Robot Wars

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Lego John Deere Liebherr Excavator Remote Control

In the Green Corner, representing Technic and John Deere tractors, and controlled by Elf no. 17; Deseeeert Kiriiiill! Aaand in the Yellow Corner, representing Model Team and Leibherr construction equipment, and controlled by Elf. no. 42; Saaaarieeeeel!

Why do boxing introducers always add extra vowels? That’s probably not really a question for a Lego car blog, so on to the models!..

Lego John Deere Skid Steer Tractor RC

This is the latest build from previous bloggee Desert752 Kirill. It’s a John Deere 648L skid-steer logging tractor, and it’s packed with Technic functionality. With all-wheel-drive, an articulated chassis for steering, a two stage crane with rotating claw, and a front-mounted blade – all of which are individually remote controlled – Desert’s build has got more squeezed inside it than your Mom’s corset.

Lego Liebherr Excavator RC

TLCB Lego Professional Sariel has been just as ambitious. His Liebherr R974 also features a plethora of Power Functions goodies, this time employed to drive LEGO’s pneumatics system, which is all controlled by a third party SBrick bluetooth device.

These two models have seventeen motors in all, so the only way we can see of picking the best build is via an unnecessarily violent duel between them in the office. Whilst we commence this ‘research’ you can see more of what each creation can do via the following links, where there are also videos of each model in action. Let’s get ready to ruuuuumble!

Desert752 Kirill’s John Deere 648L Skid-Steer: MOCpages  | Eurobricks

Sariel’s Liebherr R974 Excavator: MOCpages | Brickshelf  |  Eurobricks

Lego Remote Control Equipment

Copper Chopper

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Lego Chopper Motorcycle

This gloriously impractical yet breathtakingly beautiful motorcycle is the work of Flickr’s redfern1950s. Copper probably isn’t the most suitable material for a bike, seeing as it gets very hot and it also goes green, but gosh is it pretty. It’s a shame its primary use is unseen in your central heating system really. Redfern’s put it to much better aesthetic use though, and you can see more of this stunning creation at his photostream via the link above.

Blue on Blue

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Skymaster

Given the USAF’s propensity for shooting its allies and own forces, painting “Don’t Shoot” in large letters on your aircraft isn’t as silly as it first seems. During the Vietnam War era, when precision systems such as GPS weren’t invented and other electronics such as IFF were unreliable, it was a very practical thing to do. Forward Air Control  was, and still is, a high risk business.

Whilst the custom stickers might be the first thing that catch your eye on Henrik Jensen’s Cessna O-2 Skymaster, there’s other stuff to see too. Henrik has added some military stores under the wings and changed the windscreen from the trans-clear of his civil version, to a toned-down trans-brown. Take a look at Henrik’s MOC on Flickr and then see Danny Glover flying the real thing in the highly fictionalised, BAT*21.

Creator Volkswagen Beetle 10252 – Set Preview

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Lego 10252 Volkswagen Beetle Set 2016

We find it a bit odd that Adolf Hitler’s car for the people became such a hit with peace loving hippy surfer types, but nevertheless if there’s one brand synonymous with surf culture, it’s Volkswagen. LEGO’s partnership with Volkswagen has been a fruitful one too, with the excellent T1 Camper and their previous 10187 Beetle being highlights of their licensing programme.

LEGO had decided to continue this affinity with Volkswagen with their newest Creator release, this superb surf-ready 1960s Beetle. Aimed at ages 16+ 10252 contains 1,167 pieces, including a printed VW logo brick, new fender parts and a new windshield, and features a detailed flat-4 engine, interior, surfboard and cool-box.

We expect the 10252 Volkswagen Beetle set to cost around $100/£70 when it reaches stores in August, and it looks like a sure fire hit!

New 10252 Volkswagen Beetle Lego Creator

Two for Tuesday

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Lego VF-84 Jolly Rogers F-14A Tomcat

We round off a busy day here in TLCB Towers with two builds that aren’t cars at all. But they are excellent. Plus we quite like jet fighters because the average mental age in the office is about eleven. First up is TLCB regular Ralph Savelsberg‘s newest version of his F-14A Tomcat, this time in VF-84 Jolly Rogers spec, and joining him is Stefan Johansson, who returns to this blog following his awesome Saab Viggen, this time with Saab’s mighty 32 Lansen fighter. If you’re eleven too you can see more of each build on Flickr via the links above.

Lego Saab 32 Lansen Fighter Aircraft

’63 Sting Ray – Picture Special

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Lego Technic Corvette C2 Stingray 1963

This brilliant blue beauty comes from James Tillson of Flickr and Eurobricks. It is of course a C2 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray, which James has recreated superbly in Technic form. He’s built both the convertible and the coupe versions, but it’s the coupe that we’re concentrating on here, because it’s probably the most beautiful American car ever designed.

And this is why – what a rear window! The C2’s split rear screen only lasted for one year (1963) because – with a massive blind-spot right in the middle – it wasn’t the safest design. But it did look gorgeous.

Lego Technic Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

James’ Sting Ray coupe is the 1963 version and thus includes that wonderful rear, and there’s a lots going on underneath too. With working steering, a miniature functioning V8 engine, semi-independent front and trailing-arm rear suspension with floating differential, opening doors and hood and the Corvette’s neat rotating pop-up lights all included, James’ build fully qualifies as Technic Supercar. There’s lots more to see on both Flickr and Eurobricks – click the links above to make like a banana and split.

Lego Technic Corvette Sting Ray 1963

Rancher RC

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Lego Technic Remote Control 4x4

This magnificently tough looking off-road truck comes from previous bloggee filsawgood, and it smashed its way though the office today. As is usual, a deliriously happy (and spectacularly vengeful) Elf was at the controls, using the model’s twin L Motors to smush as many of its colleagues as it could before it was discovered and ejected from the office. We counted four victims, which was a reasonable total but some way off the office best. Anyway, the model – entitled ‘Rancher’ – is a neat bit of kit, featuring 4-wheel-drive, portal axles, trick suspension, and LED lights. You can see more images read the full spec via Eurobricks at the link above, where you can also watch a video showing what it can do to a prancing horse…

Organ Donor

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Lego Technic Motorcycle

The key ingredient to how fast a motorbike can go isn’t the engine, or the brakes, or the suspension. It’s the bag of meat in the middle, far more so than in a car. Unfortunately it’s usually this component that lets the bike down, often with tragic consequences. Still, if you or someone you love needs a new kidney, an ambitious biker could be just the ticket…

Most Technic motorbikes ignore the crucial component that is the rider, however newcomer Nikolay has built something quite remarkable – because his stunning Technic motorbike works. And not just in the usual way (piston engine, steering and suspension), but in that it features actual functioning controls for the throttle, brakes, clutch and gearbox – all as you would find them on a real bike. If you could find a rider small enough this incredible model really could be ridden…

Lego Technic Motorbike

Well, it could if it had a motor on board. Luckily for our Elves – who would have been used as guinea pigs if a motor were present – Nikolay’s bike is much too small to contain one. Nevertheless, this superb creation features some spectacular and highly original engineering (unlike a recently launched official LEGO Technic set). The best way to see how it works is by video, and fortunately Nikolay has produced an excellent one to accompany his build. See what this bike can do below, plus you can see all the images on Flickr here and you can join the discussion at the Eurobricks forum here.

YouTube Video:

Hey Big Boy!*

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Lego Union Pacific Big Boy Locomotive

This magnificent creation is the work of previous bloggee and TLCB Master MOCer Dennis Glaasker aka Bricksonwheels, and it’s something rather special. It’s a Union Pacific ‘Big Boy’ locomotive, and unlike most of Dennis’ builds it’s a relatively small 1:38 scale. But that doesn’t mean it’s a small build; at over a metre long it takes three Power Functions XL motors mounted in the tender to drive it, which is probably the most power any mini-figure has ever had.

Building such a huge locomotive presented Dennis with several building challenges. LEGO don’t make train wheels large enough, so Dennis worked with a friend to design and manufacture unique 3D printed wheels – complete with LEGO-compatible valve gear. A Tamiya RC battery provides the power, connected via an SBrick control module to ensure the battery power remains derestricted, and the train’s lighting is taken care of via a neat Brickstuff LED kit.

Lego Big Boy Steam Train Bricksonwheels

Whilst some way from a completely Lego build, Dennis’ creation shows how exceptional a model can be when LEGO bricks are used alongside specialist components.

If you’re interest in learning more about the Union Pacific build and the components used to create it you can visit the model at Dennis’ Flickr photostream here, where there are also links to the third-party suppliers and where you can see the other amazing creations that Dennis has built.

Lego Union Pacific Big Boy Train Remote Control

*In the voice of your Mom

Volksrods

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VR01

Everyone here at The Lego Car Blog enjoys a good hotrod*, so we were charmed by this pair from Tim Henderson on Flickr. Both cars use the ready-made LEGO car nose, angled to get the look of Volkswagen’s classic Beetle. The thing that really grabbed our attention are the nicely greebled engines, which are different for each car. Click this link to see more details in their Flickr album.

VR02

*Yes, and so does your Mom.

Cherry Picked

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Lego Technic RC Cherrypicker Truck

We’re not really sure why hoist platforms are called ‘cherry pickers’. They must be useful for picking cherries, but other tasty fruits are equally pickable. In fact, we’ve only ever seen these things in operation fixing street lights or telephone cables, with no fruit of any kind involved at all. Anyway, whatever they should be called, this Technic version by Eurobricks’ TomasHubik is a nifty bit of kit.

Underneath the slightly bland (but therefore pretty realistic) bodywork there’s a fully remote controlled 4×4 drive-train complete with front and rear differentials and rear-axle suspension. But can you pick cherries (or other fruits) with it? Yup, because that complicated-looking lift-arm arrangement on the back is remotely controlled too, with two Medium Power Functions motors propelling the platform skywards and rotating it towards the tastiest plunder. You can even use it for marooning Elves in high places. Not that we’d do that.

There’s lots more to see at the Eurobricks discussion forum, where there’s also a link to a video the cherry picker in action. Click the link above to get picking.

Well Groomed

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Piste Basher 01

“Well Groomed” is an epithet hardly ever applied to The Lego Car Blog Elves. Bickering, fighting and speaking a strange guttural Elvish language often leaves our workforce looking as though they’ve been asking for directions in Wales.

However, Samuel Wharfe has produced this very nicely turned out Snow Groomer (Piste Basher if you’re British) using just the parts from the 42038 Arctic Truck. Samuel has produced a neat, good looking vehicle from possibly one of the strangest and ugliest Technic sets of all time. He has also included several of the most important working functions.

There’s a raising & lowering tail, to produce the smooth “corduroy” lines in the snow that early bird skiers enjoy. There’s a lifting & lowering bulldozer blade, which can also be swivelled in order to sculpt the features in the snowpark. Lastly, there’s a winch to enable the machine to wind itself up the steepest of slopes. In reality, the cables on these winches can be over 1.5km long and swing about a lot. Piste bashing is done at night (when nobody is supposed to be skiing) and the cables make moonlight skiing in modern resorts a high risk sport.

Click these links to see more photos and details on Flickr or to join in the discussion on Eurobricks.

Pipe Service*

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Lego Technic RC UAZ-452 Van

An enjoyable afternoon perusing the office intern’s Facebook holiday pictures seemed like a good use of this TLCB writer’s time today. Sadly the importance of this task was lost on the Elves, who decided to shatter the peace of the office by feeding one of their number into a desk fan. Sigh.

It turns out that this particular act of violence was the culmination of an Elf-fight, which started when a two of our Elves simultaneously returned to TLCB Towers with this remote control UAZ-452 gas-service van, found on both MOCpages and Eurobricks. Seeing as we’re feeling generous today (and we’re bored of the fights) we’ll let them each have a meal token. On to the model!

It’s a Soviet-issue UAZ gas-service van, used for… er, servicing gas. Underneath the Technic lift-arm body is one of the most compact 4×4 drive-trains that we’ve seen yet. An XL motor powers all four wheels, suspended by live axles, plus there’s a Servo motor steering the front axle, opening (and locking) doors, an on board LiPo battery, and a telescopic ladder.

Previous bloggee Paave is the builder and you can see lots more, including a video of the UAZ in action, via the two links in the text above.

Lego Technic RC UAZ-452 Van

*Insert your own ‘Your Mom’ joke!

Not A Review

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Lego Technic Porsche 911 GT3RS Review

When the previews for the ‘Ultimate’ Technic 42056 Porsche were circulating, I was certain that I’d buy one, as a Lego fan and petrolhead; even though I’m not overly fond of the Volkswagen Beetle Sport…. a review was promised in short order.

Well, here it isn’t – for a couple of reasons.

First, LEGO pulled it from sale before it was even offered, to fix a packaging problem we were told. If by packaging problem they mean packaging an errata sheet in the instructions… We will see. It seems the massive weight of that doorstop  sized coffee table book was crushing the boxes around it.

Second, early reviews were not encouraging, highlighting a number of reasons why this isn’t really ‘Ultimate’ in anything but price.

Technically, the steering and suspension are identical to the 42039 Le Mans car. No fancy tricks, just the basics. I don’t really care about the colour of the springs if the geometry is nothing like the real car… The flat six engine is bog standard and completely hidden. There’s plenty of space back there to have a go at modelling camshafts, say, but no attempt was made at anything above the ordinary.

Likewise, no attempt was made at any kind of rear wheel steering, a notable feature of the real 911 GT3RS. The only technical aspect that shows any ambition is the gearbox, more on which in a bit… So, if you want the ultimate Lego Technic car, stick to your 8880.

What about that much heralded build experience? It’s an idea that’s appeared before, in the 8448, which does the modularity thing a whole lot better. Since I haven’t (and probably won’t unless 42056 appears at a steep discount) built the Porsche, the jury will have to stay out on that one.

Ultimate packaging maybe? It would be if the box had a strong plastic insert to sort the pieces into and lots of pictures of alternate builds. For that, you’ll need an 853. I do understand what they mean by the ‘premium experience’ of the Porsche but like a lot of things, the word ‘premium’ just means you pay more.

Ultimate looks?

LEGO Technic 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS

It is pretty, and the orange (close-but-no-cigar to the real Porsche’s ‘lava orange’ colour) does look good. But with its awkward gaps around the headlights and taillights, messy interior and clumsy rear end is it as pretty as the Creator Ferrari F40? Not to these eyes.

Now then, that gearbox, surely that must be the most impressive such thing in a Lego car?

If you like your changing up sequence to be 1-3-2-4 and lots of friction, then yes. A lot of said friction can apparently be blamed on this little fella:

100_8267

It’s a small bevel gear assembly built in the very early stages, and the problem is that pin joiner, used as a spacer. Change it for a couple of bushes and it’s fine. Expect that to be instruction errata number 1. According to Sariel’s review on Eurobricks, there are twenty gears engaged in first gear; so don’t expect that to completely solve the friction problem. Now we know why the white clutch gear was included in the powertrain…

As for the shift sequence, this can be corrected by swapping a 12T double bevel and a 16T spur gear on the back of the gearbox, which suggests a simple error in the instructions. Or it would if LEGO hadn’t tried to tell us it was ‘to reduce friction and enhance the premium experience’ or some such tosh. According to everyone who’s built one, the positions of these gears makes no difference to the friction. That’ll be errata number 2.

If these two problems are solved – and they should be when it becomes available again – this gearbox will be an impressive feat, for all that you can still change up from 4 back to 1 and have four reverse gears. That sounds like fun. Finally, it’s possible to drive a 911 as if its engine is in the right place. Backwards…

So it might actually be the ultimate gearbox. £250 is a lot to pay for a gearbox.

Hang on a sec, it’s got a handbag as well, so there’s that… it’d better be a Hermes…

Lego Technic 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Review

Sorry LEGO. I know you tried. The idea for an ‘Ultimate’ series of Technic models is a great one which should produce something fantastic that we’ll all love. It’s just that 42056 isn’t it. It feels like the product of two partners with conflicting priorities, rather like the McLaren-Mercedes SLR; when the 8880 felt like LEGO’s McLaren F1

Esso Service 1953 – Picture Special

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Lego Esso Garage 1953 Norton74

This magnificent 1953 Esso service station is the work of previous bloggee Andrea Lattanzio (aka Norton74) and it’s probably as close to perfect as a Lego creation can possibly be.

Designed by Dutch architect Willem Dudock 112 of these beautiful structures were built across the Netherlands following World War 2 in order to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding road network. Dudock’s brief was to design a station that was cheap and simple to construct, and that minimised the raw material usage – a critical factor for a country rebuilding itself after years of conflict.

Lego Petrol Station Esso

Andrea’s incredible recreation of Dudock’s ingenious design is not light on raw material however, as every conceivable detail has been replicated perfectly in Lego form, from the beautiful art deco fuel pumps (attended by Andrea’s previously blogged Volkswagen Transporter) to the brilliantly detailed workshop tooling.

We highly recommend taking a trip Andrea’s wonderful Flickr Photostream where you can see more of the Netherlands in 1953, and we may also be seeing more of Andrea here at TLCB soon…

Lego Esso Garage Dudock 1953