New 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.
We 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.
This 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.
Time 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:
Yes, 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.
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…
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
For today’s post we hand TLCB reigns over to Nils O who, as well as being a previously blogged builder, contacted us to highlight a creation he thought we should publicise. Over to Nils…
The Tumbler Batmobile from Chris Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy is definitely one of the most popular LEGO car models, but there have only been very few attempts to build a Steampunk version of this iconic car. Legopard has picked up the idea of this theme mix. He’s not only built a fantastic wooden Tumbler Batmobile, but also added a matching Batcave. Check out this beauty and more of his fantastic creations on MOCpages and on Flickr.
A big thank you to Nils O for becoming a TLCB Guest Author for the day. You can check out his own work here, and if you too like the idea of writing for TLCB then you can contact us in the usual way, and we might take you up on it.
Download Issue 17 for Free!
HispaBrick – the superb online resource and magazine for Spanish LEGO fans – have released the latest edition of their free magazine.
Good news for car fans! – Issue 17 not only reviews the Amazing Vehicles book previewed here earlier in the year, there is also a multi-page article showcasing the work of TLCB ‘Master MOCer‘, Dennis Glaasker aka BricksonWheels. Dennis’ incredible trucks are amongst the best LEGO creations being built today, so if you fancy learning a little more about how they’re made, or you’d just like to look at the stunning photography, make sure you check out his feature via the links in this post.
All our links will take you to English-language content, however if you are a Spanish-speaker you can also access content in your native language via the HispaBrick homepage.
No-One Expects the Spanish Inquisition!
A movie quickie now. Nothing we can write here will do Sariel‘s Helicarrier from the Avengers Assemble movie justice, it’s just too awesome. In fact, it’s so awesome we broke our own rule to not default to the adjective ‘awesome’. Anyway, see how awesome Sariel’s latest creation is on MOCpages via the link above, or via Sariel’s blog. Awesome.
The Elves, told yesterday to include more oranges in their diet, have taken the advice to heart and as such one of them brought this back to The Lego Car Blog office today. Promptly rewarded with an orange Smartie (they’re the best kind) the happy Elf has wandered off to find other orange things and we’re free to elaborate on this rather brilliant creation.
The work of [Maks] on Flickr, it’s a Town scale replica of LEGO’s own superb 8110 Mercedez-Benz Unimog set, to date the largest and most complex Technic set produced. [Maks] has recreated visually all the working aspects of the 2,048 piece Technic original, right down to the grab attachment on the rear-mounted crane. To see more of this superb mini-‘Mog click on [Maks] name, and you can read The Lego Car Blog’s review of the 8110 Technic set via the hyperlink above or by typing ‘8110’ into the Search function at the foot of this page.
In contrast to Doc Brown’s Technic Ford Tudor, which we featured yesterday, comes 1saac W.’s tiny Model A hot rod, also from 1932. You can see more of Issac’s cars, including his Dodge Polara Police car which we featured recently, on his Flickr photostream.
In the meantime some of the Elves have been looking a bit malnourished recently. The doctors suggested more oranges in their diet, so here’s the result. This mini monster truck is the work of LEGOLIZE IT MAN, on Flickr, who’s better known for his stylish spacecraft, with accompanying concept artwork. As well as a colour scheme and graphics similar to some of his spaceships, this little car features multiple stud angles and a pair of lightsabers as axles, attached to a chunky propshaft. See more at the link.
Besides being a CBC television programme containing quite a lot of sex (and also quite a lot of historical inaccuracy), ‘Tudors’ can also refer to buildings of a certain style and, perhaps more strangely, Hot Rods.
We have no idea how a car can be a ‘Tudor’ (can anyone help?), but looking at Doc Brown‘s ’32 Ford Tudor we do quite like the results. As is commonplace in recent Technic creations Doc’s Ford is remote controlled via LEGO’s Power Functions system and he’s produced a video to show it in action that’s nearly as slick as the model itself. Check it out below, and see the Ford’s full gallery on Flickr via the link above, or on Eurobricks here.
YouTube Video:
Newcomer Re-Zortker‘s chunky remote control Polish Star 266 truck hides a suite of Power Functions components underneath its bright yellow bodywork and black canvas flatbed. See it an action on Flickr at the link.
The elf who brought this in was so excited it took us ages to calm him (it?) down. Poor guy was panting… We can see why though; this simply stunning build is full of the kind of detail and function that the very best builders like to put in their cars. Senator Chinchilla is that builder, and MOCpages is your guide. Go now, and amaze yourself.
The humble Mark II Ford Escort has become something of a legend amongst car fans. Built to take your mum to the shops it was thrust into the hands of rally drivers who turned it into one of the most famous racing cars ever made.
Of the thousands of Escorts manufactured not many are left today, most having turned to rust due to the era’s non existent rust-proofing. However the few that do remain tend to look like this one, being snapped up by racers and modified into rally weapons. MOCpages’ Greg Thompson, a newcomer to TLCB, pays homage to the motorsport legend. See more via the link.