Superfront

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Lego Marion 204-M Superfront Mining Shovel SBrick

This is Marion 204-M Superfront cable-operated mining shovel, and it’s massive. First built in 1974 by the Marion Power Shovel Company (who also built NASA’s enormous crawler transporters), the 204-M Superfront used electrically driven cables to drive its huge bucket arm and had a working weight in excess of 700 tons. Built for around twelve years the 204-M worked in open mines all over the world, with the last still operating in Asia decades later.

Lego Marion 204-M Superfront Mining Shovel SBrick

This incredible fully functioning Lego replica of the Marion 204-M Superfront was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr and it comes from Beat Felber who has recreated the machine in astonishing detail. Powered by eight Power Functions motors and controlled via bluetooth thanks to three third-party SBricks, Beat’s 204-M Superfront uses an XL Motor to drive each track whilst two L Motors can slew the entire superstructure independently. A pair of XL Motors power each of the cable drums and the bucket angle and bucket door are electronically powered by another two motors, giving Beat’s model as much articulation as the real Marion 204-M.

Lego Marion 204-M Superfront Mining Shovel SBrick

There’s a whole lot more to see of this spectacular model at Beat Felber’s Marion 204-M Superfront Flickr album, plus you can read our 5 star review of the SBrick bluetooth controller that makes creations like this possible by clicking here.

Stripy Starfighter

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Lego Starfighter

As has been well documented here over the years, we know nothing about sci-fi. Nothing. But we (and the Elves) do like racing stripes, and this inventive starfighter by Andreas Lenander of Flickr has some of the coolest we’ve seen in ages. You can check them out (and the spacecraft to which they’re attached) via the link, and we’ll be back with a proper vehicle tomorrow. And what a vehicle….

Land Rescue

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Land Rover Defender Rescue

The Land Rover Defender is not the fastest rescue vehicle ever made. It can however, rescue you where ever you are, and if you need rescuing it’s probably because you’re a long way from civilisation. This neat Model Team version of one of the world’s most adaptable and versatile vehicles comes from Flickr’s Gilcelio chagas, which includes opening doors, a fully kitted interior, and a plethora of rescue apparatus. There’s more to see of Gilcelio’s Land Rover Defender at his photostream via the link above, and you if you want to see an even weirder version of the iconic British off-roader, take a look here…

Land Rover Defender Rescue

Teutonic Targa

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Lego Porsche 911 Targa

You don’t need a million LEGO bricks to see your builds appear here at The Lego Car Blog. Jonathan Elliott has used just a few hundred (in one of LEGO’s fetching new hues) to construct this lovely Speed Champions scale classic Porsche 911 Targa. Jonathan has an impressive garage of similarly cool cars available to view and there’s more to see of them and the Porsche featured here at his Flickr photostream. Click the link above to make the jump.

Lego Porsche 911 Targa

Back in Black

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Lego Blacktron APC

The crafty reprobates of Blacktron have been keeping a low profile for these past fifteen years. Once the most formidable group in the galaxy, Blacktron made a living from Space Evil, which is much like regular Evil, only in it occurs space. It seemed that by 1993 though, their number was up, and Blacktron mini-figures were subsequently only to be found in the cells of the Space Police.

However it seems not all of Blacktron’s members were caught, with some disappearing into the cosmic underground to plot a glorious return. Emboldened by the recent resurgence of other classic space civilisations, the dastardly mini-figures of Blackton have decided that now is the time to stage their comeback, and what a machine they’ve built to do it!

With six enormous wheels, a fully appointed ten-crew interior, a rotating gun turret, and – in true old-school LEGO space style – a smaller scout vehicle hidden within itself, the Blacktron B-59 armoured personnel carrier is ready to help the Blacktron empire rise once again!

Andreas Lattanzio aka Norton74 is the Space General (which is much like a regular General, only in space) behind Blacktron’s triumphant return and you can see more of what they’ve got planned at the link above. Your move Space Police…

Lego Blacktron APC

BuWizz | Bluetooth Control Battery | Review

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Lego BuWizz Review

The Lego Car Blog Elves love remote control Lego creations. Well, they love them if they are at the controls. As regular readers will know there have been a number of remote control related incidents here at TLCB Towers, resulting in much Elven hospitalisation. Well things are about to get taken up a notch…

Revealed here as a Kickstarter project back in June 2016 the BuWizz bluetooth control battery brick has become a regular third-party accessory within the Lego Community. With claims of up to eight times the power of LEGO’s own Power Functions battery set-up, now expanded to twelve times with the release of BuWizz 2.0, the potential to transform the way Lego models move is huge. But does the BuWizz live up to the hype? We’ve been sent a copy to find out…

Lego BuWizz Review

The Brick

Our BuWizz arrived a simple cardboard box, packaged only with a little piece of paper denoting the required warnings and LED indicator meanings. The BuWizz brick is a clever thing, incorporating both a rechargeable li-ion battery and a bluetooth control into one 8×4 stud box, reminiscent of LEGO’s own battery boxes from the 1980s. There are studs on top, tubes on the bottom, and four Technic pin holes with which the BuWizz can be attached to genuine LEGO pieces.

Our BuWizz came in a dark grey hue that we don’t think matches any of LEGO’s colours, but seeing as it can be mounted internally within a creation an exact match isn’t required. The moulding quality is OK, perfectly adequate for the job in hand, but certainly not as good as an official LEGO piece (or the rival SBrick reviewed here previously). On top of the BuWizz are two connection ports, a status LED, and four LEGO Power Functions compatible power outlets.

You must charge your BuWizz upon arrival via a micro USB, which the pack does not contain. This is a bit of a shame as it means the device is not truly plug-and-play, requiring a lead from something else in order to charge. We found a lead, plugged in the BuWizz, which let us know it was charging via the LED on top, and busied ourselves for a few hours.

Lego BuWizz Review

Set Up

Upon returning to our BuWizz a green light indicated we were ready to go. Like the aforementioned SBrick, the Buwizz brick uses an app to connect your phone or tablet to itself. The app is an easy download and connects the device seamlessly. Within it are six pre-programmed control interfaces available to operate your model. Each requires a small amount of set-up so that the app knows which of your motors is connected to which port which is simple enough, although there is no ‘test’ function as per the SBrick, which would be useful.

We connected four XL motors mounted within a direct-drive skid-steer test rig to the BuWizz battery and hit the controls. Weirdly one motor (and only one) span the wrong way, but the BuWizz’s simple ‘reverse’ option soon cured that. Then, because we have the mental age of five, we engaged ‘Ludicrous Mode’…

Inspired by Tesla, BuWizz’s ‘Ludicrous Mode’ turns up the power to the motors by a factor of three. Multiply that by the four motors you can drive at once and you get twelve times the power! And boy, does it show… Continue reading →

Catching Some ‘Z’s

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Lego Datsun Fairlady Z

Nothing beats catching some ‘Z’s. Fortunately we can do just that thanks to Simon Prezepiorka and these three brilliant Datsun Fairlady/240Zs. Simon’s Speed Champions builds have become firm favourites here at TLCB Towers and you can check more of this trio as well as his past creations via the link to Flickr above.

Lego Datsun Fairlady Z

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird | Picture Special

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Lego SR-71 Blackbird

First flying in 1964 the amazing Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird is still the world’s highest flying and fastest manned air-breathing aircraft, despite retiring back in 1999. With a top speed in excess of Mach 3 (that’s over 3,500km/h!), the Blackbird could fly higher and faster than even missiles.

Lego SR-71 Blackbird

Such incredible altitude and speed meant the SR-71 needed to be built from very exotic materials, specifically titanium; which made up 92% of the airframe. The U.S. didn’t have access to titanium itself, so had to source it from the USSR, with which the Blackbird was of course designed to fight during the Cold War. A complicated route via fictitious organisations and third-world economies delivered the newly acquired Soviet titanium ore to the U.S, where it was used to build a plane to spy on the Soviets… isn’t military history fun!

Lego SR-71 Blackbird

In total thirty two Lockheed SR-71 Blackbirds were constructed, with the final two being used by NASA until the late 1990s. During a long operational life twelve aircraft were lost to accidents, but thanks to the SR-71’s ludicrous speed and primitive radar-defying stealth technology not a single plane was downed by enemy action.

Lego SR-71 BlackbirdToday the surviving Blackbirds reside in America’s aerospace museums (or at NASA), but we’ve got one more to add to the SR-71 alumni, thanks to Flickr’s Plane Bricks and this awe-inspiring Lego replica of the world’s most spectacular aircraft. Put simply Plane Bricks’ stunning recreation of the SR-71 Blackbird is one of the most complete and impressive Lego aircraft that we’ve ever come across, with a suitably extensive gallery of superb imagery available on Flickr. Click the link in the text above to reach Mach 3.3 and take a look.

Brickheadz to the Future!

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Lego Brickheadz DeLorean Back to the Future

LEGO’s new Brickheadz sets have spawned an invasion of brick-headed cuteness, with fan-built characters popping up everywhere. Now they can pop up anytime too, thanks to this delightfully cutesy Brickheaded Delorean DMC-12 by Flickr’s jp_velociraptor in full Back to the Future spec!

Lego Brickheadz DeLorean Back to the Future

Inside the flying time-machine are a Brickheadz Doc Brown and Marty McFly (of course!), and the model can transfer between flying and driving modes as per the movie car too. Click the link above to hit 88mph in the cutest way possible!

Lego Brickheadz DeLorean Back to the Future

That Stance Tho

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Lego Technic Remote Control Stanced Car

Let’s be clear about this. ‘Stancing’ cars ruins them. It ruins the way they ride, the way they corner, tyre wear, fuel consumption…

The Elves however, having tiny brains similar to that of your average bro, love stanced cars, and thus there’d have been a mass Elven sulk if we didn’t feature this one. Fortunately we can, as whilst the subject matter is questionable the build itself is most excellent, and the builder is something of a legend too.

Lego Technic RC Car Stanced

Powered by LEGO’s Power Functions system and controlled via bluetooth via the 5-star-rated SBrick, Mahjqa’s ‘SUP BRO’ stanced tuner runs a 22.5 degree camber on its remote control chassis. Despite this obvious handicap it still looks proper fun to pilot around an empty car park – take a look via the video below!

 YouTube Video

There’s more to see of Mahjqa’s latest build via both Flickr and the Eurobricks discussion forum, plus we’re delighted to reveal that Mahjqa has become the latest builder to be awarded Master MOCer status here at The Lego Car Blog!

Joining fourteen other of the world’s very best Lego builders, Mahjqa tells us his inspiration, reveals what sort of LEGO brick he would be, and explains how he creates his amazing models. Read his Master MOCers interview below!

Master MOCers Season 2, Episode 4

Mahjqa

Wedged

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Lego Technic Wedge Concept

The Elves have been a bit quiet of late, but as we only feed them when they find something we never have to wait too long for a blog-worthy creation.

Today’s comes from previous bloggee Horcik Designs, who has built this wonderful wedgy Technic concept car. Paying homage to all manner of designs from the 1970s (in celebration of 40 Years of LEGO Technic), Horcik’s model not only looks utterly brilliant – in that weird 70’s way where things simultaneously looked both quite cool and a bit crap – it features a wealth of awesome Technic functionality underneath its pointy exterior.

There’s working steering, suspension, opening gull-wing doors and tailgate, a pop-up headlight (singular) via an interior lever, and a mid-mounted transverse inline 3-cylinder engine. Take a closer look for yourself at Horcik’s photostream by clicking here.

Race on Sunday Sell on Monday

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Lego Audi Sport quattro S1 E2

Contrary to popular belief Audi were not the first to bring all-wheel-drive to performance cars. However their ‘quattro’ system undoubtedly brought all-wheel-drive performance into the mainstream, and it changed rallying forever.

Launched in 1980 the Audi quattro brought several innovative new technologies into one glorious package, including all-wheel-drive, turbocharging, and a delightfully weird inline 5-cylinder engine. Audi entered their new car in the World Rally Championship’s Group B category, winning the championship in 1982 and 1984, plus the Pike’s Peak Hillclimb too.

By 1985 a variety of all-wheel-drive turbocharged rivals had caught – and then overtaken – the rally pioneer, beating Audi at their own game. This led Audi Sport to chop a chunk of length from the quattro’s wheelbase and up power to a very unofficial 500bhp+. The Sport quattro was born, a comedically ugly machine that was devastating effective. Best of all due to the FIA’s homologation rules a few hundred Sport quattros had to be produced for the road, meaning you could buy your very own World Rally Car for trips to Walmart.

Suggested by a reader we have both the rally and road versions of the Sport quattro in today’s post, each brilliantly built in Speed Champions scale by previous bloggee Marc ‘Edge’. There’s more to see of Marc’s rally and road Sport quattros on Flickr – click the links above to head to a gravelly forest circa-1985.

Lego Audi Sport quattro

Finnians Shipyard

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Lego Finnians Shipyard

OK, this is clearly not a car. But it is gorgeous, and contains so many wonderful Town scale vehicles it’s sure worth publicising here at The Lego Car Blog. Built by previous bloggee Konajra this is ‘Finnians Shipyard’ that forms part of a much larger – and ridiculously impressive – ‘Brickton Harbour‘ build, which contains even more brilliant boats, buildings and vehicles.

Back to Finnians and underneath that utterly brilliant roof is a beautiful ship under construction, whilst outside are a neat forklift, a superbly detailed electrician’s truck and a magnificent beam crane. Inside the ship-builder is fully detailed and includes some excellent highly realistic lighting thanks to the guys at Brickstuff.

Lego Finnians Shipyard

There’s much more to see of Konajra’s spellbinding creation on Flickr here and you can see more the wider build via the first link.

Blackfish

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Lego Nautilus Car

Today’s post features a car that is the exact opposite of everything in the staff car park. Extravagant, opulent, unnecessary even… Redfern1950s’ latest creation has more common with TLCB Executive Washroom and Sauna than with anything we’re driving.

It comes of course from the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen which was, frankly, not very good. Not so the car, which was built for real in all of its twenty-two foot glory from the remnants of a Ford Cargo truck. It was so real in fact that it really drives, it’s road legal(ish), and a replica recently came up for auction on eBay, although our budget wouldn’t stretch to it.

Lego Nautilus Car

Redfern’s incredible Model Team recreation of Captain Nemo’s ‘Nautilus’ swaps the original white for black (looking a million times more sinister as a result!) and features opening doors and hood, under which is a suitably enormous V12 engine.

There’s a whole lot more to see of this amazing build at Redfern’s photostream – take a look via the link, plus you can see how the original UK-made movie car was built by clicking here and view the recently sold American replica by clicking here.

Lego Nautilus Car

Something Something Something Dark Side

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Lego TIE/x1 Advanced Darth Vader

Ergh, Star Wars… OK, here goes. This is Darth Vader’s TIE/x1 Advanced and… that’s all we’ve got. The proper Lego blogs will probably lose their shit over this build when they find it, so be sure to check them out for a better explanation. In the meantime you can see more of this thoroughly excellent (and commissioned) recreation of Darth Vader’s ride by Jerac at his photostream – Click here to use the force. Or something.

Lego TIE/x1 Advanced Darth Vader