This excellent Sikorsky HH-52 U.S. Coast Guard helicopter was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr today. It comes from Robson M, features custom decals, folding rotors, a sliding side door and a hoist for rescuing drowning swimmers / apprehending Mexicans. See more of Robson’s top notch build at his photostream via the link above.
Is there a car more over-hyped by annoying children than the Toyota Supra? No. But this comes close. It is of course the Nissan Skyline GTR R34, a car made more famous than it already was by a certain once-quite-good-but-now-fudging-terrible movie franchise.
The R34 Skyline launched in 1998, lasting just a few short years into the early 2000s before the GT-R evolved to became a standalone model and Skylines went back to being fairly boring sedans. Power came from a twin-turbo straight-6 making ‘276’ bhp, which was sent to all four wheels via an immensely clever all-wheel-drive system, allowing the GT-R to slay far more expensive machinery at the track and turning average drivers into good ones overnight.
This spectacular Model Team replica of the late-’90s legend comes from TLCB Master MOCer and all-round car building genius Firas Abu-Jaber, who has not only recreated the GT-R R34 perfectly in its stock form but has also added the prerequisite tuning accessories that seem to accompany it, from big wings and bigger turbos to bodykits and NO2 canisters (if you think that should say ‘NOS’ go back to school).
There’s a whole lot more of Firas’s incredible Nissan Skyline GT-R to see at his Flickr album by clicking here, where a link to yes, instructions, can also be found, and a certain blue version from a once-quite-good-but-now-fudging-terrible movie franchise is also due to appear…
It’s been a bikey sort of day here at The Lego ‘Car’ Blog. Here’s today’s second two-wheeled creation, and not only is it not a car, it breaks one of our presentation criteria; “Pictures say a thousand words: So take yours well. Clean, contrasting backgrounds are easy to do and make a world of difference. Even the most impressive of creations will not feature on The Lego Car Blog unless the pictures are in focus, well lit and exclude any clutter from shot”. But rules were meant to be bent a bit, especially if the bending looks as good as this.
This beautiful ‘DDR Customs Scrambler’ comes from Flickr’s VR workshop who has chosen to use the soft focus from one of your Dad’s favourite movies, dim lighting, and the sidewall of a tyre as a backdrop to their model, and the results are… well, awesome. There’s more to see of VR workshop’s superbly presented motorcycle at their photostream – take a closer look via the link above.
This beautiful motorcycle is a JAWA 350, built by the historic bike company founded in Czechoslovakia in way back in 1929. After the Second World War JAWA became one of the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturers of the time (even inventing the automatic centrifugal clutch that Honda copied for its world-conquering Cub), exporting their bikes to over 120 countries by the 1950s. India was one such country, where JAWA motorcycles quickly gaining a cult following the bike-loving country.
Gradually JAWA’s home markets shrank, but the brand lives on in India where it was bought by Mahindra and continues to produce its classic designs to this day. This gorgeous recreation of the marque’s most famous product comes from Flickr’s _spacehopper_ who has recreated the iconic motorcycle in wonderful detail, mixing both Technic and Model Team techniques to great effect. There’s lots more to see of _spacehopper_’s brilliant model at his JAWA 350 album on Flickr – click the link above to go for a ride.
This is an Isuzu Trooper, a robust, reliable, bland, Japanese 4×4 from the 1990s. But it is a rather good Technic model and it also allows us to tenuously link to a movie trailer where everything blows up, so there’s that.
This neat Technic version of the Trooper comes from Kent Kashiwabara of Flickr, features working steering, suspension, and opening hood, tailgate and doors, and there’s more to see via the link above.
The Elves are happy today. Firstly this huge remote control truck is orange, so it’s already off to a winning start, and secondly it can fit a gaggle of them in the back to ride around the office, and only a few got run over.
This unique machine comes from Waler of Brickshelf, who designed and built it for his engineering diploma thesis. Waler’s design allows his truck to articulate in the middle in two dimensions, both left/right and up/down. To accomplish this Waler’s truck includes a cleverly-constructed pivoting differential, kind of like a helicopter’s swash plate, that can deliver power whichever way the the two halves of the truck are pointing.
The truck is steered by two linear actuators that swing the chassis around a central pivot point which – as it can also pivot vertically – allows for insane articulation. All-wheel-drive, a remotely operable gearbox, all-wheel-suspension, and custom 3D-printed differentials complete the drivetrain, upon which a simple removable body is mounted.
There’s a whole lot more to see, including the clever central pivot design, custom diffs, and on-location photos showing the truck off-road, at Waler’s Brickshelf gallery. Click the link above to make the jump.
Regular readers here at The Lego Car Blog will have seen a few non-LEGO words appearing every so often in the descriptions of featured models. One of these is BuWizz, a third-party LEGO-compatible bluetooth control and battery that delivers a huge jump in power to LEGO’s Power Functions components and provides remote-control-by-mobile functionality.
We reviewed the BuWizz brick and came away impressed, particularly with the power increase (because who doesn’t want more power!?), but one area where the device could be considered lacking was its app, which was clear and easy to use but nowhere near as programmable as its chief rival SBrick.
BuWizz’s latest update aims to rectify that with the addition of a suite of new functionality including increased customisation, more profiles, advanced power control options, livestream camera support, and a new user interface.
If you already own a BuWizz brick you can download the new app via the last link above, and if you’re yet to try the product you can find out more via the first, where there is also currently 20% off in the BuWizz Summer Sale.
This is the ‘Hartford Debonair’, and it is – as you can see here – rather lovely. It’s also a little familiar, having been published at TLCB in an earlier iteration last year. Like the model, the builder behind it has been reborn, as the latest victim of the Flickr Photo Snafu.
Prolific builder Senator Chinchilla, who has appeared here numerous times over the years, will see many of his images deleted by Flickr’s new scumbag owners and their newly enforced photo limit. This means that you may come across a link here at TLCB that no longer works, and also that the Senator has had to change rank. Captain Chinchilla is his new persona, and he begins his Flickr re-set with a revisit of his beautiful fictional ’50s classic.
Spectacular (and really rather clever) building techniques are evident in abundance and there’s more to see of Senator Chinchilla, er… we mean Captain Chinchilla’s brilliant build at his new photostream by clicking here.
This is definitely, positively, not a car. In fact we don’t really know what it is (OK, a train, but beyond that…), but what we do know is it’s one of the best examples of LEGO presentation we’ve yet found. Brilliantly superimposed on a real-world background, Sergio Batista‘s rendered train includes a little dirt and grime, plus a lovely reflection effect where the light hits the top of the train carriages. There’s more to see of this image plus the others in Sergio’s collection on Flickr.
Breaking down in a war zone has gotta be pretty rubbish. Fortunately most militaries are prepared for such eventualities, deploying vehicles like this snappily named MK36NGE wrecker to recover their broken equipment. This cunningly created Lego version comes from Flickr’s joopatkleppie, who has included some excellent desert camouflage and recently expired Jeep to complete the scene. See more at the link above.
Following Charbel’s superb Technic McLaren 720S published here earlier in the week we now have Italy’s answer. Or one of them at least, as the country is fortunate enough to b home to a pair of top quality supercar makers. The is the Lamborghini Aventador SV, and it’s been recreated to near perfection by TLCB newcomer mihao/lego_bee.
Suggested by a reader and pictured here digitally (we think?), but built for real, mihao’s Aventador replicates the famous supercar’s aesthetic brilliantly in Technic form. Underneath accurate the 1:12 scale exterior is a complete remote control drivetrain formed by two L Motors driving the rear wheels with a Servo controlling the steering. All four wheels feature independent suspension, the head and tail lights work, and the scissor doors, front trunk and engine cover all open.
mihao/lego_bee’s Lamborghini can be seen in more detail at the Eurobricks forum and you can watch a video of the brick-built creation on YouTube by clicking here. You can also vote for mihao’s design to become an official LEGO set via the LEGO Ideas platform, which we think would make an excellent addition to LEGO’s officially licensed (and mostly brilliant) Technic line-up. Find links to add you vote at Eurobricks and YouTube above.
It’s summertime here in TLCB’s home nation. Driving is now windows-down, tunes up, and the risk of distraction by mini-skirted pedestrians. Capturing the vibe perfectly is Andrea Lattanzio (aka Norton74) who returns to TLCB with this lovely mini-figure beach scene, with a with a classic van, a Paradisa windsurfer, a bearded hipster (complete with ubiquitous retro camera and guitar accessories), and a little bit of non-LEGO sand. Put your windows down, tunes up, and hit the beach with Andrea via the link above.
Honda’s Civic Type R was never a particularly good looking car, but it was fine as hot hatches go we suppose. The latest FK8 version though, is surely one of the most hideous vehicles ever to reach production. Looking like a cross between a badly modified tuner and a child’s drawing, the current Type R makes us want to projectile vomit immediately upon sighting it*. Which is a shame, because it’s a superbly engineered machine underneath the revolting exterior.
Capturing the current FK8 generation Civic’s look in Lego form is therefore an incredibly difficult task. Firstly because it means looking at images of the real car, and no-one* wants to do that, and secondly because recreating its stupid, fussy, ridiculous exterior in brick-form is surely an impossible feat. Not so for TLCB regular Simon Przepiorka though, who not only steeled himself to look at pictures of the real Honda, he’s managed to turn them into an outstanding approximation of the car in Lego.
A wealth of properly clever building techniques have been deployed to recreate the Civic FK8’s shape in Lego form, including more diagonally clipped-on pieces than we think we’ve ever seen at this scale. Head to Simon’s photostream via the link above to take a closer look at how he’s done it – it’s gotta be better than looking at the real thing…
*Except TLCB Elves who, of course, absolutely love it. Which is all the more reason for any sane person to find it a visually offensive abomination.
The Second World War, for all the death and destruction it wrought, did provide the catalyst for some amazing technological advances. Sticking some floats underneath a Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter probably isn’t in the top three though, but the result is still rather cool. The Nakajima A6M2-N ‘Rufe’, developed from the infamous Zero, turned the land-based fighter/bomber into an amphibious floatplane. Just over 300 were produced between 1942 and the end of the war, with last being operated by the French following its capture in Indo-China. This ingeniously constructed small scale version comes from John C. Lamarck of Flickr, who has captured the Rufe’s unique asthenic brilliantly in miniature. See more at John’s photostream via the link.
This is a Tatra T813 8×8 PROFA trial truck and it’s epic. Yes, we just dropped the most over-used word on the internet, but we’re sticking with it.
These amazing machines can traverse just about anything, with this one being run by Team Jansa in European Truck Trial events. Well not this one, because this is a fully functional remote control recreation of the real deal, powered by a total of nine motors, two SBricks and with some of the coolest suspension we’ve ever seen.
It comes from Technic-building legend Madoca 1977 whose work has appeared here numerous times over the years. His latest truck evolves a previous design with more power, more weight, and more off-road capability. Six L Motors drive all eight wheels, whilst two Medium Motors pivot the front four. A third Medium Motor operates a high/low range gearbox, with all of that controllable via bluetooth thanks to a pair of SBricks.
Finally there’s a V12 piston engine mounted under the cab, which is accessible through opening doors and front hatch. It’s an incredibly well engineered creation and there’s more to see of Madoca’s Tatra T813 8×8 (including a video of it in action) at the Eurobricks forum and on ReBrickable, where a parts list and yes – instructions – are available!
