Tag Archives: LED Lights

Wheelie Big

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This amazing machine is a Komatsu WE2350 wheel loader, a 270-ton, 2,300bhp leviathan designed to load the world’s ‘ultra class’ 400-ton mining dump trucks.

Originally a LeTourneau design launched in 2000, the WE2350 remains the world’s largest wheel loader, and – somewhat appropriately – rides upon the largest tyres ever produced. Which is a bit of a problem if you’re trying to build the WE2350 out of LEGO.

Cue Flickr’s Beat Felber, who – over the past week of so – has uploaded an entire mine’s worth of equipment in 1:28 scale.

His incredible recreation of the Komatsu WE2350 is the latest in his series, and rides upon brick-built wheels measuring a huge eighteen studs in diameter, each centred on a twenty-two-sided cylinder wrapped in Technic rubber lift-arm connectors.

Each if those remarkable wheels is powered, with two XL Motors driving the axles, an M Motor the articulated steering, whilst another XL and M Motor operate the mammoth loading arm and bucket, the real version of which can lift 41 cubic meters of material.

It’s all remotely operable thanks to two third-party SBricks, plus there’s working head and tail-lights, an oscillating rear axle, deployable ladders and stairs, plus opening doors and hatches.

It’s a spectacular piece of Technic engineering, and you can see more of Beat’s Komatsu WE2350, and the other amazing mining machines that accompany it, on Flickr. Click the link above to take a closer look.

#Patriotism

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America is in the news of TLCB home nation rather a lot at the moment. Whilst we’ve quietly called, held, and politely delivered the outcome of an election in six weeks, America’s year-long campaign season continues, and – with perhaps a depressing inevitability – the barrage of political slurs, plus an argument about golf handicaps for some reason, has spilled over into something far worse.

Thus to remember that America isn’t just gun violence and two old men insulting one another, today we have the most American thing we can think of short of chanting ‘Freedom!’ on loop or a Mustang crash; the Chevrolet Corvette C7.

Built by Eurobricks’ mihao, this stunning Technic recreation of the last front-engined Corvette is so realistic we can almost see the retired dentist behind the wheel. Working steering, adjustable suspension, a V8 engine connected to a paddle-shift gearbox, opening doors, hood and trunk, plus a removable targa-roof all feature, and the model can also be fully motorised, with remote control drive, steering, and LED head and tail lights.

Building instructions for both the mechanical and motorised versions of mihao’s model are available, and you can find them and lots more besides at the Eurobricks forum. Click the link above to take a look at mihao’s fantastic American icon, and whichever old man you vote for, neither the other one, nor his supporters, are your foe.

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Roving Big

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Febrovery, the annual building bandwagon in which ground-based science-fiction vehicles take over Flickr, is complete for another year. Which means it’s complete here too, which is good news for TLCB Team – who are uniformly crap at sci-fi – but not before we have one final rover to showcase. And what a rover it is.

Measuring 117 studs in length and riding on eight enormous tyres from the 42054 Claas Xerion 5000 amongst other Technic sets, Scott Wilhelm’s ‘Ridiculously Oversized Vehicular Element Repository’ features remote control drive and steering (via XL and L Power Functions motors), a working cargo crane, five airlock doors, a retractable solar array, a fully fitted interior, and spectacular internal and external LED lighting.

More pictures are due to follow, but until they do you can check out this one at Scott’s photostream via the link above. Until next year, happy roving!

Fun Bags

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Large, eye-catching, but somewhat impractical when riding, big bags definitely forfeit a degree of agility for look-at-me attention. Cue Dennis Glaasker (aka BricksonWheels) and this visual feast of a Harley Davidson ‘bagger’ motorcycle.

(Very) loosely based on the official LEGO 10269 Creator Expert Harley Davidson Fat-Boy set, Dennis’ bagger looks frankly impossible to ride, but with a fully chromed engine, LED lighting, spectacular presentation, and – of course – two enormous curvy bags, we can ignore the practicalities for a bit and just enjoy looking.

Grab a handful at Dennis’ ‘Harley Davidson Layframe Bagger’ album, plus you can read his Master MOCers interview here at TLCB by clicking this bonus link.

There’s Something In the Air*

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This TLCB Writer has only flown American Airlines once. The aircraft looked beautiful, resplendent in brand new chrome paint, and stepping on board – well that was something else!

And by something else, we mean Total Crap. A throwback to sometime circa-1995, it was wearing every one of the millions of miles it had covered.

Which is perhaps something of a metaphor for the nation whose flag was freshly painted on the tail; shiny and spectacular on the outside, just don’t look at what’s going on underneath.

However there was a time when the interiors of American Airlines’ aircraft matched the gorgeous exterior livery, and that time was somewhere around 1971, when the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 debuted with America’s national carrier.

Able to carry 270 passengers for 3,500 miles, around four-hundred of the trijet wide-body transcontinental airliner were built over a two decade production run, with few still in limited cargo service today.

This incredible model of the infamous ’70s airliner – constructed from around 20,000 LEGO pieces – is the work of the aptly-named Big Planes of Flickr, who has recreated the DC-10 in stunning detail, complete with American Airlines’ wonderful period chrome livery.

Unlike the plane this writer flew on though, he’s paid just as much attention to the interior, which is equally detailed, fully lit, and includes some appropriately questionable ’70s decor.

Functional flaps, motorised engines and landing gear, and even a below deck galley show that Big Planes’ attention to detail runs a lot deeper than the shiny livery, and there’s much more of this amazing aircraft to see on Flickr. Book your ticket to proudly fly American (in 1971) via the link above.

*Today’s wonderful title song

Route 66

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The war in Ukraine drags on, as tiny-penised Putin continues his folly to return the region back to the days of the Soviet Union.

Those days, marked with oppression, fear, and the eradication of freedom of movement, religion and speech, also included some fine engineering. Most of this was of course of the nuclear-weapon or space-race type, but the Soviet Union created some excellent off-road vehicles too. This is one of them, the GAZ-66.

Produced from the mid-’60s until ’99 – and still in use today in a variety of despotic authoritarian regimes including North Korea, Iran, and Syria – the GAZ-66 was a 4×4 military truck available in a bewildering array of configurations.

This one is a ‘K66V’, fitted with a box body behind the cab. Built by Samuel Nerpas (aka Tatrovak), this brilliantly engineered Technic version is remotely controlled via a BuWizz bluetooth battery powering four drive motors, servo steering, and two sets of LED lights.

Planetary hubs, all-wheel-suspension, and all-wheel-drive ensure Samuel’s GAZ-66 is suitably capable off-road, and the model also includes a tilting cab, opening doors, and a removable superstructure.

There’s more to see at both the Eurobricks forum and via Samuel’s Flickr photostream, where you can find all the imagery, build details, and videos of the model in action.

Look Here, Old Sport. What is Your Opinion of Me, Anyhow?

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“It was a rich cream colour, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hatboxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of windshields that mirrored a dozen suns”.

It was also – in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ – a Rolls Royce. However Baz Luhrmann, never one to let reality interrupt the stylised nature of his films, cast a 1929 Duesenberg Model J in his 2013 move adaptation, set in 1922.

Despite deviating from both the book and, er… time, the Duesenberg Model J was the perfect vehicle with which to represent the extraordinary opulence of the story’s titular character. The fastest and most expensive automobile of the time, the Duesenberg Model J was the car of choice for America’s ultra-wealthy, with bodywork created by any number of American or European coach-builders, a weight of up to three tons, and a straight-eight engine that could, if optionally supercharged in ‘SJ form’, make 400bhp.

This astounding model of the Duesenberg SJ used in 2013’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ is the work of the fantastically talented Adrian Drake and is – like its real-world counterpart – quite unfathomably long.

Measuring 144 studs from front to rear bumper, with a complete interior behind four opening doors, LED lighting, and the most intricate and incredible brick-built wheels we’ve ever seen, Adrian’s creation is fit for the most mysterious of 1920s millionaires.

It also wears a truly jaw-dropping body, created from a myriad of overlapping bricks, plates and tiles, that can only be accomplished when building at a scale as large as this.

A stunning collection of imagery reveals Adrian’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ Duesenberg SJ in phenomenal detail, and you can find it – along with the builder’s other works – on Flickr. Click the link above to take a ride across 1920s New York, and here to see the real movie car doing just that in Baz Lurhmann’s gloriously over-the-top film interpretation.

Multiple Aliases

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This is one of those cars that is probably familiar to all of us, and yet may also not be at all. This is a Geo Tracker, built by 2GodBDGlory, and in fact it’s his Geo Tracker, being a Technic recreation of his real-world vehicle.

But it’s also a Suzuki Vitara (the name we know it as here in TLCB’s home nation), a Suzuki Sidekick, a Chevrolet Tracker, a GMC Tracker, an Asuna Sunrunner (what?!), and a Pontiac Sunrunner.

Which is confusing. Thus, because the Tracker/Vitara/Sunrunner is a Suzuki designed, engineered and produced product, with General Motors simply rebadging it and pretending it was theirs, we’re going to call it a Vitara from here on, and 2GodBDGlory’s is excellent.

Powered by two L Motors with Servo steering, and featuring all-wheel-drive, a remotely-operated high/low range gearbox, working suspension, LED head and tail lights, and a removable roof, 2GodBDGlory’s Technic Vitara is as capable off-road as his real one, and there’s much more of the model to see of both at Eurobricks and Bricksafe.

Whatever you know the Suzuki Vitara as where you’re from, click the links above to be impressed.

Nosing Ahead

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The new BMW M4, as with many of the brand’s latest offerings, is rather… er, nostrilly. Still, in racing form that humungous beak must help with cooling, and the M4 is indeed available to buy as a factory racing car in GT3 specification.

Cue this phenomenal Technic replica of the M4 GT3 by previous bloggee and TLCB Master MOCer Lachlan Cameron (aka Lox Lego).

Deploying not just his own talents, but also the best of third-party LEGO compatible creators including BuWizz (bluetooth battery), System of a Brick (custom rims), snakeeyes (racing livery design), and Brick Visions (interior stickers), Lachlan demonstrates that Lego building can be taken far beyond the basic bricks.

Underneath that superbly-liveried exterior is a full remote control drivetrain consisting of a BuWizz brick and dual Buggy Motors, working steering, adjustable suspension with five ride heights, a straight-6 engine, opening and locking doors, hood and trunk, and LED head and tail lights.

A road car variant is available too, and there’s lots more of both versions to see at Lachlan’s ‘BMW M4 GT3’ Flickr album, at the Eurobricks forum, and via a YouTube video available here. Click the links above to nose your way there.

The Lego Train Blog

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Whilst this crumbling ruin in the corner of the internet is (mostly) a Lego Car Blog, we do like a Good Train. Which is probably the nerdiest sentence written outside of The Brothers Brick. Still, this is a very Good Train indeed, and it comes from previous bloggee Nikolaus Lowe.

A replica of a 1908 German steam locomotive ‘PtL 2/2 Glaskasten’, Nikolaus’ creation includes gorgeous detailing, some wonderful brick-built valve gear, remote control drive, and custom LED lighting front and rear.

Built for a competition there’s more of Nikolaus’ lovely locomotive to see on Flickr, and you can jump back to Germany in 1908 via the link in the text above.

The LEGO Lighting Book | Review

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LEGO and lighting have been wired together for decades. From early 4.5V lighting sets, via the 12V and 9V eras, to the latest LEGO LEDs, a huge range of sets have been enhanced by the addition of light over the years.

Of course it took third-party companies about five minutes to figure out that for a niche group of builders, there was demand to go well beyond LEGO’s own lighting offerings. Cue Game of Bricks, Lightailing and others, who have created some fantastically intricate, fully programmable lighting products designed to bring official LEGO sets to life.

But building with LEGO isn’t just about official sets. The best models are those designed and built uniquely, using scale, techniques, and themes that could never be packaged into what is at heart a children’s toy.

These are the models we publish here of course, many of which have an even greater potential to be brought to twinkly life by in-built illumination. Now Brickworld Coordinator Brian M. Williams and the excellent No Starch Press can show you how. This is The Lego Lighting Book.

Available in digital download or hardback, The LEGO Lighting Book is the latest in No Starch Press’ ever-expanding catalogue of brick-based titles. Combining LEGO history, step-by-step building instructions, example images, and a few not-quite-purist approaches to wiring lighting into LEGO bricks, Brian M. Williams’ runs to around 180 pages, with production and printing as lovely as we have come to expect from No Starch Press publications. That said, it is worth noting that whilst most images are super sharp, a few look like they were taken in the dark on a camera phone in 2009. Probably because they were.

The book begins with a brief background to lighting at Lego shows, and a history of LEGO’s own range of lighting components, before moving on to applications, step-by-step instructions, and – interestingly – a bit more physics and electronics than we were expecting.

Whilst rather detailed, the author makes good use of imagery, layout and white space to ensure The LEGO Lighting Book is easy to follow and engaging, exemplified by high quality building instructions that both demonstrate how to build – and then illuminate – example creations, and also create brick-built electronics components, which is something of a niche within a niche.

Not all of the instructional builds will be suitable for everyone however, with the steps of a few involving ‘double-sided tape’, ‘soldering’, and one beginning with “drill holes to create a path for the wires”…

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Towing Technic

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This astonishing creation is a fully-working 1:10 scale pick-up based tow truck, inspired by the bespoke Isuzus in use by Slovenia’s Automobile Association. Designed and constructed by Zerobricks – one of the team behind the 5-star rated BuWizz bluetooth brick – no fewer than eleven motors accurately recreate the functions of Slovenia’s real roadside recovery vehicles.

Two BuWizz 3.0 bricks power and control those eleven motors, which drive all four wheels, a high/low gearbox, working steering, three differential locks, a winch, and – of course – the brilliantly engineered rear lift, which can raise/lower, extend, and lock/grab the wheels of the vehicle to be towed, all of which can be controlled remotely via bluetooth.

A suite of manual functions compliment the electronic wizardry, including all-wheel suspension, a V8 engine, LED lights, opening doors, hood and tool compartments, and 3D-printed brake discs, whilst accurate decals and brick-built accessories such traffic cones and fuel cans further enhance the model’s likeness to the full-size AMZS trucks.

It’s a spectacular creation that beautifully demonstrates the combined power of LEGO Technic and the BuWizz bluetooth battery and control system, and there’s a lot more to see at the Eurobricks forum, including full specifications, digital renders of the internal mechanisms, and further imagery, plus you can watch the model in action alongside its real-life counterpart via the excellent video below.

Click the links to take a closer look, or here to visit the BuWizz store if you’re interested in how their amazing bluetooth brick could add superpower to your creations.

YouTube Video

Litronic Liebherr

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From one 300-ton machine to another, only this one is real. The Liebherr R 944 B Litronic is the smaller brother of the 800-ton Liebherr R9800 that LEGO used to create the largest Technic set ever released, working to load 100-ton mining trucks in the world’s open-cast mines.

Taking the tracks, sprockets, XL linear actuators and clamshell bucket from the 42100 Technic set, previous bloggee Beat Felber has recreated the smaller R 944 B Litronic, only in a much larger 1:28.5 scale.

Ten motors, two third-party SBricks, three sets of LED lights, and two rechargeable battery boxes bring Beat’s incredible creation to life, with accurate crawler movement, structure slewing, boom, stick, and bucket cylinders, a retractable motorised access ladder and opening service flap.

An extensive gallery of imagery is available to view, and you can take a closer look at this astonishing mining machine at Beat’s ‘Liebherr R 994 B Litronic’ album on Flickr via the link above.

Weekend in Drag

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This a dragline crawler crane, used in open-cast mining for digging really big holes. Built by previous bloggee Beat Felber, this incredible creation is a fully-working replica of one the world’s largest; the 700-ton P&H 2355 diesel-electric dragline that worked the Rix Creek Mine in Australia.

Remotely controlled by three SBricks, Beat’s creation can hoist and drag the bucket, rotate the superstructure, raise the boom, drive and skid-steer, and even raise the two access ladders thanks to seven Power Functions and two Micro Motors.

Four pairs of LEGO LEDs illuminate the floodlights and interior, whilst removable panels give access to the motors and winches within.

It’s a spectacular build, with a fully detailed machine room and interior to match the astonishing working mechanisms, and you can head to the mine via Beat’s ‘P&H 2355’ album to get in drag.

Big Reach

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Reach. It’s a word we hear a lot in the running of a world-famous top-quality Lego site. OK, a mildly-known bottom-of-the-barrel Lego site. But nevertheless, we still hear it a lot. Countless messages offering great value reach improvement services are deleted with alarming frequency.

Anyway, today we have great reach, courtesy of TLCB favourite and Lego-building legend Sariel, and this incredible fully remote controlled Liebherr LTC 1045-3.1 mobile crane.

Powered by fourteen motors and three SBricks, Sariel’s crane can extend its reach to well over a meter, with a further half-meter boom extension possible on top of that.

Four Power Functions motors drive the boom’s elevation, extension and winch, another three the cabin boom elevation, extension and tilt, one rotates the superstructure, another folds the mirrors, two more the outriggers, and finally three power the drive and steering.

Over five meters of wires are hidden inside to link the motors, LED lights, LEGO battery, and SBricks, with the total model weighing almost 5kgs and able to lift ¾ kg.

There’s much more of Sariel’s superbly presented creation to see at his Liebherr LTM 1045-3.1 album, you can read how Sariel turned his hobby into revenue via our ‘Become a Lego Professional‘ series, and you can watch this amazing model in action in the video below. Click the links to reach the full content.

YouTube Video