Duty Free

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Formula Zero Gravity Lego

On every flight there’s always one. That lady or gentleman who – when booze is marginally cheaper courtesy of airport tax free shopping – decides to optimise this saving. “I’ll just get a few bottles to take home” they say. Sure they will. Those bottles will be empty before they’ve even boarded. Anyway, this post is for them – and to that one guy who tries to smoke in the airplane toilet – as these models are literally encouraging drinking/smoking and flying.

With most countries doing what Formula 1 wouldn’t (because F1 is all about the monies), and banning alcohol and cigarette sponsorship in sport, alcoholic beverage and cigarette companies are no longer seen on the side of Formula 1 cars.

But there are no rules in space…

This is Formula Zero Gravity, an invention by British Lego Group Brickish, and they’re single-handedly bringing morally-dubious sponsorship back to top level racing! Two of motorsport’s greatest liveries have made the return so far (with more to come), with Nick Barrett’s stupendous Martini Racing F0 racer above, and Jeremy Williams’ gorgeous John Player Special F0 racer below.

There’s more to see of Nick’s build at both his MOCpage and photostream, and you can view Jeremy’s courtesy of Flickr here. Enjoy your flight!

Formula Zero Gravity Lego

Independence Day

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Lego Technic RC Nimr Ajban SOV

It’s the fourth of July! Which means America is celebrating the day when Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum implanted a virus in the alien mothership intent on invading Earth. Or something. Anyway, to celebrate here’s probably the most American vehicle we could find, a huge gas-guzzling military off-road behemoth!

Except this huge gas-guzzling military off-road behemoth isn’t American at all. In fact it’s called the Nimr Ajban SOV (a name alone which probably irritates some members of the NRA), and it comes from the United Arab Emirates.

This giant 1:8 scale Technic recreation of Abu Dhabi’s finest military hardware is the work of Samolot, and it’s packed with Technic goodness. Four Power Functions L motors offer direct drive to each wheel, a fifth L motor powers the steering, there’s all-wheel independent suspension, and it sits on massive third party 130mm tyres.

If you’d like to see more of Samolot’s Nimr Ajban head on over to either MOCpages or Eurobricks where the full gallery of images – plus some videos of the model in action – are available to view.

Lego Technic RC Nimr Ajban SOV

Big Blue

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Lego Peterbilt 352 110 Cabover

This enormous block of blue and white is a Peterbilt 352 110 Cabover, an unusual configuration for an American hauler, and it’s the newest build of previous bloggee Andre Pinto. Andre has appeared here at TLCB a few times with his cars and motorcycles, but this is his first truck, and it safe to say he’s nailed it. Featuring opening everything and a tilting cab which reveals a highly detailed engine and chassis, Andre’s Peterbilt is well worth a closer look – do just that via the link to Flickr above.

Lego Peterbilt 352 110 Cabover

Forced Induction

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Lego Renault RS10 Formula 1 Car RoscoPC

This is a 1979 Renault RS10, and it was the first turbocharged car to ever win a Formula 1 race. It’s been faithfully recreated in Lego form by Master MOCer Luca Rusconi aka RoscoPC, whose recently re-uploaded creations have featured heavily here over the past few months. This is Luca’s first entirely new build, allowing him to take advantage of LEGO’s latest parts to brilliant effect.

Powered by a tiny 1.5 litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine the Renault RS10 produced over 500bhp… when it worked. Which to be honest it didn’t all that much, but when it did the RS10 was phenomenally fast. Renault’s single 1979 win with the new turbo engine forced every other front-running F1 team to hastily begin turbo engine development, and if it weren’t for F1’s constantly changing (and pointless) restrictions banning turbocharged engines by the late-’80s (when they were producing as much as 1,400bhp), we doubt any naturally-aspirated engine would have won an F1 championship again. Of course those same pointless restrictions now mandate the use of 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 engines, so the sport has come full circle…

Lego Renault RS10 Formula 1 Car RoscoPC

Renault never won a Formula 1 Championship with the technology they pioneered though (although they did earn some excellent results), but the RS10 can be credited with completely changing the landscape of F1, ushering in the wonderful insanity of the ’80s turbo-era until forced induction was outlawed in 1989.

There’s more to see of this stunning recreation of one of Formula 1’s most game-changing cars at RoscoPC’s Renault RS10 Flickr album – click the link to make some boost.

Lego Renault RS10

Supermarket Special Stage

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Lego Technic Rally Car

The World Rally Championship has a long association with humble hatchbacks. This is probably because of the sport’s grass-roots origins, when cars really were just road-going shopping appliances, and where the tightness of the rural European roads on which the stages were held favoured the small and nimble.

These days the WRC is used primarily as an advertising tool for mass-market products. If a car can deal with a Swedish forest, it’ll probably be alright in the supermarket carpark. The current crop of works WRC cars include the Ford Fiesta, Skoda Fabia, Hyundai i20, Citroen C3, and Toyota Yaris, and they are becoming increasingly (and gloriously) nuts.

Lego Technic Rally Car

Previous bloggee Horcik Designs has decided to construct his very own WRC contender to join in the fun, and it’s a beautifully packaged bit of kit. A three-cylinder piston engine is mounted transversely under the hood, delivering the power to the independently-sprung wheels via a four-speed gearbox. Working steering, opening doors, hood and trunk, and a roll cage all feature too, and the body panels can be easily removed to reveal the internal construction.

A full gallery of images is available at Horcik’s Flickr photostream – click the link above to the make the jump.

Lego Technic Rally Car

What’s in the Box?

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Lego DAF FA 1600 DF

This big red box is a DAF FA 1600 DF from 1975, and it comes from DAF-building specialist Arian Janssens. A big red box it may be, but it’s a beautifully built one, featuring an astonishing level of detail and a myriad of subtle curves, indentations and slopes. The livery belongs to Houtmotcentrale Rijen (apparently), which means that we have absolutely no idea what’s inside it. See if you can work it out at Arian Janssens’ photostream via the link above.

Sci/Sky-Fi Sunday

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Lego Sky-Fi

Full disclosure; we don’t really know the difference between sky-fi and sci-fi. One has propellors and one doesn’t maybe? Anyway, we’re sure the more professional blogs will pick these up soon so you can read a proper description there, in the meantime we’re happy just to say that they’re both rather lovely builds and that you can see more of Sylon-tw‘s ‘F-09 Trident’ (above) and Eric Teo‘s ‘Crimson Dawn’ on Flickr via the links.

Lego Sci-Fi

Shipping Forecast

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Lego Tugger

TLCB Towers is located in an island nation (over 6,000 islands in fact). This means that – if we so wish – we can listen to a uniquely crap bit of radio. The Shipping Forecast can be heard four times a day courtesy of our state broadcaster and the Coastguard & Maritime Agency, updating the sailors in our waters to the incoming weather, sea conditions and currents, and boring everybody else into a gentle coma.

Still, it’s useful stuff if you’re tug boat captain. Fortunately this hi-vis adorned mini-figure is, and the Lego tug boat under his helm is a work of maritime art. Previous bloggee Konajra is the builder behind it, and he’s constructed an absolutely beautiful harbour scene to accompany his stunning ship too.

There’s lots more to see at Konajra’s Flickr photostream – click here for the complete gallery of superb images.

Lego Harbor

Fifty-Six Ford F-500

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Lego 1956 Ford F-500 COE

This gorgeous Town scale 1956 Ford F-500 COE was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr today. It comes from LegoEng and it might just be the most beautiful truck we’ve seen this year. There’s more to see at LegoEng’s photostream – click the link above to take a look.

Creator London Bus 10258 – Set Preview

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Lego 10258 London Bus Review

London Transport have finally reintroduced double-decker, rear-access buses to their fleet. Missing from the capital’s streets since the iconic Routemaster was phased out in 2005, the new bus – this time a hybrid – is set to become a modern classic. However we will always have fond memories of the original, the wonderful AEC Routemaster that saw service on the streets of London for almost 50 years.

Lego 10258 London Bus Set

LEGO’s newest addition to their stellar Creator vehicle range (which has previously delivered such gems as the 10242 Mini Cooper, 10252 Volkswagen Beetle) pays homage to one of the world’s most infamous and recognisable of vehicles. This is the new-for-2017, 1,686 piece 10258 Creator Expert London Bus set, and we absolutely love it.

Lego 10258 London Bus Set

Beautifully recreated inside and out, the new LEGO Routemaster includes a detailed and accessible interior (complete with an authentic spiral staircase), exterior advertising posters featuring either ’50s or modern-day graphics, plus – uniquely – some of the detritus discarded by passengers, including a newspaper, drinks can, chewing gum (yuk!), umbrella and ticket stub.

Lego 10258 London Bus Set

Several new pieces also make their debut on 10258, including standard-tread tyres, vertical stud pieces, and a selection of new curves and arches in LEGO’s classic red hue.

The new 10258 London Bus set will launch in August 2017, scaled to match the previous vehicles in the Creator range, and we predict LEGO have an instant classic in the making. Just like London’s new double decker bus.
Lego 10258 London Bus Review

Virtually Real

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Lego LDD Supercar

This is not a collection of beautifully arranged Danish plastic. Nope. This is a collection of beautifully arranged pixels. Yup, this stunning looking image – the product of three different builders – shows only a render of a virtual model.* But one that looks so unfathomably real that it fooled the whole TLCB office. Previous bloggee Sir.Manperson is the architect behind it and you can see more and read about the collaboration at both his MOCpages and Flickr photostream.

*We sometimes get asked why we don’t feature more digital creations. Today’s creation, despite being a digital render, proves our point. Real bricks, even the illusion of real bricks, are where it’s at.

Towing on Tour

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Lego Technic Military Tow Truck

When you’re in middle of an Iraqi desert with mechanical trouble you can’t just call the AA. Luckily Ivan M has just the tool to help. Built to recover seriously heavy military hardware, Ivan’s military heavy duty tow truck features a V8 engine, working steering, all-wheel suspension, a rotating and raising crane, and a functioning winch. If your armoured car has broken down give him a call on either Flickr or Eurobricks.

Smoothly Rolling

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One of this  author’s childhood heroes was the recently deceased John Noakes. Whether he was free-fall parachuting or climbing Nelson’s Column with no safety gear, John was the daredevil hero of the BBC’s Blue Peter. What has this to do with MiniGray!‘s smoothly built road roller?  When making flapjack (yes, he cooked too!), John Noakes famously commented that road menders should use a wooden spoon instead of a roller to get a smoother result. Given the state of the rural roads around TLCB towers, he might have been right.  MiniGray!’s model features a detailed, removable engine, so it’s well worth clicking the link in the text to see more. Down Shep!

Crotch Rocket

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Lego Technic Superbike

This brilliant-looking Technic superbike comes from Justin Broniszewski of MOCpages, and it looks like it’s going a million standing still. Working steering, a V4 piston engine and rear suspension all feature, and there’s more to see via the link above.

Bazinga!

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Lego Zinger Van

Apologies for using a well known catch-phrase from the laughter vacuum that is The Big Bang Theory in the title, but it fitted with today’s creation…

This is a ‘Zinger’, a ’70s phenomenon that we’re too young to understand, but apparently it involved shrinking your vehicle to an improbably small size, but leaving the engine and wheels as they were. Oh, and sticking a girl on the roof.

This brick-built example of the trend comes from Flickr’s Lino Martins, and there’s more to see of his rather neat Zinger Van at his photostream – click the link above to make the jump.