We love a sunset stripe here at The Lego Car Blog. From classic Toyota pick-ups to vintage LEGO sets, red over yellow looks the business. And even more so when it’s been applied to a remote control 6×6 off-road truck.
This remote control 6×6 off-road truck is the latest creation by TLCB Master MOCer Nico71, who has equipped it with Power Functions Servo steering, twin L-Motor six-wheel-drive, a high/low gearbox, a V8 piston engine, all-wheel suspension, opening doors and hood, plus the coolest of sunset stripes.
There’s lots more to see at Eurobricks and Nico71’s excellent website (where building instructions are also available), and you watch the sunset via the links above.
Winter is coming here at The Lego Car Blog Towers. But whilst us North Northern Hemispherers are steeling ourselves for it getting dark by mid-afternoon and defrosting the car both before and after work, our readers in the Southern Hemisphere are getting ready to enjoy sunny summer days.
Cue the perfect car for the sunshine, and one – in the US at least – named after it; the lovely Honda CRX / Del Sol.
Produced when Honda were at their glorious peak, the CRX / Del Sol brought affordable, economical, reliable fun to the masses, and in targa form open-top motoring too.
This fabulous Technic recreation of the Del Sol captures the real car brilliantly, and comes from previous bloggee (and TLCB Master MOCer) Nico71.
Featuring a removable transverse 4-cylinder engine driven by the front wheels, working steering via ‘HOG’ and the wheel, rear suspension, opening doors, hood and trunk, and a stow-able targa top, Nico’s model is as luminous inside as out, and you can see more of his fantastic Technic Del Sol at his excellent website (where building instructions can also be found), and via the video below.
Today’s vehicle is large, ponderous, and causes seismic tremors. Just like your Mom.
It’s a Sercel Nomad 65 ‘vibroseis truck’, designed to send shock-waves through the earth to map rock density. First pioneered by Conoco in the late ’50s, seismic vibrators today conduct around half of all land surveys, with many mounted on enormous purpose-built off-road platforms such as this Sercel.
Constructed by TLCB Master MOCer Nico71 for the Sercel Company (along with a further five copies), this incredible creation mimics the Nomad 65’s operation thanks to a suite of LEGO Powered-Up and Control+ electronics.
Two XL Motors drive the wheels via frictionless clutches, whilst an L Motor powers two linear actuators that swing the articulated central steering pivot. The vibration unit is lowered and raised via another motor and pair of actuators, whilst a fourth motor drives the vibration device itself.
A motorised winch, pendular suspension, and an inline 6-cylinder also feature, with all of the model’s motorised functions operable remotely via a smartphone courtesy of the Control+ app.
The finished model contains around 3,300 pieces, measures a huge 68cm long, and best of all you can build it for yourself as Nico has made building instructions available.
The Sercel’s complete image gallery can be found at Nico’s Brickshelf, plus you can watch the model in action via the video below. Take a look whilst we congratulate ourselves for successfully making it to the end of this post without a single sex toy analogy. Who knew a ‘Your Mom’ joke could be the high road!
LEGO’s new for 2024 Spacey Technic range is the mash-up we never thought we needed! It also features some superb new parts, which TLCB Master MOCer Nico71 has put to wonderful use though his brilliant 42180 B-Model.
Entitled ‘Space Garbage Truck’, Nico has redeployed the pieces from the official LEGO set to create a vehicle we hope mankind will have surpassed the need for when we’re inhabiting other planets… but seeing as our brightest minds are still creating such catastrophes as the disposable vape, perhaps that hope is misplaced.
Thus should space need clearing of mankind’s crap (It will. Ed.), Nico’s 42180 alternate has the answer. With a clever mechanically operated front-mounted grab, ingenious six-wheel steering, and a winch-based rear compactor mechanism, Nico’s ‘Space Garbage Truck’ is on hand to remove all the space-based detritus that will inevitably follow humanity wherever it goes in the cosmos.
Building instructions are available and there’s much more of Nico’s 42180 B-Model to see via his Brickshelf gallery. Click here to take a closer look, the second link above to check out Nico’s Master MOCer interview here at The Lego Car Blog, and finally you can watch his latest creation in action via the video below.
The 4,100-piece LEGO Technic 42100 Liebherr R 9800 Excavator is the largest and most expensive Technic set ever released. With seven motors, two ‘Smart Hub’s, and programmable control via the PoweredUp app, it’s LEGO robotics for the post-PC era.
It is also the ideal set to create an alternative model from, because if you’re going to pick a set for parts, it might as well be the one with the most!
Cue TLCB Master MOCer Nico71, and this amazing… er, honestly we’re not sure. Nico describes it as a ‘Container Handling Vehicle’, which probably doesn’t do it justice, what with it looking like a cross between something from ‘Thunderbirds’ and that ‘Hibernia‘ place that seems to feature here from time to time.
Four suspended tracks, each of which is driven with the front two also steering, are controlled remotely, as is a huge two-stage hook-lift arm and a motorised container locking mechanism.
Building instructions are available and there’s more to see of Nico’s fantastic 42100 B-Model at both Brickshelf and his excellent website. Click the links to take a look, plus you can watch the ‘Container Handling Vehicle’ in action below.
This fantastic creation is a first generation Kodiak C70, a 1980s medium-duty truck marketed across both Chevrolet and GMC for a variety of applications.
Built by TLCB Master MOCer Nico71, this outstanding Technic recreation of the American workhorse captures the Kodiak’s no-nonsense exterior beautifully, but it’s what’s underneath that is most impressive.
Featuring a remote control drivetrain linked to a V8 piston engine under the opening hood, Nico’s model includes all-wheel-drive, servo steering, suspended axles, a locking fifth wheel, opening doors, and either bluetooth control via the LEGO Powered-Up app or IR Control via LEGO Power Functions.
There’s more of the truck to see at Nico’s Brickshelf gallery, where a link to building instructions can also be found, you can watch the model in action via the video below, and you can read Nico’s Master MOCers interview here at The Lego Car Blog to learn how he builds models like this one via the first link in the text above.
This is a Foremost Delta, a 6×6, articulated, multi-terrain, terra-tired transport, and the best thing to come out of Canada since maple syrup and Elisha Cuthbert.
This incredible fully remote controlled Technic recreation of the amazing Canadian machine comes from TLCB master MOCer Nico71, who has replicated the Delta’s 6×6 drivetrain, articulated steering, and improbably suspension in Lego form.
A suite of Control+ components deliver power to the all-wheel-drive system and linear-actuator driven articulation, whilst the model also includes opening doors, a removable bed and cab, and can be equipped with front and rear winches.
Building instructions are available and there’s more to see of Nico’s superbly-engineered Foremost Delta on Brickshelf and via the excellent video below, plus you can read Nico’s Master MOCers interview here at TLCB by clicking these words. Take a look whilst this TLCB Writer returns to thinking about maple syrup and Elisha Cuthbert. Or somehow combining the two.
It’s been while since the last Elf-smushing, and the Elven discoverer of today’s creation was doubtless excited to reinstate the tradition with its remote control find.
Unfortunately for the aforementioned mythical worker, TLCB Master MOCer Nico71’s fantastic Technic Wester Star 6900 Twinsteer truck was too ponderous to mow down any of its Elven brethren, as evidenced when this TLCB Writer watched it trundling about the office in forlorn pursuit, much to annoyance of its driver.
But our Elves can occasionally display a degree of ingenuity…
Cue today’s Elf, which gave up using the Western Star’s Control+ powered remote control drive and steering, and instead deployed the motorised winch mounted behind the cab. Hooking it to a cage in which a couple of Elves were residing, it hauled the metal box onto the back of the truck, before driving off much to the terror of the Elves trapped inside.
We’re not actually sure where the kidnapped Elves have been taken, but they and their captor can’t have gone far. Besides, we have plenty of Elves.
Anyway, whilst we go and search TLCB Towers for a remote control Technic truck with a cage of kidnapped workers on board, you can see more of Nico’s excellent Western Star 6900 Twinsteer truck, complete with remote control drive and twin-axle steering, a motorised winch, working suspension, and a 6-cylinder engine, at his Brickshelf gallery.
Click the link above to see all the imagery and to find a link to building instructions, plus you can watch the Western Star in action (hauling a diesel pump rather than a cage full of kidnapped Elves) by clicking here.
Is there anything in the vehicular world more pointless than truck racing? OK, The Brothers Brick’s review of the blue LEGO Fiat 500 set – which is exactly the same as the yellow one, only blue – probably takes the win, but truck racing is a close second.
Why take something designed specifically to pull heavy things long distances in the most fuel efficient way, and adapt it to go a short distance quickly whilst pulling nothing? It’s like using an airliner as the basis for a powerboat.
Anyway, pointlessness of source material aside, TLCB Master MOCer Nico71 has created a rather excellent racing truck from his 42083 Technic Bugatti Chiron set, with steering, an eight-speed sequential gearbox, functioning suspension, a working piston engine, and a tilting cab.
Nico’s made building instructions of his alternate available too, so you can convert your own 42083 Bugatti Chiron set into this brilliant Lego version of the world’s most pointless racing vehicle at home.
There’s more of Nico’s Bugatti B-Model to see at his Brickshelf gallery by clicking here, you can read his Master MOCers interview here at TLCB via the link in the text link above, and you can watch all of the race truck’s features in action in the video below.
This is a 1950s Berliet T100, a French-built, V12-powered 6×6 truck, with a gross weight of over 100 tons, and it was the largest truck in the world.
Four T100s were built between 1957 and 1959, with three flatbeds (as depicted here) designed to take enormous pieces of equipment off-road to serve oil and gas exploration in Northern Africa, whilst the fourth was outfitted as a dump truck for use in a French uranium mine.
The trucks were powered by a 29.6 litre Cummins engine, supplemented by a smaller Panhard engine used to power the steering and as a generator, and delivered a power figure of between 600 and 700bhp. One T100 was even fitted with an experimental gas turbine for a while, before it reverted back to diesel power.
Nico71’s incredible Technic recreation of the Berliet T100 includes both of these engines, along with a fully working replica of the T100’s 6×6 drivetrain, with three L Motors (one for each axle), all-wheel suspension, and a Medium Motor powering a compressor that can pneumatically lock all three differentials.
A fifth motor drives the steering front axle, with a final M Motor powering a winch mounted at the back of the cab, able to drag equipment up the T100’s ramp for transportation.
All six motors can be operated via bluetooth thanks to a third party SBrick controller, providing Nico’s 1:20 scale 3kg model with an accurate scaled-down representation of the real Berliet T100’s off-road ability.
You can see Nico71’s amazing creation in action via the video below, and you can read full details about both the build and the history of the real 1950s Berliet T100 trucks at Nico’s excellent website, where a complete gallery of images and 550-page building instructions can also be found.
Dozens of brilliant B-Models were produced for the contest, and whilst the competition may be over, alternate building keeps going, as demonstrated here by TLCB Master MOCer Nico71.
Constructed only from the pieces found within the 42093 Technic Chevrolet Corvette set, Nico has created this cool-looking sand buggy, complete with working suspension, a transverse three-cylinder engine, and functioning steering.
Nico has also made instructions for his alternate available so that you can convert your own 42093 Corvette into a sand buggy at home, and you can see all the images and find a link to building instructions on Brickshelf by clicking here.
The current craze for e-bikes shows that mankind’s propensity to make literally everything lazier continues unabated. However we’re not new in our quest to eradicate all forms of exercise, as back in the late 1800s our forebears had the same idea, first creating the ‘steam powered velocipede‘ which we want based upon its name alone, and later strapping a steam engine to a penny farthing, to eliminate all that inconvenient pedalling. Remarkably they worked too.
Cue TLCB Master MOCer and all-round Technic-building genius Nico71, who has created his own ‘steam’ powered bicycle (or velocipede as we shall now call it), equipped with a single cylinder Lego Pneumatic Engine, that – when fed with ‘steam’ (compressed air) – powers the velocipede through a two speed gearbox.
Every element of Nico’s machine is LEGO, including an ingenious design that genuinely ‘throttles’ the amount of air entering the engine controlled via a handlebar-mounted lever, a flywheel for maintaining the engine’s smoothness, and a working rear brake.
It’s all preposterously clever and best of all Nico has made instructions available so that you can build you very own Steam Powered Velocipede at home, which we genuinely might do! Head to Brickshelf to see all the imagery, Nico’s excellent website for full details and building instructions, and you can watch this remarkable contraption in action via the video below.
LEGO’s huge 42082 Rough Terrain Crane is one the largest Technic sets the company has ever created, with over four thousand pieces. That’s a whole, lot of bricks that can be, in the very best traditions of Lego-building, repurposed.
And that is exactly was previous Master MOCer Nico71 has done with this incredible 4×4 Crane Truck, constructed only from the parts found within the 42082 set. Nico’s B-Model (in fact for Nico this is an ‘E-Model’, as he’s constructed several alternate vehicles (and all of this) from the Rough Terrain Crane set already) deploys the set’s single motor to perform a scarcely believable six separate functions, thanks to a pair of gearboxes that multiply the motor’s outputs.
Before we get onto those though, there are a host of mechanical functions too, including leaf-spring suspension, a V8 engine driven by all four wheels, opening doors, functioning steering, and the boom’s final extension.
The single motor delivers just as much on its own, thanks to those two gearboxes, powering the crane’s two-fold unfurling and rotation, the outriggers, and the truck’s tipper, which can tip both to rear and side of the vehicle depending upon which gear is selected.
It’s a brilliant feat of engineering and one that you can explore for yourself if you own a Technic 42082 Rough Terrain Crane set, as Nico has made instructions for this unbelievable B-Model available via his excellent website. Click this link to head over and take a look at the complete build description, the full gallery of images, and to find a link to the building instructions so you can build this amazing model for yourself.
The LEGO Technic 42082 Rough Terrain Crane has the highest piece count of any Technic model so far (although check back here later to see what’s about to eclipse it…) including multiple motors, linear actuators and gearbox parts, making it the perfect set for repurposing into something new. LEGO offer this themselves via the ‘B-Models’ that can be built from most Technic sets, and TLCB Master MOCer Nico71 has gone two steps further by designing both ‘C’ and ‘D’ Models from the parts found within the 42082 inventory.
Nico’s 42082 ‘C-Model’ appeared here last year and he’s now designed a further ‘D-Model’ that can be built solely from the parts found within the Rough Terrain Crane set.
Nico’s heavy duty forklift includes as many functions as the set from which its parts are taken, including a motorised tilting and raising/lowering fork, powered adjustable fork width, a tilting cabin, V6 piston engine, pendular suspension and working steering.
It’s a brilliant build, made even more so by the parts restriction inherent with being built from an existing set, and you can see full details, the complete gallery of images, and find building instructions at Nico71’s website by clicking here.
This weird-looking device is apparently a Crawler-Grabber, and we suppose it is, seeing as it both crawls and grabs. It’s the work of TLCB favourite Nico71, and it can lift a TLCB Elf surprisingly high into the air before dropping it into the toilet. Don’t worry, we didn’t press the flush.
Controlled remotely via LEGO’s Power Functions system, Nico’s creation is able to drive, skid steer, and elevate and extend the boom. It looks a bit like one of those RC bomb disposal robots and as such we may well put it to use removing Elf droppings from the Cage Room. Whilst we get cleaning you can see more on Brickshelf – click here to grab a look.
