Striped Snake

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We have a bit of a soft spot for the Dodge Viper here at TLCB. Yes, it’s a poorly built, pointlessly-engined, wayward-handling super ‘sports car’ from the country that doesn’t know what a corner is, but – well – it just looks so cool! This top-notch recreation of the SRT10 ACR Viper, a special edition that aimed to sort out the car’s cornering deficiencies, is the work of previous bloggee Alexander Paschoaletto, and it looks easily as cool as the real thing. See more at Alexander’s Flickr photostream by clicking here.

Candy Crush

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It’s been a slow (read ‘hungry’) week for The Lego Car Blog Elves. However, with their empty stomachs ‘motivating’ them it was only a matter of time before we’d have a creation to share with you.

The hungry Elf responsible for today’s find was duly awarded a meal token and Smartie, upon which something remarkable happened… the Elf ate about half of its Smartie, and it then proceeded to break the rest into pieces. Were we about to witness the first ever moment of Elven compassion and sharing? Were we balls.

The aforementioned Elf scattered the Smartie pieces opposite a curtain in the office and then scurried off. Soon several of its colleagues had sniffed out the unguarded confectionary and landed on the abandoned loot like seagulls on an open bin.

But unguarded the confectionary wasn’t, and the curtains suddenly parted as a huge white truck powered through them. The nearest Elf had just enough time to point and scream before being squashed forcefully into the office carpet, before its scavenging colleagues met the same fate.

A jubilant Elf then re-emerged, scooped up the Smartie remnants, and ran off cackling madly. Sigh. We thought they were getting bored of this.

Still, kudos the Elf in question, which had deployed some remarkable inventiveness to overcome its find’s lack of speed – which normally would have left it unable meet out any smushings.

The vehicular weapon, whilst slow, is a mighty impressive bit of kit though. Based on a Volvo FMX truck, the build features five Power Functions motors that power the four-wheel-drive system, generate air pressure for pneumatically locking differentials, and drive the centrally-pivoted steering, whilst pendular suspension with simply ludicrous articulation and oversize tyres from the 42054 Claas Xerion tractor set take care of truck’s impressive rock-crawling ability.

The build is the work of TLCB debutant dgustafsson1317 and there’s an enormous gallery of high quality images available to view on Flickr. Click the link above to see all of the Volvo FMX Crawler photos, whilst we scrape some very flat Elves out of the office carpet.

Technic 40th Anniversary | Super Secret Set!

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Lego Technic is 40 years old this year! Launched in 1977 the Technic range took LEGO into a new world of technical detail, providing advanced construction for older children and adults alike, and bringing with it probably the largest range of new parts in the brand’s history.

It all kicked off with a simple car chassis, a ‘New Technical Set’, 853. The single most viewed page here at TLCB, 853 introduced rack and pinion steering, a working piston engine and an operable transmission to LEGO fans. Its success allowed LEGO to develop the theme and three years later the second generation car chassis was released, this time with LEGO’s first attempt at working suspension, 8860.

Despite being LEGO’s second Technic car chassis, 8860 is often thought of as the daddy of all Technic sets, paving the way for the series of Technic Supercars that followed (of which you can read more in the Set Review Library).

With the Technic theme turning 40 years old this year LEGO have decided to pay homage to one of their greatest products, giving builders the chance to recreate the iconic 1980 set using modern parts found in the 2017 Technic range. Three sets, the superb-looking 42063 BMW R 1200 GS Adventure motorbike, the 42061 Telehandler and the 42057 Ultralight Helicopter provide the pieces required, and building instructions are now available* for free online.

Such is the way with the advancement of technology, LEGO’s modern take on the classic 8860 set packs all the functions of the original into a more compact package, and features working steering, a 4-cylinder boxer engine, an operable transmission (which may well be the first since the 1980s not to use purpose-built gearbox parts) and functioning rear suspension. The design uses straight-forward pieces too, so many builders may be able to build it from parts found within their existing collection.

You can read our previews of the three sets that supply the full parts list to build the 40th Anniversary 8860 set via the links above, our review of the original set here, and you can create your very own 40th Anniversary set by clicking the link to the building instructions below.

Download building instructions here!

*Thanks to a reader for the tip!

A Bit Hairy

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We have a sneaking suspicion that a few of TLCB Elves may have worked for Oldsmobile in a previous life, as this is so their kind of car.

Built to showcase the durability of the company’s new FWD transaxle, two Hurst ‘Hairy’ Oldsmobile Cutlasses were created in 1967, each fitted with two 1,200bhp supercharged V8s, with one engine powering the front wheels and the second powering the rears.

The result was a car capable of all-wheel-drive burnouts and eleven second quarter miles, but also one with prodigious torque-steer and minimal visibility, which led to one of the two Hairy Hursts being destroyed in a demonstration run.

This glorious recreation of the monstrous drag-racer comes from Flickr’s Tim Inman, who – due to LEGO’s limited range of golden pieces – has had to use hundreds of studded tiles to create the Oldsmobile’s bodywork.

There’s more to see at Tim’s photostream – click the link in the text above to make the jump.

We Got Nukes, We Got Knives, Sharp Sticks…

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…and a dropship containing an M577 armoured personnel carrier. The Weyland-Yutani Corporation’s APC was one of the earliest casualties in the 1986 sci-fi horror Aliens, destroying its transaxle to escape alien attack. Still, everyone else got out OK didn’t they?…

This stunning recreation of the M577 APC from the Aliens movie comes from Technic legend, previous bloggee, and ‘Become a Pro‘ interviewee Pawel ‘Sariel’ Kmiec.

Sariel’s incredible creation packs in all the firepower of the original movie vehicle, with a 360° rotating, fully retractable sliding rear turret, twin roof-mounted opening missile pods, a rotating and elevating front turret, an electrically sliding cabin door, all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering with pendular suspension, and full LED lighting.

All of that can be controlled remotely thanks to a third-party SBrick bluetooth system, allowing the half-a-metre long APC to be operated via a smartphone.

To truly see what Sariel’s spectacular creation can do we highly recommend taking a look at the brilliant video below, plus you can see all the images of the M577 APC via both Flickr and MOCpages.

And whilst you’re checking out the video and those links, we’re going to take the APC’s controls and put the fear of God into our Elven workforce…

YouTube Video:

A Single Shade of Grey

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We are never ever going to read the cancer on literature that is 50 Shades of Grey. However, we do quite like grey LEGO bricks, and over the years LEGO have probably released 50 shades of the stuff. This can make it tempting to use multiple shades in creations, however, unless you’re building a castle wall it can look a bit messy.

Not so here, where previous bloggee Jonathan Elliott has kept it simple with just a single shade, and his ’29 Ford Pick-Up hot rod looks wonderfully clean as a result. Photographed beautifully in his Red Room of Pain, Jon’s build features opening doors, a dropping tailgate, and a fully detailed engine and interior, and there’s more to see at his photostream via the link above.

Floating Bricks 2017 | Hamburg – Reader Report

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TLCB staff don’t often get out to LEGO shows. Partly because our mysterious identities may be revealed, but mostly because the Elves have a habit of sneaking into our luggage, and our insurance is nowhere near that comprehensive.

Luckily our readers can be more mobile than us, and one such reader contacted us with an offer to cover a LEGO event. Over to today’s Guest Blogger, Jan Mueller…

On the 18th and 19th of March 2017 the exhibition “Floating Bricks – The maritime World of LEGO Bricks“ was held in Hamburg. It took place, appropriately, at a retired ferry terminal in the Altona district of the city.

Up to 1863, Altona was a harbour town which belonged to Denmark, and the Danish influence is partly still present until today. That weekend there were a lot of ships in town, made of Danish LEGO elements.

The fair was organized by the city event guide Hamburg-Führer and powered by the North-German RLUG Stein Hanse (recognized LEGO User Group). The Stein Hanse has organised several well-received exhibitions before and this was their first one in Hamburg. Members of the Stein Hanse had built a detailed oil platform, part of the Hamburg Airport, the Hamburg tube (which mostly goes overground) and many other models, which were put on display for the two-day event.

The RLUG, founded by Martin and Lutz in 2013 has more than 150 LEGO fans as members. One of the invited exhibitors was Brynjar Karl with his 6.5m model of the Titanic to Hamburg. The LEGO Titanic was on its way to New York, but was damaged on the way. Not kidding! Now the Titanic was undergoing some dock-time for repairs in Altona and Brynjar Karl was on-site for live building, supported by some of the other builders present at the show.

Two further additional LEGO artists were also invited: Arjen Oude Kotte (aka Konajra) and Edwin Korstanje from the Netherlands, who are both specialised in large highly detailed ship models.

The location of the exhibition, the old ferry terminal, offered a wonderful view of the Hamburg harbour with its container vessels and cruise ships and made it the perfect place to present maritime LEGO models. There was a fine collection of food trucks present to cater for the 6,000+ visitors, and the attendees also had the chance to build a huge mosaic of Hamburg’s newest landmark: the Elbphilharmonie, a new concert house on the river Elbe.

Many thanks to Jan for joining us here at TLCB with his summary of the Floating Bricks exhibition in Hamburg! If you’d like to report on a LEGO event as Jan has then we’d love to hear from you – simply get in touch via the usual channels and your words and pictures could appear here too.

Peterbilt 379 | Polar Tanker – Picture Special

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This magnificent slice of brown brilliance is the latest work of one of our very favourite builders, published author and TLCB Master MOCer Dennis Glaasker aka Bricksonwheels.

It’s a 1:13 scale Peterbilt 379 truck, beautifully chromed, and pulling a matching Polar tank trailer, and as has come to be expected from Dennis, it is quite simply one of the most exquisitely detailed Lego models that you will ever see.

Dennis has gone one step further this time though, and has teamed his incredible building skills with third-party Lego light specialists Brickstuff, who have wired in hundreds of LEDs to bring the truck and trailer to life.

The whole project has taken 5 months to reach completion and is powered by a hidden battery whilst the lighting sequences are controlled by a custom multi-channel remote control.

There’s a whole lot more to see at Dennis’ superb photo gallery, including – of course – several stunning images showing what a few hundred expertly-integrated LEDs can do. Click this link to make the jump to see all the photos Flickr.

Just Another Jeep

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Except this really isn’t any old Jeep. This is Jeep’s little-known ‘Mighty FC Concept’, which we assume stands for ‘Forward Control’, and it’s been superbly recreated in remote control Technic form by vehicle-building legend Madoca 1977.

Packed inside Madoca’s brilliant creation are six LEGO Power Functions motors, three sets of LEDs, and two third-party SBrick bluetooth receivers. The first two motors are XLs, which take care of the Jeep’s all-wheel-drive via portal axles, whilst a Servo motor controls the steering. Three Medium motors drive the winch, activate the locking rear differential, and control a two-speed gearbox, all of which is powered by an on-board rechargeable battery.

The Elves, who seem to have infiltrated Jeep’s vehicle-naming department, love the Mighty FC, even though it’s much too slow to cause any carnage in TLCB office. It can carry quite a few of them at once though, which appears to be what is currently happening, so whilst we let them get on with that you can discover the build’s full details by visiting the Eurobricks forum, and you can watch Madoca’s Jeep in action via the excellent video below.

YouTube Video:

Bulldog

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This weird agricultural oddity is a Lanz Bulldog tractor. 220,000 of these were built in Germany from the early 1920s up until 1960, making it one of the most popular European tractors of all time. Many Germans still use the word ‘bulldog’ as a generic name for tractors today.

The Bulldog’s popularity was down to its incredibly crude single cylinder hot bulb engine. Yup, just one cylinder, which came in a capacity of up to 10 litres, but which could run on just about anything – crucial in war-torn and then recovering (and then war-torn again) Europe.

This Town-style recreation of the vintage tractor comes from previous bloggee Peter Schmid on Flickr, and you can see more of his Lanz Bulldog build at his photostream by clicking here.

Super Ford

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This neat 6-wide recreation of the ’46 classic comes from Flickr’s Nik J Dort., and he’s recreated the Ford Super Delux’s curves brilliantly. We’d be tempted to take the roof off, build a manure truck, and pretend we’re in the first Back to the Future movie, but Nik’s stuck with the coupe version of the Super and the results are lovely – just look at the sloping rear 3/4 panel! Check out the build at Nik’ photostream via the link above.

Tintank

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Because who doesn’t like a big blue lunar tank? Stefan Johansson is the builder and you can see more of his lovely Moon Tank from the iconic Tintin comic by clicking here.

Eastern Exception

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Cars from behind the Iron Curtain were almost universally crap. Cars like this, this, this, and this for instance.

But there was one exception. A glorious, wonderful, magnificent oasis hidden in the vast automotive wastelands of Communist Europe. Tatra.

Now famed for their indestructible off-road trucks, Tatra used to produce cars too, and what cars they were. This is their incredible 603, powered by a 100bhp air-cooled V8 mounted in the rear, and with an amazing aerodynamic body that was extensively wind-tunnel tested way back in the 1950s.

This stunning Lego replica of the 603 is the work of Horcik Designs of Flickr, and it faithfully recreates the T2 version of Tatra’s masterpiece. Working steering, suspension, V8 engine, opening doors, hood and engine cover, and a six-seat interior are all included, but Horcik’s real party-piece is surely that spectacular bodywork.

There’s a whole lot more of the Tatra 603 to see on Flickr – click here to see the full photo album at Horcik’s photostream.

Not a Car

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This is not a car. We’re not even completely sure it’s a plane. What we are sure of is that the inside of Vince_Toulouse‘s mind must be like one of those Salvador Dalí paintings with all the melting clocks. And that his F70 Double Faucon is gloriously, heroically, beautifully, weird. Join the madness on Flickr via the link above.

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Striped Snake

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Candy Crush

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Technic 40th Anniversary | Super Secret Set!

Download building instructions here!

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A Bit Hairy

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We Got Nukes, We Got Knives, Sharp Sticks…

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A Single Shade of Grey

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Floating Bricks 2017 | Hamburg – Reader Report

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Peterbilt 379 | Polar Tanker – Picture Special

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Just Another Jeep

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Bulldog

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Super Ford

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Tintank

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Eastern Exception

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Not a Car

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