It’s Not Size That Matters…

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…but what you do with it. And least that’s what this TLCB Writer tells himself. It’s a self-support mechanism that’s never been truer than with today’s post too, as we have two enormous-looking FebRovery rovers that are actually really rather small indeed.

The first deceptively-scaled creation comes from Oscar Cedarwall of Flickr, whose ‘Multi-Purpose Terrain Rover’ has gained an apparent massiveness thanks to a cleverly constructed landscape and the use of LEGO’s tiny one-stud figures. Top notch presentation and appropriately wide-angle photography maximise the illusion, and there’s more to see of Oscar’s optical trickery at his photostream.

Our second not-very-big-at-all creation is really very small indeed, utilising a body just one stud square and LEGO’s chain components, more commonly found on Technic motorcycles, for the tracks beneath it. Created by TLCB favourite David Roberts, the ‘Planetary Explorer’ is one of the tiniest FebRovery entries yet, and there’s more to see (although not that much more) at David’s photostream.

Click the links above to see how it really is ‘what you do with it’ that counts.

Honey I Shrunk the 8110

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First appearing here in December with a suitably rubbish Christmas pun, Thirdwigg’s Mercedes-Benz Unimog U423, complete with working steering, suspension, piston engine, power take-offs and free building instructions, is just the sort of creation we like.

Of course to be a proper miniature Unimog, an array of attachments and implements should also be available, to which Thirdwigg had duly obliged, with a snow plow and gritter, three-way tipping bed, and knuckle-boom crane all able to be mounted to the truck.

One combination that was missing however, was the set-up from the spectacular and considerably larger official 8110 Mercedes-Benz Unimog set, where a tipper is combined with a rear-mounted triple-boom crane and stabiliser legs.

If you missed the chance to get hold of an 8110 set when it was available, Thirdwigg may have added just what you need, creating a small-scale version of the 8110 configuration for his 1:20 scale Unimog U423.

As with the previous iterations, free building instructions are available so you can create your very own miniature 8110 at home, and you can see more of Thirdwigg’s excellent model on Flickr by clicking these words.

Super 8

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What’s better off-road than a 4×4? Two 4x4s. Bolted together. This is a Tatra T813 8×8 off-road truck, as recreated in Technic form by previous bloggee Horcik Designs for a Lego Truck Trial Championship.

Two LEGO Buggy Motors power all eight fully-suspended wheels, the front two axles steer, plus there’s a removable body and cab (re-used from Horcik’s previous Truck Trial entry).

Full details and further imagery can be found at Horcik’s Bricksafe album, in the video below, and at the Eurobricks forum, where video footage of the Tatra and its rivals competing in the Truck Trial Championship can be viewed too.

YouTube Video

Virtual Vision

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Hyundai’s N Vision 74 concept is – as detailed here last year – the car of the moment. And that’s despite it not being real. Nor may it ever be either, as unless the world collectively pulls its finger out to create hydrogen infrastructure, EVs (and the enormous environmental catastrophe they will create) will continue to be the only inevitability.

It’s perhaps fitting then, that this stunning Model Team recreation of Hyundai’s fabulous 2022 concept isn’t real either, being rendered instead in digital form. However the virtual nature of the model means that Flickr’s seter82 had the freedom to include some simply brilliant ‘printed tile’ detailing, including Hyundai’s trademark dot-matrix lights, bespoke badging, and even tyres, creating a model that looks like it would if LEGO were to release it as an official Creator set.

A huge gallery of renders are available to view and there’s more to see of seter82’s brilliant virtual N Vision 74 at their photostream. Click the link above to take a look.

Cooler Box

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We don’t care what anyone says, this is the coolest car we’ve ever posted. Yes, this magnificent slab of Swede, a Volvo 242, is so deeply cool that The Brothers Brick can’t look at it directly. We on the other hand, being connoisseurs of cool, can’t get enough of Stephan Jonsson’s glorious grey box. Even more so as it’s the ‘Coupe’ variant.

Of course being an ’80s Volvo the 242 is the single squarest coupe ever devised, and – unlike every other Volvo of the time – your Ikea boxes have to go on the roof rather than in the boot, but that just makes it cooler.

A beautifully detailed engine, opening doors, hood and boot, a spectacularly orange interior, and accessories like a roof rack and tow bar add to our delight, and there’s more to see of the coolest car we’ve ever posted at Stephan’s ‘Volvo 242 Group H’ album on Flickr. We like really like old Volvos.

My Other Car’s a Mustang

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This is a Meyers Manx beach buggy, the definitive car-made-from-another-car. And so too is this superb Model Team recreation of the iconic ’60s design, which uses only parts from the excellent 10265 Ford Mustang set in its construction.

Built by Brian Michal of Flickr, this 10265 alternate includes steering, suspension, a removable roof, and – much like the real Meyers Manx – probably leaves a few parts from the donor vehicle left over too.

There’s more of Brian’s B-Model to see at his photostream, and you can switch your horse for a tailless cat via the link above.

Old Lady’s Bathroom

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This is a Trabant 601, accurately resplendent in the colour of an old lady’s bathroom, and made from a similar material too. Created by László Torma in Speed Champions (ironically) scale, this neat miniaturisation of the rubbish East German people’s car captures the original wonderfully, and there’s more to see – including a ‘Combi’ station wagon version – at László’s photostream. Click the link above for more Hearing-Aid-Beige communist wonders.

Litronic Liebherr

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From one 300-ton machine to another, only this one is real. The Liebherr R 944 B Litronic is the smaller brother of the 800-ton Liebherr R9800 that LEGO used to create the largest Technic set ever released, working to load 100-ton mining trucks in the world’s open-cast mines.

Taking the tracks, sprockets, XL linear actuators and clamshell bucket from the 42100 Technic set, previous bloggee Beat Felber has recreated the smaller R 944 B Litronic, only in a much larger 1:28.5 scale.

Ten motors, two third-party SBricks, three sets of LED lights, and two rechargeable battery boxes bring Beat’s incredible creation to life, with accurate crawler movement, structure slewing, boom, stick, and bucket cylinders, a retractable motorised access ladder and opening service flap.

An extensive gallery of imagery is available to view, and you can take a closer look at this astonishing mining machine at Beat’s ‘Liebherr R 994 B Litronic’ album on Flickr via the link above.

Industrial Roving

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It’s FebRovery, and this is an ‘NTERRA B400 MEGA HAULER’, the latest in industrial grade multi-directional rovers from the [ S E /\ Z Y ] corporation.

Able to service an entire moderately-sized colony*, the NTERRA B400 can take a gigantic load*, thanks to an enormous tilting deck with a 300 ton payload capacity and its ‘revolving mecanum wheels’.

Rendered in Bricklink Studio 2.0 with considerable post-production enhancement, [ S E /\ Z Y ]’s gargantuan design shows what’s possible when taking digital building to the extreme, and there’s more to see of his moon-based monster-mover on Flickr via the link above.

Alternatively, if enormous digital creations aren’t your thing, here’s a brick-built FebRovery entry of a similar aesthetic that’s altogether smaller…

*Just like your Mom.

My Other Car’s a Porsche

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No, really. Because this amazing looking Lamborghini Murcielago is constructed only from the parts found within the excellent 10295 Creator Expert Porsche 911 set.

Built by Lego-building legend Firas Abu-Jaber, who must be some sort of wizard, the pieces from the resolutely curvy Porsche have somehow been re-purposed to recreate the almost entirely trapezoid mid-’00s Lamborghini.

Opening scissor doors, accurate pop-up air-vents, a removable roof panel, and an opening engine cover and front trunk all feature, and this incredible 10295 alternate is available to build yourself thanks to the building instructions released alongside the model.

The complete suite of top-quality imagery can be viewed at Firas’ ‘10295 Lamborghini Murcielago’ album on Flickr, where a link to building instructions can also be found (or click here to jump straight to Firas’ own excellent website store), plus you can read his interview as part of our Master MOCers Series to learn how he builds astonishing models like this one via the second link in the text above.

Terra-Tired Transporter

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This is a Foremost Delta, a 6×6, articulated, multi-terrain, terra-tired transport, and the best thing to come out of Canada since maple syrup and Elisha Cuthbert.

This incredible fully remote controlled Technic recreation of the amazing Canadian machine comes from TLCB master MOCer Nico71, who has replicated the Delta’s 6×6 drivetrain, articulated steering, and improbably suspension in Lego form.

A suite of Control+ components deliver power to the all-wheel-drive system and linear-actuator driven articulation, whilst the model also includes opening doors, a removable bed and cab, and can be equipped with front and rear winches.

Building instructions are available and there’s more to see of Nico’s superbly-engineered Foremost Delta on Brickshelf and via the excellent video below, plus you can read Nico’s Master MOCers interview here at TLCB by clicking these words. Take a look whilst this TLCB Writer returns to thinking about maple syrup and Elisha Cuthbert. Or somehow combining the two.

YouTube Video

Two Become One*

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This beautiful motorcycle, discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr and another at Eurobricks, took builder Stephan Jonsson over four years to finish. Which is very long time indeed. That said, the resulting creation is almost ridiculously good, combining the best bits of two real-world BMW Motorrad products, the R NineT roadster and the R 1200 GS adventure bike.

Stephan’s hybrid of the two BMW bikes features working steering and suspension, shaft-drive, and one of the best brick-built motorcycle engines we’ve ever seen, complete with a wonderfully shaped exhaust, twin open air-filters, and the correct cables and linkages.

The incredible detailing extends elsewhere too, with even the gold brake callipers linked by lines to the handlebar levers, and there’s lots more to see of Stephan’s stunning BMW motorcycle mashup at both Flickr and Eurobricks. Click the links above to see more of perhaps the most perfect bike ever created in Lego (and perhaps BMW Motorrad should take a look too…).

*Yes, we went there. And if the proper Lego Blogs publicise this creation and they don’t link to a painfully ’90s pop song, they’re not worth reading.

R is For…

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It’s February, and that means the month-long annual rover-based building bandwagon of FebRovery has begun!

Not aimed at creating brick-built versions of the products produced by the defunct British car brand (although some members of TLCB Team wish it was), FebRovery entrants are instead tasked to create machines of a sci-fi complexion, capable of roving other worldly environments. Which means of course, that this site will comprehensively struggle to write anything about them whatsoever.

Anyway, this one comes from Flickr’s Frost, who is a fan-favourite during the contest each year, and there’s more to see of his FebRovery, er… rover at his photostream. Click the link above to start roving.

Tank Top

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Or rather, top tanker, because this is perhaps the cleanest tanker truck build we’ve seen yet. The aesthetics of MCD‘s Volvo FMX 8×2 are even more impressive when you consider this is a Technic creation, not a Model Team one, and is entirely LEGO, even down to the rubber bands holding the pipes. There’s more of MCD’s model to see at the Eurobricks forum, and you can tank on over via the link above.

Want to Get into My Van?

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As if that old Dodge van parked down the street wasn’t creepy enough, Flickr’s 1saac W. has made it hover. Still don’t get into it kids. See more (from a distance) at 1saac’s photostream.