No, not what your Grandfather calls the country club, but this, a rather humungous DAF FT CF 430 Space Cab truck, and an even more humongous twin-axle box trailer.
Constructed by DAF-building specialist Arian Janssens, the CF 430 Space Cab is one of three equally excellent Model Team recreations of modern DAF trucks published by the builder simultaneously, and there’s more to see of each at his photostream. Click the link above to take a look.
Nothing makes our smelly little workers happier than flattening one another with a remote control find. Cue much excitement from the Elf that found this enormous fully remote controlled Komatsu WD900-3 wheel dozer as it entered TLCB Towers, high on the expectation that it could smush any number of its colleagues into the office carpet.
Fortunately for us, that number was zero, seeing as Beat Felber‘s 1:28.5 scale replica of the 100-ton dozer is much too slow to catch any of them. But whilst it is indeed slow, it’s also incredible, with remotely operable all-wheel-drive, articulated linear-actuator controlled steering, a fully adjustable blade positionable via three pneumatic cylinders, each equipped with their own Servo-actuated valve, and an on-board pneumatic compressor.
That enormous blade can lift, lower, pitch fore and aft, and tilt left to right courtesy of the compressor, valves and pneumatic cylinders, all of which can be controlled remotely via bluetooth thanks to two third-party SBricks and an on-board rechargeable Power functions battery.
A work of engineering brilliance, there’s lots more to see of Beat’s Komatsu WD900-3 replica at his album of the same name, where twenty stunning images can be found along with further build details and a link to a video of the model in action.
Click the first link in the text above to make the jump, whilst we cheer up a despondent TLCB Elf with a well-deserved yellow Smartie.
It’s FebRovery, but it’s not all sci-fi lunar rovers here at TLCB. Nope, because here’s the real deal. Launched in 1970 the Range Rover took the immensely successful Land Rover, added coil springs, a luxury-ish interior, and a 3.5 litre V8 engine to create arguably the world’s first luxury off-roader.
Which means of course that the Range Rover is responsible for more hateful gargantuan vehicular atrocities than probably any other car in history, as its success led to the ever increasing SUV arms-race that has culminated in vehicles like this. Apologies if you’re eating whilst reading this.
Still, that’s not exactly the Ranger Rover’s fault, particularly as early 3-door cars were – by modern standards – tiny. And excellent.
Cue this fantastic (and fantastically brown) Creator-style version of the early first-generation Range Rover, as created beautifully by 1corn of Flickr.
Opening doors, hood and split tailgate, a detailed engine and interior, and working suspension all feature, and there’s more to see of 1corn’s superb recreation of the difinitive luxury 4×4 at his ‘Range Rover’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to take a look.
Hyundai’s N Vision 74 concept is – as detailed here last year – the car of the moment. And that’s despite it not being real. Nor may it ever be either, as unless the world collectively pulls its finger out to create hydrogen infrastructure, EVs (and the enormous environmental catastrophe they will create) will continue to be the only inevitability.
It’s perhaps fitting then, that this stunning Model Team recreation of Hyundai’s fabulous 2022 concept isn’t real either, being rendered instead in digital form. However the virtual nature of the model means that Flickr’s seter82 had the freedom to include some simply brilliant ‘printed tile’ detailing, including Hyundai’s trademark dot-matrix lights, bespoke badging, and even tyres, creating a model that looks like it would if LEGO were to release it as an official Creator set.
A huge gallery of renders are available to view and there’s more to see of seter82’s brilliant virtual N Vision 74 at their photostream. Click the link above to take a look.
This is a Meyers Manx beach buggy, the definitive car-made-from-another-car. And so too is this superb Model Team recreation of the iconic ’60s design, which uses only parts from the excellent 10265 Ford Mustang set in its construction.
Built by Brian Michal of Flickr, this 10265 alternate includes steering, suspension, a removable roof, and – much like the real Meyers Manx – probably leaves a few parts from the donor vehicle left over too.
There’s more of Brian’s B-Model to see at his photostream, and you can switch your horse for a tailless cat via the link above.
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.
No, really. Because this amazing looking Lamborghini Murcielago is constructed only from the parts found within the excellent 10295 Creator Expert Porsche 911 set.
Built by Lego-building legend Firas Abu-Jaber, who must be some sort of wizard, the pieces from the resolutely curvy Porsche have somehow been re-purposed to recreate the almost entirely trapezoid mid-’00s Lamborghini.
Opening scissor doors, accurate pop-up air-vents, a removable roof panel, and an opening engine cover and front trunk all feature, and this incredible 10295 alternate is available to build yourself thanks to the building instructions released alongside the model.
The complete suite of top-quality imagery can be viewed at Firas’ ‘10295 Lamborghini Murcielago’ album on Flickr, where a link to building instructions can also be found (or click here to jump straight to Firas’ own excellent website store), plus you can read his interview as part of our Master MOCers Series to learn how he builds astonishing models like this one via the second link in the text above.
This beautiful motorcycle, discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr and another at Eurobricks, took builder Stephan Jonsson over four years to finish. Which is very long time indeed. That said, the resulting creation is almost ridiculously good, combining the best bits of two real-world BMW Motorrad products, the R NineT roadster and the R 1200 GS adventure bike.
Stephan’s hybrid of the two BMW bikes features working steering and suspension, shaft-drive, and one of the best brick-built motorcycle engines we’ve ever seen, complete with a wonderfully shaped exhaust, twin open air-filters, and the correct cables and linkages.
The incredible detailing extends elsewhere too, with even the gold brake callipers linked by lines to the handlebar levers, and there’s lots more to see of Stephan’s stunning BMW motorcycle mashup at both Flickr and Eurobricks. Click the links above to see more of perhaps the most perfect bike ever created in Lego (and perhaps BMW Motorrad should take a look too…).
*Yes, we went there. And if the proper Lego Blogs publicise this creation and they don’t link to a painfully ’90s pop song, they’re not worth reading.
As mentioned in today’s other post, the world has seemingly jumped backwards 50 years to the 1970s. There’s record inflation, war, nothing works, and everyone’s on strike. Having missed the misery of ’70s first time round, this TLCB Writer is wallowing in the resurgence of the aforementioned afflictions via another ’70s vehicle, the humble Ford F100 pick-up truck.
This fantastic 1972 Ford F100 is the work of Jakub Marcisz, who has recreated the classic pick-up beautifully in Model Team scale. A wonderfully detailed working V8 engine, life-like interior, opening doors, hood and tailgate, functioning steering, and some of the best brick-built ‘chromework’ ever ever seen all feature, and there’s lots more to see at Jakub’s photostream.
Join the queue for over-priced petrol next to the picket-line at the link above!
Mining trucks are slow. But even slower are the tracked vehicles that fill them, designed as they are to move very heavy things very short distances.
Which means if you need to relocate an enormous bulldozer or tracked excavator to the other end of the mine, you’d better clear your schedule for the next few weeks.
Which is where this curious machine comes in. Effectively a Komatsu mining truck with a gooseneck hitch in place of the dump body, it can tow the aforementioned mining machines to their new location aboard a specially-designed single-axle TowHaul Lowboy trailer, capable of transporting 250 tons. We bet parking isn’t fun.
This spectacular fully remote controlled recreation of the world’s biggest vehicular trailer comes from previous bloggee Beat Felber, whose converted Komatsu HD785-5 mining truck features motorised drive, steering, and gooseneck hitch, enabling the model to load and tow a huge TowHaul Lowboy trailer and its Komatsu D575A-3 ‘Super Dozer’ load.
There’s loads more to see of the both the Komatsu HD785-5 truck and the TowHaul Lowboy 250 ton trailer behind it at Beat’s Flickr album, and you can watch the whole rig in action courtesy of the video below.
YouTube Video
Taking advantage of the new year sales is not something this TLCB Writer is inclined to do. Mr. Bean on the other hand, was very excited at the prospect of grabbing himself a bargain. Cue one of the most brilliant vehicular capers in TV history, wherein an ingenious Bean attempts to transport rather more than he should home via his British Leyland Mini. Flickr’s Tomáš Novák is the latest builder to create a brick-built Bean atop a bright green Mini, and there’s more to see of his homage to TV gold at his photostream. Click the link above to push the mop onto the accelerator!
Does anyone else remember that fiendishly addictive early computer game in which the player was tasked with manoeuvring around a seeming infinite plain populated by the outlines of various 3D shapes, hunting and destroying enemy tanks? Just us? OK.
Anyway, perfect cubes and prisms aside, the concept of hunting tanks was based on reality, with specific machines (themselves looking rather like tanks) designed for their destroy enemy counterparts.
This is one such device, the Sturmgeschütz III tank-hunting assault gun, as deployed by Germany during the Second World War (and Syria until 1973).
Handily known as the STuG III, it saw service on almost every front, from Russia to Europe to Africa, and proved very successful at destroying Allied armour.
This excellent fully remote controlled Lego version of the STuG III comes from TLCB favourite Sariel, who – despite the model measuring just 32cm in length and weighing under 1kg – has packed in drive and steering, fully suspended tracks, and an oscillating and slewing gun barrel, all powered by a LEGO battery and controlled via bluetooth courtesy of a third-party SBrick.
There’s more to see of Sariel’s STuG III at his Flickr album of the same name, plus you can watch the model in action via the video below. Go tank hunting across a plain of cubes via the links!
YouTube Video
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.
This is an Isdera Commendatore 112i. Nope, us neither, but apparently it was a Mercedes-Benz V12-powered supercar numbering just two units.
Futuristic in a way only an early ’90s supercar can be, the Isdera Commendatore 112i was engineered with support from Mercedes, Bilstein, and BBS, featured a gearbox from RUF, active suspension, a space-frame chassis, and even an air-brake.
The long bodywork was designed to go endurance racing, and indeed the car proved to be seriously fast. Unfortunately however, Isdera went bankrupt even faster…
Just one unit was built before Isdera’s insolvency, with a second completed six years afterwards via an enthusiast who bought an unfinished space-frame and the body moulds. Which makes the Isdera Commendatore 112i rarer than your Mom refusing cake.
This magnificent Model Team recreation of the unknown 1993 supercar is the work of TLCB debutant Jakob Semajer-Garic, and features gull-wing doors and engine covers, a replica V12 engine, and some truly incredible chassis detailing.
There’s much more to see of Jakob’s 1,600-piece Isdera Commendatore 112i at his Flickr album of the same name, where you can view over thirty superbly presented images of the model. Click the link above to take a closer look.
This is the Walchester Brambleshark, and you’d be forgiven for not knowing what it is because it, well… doesn’t exist. But Vince Toulous’ incredible creation is based on the stunning real concept artwork of John Frye, resulting in an inspired machine that is part vintage British Land Speed Record car, part endurance racer, part aircraft.
A suite of curved green, clear Star Wars canopies, and the coolest rear stabilising fins we’ve ever seen create a jaw-dropping shape, and there’s more to see of Vince’s beautiful brick-built concept at his ‘Walchester Brambleshark’ album on Flickr; take a look via the link.
