Clone Wars

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Previous bloggee Crimso Giger has started something rather cool on Flickr, by challenging several of his sci-fi building compatriots to construct their own versions of his ‘RMX Starfigher’, each using their own style and to fulfil their own chosen purpose.

The resultant spacecraft all share Crimso’s primary-colour paint scheme and primary-school shape designation, but vary beautifully with the each builders’ own construction style.

The version pictured above comes from TLCB regular F@bz, who has chosen to build a sleek and smooth interpretation of Crimso’s original, whilst fellow challenger and TLCB debutant lokiloki29 has taken a compact and upright route with his RMX variant below.

You can see more of the two entries so far by clicking on the links in the text above, where you can also see Crimso Giger’s original spacecraft (pictured below) and find links to further interpretations of his design from some of Flickr’s other sci-fi builders.

The Purple People Eater

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TLCB regular _Tiler is back with another glorious hot rod.

See The Purple People Eater on Flickr here.

Technic Porsche 911 42056 – Set Preview

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We were a little underwhelmed with LEGO’s 2016 Technic line-up when we released details back at the end of 2015. However, there was hope that better sets were to come; there was a gap in the numbering sequence. A hole in the range. A supercar shaped hole. And, as it turns out, a Porsche 911 shaped hole…

Yup, LEGO are bringing their first fully authorised official supercar set to market later this year! Expanding on their relationship with Porsche that was first developed for the Speed Champions line (alongside McLaren and Ferrari), and joining the official Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, MINI and Volvo partnerships, LEGO are set to release a spectacular Technic replica of Porsche’s legendary 911, and it looks i.n.c.r.e.d.i.b.l.e.

Set 42056 was revealed at the 2016 Nuremberg Toy Fair today, and it could well be the most amazing Technic flagship in LEGO’s history; a fully detailed replica of – we think – Porsche’s brutal 911 GT3 RS super car complete with (again – we think…) a working paddle-shift transmission!

There is no word on pricing or piece-count, and we expect the test-car camouflage to be replaced with a road car or racing livery before the set is finalised for production, but despite the unknowns we are properly excited by the prospect of LEGO’s latest partnership. It could also open the doors for further potential manufacturer-backed sets, as car companies begin to recognise the power such synergies can have on their brand’s future desirability.

You can see more unofficial images of the new 2016 LEGO Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS at Gizmodo, who first broke the news story, or via the photographer’s Flickr page here. And if that wasn’t enough 42056 is due to be joined by a truly enormous bucket-wheel excavator and a large, motorised, and thoroughly excellent official Claas tractor too.

LEGO Technic is looking better than ever…

Blowing Snow

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Nope, not an 80’s stockbroker snorting a line from the stomach of a lady of negotiable affection, but this – Thirdwigg‘s exceptionally neat Technic snowblower. In fact it’s such a neat creation that when edited onto an official-looking box it could easily pass for a real LEGO set. There’s working steering, blower rotation and elevation adjustment, a working piston engine, and a functioning salt spreader too. You can see all the images on Flickr at the link above, plus you can join the discussion at the Eurobricks forum here.

Vespas in Space

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This smiling mini-figure looks like she’s having a fun ride. You can see more of _zenn‘s hoverbike-riding blonde on Flickr – click the link above to check her out.

Ferrari Testarossa – Picture Special

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This incredible creation comes from car-building legend, TLCB Master MOCer, and all-round nice guy Firas Abu-Jaber. It is of course the bewitching Ferrari Testarossa.

Firas makes his return to TLCB with several versions of the iconic Italian super car, including the original 1980s incarnation, the later 512 TR, and a spider variant.

The Testarossa launched in the mid-80s with a mid-mounted 4.9 litre flat-12 engine (necessitating the car’s enormous signature side vents), and over 10,000 were built across all variants until production ceased around a decade later, making it one of Ferrari’s all-time best selling models.

Fires Abu-Jaber’s stunning replicas of the quintessential Ferrari recreate every detail in breathtaking realism, and he’s thrown in some unique building techniques too, including the ingenious use of LEGO magnets to attach the rear bodywork and engine – a technique we expect to see used throughout the online community before long.

There’s a huge gallery of images available to view, including ‘how-to’ shots of that cunning magnetism, on both MOCpages and Flickr – click the links to see all the photos, plus you can read Firas’ interview here at TLCB by clicking here.

V-Sign

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Good things come in fives. We tried to think of some examples to prove this but we got stuck after Oceans, Fingers and Toes, so we’ll move straight onto this; Senator Chinchilla‘s lovely Model Team replica of Mitsubishi’s Evolution V. The fifth in Mitsubishi’s now-discontinued line of four-wheel-drive rally weaponry, the Evo V was the performance car to have in the mid 1990s. Unless you were a Subaru fan of course. You can see more of this ace example on Flickr – click the link above to make the jump.

Wild Horse

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Cars wearing the prancing horse badge are usually found only on the smoothest of tarmac. Or stored un-driven in an investor’s garage, which is even worse. TLCB regular Angka Utama isn’t having any of that though, as his Ferrari 308 has been built for the gravel and mud of the forests. We like this approach very much.

You can see more of Angka’s Ferrari 308 rally car on either MOCpages or Flickr, and if you think an off-road Ferrari is about as realistic as Kim Kardashian winning the nobel prize for physics, take a look at the links below…

A Ferrari 288 GTO getting muddy, a Ferrari Enzo getting muddier, and a Ferrari Mondial banger racer!

Electrical Discharge

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TLCB staff have no imagination whatsoever. Like, at all. This is why we blog nice, neat, real-world cars, and also why we have no clue about anything science fictiony. The inside of captainsmog‘s head then, is somewhere that would probably leave us quietly rocking in a corner. Thankfully the captain can navigate the strangeness of his own mind rather skilfully, and the resultant produce – such as the creation appearing here – can be utterly beautiful.

This whimsical contraption is a Mobile Mechanised Tesla Cannon (apparently), and it is – as you can see – completely wonderful in every way. The mini-figure at the controls looks like he’s having a riotously good time too. We don’t know what it’s for, or how it came to be, but we do know it’s worth a closer look. Join us inside the captain’s head at his Flickr photostream via the link above.

Animal Automobiles

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Automobile manufacturers have long used animal names for their products. From Cobra to Cougar, Ram to Raptor, and Stag to Stingray, it’s the fiercest and most dangerous of the animals that seem to catch the eye of marketing departments.

However Chevrolet decided not to go down the deadly-animal route when picking a name for their new luxury sedan in the late ’50s, instead choosing to name their new car after a medium-sized antelope from Africa that’s the favoured food of lions and cheetahs.

Despite Chevrolet’s new car not being called something big and scary, nor sharing a single characteristic with the light and nimble Impala that provided its name, it was a roaring success, becoming the best-selling car in America in the mid-60s. Although powered by a typical inline-6 or a V8 engine the Impala was uncharacteristically forward-thinking for an American barge, and included such developments as cruise control and fuel injection.

Of course in the ’80s and ’90s the Impala had become – like every American car from the time – total crap, but let’s not dwell on that automotive wasteland and instead focus on the Impala’s golden age, with this wonderful sky-blue 1960 example from Flickr’s Ralph Savelsberg.

Featuring opening doors, hood and trunk, and a detailed engine-bay and interior there’s lots to see – click on the link above to visit Ralph’s photostream for all of the images.

Not a Car

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This is not a car. But it is awesome, and thus it’s appearing here. SweStar is the builder, appearing here for the first time, at you can see more of his ‘AE-97 Blaze of Glory’ here. Meanwhile, TLCB Elves are under strict instructions to find a car, what with it being in the blog title and whatnot…

History Repeating

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We quite liked ‘Star Wars – The Force Awakens’, but the plot was… well, we’re just going to say it – totally and completely recycled from the previous films. Still, it’s understandable that new owners Disney probably don’t want to take too many risks with their fattest cash-cow.

The spacecraft in ‘The Force Awakens’ had been seen before too, from a reacquaintance with the Millennium Falcon to a new and still easily-blow-up-able Death Star via this; another incarnation of the X-Wing fighter.

This most excellent mini-figure scale version of the latest iteration of X-Wing comes from previous bloggee Yubnub, featuring movable wings, a neat cockpit, and space for that football-wearing-a-hat type thing that rolls around for most of the movie.

There’s more to see of Yubnub’s T-70 X-Wing on Flickr – use the force on the link above, or alternatively give it a click.

Midnight Master

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This immaculately detailed and beautifully photographed creation was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr. It’s a Kamaz Master Dakar-spec rally truck in full Red Bull livery and it looks, as you can see here, rather special. Silva Vasil is making his TLCB debut with this build, and there’s lots more to see at his Flickr photostream – click the link above for more stunning imagery.

Modular Rodular

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All of these brilliant Town-scale hot rods were discovered by one TLCB Elf, an Elf who is by far the luckiest in TLCB history, and who is soon likely to be the fattest in TLCB history too.

They all come from Flick’s Tim Henderson, who has designed a neat modular chassis to which a variety of body-styles and engines can be quickly and easily attached.

To demonstrate his systems’ flexibility Tim has built nine hot and rat rods using the same common architecture, and every single one looks thoroughly excellent. If there was any idea ideally suited to, er… LEGO Ideas, this is surely it.

Tim’s platform can be constructed in a variety of lengths to suit different applications, and it can fit both a traditional mini-figure and a Friends figurine behind the wheel.

You can see all of Tim’s hot and rat rods as well as the platform that unites them at his photostream – click here to make the jump to Flickr.

The King is Dead…

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…Long Live the King. Manufacturing of the the world’s fastest production car ceased last year, and with Bugatti now readying a replacement we thought we’d take a look back at the car that re-wrote the rulebook on speed…

The Bugatti Veyron was launched by the VW empire back in 2005, when the group decided to showcase their engineering talents by designing a car to meet some outrageous targets: 1000bhp. 250mph. And in car that anyone (with very deep pockets) could drive.

Signed-off in 2001 the Veyron arrived four years later, powered by an eight-litre quad-turbo W16 engine making 1001bhp, all-wheel-drive, and with an all-important top speed of 253mph. Now, after 10 years and what felt like hundreds of special editions, the sun has finally set on the world’s first 250mph+ hypercar, thus clearing the way for the new Bugatti Chiron that is due to be unveiled later this year.

The final Veyrons produced power well in excess of the original car’s 1001bhp, and hold the current record for the world’s fastest production car at 267.7mph. This fantastic recreation of one of those later cars comes from pipasseyoyo of Brickshelf, and whilst it probably won’t do 267.7mph (no matter how hard you push it) it does feature some brilliant engineering in its own right, with all-wheel-drive, a W16 engine, working steering, adjustable suspension, a 6-speed gearbox, an adjustable spoiler, and opening doors, trunk and hood all featuring.

There’s lots more to see of pipasseyoyo’s beautiful Technic supercar on Brickshelf, including high quality images of the chassis, drivetrain, suspension and interior, plus you can see more in the excellent (music aside) video below.

YouTube Video:

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Clone Wars

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The Purple People Eater

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Blowing Snow

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Vespas in Space

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V-Sign

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Wild Horse

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Electrical Discharge

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