Tag Archives: Emergency

Going Dutch

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The Dutch get erroneously associated with quite a lot in our home nation. English slang includes ‘going dutch’ (everyone pays), ‘double dutch’ (unintelligible gibberish), dutch oven (farting under the bedcovers before sealing your partner inside), and ‘dutch rudder’ (which we can’t write here)).

Whilst we can’t take responsibility for decades of English verbal tomfoolery, we can ensure the Dutch are adequately represented here at The Lego Car Blog, which we’re doing today via the medium of SFH_Bricks‘ excellent Mercedes-Benz Sprinter ambulance in funky Dutch emergency services livery.

With a complete interior accessed via the twin rear and side sliding doors, SFH’s Sprinter is as detailed inside as out, and you can go Dutch via the link to Flickr above.

Giraffes and Rabbits

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The online Lego Community is a Russian doll-like in its niche-within-a-niche disposition. One such rabbit-hole is found deep within the emergency services community (yes, there is one), where an enthusiastic band of builders create entire fictional fire departments, complete with fleets of fire-fighting apparatus.

We know this because when we looked up this ‘Evee FFLT-2 “Giraffe” fire ladder truck’ by Flickr’s Jordan Parmegiani, all we found was a company selling electric scooters.

Thus this particular fire truck is not a real one, but it is so detailed it may as well be. Opening hatches, a fully-fitted interior, a rotating and elevating ladder, deployable stabilisers, and an array of fire-fighting equipment have all been constructed in brick form, with the truck itself also beautifully life-like despite being a work of fiction.

There’s lots more of Jordan’s creation to see at his photostream, and you can head down the fire-fighting rabbit-hole to see more of a giraffe via the link above.

Get the Fire Brigade*

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Here at The Lego Car Blog we can be a bit guilty of leaning towards creations with twelve motors, fifteen sets of LEDs, and six programmable bluetooth controllers. Because we are (and this will no doubt come as a surprise to readers of a niche website about Lego cars), nerds at heart. Not Brothers Brick levels of nerdiness, but still.

Creations featuring the aforementioned suite of electronics are often amazing in their operation (there’s one before this post and there’ll be another after it too), but they’re also out of reach for many Lego fans due to the cost of the components within them.

Thus today we’re replacing resources with intellect, thanks to this superb fire truck by Flickr’s Jeroen Ottens.

Featuring just a single Powered-Up motor, Jeroen’s fire truck can rotate, raise, and extend its ladder, all of which can be controlled independently, plus deploy four stabiliser legs too. An ingenious gearbox – activated mechanically by levers mounted on the sides and rear of the truck – takes the motorised power to where it’s needed, whilst the model also features mechanical steering (front and rear), as well as opening doors and hatches.

It’s a brilliant example of Technic engineering ingenuity, and you can take a look at how Jeroen has done all this with just one motor at his photostream. Click the link above to get the fire brigade.

*Today’s wonderful title song, featuring equally wonderful moustaches.

Forest Fire

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Following Master MOCer Thirdwigg’s recent appearance here with his superb Mercedes-Benz Unimog U4000, he recently uploaded a few other variants, which is fitting as the Unimog is available in a bewildering choice of applications, each of which can be equipped with an even wider array of attachments, tools and machinery.

This one is a U5000 off-road fire truck, constructed via an excellent combination of Model Team and Technic techniques, and features a tilting cab, piston engine, working steering and suspension, and a fully equipped four door cabin with fire-fighting equipment behind.

Building instructions are available and there’s much more to see at Thirdwigg’s photostream, plus you can find out how he builds his amazing models such as this one at his Master MOCers page via the link above.

NEE NAW!

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It’s been quiet. Too quiet…

Not because TLCB Elves were plotting anything, although that is a perennial concern, but because they hadn’t found anything blogworthy in ages. Fortunately the quiet was shattered today by a multitude of Elves all screaming ‘NEE NAW!!’ as loud as they could.

We have necomer lukarepinc, here making their TLCB debut, to thank for ending the drought, with not one, nor two, but a whole fleet of superb Model Team emergency vehicles.

Uploaded simultaneously to Flickr, these include a Slovenian Volkswagen ambulance (pictured above), a NYPD Bell 429 helicopter, ERV-1, and – in the absence of a title or description – a Giant Fire Truck (all pictured below).

Each is a fantastic brick-built recreation of its real-world counterpart and there’s more to see of all of the creations featured here, plus a lot more besides, at lukarepinc’s photostream. Switch on your siren via 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.

LEGO Technic H1 2023 | Set Previews

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This week marks the start of a brand a new year, and thus, as is customary, our sneaky Elves have unearthed all the brand new for 2023 LEGO Technic sets! So, following our reveal of the awesome looking 42154 Ford GT earlier in the week, here is every new addition to the LEGO Technic line-up due to reach stores in the first half of 2023…

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42147 Dump Truck

Kicking off the new 2023 Technic range is this, the 42147 Dump Truck. Consisting of 177 pieces and aimed at ages 7+, 42147 looks like a great way to introduce Technic to younger builders, with working ‘HOG’ steering, a tipping bucket, and a good level of visual detail that reasonably approximates any number of generic compact trucks common across Asia in particular. 42147 costs around £9, can also be built as a rather decent looking excavator, and is available to buy now.

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42148 Snow Groomer

Alternatively, with the same target age and just one difference in the piece count, your £9 for a Technic starter set could be spent on this; the 42148 Snow Groomer. 42148 also looks pretty good to us, and includes mechanical levers to operate the front blade and the rear smoothing, um… thingy. Like 42147 above, an alternative model can also be constructed (in this case the worst-looking snowmobile we’ve ever seen) and is available to buy now.

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42149 Monster Jam Dragon & 42150 Monster Jam Monster Mutt

It wouldn’t be a New Year Set Preview without a pair of pull-backs. Fortunately after some dismal efforts a few years ago, LEGO seem to have struck gold with the officially-licensed ‘Monster Jam’ series, which are perfect for pull-back tomfoolery. 2023 sees another two real-world monster trucks from the American arena spectacular immortalised in brick-form, one of which is giant dog. There’s a green dragon or something too, but if you don’t want the giant dog there’s something wrong with you. Each set costs around £18, and both are available to buy now. Buy the dog.

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42151 Bugatti Bolide

Continuing LEGO’s partnership with Bugatti, which has produced such sets as the huge Technic 42083 Bugatti Chiron, comes the 905-piece 42151 Bugatti Bolide. Nope, we hadn’t heard of it either. Apparently the Bolide is a $4million track-only hypercar limited to just 40 units, due for delivery some time in 2024. Unless you buy this one of course, which is available now for £45. That price still seems rather a lot for a set that has only working steering and a miniature V16 piston engine for its technical features, but hey – it’s got lots of stickers, some new panels, and lightsabers for rear lights.

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42152 Firefighter Aircraft

This is more like it. Looking a bit like a Canadair CL-215 water bomber (but distinct enough not to require licensing…), 42152 brings some decent technical functions to the Technic line-up in aircraft form. And it can dump blue bricks from its hold.

Retractible landing gear, a working tail rudder, propellors that spin when the model is pushed along the floor (with its landing gear retracted), and a lever to dump the ‘water’ all feature, as do a few new pieces not seen before – including some curved corner sloped panels that’ll you’ll soon be able to find listed on Bricklink at an enormous cost. Aimed at ages 10+, 42152 is a welcome addition to the Technic hangar and will reach stores later this quarter.

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42153 NASCAR Next-Gen Chevrolet Camaro

It’s time for some double branding with this; the 42153 NASCAR Next-Gen Chevrolet Camaro. Looking rather good (albeit in a very be-stickered way), the new 42153 set brings next-generation NASCAR to the LEGO Technic line-up. And by ‘next-generation’ we mean, ‘exactly the same as NASCAR has always been’. Cue angry comments from NASCAR fans.

Costing the same £45 as the 42151 Bugatti-we’d-never-heard-of above, but with some 230 fewer pieces, 42153 looks to be even poorer value, featuring only a working miniature V8 engine and ‘HOG’ steering. It does look nice though, and will reach stores in March 2023.

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42155 The Batman – Batcycle

2023’s final new addition is this, the 42155 The Batman – Batcycle, which we should write in all-caps but can’t bring ourselves to. We haven’t seen 2022’s ‘The Batman’ movie, having decided that ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy cannot be bettered, but apparently this features in it. It’s no Tumbler…

But it is quite a nice looking motorcycle we have to admit, and includes an H4 engine, working suspension (via new shock absorbers in black), steering, and a phat set of tyres on new black rims. Expect 641 pieces, a 9+ target age, and £50 price-tag when 42155 lands on shelves in March 2023.

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And there you have it, the complete line-up of new LEGO Technic sets for the first half of 2023. Which new Technic sets do you think are worth having? Us… we’ll take the Ford GT.

The Boo Boo Bus

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The 1972 Collins ‘Crusader’ Type-II Ambulance – or ‘Boo Boo Bus’ – was Ford Econoline-based ambulance produced for domestic use by America’s emergency services.

We love humble, useful vehicles like this here at The Lego Car Blog, and this one has been built beautifully by regular bloggee 1saac W. of Flickr. Everything is LEGO, including the decals used to create the window frame and (parts of) the red stripe, and there’s more to see of 1saac’s Boo Boo build at his photostream.

Click the link above to dial 9-1-1 in 1972.

I Predict a Riot…

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There’ll be no tenuous Christmas links in this post! No, this writer is altogether more gloomy, as COVID sweeps back across Europe, several nations have imposed strict lockdowns once more and – as is the want of a small but very vocal minority – that will mean some noisy protests. Because the main aim of this global conspiracy is clearly to stop people drinking in groups larger than six.

Sigh.

The Dutch look prepared though, at least if Ralph Savelsberg‘s Mercedes-Benz Vario riot van is anything to go by. Wonderfully constructed, Ralph’s riot van features opening doors, some really trick building techniques, and pair of suitably protected riot police officers.

Join the protest against, er… masks, maybe – we’re not sure – via the link above!

*Today’s title song.

Rainbow Rescue

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This year literally everything become rainbow coloured for a bit. Utah’s Bell 407 search and rescue helicopter was ahead of the curve though, already sporting a fantastic rainbow colour scheme that might just be the most difficult paint job to recreate in Lego bricks ever devised.

That didn’t stop Eurobricks’ droomangroup though, who has replicated the Utah Bell medevac helicopter in Model Team form, somehow managing to recreate the rainbow livery in bricks with such precision it’s made our heads hurt.

There’s more to see of drooman’s monumentally clever model at the Eurobricks forum, where you can also find an image of the real Utah Bell 407 search and rescue unit for comparison. Click the link above to follow the rainbow.

Call the Emergency Serv… Oh

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It’d been a peaceful week here at TLCB Towers. Sure there was an Elf fight to break up after one of them found an almost empty (but evidently still delicious) glue stick in the bin, but otherwise creations have been found, meal tokens have been awarded, and no-one has been squashed. Until today.

This is a GAZ 66 fire truck, an all-wheel-drive Soviet water tank on wheels that is still used in Russia today. Well, this one isn’t, being rather smaller, but it’s just as impressive as the real thing.

Built by Danifill of Eurobricks, this fully RC Technic recreation of the Soviet-era fire truck proved to be a throughly capably Elf-smushing machine.

Lured in by the functioning flashing blue lights and the fact that, well – it’s a fire engine, the Elf at the controls drew in a crowd of Elven admirers, before promptly squashing them thanks to the GAZ’s genuinely surprising turn of speed.

An RC Buggy Motor, Servo steering, a BuWizz bluetooth battery, live-axle suspension, and four-wheel-drive deliver equip Danifill’s creation with impressive Elf-smushing performance, whilst a tilting cab, V8 engine, opening and locking doors, and detailed fire apparatus add nothing to that, but do look most excellent.

There’s lots more of Danifill’s remote control Technic GAZ 66 Fire Truck to see at the Eurobricks discussion forum, including further imagery and a link to a video of the model in action, plus you can see one of the builder’s earlier fire engines to feature here by clicking this bonus link.

Take a look via the links above whilst we apply some Elven first aid…

Do Your (Super) Duty*

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The emergency services are the everyday heroes that have been thrown into the spotlight both during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, and in the subsequent protests, riots, and social disorder that seems to be infecting Western society as much as the disease the proceeded it.

It’s a hard enough job to do without having bottles thrown at you, but sadly that’s what’s happening, despite the fact that the emergency services will work just as hard to save the bottle thrower as the innocent bystander in the event they’re needed.

This superb FDNY ambulance comes from TLCB regular Ralph Savelsberg in his trademark Miniland style. Based on a Ford Super Duty extra cab, Ralph’s model replicates the livery and details of the real ambulance beautifully, and he’s included a neat paramedic figure too. There’s more of the build to see at Ralph’s photostream – click the link above to dial 9-1-1.

*Today’s excellent title song

Sprinting to Save

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The world’s emergency services battle to save us every single day, with the current Coronavirus pandemic highlighting in particular what an incredible job they do. Of course they need the tools to do the job, and that’s what they’ve got in the Netherlands with their Mercedes-Benz Sprinter ambulances. Flickr’s Ralph Savelsberg is the builder behind this one, recreating both the converted van and its complicated Dutch chevrons over EU-mandated yellow paint job with brilliant accuracy. Opening doors reveal a life-like interior too, and there’s more of Ralph’s Sprinter to see at his photostream – click here to call an ambulance.

Ladder 4

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This neat FDNY fire truck was found by one of our Elves on Flickr today. It comes from previous bloggee sponki25, and features rather excellent detailing and numbering made from duct tape! Head to Flickr to see more of Ladder 4, duct tape and all.

The Other M3

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This is not a fast, irritatingly driven yet excellent German sports saloon, but it is an M3. Constructed by Spain’s awesome indigenous heavy duty truck maker Uro, the M3 is the military version of their F3 civilian truck, deployed by Spain’s ‘Military Emergencies Unit’ (UME) in disaster relief within the country and abroad. Which makes it probably the very opposite of its BMW namesake in terms of worthiness.

This superb Technic replica of the Uro M3 in complete UME specification comes from corujoxx of Eurobricks, who is using his time in coronavirus lock-down to pay tribute to his country’s frontline workers, such as those manning its Uro M3s.

A working winch and working suspension feature and there’s more to see of his excellent model at the Eurobricks forum – click the link above to take a look.