Tag Archives: Kamaz

Siberian Cladding

If you’re into building-a-house-in-the-wilderness type TV programmes, you’ll know that – along with having royally impractical work surfaces, owners who insist rather too much that the wood stove is so warm they’re glad they don’t have central heating, and that the whole build only cost half as much as a conventional house (although their parents did give them the land… and the power supply… and the labour… for free) – trendy off-grid lifestyle houses are absolutely all clad in Siberian larch.

Cue Vladimir Drozd’s excellent KamAZ 4310 logging truck, pictured here transporting a hefty of load of the finest cladding material known to the tiny house movement. Despite being only (kinda) mini-figure scale, Vladimir’s KamAZ is packed with features, including the jockey trailer thingy, posable steering, and a crane mounted behind the cab so the truck and can pick up and deposit logs without the need for seperate crane grab to be present.

He’s also photographed the model in ‘Vladimir Putin’ mode (i.e. it’s got no wood*) and there’s more to see of this fantastic build at Vladimir’s ‘KamAZ 4310’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to clad your own tiny house in Siberian larch, whilst insisting the wood stove really is warm enough, honestly. It is.

*Yes, we’re still making ‘Putin has a tiny penis’ jokes, because Putin does indeed still have a tiny penis.

Communist’s Choice

Communism wasn’t renowned for giving its citizens choice. However today we have no less than four communistical vehicles to choose from, each built by PelLego of Flickr as apart of a wider collaborative build.

From left to right are a Kamaz 55102, a nondescript green tractor, a GAZ 66 covered truck, and a (somewhat later) GAZ Tigr, and there’s more to see of each, plus the collaboration in which they appear, at Pel’s photostream via the link above.

And – because we haven’t been threatened in a while – here’s a bonus link to the last time a GAZ Tigr appeared on this site…

Soviet Six

This glorious Kamaz 4310 6×6 truck was discovered by one of our Elves today, and a number of them are now merrily riding around in the load bed, following the removal of the tractor pictured within it here.

The Elf at the controls had other plans of course, but previous bloggee Vladimir Drozd’s creation is a bit too slow to mete out any smushings.

It is nevertheless still excellent, with remote control steering and drive via LEGO’s Control+ app, all six wheels suspended and driven, dropping flatbed sides, and an impressively detailed cab.

High quality decals add to the authenticity, and although one is full width Russian flag, which might a little contentious currently, we’ll use this Russian-transporting-a-tractor to link to today’s other build, which happily depicts the very opposite.

Back to the Kamaz, and there’s lots more of Vladimir’s fantastic fully RC 6×6 truck to see at both his Flickr album and the Eurobricks discussion forum – click the links in the text above to take a closer look!

Sanctioning Bricks

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought a surprisingly unified response for the world. Freezing of assets, exclusion from banking systems, and sanctions on everything from luxury cars to hamburgers (and, we assume, LEGO products), there’s not much unaffected by Putin’s aggression.

Of course Russia is a large country that produces much itself, but in a time where everything is globalised, it’s difficult to see how even domestic Russian manufacturers can continue production indefinitely.

One such domestic manufacturer is Kamaz, today a world-leading maker of off-road trucks, with the 5410 pictured here produced by the company from the mid-’70s until 2006.

This wonderful recreation of the Kamaz-5410 comes from previous bloggee Vladimir Drozd, and features Power Functions remote control drive and steering, a functioning fifth wheel hitch, working suspension, and some simply lovely detailing.

An excellent container trailer is pictured in tow, complete with a Maersk shipping container (one of the many businesses no longer operating in Russia), and there are more superb images of all three components to see at Vladimir’s ‘KamAZ-5410’ album on Flickr or at the Eurobricks forum here.

Click the link above to take a closer look at Vladimir’s brilliant Russian a truck, back when there would actually be produce in a container for it to haul.

Kamaz 5511 | Picture Special

This astonishingly realistic creation is a Kamaz 5511, and it’s so beautifully built and presented that it looks like a die-cast model. It comes from previous bloggee Krzysztof Cytacki (aka dirtzonemaster), and not only does it look truly exceptional, it features a range of realistic manually-operated functions too.

All-wheel suspension allows the Kamaz to be driven both on and off-road, there’s working steering, and highly detailed interior inside the cab, which tilts to reveal an authentic working V8 engine driven by the truck’s wheels. Lastly Krzysztof’s model also features a brilliant tipping bucket, operated by a large linear actuator and a hand-turned mechanism.

A huge gallery of over forty stunning images is available to view on Flickr, which showcases not only the truck’s beautiful exterior, but each of the highly detailed working components found within it. Click the link above to join us there.

Sir Mix-a-Lot

LEGO’s 2020 Technic line-up includes, for the first time, a cement mixing truck. And it looks rather good too. However it does cheat a bit by having a single purpose-built drum piece.

Not so Kirill Mazurov (aka Desert Eagle / desert752), whose own Kamaz-based concrete truck features a brilliant brick-built rotating drum, which spins either as the truck moves along or via a hand crank mounted on the side, depending on which option is selected.

A host of other mechanical functions feature too, including pendular suspension on the rear two axles, steering on the front two, and a working V8 engine underneath the tilting cab.

Around 2,500 pieces are used in Kirill’s creation, and you can recreate this excellent concrete mixer truck yourself as instructions are available. Head to Eurobricks to find the link along with full build details and a video of the truck’s features, and Flickr for the complete image gallery.

*Today’s title song. Obviously.

KAMAZ Flatbed

Another day, another Elf returns to TLCB Towers with a find in the hope of getting fed. It has been too, as this Technic KAMAZ 43118 truck is thoroughly excellent. The Elven happiness has extended beyond the discoverer of this creation too, as there are currently several Elves riding around in the back of it.

Built by ArsMan064 (is there a theme with today’s builder names?) this KAMAZ 43118 flatbed includes a remote control drivetrain courtesy of LEGO’s Power Functions motors and a third-party SBrick bluetooth control. An XL motor provides the drive whilst two Medium motors power the steering and the front winch.

ArsMan has also given his model some brilliant suspension, with all six wheels able to articulate over rough ground or any Elf that gets in the way today, as well as opening cab doors and drop-sides for the truck’s flatbed.

There’s loads more to see of ArsMan’s KAMAZ at the Eurobricks forum via the link above, where a complete gallery of images, video of the model in action and a link to building instructions can all be found.

Town Triple

It’s blue Smarties all round today as three Elves returned to TLCB Towers, each with a blue town-scale creation. It turns out all three are the work of the same builder, Flick’s de-marco, who is becoming a regular on these pages. Each has been constructed in LEGO’s classic ‘Town’ style (a favourite here at TLCB) and recreates a well known(?) real-world vehicle in mini-figure scale.

The first of de-marco’s build is perhaps the most true-to-life, a classic Dacia 1300 from a time when the Romanian brand was independent from Renault, but also simply built discontinued Renault products (and fairy badly at that…). It turns out that the Dacia 1300’s ugly blocky sloping shape is perfect for recreation from angular LEGO bricks and the result looks remarkably close to the real thing.

de-marco’s second Town vehicle is a classic Austin/Morris Mini in British police ‘panda car’ specification. LEGO’s ‘Maersk’ blue with white doors and a single blue light (using a piece from LEGO’s 9V lighting sets) works a treat, even if the car looks a little long for the famously small classic car.

Lastly de-marco has built something a little larger, in the form of this excellent Kamaz drop-side truck. As with all three creations the details are spot on, yet simple enough to fit into a Town scale build, and there’s more to see at de-marco’s photostream via the link. There are also video instructions available for each build – you can find a link to these under each image in de-marco’s photostream should you wish to jazz your own Town up with some iconic classics!

I’m a Lumberjack and I’m OK

Lego Technic KAMAZ 43118 Timber Truck RC

This is a KAMAZ 43118 timber truck, but we just couldn’t bring ourselves to use that awful Ke$ha ‘Timber’ song for the title, so here are some far more meaningful lyrics. Now that’s out the way, this is a KAMAZ 43118 timber truck, and it’s one of the most fiendishly complicated looking Technic creations that the Elves have found in some time.

Built by ArsMan064 there are no less than seven Power Functions motors, plus three IR receivers, controlling the drive, steering, gearbox, locking differentials, outriggers, rotating two-stage boom, and of course a Technic claw for manipulating felled trees. Well, sticks, but still.

There’s also working suspension, LED lighting, and it really can pick up logs and load them onto the rear. There are more images plus a video of the clever crane arm in action at the Eurobricks forum – click the link above to yell Timber. Damnit.

Lego Technic KAMAZ 43118 Timber Truck RC

Shooting Santa

Lego KAMAZ 4310

Communism, that bastion of equality and shared ownership, did away with such frivolities as freedom of movement, choice of employment, and creativity. In fact we’re pretty sure that creativity and inventiveness were actively banned, so mind-numbingly dull are all communistical product names.

This gives us a headache when we blog one of them, as there is zero chance of getting the vehicle name into a witty title. So – absent from the post title – here is today’s; the KamAZ-4310 military off-road truck, complete with a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft auto-cannon mounted in the bed.

Lego KamAZ-4310 and ZU-23-2

Built by the Soviets from the 1960s, the ZU-23-2 is still in production today, and is probably being used by both sides in the ongoing Syrian conflict which shows little sign of abating. Capable of hitting aircraft from 2.5km, or armoured vehicles from around 2km, it’s the perfect weapon for a dark Christmas night… just think of all the presents that you could make off with if you had this combo! It’s kind of a one-time deal though, as Santa probably wouldn’t be around next year for a repeat robbery.

Vova Rychkov is the builder and there’s more to see at his Flickr photostream – click the link to get armed.

Lego Kamaz Truck

Soviet Success Story

Lego KamAZ 63501 Truck

As we’ve mentioned here, here, here, here and here, Communist state-run vehicle manufacturers were almost universally crap. Thankfully they’ve almost universally been consigned to history too, but there are two notable exceptions.

The first is Lada, who – despite their notoriety for being crap – do probably have a bright future ahead of them. No longer controlled by the Russian state they’re now half owned by the Renault-Nissan Alliance, and that means they’ll start making quite good cars quite soon (yes really! We’ve been right before…).

The second exception is the maker of the grey beast pictured here, KamAZ. Founded in 1976 by the Soviet Government (as was everything in the Soviet Union at the time), KamAZ have gone on to become an unlikely success story. To date KamAZ have built well over 2million heavy duty trucks, with 43,000 rolling off their production lines each year.

Unlike other examples of ‘successful’ Soviet vehicles (where the vast numbers sold were because consumers had no other choice), KamAZ trucks are successful in the competitive open market, are world renowned for their toughness, and have won the legendary Dakar Rally a record thirteen times – winning every single stage of the event last year.

Still half owned by the Russian state (whose military rely on their products), KamAZ are now part owned by Daimler AG – better known as Mercedes-Benz – and turn over $3billion a year. Some of that success is down to this, the ultra heavy duty (but rubbishly named) KamAZ 63501 8×8 truck.

This stellar Lego example of the 63501 is the work of VovaRychkov, and he’s recreated the Russian titan beautifully. There’s lots more to see at Vova’s photostream – click the link above to take a closer look.

Lego KamAZ 63501 Truck

Midnight Master

Lego Kamaz Master Dakar Truck

This immaculately detailed and beautifully photographed creation was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr. It’s a Kamaz Master Dakar-spec rally truck in full Red Bull livery and it looks, as you can see here, rather special. Silva Vasil is making his TLCB debut with this build, and there’s lots more to see at his Flickr photostream – click the link above for more stunning imagery.

Lego Kamaz Dakar Rally Truck Red Bull

Walking on Sunshine

Lego Kamaz TruckSummer is finally starting to find its way to The Lego Car Blog Towers, and its imminent arrival has given the Elves a sunny disposition, resulting in a yellow day here at the blog. We like yellow, so on with the show!

First up is this splendid 1:16 scale Kamaz dropside truck. Built by DB_Kit Fisto, it’s one of the most brilliantly detailed vehicles we’ve blogged in a while. It features working suspension, Power Functions drive and Ackerman steering. And it’s very yellow.

Second up is something a little smaller. [Maks] is back with a mini-figure scale vehicle entitled ‘Yellow School Bus’. Which is exactly what it is. And it’s rather good too. Check it out on Flickr.

Lego School Bus