This pair of big red boxes comes from Flickr’s Arian Janssens, who has appeared here numerous times over the years with his large scale DAF trucks old and new. This is one of DAF’s older models, an FA 3300 Volume, complete with an additional box trailer behind. See more on Flickr at the link above.
This wonderful scene comes from TLCB favourite and Master MOCer Andrea Lattanzio aka Norton74, and it’s got the hot rodding fraternity here at TLCB Towers very excited.
Mooneyes are one of the most famous hod rod garages in the world, and have been operating out of their Santa Fe Springs workshop since 1962.
Andrea has recreated the iconic Mooneyes building in glorious detail, and has included a ’68 Ford F100 pick-up and ’32 Ford Model-B hot rod for good measure.
There’s lots more to see at Andrea’s photostream – click the link to view all the images and read the full build details.
In our opinion the greatest Batmobile is, and probably always will be, the incredible Tumbler from Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy. However there is another Batmobile that runs the Tumbler close, and it hasn’t even featured in a movie…
Yes, this is the Batmobile from the hugely successful Arkham Knight video game, but unlike the Tumbler – which was made for real – the Arkham Knight vehicle only ever appeared in digital form.
Not now though, as a few well-heeled visionaries have recreated the insanity of the digital-only Batmobile from Arkham Knight and built their own street legal version. We throughly recommend clicking the link to see it, as what they’ve created is something extraordinary, but what if you don’t have a ton of carbon fibre, an ex-Koenigsegg engineer, twelve months, and a spare Lamborghini Gallardo V10 with which to create your dream Batmobile?
Flickr’s Nathan Proudlove has the answer, as he too has recreated the mad Arkham Knight Batmobile, but in thoroughly more attainable Lego form. It’s no less of a work of art than Team Galag’s life-size version, and you can see all the photos of Nathan’s build by clicking the link to his photostream above.
Without doubt Aston Martin make some of the most beautiful cars in the world. The problem for the company’s revenue stream is that because they’ve made beautiful cars for a while, you don’t actually need to buy a new one to feel like you’re owning a bit of the Aston Martin experience. This, clearly, doesn’t help them to sell new cars.
Cue the new DB11 (we have no idea where the DB10 went), which updates their design philosophy and, more importantly, utilises a new partnership with Mercedes-Benz AMG to sort out reliability, ergonomics, emissions, and other such finicky issues that Aston Martin really don’t care for.
Cue also Flickr’s Jeroen Ottens, who has constructed this wonderful Technic Supercar replica of Aston Martin’s latest model. Jeroen has captured the tricky new shape beautifully, and he’s also packed his DB11 recreation with accurate technical details too, including independent suspension, a V12 engine linked to an 8-speed sequential paddle-shift gearbox, a working airbrake, LED lights (the front of which swivel with the working steering), and opening doors, hood and trunk.
There’s more to see and a link to instructions at Jeroen’s Flickr photostream – click the link to make the jump and check it out.
Yup, after a few days away from TLCB keyboard we’re back! We’d been waiting for a crack team of Elves to return from a secret mission infiltrating The Lego Company headquarters, and we’re pleased to announce that some of them have returned safely!
The lucky returnees are enjoying the fame and glory associated with bringing back the clearest images yet of LEGO’s summer Technic releases, and the fact that there are no alsatians for them to evade in the grounds of TLCB Towers.
So, on to the first new set!
LEGO’s first new addition to the Technic range is this, 42068, and we feel like we’ve seen it before. Yes, it does bear a striking resemblance to 8454 from the bad-old days of Technic, but on closer inspection it’s a far more realistic attempt at an airport firetruck than was made in 2003.
With no Power Functions or Pneumatic System, 42068 relies on good ol’ fashioned mechanics to enable its working functions. Front and rear steering and a manually raising and extending boom are the key features, and the set employs a wealth of stickerage to liven up what is basically a panelled box sat atop six wheels. Next.
Are LEGO running out of new ideas for Technic vehicles? If 42069 is anything to go by, probably. Loosely based on a tracked arctic exploration vehicle, the Extreme Explorer drops into the 2017 Technic line-up right at the top, being aimed at ages 11+, and the box – intriguingly – has no upper age limit. That stops us having to make excuses to long-suffering partners at least!
With a few unusual purple panels and four separate independently sprung tracks, 42069 looks like a set that’ll be snapped up by those wishing to increase their parts stock, but we’re not sure how well it stacks up in its own right.
In addition to those suspended tracks there’s front axle steering, gull-wing doors, flashy stickers (not shown on the box above) and a working winch. There also looks to be a gearbox too, although we’re not convinced that this is the conventional sort, and it may be more to do with suspension settings or all-track-drive capabilities.
42069 will reach stores in the second half of 2017 and will be priced towards the top end of the Technic line-up, but with no pneumatics or Power Functions components it could offer a decent piece count for the price.
This is more like it! With over 1,800 pieces and Power Functions remote control, 42070 becomes the flagship set in the 2017 line-up when it arrives later in the year.
Just like your Mom, this thing is massive, with those six suspended wheels running on the same tyres as the brilliant 42054 Claas Xerion tractor set.
We expect 42070 to include full remote control drive and steering, working support legs at the sides and rear, and a gearbox to transfer the motorised power to a remotely operable crane and winch.
We’ll see if we’re right when 42070 lands later on this year, but expect it to be expensive!
There you have it, the 2017 Technic line-up is now complete, plus rumour has it that combining these sets allows you to build a modern take on the very first LEGO Technic supercar set too.
We’ll bring you further set news later on in the year, and in the meantime you can check out all the official LEGO sets that have been reviewed here at The Lego Car Blog so far by visiting the enormous Set Review Library.
In contrast to today’s other post, this model is as smooth as it gets. The other post featured a model from the ’70s, and whilst we’re sure there’s a metaphor for that one being decidedly un-smooth we’re not sure we can write it here. We’ll let you use your imagination instead.
Anyway, on to his model. This incredibly slick Scania 8×4 tipper truck is the work of Robert Heim of Flickr, and it is quite remarkably smooth.
There’s a tipping function too and one of the most beautifully constructed load beds that we’ve ever seen at this scale. There’s more to see at Robert’s Flickr photostream where there’s a wealth of stunning Lego photography on offer. Click the link above to take a look.
Being unfamiliar with Australia’s (now deceased) domestic car market, at first glance we thought this was a bastardised Volvo. It turns out that it is in fact a Holden HJ ute (sorry Australian readers!), built from the early to the mid ’70s, and available with a huge 5 litre V8 engine. It’s about as Australian as a hat with corks on it, and this delightfully studdy Lego version has been constructed by serial bloggee Senator Chinchilla.
There’s opening doors, a dropping tailgate and an opening hood – underneath which is a working V8 mounted to a functioning gearbox. There’s more to see on Flickr at Senator’s photostream – click the link above to make the jump down under.
We’re using female anatomy puns in our titles today. The second of today’s posts comes courtesy of Lennart C of Flickr, and it is of course Audi’s well-recognised second generation TT.
Effectively a Volkswagen Golf in a pretty dress, the TT has taken TLCB’s home market by storm since the first generation launched back in 1999. In our eyes it isn’t really a sports car, being either front or all-wheel drive and being mostly fitted with turbo diesel engines, but that hasn’t stopped style-conscious buyers with a penchant for four rings on the grille buying the TT in their thousands.
Lennart has replicated the Mark II TT rather well in Model Team form, and his creation features a detailed interior and engine, plus opening doors, trunk and hood.
You can see more TT pics at his photostream – click the link above for a peek.
This Komatsu PC210LL-10 loves munching on wood.* With a 365 harvester head it can strip a tree of its branches in seconds, enabling the trunk to be neatly stacked on the back of a waiting truck. Flickr’s Mathijs Bongers is the builder and he’s replicated the tracked forest harvester brilliantly in mini-figure scale. See more on Flickr via the link.
*Just like your Mom.
Yes, yes we do. A lot of it. Thanks to Mathjis Bongers and his Peterbilt 389 and Manac forestry trailer. There’s more to see on Flickr – click the link above to get your pecker up.
After a series of small creations we’re back with something big. Really big. Measuring almost a meter long, weighing over 8KGs, and constructed from around 8,000 LEGO pieces, Lucio Switch’s astonishing remote control and pneumatically-powered crane truck is one of the most complex creations that this site has published.
With seventeen Power Functions motors, eighteen pneumatic pumps / cylinders, and six switches, Lucio’s truck takes Technic construction to the limit of what is possible with Danish plastic. Four XL motors drive the rear wheels which are suspended on live axles, whilst the two front axles are steered by twin Servo motors and are suspended independently (which makes for no less than twenty-four shock absorbers in all!).
Underneath the fully suspended and tilting cab (with a working steering wheel, suspended seats and an opening engine cover) is a working V8 piston engine, with twin LiPo batteries that power the motors and six sets of LED lights hidden within the chassis.
Nine M and two L motors then drive everything from the front and rear stabilisers, crane rotation, winch, and the pneumatic pumps which provide air pressure for the three-stage crane elevation and extension mechanism, all of which are controlled via four IR receivers through an SBrick bluetooth device.
Fortunately for us here in TLCB office that lot is much too complicated for our Elves to figure out, so Lucio’s incredible truck was unable to cause carnage and mayhem. It is however absolutely worth checking out, either at Lucio’s Flickr photostream or via the Eurobricks discussion forum, plus you can watch the truck in action via the video below. Prepare to be amazed!…
YouTube Video:
We receive loads of requests to blog digital creations here at TLCB, and our answer is almost always ‘no’. However this time we’ve bent our usual rule, because this, readers, is how to build a digital creation.
Designed by Alan Guerzoni it’s a Speed Champions scale Ferrari 512 Long-Tail as raced by Ecurie Francorchamps at the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Not only is Alan’s design brilliantly executed he’s also maximised his use of the digital medium, by adding Ecurie Francorchamps period-correct decals and a printed canopy (as LEGO do themselves) to recreate the 1970 512 as accurately as possible.
If you like Allan’s historic Ferrari as much as we do you can vote for it to become an official LEGO set via the LEGO Ideas platform – click this link to make the jump and add your vote.
We’re not really sure why this ’34 Ford Coupe hot rod is called the Chicken Coupe, but we do know that we love it. TLCB regular _Tiler is the builder, and as always it’s both beautifully built and photographed. See more at the link.
The annual bandwagon that is Febrovery is over for another year, with rovers of all shapes and sizes being submitted by the online community. We’re ending our coverage of this year’s event with two rovers from the very opposite end of the roving spectrum.
First above (above), and suggested to us by a reader, is this neat tracked satellite dish transporting rover, resplendent in a Classic Space livery and with a beautiful classic space monorail pictured behind it. There’s more to see at RVA LUG’s photostream by clicking here.
Today’s second Febrovery entry (below) comes from previous bloggee F@bz, and although it too is mini-figure scale, it’s an enormous machine. There’s some wonderfully inventive building in evidence too, and you can see more at F@bz’ photostream by clicking here.
Despite having zero sci-fi knowledge we’ve rather enjoyed this year’s Febrovery, so much so that we may get involved next year (although probably not in the way you’d expect!), so until then, happy roving, and we’ll return to vehicles of a more earthly nature.
We’re longing for the day when the hover car is a reality. Better yet, for when a normal car can be retro-fitted with a hover function. It happened in Back to the Future Part II, which whilst set in the future is now of course in the past, and they accurately predicted the flat screen TV, video calling, and gesture control, so there’s hope!
In the meantime we’ll turn to Flickr’s Tim Henderson, who has retro-fitted some of his lovely Town-scale vehicles with their own hover function by replacing their wheels with a variety of futuristic hovering paraphernalia .
Each vehicle’s hovering facility is unique and all can be viewed in more detail at Tim’s photostream by clicking here. If you’re reading this and work for a tech or car company, take a look and get to work!
