Laying Pipes

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We’re not quite over poo-based titles just yet. Discovered by one of our Elves on Brickshelf, this is gkurkowski‘s Volvo PL4809E pipe layer, a fully remote controlled Model Team replica of Volvo’s real tracked crane.

Phenomenal attention to detail and some seriously intricate pneumatics make gkurkowski’s creation spectacularly accurate, both aesthetically and in its operation.

An array of hidden Power Functions motors drive the tracks, superstructure rotation, boom reach, and the cable winch, enabling the Volvo to lay pipe as efficiently as this TLCB Writer does when he’s rushing to leave for work in the morning.

An extensive gallery of top quality photos is available to view on Brickshelf, where comparison imagery showing gkurkowski’s model alongside the real vehicle and WIP shots can be found, plus plenty more images displaying the completed crane as you see here. Click the link above to head to Brickshelf and lay some pipe.

Blue Bull

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First featured here a year ago, Jeroen Ottens’ beautiful Technic interpretation of Marco Van Overbeeke’s spectacular design concept had us all wishing the car was real. It still isn’t, but Jeroen has refined his creation adding these stunning new images to his ‘Il Toro Azzurro’ album. The name may have changed but the car is if anything even more gorgeous to look at, with Jeroen’s model including four-wheel steering, a V10 engine, working gearbox, and independent suspension. There’s more to see of both the original and new images at Jeroen’s ‘Il Torro Azzurro’ album on Flickr – click the link to take a look.

Huge Steamer

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We’re much too mature to link this post with today’s other one, however tempting it is. If your mind has connected the two though, that’s on you…

Now we’ve got that out of the way, on to the vehicle. This is an 1870 Batho 25-ton road roller, a prototype that would become the world’s first mass-produced road roller (‘mass’ being a relative term we suspect).

It’s also both the oldest (we think) and most unusual vehicle that this site has ever featured, and it comes from previous bloggee and weird-vehicle extraordinaire Nikolaus Löwe, who has based this exquisite recreation of the 1870 Batho on a scale model of the original vehicle.

Working steering and a considerable quantity of old-timey cogs and gears are present and correct (they’re for-real cogs and gears too, not any of that steampunk nonsense), and there’s lots more to see of Nikolaus’s remarkable model of a remarkable machine at his Batho 25-ton Road Roller album on Flickr – click the link above to see more of his impressive steamer.

Laying Logs

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We like a good poo-based title here at The Lego Car Blog (see here, here and here). Today’s comes courtesy of bill2build and his neat Ural logging truck compete with grabby thingy and, er… logs. Lay one for yourself on Flickr at the link above.

Massive Minecraft

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Built in 1973, massive to world record proportions, and able to service an entire mine at once, your Mom and the Terex 33-19 Titan have a lot in common.

Just one Terex Titan was constructed and – until 1998 – it was the largest mining truck in the world, at a staggering 350 tons. This incredible recreation of the mighty mining machine comes from Beat Felber of Flickr, who has rebuilt the Terex superbly in a huge 1:28.5 scale.

Beat’s model is so large in fact that LEGO don’t make tyres big enough, hence the non-LEGO 120mm tyres fitted – the only non-LEGO pieces used. There’s something authentic about this too, as the real Terex required six axles rather than the usual four as there were no tyres large enough available for a four-axle truck to take the Titan’s immense weight.

Beat’s astonishing replica of the 33-19 Titan not only looks spectacular, it functions too, with two very brave XL Motors driving the tandem rear axle and pair of Servo Motors powering the all-wheel steering. A further L Motor drives the two XL linear actuators that allow the enormous bucket to tip and two sets of LEDs illuminate the Terex’s head and tail lights, with all of that controlled by a third party SBrick programmable bluetooth battery.

Top quality custom decals and excellent presentation make Beat’s build a must-see, and you can do just that at his Terex 33-19 Mining Truck album on Flickr. Click the link and join us there, where it’s making our own Lego creations feel very small indeed.

Range Rozzer

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Range Rovers aren’t just for rich London types. Well they are now, but back when the original was around even the police used them. This neat Speed Champions style recreation of a classic police Ranger Rover (in Manchester police livery) comes from TLCB favourite Jonathan Elliott and there’s more to see at his photostream via the link above.

DC-3C

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Nope, not an annoying Star Wars droid (we’re not Bricknerd), but this gorgeous classic Douglas DC-3C airliner, recreated beautifully by previous bloggee Luis Pena. Built for display at Chile’s Air and Space International Fair alongside his previously featured models, Luis’ creation captures LAN-Chile’s iconic 1940s airliners – that were converted from military transports after the Second Wold War – in wonderful detail. If you’re one of our Chilean readers you can see Luis’ Douglas DC-3C along with his other historic Lego aircraft at FIDEA Santiago, and if not you can see all the imagery at his Flickr album by clicking here.

Taking a Dump

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This magnificent MAN F90 8×8 dump truck comes from previous bloggee Krzysztof Cytacki (aka dirtzonemaster) and it’s one of the finest Model Team creations of the year so far.

It’s not just accurate aesthetically either, as underneath the brilliantly realistic exterior is a complete remote control drivetrain consisting of eight-wheel-drive,  four-wheel-steering, and eight-wheel suspension. The tipper works too, thanks to a remotely operated linear actuator, with all of the Power Functions components hidden so well you would never know they’re there, with our particular favourite being the beautifully effective way Krzysztof has concealed the battery box inside the fuel tank.

You can see just how he’s done it (plus view all of the truck’s other features) via the link to Krzysztof’s ‘MAN F90 Tipper Truck’ album on Flickr above, and the YouTube video below.

YouTube Video

 

Come Back Around*

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Things have a habit of coming back around. Lava lamps, 1920s baby names, politicians called Bush or Clinton…

We hope this does, the glorious 1970s Maserati Boomerang. Named after the indigenous Australian bendy stick that always comes back (for reasons we don’t understand at all), the Boomerang was a one-off concept car designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro that was unusually registered for road use and that even more usually still exists today.

Previous bloggee RGB900 has recreated the iconic Maserati in Speed Champions scale, and in a neat circularity has brought LEGO’s new canopy piece back around again to shape the cockpit of his build, following its use by Jonathan Elliott for a Lamborghini Countach earlier in the month and its original appearance in the official 75890 Ferrari F8 Speed Champions set.

We suspect it’s a part that will keep coming back too, so well does it seem to fit all sorts of Speed Champions designs, and there’s more to see of its appearance on RGB900’s lovely Maserati Boomerang at his photostream. Click the link above to give it a throw.

*Today’s ace title song.

Blue Boxer

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We know absolutely nothing about sci-fi, but we do know that this ‘A-10 Asimov’ is a spectacular build, and it looks a bit like it’s wearing boxing gloves. Designed by noblebun there is ingenious parts usage everywhere, particularly on the engines where dozens of mini-figure flippers and skis form the thruster casings. Head to Flickr via the link above to check out the complete gallery.

Smile, and the World Smiles with You

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The Bell Huey UH-1 was used for all sorts of things during the Vietnam War. Other wars too (in fact the UH-1 is still in widespread service today), but it’s the pointless Vietnam conflict for which it is most famous. From medical evacuation – the role the aircraft was originally designed for – to troop carrying, reconnaissance, search and rescue, and an attack gunship, the ‘Huey’ proved to be an incredibly versatile design, and it’s the latter variant that has the Elves most excited today.

Modified with the addition of machine guns, plus rocket and grenade launchers, the UH-1 made for a fairly terrifying gunship, especially when a giant pointy-toothed smiling shark mouth was painted on the front. A smile we don’t think the Vietnamese locals would’ve returned…

This superb recreation of the Bell Huey UH-1 in U.S Army gunship configuration is the work of Robson M (aka Brick Designers) who has replicated the real aircraft beautifully in brick form. With top-quality custom decals, a highly detailed interior, opening doors, and super-accurate brick-built weaponry, Robson’s Huey is well worth a closer look. Head to Flickr via the link above to see all the photos and give it your best smile.

America! F*ck Yeah!* (II)

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It’s an American double here at The Lego Car Blog! After today’s other post here’s one celebrating the best of what the USA has to offer; the C8 Corvette**. For most of its history the Corvette has been… er, Not Very Good, but the latest version is a properly good sports GT, with the ability to go around a corner and everything.

Pleased with this not insignificant step, Chevrolet were on the verge of taking on the big league of European sports cars, but their Corvette still lacked one key ingredient; its engine is in the wrong place.

Cue the brand new 2020 C8 Corvette, which – for the first time in the Corvette’s history (and pretty much America’s for that matter***) – has the engine in the middle. This could be a proper Porsche beater.

Following his brilliant Chevrolet Corvette C8 coupe featured here last year, Flickr’s Lasse Deleuran has now built the convertible version, and it looks fantastic! A beautifully replicated interior and a sort-of-working roof are our highlights, and there’s more to see of his 2020 Corvette C8 convertible at both the Eurobricks forum and his Flickr photostream – click the links to take a look!

*Today’s title song. Again.

**And the swivel chair of course.

***Before someone comments; the Ford GT40 was British. The Pontiac Fiero was American however, but it was crap.

America! F*ck Yeah!* (I)

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Today’s Lego creation is for those of you convinced that the robot apocalypse / zombie apocalypse / race war is definitely going to happen, but that it’s global warming that’s the hoax. You know who you are!

This Jeep Wrangler ‘Tactical’ has everything the conspiracy theorising nut job could wish for, including window protection, side-mounted gas cans, rock-sliders, many spotlights, and a very un-LEGO looking machine gun attached to a roof-mounted turret. That’ll show those climate protesters!

Built by Christian Cowgill there’s more to see at his photostream, including a standard-spec Wrangler for those of us not hoarding canned food and bottled water in the basement. Head to Flickr via the link above to prepare for the end times!

*Today’s title song. Of course.

MAZter Firefighter

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TLCB Elves are all making ‘NEE-NAW’ noises today, which isn’t annoying at all. The cause is this, ilya_laushkin‘s incredible MAZ-7313-AA60 8×8 airport fire truck. Catchily-named it isn’t, but masterfully-engineered it is, with eight-wheel-drive, four-wheel-steering, fully independent suspension (via twenty-six shock absorbers!), LED lighting, and bluetooth remote control courtesy of two SBricks. There’s much more of ilya’s amazing MAZ-7313 to see on Flickr, including some shots alongside the real thing. Click the link above to make the jump.

Tragic Band*

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We’ve waited three days for our Elves to find something blog-worthy and then they bring back this…

‘This’ is Sheo.‘s ‘Tragic Band’, a collaborative build containing an Aeschylus, a Sophocles and a Euripides. With our vast knowledge of all things sci-fi we naturally know what each of these is and does, but we don’t want to write it here so as not to show up the other Lego sites.

It’s a stunning build though, with some exquisite attention to detail throughout each of the three sci-fi vehicles and to be found in the landscape too, and there’s more to see of Sheo.’s collaboration, including links to view each creation individually, via the hyperlink in the text above.

*There are a few bands we could use for today’s title song. Lynyrd Skynyrd and Badfinger are the obvious choices, but we’ll go with the tragically-lost Viola Beach.