Building Bridges

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Slightly less Russian military hardware will be unleashed on Ukraine of late, what with the latter’s decision to bring the conflict of Russia’s warmongering president to his own soil.

At least two Russian bridges, used to transport weaponry amongst other things, have been destroyed by Ukraine in recent weeks, making the scene above a little less common than it was a fortnight ago.

Said scene comes from previous bloggee Nathan Hake, whose MAZ-537 and gorgeous bridge-based diorama was built for a recent Lego show.

Fantastic attention to detail, presentation, and construction techniques are evident in abundance, with the MAZ packed with working functionality too, featuring remote control all-wheel-drive, steering, and trailer hitch lock, whilst the trailer also includes motorised legs and ramps.

There’s more to see at Nathan’s photostream and you can head to a bridge somewhere in Eastern Europe via the link above.

I’m Lovin’ It

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Created in 2003 by a German marketing agency to revitalise a stagnant McDonald’s, the Justin Timberlake voiced “I’m Lovin’ It”* campaign has been the brand’s tagline for over two decades. As have animal welfare violations, immediate-landfill plastic toys, and french fries with nineteen ingredients.

Cue previous bloggee Arian Janessens‘ excellent McDonald’s-liveried DAF FAR 85.360 truck and drawbar trailer, which would no doubt be loaded with the meat from miserable chickens, pointless plastic toys, and nineteen different fries ingredients if it were real.

Superb brickwork, top-notch presentation, and opening doors and ramps all feature, and you can place your order for Type 2 diabetes and heart disease via the link above.

*You may be able to tell but we are not, in fact, lovin’ it.

My Other Car’s a Ford

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We suspect that most Ford owners, given the option, would swap their car for a Lamborghini. Unless the Ford was a GT maybe. However if you own LEGO’s Technic 42154 Ford GT, you can make the probable trade-down to a Lamborghini in the form of this excellent Huracan RWD B-Model.

Built only from the parts from the 42154 Ford GT set, newcomer Marvelous Bricks has equipped his Huracan alternate with a working V10 engine and steering, plus opening doors and engine cover.

Building instructions are available and there’s more to see on Eurobricks; take a look via the link above and turn your Ford into a Lamborghini. Now if only someone could do the same thing with a 1998 Fiesta…

Heady Stuff

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A multitude of working functions is normally reserved for Technic sets. Except this one. Rarely do Town/City models feature much more than opening doors and a smiling mini-figure.

Not today though, as previous bloggee Reddish Blue‘s John Deere X9 1100 combine harvester features as many – if not more – working features than many Technic sets ten times the size.

Suggested by a reader, Reddish’s combine packs in a height-and-tilt-adjustable feeder (via HOG controls) driven by the front wheels and selectable via a mechanical switch, a hinged header with rotating cutterbars, HOG rear-wheel-steering and oscillating suspension, an adjustable unloading auger, and an adjustable chopper tile angle. And we don’t even know what that last one means.

There’s also a front track option, rotating ladder, opening sides and cabin, and a smiling mini-figure. This is a Town/City creation after all.

There much more to see, including a link to building instructions, at Reddish Blue’s ‘John Deere X9 1100 with HDF35 header’ album, and you can head there via the link above.

Giraffes and Rabbits

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The online Lego Community is a Russian doll-like in its niche-within-a-niche disposition. One such rabbit-hole is found deep within the emergency services community (yes, there is one), where an enthusiastic band of builders create entire fictional fire departments, complete with fleets of fire-fighting apparatus.

We know this because when we looked up this ‘Evee FFLT-2 “Giraffe” fire ladder truck’ by Flickr’s Jordan Parmegiani, all we found was a company selling electric scooters.

Thus this particular fire truck is not a real one, but it is so detailed it may as well be. Opening hatches, a fully-fitted interior, a rotating and elevating ladder, deployable stabilisers, and an array of fire-fighting equipment have all been constructed in brick form, with the truck itself also beautifully life-like despite being a work of fiction.

There’s lots more of Jordan’s creation to see at his photostream, and you can head down the fire-fighting rabbit-hole to see more of a giraffe via the link above.

My Other Car’s a Chevy

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In the 1960s, General Motors were phenomenally adept at spinning different cars from the same platform. Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Pontiac were all successful brands in their own right, being positioned, marketed, and priced to separate segments of the U.S auto market, but all sharing considerable commonality underneath.

Pontiac were priced towards the lower end of GM’s portfolio, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t produce fast, desirable products. This is one of them, the fabulous first generation Pontiac GTO, which shared its componentry with the mid-’60s Chevrolet Malibu, Buick Skylark Grand Prix, and Oldsmobile 442.

Built by Master MOCer Firas Abu-Jaber, this wonderful recreation of the Pontiac GTO also shares its parts with a Chevrolet, being constructed solely from the pieces found within the excellent LEGO 10304 Icons Chevrolet Camaro Z28 set.

Using 1,322 of the Camaro’s 1,456 parts, Firas’ GTO looks so good you’d be hard-pressed to know it’s an alternate. Working steering, opening doors, hood and trunk, plus a detailed interior and engine bay all feature, as per the donor set, with the model presented absolutely beautifully.

There’s lots more of Firas’ incredible Pontiac GTO to see at his album of the same name, plus you can find out how he creates models such as this one at his Master MOCers interview here at TLCB, accessible via the first link in the text above.

Old Man Semi

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We’re not all racing cars, sports cars, and monstrous off-roaders here at The Lego Car Blog. Nope. Because today we have a road-worn ’80s MAN truck. And a title referencing erectile disfunction.

This battered MAN F90 ‘cab-over semi’, or just ‘truck’ to our European readers, is the work of Sseven Bricks, who has deliberately constructed it to look well used. And to great effect. Cunning techniques and excellent presentation make this worth a closer look, and you can click the link above to see more of Sseven’s old MAN semi.

My Other Other Vehicle is Also a Mercedes

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It seems like only a week ago that that LEGO’s brand new 42177 Technic Mercedes-Benz G 500 set was wonderfully converted into Mercedes’ most extreme off-road vehicle. Because it was.

But as per gloves, bookends, and TV cops, 42177 Unimog alternates come in pairs, because today we have another.

Like Eric Trax’s previously-blogged U423, M_longer’s U437 uses only parts from the official 42177 set, and is packed with brilliant working functionality.

Featuring suspended portal axles, all-wheel-drive with differential lock, a 4-cylinder piston engine, HOG steering, high/low transfer case, opening and locking doors, a tipping bed, and an elevating snow plough attachment, M_longer’s 42177 B-Model includes very nearly as much functionality as LEGO’s own 8110 Mercedes-Benz Unimog set, all constructed from the parts of a G-Wagen.

A huge gallery of top quality imagery is available to view at Bricksafe, full details (including a link to building instructions) can be found on Eurobricks, and you can check out more of M_longer’s incredible 42177 B-Model Unimog via the links above.

Humbly Reading

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If you’re into reading about LEGO as well as building it (and you must be to some degree, as you’re reading this), then our friends over at No Starch Press have a seriously good offer available, all for charity.

No Starch Press’s digital Humble Bundle brings you up to twenty of their Lego titles in digital form, for a ‘pay what you want price’, with the profits going to the It Gets Better charity.

Over 2,500 bundles have been sold so far, containing books including the TLCB-recommended titles The LEGO Lighting Book, The Unofficial Lego Technic Builders Guide, The Art of Lego Scale Modeling, and Tiny Lego Wonders.

You can take a look at the twenty No Starch Press titles available to be bundled via the Humble Bundle store here, and if you can’t decide on which ones to pick you can find many of them in our Review Library by clicking here.

New Millenium Racer

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Early-00’s Le Mans began the ‘Prototype’ era, most famously via the open-cockpit Audis that won almost every race that decade.

Inspired by the 2000’s LMP racers, previous bloggee and TLCB Master MOCer Thirdwigg has created this neat Technic version, complete with working steering, a flat-8 piston engine, and removable bodywork.

Free building instructions are available and there’s more of the model to see on Flickr. Click here to head to Le Mans circa-2004.

Collection of Letters

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This is a Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE, which is very boring name. It’s not a boring car though, being designed for the World Endurance Championship’s GT-Class (which includes Le Mans), and being the single loudest thing that this TLCB Writer has ever heard*.

Built by newcomer Reddish Blue, this superb Speed Champions example replicates the works cars that competed in the 2017 championship and came 4th in class at the famous 24 hour race.

Building instructions are available and you can find out more about Reddish’s Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE at his album of the same name via the link above.

*Except for your Mom last night.

Muppety Relations

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Kermit and Miss Piggy might be the world’s most famous puppet-based couple, but the mechanics of their relationship are probably not something upon which to ponder too deeply. Cue this green pig, as however nightmarish the offspring of a frog and a pig might be, in car form the result is fantastic.

Previous bloggee PleaseYesPlease is the builder behind this stunning Speed Champions modified Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2, which – even in American-safety-bumper form – looks the business.

Stretched tyres and a little window stickerage aren’t strictly purist, but then we started this post with an amphibian-swine sex metaphor, so don’t go looking to us for formality.

There’s more to see of Please’s gloriously green Porsche 911 at the link above, plus you can find every time their works have appeared here to date via this bonus link.

All Night Smokin’

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Back in the 1980s, anything that was bad for you could be found on the side of a racing car. Which has got to be cooler than the crypto currency and credit cards we get today.

This particular mobile billboard for cancer comes courtesy of Porsche, and the last time they won the Le Mans 24 Hours with the 962C, when Hans-Joachim Stuck, Derek Bell and Al Holbert crossed the line twenty laps ahead of the second-placed car. Which was also a Porsche 962C.

Built by SFH_Bricks, this exquisite Speed Champions replica of the 1987 race winner includes a superbly authentic livery thanks to Brickstickershop, custom wheels, and building instructions are available too.

Head for post-race cigarette via the link above.

My Other Vehicle is Also a Mercedes-Benz

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In the moronic SUV arms-race that rages around TLCB Towers it’s only a matter of time before someone swaps their G-Wagen for an even larger 4×4 from the Mercedes-Benz portfolio.

Of course you can’t get much larger than a G-Class, and thus any prospective winner of the SUV one-upmanship will have to step away from Mercedes-Benz’s cars and into their truck line. Which is exactly what TLCB Master MOCer Eric Trax has done with his Technic 42177 Mercedes-Benz G 500 Professional Line set.

Constructed from 87% of the donor set, Eric’s Unimog U423 B-Model is so good it doesn’t feel like an alternate at all, featuring four-wheel-drive, HOG steering, all-wheel-suspension, two diff-locks, front and rear two-speed PTOs, a six-cylinder engine under a tilting cab, an adjustable front hitch, and a two-way tipper.

It’s surely one of the best alternate builds we’ve ever published, and there’s loads more to see – including a link to building instructions – on Flickr and Eurobricks, plus you can watch Eric’s phenomenal 42177 B-Model in action below.

Click on the links above to trade in your Mercedes-Benz G 500 for a Unimog, and put your neighbours in their place!

My Other Car is Also a Ferrari

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The average Ferrari owner doesn’t own only one. In fact two-thirds of Ferrari owners own at least one other prancing horse amongst their five car garage. Which makes today’s post very apt for Ferrari ownership, as this spectacular Technic recreation of Ferrari’s latest 12-cylinder super car, the 12Cilindri (yes, Ferrari are still crap at names) has been constructed solely from the parts of another.

Like the 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3 set on which it’s based, Alex Ilea’s alternate features a working engine, steering and suspension, an 8-speed paddle-shift gearbox, and opening doors, hood and trunk, with the model presented beautifully to boot.

Building instructions are also available, so if you own a 42143 set and you’d like to become a proper Ferrari owner (i.e. have access to more than one), then head to the Eurobricks forum where a link can be found, plus you can click here for the full Bricksafe gallery of top quality imagery.