The Power of Crystals. Again

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LEGO were struggling in the late-’90s. Having decimated their Town line, and with Technic looking, well… like this, the LEGO Company turned to increasingly short-lived sci-fi themes to keep the wolves from the door. That meant some quirky new pieces, new colours, and plot development so lazy it makes the Marvel Cinematic Universe look like Christopher Nolan.

Yes, we’re talking crystals, the go-to for half-a-dozen late-’90s themes when LEGO couldn’t be bothered to think of anything else. One such theme was the amusingly-iconed Rock Raiders, which lasted just a single year, featured a comic and a video game, and – of course – a quest for crystals, because… shut up, that’s why.

Flickr’s Mathijs Bongers has returned to the crystal mines of the Rock Raiders theme with this immensely playable-looking ‘Modular Mining Unit’, complete with working suspension, drill, laser, magnetic crane, container modules, mining station, and on-board speeder.

There’s much more of the MMU to see (plus a whole heap more rock-based machinery) at Mathijs ‘Rock Raiders; Planet ONYXX Expedition’ album, and you can join him mining for crystals (as LEGO did about five times too often) via the link in the text above.

The Western Front

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Today’s diorama above is an all-too-familiar scene from current news. A helicopter hovers above, a self-propelled gun lurks below, a rocket-launcher fires from behind a tank-defence, whilst power lines, crops, and a humble home remind us of the daily life upended by the arrival of war. Yet this scene isn’t borne of a maniacal Russian President intent on restoring the Soviet Union, but rather a glimpse into a possible near future, wherein Russia has divided and is fighting itself. Flickr’s PelLego has published this fictional conflict in collaboration with several other builders, and you can take a look into their world-that-might-be via the link above.

Model Team Truckin’

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The release of LEGO’s Model Team line in the late-’80s / early-90’s (depending where you live) was a momentous shift in the trajectory LEGO building. Aimed at older children, the three debut sets in the Model Team range took the visual realism of LEGO to a whole new level compared to the simple blocky sets that were the limit just a few years before. The 5580 Highway Star set is perhaps the most iconic of those early offerings, and previous bloggee SvenJ. is giving us strong reminiscing vibes with his fantastic Peterbilt 359 flatbed truck (which is surely the real-world vehicle that inspired the original 5580 set). Sven’s beautiful construction is matched by top quality presentation, and you can check out this superb ode to Model Team past via the link in the text above.

White Flight

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Monochrome, minimalist, and Scandinavian is very en-vogue right now. We’re not sure said design philosophy applies to rotary-wing aircraft much, but judging by this creation by Aero Explorer it should do.

With a title as straightforward as its colour palette, Aero Explorer’s ‘Lego Helicopter’ is beautiful in its apparent simplicity, but there’s some clever techniques in play to create an exterior of such cleanliness.

Superb presentation matches the construction and there more to see at Aero’s photostream. Click the link above to take flight.

My First Pick-Up

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In TLCB’s home nation, first cars tend to be rubbish. The Inbetweeners’ Fiat Cinquecento may have been a running joke throughout the series, but it was also perfectly accurate for most of us. Imagine our surprise then, when newcomer and Italian builder brittle.lime.joint / CaptainSerMig recreated his first car in Lego form and it wasn’t a crappy little Fiat.

No, his first wheels were all driven, coming attached to a third-generation Mitsubishi L200 double-cab pick-up. Which is about a thousand times cooler than whatever we were driving in our late teens.

Brittle’s brick-built replica of his first car includes working steering, accurate independent front and leaf-spring rear suspension, plus opening doors, hood and tailgate, and there’s more of his model to see at both Eurobricks and Flickr. Join us in wishing our first wheels were as cool as his via the links above.

Hooked

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The Lego Car Blog Elves love a big red truck, and they don’t come much bigger, redder, and truckier than this one. It’s a DAF FAW XF 450 hook-lift container truck, as built (and presented) beautifully by TLCB regular Arian Janessens. Working steered axles and a functional hook-lift feature, and there’s more to see on Flickr via the link above.

I Like to Move It*

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Technic vehicles are one of the reasons this backwater of the internet was created over a decade ago. Making things move is one of our favourite aspects of Technic, and today’s brilliant crane tipper truck by Alex Ilea exemplifies this wonderfully.

Controlled via BuWizz bluetooth brick, Alex’s creation replicates the movements of its real-world counterpart thanks to three Power Functions L Motors, and ingeniously a fourth M Motor that switches the model between ‘drive mode’ and ‘crane mode’ via a gearbox.

In drive mode the aforementioned electronics allow the model to drive and steer, and tip the load bed, whilst switching to ‘crane mode’ automatically deploys the stabilisers, with the motors then operating the crane’s rotation and two-stage elevation.

It’s a great example of how motors and mechanics can bring motion to a Lego model, and there’s lots more of the build to see at both Eurobricks and Alex’s Bricksafe gallery.

*Today’s title song. Or alternatively…

Need a Lift?

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We love functions-packed creations here at The Lego Car Blog, and few this year have come packed with as many as Wiseman_2’s spectacular three-axle crane.

Making their TLCB debut, Wiseman_2 has constructed the model for a Eurobricks contest, equipping it with working steering on the first and third axles (via both the steering wheel and ‘HOG’), all-wheel suspension, a six-cylinder piston engine connected to a four-speed gearbox driven by the un-steered axle, and working two-stage outriggers that both extend/retract and lower/raise.

Of course a mobile crane needs a boom and winch too, and Wiseman_2’s is superbly served in that department, with a three-stage boom that extends to over a hundred studs in length, raising and extending via mechanics on the right hand side of the rotating superstructure.

It’s a fantastic feat of Technic engineering and one of the finest models of this type we’ve featured yet. There’s plenty more to see – including work-in-progress and photos showing the crane’s mechanics – at both the Eurobricks discussion forum and Wiseman_2’s ‘Three-Axle Crane’ Flickr album. Click the links above for a very good lift indeed.

The Last of the V8 Interceptors

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Law and order is breaking down. Fuel is ruinously expensive. And the land is turning into a scorching desert. But enough about today, let’s indulge in some dystopian movie-based escapism. 1979’s ‘Mad Max’ depicted a future in which law and order has broken down, fuel is ruinously expensive, and the land is a scorching dese… oh.

One movie plot difference is that Max did get to drive a V8, whereas here it won’t be long before they’re a remnant of history. Which means we’d probably take the ‘Mad Max’ post-apocalyptic dystopian future over whatever hell-scape is actually on the horizon.

Helping us imagine it is Peter Blackert (aka Lego911), who has recreated Max’s modified ’73 Ford Falcon XB Interceptor brilliantly in brick form. An enormous supercharger, eight side pipes, and roof and boot spoilers accurately capture the film Falcon, and you can hit the highway across a post-apocalyptic wasteland via the link above.

Put a Lid On It

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This TLCB Writer is nearly at the point where he’s societally obliged to buy a Porsche Boxter. But what if you too are approaching middle-age and/or limited follicle coverage, but a convertible isn’t for you? Well Thirdwigg’s previously blogged Porsche 718 Boxter has now become a 718 Cayman, losing its convertible roof, yet retaining its mid-life-crisis status.

Thirdwigg’s Cayman GT4 also retains the working steering, flat-6 piston engine, and opening doors of its Boxter forebear, and you can see more of it alongside the previously-featured convertible version at his ‘Porsche 718’ album. Click the link and get your mid-life-crisis started!

Treasure Planet

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Losing Disney around $74 million, 2002’s ‘Treasure Planet’ is a film the studios would probably like to forget. Which is a shame, because it was well received, but was sadly at odds with the computer-animation boom of the early ’00s, and Disney’s traditionally animated movies were all but gone within a few years.

It’s this traditional animation however, that sets ‘Treasure Planet’ apart from its computer-animated peers today, being infinitely more beautiful than the CGI films of the time.

Measuring a metre tall and a metre long, this spectacular 4,000-piece recreation of ‘Treasure Planet’s ‘RLS Legacy’ solar galleon captures the movie’s gorgeous animation wonderfully in brick form, and comes from Flickr’s Daniel Church who designed it for the Brickworld Chicago show.

Presented (and edited) beautifully, there’s more to see of Daniel’s incredible otherworldly ship at his ‘RLS Legacy’ album, and you can join the Legacy’s crew at the Crescentia Spaceport at the start of their adventure via the link above.

The Worst Car in the World

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What’s the worst car in the world?

No, it’s the Tesla Cybertruck, a truck that can’t tow, that can’t off-road, that can’t be washed in sunlight, a truck on sale with literally unfinished software, that requires a $5,000 option not to rust, a truck with windshield wipers that drop off, window surrounds that drop off, critical braking issues, critical steering issues, and with wheels that slice into the tyres wrapped around them.

A testament to marketing over substance, the Cybertruck’s only saving grace is that this automotive equivalent of the Fyre Festival is unable to be sold in Europe – because it is so dangerous to pedestrians, cyclists and other road users – so we’ll never have to see one.

Except in Lego form of course, thanks today to Thomas Gion‘s very neatly constructed 6-wide example, which demonstrates another one of the Tesla Cybertruck’s myriad of alarming issues. Click the link above to check it out, or here if you’re not sure why there’s a sliced carrot sticking out of the fender.

Double-Bs

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Today’s we have not one but two alternate builds. And they’re the same.

This brilliant John Deere High-Speed Dozer is the work of previous bloggee M_longer, and has been constructed from two of LEGO’s excellent 42163 Heavy-Duty Bulldozer Technic starter sets.

Using every single one of the combined 390 pieces available, M-longer’s 42163 (x2) B-Model features articulated steering, working blade elevation, and looks remarkably like the unusual real-world vehicle it emulates.

The full gallery is available via Bricksafe, and full details, a video, and link to building instructions can all be found on Eurobricks. Click the links above to take a look.

Monorail!* | Picture Special

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Like any LEGO fan who grew up in the ’90s, this TLCB Writer would give an internal organ, even a big one, to get his hands on a LEGO monorail.

Flickr’s martin.with.bricks. doesn’t need to forgo a body part, because he already owns the best LEGO set ever made, and has redeployed it to create this fabulous ‘Space Monorail Station’.

Packed with wonderful spacecraft, speeders, hover-tugs, aliens, a glorious Futuron-style monorail train, plus an entire second monorail based on LEGO’s rollercoaster tracks, Martin’s colossal Space Monorail Station is the sort of creation that makes you want to shrink yourself to mini-figure size to wander through it.

You can jump into all the imagery of Martin’s ‘Space Monorail Station’ at his album of the same name, where TLCB Staff will be both pretending they’re 3cm tall, and wondering which organ they could do without.

*It’s more of a Shelbyville idea…

Multiple Loads

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Big trucks. Small trucks. Box trucks. Semi-Trucks. Long Nose. Cab-Over. Countless brick-built trucks have appeared here over the years, but often we forget why trucks exist in the first place. To pull stuff.

Cue Arian Janssens, who remembers the most important part of a truck is the thing it’s pulling.

Arian’s superb curtain-sided three-axle trailer complete with rear-mounted forklift, container trailer with shipping container, and container trailer with tank, each of which is built and presented beautifully (as is the DAF FT XD 450 Sleeper Cab pulling them).

There’s more to see of each (and the truck) on Flickr, and you can check out Arian’s multiple loads via the link above.