The Elves love finding models of Mercedes-Benz’s ubiquitous Unimog. Firstly, the models are usually packed with working features. Damian Z.’s has a very nice Hiab crane mounted behind its cab. Secondly, the models are often built in orange, meaning that the lucky finder is rewarded with an orange Smartie, which are the best sort. Click on this link to Damian’s album on Flickr to see more details, including the neatly attached air intake pipe.
This enormous Technic-figure scale Mercedes-Benz Actros 8×4 heavy haulage truck was discovered on MOCpages and Eurobricks. It’s been built by Shineyu Yu and it features a host of Technic functions including RC drive and steering. There’s more to see via the link above, and you can check out our preview of LEGO’s official 2015 Mercedes-Benz truck set by clicking here.
You wait ages for a creamy-beige truck to come along and then two arrive at once…
That’s not true – no-one’s ever waited for a beige truck. But like yesterday‘s find, this 1970s Mercedes-Benz refrigerated box-truck with three-axle trailer looks superb in its unusual colour scheme. Previous bloggee Thietmaier is the builder and you can see more on Flickr.
There’s been much excitement here at TLCB Towers today. Following our preview of the 2015 Technic line-up some time ago, the final piece of the 2015 jigsaw has been found! We’ve had a few images of the missing 42043 set sitting in the office for a while, but unfortunately they weren’t of sufficient quality for us to share here. And we forgot. But let’s go with the quality control aspect as it makes us look more professional.
Anyway, thanks to an intrepid troop of Elves we now do have images of a high enough quality to publish! So this is it – LEGO’s new 2015 Technic flagship, building further on their partnership with Mercedes-Benz, the 2,800 piece 42043 Arcos crane truck.
Based on Mercedes’ real 4-axle tractor unit 42043 surpasses even the previous standards set by the incredible 8110 Unimog set. Featuring both Power Functions electric motors and the next generation pneumatic system (containing all-new components), 42043 features a huge range of functionality.
Three new pneumatic cylinders are used to move the crane arm and grab, with a fourth employed as a pneumatic compressor. A gearbox allows the Power Functions system to perform a variety of tasks, including powering the aforementioned compressor and tipping the bucket, whilst unpowered mechanics take care of the steering, piston engine and suspension.
We expect the new 42043 flagship set to cost upwards £165 when it arrives towards the end of the summer, and if one of TLCB Team saves really hard we’ll be able to bring you a set review. In the meantime you can read our reviews of LEGO’s previous releases, including the Arocs’ predecessor – the 8110 Unimog – by clicking here.
Lego models photographed on location look the business. This stunning Mercedes-Benz Actros with Nooteboom trailer and its Volkswagen Transporter escort vehicle have appeared here previously as part of a builder collaboration.
Flickr’s JaapTechnic has since completed his elements of that original set-up by adding fully working lights and high-quality decals to his models. The latest images place the convoy into a real world setting, and the results are spectacular. Click here to see all of the new images at Jaap’s photostream.
Mercedes-Benz are the racing team to beat at the moment, and back in the 1950s it was a similar story. Teams were run a bit differently half a century ago, with budgets very much smaller than they are today. Racing cars would turn up on the back of a transporter, go racing, and then go home again – there were no fancy mobile workshops, catering trucks or hospitality suites.
We quite like this approach, but the downside was that if one of your racing cars broke, there were few spare parts, and certainly no spare car, with which to fix it. To get around this Mercedes came up with a genius solution; they built a vehicle capable of racing across Europe at high speed to get back to the factory to collect another car – the amazing Rennwagen Schnelltransporter nicknamed ‘Blue Wonder’.
Underneath the weird car-transporting bodywork the Schnelltransporter was a 300SL Gullwing supercar, complete with its three-litre straight-six petrol engine, the first engine ever fitted with direct-injection. And that made it the fastest car transporter in the world.
A vehicle as legendary as that needs a legendary builder, and they don’t come much more so than Firas Abu-Jaber. Firas’ beautiful Model Team recreation of the famous Mercedes even features a stunning 300SL Gullwing to transport. There’s loads more to see on both MOCpages and Flickr – click the links for all the details.
There’s a very fat Elf somewhere in the office today. Fat because it legitimately earned – and spent – four meal tokens in one go.
Flickr’s Barry Bosman (aka Barman76), Dirk Klein, Lifting Bricks and TLCB debutant JaapTechnic have caused the temporary obesity through their wonderful quartet of complimenting creations; JaapTechnic’s huge Mercedes-Benz heavy haulage truck, Dirk Klein’s mobile crane load upon Lifting Bricks’ Noteboom trailer and, our favourite, a simply brilliant Volkswagen Transporter escort vehicle by JaapTechnic. Each is a work of art and all are available to view at Barman76’s photostream via the link to Flickr above.
It might be the middle of summer here at the TLCB Towers (causing us many hot pant/mini skirt related distractions whilst driving), but our worldwide readership means that many of you will be reading this with your heating cranked up and a jumper on. If you’re one of our winter-bound readers then today’s post is just for you!
It’s the work of Brickshelf’s stefanbetulapendula, and he’s done a superb job fitting LEGO’s own 8110 Unimog set with all the equipment needed for a snowstorm.
Up front is a fantastically intricate looking snow blower, whilst a grit/salt hopper and dispenser has been mounted on the Unimog’s load-bed. Stefan has also retro-fitted Power Functions receivers and motors, making his Unimog fully remote-controlled too.
You can check out all the modifications via the complete gallery on Brickshelf by clicking the link above, and you can read TLCB’s expert review of the original LEGO Technic 8110 Unimog set by clicking here.
What better way to celebrate tonight’s German triumph in the 2014 Brazil World Cup here at TLCB than with the most German of cars; the Mercedes-Benz AMG*! This particular car is the one that started it all, the awesome 6.8 litre V8 SEL.
TLCB favourite and frequent bloggee Senator Chinchilla is the builder behind this Model Team classic AMG racer, and he’s uploaded a superb gallery showcasing his latest creation to Flickr. Join the German celebration and check it out here!
*We’re very relieved that Argentina were runners up. We had no idea what to post if they’d won.
The Dakar rally doesn’t actually go to Dakar anymore (thanks to the miserable fun sponges at al-Qaeda), but it is still an awesome race, routeing now through South America. MOCpages’ Yang Nam has built one of the vehicles that helps to keep the show rolling, with his superb Mercedes-Benz support truck. You can find all the photos and build details at the link above.
The LEGO Technic Mercedes-Benz Unimog (8110) might be the best model The LEGO Group has ever made. At 2000 pieces and including both Power Functions and Pneumatic systems, as well as a huge array of mechanical functions, 8110 is one of the most sought-after sets the company has produced to date. However, unlike most other Technic sets, it didn’t really come with instructions for an alternate – or ‘B’ – model.
Eurobricks member djshiver (aka Mr. Tekneex) has rectified this with his creation built solely from the parts found within the 8110 Unimog set. His Jeep features the Unimog’s superb 4×4 drive system and couples it to a two-speed gearbox whilst utilising the original model’s compressor motor to power a front-mounted winch. The Jeep also includes an inline 4-cylinder engine up front, superb all-round suspension, working steering, and full Power Functions remote control compatibility. Everything LEGO could’ve included had they designed a ‘B’ model themselves!
You can see all the photos, design details and discussion for the Unimog alternate model at the Eurobricks forum via the link above, or alternatively you can visit Mr. Tekneex’s MOCpage here.
The 1950s Mercedes-Benz 300 SL is, according to TLCB anyway, one of the most beautiful cars ever made. Part of its legendary appeal is down to the incredible ‘gull wing’ doors that debuted on the car.
Beautiful as those doors were though they did have a drawback. The 300 SL was based on the boring old bits from normal Mercedes saloon cars that really weren’t up to the job of handling the power from its inline-6 engine, an engine that was the first to feature direct injection and made over 200bhp (a lot for the 1950s).
As such SLs were quite… crash-able, and if you were trapped inside one upside-down all thoughts about how funky the doors were would vanish when you realised they couldn’t be opened.
Danger is cool though, and thus 300 SLs are now some of the most sought-after cars ever, commanding astronomical price-tags. Which means to get your hands on one you’ll have to build your own, which is exactly what Flickr’s Tobias Munzert has done. His wonderful recreation not only looks the part but also features the doors that made the car so famous. Now, do we put an Elf in it and turn it upside-down…
There’s more to this Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon by Tim Inman than meets the eye. 50% more in fact. See why on Flickr.
Yes, it’s that time of the week again as another Unimog makes its way onto TLCB. This time round it’s a Town style version complete with what appears to be a couple of shady characters buying illegal weapons from the back of it. See what’s going down at Ironsniper’s Flickr page.
The Elves, told yesterday to include more oranges in their diet, have taken the advice to heart and as such one of them brought this back to The Lego Car Blog office today. Promptly rewarded with an orange Smartie (they’re the best kind) the happy Elf has wandered off to find other orange things and we’re free to elaborate on this rather brilliant creation.
The work of [Maks] on Flickr, it’s a Town scale replica of LEGO’s own superb 8110 Mercedez-Benz Unimog set, to date the largest and most complex Technic set produced. [Maks] has recreated visually all the working aspects of the 2,048 piece Technic original, right down to the grab attachment on the rear-mounted crane. To see more of this superb mini-‘Mog click on [Maks] name, and you can read The Lego Car Blog’s review of the 8110 Technic set via the hyperlink above or by typing ‘8110’ into the Search function at the foot of this page.