Presents are being wrapped, Santa is checking his list twice, and we’re about to spend the next few days getting drunk. So as we wind things down here for our usual Christmas break we have one last creation to share, Sariel‘s slightly terrifying mechanised-reindeer propelled sleigh. Watch it in action via the link above, have a very Merry Christmas, and we’ll see you all soon!
Christmas wishes
TLCB Team
Ryan Link of MOCpages has appeared here at TLCB a few times over the years, and his latest creation continues his ascension into the very top ranks of the community’s vehicle builders. This is a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta and it is – as you can see – a beautiful piece of design. It’s also complicated. Really complicated. Yet somehow (using witchcraft and magic we suspect) Ryan has replicated the F12’s fiendishly difficult bodywork brilliantly in Lego form. And the doors, hood and rear hatch still open.
Ryan has deployed a cunning variety of superb building techniques, blended together seamlessly, to create his Maranello masterpiece, and the engine bay and interior are just as well crafted as the outside. There’s an extensive gallery of images is available to view – click here to make the jump to MOCpages for the Ferrari F12’s full build details.
Porsche 911’s – despite their tricky shape – are not an unusual build in the Lego Community. However the base Carrera is, as builders tend to favour the more exotic and expensive versions in the 911 range. Which is a shame, as we actually like the basic Carrera best. Handily for us TLCB regular Senator Chinchilla has built one just in time for Christmas, and you can see more as his photostream via the link above.
Flickr’s Luke C appeared here earlier in the week with a lovely small-scale 1960s Ford Country station wagon, and now he’s built a Model Team version! You could call it A Big Country…
Right, enough tenuous linking to obscure ’80s Scottish rock bands, on to the model. Measuring over twice as wide as his small-scale version, Luke’s Big Country (Dammit! Ed.) is packed with detail, and includes opening doors, hood and tailgate plus working steering.
It’s also one of the coolest-looking cars that we’ve seen in ages, and it’s made even better with a roof-rack mounted surfboard. There’s lots more to see at Luke’s photostream – click Luke’s name above to visit a Big Country (we’ll stop now before our editor fires us).
…Green Giant. We’re not convinced that the marketing department at Green Giant canned vegetables were being completely original when they came up with their tagline, but in fairness if Father Christmas hadn’t trademarked it first it was a bit short sighted of him. Anyway, it does allow us a tenuous link to Christmas with this blog post title, so we’re cool with it.
This superb military helicopter, complete with some of the best brick-built camouflage that we’ve ever seen, is a Sikorsky HH-3E ‘Jolly Green Giant’. Launched in the early 1960s the big Sikorsky has been in continuous use ever since, with both it and the UK variant (the Westland Sea King) forming the backbone of American and British search and rescue fleets.
The brilliant Lego recreation of the Jolly Green Giant featured here comes from Flicker’s [Maks] and it’s without doubt one of the finest Lego helicopters that we’ve come across since this site was founded. There’s lots more to see at [Maks]’ photostream – click the link above to take off.
You thought we’d forgotten about the ‘Featured TFOL’ (Teen Fan of Lego) feature didn’t you? Well you’re right. We had. But it’s back!
Here at The Lego Car Blog we have quite a strict criteria that must be met before a model is published. However occasionally we bend the rules just a little if a model is close, and if the builder is unlikely to have a billion bricks at their disposal. A Teen Fan of Lego for example.
Today’s featured builder is Marco. qm, who has been building cars for a little while. He’s also entered the recent Review My Set competition and suggested models himself via the Feedback and Submission Suggestions page. All of that is very nice, but it doesn’t earn a spot here. However, this does; his excellent Nissan Skyline GT-R R34.
Instantly recognisable, with opening doors, hood and trunk, and some interior and engine bay detailing too, it’s a model that’s worth a closer look. You can see more at Marco’s Flickr photostream, and you can discover all of our past Featured TFOL’s by clicking here.
Nope, not that curious entry in your Dad’s internet browsing history but this, the heavily modified 1965 Chrysler Imperial Crown sedan as used in The Green Hornet TV show from 1967.
The Green Hornet may be yet another comic-based superhero that we don’t give a toss about, but the car is something rather special. Featuring rockets, silent-running mode, and a flying drone thingumy (long before the word ‘drone’ became the media’s favourite word), Black Beauty was nearly as tricked-out as the other famous crime-fighting car of the time, the Batmobile.
This neat Lego replica of the comic book star comes from TLCB regular Ralph Savelsberg (aka Mad Physicist) and there’s more to see of Black Beauty, The Green Hornet, and Kato at his photostream via the link above.
We’re not quite sure why Nissan’s late ’80s – early ’90s compact pick-up truck was called the ‘Hardbody’. All cars have a hard body. Well, apart from whatever this is. It’s also meant that today’s blog post titles are both a bit ambiguous in nature, so we’ll move on quickly and get to the technical stuff…
Built by previous bloggee Filsawgood of Flickr, this neat Technic Nissan D21 Hardbody is one of our favourite trucks of the year. It’s also one of our favourite trucks in real life, being the total antithesis of the hateful Dodge Ram and its ilk.
Filsawgood’s recreation of the little Nissan looks the part thanks to a few well designed Model Team style details, and it’s packing some decent Technic functionality underneath too, including remote control drive and steering and all-wheel suspension. There’s lots more to see at Filsawgood’s photostream – click the link above to get hard.
Ford did back in the ’60s, and they had some truly ridiculous ‘English’ car names too. This particular one is a Ford Country Squire, and this 8-wide Lego creation – complete with wooden side-mouldings – is rather brilliant. It’s been built by Luke C of Flickr and there more to see here.
…beat him with a stick. Lock him up for fifty years, see what makes him tick! Jack Skellington is filling in for an absent Santa, and things are a lot less jolly. Flickr’s César Soares is the builder behind this scary Saint Nick, and there’s more to see at his photostream via the link above.
This gloriously retro sci-fi off-road racer comes from TLCB newcomer Faber Madragore, and it’s everything we could wish for in a Classic Space vehicle. Old-school solid Technic tyres? Check. Working suspension? Check. Magnificently ’80s styling? Check. And it’s yellow! In fact we like it so much we think we ought to run a competition next year to encourage more builds like this. While we mull that over you can check out Faber’s wonderful ‘Surface Rider’ creation at his photostream – click the link above to make the jump.
The Lego Car Blog Review My Set Competition is nearly at an end, but we’ve just got time to squeeze a few more of your Set Reviews in before the competition closes in December. MOCpages’ Marco. qm joins us today with the set that everyone’s talking about, fresh from the LEGO Ideas platform and designed by TLCB Master MOCer Carl Greatrix, it’s the magnificent Caterham 7 620R…
The LEGO Company are known for making strong and resistant sets. Lego Fans are experts in making good-looking cars. When they get together, great things can happen. Things like a LEGO Ideas project that achieved the magical number of 10,000 supporters to gain approval to become an official LEGO set, which in in this case is the Caterham Seven 620R by Carl Greatrix.
Two years ago, on December 2014, Carl’s Seven started its journey on LEGO Ideas, by May 2015 it reached 10,000 votes and finally in March of this year Carl’s design was approved for production as an official LEGO set.
Now let’s talk about the product, the $79.00 brick-built Caterham, or as the builder called it ‘the kit of a kit car’. Although officially licensed by Caterham, 21307 is not a particularly expensive set; it’s $20 cheaper than LEGO’s previous Creator Expert sets and it comes in a nice black box with wider cardboard usual, something that I think is a nice detail.
Upon opening it, you’ll find one instructions book and seven bags of bricks, with the typical larger 1, 2 and 3 numbered bags, plus some smaller bags with the same numbers on them.
The moment you start building it you notice how cleverly designed the 21307 set is, with a very rigid chassis and a nicely detailed exterior, it’s a builder’s dream. Upon finishing the first part of the build you’ll already have a strong chassis and the rear fenders completed.
Next you open the bags labeled with a 2 and build the second stage of the car, in which you construct the engine, the seats, the front wheel arches (which by the way are very well designed!) and the exhaust. Basically all you’re missing after this is the nose cone, the hood, the trunk and the wheels. Continue reading
Stickers make everything better. Just ask any seven year old. We don’t think Flickr’s LegoGallifrey is a seven year old, but he’s of the same opinion, having bedecked his glorious sky-fi flying hot rod ‘Yellow Empress’ with a variety of power-enhancing decals. Suggested by a reader you can see more at Gallifrey’s photostream via the link above.
And now here they are! The most daredevil group of daffy drivers to ever whirl their wheels in the Wacky Races, competing for the title of worlds wackiest racer! The cars are approaching the starting line… First is the Turbo Terrific driven by Peter Perfect!
The eighth wonderful Wacky Races build by Flickr’s Redfern1950s, this one is definitely the most ambiguous. It’s also your Mom’s favourite for some reason. See more at the link above, and you can check out all of the Wacky Races builds to appear here so far by clicking here.
This is a Lancia Delta S4, and even by 1980s Group B WRC standards it’s a terrifically ugly thing. Ugly, but astonishingly effective. With all-wheel-drive powered by a mid-mounted 1.8 litre engine with both turbo and super charging (the first ever example of twin-charging), the space-framed and composite-shelled Delta S4 could produce as much as 500bhp.
If that sounds like a dangerous combination you’d be right, and tragically Henri Toivonen and his co-driver were incinerated when their S4 left the road in 1986. Group B was immediately banned, and with it the maddest of all the World Rally Cars ended its motorsport career.
Senator Chinchilla hasn’t forgotten the Italian monster though, and has ensured the Delta S4 lives on in Lego form with his exquisite Model Team replica. See more on Flickr.
