We run a tight ship here at The Lego Car Blog. Models need to be of the highest quality of course, but so does their presentation. We have a whole page explaining the need for clean uncluttered backgrounds, so, um… here’s a model with a messy cluttered background.
It looks fantastic though doesn’t it? Just look at that reflection. Martin Spunkt‘s Kübelwagen shows how outdoor photography should be done, and there’s more to see of the model that’s earned him his TLCB debut via the link above.
We’ve heard people call us a ‘ship’ blog before. At least, it sounded like ‘ship’…
Anyway, today we are a Lego ship blog, courtesy of BrickPerfection and this incredible privateer frigate ‘Fortuna’.
Constructed from around four thousand pieces, the ‘Fortuna’ measures over 80cm long, 62cm high, and is equipped with three triple-section masts, twenty canons, a pair of swivel guns, a working two-anchor capstan with a selector gearbox, and a gorgeous fully equipped and accessible interior.
Complete with a crew of twelve mini-figures, beautiful detailing is in rich abundance throughout the build, and you can help to make this phenomenal ship a purchasable set through Bricklink’s Designer Programme.
Full details on how to vote, further imagery, and a video of the ship’s features can be found at the Eurobricks discussion forum, and you can set sail on BrickPerfect’s perfectly-bricked ship via the link in the text above.
Russia, or the Soviet Union before it, are the world’s most prolific maker of military helicopters. Tens of thousands of MiL helicopters have been built since the first design way back in the late 1940s, and are operated by dozens of nations the world over. Including a few you might not expect.
Cue Flickr’s Francis Bibeau, here making their TLCB debut, and these two incredible brick-built replicas of Russia’s finest rotary-wing aircraft.
The first (above) is a Mil Mi-17V-5, as leased by the Canadian military for extraction duties in Afghanistan, whilst the second (below) is a Polish Air Force Mil Mi-8T, the world’s most numerous military helicopter, depicted here on a fast-roping training exercise.
Wonderfully realistic, Francis’ models display forensic attention to detail, clever construction, and deploy custom mini-figures to great effect to bring the scenes to life.
There’s much more to see of each MIL helicopter diorama at Francis’ ‘Bird’ album, and you can hover under rotating Russian wings via the link above.
The year is 1984, and the mini-figures of Classic Space are hunting for uranium. For what we’re not sure, but as their exploits are entirely peaceful we’re sure it’ll be for noble research purposes.
Fast forward forty years and the Classic Spacemen have moved on to light and sound, at least if our German is up to scratch. Cue 1corn’s ‘Mobile Licht- und Schallmeßstation’, a fantastic redux of the 6928 Uranium Search Vehicle of 1984.
Sixteen wheels, a smiling mini-figure crew of four, an array of light and sound measuring equipment, and some lunar baseplates covered in sand add to the whimsy, and you join the Classic Spacemen in their measuring at 1corn’s ‘Mobile Licht- und Schallmeßstation’ (6928) album on Flickr.
Yarr! Today we be pirates, thanks to Captain Tom Skippy and his ‘Scalawag Sloop’! Though she be built from fewer than six-hundred pieces, her sails and hull be brick-built too, and you can board her at Port Eurobricks or Flickr Harbour before she sails for Barracuda Bay.
Sally, you’re a real swell gal [combs hair]. I don’t got no money for a ring yet, but I’m gonna [combs hair].
Every ’50s date seemed to take place in a diner like this. Which is a whole lot better than whatever the 2020’s equivalent is (swiping right and Netflix probably).
Previous bloggee SFH_Bricks takes us back to the era of slicked hair, poodle skirts and jukeboxes, with this fabulous ’50s diner diorama. An array of classic American metal is on display in the parking lot (many of which have appeared on these pages), and you can join Sally, her date, and a host of other old-timey mini-figures at the diner via the link to Flickr above.
We hadn’t heard of Lauren Landers until today, but thanks to Brick.Ninja and this beautiful brick-built recreation of her ‘Soul de la Mar’ sailing yacht, this TLCB Writer has been able to conduct extensive research.
Balanced on just three studs above a coral reef, Brick has captured Lauren’s 1993 Beneteau Oceanis 510 in wonderful detail, including one of the neatest hulls we’ve seen yet.
There’s lots more of this fabulous build to see at Brick’s ‘Soul de la Mar’ album via the link above, and if you wish to conduct your own ‘research’ on the real life vessel (and the girl captaining it) you can take a look here. You’re welcome.
LEGO were struggling in the late-’90s. Having decimated their Town line, and with Technic looking, well… like this, the LEGO Company turned to increasingly short-lived sci-fi themes to keep the wolves from the door. That meant some quirky new pieces, new colours, and plot development so lazy it makes the Marvel Cinematic Universe look like Christopher Nolan.
Yes, we’re talking crystals, the go-to for half-a-dozen late-’90s themes when LEGO couldn’t be bothered to think of anything else. One such theme was the amusingly-iconed Rock Raiders, which lasted just a single year, featured a comic and a video game, and – of course – a quest for crystals, because… shut up, that’s why.
Flickr’s Mathijs Bongers has returned to the crystal mines of the Rock Raiders theme with this immensely playable-looking ‘Modular Mining Unit’, complete with working suspension, drill, laser, magnetic crane, container modules, mining station, and on-board speeder.
There’s much more of the MMU to see (plus a whole heap more rock-based machinery) at Mathijs ‘Rock Raiders; Planet ONYXX Expedition’ album, and you can join him mining for crystals (as LEGO did about five times too often) via the link in the text above.
Today’s diorama above is an all-too-familiar scene from current news. A helicopter hovers above, a self-propelled gun lurks below, a rocket-launcher fires from behind a tank-defence, whilst power lines, crops, and a humble home remind us of the daily life upended by the arrival of war. Yet this scene isn’t borne of a maniacal Russian President intent on restoring the Soviet Union, but rather a glimpse into a possible near future, wherein Russia has divided and is fighting itself. Flickr’s PelLego has published this fictional conflict in collaboration with several other builders, and you can take a look into their world-that-might-be via the link above.
Like any LEGO fan who grew up in the ’90s, this TLCB Writer would give an internal organ, even a big one, to get his hands on a LEGO monorail.
Flickr’s martin.with.bricks. doesn’t need to forgo a body part, because he already owns the best LEGO set ever made, and has redeployed it to create this fabulous ‘Space Monorail Station’.
Packed with wonderful spacecraft, speeders, hover-tugs, aliens, a glorious Futuron-style monorail train, plus an entire second monorail based on LEGO’s rollercoaster tracks, Martin’s colossal Space Monorail Station is the sort of creation that makes you want to shrink yourself to mini-figure size to wander through it.
You can jump into all the imagery of Martin’s ‘Space Monorail Station’ at his album of the same name, where TLCB Staff will be both pretending they’re 3cm tall, and wondering which organ they could do without.
We’re not all racing cars, sports cars, and monstrous off-roaders here at The Lego Car Blog. Nope. Because today we have a road-worn ’80s MAN truck. And a title referencing erectile disfunction.
This battered MAN F90 ‘cab-over semi’, or just ‘truck’ to our European readers, is the work of Sseven Bricks, who has deliberately constructed it to look well used. And to great effect. Cunning techniques and excellent presentation make this worth a closer look, and you can click the link above to see more of Sseven’s old MAN semi.
As uninspired, dreary and monotonous as American cars have been since the late-’90s, they were spectacular, inventive, and pioneering in the late-’50s. Tail-fins, chrome, and delightful shapes abounded during America’s automotive golden years, with two high watermarks being Chevrolet’s gorgeous C1 Corvette and iconic Impala.
Recreating these icons of Americana is SFH_Bricks, who has begun a new series building the most famous ’50s cars in Speed Champions scale. Joining his previously blogged Cadillac El Dorado, the Corvette and Impala pictured here capture each classic Chevrolet beautifully in miniature (with the pieces used for the Impala’s tail-lights in particular perfectly formed for the task).
There’s more to see of SFH’s wonderfully presented classic Chevrolet Corvette and Impala models (including details on building instructions) on Flickr via the links, where we’re sure a fleet of ’50s American classic will be sure to join them.
We know nothing whatsoever about sci-fi, but nevertheless we do like Classic Space, with it’s perennially-smiling spacemen, assorted research tools, and spaceships that look like a cross between a fighter jet and a racing car.
This one comes from Flickr’s Wynd, who has brilliantly re-booted the Classic Space aesthetic in the creation of his ‘Galaxy Adventurer’. Funky landing gear, a glowing engine, and a perennially-smiling spaceman all feature, and you can join him adventuring across the galaxy via the link above.
This is a 1953 Cadillac Eldorado, a humungous (at 5.6 meters long / 2.3 tons) and humungously expensive 2-door luxury convertible, that – in first generation guise – lasted just one year and 500 units.
With unique sheet metal from the Cadillac upon which it was based, the first generation Eldorado was an ultra-exclusive automobile, and included such luxuries as air-conditioning (a $7,000 option at today’s prices), power windows, a heater, and that mark of unrestrained decadence; windscreen washers.
This lovely Lego recreation of Cadillac’s high-watermark comes from previous bloggee SFH_Bricks, who has captured it beautifully in brick form. Ingenious building techniques and top-notch presentation abound, and there’s more to see of SFH’s magnificent ’53 Eldorado via Flickr. Click the link above to take a closer look.
It’s Monday! And this is a mech. Hence the title. TLCB, being universally crap with sci-fi, aren’t able to explain much more about Sylvain Daunais‘ ‘TeamExplorer Neo-Ex-U’ than that, but it is a thoroughly excellent build, and you can find out more via the link.