed transaxle) can be controlled via the cabin gearstick.
Working leaf-spring suspension and functioning steering feature too, completing the Technic ‘Supercar’ necessities, plus the model features opening doors, hood and trunk, as well as an accurate period livery complete with superbly replicated decals.
It’s a phenomenal build and one that will start a riot here in TLCB office if it doesn’t win the Eurobricks Small Car Contest. Head to Flickr or the Eurobricks forum to see more of All.About.Lego’s spellbinding creation and LEGO, make this a set please! We’ll buy eight.
Television Production company Endemolshine Germany have contacted us in their search for Lego Masters; the TV show where pairs of builders compete to build amazing creations for certified LEGO Professionals. The show has run for a few seasons in the UK already, with the US version’s first season just finished too.
Endemolshine Germany are looking for enthusiastic Lego modellers who are unafraid of the camera, and who live for MOC-making. Anyone over the age of 16 can apply, although remember they are looking for pairs (friends, partners, family members, work colleagues etc.) and applicants must speak German.
For further details take a look at the (slightly rough translation) LEGO Masters poster below, and we hope to see a TLCB reader or two on LEGO Masters Germany TV show when it airs later in the year!
We round off today’s creations with one of our very favourite vehicles ever, the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40. Created by TLCB Regular Simon Przpiorka (aka SP_LINEUP) this gorgeous 1:24 Lego replica of the legendary 4×4 evolves his previous tan version with the addition of a bright blue paint job, one of the FJ’s most iconic hues, and there’s more to see at his photostream via the link.
*Title song. Naturally.
Ask the internet any car-related question and when the answer’s not ‘Miata’, it’s ‘Stick a V8 in it’. More specifically an LS. It seems that’s what builder Zux has done in creating his entry for the current Eurobricks Small Car Contest. Literally.
Before we get onto the engine, Zux’s Technic pick-up truck features some decent functionality, including working suspension front and rear, opening doors, hood and tailgate, and working steering.
Now that engine… It’s not a load that the pick-up is carrying in the second and third images you can see here, rather it is the pick-up’s engine, driven by the rear wheels and making the pick-up’s pick-up-ness completely pointless.
As such Zux has photographed his creation with and without its ridiculous cargo/power-plant, but you can guess which version the Elves preferred….
There’s more to see of Zux’s build on both Flickr and in the Eurobricks forum; ‘stick a V8 in it’ via the links!
The Elves have been working hard lately, and we have a bumper haul for you today. These are two of their finds, both ’90s Japanese sports cars, both roughly Speed Champions scale, and – most importantly – both with pop-up headlights.
SP_LINEUP‘s modified Nissan 240SX (above) and dazzz99‘s Honda NSX (below) capture the details of their real-life counterparts brilliantly, and remind us of a time when Japanese cars were at then top of their game.
Click the links above to head back to the ’90s.
This is not a car. But it is transport, and it is beautiful, so here it is. Built by Montgomery Burns this excellent wagon scene is titled simply ‘small diorama’ and there’s more to see of it and the amazing wider world in which this features via the link above.
Dornbi’s ace vehicular Americana appeared here earlier in the month, and he’s now published the complete diorama in which his classic metal features. A collaboration with another builder, Dornbi’s brilliant ’40s and ’50s vehicles pass a charming rural desert gas station, complete with pumps, workshop and store, driving of course on the superb brick-built Route 66 itself. There’s more to see of this wonderful build on Flickr – click here to drive Route 66 for yourself!
Undercover detectives need an understated, invisible ride. Something that draws no attention, that can slip by unnoticed. A Dodge minivan for example. Or a Toyota Corolla. Not a bright red Ford Gran Torino with a giant white vector stripe down each side.
Still, maybe things were different in the ’70, and Starksy & Hutch’s wheels still seemed to nab them plenty of crooks. Cue Pasq67‘s 8-wide recreation of one of TV’s most famous vehicles, complete with Starsky & Hutch mini-figures and ‘magnetic’ pot-plant flashing beacon. Oh, and a giant white vector stripe down each side of course.
Head to Pasq’s Flickr album via the link above for all the imagery and click here for a nearly twenty-minute montage of the real Gran Torino in action!