A new attempt at a ‘Dune’ movie arrived in cinemas this month, which – unlike past films baring the name – actually looks rather good. Cue today’s creation, which is entitled ‘Fresh Duner’, so we’re in no way using the aforementioned film to trick unwitting movie-goers to this crumbling corner of the internet.
The ‘Fresh Duner’ comes from Martin Vala, and it looks like a combination of a Dakar and Extreme E racers. Martin’s constructed it in Gulf colours too, which would be ironic if it raced in the latter formula, but nevertheless it looks fab here.
The brilliantly bodywork sits atop a wonderfully life-like chassis, with brick built steering and suspension components adding a dose more realism to Martin’s concept racer. A desert backdrop completes the build, and there’s more to see of Martin’s ‘Fresh Duner’ at his photostream via the link above.
If you think sand gets everywhere at the beach, try driving one of these things. Fifteen minutes in a sand buggy and there’ll be sand in places you didn’t know you had.
This excellent Technic rendition of a skeletally-framed sand-insertion device comes from Dicky Laban of Flickr, and includes front and rear suspension as well as working steering thanks to LEGO’s x136 wishbones and new wheel hub pieces. See more to see via the link.
Technic, this writer’s favourite theme, used to look a bit weird. Its focus was on functions, not aesthetics (perhaps the opposite of where we are today), and it was all the better for it. But what if some of those early Technic sets could be updated with today’s smoother construction methods?
Handily MOCpages’ Nils O has decided to find out, rebuilding 1981’s 8845 Dune Buggy set using the latest studless pieces, and the the result is… well, still a bit weird to be honest. Nevertheless, it’s an area of building we’d like to see more often, and Nils’ buggy features all the charm of the original but updated for the current age.
There’s more to see of Nils’ 8845 Redux on MOCpages via the link above, and you can read his review of the original 1981 Technic set as part of the Review My Set Competition by clicking here.
Febrovery continues apace, and this smiling classic spaceman looks like he’s got his blue-gloved grabs on a seriously fun rover. Billyburg is the builder, and with only one sixth of the Earth’s gravity acting upon it his lunar dune buggy is going to get some serious air. If there was any on the moon of course. See more at Billyburg’s photostream here.
We usually only publish posts that feature genuine LEGO pieces here at TLCB (in fact it’s one of our submission criteria), however today’s creation warranted a closer look.
Built by TLCB regular Sariel, this Technic dune buggy features a few parts that you won’t find with an official LEGO logo on. That’s because they’ve been created using the relatively new phenomenon of 3D printing, which enables a Computer Aided Design (CAD) to be realised for real via plastic moulding.
Over the past few years the price of 3D printing has tumbled, meaning unique parts production is now within reach of many amateur designers and engineers (or morally-bankrupt individuals who think that the ability to print-your-own firearm is something the world needs…).
Fellow previous TLCB bloggee Efferman has put his design skills to use and created a range of custom components that LEGO themselves have yet to officially produce. These include a 5 stud long steering arm (vs. LEGO’s 6 stud long version), a heavy-duty differential, and some wonderfully bouncy suspension springs, all of which Sariel has fitted to his excellent remote controlled dune buggy.
The custom components appear to work beautifully with the standard LEGO Technic used in the rest of Sariel’s creation – especially the springs, which we’d love to test out ourselves (hint!) – and Efferman has designed a wide variety of other custom LEGO-compatible components that are available to purchase online. These include suspension and steering parts, pneumatic tanks, custom wheels, excavator buckets, plus a lot more that we’re not clever enough to understand.
You can view Efferman’s extensive range of unofficial 3D printed Lego components by visiting the Shapeways Store, plus you can see more of Sariel’s dune buggy demonstrating some of these parts in action via MOCpages at the link above, or by watching the ace video below.
No, not a roadtrip by Snoop Dogg, but Google’s (incorrect) French for ‘Off Road’. This awesome Power Functions controlled Technic buggy is the work of Charbel, who has his own website showing how it’s built and with videos of it in action. His site is in French though, so if your grasp of the language is a bit merde you can check it out in English via the Eurobricks forum.
This monster dune buggy was unearthed by the Elves on MOCpages. K Wigboldy has included steering, all round independent suspension and, best of all, a huge six cylinder engine hanging out the back.
