Fake Tan

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This glorious vehicle is a brick-built recreation of Jeep’s Wrangler ‘Africa Concept’. Designed for overland expeditions, and reinforcing that – to many Americans – Africa is not a continent but a country, Jeep’s 2015 one-off looked the business on 17″ steel wheels shod with 35″ tyres, and featured fox shocks plus a 2.8 litre diesel engine that made it far more appropriate for long distances than most domestic Jeeps.

This ace Lego version of the Jeep Wrangler ‘Africa Concept’ is the work of regular bloggee Jonathan Elliott, who has captured it beautifully in tan bricks. Except he hasn’t, as not all the pieces required were available in tan, so he built it in grey then photoshopped it. Still, it allowed us to write a clever title, and you can check out Jonathan’s fake tan at his photosteam via the link above. It’ll still be more real than anything you see on Instagram today.

What a Knob

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A lot of knobs. No, not TLCB Staff, nor the summation of your Mom’s summer, but this properly mechanical Technic skid-steer excavator by Flickr’s Thirdwigg.

There are knobs for the boom arm, knobs for the bucket, knobs for the blade, knobs for the turntable rotation, and very possibly other knobs we’ve not spotted too.

It’s a wonderful reminder of old-school mechanised Technic, and you can see more of all the knobs in question at Thirdwigg’s ‘Skid Excavator’ album on Flickr. Click the link above for more knobs in one place than your Mom’s beach-house parties.

Ride of the Valkyries*

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The economic outlook, driven largely by worldwide energy price inflation, is looking increasingly bleak. A global recession is not unlikely, but – if you’re rich enough – such events can have no effect whatsoever. They might even make you richer.

Thus whilst normal cars for us plebs are certain to become more expensive (and sales will slow accordingly), we expect the production of ultra-limited hypercars to continue unabated. Which is fine by us, because dream cars, within reach of only a few, provide inspiration for the many.

Cue Jeroen Ottens, who has recreated Aston Martin’s sold-out 2023 $3m Valkyrie hybrid hypercar, rising to $3.5m if you’re one of the lucky 25 who’ve placed a deposit for the track version.

Designed in conjunction with Red Bull Advanced Technologies (back when Red Bull and Aston Martin weren’t fighting) and powered by a Cosworth V12 with a Rimac hybrid system, the Valkyrie will be the highest revving and most powerful naturally-aspirated road car ever built.

It also features some wild aerodynamics, which Jeroen has replicated brilliantly in brick from. Accurate venturi channels necessitate pushrod in-board suspension, whilst the mid-mounted V12 connected to an eight-speed gearbox sits within one of the tightest engine bays we’ve ever seen.

Working steering via a brick-built yoke plus an opening engine cover and butterfly doors complete the technical features, and you can recreate Jeroen’s expertly-engineered creation for yourself as building instructions are available. Click these links to Flickr and Eurobricks to ride out the coming recession like the super rich with your very own Aston Martin Valkyrie.

*Today’s title song. We’re feeling very cultured. (Normal service of Your Mom jokes and poo references will resume shortly).

Ghost Rider

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The Lego Car Blog Elves are a superstitious bunch. They are mythical creatures from another realm though, so perhaps there’s some justification. Anyway, we’re exploiting said weakness today thanks to piterx, and his BuWizz powered self-balancing remote control Technic motorbike.

Watching it lean through turns as if controlled by an invisible rider is a spooky sight, and we’re having great fun terrorising the Elves with it. Take a look at the bike in action via the video below, and you can find out more about the build on Eurobricks via the link in the text above.

YouTube Video

Another Punk

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Uh oh, another ‘punk’… Just as we’ve got our heads around ‘Steampunk’ and ‘Dieselpunk’*, along comes ‘Atompunk’ to mess with us.

We have absolutely no idea what ‘Atompunk’ means, but if an ‘Atompunk’ future means we get to float about in machines like this ‘Banshee Delux’ hovercar by Jacob Sadovich we can get on board. See more of whatever this is on Flickr!

*Not really, we’re still none the wiser. Can someone just build a Ford Focus or something?

More Clamps

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Suggested by a reader, RGB900 has furthered his clamp-based approach to building motorcycles, with a whole suite of styles and types constructed capitalising on LEGO’s various clip pieces.

Each is a brilliant demonstration of clever design over parts quantity, and there’s lots more to see at RGB900’s photostream. Click the link above to clamp your eyes on all of RGB’s bikes.

Display for the Future

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LEGO’s 10300 Back to the Future Time Machine set (aka the best LEGO set ever made) is sadly not a set we own here at TLCB Towers. Thus, full disclosure, this is not a review of the rather swish-looking display case in which 10300 is pictured. And nor are we getting paid to promote it.

But we are happy to support third-parties entering the Lego Community, and the display specialists at iDisplayIt provided our Festival of Mundanity Winners with some cool LEGO-compatible display stands too.

This is iDisplayIt’s latest product, and you can check out their stackable display case for the 10300 Back to the Future Time Machine via the link to their store below, where a range of LEGO-compatible stands and cases can be found.

iDisplayIt Store

Technic 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3 | Set Preview

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This is the brand new flagship LEGO Technic Supercar, and it’s a rather special one…

Following the Technic 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 42083 Bugatti Chiron, and the 42115 Lamborghini we’d never heard of, this is the brand new 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3, the fourth 1:8 scale officially-licensed Technic Supercar to join LEGO’s already impressive back catalogue.

Constructed from 3,778 pieces (four of which are some beautiful new bespoke wheels), 42143 offers spectacular visual realism for a Technic set, with authentic badging, a highly detailed interior behind spring-loaded opening butterfly doors, and a host of working Technic features.

These include a V12 piston engine (with full-size 2×2 pistons), working suspension via some awesome-looking shocks, functional steering, an eight-speed paddle-shift operated sequential gearbox, and functional ‘air boxes’, although we don’t know what that last one means.

Measuring 59cm / 23in in length, the LEGO 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3 is geared as much towards being a display piece as a functional model, as evidenced by the ’18+’ age (also known as the “It’s not just a toy, honest!” excuse), presentation display stand, ‘exclusive packaging’, and the rather wanky optional accompanying coffee table book, ‘The Sense of Perfection’, for an additional $80.

The rather splendid looking LEGO Technic 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3 will be available from the LEGO online store from June, costing a hefty $400 / £350, with other retailers following in August, and you can see more of LEGO’s incredible new Supercar set (and the wanky $80 book) at the dedicated 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3 page via LEGO.com here.

Bug Squash

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The last remotely controlled Lego creation found by our Elves produced no squashings of any kind. That can not be said today.

This is Horcik Designs’ ‘EXP. Buggy’, an all-wheel-drive Power Functions equipped off-roader, built for a Lego Trophy event, and used – by the Elf that found it – to squash a number of its colleagues.

Twin L Motors deliver the power and you can both watch the model in action and create it for yourself courtesy of the video and building instructions Horcik has produced along with it.

There’s more to see at both Eurobricks and Bricksafe, and you can take a look via the links above.

Black Russian

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Luxury cars behind the Iron Curtain were not a common sight, thanks to the automotive drudgery created by Communism. Which was probably a relief to most citizens, as the sight of one could mean things were about to get very unpleasant indeed. Fortunately there are no KGB agents (or bodies)* in Legostalgie‘s wonderful recently upgraded Volga GAZ-24, and there’s more to see of his splendid creation on Flickr.

*We can’t see in the trunk though…

Remotely Rolling

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Seemingly the perfect creation for the Elves to use to flatten one-another, this remote control road roller was gleefully found by one of their number. Unfortunately for the Elf in question, Vladimir Drozd‘s model turned out to be much too slow to squash anyone, and it simply trundled serenely around TLCB Towers before the Elf at the controls abandoned it in disgust.

We like it though, and not just because there’s no cleaning up to do. The model includes remote control drive and articulate steering, a wonderfully detailed exterior, and top notch presentation, and there’s more to see at Vladimir’s photostream. Click the the link above to go remotely rolling.

Build-a-Buggy

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The Volkswagen Beetle-based Meyers Manx beach buggy is one of this TLCB Writer’s very favourite vehicles. Designed by Californian boat-builder and surfer Bruce F. Meyers in 1964 for desert racing, around 6,000 Beetles were converted, with the design becoming a symbol of ’60s Cali Surf Culture. This lovely Model Team version of Meyers’ brilliant design comes from Flickr’s Johnni D, who has made instructions available so you can build one for yourself. Head to the California in the mid ’60s via the link above. Dude.

UniRover

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No, us neither. All we can say is that a brick-built dust-cloud behind a single Technic 42054 Claas Xerion tyre looks so cool we could’t not post this, even though we have absolutely no idea what’s going on. Ask Julius Kanand via Flickr.

’80s Joyride

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Volkswagen weren’t the only car manufacturer to attach the letters ‘G’, ‘T’ and ‘I’ to a family hatchback on the 1980s…

The Peugeot 205 GTI was an absolute sensation when it arrived in 1986. Powered by a 1.6 litre engine making 104bhp, and later a 1.9 litre making over 120bhp, the GTI was fast, fun, and wildly popular.

So much so that, like Volkswagen’s offering, quite a few people wanted to have a go even if they didn’t own one. Hot hatchback thefts rocketed, shortly followed by insurance premiums, and sales plummeted.

But Peugeot can’t really be blamed for joy-riding scumbags, and the 205 GTI is now a bona-fide classic, a high water mark for the brand that they are still to beat some four decades later.

This wonderful Technic recreation of Peugeot’s finest hour comes from TLCB Master MOCer Nico71, who has captured the 205 GTI magnificently.

Featuring working steering, functional suspension, a detailed engine under an opening hood, a life-like interior behind opening doors, and an opening tailgate too, Nico’s 205 GTI is about as visually realistic as it’s possible for a Technic model to be.

Plus best of all – like the aforementioned scumbags that nearly killed the hot hatchback genre altogether – you can have a go without having to do the work yourself!

Yup, Nico has made building instructions available too, with his design buildable in ’80s-appropriate red, black or white, and you can take a closer look – as well as a find a link to those instructions – at Nico’s Peugeot 205 GTI gallery on Brickshelf.

Click the link above to start our ’80s joyride!

In the End*

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There’s are many types of loader. The ‘backhoe loader‘, the ‘front loader‘, and what we have here; the ‘end loader’. They largely seem interchangeable to us, but the difference between them appears to be from where they do their, er… stuff; forking, shovelling, drilling and so forth. You don’t get that kind of technical analysis at The Brothers Brick…

This one, built by previous bloggee Wigboldy (aka Thirdwigg) is an ‘end loader’, as it does its stuff from the end of a front-mounted arm, which is mechanically raisable via linear actuators.

The implement mounted on the end is also tiltable via a linear actuator, and can be interchanged between the fork pictured here and a digging bucket, plus there’s articulated steering too.

There’s more of Wigboldy’s excellent creation to see at his ‘End Loader’ album on Flickr, where images of both implements in use can be found – click the link above to get to the end.

*Today’s title song.