Tag Archives: Off-Road

Hauling Lumber Off-Road. Definitely

The most popular vehicle in the U.S is not a Camry, CR-V, or RAV4. No, it’s a pick-up truck, specifically the Ford F-150, now in its fourteenth generation.

With ¾ million sales in the U.S. last year, Ford sold 50% more F-150s than the next best-selling vehicle in America (also a pick-up). That’s a lot of people hauling boats, working on building sites, or carrying lumber.

Perhaps just one or two are used for nothing more than driving to Walmart of course, but we’re sure that 99% are absolutely used for pick-upy things. Definitely.

This F-150 is the work of previous bloggee gyenesvi, who has packed his 1:14 Technic version with working functions. Four-wheel-drive comes courtesy of a BuWizz bluetooth battery and twin Powered-up Motors, steering is driven via a third motor, and a high/low gearbox by a fourth, all of which can be operated remotely.

Realistic five-link suspension, opening doors, hood and tailgate, and a detailed interior also feature, and you can check out full details – including a link to free building instructions – at Eurobricks. You can also watch the model in action via the video below, plus you can find the complete image gallery via Bricksafe, where gyenesvi has photgraphed his creation on location off-road, where almost all real Ford F-150s also spend their time. Definitely.

YouTube Video

Skid Marks

We love B-models here at The Lego Car Blog. Taking a suite of parts designed to create one thing and repurposing them to create another thing entirely is the very essence of LEGO.

Cue previous bloggee (and something of a B-model specialist) Dyens Creations, who has redeployed the pieces from the 42122 Technic Jeep Wrangler Rubicon set to create something very different indeed.

Short of a bouncy castle or an F/A-18 fighter jet, a skid-steer loader as about as far removed from the Wrangler source material as it’s possible to get. Unless you’re a non-Jeep person, in which case an ugly agricultural lump of poor-handling machinery is perhaps not that far removed at all.

Whatever your persuasion, Dyen’s 42122 alternate is an excellent one, with a working loader arm and tilting bucket, an opening engine cover, and even enough pieces left over to add a construction barrier and warning sign.

There’s more of the model to see at Dyen’s ‘LEGO 42122 – SKID STEER LOADER’ album and you can make the jump from the trail to the construction site via the link above.

Achtung Baby

This is a Mercedes-Benz Unimog U20, one of hundreds of Unimog variants, but unusual in being the only ‘forward control’ version, and – by TLCB maths – exactly ten times better than a long-standing Irish soft rock band.

It comes from previous bloggee and Master MOCer Thirdwigg, who has packed it not just with working Technic functions, but also an array of attachments and tools in much the same way as the real thing would be.

Working steering, pendular suspension, a piston engine, and a tipping cab all feature, with a folding crane, three-way tipping bed, street sweeper, and snow plough all attachable via the adjustable hitches and mounting points.

There’s much more of Thirdwigg’s excellent Technic Unimog U20 to see at both his Flickr album of the same name and at the Eurobricks forum, where full imagery and yes – building instructions are available too!

Bug(gy) Squash

…Aaaand normal service is resumed. After today’s earlier post expecting “a monster truck or something” would follow next, TLCB Elves duly obliged, and – what with it being remote controlled – one of them immediately proceeded to flatten the others with it. Sigh.

It’s a good bit of kit though, coming from previous bloggee JLiu15, and featuring motorised steering and propulsion, a rear-mounted piston engine, LED lights, super bouncy suspension, and – handily for the Elf at the controls – a chunky bull-bar on the front.

There’s lots more of the model to see at JLiu15’s ‘LEGO Technic Race Buggy’ album, and you can make the jump to all the images via the link in the text above.

My Other Car’s a Ford GT

This is a Red Bull SMG Dakar Buggy, of the sort used by World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz (no not that one, his father) to compete in the world’s toughest enduro, before he switched to the works Audi RS Q e-tron that took him to the 2023 Dakar victory.

Built by previous bloggee gyenesvi, this superbly liveried creation has been constructed only from the parts found within the 42154 Technic Ford GT set, and features all-wheel suspension, a mid-mounted V6 engine, ‘HOG’ steering, and opening doors.

Building instructions and a downloadable decal sheet are available, and you can convert your own Ford supercar into a desert conquering buggy via both Eurobricks and Bricksafe.

Mad Maximum Squashing

Longstanding readers of this stagnent puddle in the corner of the Internet will know that TLCB Elves – the mythical creatures whose unending and unpaid job it is to find the creations that appear here – have a penchant for extreme violence towards one-another. This usually takes the form of a hit-and-run (see here, here, here, here and here), and today normal service was resumed as one of their number found this.

‘This’, is a fully remote controlled replica of the wild ‘Big Foot’ monster truck from ‘Mad Max – Fury Road’, as built by TLCB Master MOCer Sariel, and powered by twin Control+ L Motors driving all four wheels. Said wheels are shod in huge non-LEGO RC tyres, plus there’s working suspension, a V8 piston engine, and two bed mounted guns for maximum movie authenticity.

All of which means that for the Elves that weren’t squashed, it’s probably the Best Creation Ever. And even for those that were, it was still the Best Creation Ever right up until the moment it smeared them into the office carpet. There’s more of the model to see at Sariel’s ‘Mad Max Big Foot’ album, you can watch it in action via the video below, and you can read the builder’s interview here at The Lego Car Blog by clicking these words.

YouTube Video

Orangler

Here at a high-mid northern latitude, TLCB Team have been waiting for the arrival of spring. It’s getting light into the evenings, plants are waking up, and adventures are easier to find.

Cue today’s creation, this splendidly orange fully remote controlled Jeep Wrangler by previous bloggee gyenesvi. With Powered-Up four-wheel-drive and steering, live-axle suspension, and removable doors, hard-top, roll-bar, and winch, gyenesvi’s Wrangler is just the thing for springtime adventures.

It’s been duly taken on a few too, with some superb on-location shots on the mountain trails outside the city. There’s more of the model to see at the Eurobricks forum and on Bricksafe, where links to building instructions can also be found. Start your off-road adventure in an orange Wrangler via the links above.

Master MOGer

TLCB Master MOCer Thirdwigg continues to expand his Mercedes-Benz Unimog catalogue. This one is a U5000 short cab tipper, meaning there’s more room to put stuff to tip. A three-way (snigger) tipping bed, working steering, high/low gearbox, rear suspension, piston engine, plus front and rear winches all feature, and you can see more – including a link to building instructions if you’d like to create it yourself – by clicking here.

Heavyweight Boxer

This is the Boxer Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), a cross-European military project led by Germany and the Netherlands. In production since 2009, the 1,000bhp multi-role armoured truck has seen service in Afghanistan and forms part of the NATO Response Force, with around 700 units built to date. TLCB’s home nation is about to double that number, with Australia, Lithuania, Ukraine and various other countries also current or prospective customers.

This enormous brick-built replica of the Boxer comes from Rolands Kirpis, who has successfully recreated the IFV in spectacular fashion, despite the technical imagery and specifications of the real thing being rather secret!

Twin Power Functions XL Motors drive all eight fully-suspended wheels, the front two axles steer, and there’s a fully-kitted interior, gun turret, and cockpit too. It’s a spectacular build and there’s plenty more to see at Rolands’ ‘Boxer IVF’ album – take a look at all of the excellent on-location imagery via the link above.

Russian Winter

It’s the day after the conclusion of the Russian Presidential Election, in which the highest voter turn-out in history awarded incumbent Vladimir Putin an amazing 204% of the vote, securing him a record-breaking fifth consecutive term in office.

But as bad as Russia is at elections, it’s as good at off-road trucks.

State-backed Kamaz – previously part-owned by Daimler (before the Ukrainian unpleasantness), and also part-owned by a close personal friend of the newly re-elected president – produce arguably the best off-road trucks in the world, and today’s is awesome even by Kamaz’s lofty standards.

Built by previous bloggee mpj, this spectacularly cool Kamaz 8×8 Arctic Truck is roughly mini-figure* scale replica of the real eight-wheel-drive, centre-articulated behemoth.

Featuring that 8×8 drive system and articulated steering, plus pendular suspension, a tipping bed, and a working folding crane, it’s a fantastic Technic creation, and you can check it out in full at the Eurobricks forum, where an image of the real Kamaz Arctic Truck can also be found.

Click the link above to jump into the Russian Winter, as the country celebrates another six years.

*Yes, the real truck is that big!

Towtally Sideways

You don’t need a million pieces and to know The Brothers Brick secret handshake to see your creation blogged. A few dozen, cunningly deployed (sideways in this case), combined with careful presentation is all we need, as proven here by previous bloggee David Roberts and this delightful ‘Off-Road Tow Truck’. Working winches, a lovely Technic crane, and a cheery mini-figure make David’s model reminiscent of LEGO sets gone by (if LEGO built sideways), and there’s more to see on Flickr. Click the link above to jump sideways to David’s photostream.

Desert Lion

France isn’t known for strong animal symbolism, with a chicken usually being selected as the animal of choice.

Peugeot – weirdly – does have a good animal symbol, what with the marque’s badge being a roaring lion. Cue this rather appropriate Peugeot 2008 DKR, first entered into the Dakar Rally in 2015, when it was, um… held nowhere near Dakar, instead taking place in South America. Where there are no lions.

Oh well, the title would’ve made sense if the rally was still held in Senegal.

No matter, because Peugeot’s desert lion was a cunning thing, being two-wheel-drive rather than four, thus allowing it to adhere to Dakar’s ‘Buggy’ regulations which permitted far more leeway in other areas.

Powered by a twin-turbo V6 diesel, and with in-built hydraulic jacks to change inevitable punctures, the 2008 DKR was… rubbish. But the following year Peugeot returned, and – having worked out the 2008 DKR’s reliability issues – won the race outright, with the 2008’s successor winning again in 2017 and 2018.

This spectacular homage to the wild mid-2010s buggy has been constructed by previous bloggee Lipko, who has not only captured the 2008 DKR’s exterior brilliantly, he’s included the mid-mounted V6 diesel engine, in-built jacks, monster suspension, working steering, and a 4-speed sequential gearbox, plus squeezed in two spare wheels, which was apparently the hardest part of the whole build.

A neat livery, full roll-cage, and a superbly-detailed engine bay and interior add even more realism, and you can check out full details and find further photos of Lipko’s model at the Eurobricks forum.

Click the link above to see more, or on the video below to watch the desert lion in action.

YouTube Video

Roving Big

Febrovery, the annual building bandwagon in which ground-based science-fiction vehicles take over Flickr, is complete for another year. Which means it’s complete here too, which is good news for TLCB Team – who are uniformly crap at sci-fi – but not before we have one final rover to showcase. And what a rover it is.

Measuring 117 studs in length and riding on eight enormous tyres from the 42054 Claas Xerion 5000 amongst other Technic sets, Scott Wilhelm’s ‘Ridiculously Oversized Vehicular Element Repository’ features remote control drive and steering (via XL and L Power Functions motors), a working cargo crane, five airlock doors, a retractable solar array, a fully fitted interior, and spectacular internal and external LED lighting.

More pictures are due to follow, but until they do you can check out this one at Scott’s photostream via the link above. Until next year, happy roving!

Even More Mogin’

There are almost as many variants of Mercedes-Benz’s Unimog as there are tasks for them to do. Which is probably the point. Endlessly adaptable, the Unimog is also the perfect choice for Technic builders, as proven by Flickr’s Thirdwigg, who’s back here with another fully-functioning brick-built replica of the heavy-duty tractor.

This one is a U530, complete with a three-way* tipping bed, working steering, a piston engine, under the tilting cab, pendular suspension, plus front, centre and rear selectable PTOs.

There’s a rear pneumatic outlet too, which mean’s Thirdwigg’s model can be fitted with nearly as many pieces of additional equipment as the real thing, with a folding crane, trailer, and snow-plow some of those included in his extensive Flickr gallery.

Building instructions are available (and they’re free!), with much more to see at Thirdwigg’s ‘Unimog U530′ album. Click the link above for even more mogin’.

*Snigger

Mega Rover

Febrovery is back for another year, when the Online Lego Community comes together to build various planetary roving vehicles in innumurable styles and themes.

This is spaceruner‘s, a small 6×6 single-occupant articulated pick-up, used to transport various spacey items and/or whatever crystals LEGO have determined are part of the plot this week.

Oh, and it also comes with a gigantic 10×10 mobile command centre.

Yes, spaceruner’s entry for this year’s Febrovery includes a rover (and several other small craft) within its enormity. Manned by a crew of eight, with a vast interior, landing pad, crane, plus a wide assortment of tools, vehicles, and other space-related accompaniments, spaceruner’s astonishing Spyrius ‘CX-1 Basilisk’ is one of the most impressive sci-fi creations we’ve ever seen.

A spectacular array of imagery showcases the creation superbly, and there’s more to see of spaceruner’s rover (and the mobile command centre if that’s what you’re into) on Flickr. Click the link above to make the jump.