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…
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
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The cheap and simple to maintain “tuk, tuk” is spreading everywhere today. Especially in Asia, Africa and South America they are thronging the roads of cities transporting both goods and people. Recently, a team of Elves have been using a tuk tuk to haul their Lego finds back to TLCB towers. Fortunately this noisily annoying vehicle was smushed into the carpet by another group, equipped with Sariel’s Liebherr Loader.
Tuk tuks have now made it into space, thanks to Pico van Grootveld’s entry into this year’s Classic Space Pocket Money Contest. His Tequilatron theme might explain why 1980s spacemen were always happy and smiling. Pico has also just published photos of his awesome ORCA MK II gunship. Click this link to his Flickr Photostream to see more of both builds, including the alternative models made from the Tuk tuk’s parts.
After featuring Carl Greatrix‘s Model Team Caterham 7 last month he’s boshed out another version. This time it’s the R500 and it looks better than ever.
Carl’s hoping his design will become an official set via the LEGO Ideas programme. He’s nearly half way to securing enough votes, so if you’d like to build your own Seven click the link above and give him your vote. It of course depends on Caterham playing ball with their licensing, but even if they say no there are another dozen or so little British companies making almost exactly the same car to choose from!
European, rear engined, rear wheel drive… the Fiat 126 was nearly identical to a Porsche 911. Except in every other measurable way.
We’ve often derided the little Fiat and its siblings here at TLCB, because they spawned more hateful Communistical automotive landfill than almost any other vehicular design. However, before the 126 was handed over to Eastern Europe to be badly built by dictatorial regimes it was actually a damn good car. A segment leading one in fact, even to the point that Ford benchmarked it when designing their new supermini in the 1970s; the Fiesta.
This Technic version of the 126 has, somewhat confusingly, been built by Porsche96 over on Brickshelf. It’s got opening doors and trunk, Power Functions remotely controlled drive and steering, and a working gearbox too. You can see the Fiat’s full gallery by clicking the link above.
Christmas is almost over, and that means a bumper load for the bin men to haul away. Wrapping paper, boxes, and – in the case of the TLCB – many many empty bottles, are all ready to be thrown out.
Some of our more astute readers may have noticed a subtle message in this post’s title. We’ve given the job of sorting the office’s yuletide rubbish to TLCB Elves, who’ll be arranging it by material for our refuse collectors, or – if it’s even slightly edible – ‘disposing’ of it themselves. And if the Elves can recycle, so can anyone.
Oh, the model. It’s a rather brilliant remotely controlled Technic bin lorry / garbage truck with a whole host of thoroughly engineered working functions. Find out what it can do at Waler‘s Brickshelf page.
