Tag Archives: model team

My Other Car’s a Chevy

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In the 1960s, General Motors were phenomenally adept at spinning different cars from the same platform. Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Pontiac were all successful brands in their own right, being positioned, marketed, and priced to separate segments of the U.S auto market, but all sharing considerable commonality underneath.

Pontiac were priced towards the lower end of GM’s portfolio, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t produce fast, desirable products. This is one of them, the fabulous first generation Pontiac GTO, which shared its componentry with the mid-’60s Chevrolet Malibu, Buick Skylark Grand Prix, and Oldsmobile 442.

Built by Master MOCer Firas Abu-Jaber, this wonderful recreation of the Pontiac GTO also shares its parts with a Chevrolet, being constructed solely from the pieces found within the excellent LEGO 10304 Icons Chevrolet Camaro Z28 set.

Using 1,322 of the Camaro’s 1,456 parts, Firas’ GTO looks so good you’d be hard-pressed to know it’s an alternate. Working steering, opening doors, hood and trunk, plus a detailed interior and engine bay all feature, as per the donor set, with the model presented absolutely beautifully.

There’s lots more of Firas’ incredible Pontiac GTO to see at his album of the same name, plus you can find out how he creates models such as this one at his Master MOCers interview here at TLCB, accessible via the first link in the text above.

Scrumping Season

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Scrumping – the thievery of fruit from orchards – is a traditional English pastime. Said bounty is then often fermented into cider, which encourages more thievery. We realise we’re not helping to dispel the myth that rural Britain is stuck in 1933 here…

Anyway, the aforementioned low-level fruit-based criminality leads us nicely to a low-level fruit-based vehicle, and this neat Case IH 695 orchard tractor.

Constructed by Jacob Sitzberger a whole basket of imagery is available on Flickr, and you can head to the orchard for a bit of scrumping via the link above!

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.

Top Grades

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After extolling the virtues of creations that don’t need a suite of electronics earlier today, here’s one with a suite of electronics. Because shut up, that why.

It is astonishing though, coming again from Flickr’s Beat Felber who is on something of a mass upload. This one is a Champion 100-T motor-grader, a Canadian design from the 1970s, and the world’s largest.

Powered by one LEGO Power Functions L Motor and eight third-party CaDa micromotors, Beat’s grader can drive, steer, lean its front wheels, pivot the cab articulation, plus raise, lower, angle, pitch, and side-shift the blade, all remotely operable via bluetooth thanks to three SBrick controllers. Which would make it an unmatched Elf-squishing device if it wasn’t so slow.

Still, whilst the TLCB Elf that found Beat’s Champion grader may be disappointed, we certainly aren’t, and there’s more to see of this astonishing creation at his ‘Champion 100-T’ album. Click the link above to receive top grades.

Enormous Dump

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Nope, not Detroit, but this; an utterly gargantuan Terex Unit Rig MT 6300AC. Designed to work alongside the world’s largest rope shovels, this 400-ton truck operates in an Australian open-cast ore mine, and is pictured here – to scale – alongside a Hilux-style pick-up, showing just how huge it really is.

Powered by a twenty-cylinder with electric assistance, the MT 6300AC produces 3,750bhp, and is now – like every piece of mining equipment it seems – part of the Caterpillar empire.

This incredible replica of the Unit Rig MT 6300AC still wears its Terex livery however, and has been recreated in phenomenal detail by recent bloggee Beat Felber, who is on something of an upload spree.

His latest build merges System and Technic building with several well chosen third-party components, including RC tyres (LEGO don’t make any large enough), SBrick bluetooth control, and a CaDa micro-motor, along with a suite of Power Functions parts to provide remote control drive, steering, tipping, and lighting.

There’s also working suspension, opening doors and hatches, plus deployable ladders, with much more to see at Beat’s fantastic ‘Terex Unit Rig MT 6300AC’ album on Flickr. Take a look via the link above, whilst we await an angry comment from a Detroit resident.

Backwithanotheroneofthose…

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…block rockin’ beats!* OK, we don’t often feature a title referring to the builder rather than model, but seeing as Flickr’s Beat Felber appeared here only two days ago with another spectacular model, it’s warranted.

His follow-up is even more impressive, an enormous 1:28 scale fully remote controlled (and working) replica of the world’s largest hydraulic excavator, the near 1,000-ton Caterpillar 6090.

Powered by two Cummins diesel engines the 6090 makes over 1,400bhp, and is able to move 43 cubic meters of material with each chomp of its bucket. It’s also, like Beat’s recently-blogged coal excavator, actually an O&K design that now wears Caterpillar branding.

Unlike his previous build however, Beat has chosen to recreate the 6090 in its current Caterpillar livery, creating one of the most visually lifelike creations this site has ever featured. But it’s the lifelike mechanicals that we’re more interested in…

Powered by three Power Functions battery boxes and controlled by four third-party SBricks, Beat’s creation features (deep breath); motorised crawler tracks (one XL Motor per track), a slewing superstructure (two M Motors), a fully operational boom, stick, bucket tilt and clamshell opening (each operated by pneumatic cylinders, controlled via four servo-motorised valves, and an on-board compressor driven by twin Buggy Motors), two motorised boarding ladders (one M Motor each), spinning engine and oil cooling fans (two 9V Motors), plus full LED lighting (five pairs of Power Functions LEDs).

It’s a truly spectacular feat of Lego engineering, and there’s much more to see at Beat’s ‘Caterpillar 6090 FS’ Flickr album, where over thirty incredible images and a video of the model in action can also be found. Click the link above to take a look, where we get the feeling we might be back again with some block rockin’ beats imminently…

*Today’s (excellent) title song.

Coal’s OK

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This astonishing creation is an O&K RH 120 C, a 200-ton mining excavator used in British open-cast coal mines in the 1980s, and – as the most successful excavator in its class – all around the world.

Subsequently built by Terex and then Caterpillar, the RH 120 C is still in production today, with this spectacular brick-built replica paying homage to the design’s first incarnation.

Constructed by Flickr’s Beat Felber, this 1:28 scale model recreates not just the O&K’s exterior in brilliant detail, but the operation of the excavator too, thanks to a suite of Powered-Up, Control+, and Power Functions components hidden within.

A pair of Powered-Up L Motors drive the tracks, another the slewing, whilst a Power Functions XL Motor drives the huge boom. A further two motors operate the bucket, with all six able to be controlled remotely via two Control+ hubs.

Authentic period-correct decals, superb attention-to-detail, and fantastic presentation make Beat’s O&K one of the finest models to appear here this year, and you can find the full gallery of incredible imagery at his ‘O&K RH 120 C’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to visit a British coal-field c1985, and take a closer look.

Otto-ly Wonderful

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Sometimes a vehicle needs a name, and this wonderful Volkswagen T25 Westfalia camper, owned by friend of TLCB Nick Barrett, is one such time.

Entitled ‘Otto’, Nick’s fabulous Westfalia is christened after its previous owner, whose name was inside the manual it came with.

Working steering, suspension, opening/sliding doors, and a rear-mounted piston engine all feature, as does a glorious interior, complete with a fold down bed, table, rotating chairs, kitchen, and crapper.

There’s much more of Otto to see at Nick’s album on Flickr, and you can see what makes him tick in our Master MOCers series by clicking this bonus link.

#MorePatriotism

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The misplaced patriotism continues here at The Lego Car Blog, with another American automotive icon. The Ford Bronco first appeared in the 1960s, and now – after a twenty-five year absence – the new sixth-generation model has reignited Ford’s rugged go-anywhere reputation.

Powered by a range of turbocharged engines with up to 400bhp, the 2021 Bronco continues the nameplate’s legacy, with body-on-frame construction, two and four-door variants, a removable roof and doors, and about two hundred different trims named after various outdoorsy-things.

This phenomenal Model Team/Technic replica of Ford’s most sought-after 4×4 comes from previous bloggee DamianPLE, who has recreated the off-road icon brilliantly in brick form.

Underneath the superbly recreated exterior Damian’s model features four-wheel-drive, a high/low gearbox, locking centre and rear differentials, working suspension and steering, a highly detailed V6 engine, folding seats, and – like the real thing – easily removable doors and roof.

A huge gallery of stunning imagery is available to view at Damian’s Bricksafe gallery, which includes close-up photos of the chassis as well as on-location shots, plus you can find the model’s discussion topic and further details at the Eurobricks form, where an excellent video of the Bronco’s working features can also be found.

Take a closer look via the links above, whilst we try to remember our own automotive heritage and post a model of a Morris Marina or something…

Mighty Messerschmitt

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This is a Messerschmitt Bf 109F, the backbone of the Lufftwaffe’s fighter force throughout the entire of the Second World War.

First flying in 1937, the Bf-109 was one of the most advanced fighters in the world, with an all-metal monocoque, fully enclosed canopy, retractable landing gear, and a liquid-cooled inverted-V12 providing 700bhp.

Over 30,000 units were produced for use in the Luftwaffe and the air forces of Nazi Germany’s allies, making it the most numerous fighter aircraft in history, with final units eventually retiring from the Spanish Air Force in 1965.

This incredible brick-built example of the Messerschmitt Bf 109F is the work of previous bloggee JuliusZ D., who has recreated the aircraft in stunning 1:33 detail.

Beautifully constructed in North Africa colours, there’s lots more gorgeous imagery to view at Juliusz’s ‘Messerschmitt Bf 109F-4/trop’ album on Flickr, where the model is also pictured alongside his fantastic Supermarine Spitfire that appeared here a few weeks ago.

And fortunately for TLCB’s home nation (and the rest of the world), good as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 was, it was that Spitfire that won in the end.

A Good Omen

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Even demons need wheels. Well, at least according to Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s 1990 novel ‘Good Omens’, which recently became a hit for Amazon Prime.

Crowley (Bentley-driving demon) and Aziraphale (angel, guardian of the Eastern Gate) have become accustomed to their comfortable lives in England, so it is with some alarm that they learn of the arrival of the infant anti-christ, heralding both the end-times and the imminent loss of their cushy lives.

An unlikely partnership follows, as the pair attempt to sabotage the end-times for the good of… themselves, with Crowley’s 1926 semi-sentient Bentley Coupe playing a starring role in the TV adaptation.

Cue Daniel Church‘s superb brick-built rendition of the demonic Bentley, both constructed and presented beautifully, which you can take a closer look at via his photostream. Click the link above to join Crowley for a spot of lunch, followed by searching for the notorious son of Satan.

Something in the Air*

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Built in the late 1800s, this is a British J71 / E Class steam locomotive, a type that served on British railways all the way up until the 1960s.

Weighing around forty tons and designed for shunting, each J71 was powered by 1.3 tons of coal, which turned water to steam, steam into pressure, and pressure into movement. Except that is, for this one.

Created by Nikolaus Lowe, this fabulous recreation of the J71 definitely doesn’t weigh forty tons, but it really does movie thanks to air pressure, just like its full-size counterparts! Instead of 1.3 tons of coal, Nikolaus’ locomotive is fuelled by compressed air, which powers a functioning pneumatic engine that turns the drive wheels.

It’s all 100% LEGO, no parts are modified, and Nikolaus’ creation could sure shunt too, thanks to the torque provided by that compressed air.

There’s more of the model to see at Nikolaus’ ‘British J71 Class Pneumatic Engine’ album on Flickr, and you can shunt your way over via the link above.

*Today’s wonderful title song.

The M3 in an M3

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Running around 100km between the south coast of England and London, the M3 motorway is used by millions of people every year to drive to / escape from the capital.

It’s also a road driven by thousands of business-types every day from their homes in green suburbia to their business desks in London, from where they do business things. Back in the early 2000s, this was one of the most popular business-person choices for that journey, the BMW ‘E46’ 3-Series.

Typically driven four feet from the car in front, by a sunglasses-wearing business-person, they were loved by their customer base, and hated by everyone else. These days however, the aforementioned business-persons have moved onto electric Mercedes-Benzes and Teslas, and the E46 has become – whisper it – rather cool.

The best of all the E46 3-Series derivatives is this one, the 350bhp M3 Coupe. Launched in 2000, the E46 was powered by a straight-6 naturally-aspirated engine, was mostly manual, and looked… well, not at all like BMWs do now. Which means it’s TLCB’s kind of car.

Recreating his father’s own E46 M3 (lucky man), Flickr’s Leo 1 has constructed the early-’00s coupe beautifully, including a detailed interior and some trick techniques to accurately replicate the handsome exterior.

Building instructions are available, and you can drive along the M3 to an important early-’00s business meeting in your own M3 via Leo’s photostream at the link above.

Stud Bug

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In contrast to this site’s bodged operation and shoe-string budget, TLCB usually publishes models at the exotic end of the vehicular scale. Sleek, powerful, rare… the cars we feature are the opposite of both this site and the cars found in our office carpark. But not today!

Yup, this time we have a vehicle that is far more befitting of our social status, being cheap, common, and rather dumpy, it’s the humble Volkswagen Beetle, a car built in its millions to transport the masses.

Better yet this is a deeply uncool unmodified one, as 99% of those on the world’s roads are,  driven not by hipsters on their way to a trendy festival, but by ordinary workers to ordinary places.

It comes from gaehno of Brickshelf, and not only does it look fantastic – constructed as it is in traditional studs-up fashion using basic System pieces – it’s also packed with brilliant Technic functionality.

A working flat-four-cylinder engine is mated to a four-speed gearbox, there’s functioning steering, a working parking brake, switchable windscreen wipers that operate as the model drives, opening and lockable doors, front trunk and engine cover, adjustable seats, folding sun visors, and even an opening glovebox.

There’s more of the model to see at gaehno’s Brickshelf gallery, and you can take a look at one of the world’s least glamorous cars, built in a beautifully unglamorous way, via the link in the text above.

Did You Drive Your Car Tonight Mr. Belfort?

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It’s the late-’80s, and the Lamborghini’s wild V12-engined Countach is some fifteen years old. Marcello Gandini’s superbly clean lines have been hidden beneath a mountain of plastic, the engine is up to 5.2 litres and equipped with four valves per cylinder, and – in the U.S – hideous mandatory low-speed impact bumpers have been glued on.

Precisely nothing has been done to make the car less terrible to drive over the last decade-and-a-half however, and thus the Countach remains very much not a car for the novice driver. Or one high on quaaludes trying to get home from the country club.

Cue perhaps the greatest movie scene of all time, and one Lamborghini Countach on which the low-speed impact bumpers weren’t quite enough.

Flickr’s ZetoVince is the owner of this fantastic Model Team replica, and there’s more to see of his wonderfully-presented creation at his photostream. Click the link above to try to make it the less-than-a-mile back home from the country club, without a scratch on yourself or the car…