5590 Model Team Helicopter Transport Review

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Lego 5590Following the launch of The Lego Car Blog’s new Lego Review Library it’s time for another trip back in time to take a look at one of LEGO’s great sets; 5590 Model Team Helicopter Transport.

5590 was part of LEGO’s three set line-up for their spectacular Model Team range that was launched in 1988 for US ‘Shop at Home’ customers, and in 1990 in European stores. We’re using the European name for the set as we can’t really bring ourselves to use the US one.

The flagship of the new range, 5590 took detail to a level previously unseen outside of the Legoland theme park (there was only one back then). Based on an attractive if slightly generic European cab-over semi the set was really two models in one, as the helicopter could easily be a unique set in its own right. 5590 also brought a few new pieces to Lego fans, chiefly those marvellous wheels, but also two new windscreens that would reappear in later sets.

The build is a relatively straight-forward one; whilst a there is no doubt 5590 is a detailed model the techniques used are fairly basic by today’s standards, but for this builder at least that is part of its charm. It features a few working functions too, bridging the gulf between System and Technic for the first time. Working steering, trailer support legs and opening doors all make appearances and certainly add a degree of playability to what could otherwise be simply a nice display piece.

5590 has, like most sets from the era, aged a little when compared to sets from the late ’90s. There is barely a smooth piece to be seen and SNOT (studs not on top) was but the dream of a madman back in 1988. However, it is still perhaps one of the best Model Team sets made to date, combining detail, a ruggedly playable exterior, and sheer scale that wowed children perusing LEGO’s catalogue back then, and continuing to wow collectors on eBay and Bricklink today. If you can find one for sale you won’t be disappointed, but you will likely be quite a bit poorer.

9/10

To read all The Lego Car Blog’s set reviews and comparisons, including the 5580 counterpart to this set, click the ‘Reviews’ tab in the main menu.

Bullet Magnet

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Lego Mark IV TankThis strange-looking device was built by Jon & Catherine Stead on Flickr. It’s a British Mark IV Tank, one of the first operational, which saw service during World War I. Whilst tanks are an all too familiar sight in modern war footage, and even film from World War II, back in 1917 they were revolutionary, and – frankly – not something you would want to serve in. A top speed of 4mph, early automotive reliability and a tendency to get stuck in soft ground meant that they were easy targets once they fell behind the advancing front line. Germany even captured 40 in one battle alone and, somewhat bravely/foolishly, redeployed them as their own.

Despite the early problems the British invention was a formidable foe when used to attack enemy trenches, and as such it was developed rapidly after the war into ever more capable variants and has since been adopted by almost every army in the world.

See Jon and Catherine’s pioneering Mark IV on Flickr and, because as a community we often overlook why creations such as these are built at all, see what you can do to help those caught in conflict via the Red Cross.

Wings

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Lego Seaplane Curtiss SeagullWhilst we are primarily a car blog, as defined by our imaginative title, we do occasionally like to poke an exploratory tentacle into the world of planes. Today we bring you two of the best recently uploaded to the interweb, representing both sides in the Second World War, and utilising markedly different technologies.

First up (above) is this beautiful Curtiss Seagull, built only between 1935 and 1940, but used extensively throughout the war aboard US warships as observation, scout and training aircraft. JBIronWorks has recreated the aircraft wonderfully, and landed it at a lovely tropical beach. See more on Flickr via the link above.

Second, and representing Germany, is the world’s first jet powered fighter; the Messerschmitt ME 262. Entering service in 1944 the Messerschmitt had, perhaps thankfully, only a brief operational history that ended with the conflict in 1945. It had proved a formidable (and deadly) opponent and influenced aircraft design long after the war. Flickr user LegoUli recreates what is arguably the first aircraft of the modern era, and you can see more of his Lego version along with his other wartime creations at his photostream here.

Lego Messerschmitt ME 262

Big Rig

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Lego Oil Rig Platform

This is a different type of big rig from the ones that we normally feature on TLCB. A very tired Elf carried this 100kg creation up 27 floors to the penthouse office at TLCB towers this morning. After rewarding him with a nautical blue Smartie (they’re the best kind), we settled down to take in the details of this build. Mario Fabrio’s rig is over a metre square and is 1.6m tall. As with many builds of this size, a lot of the fun comes from zooming in on the photos and spotting all of the details and little scenes that the creator has included. As this blog’s mission is to feature vehicles, we should mention that the rig has four mini-fig scale lifeboats and a helicopter, all ready to launch. There are also plenty of workers scattered around the platform, as Mario says that they are just finishing a major repair job. Some of them are enjoying some time off, fishing from the lower decks.

You can enjoy spotting even more details on Mario’s MOCpage by clicking the link.

P.S. If anyone can recommend a specialist Elf osteopath or chiropractor, we’d be very grateful.

Power-Up

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Lego RC car LucraOne of our Brickshelf-based Elves returned with this today, a beautiful fully-studless RC car in an eye-popping paint scheme. Underneath that bright bodywork is a Power Functions RC system including an ‘L’ drive motor and return-to-centre steering.  VKyppwnsall is the builder behind it and you can see all the details, including the RC chassis design, on Brickshelf.

New LEGO Set Review Library!

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Lego Set Reviews

You can now find all The Lego Car Blog’s LEGO set reviews in one place!

The Lego Car Blog Team is pleased to announce the arrival of a new feature at The Lego Car Blog! We’ve been busy cataloging all our past set reviews so that we can bring you a new ‘Reviews‘ tab in the main menu; a resource that contains a library of every LEGO set we’ve ever reviewed! Clicking on a picture will take you straight to the review for that set, or to the comparison page where it’s matched against a similar set of a different vintage.

All newly reviewed sets will be added to this Review Library as well as continuing to appear on the homepage, and you can still find all our reviews via the Search or Category functions if you wish.

As always you can let us know what you think of the new Review Library via the Feedback page or the comments, and if you’d like us to review a particular set (or if you’d like to review one and get your name here on The Lego Car Blog) you can get in contact in the usual ways.

TLCB Team

The Fast and The Furious

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Lego The Fast and The Furious ChargerThe Elves, being simple creatures, like simple films, preferably with lots of cars and lots of explosions. And they don’t come much simpler than 2001’s ‘The Fast and The Furious’. Ok, well maybe the ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ sequel, but even the Elves can’t bring themselves to watch that steaming pile. So much to their delight, today we’re featuring a mini-fig version of ‘Dom’s’ heavily modified Dodge Charger. A car that sadly meets its maker towards the end of the movie. Dambaek C is the builder behind it, and you can see more on MOCpages.

Bring in the Big Guns

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Lego Anti-Aircraft GunFirst up is this impressive looking device; a fictional ‘SPAG’ (Self Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun) built by iomedes !… You can see more of his sci-fi machine and his other works Flickr.

The second of our double post (below) is another fictional military creation, and although whilst the subject remains gloomy, this one does sport a cheerfully sunny paint job. You might as well look good!  ‘Drone 25’ is the work of Damien Labrousse aka Legodrome. Flickr is your friend once more.

Lego Sci-Fi Rocket Launcher

Harley Meet

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Lego Harley Davidson MotorbikesNew photo, old MOCs. We’re stretching our own ‘Freshest MOCs on the Net’ rule a little with this, but if there’s any reason for a stretch this is it. BricksonWheels finally photographs all his Harley Davidson motorbikes together. See the shoot on Flickr, and read about how he creates his stunning creations in his interview here.

Tooth Whitening

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Lego Supercar Vampire GTWe fully expect to receive a lot of spam comments for home whitening kits following this title, but we couldn’t resist. Crowkillers’ spectacular Vampire GT Technic Supercar has undergone a colour change, swapping its previous midnight hue for something a whole lot more Apple. Normally this wouldn’t be worthy of another post, but when it looks this good we couldn’t let it go unnoticed. See more of the new Vampire on Brickshelf or at crowkillers.com.

And points to us today for keeping this post free from Michael Jackson jokes.

Nail Varnish

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Lego Tow TruckThis beautiful bright red flatbed tow truck complete with a lovely matching-era sedan was uncovered by one of our Elfish workforce over on Flickr. Guy H aka V&A Steamworks is the builder (although you’ve probably deduced that already) and you can see more of his classically-themed creations via the link above.

Acronyms

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Lego Technic 4x4Time for a confusing array of letters! PF RC AWD SUV. Points* to those of you who can decode that lot! If you’d like a hand, check out Madoca’s superb 4×4 on Eurobricks, or see it in action in the video below.

*Redeemable for Elf treats.

YouTube Video:

Anothermog

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Lego Military UnimogYes, it’s that time of the week again as another Unimog makes its way onto TLCB. This time round it’s a Town style version complete with what appears to be a couple of shady characters buying illegal weapons from the back of it. See what’s going down at Ironsniper’s Flickr page.

The One We’ve All Been Waiting For

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Ohhh yes…. 42009, the Mobile Crane MkII, is finally here. Was it worth the wait ? Was it worth 150 smackers ? Was it worth spending my entire day off building it ? Read on…

Lego technic 42009

Well, what do you think ? I mean, look at it. Before I get down to it, a quick word about how we do our reviews around here. LEGO doesn’t send us review copies (yet; hint, hint…) so we spend our own money on sets for review, but these are sets that we’d have wanted anyway. This might explain the usually positive flavour of our musings; we’re not going to spend our hard-earned on something we know we won’t like. I haven’t reviewed the 42000 Grand Prix racer because I won’t be getting it.

We do still try to be objective.

Enough already, get on with it!

So, to business. First impressions: Wow, that box is heavy! 2,600 pieces, plus motor and battery box would explain that. It’s the largest Technic set ever, by some margin. Not the most expensive, though, which remains the 8110 Unimog at a fiver more than this; which fact rather gives the lie to the notion of LEGO inflating their prices with each successive generation. You get 550 more pieces and a fiver in exchange for the ‘mog’s pneumatics.

Fortunately, the bags are numbered to reflect the three main stages of the build. This isn’t quite the advantage it might be with the chassis forming well over half of it… Many, many bags all numbered ‘1’. Give yourself plenty of room. And time. That said, it never took me long to find a piece, and I never sort first as LEGO suggest.

There are six instruction books; 3 for the chassis, 2 for the crane part and the last one for the boom. Books 4 and 5 could have easily been combined to make it 1 for the crane part; book 5 is inexplicably slender. There were no mistakes, as we’ve come to expect, and this time not all the build steps are quite so tiny. There is nothing to confuse here as long as you concentrate and don’t forget to insert the 15 long beams alongside the stabilizers; causing you to perform major surgery part way through, or anything silly like that…

At the end of an enjoyable 6-8 hours of building, what have you got ? It’s a very robust, playable, multi-functional and impressive thing. There’s lots going on here, so I’ll break it down. Continue reading →