The LEGO Technic 42157 John Deere 948L-II Skidder set is one that – after a look through our archives – we must’ve missed, what with it not being there. Still, we’ve never claimed to be competent, and the set does look rather good. Cue Dyens Creations of Flickr, who has repurposed the 42157 John Deere to create, well… another John Deere.
Dyens’ is the 9R, an XL wheeled tractor with up to 700bhp (there’s a tracked one too, which looks mad), outfitted in this case with a pneumatically operated bulldozer blade. There’s also articulated steering, a working piston engine, and a rear hitch with PTO, and there’s more to see of Dyens’ 42157 John Deere B-Model on Flickr.
This is the unmistakable shape of the Lancia Stratos, designed by Bertone and powered by a Ferrari Dino V6, it was the first car purpose-built for rallying, winning the World Rally Championship three times consecutively between 1974 and 1976.
This lovely diorama by Flickr’s alex_bricks, who appeared here recently with his stunning 1988 Monaco Grand Prix scene, depicts a works Alitalia-liveried Stratos scything through a muddy forest.
Forced-perspective foliage and an array of mini-figures – including a driver and co-driver and some hardy spectators – add to the ambiance, and you can join them trackside c1975 via the link in the text above.
The coolest remote control car of the 1990s was, by far, the TYCO Rebound. Just take a look at the commercial, which is very probably the most ’90s thing ever filmed.
It sure worked on this TLCB Writer, but – alas – not his parents, who never did oblige. Now, decades later, Daniel Church has reawakened this writer’s unfulfilled longing with this stupendous brick-built replica of the indestructible two-sided RC car.
With a suite of Powered-Up components hidden inside, you can even drive Daniel’s creation off a small cliff just like the real thing. Probably.
There’s more of the model to see (including images showing it alongside the ’90s original) at Daniel’s ‘TYCO Rebound 4×4’ album on Flickr, and you can make the jump whilst asking your parents repeatedly for something they could never afford via the link in the text above.
OK, we’re not always strictly a car blog here at The Lego… er, Car Blog, but today’s sci-fi creations do have wheels! Well, two of them do, and enough to average 4.67 wheels per model in today’s post, which is good enough for us!
First up is Capt. Dad‘s Neo-Classic Space ‘Mobile Research’, because there’s nothing the mini-figures of Classic Space (or indeed, Neo-Classic Space) like more than researching stuff. Much greebling, many opening compartments, and a brilliant interior all feature, and you join in the research via the link above.
Next up is a creation from Neo-M-Tron, a sub-theme which we’ve just invented. This is the ‘Gigatron Flux Inductor’, a giganormous 6×6 cross between the mole thingy from Thunderbirds, a steam train, and a petrol tanker. Created digitally in Bricklink Studio plus copious editing programmes, Ghalad‘s creation is apparently the latter, and you can fill up your stranded lunar rover via the link in the text above.
Today’s third and final sci-fi build features no wheels at all, but it does use two LEGO transparent ball pieces for, um… reasons. Sylvain Daunais‘ ‘Universe Explorer’ looks superb however, and there’s more to see of his excellent Neo-Classic Spaceship on Flickr. Click the link above to take a look, whilst we find some things that have definitely got wheels…
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 dinky 1950s Mercedes-Benz Unimog ‘Gasolin’ tanker probably isn’t going fill many gas tanks, but it’s going to look properly cute filling what it can. Christoph Ellermann‘s is the builder behind this wonderful classic off-road tractor, and you can fill your tank in the ’50s, as long as too many people haven’t filled theirs first, via the link in the text above.
Toyota like the word ‘Cruiser’ in their model names. The Land Cruiser, so called because it was basically a copy of a Land Rover and ‘Rover’ was already taken, the Urban Cruiser, which sounds like someone looking to pay for, er… night time affection, and this; the FJ Cruiser, which was named after the original Land Cruiser that was itself named to mimic the Land Rover.
Unoriginal naming aside however, Toyota 4x4s are of course superior to Land Rovers in every way, and the FJ Cruiser even added a dose of rare Toyota funkiness, with suicide doors, a contrast roof, a wraparound rear window, and three windshield wipers.
This neat Speed Champions scale recreation of the FJ Cruiser is the work of Ben of Flickr, who has captured Toyota’s most aesthetically interesting 4×4 brilliantly in brick form. There’s more to see at Ben’s ‘Toyota FJ Cruiser’ album and you can cruise on over via the link above.
LEGO’s 40650 Land Rover Classic Defender is a rather nice little 150-piece pocket-money set. But add just a single extra stud to the dimensions (and a few more advanced building techniques) and it can become something altogether more authentic. Cue SvenJ.‘s excellent 7-wide Land Rover Defender 90, which adds the Defender’s famous ‘barrel side’, triple-rear-window, posable steering, and a whole heap more interior and exterior detail. Building instructions are available and you can upgrade your own 40650 set via the link above.
Longstanding readers of the stupidest Lego site on the internet may be wondering if our mythical little workers, TLCB Elves, have abandoned their famed violence and adopted a more peaceful outlook towards one-another.
Nope.
Today TLCB Staff were back to prising squashed Elves from the floor and glueing Elf-bits back on thanks to Horcik Designs, and this rather excellent looking remotely controlled off-roader.
Powered by twin L Motors, one for each axle, with Servo steering, and suspension achieved through engineered-in chassis-flex, Horcik’s creation is simultaneously simple yet remarkably effective. Rather like a spatula used to separate a smushed Elf from the office carpet.
With limited specialist parts used, Horcik’s 4×4 is easily buildable at home too, and building instructions are available so you can do just that. Head to Eurobricks to find out more, or visit Bricksafe for the complete image gallery and further links.
We are not a complex, multi-facited bunch here at The Lego Car Blog. In fact we’re a bit crude, and rather unsophisticated. Which might be why we like the Jeep CJ2, and Jonathan Elliott‘s excellent brick-built recreation of it. A simple model of a simple vehicle, Jonathan’s build demonstrates that well-chosen pieces combined with thoughtful presentation can match models ten times the parts count, and there’s more of Jonathan’s CJ2 to see at his photostream.
We may mock President Putin as regularly as we can create a tenuous link to his dickwittery, but the country he dictates is an amazing one. Spanning from the Atlantic to the Pacific across eleven time zones, responsible for the first animal, satellite, and person in space, and with a history uniting fifteen separate countries into one bloc of… er, communist misery, Russia and the former Soviet Union are a major part of our current world.
They also make probably the best off-road trucks of anyone, which are needed to traverse a vast and wild landscape, with most having their roots in the Military. Founded in 1956, off-road truck-maker Ural shares this history, and still employs 4,000 people today building trucks like this, Vladimir Drozd‘s beautifully presented Ural crane truck.
With a working crane that rotates, elevates, extends, and winches, Vladimir’s Ural functions as good as it looks, and there’s loads more of his superb model to see at his ‘Ural Crane Truck’ album on Flickr. Take a look via the link above, or here for a tenuous link to Putin’s dickwittery.
One of the coolest liveries in motorsport has got to be Toyota’s diagonal sunset-coloured TRD striping. Seemingly unchanged since the ’80s, said livery has appeared on everything from NASCARs to Baja trucks, and it’s the latter we have here today.
Built by SpaceHopper, this superb Toyota T100 Baja off-road truck features Control+ remote control drive and steering, working suspension, a fully-caged interior, stunning attention to detail, and – most importantly – a simply brilliant recreation of Toyota’s famous TRD livery.
There’s more of Space’s Toyota T100 Baja model to see at both Flickr and Eurobricks, and you make the jump somewhere in the desert via the links above.
This magnificent model is a Ural-4320 6×6 truck, a Soviet-era general purpose military truck first built in 1977, and still in production today.
Powered by a naturally-aspirated V8 diesel or a V6 turbodiesel, the Ural-4320 is very slow, but able to carry a variety of loads, from troops to rocket launchers, over almost any terrain. Well, unless the Russian Army recruits behind the wheel abandon them and run.
Which is what has occurred in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with over six-hundred Ural-4320s destroyed or abandoned, and around fifty captured a repurposed by the Ukrainian military, according to Dutch open-source intelligence group Oryx. Which is marvellous.
This phenomenal fully remote controlled Model Team recreation of the Ural-4320 comes from Russian builder and previous bloggee Michael217, who has brilliantly captured not just the aesthetics of the real truck, but also much of the driveline too.
A LEGO Buggy motor powers all six wheels, each of which is suspended and fitted with a portal axle, there’s Servo steering (that turns the steering wheel too), a high/low gearbox, opening doors and hood, a detailed engine, and an open load area ready to be fitted with a variety of Russian (or Ukrainian…) equipment.
There’s much more of Michael’s amazing model to see at the Eurobricks discussion forum, you can find the full image gallery at Bricksafe here, and you can watch the truck in action via the video below.
BuWizz – makers of the 5 star rated BuWizz 3.0 bluetooth control brick (and some monster motors too) – have powered hundreds of creations that have appeared here at The Lego Car Blog. From trucks to supercars, construction vehicles to off-roaders, BuWizz bricks have gone into every vehicle type imaginable, bringing programmable bluetooth remote control and huge power.
If you’re a reader from BuWizz’s native Slovenia (or if you’d like to visit said country!), the BuWizz Gathering 2023 arrives in July of this year.
Held in a beautiful camp setting, the BuWizz Gathering features two days of competition (with a range of prizes on offer) with events such as Stadium Trucks, Off-Roaders and Sumo, plus food, drink, and leisure activities included.
Tickets are available now and you can find out what’s on offer in 2023 via the promotional video below.
It’s been a while since the last Elven smushing, but fear not Fans of Elven Violence, because today’s creation squished several of our little workers before we could get to the controls. The work of previous bloggee apachaiapachai, this neat Technic pick-up features remotely controlled twin L-Motor all-wheel-drive, steering, suspension, and BuWizz bluetooth power, with plenty of ground clearance to make the most its off-road drivetrain. Free building instructions available (one hundred TLCB points to apachai) and you can find out more about the build at the Eurobricks forum or via Rebrickable. Click the links to take a look, whilst we try to remember the best combination of cleaning products for removing Elven bodily fluids from the office carpet.
