Tag Archives: Crawler

Showtime Picture Special

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Lego Technic RC 4x4 Showtime

The LEGO Company make almost everything you could ever need when building your own creation. From electric motors to infrared receivers to suspension components, there is a huge back-catalogue of parts available to allow your model to do nearly anything you wish it to. Nearly…

We’re breaking our own house rules with this post, as today’s creation is not quite entirely LEGO, but it shows the level of awesomeness that our favourite Danish toy can achieve when combined with a few well-chosen third-party products.

Lego Technic Remote Control Crawler

So, let’s get them out of the way; this monstrous replica of Tim Cameron’s 700bhp rock crawler ‘Showtime’ by the brilliant SevenStuds is fitted with non-LEGO tyres, a non-LEGO control system and (technically) non-LEGO bodywork.

Those tyres are Interco IROK 1.55s – as found in the RC 4×4 racing scene – mounted on official LEGO Technic wheels, and they give SevenStuds’ Showtime incredible traction. This traction is needed because the chassis contains four LEGO Power Functions XL motors, one for each wheel, and a servo motor that provides all-wheel-steering.

These five motors are controlled by two third-party SBrick units, allowing Showtime to be driven and steered with moderation; The motors aren’t limited to being ‘on’ or ‘off’ as per LEGO’s own IR receiver, but can be graduated between the two via bluetooth to a mobile device.

Lastly, the bodywork is made from non-LEGO pneumatic hosing, but only because LEGO’s own offering is not available in red.

Lego Technic RC Rock Crawler

These additions compliment a fully LEGO chassis complete with four-wheel-drive, four-wheel-steering, four-link suspension and portal hubs, and make Showtime one of the most capable off-road creations that this site has ever featured.

You can read all the details on SevenStuds’ build at the Eurobricks discussion forum here, plus you can see what it can do via the superbly produced video below.*

YouTube Video:

*After watching this TLCB office is immeasurably relieved that we got hold of this creation before the Elves did. Imagine the carnage…

Fork Me

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Lego Forklift Truck

Everyone likes a good forking. Brickshelf’s legosamigos certainly does, and although his Crawler Forklift is a type of vehicle we’ve not seen before here at TLCB Towers, when you need to fork in a muddy field there’s probably nothing better suited to the job. You can see all the photos of the Power Functions controlled creation at the link above.

Don’t Show Me The Money

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Lego Technic 41999 Review

The story so far…

The LEGO Company make the 9398 Technic remote control Crawler. It works well and looks awful. LEGO launch a competition to design a prettier body. Said contest is won by a talented Russian gentleman called Egor Karshiev, whose ‘Boss Crawler’ design gets the nod. LEGO announce they will only make 20,000 of these sets, with many unique elements and extra features, and sell them for the same price as the standard 9398…

Cue the most ridiculous speculator-driven feeding frenzy since Beanie Babies tanked…

As I write, just one month after 41999 was released, these change hands, sealed, on eBay for around £350; or nearly three times RRP. Many are being bought by the same UK-based buyer (not me!) in the hope they’ll keep climbing.

I’ve just got the one, bought from LEGO for a very reasonable price, for the purpose of building it, displaying it, even *gasp* playing with it… I’m willing to bet that more than half of these plastic building toys will remain forever sealed in their boxes in the hands of collectors or, worse, speculators; unbuilt and unloved. A shame, because it’s a really good set, and here’s why:

Lego Technic 41999 4x4 Crawler

The box is pretty special. A simple, elegant design on the front showing a close-up of the distinctive dark blue panels that so lift this model; it’s made of sterner stuff than usual, too. Inside this treasure chest it’s fairly tightly packed with lots of good stuff; enough for a few hours of leisurely, pleasurable building.

There are four instruction books which are easy to follow, as we’ve come to expect, and there are no mistakes. The build is relatively straightforward, but there’s no shortage of cool features: Continue reading →

Minesweeper

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Lego Space TruckMinesweeper. The saviour of mid ’90s office boredom. And also apparently this. Built by LEGOLIZE IT MAN, you can see more on Flickr. Quick, before the smiley face turns frowny.

 

Technic 41999 Preview – New 4×4!

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New for 2013! New Lego Technic 4x4 Redux!

New for 2013! New Lego Technic 4×4 Crawler Redux!

LEGO have added another new Technic model to their 2013 line-up! This brilliant blue muscle car monster truck was developed from the winning submission in LEGO’s ‘You design it, we make it!‘ competition held at the start of the year.

Receiving the most votes out of the 10 finalists, Egor Karshiev’s Boss Crawler has evolved into set no. 41999, and comes in a fantastic new blue hue. Underneath the muscle car bodywork sits the chassis from the 2012 4×4 Crawler set 9398, and we think it’s even better looking than the original.

Too see full details of the new set visit the LEGO Technic Designers Blog, and look out for the arrival of 41999 in stores soon!

Thunderbirds Are Go!*

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Lego Thunderbirds Rescue

*Not actually Thunderbirds. Our lawyers insist.

Inspired by – but definitely not from – Thunderbirds, is this rather brilliant all-terrain rescue vehicle by sebeus. Not only does it look pretty cool, it’s a mean off-roader too. See the photos and video on Flickr at the link.

That’s what she said!

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Lego Space Shuttle

Matteo Russolillo’s tiny rocket

Matteo Russolillo’s rocket may be small, but he’s certainly made it look impressive in this picture. This micro-scale Shuttle Crawler is a masterpiece of nice parts usage (NPU). View more pictures on MOCpages.

2012 Technic Sets – On Sale Now

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Lego Technic 4x4 Crawler

The 2012 Technic Flagship; 4×4 Crawler

Back in March we fired up our highly complex supercomputer and attempted to calculate the prices of the three Summer 2012 Technic releases. These new Technic models are now on sale at the Lego Shop, and we’re pleased to say our supercomputer was a) fairly accurate, and b) the small variance is a positive one; all three LEGO sets are exactly £10 less than our March estimates – how’s that for consistency!

9393 Tractor
Our estimate: £34.99 – £39.99
Actual price: £24.99
…
9396 Helicopter
Our estimate: £79.99 – £89.99
Actual price: £69.99
…
9398 Rock Crawler
Our estimate: £149.99 – £159.99
Actual price: £139.99
…
So what are you waiting for? Head on over to Lego.com and get your hands on LEGO’s latest, all with £10 off!