Tag Archives: DAF

Double Dutch

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We’re trucking across the Netherlands today, thanks to two brilliant brick-built Dutch trucks. Well, one’s German, but it’s in use by a Dutch building materials company, so it still counts.

The first (above) is the work of serial bloggee Arian Janssens, and is a lovely classic DAF FA 3300 ATI with a matching drawbar trailer in tow. Working steering, openable load areas, and beautiful detailing all feature, and you can see more of Arian’s DAF via the link above.

Our second Dutch truck (below) is a 2010s MAN TGX, also outfitted with a three-axle trailer, plus a crane, a superbly replicated livery, and a suite of remote control motors to bring it to life. Flickr’s z_onno is its maker and you can see all the images of this excellent modern-day MAN via the link in the text above.

Trucking Tuesday

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We’re a Lego car blog, which is why all of today’s posts haven’t been cars… OK, we sometimes suck at our brief, but this is a lovely model nonetheless. A DAF FAS 2200 DU, it comes from serial bloggee Arian Janssens, who has both constructed and presented his latest classic truck beautifully.

Working steering, folding drop-sides, a posable grab crane (complete with a mechanism to slide it along the load bed), a steered drawbar trailer, and loaded pallets all feature, with almost two-dozen images of the model available to view showcasing its exceptional attention to detail. Take a closer look at Arian’s ‘DAF FAS 2200 DU’ album via the link above.

Mine’s Longer Than Yours

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No really, it is. Because unless yours is a supertanker, today ours is bigger. This spectacularly long DAF and Nooteboom Telestep trailer combination comes from Ralph Savelsberg of Flickr, and replicates the real wind-turbine transporting trucks operated by Van der Vlist of the Netherlands. Because the Dutch love a windmill.

So do we as it happens, what with them providing endlessly renewable energy and still allowing sheep and whatnot to graze underneath. Anyway, Ralph’s creation can elongate to a quite unbelievable length, and like the real rig cunningly includes five axles with four that operate consecutively greater steering angles, presumably so it doesn’t require all of Belgium or another neighbouring country to turn around.

There’s much more to see at Ralph’s Flickr album and you can take a look at the longest erection on Flickr via the link above.

Farm Fresh

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We don’t usually know what’s in the back of a truck, but we do today thanks to those tell-tale openings. Delicious animals, that’s what.

But if you’re vegan don’t worry, today’s other post will be for you. Until then we’re off to have a steak, lamb shank, or rack of ribs courtesy of Arian Janssens’ splendid DAF FA XD livestock truck, and you can join us for dinner via the link.

Tanked Up

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We’re not sure what’s inside Arian Janssens’ excellent classic DAF FT 2800 truck and tanker trailer but – as is always the case with such posts – we hope it’s beer. Or wine. Or anything alcoholic in fact. Yeah, well… you try and work with mythical creatures for a job. Arian’s creation is perfectly hopped, and you can have a taste at his ‘DAF FT 2800’ album whilst this TLCB Writer tries to find some alcohol in the office that isn’t in a hand-sanitiser.

Got Milk?

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Keko007 does. Well, his excellent DAF XF 530 Superspace and Willig Sanz Tunker trailer could actually be transporting one of any number of liquids, but it looks pretty milky to us. Pour it on your cereal at Keko’s photostream via the link above, although TLCB cannot be held responsible if it turns out to be industrial cleaner.

Motorway Furniture

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Well this is a common sight for all of our European readers. The most nondescript of trucks, in the most nondescript of liveries, on its way to collect a nondescript load from a nondescript regional distribution centre. European motoring doesn’t get any more mundane than this. Flickr’s Arian Janssens is the creator of this excellent DAF XG+, and he’s constructed a mighty (and rather interesting) trailer to go with it. But that doesn’t fit the narrative we’re trying to weave, so you’ll have to look at it at Arian’s Flickr album. Head there via the link above!

Chinese Six

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We’re not sure why trucks with two axles at the front and one at the back are known as ‘Chinese Sixes’. Probably something to do with casual racism. We won’t delve any further then, but we will highlight this splendid example by prolific DAF-builder Arian Janssens.

A DAF FAB 2500 DHS, Arian’s beautifully detailed model captures the classic truck in its unusual ‘Chinese Six’ configuration brilliantly, and includes a folded crane behind the cab and a drawbar trailer in tow too.

Excellent presentation compliments the model’s stunning realism and there’s lots more of the build to see at Arian’s ‘DAF FAB 2500 DHS (Chinese Six)’ album. Take a closer look via the link.

The Hook

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We like a good hook here at TLCB, and they don’t come much gooder or hookier than this huge DAF FAD 95.400 ATI 8×4 hook-lift truck by Flickr’s Arian Janssens.

Able to hoist an enormous container onto itself, as well as tow another behind on a draw-bar trailer, Arian’s DAF is a testament to large scale model-making, and there’s loads more to see at his ‘DAF FAD 95.400 ATI 8×4’ album. Take a look via the link above if it’s got you hooked…

*Today’s (wonderful) title song. Of course.

Notable Extension

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Sometimes things need to be a bit longer. At least according to your Mom. Well she’ll be pleased today, because Arian Janssens’ already impressively-sized creation can grow even more lengthy.

That’s because Arian’s DAF FTS XFc 530 truck is pulling an enormous extending three-axle trailer, the length of which can be adjusted depending upon its load, with the front and rear parts separating via a central girder that’s concealed when the sections are joined. A crane can slide fore and aft along the trailer’s span when the front and rear are connected, whilst steered axles assist with its manoeuvring, all recreated brilliantly in brick form.

It’s an outstanding member of Arian’s extensive DAF truck garage, and there’s more to see of this spectacularly sizeable model at his ‘DAF FTS XFc 530’ album on Flickr, including images of the trailer at its full gargantuan reach.

Double Dump

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We’re dumping double today, courtesy of regular bloggee Arian Janssens and this brilliant DAF FAS 3300 DKX in ‘Bas Van Buuren’ livery.

A huge tipping bucket is mounted behind that DAF FAS’s cab, whilst behind that a drawbar trailer is fitted with a second enormous tipper.

Both are exceptionally well detailed and presented (although we’re not sure you’d dump the load from the truck whilst the trailer was hitched…) and there’s more to see of the whole rig at Arian’s photostream. Take a look via the link whilst we congratulate ourselves on successfully avoiding a minefield of double-entendre.

Trailer Park

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This TLCB Writer is from age of the VHS tape, when you had to hold down the fast-forward button to skip half-an-hour of trailers before you could watch the Disney movie your grandparents had actually bought you.

But there’ll be no trailer-skipping today, because we have two of them, each loaded with items which are – of course – the reason the trucks pulling them exist in the first place.

Cue regular bloggee Arian Janssens, and this excellent (and very orange) classic DAF FT2800 and Asser Oplegger trailer (we think… our Dutch isn’t up to much), loaded with… um, things. It’s a beautifully detailed creation and if the trailer’s enticed you in you can take a closer look on Flickr via the link above.

Rather smaller, but no less excellent, is Keko007‘s Mercedes-Benz Actros and Faymonville Max510 trailer, hauling his previously-blogged Claas Jaguar self-propelled forage harvester. Some very clever techniques indeed ensure Keko’s model is mightily accurate despite its small size, and there’s more to see of truck and trailer on Flickr via the link above.

Household Crap

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Right, that’s enough far-fetched other-worldly rovers for a bit, here’s a bland 1990s truck, pulling an even blander trailer, filled with bland plastic kitchen products. But built beautifully…

This Curver-liveried DAF FT 85.360 ATI and trailer comes from previous bloggee Arian Janssens, and mundane though a mid-’90s DAF may be, the techniques Arian has deployed to create it are exceptional. Subtle custom decals and chrome wheels add to the authenticity and there’s more of the model to see here.

But we’re not just about humdrum haulers of household items today, because Arian has also turned his building talents to something altogether weirder. This is the Vervaet Hyrdo Trike XL, ‘the best self-propelled liquid manure (slurry) processor’, according to, um… the people that make it. And who are we to argue with that!

A giant rolling tank of poo, there’s more to see at Arian’s ‘Hydro Trike XL’ album, and you can process your slurry via the link above!

When a Truck Overtook a Rally Car

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Back in the ’80s, motorsport rules were… loose. Group B rallying created monsters beyond anything seen before, and Dakar… well that was even wilder. Entered in the late-’80s, DAF’s unbelievable eleven-ton TurboTwin 95 X1 was powered by two engines with three turbochargers each, producing a combined 1,200bhp, and which – as this infamous helicopter footage from the 1988 event shows – made it so fast it could overtake the leading cars.

Piloted by Dutch legend Jan de Rooy, the TurboTwin won the truck category in 1987, before an awful 180km/h crash killed one of Jan’s teammates the following year, causing DAF to immediately halt all motorsport activities and withdraw the TurboTwin mid-competition.

Sadly we’d not see its like again, but we can still get up close to DAF’s astonishing Dakar racer courtesy of previous bloggee Nanko Klein Paste, and his spectacular brick-built replica.

Constructed in 1:16 scale, Nako’s TurboTwin recreation includes those two triple-turbo engines, complete with intake pipes, radiators and intercoolers, pressure vessels and ancillaries, a removable body liveried with superbly replicated decals, a hugely detailed interior behind opening doors, and full LED lighting from Brickstuff.

On display at the DAF Museum in Eindhoven later this year, there’s more to see of Nanko’s amazing creation at his ‘DAF TurboTwin 95 X1’ album on Flickr, and you can overtake a Dakar-winning Peugeot rally car at 200km/h in an eleven ton truck via the link above.

Advanced Turbo Intercooling

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It’s the ’80s, and everything has a ‘Turbo’ badge, because turbos are cool. But you know what’s cooler than a turbo? Advanced Turbo Intercooling, that’s what. And it wasn’t a European sports car or Japanese techno-fest that pioneered it, but Dutch truck-maker DAF.

The DAF 3600 FTG ATi was one of the first to feature an intercooled turbocharged diesel engine, which – in top trim – made a hefty 370bhp. And it had a hypoid drive axle, which sounds nearly as cool as Advanced Turbo Intercooling.

This incredible Model Team example comes from previous bloggee Nanko Klein Paste, and it is stunning in its realism. Based on a real DAF 3600 FTG ATi operated by ‘G.J. van Die’, Nanko has replicated every detail, including applying excellent custom decals to recreate the livery worn by its life-size counterpart.

Just one image is available at the time of writing but it’s well worth checking out, showing both this astonishing creation as well as the real truck it replicates so beautifully. Click the link above to visit Nanko’s photostream and spool up your turbo.