‘Skytrain’ might be a slightly ambitious title, but nothing moved as many troops about during the Second World War as the Douglas DC-3 / C-47. In fact so reliable is the DC-3 that many are still in use today, some eighty years on from when the plane first saw service, ferrying people and objects to and from the world’s most inhospitable places.
This lovely recreation of the iconic aircraft comes from SirLuftwaffles of Flickr, and – full disclosure – it’s digital. But you can’t tell, as SirLuftwaffles has used only readily available pieces, real-world construction methods, and produced a render that is really very good indeed.
There’s more to see including full build and digital design software details at SirLuftwaffles’ photostream – take to the skies with 27 other troops via the link in the text above.
We rarely post renders. Rarer still creations where the first part of the description is a link to building instructions. We are today though, because a) this Ford Mustang Boss 302 looks epic, and b) because builder w35wvi, here making their TLCB debut, has released building instructions for free. And that – in an era of increasing Lego building profiteering – earns them a hundred TLCB points. See more, including that link to those free instructions, via the link.
We often get asked to feature more digital builds, but, well… we just prefer the real thing. So too did Ray Davies, who – in his 1970 hit with The Kinks – rejected the advances of Lola, despite later addressing the controversy around his lyrics by stating “It really doesn’t matter what sex Lola is, I think she’s alright”.
Cue a seamless link to ‘LOLA’ from Marvel’s ‘Agents of Shield’, a 1962 Chevrolet Corvette that hides some rather trick abilities, as recreated here in this marvellous image by Flickr’s Vaionaut.
Like Ray’s admirer in that Soho club, Vaionaut’s ‘LOLA’ doesn’t feature the real pieces you’d expect, but it looks so good we can’t help but think it’s alright too. It’s also capable of doing a few things that a brick-built creation can’t, being rendered in flight in a way that’s very probably more realistic than if it had been constructed from real bricks.
Somewhere in all that there’s a metaphor for accepting someone for who they are, and you can see more of Vaionaut’s digital Chevrolet Corvette ‘LOLA’ via the link above, whilst we ponder it.
We’re cheating a bit today, but whilst this creation by Flickr’s L E G O Z ; ) is digital, being ‘built’ in Bricklink Studio 2.0, it’s also awesome. Called the ‘SPARKY’ High Mobility Salvage Rover, it’s based on the concept art of John Wallin Liberto, and features only genuine (digital) LEGO pieces plus some rather neat photoshopping. The result looks mega and there’s more to see via the link above!
Much of crime now occurs online. From serious stuff like bank fraud, trivial stuff like calling someone names on Twitter, or absurd stuff liketeaching a pug to nazi salute, the internet is a cesspool of scumbagery. It is, of course, where The Lego Car Blog is based, which probably just adds to the argument for closing the whole thing down.
Fortunately (apart from in that pug case), there are cyber police attempting to control the online douchbaggery, and in our minds they travel around in things like this.
Appropriately digitally rendered by TLCB debutantcixpack, this ‘2069 Polara’ NYC Police hovercar looks like something in-between the Blues Brothers and Fifth Element;and would be suitably terrifying if it turned up outside a troll’s abode to administer a kick to the balls (TLCB’s favoured proposed internet policing style) whenever they used the internet as a toilet.
There’s more to see of cixpack’s virtual NYPD hover car on Flickr – click the link above to take a look. Just remember to be nice!
Curvy, yellow, delicious, and contained within its own handy wrapper, the banana is a wonderful fruit. Equally curvy, nearly as yellow, and highly delicious (if you’re a TLCB Elf), Tauriel1‘s hot rodded cab-over got the Elves most excited. Until they found out it’s digital, meaning it can neither be ridden on or chewed.
Still, it does look absolutely marvellous, and if you’re wondering ‘why don’t TLCB publicise more digital builds?’, it because they rarely look like this.
Newcomer Tauriel1 has an array of digital creations in their photostream and you can view more of the ‘cab-over’ featured here alongside their other designs on Flickr. Click the link above to make like a banana and split.
Much like your Mom’s waistline or Donald Trump’s self-interest, some things just keep getting bigger. This is L E G O Z ; ) ‘Wegener 48400 Mining Excavator’, and if you thought his mining truck that featured here earlier in the month was massive, just look at this!
Created digitally in Bricklink Studio 2.0, the 48400 measures over 100 virtual studs in length and 90 high, making the mini-figures on board look very tiny indeed. Like Donald Trump hands.
A fusion reactor powers the 48400 and its 46×50 stud bucket, with the necessary tanks of water and nitrogen slung underneath. A crew of ten mini-figures operate the excavator (although it can accommodate up to fifty), and two cockpits control the bucket arm and tracked steering separately due to the vehicle’s immense size.
It’s an incredibly inventive design, with astonishing attention to detail everywhere you look. And there is a lot to look at, with the images enhanced in photoshop to include a lifelike livery, decals, and the ‘Hibernia’ background landscape.
There’s loads more to see of the 48400 and the Wegener mining truck that featured here previously at L E G O Z’s ‘Wegener Mining [Red Series]’ album on Flickr – click the link above to make the jump into a very large digital world.
This is not a car. And nor is it even built in real bricks. But it is awesome, and rendered – as you can see – superbly. If you’re wondering ‘Why don’t TLCB feature more digital builds?’, well mostly it’s because they don’t look like this.
Designed by L E G O Z ; ) of Flickr, this enormous (if it were real) ‘Wegener Mining Dump Truck’ joins a range of models created for the ‘Hibernia’ theme that seems to have inspired many in the online Lego Community. We’re not too sure what said theme involves exactly, but we know it’s cold.
L E G O Z ; ) addition to the Hibernia landscape was ‘built’ in Bricklink Studio 2.0, uses only actual LEGO bricks (although some are in colours yet to be produced) and features some mega detailing throughout.
Head onto the digital ice via the link above for all the stunning imagery.
We’re often asked why we don’t feature more digital builds. Well mostly it’s because they don’t look like this. ‘This’ is Finn Roberts‘ Mining Truck, built to serve the icy world of Hibernia that seems to be popping up all over the place in the online Lego community of late, and rendered so well you’d be hard pressed to know it’s a digital build.
What makes the renderings even more impressive is that they showcase the model’s ‘working’ features, like its enormous tipping bucket, folding entry ladder, and four-wheel-steering system. Head to Hibernia via the link above to see more, where there’s also a link of to an animation of Finn’s model in action.
We rarely feature digital builds here at The Lego Car Blog because, well… they rarely look like this! Suggested to us by a reader, this is newcomer David Elisson‘s Koenigsegg Regara, and it’s stunning.
David has successfully recreated the Regera’s wildly complicated shape brilliantly, assuming it wouldn’t fall apart if it were built for real of course, and you can see more of his spectacular digital design on Flickr via the link above.
As has been mentioned before, we’re not sold on Land Rover’s new Defender. Which means it’ll likely sell phenomenally well… We are sold on this though, John O’Shea’s perfect digital recreation of the classic Land Rover 2A 109 that first appeared here last year.
John has since rendered the best version of his design yet, because this is what a Defender should look like. OK, not in America where Defenders are fetching astronomical sums of money, or in the UK’s cities where they’re all black with tinted windows and LED lights, and have never gone up so much as a curb, but out in rural Britain where Defenders work for living.
The British countryside is full of Defenders that look like this one; battered, seized exposed screw heads, roofs green with mould, and patches over patches on the chassis. Somehow we’re not sure the new version will look like these in 30 years. Mostly because it probably won’t last that long.
John’s beautifully rendered 2A 109 van manages to capture all of the shediness of the thousands of Defenders carrying equipment, sheep, and farmers across the British Isles brilliantly, and there’s more to see of his stunning render at his photostream. Click here to take a closer look.
We’re often asked why we don’t publicise more digital creations. The answer is most of them don’t look like this. Well, we don’t mean they’re not a Škoda 14TrM trollybus (although it is lovely), but this is the quality we need to be able to blog a rendered model. It comes from aaref1ev of Flickr who lives near to where these buses were built by Škoda under license during the late ’90s. Superbly well detailed, aaref1ev’s Škoda 14TrM has been rendered beautifully by liz_dewitt and there’s more to see of this digital delight at aaref1ev’s photostream via the link above.
The new LEGO Technic 42110 Land Rover Defender set may be getting all the attention right now, but it has us yearning for a proper Land Rover. This is one such vehicle, from back before the Defender was called the Defender. It is in fact simply known as the Land Rover Series 2A, and is shown here in 109 pick-up form courtesy of John O’Shea of Flickr.
John’s Land Rover Series 2A might be digital, but it’s also absolutely gorgeous, and very probably the most accurate Lego Land Rover design we’ve seen yet. He’s even built an ultra rare Cuthbertson tracked variant, sold in the ’60s by a Scottish engineering firm to allow the Land Rover go even further off-road. Head into the unknown (virtually) at John’s Land Rover Series 2A album via the link above.
Despite it being on the news every day in TLCB’s home nation for three years, this website has so far managed to avoid taking about Brexit. We’ll segway neatly to it today though, because a) something might actually happen this month (but probably not) and b) this lovely digital French fishing vessel by Flickr’s Edouard Clo provides a neat Brexit metaphor.
OK, first the elephant in the room – yes this is a digital ‘build’ (boo), but it’s also so well rendered that it’s really hard to tell – only an error/glitch in the image below (see if you can spot it!) gives the game away.
The detail is astonishing though, particularly as this is mini-figure scale, with a brilliant hull, a beautifully recreated deck, plentiful equipment, and some French fisherman stationed aboard ready to throw rocks at the English. And on to the segway…
You see one of the reasons the English narrowly voted for Brexit was the EU allows anyone from within it to bid for fishing rights, which means there are parts of the UK where fisherman are not allowed to fish in their own waters because the quota has been given to boats from another country, despite generations of fishing families living and working off those waters for centuries.
This one industry sums up both the greatness and folly of the EU; Everyone is in one big happy family, where everyone has access to everything. Except for when people aren’t really happy at all because generations of traditions and livelihoods have been sacrificed for a common objective. And that leads to people sometimes throwing rocks at each other.
Still, the UK and France have a long and noble tradition of antagonising each other so all we need now is for someone to build a mini-figure scale English scallop trawler to enable a fair representation of both sides. Until then grab some rocks and set sail to intercept the thieving English pig-dogs!
Tesla. If there’s one car company you cannot criticise on the internet due to frankly fanatical supporters it’s Elon Musk’s electric automotive brand. Here goes…
Tesla were not actually founded by the creator of Paypal back in 2003, but Musk has pretty much led the company ever since, from it’s first car (the Lotus Elise based Roadster) to its position today as the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer. This is a simply astonishing achievement, particularly as it’s Tesla that have brought EVs to the mainstream, forcing the established car manufacturers to take EVs seriously. The raft of new EVs about to reach the market are in large part due to Tesla proving the business case.
They’ve also brought a sense of fun to the often staid motor industry, with models that literally spell ‘S3XY’, a drive mode named ‘Ludicrous’, whoopie cushion seats, and host of other mischievous features. Plus the Tesla Model 3 is the safest model ever tested by the Euro NCAP. And yet, would this TLCB writer buy one?…
Nope.
For all Tesla’s technical innovation and engineering brilliance the company’s primary function is to build cars, and they’re shockingly bad at it. Designs that use four times as many parts as they should (making repairs complicated, eye-wateringly expensive and slow), risible paint quality, panel gaps that you could drive another car through, and chronic unreliability plague Tesla’s range. As the company tries desperately to meet demand (and to make money) the ‘finished’ cars are far from it, recreating the ownership experience of a 1970s British Leyland.
Whether Tesla can, or even wants to, sort these issues out is debatable. However what isn’t is that Mercedes-Benz, the Volkswagen Group, BMW, and many more besides wouldn’t be scrambling to go electric if it weren’t for Musk and what all started with an electrically-powered Elise. Which means when this writer is driving an EV he’ll be able to give a nod of thanks to Tesla, even though his car probably won’t actually be one.
Oh yeh, this neat digitally rendered Tesla Model 3 comes from Robson M of Flickr and there’s more to see at the link!
