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.

Siberian Cladding

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If you’re into building-a-house-in-the-wilderness type TV programmes, you’ll know that – along with having royally impractical work surfaces, owners who insist rather too much that the wood stove is so warm they’re glad they don’t have central heating, and that the whole build only cost half as much as a conventional house (although their parents did give them the land… and the power supply… and the labour… for free) – trendy off-grid lifestyle houses are absolutely all clad in Siberian larch.

Cue Vladimir Drozd’s excellent KamAZ 4310 logging truck, pictured here transporting a hefty of load of the finest cladding material known to the tiny house movement. Despite being only (kinda) mini-figure scale, Vladimir’s KamAZ is packed with features, including the jockey trailer thingy, posable steering, and a crane mounted behind the cab so the truck and can pick up and deposit logs without the need for seperate crane grab to be present.

He’s also photographed the model in ‘Vladimir Putin’ mode (i.e. it’s got no wood*) and there’s more to see of this fantastic build at Vladimir’s ‘KamAZ 4310’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to clad your own tiny house in Siberian larch, whilst insisting the wood stove really is warm enough, honestly. It is.

*Yes, we’re still making ‘Putin has a tiny penis’ jokes, because Putin does indeed still have a tiny penis.

Ford F100

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As mentioned in today’s other post, the world has seemingly jumped backwards 50 years to the 1970s. There’s record inflation, war, nothing works, and everyone’s on strike. Having missed the misery of ’70s first time round, this TLCB Writer is wallowing in the resurgence of the aforementioned afflictions via another ’70s vehicle, the humble Ford F100 pick-up truck.

This fantastic 1972 Ford F100 is the work of Jakub Marcisz, who has recreated the classic pick-up beautifully in Model Team scale. A wonderfully detailed working V8 engine, life-like interior, opening doors, hood and tailgate, functioning steering, and some of the best brick-built ‘chromework’ ever ever seen all feature, and there’s lots more to see at Jakub’s photostream.

Join the queue for over-priced petrol next to the picket-line at the link above!

600 Redux

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Britain feels like it has returned to the 1970s. Inflation is ludicrous, everyone’s on strike, and it’s only a matter of time before brown patterned wallpaper makes a comeback.

Cue Jonathan Elliott, who has also returned to 1971 via this superb remake of one of the first ever LEGO vehicle sets, the 600 Ambulance. Whilst the original set is a somewhat low-res right-angled affair, Jonathan’s remake is a gorgeous, highly detailed, and surprisingly functional model, wonderfully recreating the station-wagon-based ambulances that were commonly used half a century ago.

There’s more to see of Jonathan’s beautifully presented 600 Ambulance Redux at his photostream, and you can head back to the early ’70s with the rest of us via the link above.

Big Tow

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Mining trucks are slow. But even slower are the tracked vehicles that fill them, designed as they are to move very heavy things very short distances.

Which means if you need to relocate an enormous bulldozer or tracked excavator to the other end of the mine, you’d better clear your schedule for the next few weeks.

Which is where this curious machine comes in. Effectively a Komatsu mining truck with a gooseneck hitch in place of the dump body, it can tow the aforementioned mining machines to their new location aboard a specially-designed single-axle TowHaul Lowboy trailer, capable of transporting 250 tons. We bet parking isn’t fun.

This spectacular fully remote controlled recreation of the world’s biggest vehicular trailer comes from previous bloggee Beat Felber, whose converted Komatsu HD785-5 mining truck features motorised drive, steering, and gooseneck hitch, enabling the model to load and tow a huge TowHaul Lowboy trailer and its Komatsu D575A-3 ‘Super Dozer’ load.

There’s loads more to see of the both the Komatsu HD785-5 truck and the TowHaul Lowboy 250 ton trailer behind it at Beat’s Flickr album, and you can watch the whole rig in action courtesy of the video below.

YouTube Video

Green Giant

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This big green box is a DAF YA 4442 DNT 4×4 truck, as ordered by the thousand in the late-’70s to the mid-’80s by the Dutch military.

A huge variety of YA 4442 were built, including artillery tractors, cranes, amphibious landing vehicles, mobile command centres, drone-launchers, fuel tankers, fire engines, and – as depicted here – er, trucks.

Still, whilst it might not be the most exciting version of the YA 4442 it is nevertheless a superb (and massive) brick-built replica of the Dutch military’s trucking backbone. Arian Janssens is the builder and there’s more of the model to see at his ‘DAF YA 4442 DNT 4×4′ album on Flickr. Click the link to take a look.