Build a LEGO Mustang | Book Review

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Lego-building legend Sariel has appeared here multiple times over the years. He’s part our our ‘Become a Pro‘ series, is the author of some excellent Lego books, and his beautiful fully remote controlled Mustang GT350 is one of the the finest models we’ve ever published.

Today we’re privileged to share a piece of work that combines all three of the areas above, as the awesome guys at No Starch Press sent us a copy of their new book written by Sariel; ‘Build a LEGO Mustang‘. And not just any Mustang either, it’s the same glorious 1960s GT350 fastback that first appeared here almost two years ago, with remote control drive and steering, LED lights, a 2-speed transmission, opening doors, hood and trunk, and a V8 engine. So, what’s it like?

Firstly, as with all the No Starch Press Lego products we’ve reviewed, ‘Build a Lego Mustang’ is a very well published book. High quality, glossy, and with excellent full colour imagery throughout. Unlike previous publications though, ‘Build a Lego Mustang’ is not coffee table art, a Lego history, or varied model showcase. Instead it’s an instruction manual, detailing the 420 steps required to recreate Sariel’s Mustang masterpiece.

Running to 110 pages, Sariel’s book provides the building process to create his amazing Ford Mustang GT350 for yourself, using a presentation and process that will be familiar to anyone who has built an official LEGO set. Like LEGO’s own instructions, ‘Build a Lego Mustang’ includes a complete parts inventory at the start, followed by the traditional ‘spot the difference’ steps that turn a pile of bricks into a complete model. Continue reading →

Battle at the School Gates

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Iiiiin the red corner, weighing in at 21,780 lbs, all the way from South Africa, it’s Kate, in the Paramount Maraaaaauder! Aaaaand in the green corner, from Russia, it floats like a… I dunno – but it really does float folks – it’s Julia in the amphibious Sheeeerp ATV!

These two slabs of off-road equipment come from Pixel Fox of Flickr, who has added them to his ever-increasing garage of brilliantly-built mini-figure 4x4s.

Both real vehicles were designed for very particular purposes, with the Marauder as an armoured transport for military applications in urban environments and the Sherp ATV for reaching the most inhospitable places on earth, even if that means crossing open water.

Such credentials make them slightly over-engineered for civilian use, however neither would look out of place at the school gates close to TLCB Towers, where AMG G-Wagons, Range Rovers, and Bentley Bentayga’s all fight for the title of most over-the-top school run vehicle. And if you fancy a Marauder to keep your precious children safe on the way to school – as Kate has done – then you can, as it really is available as a road-legal civilian version. And you thought the Hummer was stupid…

Our money’s on Julia in the Sherp though, because she can escape by crossing the ornamental lake. View the battle for school run supremacy via the links above and place your bets!

 

Chevy C10

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Not all American pick-up trucks are pointlessly-enormous, over-engined yet under-engineered projections of machismo. This is the Chevrolet C10, a compact and utilitarian vehicle for actually picking stuff up and moving it about. Which is probably why Chevrolet don’t make it anymore. No matter, Simon Przepiorka has remembered the C10, and he’s added a few tasteful mods too. See more of his excellent 8-wide recreation of the 1970s Chevy on Flickr via the link.

Czech Mate

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We are SO BORED of Brexit. Every day, all day, people shouting at one another. Racism, classism, elitism… every ‘ism’ you could wish for in one painfully tedious and never-ending argument.

So whatever your political persuasion (and as Americans make up the largest nationality of our readership we suspect the answer is probably this), here’s a celebration of European achievement in the face of considerable adversity.

This is the Tatra T600 ‘Tatraplan’, an almost spectacularly futuristic design produced by Tatra from 1948 from within a country battered by war and then shackled by the yoke of Communism thanks to a coup d’état that took place in the same year the car launched.

Unfortunately Czech Communism lasted considerably longer than the T600 (right up until the Velvet Revolution of 1989), by which point Tatra had almost completely wound down car production to focus on its (excellent) heavy-duty trucks, but we look upon the quirky Tatra with considerably more favour than the Communist regime that ruled during its production run.

The T600 was a large (six seat) family car powered by a 2-litre flat-four engine, featuring a monocoque chassis and with a wonderful streamlined body. Just over 6,000 units were produced during its three-year production run and the whole TLCB team would take one over a typical modern family car (which are mostly as boring as Brexit) in heartbeat.

This lovely Technic recreation of the Tatra T600 comes from Kent Kashiwabara of Flickr, and not only has he captured the car’s beautiful lines rather well in Technic form, he’s also given his model a flat-four engine, working steering, and full suspension underneath. There’s more to see of Kent’s excellent T600 on Flickr via the link above, which is where we’ll be pretending we live somewhere else other than the UK right now….

Two Boxes and Eighteen Wheels

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This wonderful Technic Kenworth W900 with container transport trailer was discovered on Eurobricks today, and it might be the most understatedly cool truck of the year so far. It’s not Christmas-treed with lights, festooned with stickers, or even bedecked with chrome. What it is, is quietly brilliant.

Built by MajklSpajkl for his LUG’s Lego exhibition, the truck and trailer measure well over 100 studs long and include some superb functionality. The truck itself includes remote control drive (thanks to a single L Motor) and steering (via a Servo), with another L Motor operating the fifth-wheel lock. A battery box hidden inside the cab provides the power whilst LEGO’s own IR Receiver or a BuWizz bluetooth brick allow the functions to be controlled remotely.

The trailer isn’t devoid of functions either, with its own concealed battery box providing power to raise and lower the support legs via a Medium motor. Pendular suspension features on the both the truck and trailer, and the Kenworth W900 truck also includes opening can doors, plus a moderately detailed interior and engine.

There’s more to see of this superb creation at the Eurobricks discussion forum via the link above, and you can read our review of LEGO’s own container truck set, the enormous 42078 Mack Anthem, by clicking here.

Hot Duece

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The Lego Car Blog staff writers and Elves are in rare agreement today; we all want this wild M35A2 (Deuce and a Half) rat rod for real. Based on an M35A2 military truck, Tim Inman‘s rat rod has been ‘lowered, chopped, channeled, stretched and bobbed’ according to the builder, and – most importantly for the Elves at least – it includes skull rear light assembly. We don’t think we’ve ever wanted a vehicle more. You’ll find us on Flickr via the link above, dreaming of whether we could create a vehicle with the same effect using TLCB’s old LDV delivery van…

Doof!

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‘Mad Max, Fury Road’ certainly had some pretty mad vehicles. The maddest of all was probably this, the gloriously unhinged ‘Doof Wagon’. Essentially a military truck converted into a rolling sound stage complete with a flame-throwing guitarist, the ‘Doof Wagon’ was sort of like the drum guy on a viking longboat, boosting morale via much noise and considerable pointlessness.

Previous bloggee Nicola Stocchi has recreated the wheeled tinnitus machine superbly in Lego, and has even made instructions available should you wish to recreate your own desert chase scene from the movie. Head to Walmart carpark, drop your windows and turn it up via the link above, plus you can check out Nicola’s past ‘Mad Max, Fury Road’ builds to appear at TLCB here.

Yaaar! Not a Caaar!

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The more astute among you may have noticed that this build is not a car. But it has allowed us to write a post title in a pirate voice and pirates are cool, which is a good enough reason for this TLCB writer. It’s also a properly excellent build, and there’s more to see of ZiO Chao‘s magnificent mini-figure scale ‘Black Queen’ pirate ship on Flickr via the link.

My Other Car’s a Mustang

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LEGO’s new 10265 Creator Ford Mustang set is a great addition to their officially licensed range. With useful parts, excellent detailing, and being a replica of one of the coolest cars ever made, it’s one of our favourite sets of recent times, and Nathanael Kuipers – a previous set designer for The LEGO Company – has just made it even better.

This excellent 1970’s Ford F100-inspired pick-up truck has been constructed by Nathanael only from the pieces found within the 10265 set, not that you’d know – so un-constrained does it look!

The model features opening doors, a dropping tailgate, and a detailed engine under the opening hood, and best of all if you own a 10265 Ford Mustang set you can build Nathanael’s pick-up truck too, as he’s made building instructions available!

Head to Nathanael’s photostream by clicking here to see more of his superb 10265 B-Model and find out how to build it for yourself.

I’ve Been Through Space in a Truck with No Name*

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TLCB staff are shadows. Ghosts. Ninjas. We’ve chosen to blog under the cloak of anonymity as a) it makes us feel a bit like secret agents, b) it protects our impartiality (there’s no cronyism here), and c) perhaps most importantly, this blog isn’t about us; it’s about the Lego Community and our readers.

We therefore understand the builder of the creation in this post’s wish to remain anonymous, although it does mean there is no link to see more of their build. The build in question looks like a Model Team creation at first glance, but is in fact staffed by the heroic and perennially happy mini-figures of Classic Space, making it a ‘Town’ scale build. Just a bloody massive one.

Pictured on Classic Space’s awesome lunar baseplates with a 497 Galaxy Explorer set in the background, the anonymous builder’s creation can be found nowhere else, so all we can say is enjoy it here and place your guesses in the comments.

*Today’s title song

Initial D AE86

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Just like people, some cars are born into greatness. They might have limited talent and have achieved little, but a family name goes a long way (we’re looking at you Bentley Bentayga and Rolls Royce Cullinan). Others have become great, either through their own endeavour or through blind luck and a random affiliation. This is the story of the latter.

The Toyota Corolla AE86 Sprinter Trueno was a good car in the same way that most Japanese cars of the 1980s were; well priced, fuel efficient, and far more reliable than its American or European counterparts.

And that is where the story should have ended, with the AE86 just another Japanese compact quietly getting on with not breaking down or falling apart. But in 1995 the AE86 got a shot at fame. At ten years old it became the star of a Japanese comic called ‘Initial D’, in which 18-year old Takumi Fujiwara slid sideways up mountain passes delivering food behind the wheel of his father’s AE86 Sprinter Trueno.

By 1999 ‘Initial D’ had become an anime production, viewed not just in Japan but around the world, and Toyota’s humble hatchback – now long out of production – had become a megastar. The popularity of drifting has continued unabated, leading to the AE86 becoming one of the most sought-after and iconic Japanese cars in history.

This superb recreation of the Toyota Corolla AE86 as it appeared in ‘Initial D’ comes from Peter Blackert (aka lego911) of Flickr, who has captured the world-famous car brilliantly in Lego. His design appears in the new book ‘How to Build Brick TV and Movie Cars’, which includes building instructions for the Sprinter Trueno pictured here (along with many other iconic cars) so that you can create your own version at home for drifting around your desk.

Peter’s Toyota Corolla AE86 Sprinter Trueno model is available to view at his photostream via the link above, and you can find the book in which the instructions for this model features by clicking here.

Killing with Kliment

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Sometimes we’re surprised we have any Elves left at all…

This is a Soviet Kliment Voroshilov KV-1/KV-2 tank, it comes from Lego-building genius Sariel, and it has caused considerable carnage within our Elven workforce here at TLCB Towers.

Sariel’s model faithfully recreates the 1940’s Russian battle tank, complete with remote control drive and skid-steering, torsion bar suspension, a rotating turret with elevating gun, and – in the case of the mad KV-2 version – a working firing mechanism.

It’s this feature the Elf that discovered today’s find chose to use on its colleagues, firing at them as they fled and then running those that got hit over. It’s not fun being an Elf sometimes. Unless you’re the one doing the firing and running over we suppose…

Anyway, we have the controls now so order has been restored, giving us a chance to examine the astonishing quality of engineering that has gone into this creation.

You can see it for yourself at Sariel’s KV-1/KV-2 Flickr album, the full gallery available at Bricksafe, or the Eurobricks discussion forum. You can also check out Sariel’s interview here at The Lego Car Blog via the first link in the text above, plus you can watch the Kliment Voroshilov tank in action in a Michael Bay-inspired short film below…

YouTube Video

 

Ride-On LEGO

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Every Lego fan has wanted to do it. We’ve all imagined what it would be like, dreaming that one day, if we tried hard enough, it might just be possible. And some have even got close. No, we’re not referring to talking to a girl, but building a real, ride-on, controllable Lego creation.

That unrealised dream has now become a reality for the guys at third-party bluetooth brick builders BuWizz, who have built an actual ride-on go-kart (OK, ‘mobility scooter’ might be a better description…) from seven thousand LEGO pieces!

Thirty-two Large Power Functions motors power all four wheels (via individual in-wheel motors actually, meaning their creation could feature torque vectoring!), with eight BuWizz bricks providing the power and control via the BuWizz mobile app. They’ve even managed to talk to a girl and convince her drive it.

You can watch their amazing creation in action via the video below and read more about it at the BuWizz website, plus if you’d like to learn more about the little bluetooth battery control that allows a creation like this to happen you can read our review of the BuWizz brick here.

YouTube Video

Electric Avenue*

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As the Volkswagen empire of evil tries to re-brand itself after dieselgate, electric vehicles have charged (hah!) to the front of their strategy. Which is a good thing. If the world’s largest automotive company gets behind EVs, even if they are not the silver bullet for halting global warming that some would have us believe (those batteries have to be made somewhere), we’ll hopefully be a bit further down the path towards a planet that isn’t a burning ball of dust.

Porsche – as one of the newer members of the Volkswagen group – are also in on the electrified action, with the new (and most excellent looking) Taycan, a series of hybrids, and this; the 99X works Formula E entry.

Built by previous bloggee Malte Dorowski this neat and ridiculously complicated recreation of the 99X captures the sci-fi looks of the real Formula E racer perfectly, and there’s more to see of his electric Porsche at his 99X album on Flickr. Click the link to take a look.

*Obligatory title song

Summer of ’69*

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We were going to make reference to your Mom in this title but we’re better than that. This the New York Fire Department’s Engine 69, and it’s been built beautifully right down to the decals by sponki25/Sven. Sponki’s brilliant replica of the real-world fire truck includes some amazing attention to detail and there’s more to see at both Flickr and MOCpages via the link.

*Today’s (massively over-played) title song. If you end every night with this go and have a good long think about your life choices.