This neat Technic/System tractor was discovered on Flickr. Bobofrutx is the builder, and you can see more at his photostream by clicking here.
Orange Farming
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Become a Lego Professional!
It’s No.2 in the ‘How to Become a Lego Professional‘ interview series, and we’ve got an actual LEGO set designer (and published author) to join us! You can’t get more ‘Pro’ than that.
Nathanael Kruipers aka NKubate has designed several recent LEGO Technic sets that you may own at home! So what does he think is most important in the Lego Community? Click below to read his thoughts.
Click here to read Nathanael’s advice for aspiring builders…
Auburn Boattail Picture Special
This is special Special. Due to an inflated sense of self-importance we tend to write quite a few meaningless words here at TLCB. For this post though, whatever we say is completely moot, because this creation is so utterly beautiful the only way to do it justice is through images. Lots and lots of images. So here they are…
It’s a 1935 Auburn Boattail Speedster, and although it’s a bit early to guess ‘Car of the Year’, this is quite possibly it. Used in an Indiana Jones movie, Flickr’s Veeborg has recreated the incredible pre-war roadster in wonderful detail.
You can see the full gallery at Veeborg’s photostream here, or at his MOCpage here – they might be the best Lego links you click on this year…
Blue Thunder
Now that’s an impressive cockpit.* Ralph Savelsberg returns with a brilliantly recreated version of the ’80s Blue Thunder helicopter. Click his name above to see more on Flickr.
*Your Mom would like it.
Money Shot
We deliberated quite a lot about whether to give this post the same title that Flickr’s _Tiler has used for this creation. Not because we’re a clean bunch here at TLCB (as the regular notes about your Mom testify), but more because whenever we title a post… er, ‘ambiguously’, we get inundated with spam.
Anyway, we’re risking it. And if you’re too young to know what this title means, ask your Mom…
Superbike?
The new 2015 Technic sets are in the shops now and I’ve made my customary annual pilgrimage to the temple of Mammon…
I returned with a very nice green and white Le Mans style racer (about which more soon) and this:
Looks very racy dontchathink? It is of course set 42036, the Sports Motorbike, and it might be LEGO’s most handsome bike yet. 375 pieces of Technic goodness for 30 quid. Decent value, then, if not outstanding.
New element news! This comes with some very handy ‘technic single bush with pin’ pieces that’ll get moccers salivating. They have appeared in a few 2014 sets, including the big Tumbler, but 2015 is their first appearance in Technic sets. There’s also a piece that’s a 1L smooth sided bush – imagine half a pin joiner and you’re there. 42036 comes with just two of those, one of which is a spare.
What else have we got? Well, after you’ve destroyed the box, you’ll find two instruction books, a worryingly large sticker sheet and a few bags of bits. You’ll enjoy the build well enough over a leisurely hour or so, ten minutes of which will be c.a.r.e.f.u.l.l.y. placing stickers over curved panels.
The bike itself looks ace, in a Japanese suzhonda firebusa kind of way, while functionally it’s a mixed bag…
The engine’s pretty neat. It’s a V4 (NOT A TWIN!!) that takes its drive from the centre of the crankshaft, it’s mounted across the bike and canted forward. Not being an expert on bikes, I have no idea how realistic this is but I find it does make a nice change from the usual set-up in Technic bikes. Still turns too slowly, though…
Suspension, on the other hand, is pretty bog standard with no surprises; wobble-strut front forks and all. Because of the thicker tyres, the front one will foul the springs too easily when it’s compressed, and I really would have thought a wider rear tyre shouldn’t be too much to ask on a bike like this… maybe they can mount the primary chain inside the swingarm while they’re at it. Some things never change…
Colours change sometimes, and this time for the better. The medium blue and red combination is very attractive with the dark grey wheels. I was hoping it’d look so nice I needn’t bother with the stickers, but alas without them it does look a bit underdressed. With the stickers on it looks great, until they start to peel…
Which leads me to LEGO’s treatment of the seat. It’s a pair of stickers on the frame! This is. Just. Not. Good. Enough. At least with the exhaust underneath the rider can keep warm.
In other news, the B-model looks pretty cool:
…makes a change from the endless sea of choppers and dragsters doesn’t it? I like this drag-bike type thing very much, mostly because the front end doesn’t wobble so much. There’s an instruction book for it as well.
Overall, this is a bit style-over-substance (engine excepted) and, while it looked like it might be an outstanding bike, it’s really rather… average. It’s saved by its good looks and that B-model. 7/10
On the Right Track
Another day in the office at TLCB Towers and another group of 23 Elves contentedly squabble over a single bright red Smartie. It’s their reward for finding this rather nice Tracked Articulated Tractor. This is the third vehicle built by František Hajdekr using his extremely compact track modules. The tractor is a neat blend of a hinging Technic chassis with a System body which features so many headlights that we’re not sure which is the front or the back end.
František’s first machine to use his track modules was his Tracked ATV, based on the standard Lego motorbike pieces, shown below. This looks very like quad-bikes that actually exist, using the Litefoot conversion system for travelling in deep snow. You can see more photos of both machines, plus details of the construction of the track modules and the Tractor’s chassis, by clicking this link to František’s Flickr Photostream.
Aaaand in the Red Corner…
These two heavyweights of the performance car world were suggested by a reader, and they remind us of a time when Japan was on top of its automotive game. It’s a shame then that currently the entire Japanese auto industry makes almost nothing exciting, and both Mitsubishi and Subaru are virtually dead in the UK market. And don’t even get us started on Honda. Where’s your mojo gone Japan? We’re not the only ones missing it…
Oh, these excellent recreations of the Mitsubishi Evo X and Subauru Impreza WRX are the work of Alexander Paschoaletto on MOCpages – click here to see more.
Je Suis Charlie
Bin Lorry
LEGO would probably call this a Refuse Collection Truck or something, but round our way these are bin lorries and that’s what this shall henceforth be called! Anyway, it might just be a bin lorry, but what a magnificent one it is. Zbiczasty has recreated the Volvo FM cab and Anaconda compactor so brilliantly we had to click on the thumbnail image of the real truck in his recently modified Brickshelf gallery to check it wasn’t Lego too. See what we mean by clicking the link above.
P.S. Recycle!
Home Brew
We don’t often publish fictional cars here at TLCB, because most of them are…er, let’s just say ‘inadequate’. This one though, suggested to us via the Feedback page, is rather nice. It’s the work of Davanchi M and it features a variety of details including opening doors and a clamshell engine cover. But not steering, Davanchi’s faked that. Make it work for real next time please Davanchi! Anyway, you can see more of his ‘Apollo Legacy’ supercar on MOCpages via the link above.
Daffy Truck II
Following yesterday’s modern DAF truck post, here’s its grandad. This stunning recreation of the classic DAF T 2400 has been built by previous bloggee Nanko Klein Paste. Nanko has detailed the chassis and engine as well as the beautiful 1960s Dutch bodywork, and you can see all the photos after the jump.
Quick March
Suggested to us via the feedback page by a reader (and previous bloggee) is Luca Rosconi‘s beautiful 1975 March 751 Formula 1 car, which won the Austrian Grand Prix in torrential rain that year. March were one of the most prolific racing car manufacturers of all time, building cars for dozens of race teams across a variety of racing formulas. Customer cars are now outlawed in Formula 1 so sadly you can’t just buy a car and enter a race. We think this is a bit of shame here at TLCB, so we’ll be imagining what it was like back in the ’70s via Luca’s Flickr page. Click the link above to join us.
Daffy Truck
This unusual (and huge) DAF crane truck was discovered on Flickr. It’s the work of Arian Janssens and you can see the full gallery by clicking here.
Tricky Tractoring
This is one of the slowest and wobbliest vehicles to appear here at TLCB. But it’s also one of the most charming. Joe Perez aka MortalSwordsman’s classic tractor comes from an era when farming was more dangerous than Grand Prix racing. Three wheels and no roll-over protection meant you had to be pretty brave to attempt turning one of these round at the end of a sloping field. You can see more of more of Joe’s ’50s tractor on both MOCpages and Flickr.