It’s sometime in the future, where humankind have traversed the vast void of space, colonised whole new worlds, and yet are still digging big holes in the ground to extract minerals. Sigh.
Interplanetary destruction aside, Duncan Lindbo‘s ‘Gila’ six-legged mobile mining mech does look rather neat though, and it comes to life too, thanks to a motorised bucket-wheel and LED lighting.
There’s more of this microscale mech to see at Duncan’s photostream, and you can lay waste to an alien eco-system via the link above.
LEGO’s near 4,000 piece (and near £400) 42172 Technic McLaren P1 set is pretty big. This one however, is rather bigger.
Constructed from a steel frame and over 342,000 LEGO pieces, this astonishing life-size LEGO McLaren P1 took a team of twenty-three specialists from both LEGO and McLaren 8,344 hours to develop and build.
Powered by 768 LEGO Power Functions motors and a car battery, this full-scale replica of one the world’s most iconic hypercars is the first life-size LEGO model to lap a racetrack. In fact, it is the first life-size LEGO model able to steer at all, and who better to steer it than race-winning McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris.
Rumoured to be capable of around 40mph, the life-size LEGO P1 may not quite be able to match the real McLaren’s 217mph top speed, but watching Lando pilot it around the Silverstone Grand Prix track is perhaps even more exciting than watching him driving his usual wheels.
Take a look at LEGO and McLaren’s incredible feat of engineering in the video below, and click the link above to check out the rather smaller (but still pretty impressive) McLaren P1 you can own for yourself.
Four cylinders, twenty-eight litres, 290hp, and many flames. Fiat’s incredible S76 – nicknamed ‘The Beast of Turin’ – was built to claim land speed records, thanks to that astonishing engine that was also used to power airships.
This wild Technic interpretation of the 1910 racer was found by one of our Elves on Eurobricks, and comes from JoKo, who has created a working approximation of the S76’s enormous engine complete with functioning double overhead cams, valves, and timing chain.
Control+ components allow for remote control drive and steering, there’s leaf-spring suspension, a working hand-crank, and – perhaps most importantly – a marvellously moustachioed gentleman sitting in the cockpit.
Here at The Lego Car Blog we’re the best place to find the highest quality images of the finest Lego vehicles anywhere on the internet. OK… we’re a place to find said vehicles, but whist the quality of this site may be dubious, the vehicles and the imagery that appear here are top class.
Our Submission Guidelines set out what we look for, and key among these are clean, clutter-free images, preferably on a white background. This is the easiest way to ensure your creation is blog-worthy, but if you want to play in ‘hard mode’, then you can take your images to a whole new level…
Recent bloggee Nathan Hake has done just that, taking his previously blogged remote control MAZ-537 8×8 off-road truck (presented beautifully on a clean, clutter-free, white background), and chucking it onto the snow and mud.
The results are spectacular, with the Model Team MAZ looking almost life-size when set against a backdrop that the real vehicle was built for, and it also gave Nathan the chance to test his model’s off-road credentials.
You can watch how Nathan’s MAZ-537 got on in the snow by clicking here, where you can also find these stunning new on-location photos alongside the studio-based originals. Take a look via the link above, and perhaps be inspired to take your models outside too.
This astonishing vehicle is a MAZ 543, an enormous Soviet 8×8 truck developed in the 1960s as a strategic missile carrier. Powered by a near 40-litre tank engine, the 543 could weigh up to 41 tons loaded, featured eight-wheel-drive, four wheel steering, planetary hubs, and an on-board tyre inflation system.
The single-cab ‘M’ variant followed in 1976, with the amazing creation pictured here representing part of the ‘A222 Bereg’ coastal defence force, which consisted of around half-a-dozen artillery units, a couple of support vehicles, and a central command centre (which is this one), all based on MAZ 543 M platforms.
Samuel Nerpas’ incredible Technic recreation of the MAZ 543 M-based central command centre recreates the enormity of the real ‘A222 Bereg’ coastal defence force vehicles brilliantly, and is packed with working functionality.
Six Power Functions L-Motors drive all eight wheels, a Servo steers the first four, two M Motors power pneumatic compressors that operate the stabiliser legs and engine compartment blinds, whilst three more lift a rotating radar antenna and observation equipment through an opening roof hatch.
It’s a terrific example of Technic engineering, and you can take a closer look at this gargantuan creation via Samuel’s Flickr photostream and at the Eurobricks discussion forum, where a full build description and several videos of the model in action can be found.
Slightly less Russian military hardware will be unleashed on Ukraine of late, what with the latter’s decision to bring the conflict of Russia’s warmongering president to his own soil.
At least two Russian bridges, used to transport weaponry amongst other things, have been destroyed by Ukraine in recent weeks, making the scene above a little less common than it was a fortnight ago.
Said scene comes from previous bloggee Nathan Hake, whose MAZ-537 and gorgeous bridge-based diorama was built for a recent Lego show.
Fantastic attention to detail, presentation, and construction techniques are evident in abundance, with the MAZ packed with working functionality too, featuring remote control all-wheel-drive, steering, and trailer hitch lock, whilst the trailer also includes motorised legs and ramps.
There’s more to see at Nathan’s photostream and you can head to a bridge somewhere in Eastern Europe via the link above.
It’s been a while since a remotely controlled vehicle trundled down the halls of TLCB Towers in pursuit of a fleeing group of Elves.
However today normal service was resumed, thanks to previous bloggee keymaker, and this excellent Star 266 trial truck, driven by twin XL motors, steered by a Medium motor, and powered and controlled by a BuWizz Bluetooth battery.
All-wheel suspension and a detailed cab also feature, with the model built for a Polish truck trial competition.
Best of all, free building instructions are available, and you can find all the details of keymaker’s Star 266 at Eurobricks, plus the complete image gallery via Bricksafe. Take a look via the links above whilst we see how the ongoing machine vs. Elves chase here in the office plays out.
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.
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.
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.
…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…
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.
America is in the news of TLCB home nation rather a lot at the moment. Whilst we’ve quietly called, held, and politely delivered the outcome of an election in six weeks, America’s year-long campaign season continues, and – with perhaps a depressing inevitability – the barrage of political slurs, plus an argument about golf handicaps for some reason, has spilled over into something far worse.
Thus to remember that America isn’t just gun violence and two old men insulting one another, today we have the most American thing we can think of short of chanting ‘Freedom!’ on loop or a Mustang crash; the Chevrolet Corvette C7.
Built by Eurobricks’ mihao, this stunning Technic recreation of the last front-engined Corvette is so realistic we can almost see the retired dentist behind the wheel. Working steering, adjustable suspension, a V8 engine connected to a paddle-shift gearbox, opening doors, hood and trunk, plus a removable targa-roof all feature, and the model can also be fully motorised, with remote control drive, steering, and LED head and tail lights.
Building instructions for both the mechanical and motorised versions of mihao’s model are available, and you can find them and lots more besides at the Eurobricks forum. Click the link above to take a look at mihao’s fantastic American icon, and whichever old man you vote for, neither the other one, nor his supporters, are your foe.
This fantastic creation is a ZIL 131, a Soviet V8-powered 6×6 off-road truck built from the 1960s right up to 2012, as used by all manner of dodgy dictatorships and communist regimes around the world. And Finland.
It’s also a vehicle that has appeared on this site several times over the years. This one however, is a little different from most…
Fitted to the bed of Samuel Nerpas’ Technic version is an enormous radar system, as was mounted on the real AMU variants of the ZIL 131. Powered by two separate gasoline engines, the P19 radar antenna would raise, unfurl, and rotate, allowing the Soviet Union to deploy radar in even its most inhospitable parts.
Samuel’s incredible recreation of the ZIL 131 AMU includes that P19 radar system, with four Power Functions motors raising and unfolding the antenna, powering a decoupling clutch, and rotating it 360°.
Four more motors drive all six fully-suspended wheels, whilst another powers the steering, and yet another a compressor to deploy the pneumatically-operated stabiliser legs.
There’s loads more to see of Samuel’s astonishing build at both his Flickr photostream and at the Eurobricks forum, where full build details, imagery of the amazing antenna deployed, and videos of the model in action can also be found. Click the links above to get on the radar.
It’s the early-’80s, and everything is ‘turbocharged’; sunglasses, baseball caps, pens… plus, in rare cases, cars. This is one of them, the nuts Nissan Skyline KDR30 ‘Super Silhouette’.
First racing in 1982, the KDR30 was built on a tubular steel space-frame, with sort-of-Skyline sedan bodywork placed over the top, hence the moniker.
A 2.1 litre straight-4 engine was mounted upfront, attached to the mother and father of all turbos. The result was nearly 600 flame-splitting horses, powering the KDR30 to multiple race wins in Group 5 from 1982 to 1984. And many a Grand Turismo racer – as that’s how most readers will know this car – into the digital armco.
This spectacular brick-built replica of the Skyline KDR30 ‘Super Silhouette’ is the work of TLCB Master MOCer Nico71, who has recreated the formidable 1982 racer in astonishing detail.
Underneath the wonderfully accurate body – which wears the real car’s racing livery – is a fully remote controlled drivetrain, courtesy of a third-party BuWizz bluetooth battery, an L Motor powering the rear wheels, and a Servo the steering.
A detailed working replica of the 4-cylinder engine, and the massive turbo that accompanied it, can be found up front, with it – as well as the trunk and hood – easily removable.
3D-printed wheels complete the incredible realism, and the car is available to build in both remote control and manual configurations via Nico’s excellent building instructions, which he’s released alongside full details and imagery.
You can find them and the complete specifications at Nico’s website, the full gallery on Brickshelf, and you can watch both the model and the real car in action (the real one spits considerably more flame) via the video below.
