Tag Archives: power functions

Elven Heights

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‘Hmmm…’ murmured this TLCB writer upon entering the crumbling ruin that is TLCB Towers today. The cause of his utterance was looking him in, well, not quite the face, but certainly the testicles. A grinning Elf was sat on a shelf in the lobby, and not in a whimsical Christmassy way.

A little further on another was eating an unnecessary candle placed upon a dresser by TLCB’s intern “because it smells nice!”, whilst a third Elf was hanging from the door handle to the Executive Washroom and Sauna…

That final Elf was the most unnerving – based upon a miserable previous experience – and thus was swiftly batted off the handle by a mop head before it caused any real panic amongst the members of TLCB Staff with PTSD.

The cause of the Elves in high places became apparent when this writer entered the office, wherein a small cohort of Elves were hanging from a fairly sizeable Technic crane, trying to gain entry the stationary cupboard with a bent paper clip.

Mr. Airhorn promptly ceased the shenanigans, scattering the would-be burglars, and we can now take a peek at the creation responsible without fear of all TLCB’s glue sticks being eaten and very sticky messes being left throughout the Elves’ cage room tomorrow morning.

Said creation is this one; previous bloggee Ivan_M (aka Ivan MOC)‘s marvellous Power Functions remote controlled crane truck.

A beautifully neat build, Ivan’s truck features motorised drive and steering, linear actuator boom elevation, with working boom extension, rotation and winch operation, plus functioning outriggers, and an in-cab piston-engine too.

The Power Functions battery box and IR receiver look remarkably at home exposed under the stowed crane, with Ivan’s model easily appearing as though it could be an official LEGO Technic set.

There’s more of Ivan’s excellent Technic crane truck to see at his Flickr album via the link in the text above, which includes images demonstrating its surprisingly large extension*. Take a look via the link to Flickr whilst we double check the office for any more Elves in high places…

*That’s what she said

Fantastic Ford

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The Lego Car Blog Elves are having a great day today. Previous bloggee Jakub Marcisz is back with this lovely Classic Ford F100 pick-up, which not only looks fantastic, there’s a complete Power Functions remote control drivetrain underneath too.

The Elves therefore, are riding around in the back. A few have inevitably been run over, but for the most part it’s good clean fun.

Jakub’s model conceals its remote controlness well, with the only clue visible being if the brown box is removed from the bed, and the model also features opening doors (revealing a beautifully constructed interior), dropping tailgate, opening hood, LED lights, working suspension, and a high/low gearbox.

It’s a top quality build that’s worth a closer look, and you can do just that via Jakub’s photostream at the link above, where more imagery and a link to a YouTube video can also be found.

Rope & Bucket

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Today’s post sounds like an English pub, but it is in fact a fully operational recreation of the Caterpillar 7295 rope excavator, as built by Ivan_M in a spectacular 1:40 scale.

Inside Ivan’s model are six Power Functions motors that drive the tracks, superstructure rotation, and the winches that lift, extend, and open the bucket.

It’s a complicated movement but one that Ivan has managed to replicate beautifully, with his model demonstrating some of the most impressive action on video you’ll see today. Ok, we can’t guarantee that – the internet’s a big place – but it’s nevertheless properly good.

There’s more to see of Ivan’s stunning Caterpillar 7295 rope excavator on Flickr and at the Eurobricks forum, plus you can watch that impressive action in the ace video below!

YouTube Video

Brick Built Bucket

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LEGO’s new Technic 42131 App-Controlled CAT D11 Bulldozer set revealed here earlier in the week is a spectacular (and spectacularly expensive) way to push LEGO pieces around your floor.

Of course the online Lego Community has been building super-sized RC bulldozers for some time, and this magnificent Liebherr PR 776 by Flickr’s Dawid Szmandra is one of the best we’ve seen yet.

With four motors, a Mindstorms EV3 for control, and perhaps the best brick-built bucket we’ve ever seen, Dawid’s creation gives LEGO’s 42131 set a run for its (considerable amount of) money, and it’s a creation you can build for yourself as he’s made building instructions available too.

There’s more of the build to see at Dawid’s ‘Liebherr PR 776’ album on Flickr, where a links to building instructions and even to the custom decals can also be found.

YouTube Video

Half-Size Supercar

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This is an Autozam AZ-1, and it’s awesome! Produced from 1992 to ’94, fewer than 5,000 units were built across all three brands that marketed it (Mazda, Mazda’s kei car brand Autozam, and Suzuki, who supplied the engine), with sales hampered by a high list price, collapsing economy, and it being weird even by the standards of the Japanese kei-class.

Effectively a 1:2 scale mid-engined gull-winged supercar, the AZ-1 we have here is even smaller, at 1:11, but it’s as packed with interestingness as the real thing. Built by syclone of Eurobricks, this brilliant Technic recreation of the coolest kei-car of them all features remote control drive, steering and headlights, a working steering wheel inside a detailed cabin, independent front and rear suspension, a working piston engine (in there somewhere!), and – of course – opening gull-wing doors.

Building instructions are available and there’s much more to see of syclone’s brilliant Autozam AZ-1, including a video of it in action, at the Eurobricks discussion forum. Take a look at this fantastic 1:11 recreation of a 1:2 supercar via the link above!

Blank Face

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Things with blank, expressionless faces are terrifying. How do you know what they’re thinking? That’s why car styling always sort of resembles a face, even if that face is an increasingly angry one these days.

Oshkosk didn’t get that memo though, and – in creating their HMETT 8×8 off-road truck – gave it a face of such horrifying blankness it could belong to a Cyberman.

Still, vacant serial-killer stare aside, the HMETT is a mega bit of kit, and so too is Thesuperkoala‘s Technic recreation, which includes eight-wheel-drive, four-wheel-steering, lockable differentials, a high/low gearbox, all-wheel springless suspension, a removable load bed, and BuWizz bluetooth remote control.

Which means it could drive around the house seemingly of its own free-will, which gives this writer shivers.

There’s more to see of Thesuperkoala’s excellent Technic Oshkosh HMETT 8×8 truck at both Flickr and via the video below; click the links to take a look, whilst this TLCB Writer draws smiley faces on anything vaguely resembling a head in TLCB office and tries to think happy thoughts…

YouTube Video

Hellraiser

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Purple is an interesting colour. It’s the best sweet in a box of Quality Street (that reference might not translate very well), the hue of a popular children’s TV dinosaur that – frankly – should stop bloody singing and just eat the children, and – more nerdily – it means you’ve set the fastest sector in a motor race. Despite these associations however, purple is not a popular choice for cars.

In the late ’00s Dodge changed that somewhat, with the arrival of their reborn Challenger, that not only brought the iconic muscle car back, it returned the gloriously-named ‘Hellraisin Purple’ to forecourts after about forty years.

Recreating the reincarnated Challenger, and the only colour you should consider owning a Challenger in, is Michael217, who has constructed this ace fully RC Model Team version of Dodge’s 00’s muscle car.

Remote control drive and steering, front and rear suspension, opening doors, hood, trunk and sunroof, and a whole lot of purple bricks make this a model worth a closer look, and you can do just that at both Eurobricks and Bricksafe. Click the links to raise some hell.

*Today’s title song. Of course.

Smaller than Expected*

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This may look like a normal cab-over light duty truck, but it is in fact a kei car, Japan’s microcar class in which vehicles can measure no longer than 3.4m, no wider than 1.48m, and have an engine size no greater than 660cc.

It is, therefore, absolutely tiny. Plus, obviously, it’s a Lego model, so it’s even smaller than that…

This superb Technic kei-class truck is a Daihatsu Hijet S110P, and it comes from syclone of Eurobricks who has packed it with an unfathomably large amount of features.

Under the really rather good exterior is a full remote control drivetrain, complete with all-wheel-suspension, all-wheel-drive, servo steering (linked to the steering wheel too), opening and locking doors, dropping bed side walls, and even working headlights.

There’s loads more of syclone’s Daihatsu Hijet to see at the Eurobricks forum, including a video of the kei truck in action. Take a look via the link above!

*That’s what she said.

8 Out of 10 Nazis…

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It might sound like European cat food, but the Kettenkrad was altogether weirder than that. Half motorcycle, half tank, the Sd.Kfz 2 Kettenkrad was designed by NSU, powered by Opel, weighed 1.5 tons, and could climb slopes of over 24°, even in sand.

A unique drive system delivered power to both tracks simultaneously on hard ground, or – when the driver selected – operated via a subtractor to skid-steer on soft ground, and it was used throughout the Second World War to lay cables, transport troops, tow aircraft, oh – and to invade Russia.

This amazing motorised Model Team recreation of the Sd.Kfz 2 Kettenkrad comes from previous bloggee Samolot, and not only does it feature the most terrifying LEGO figure we’ve ever seen, it also includes a fully working remote controlled version of the real bike/tank’s ingenious steering system.

Exactly how it works is beyond the collective minds housed here at TLCB Towers, so the best way to see if you can figure it out is via the video below. There are also more images of both Samolot’s model and the real 1940s contraption at Bricksafe, and you can read the full build description and join the discussion via the Eurobricks forum here.

YouTube Video

Emirates Airbus A380 | Picture Special

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Some Lego builders’ user names are just right. This is BigPlanes’ Emirates Airlines Airbus A380 Superjumbo, and it is really, really big.

With a wingspan of 7ft, BigPlanes’ recreation of the world’s largest passenger plane is a constructed in an almost unbelievable mini-figure scale, and uses no hidden supports, metal framework, or glue.

What it does use is tens of thousands of LEGO pieces, several electric motors, and a whole lot of LED lights to faithfully replicate Emirates’ flagship airliner, including both decks, a four-pilot cockpit, working flaps and tail control surfaces, retractable landing gear, and even powered engines.

Each class of travel is accurately represented too, from First (which features a bar, lounge, and even a waterfall fountain), through Business (with fold flat seats and individual screens), to Premium Economy (where passengers’ benefit from their knees not being a structural element of the seat in front), and finally Economy (basically a cattle-truck).

Beautiful spiral staircases link the two decks, which also include luxury bathrooms in First (and holes in the floor for Economy), galley kitchens, and even crew sleeping accommodation.

A monumental undertaking a year in the making, BigPlanes’ phenomenal determination and skill has resulted in surely one of the finest Lego creations ever built. Buy your ticket to fly Emirates at his astonishing ‘LEGO Emirates Airbus A380’ album on Flickr, where forty incredible images are available to view. It’s probably worth spending a little extra to upgrade to Premium Economy though…

Super Sub

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It’s the UEFA European Championship, when Europe’s best football teams (plus sometimes Israel for some reason) battle it out to win all the Coca Cola they can drink.

Cue the Subaru Impreza STI, a car that’s not even from the same continent, and the most tenuous title vaguely linked to a current event that we’ve managed yet. Well, it was either that or a pun linking ‘STI’ and your Mom, but we’re trying to phase out the ‘Your Mom’ jokes.

Anyway, not at all to do with the delayed European championship, nor your Mom’s list of venereal diseases, is this; Lachlan Cameron (aka loxlego)‘s magnificent fully remote controlled Subaru Impreza STI.

Powered by a third party BuWizz bluetooth battery, Lachlan’s Subaru features all-wheel-drive, working steering (that’s also linked to the steering wheel), all-wheel-suspension with electronic ride height adjustment, LED lights, and some properly realistic bodywork .

Lachlan has even created a wrapped version, like every talentless car YouTuber, turning his super Subaru into a Ken Block ‘[Hoonicorn]’ homage that looks, well… utterly brilliant (talentless YouTubers take note).

Top notch photography adds to the impression and there’s loads more to see at Lachlan’s ‘Subaru’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to take a look, whilst we get ready to watch TLCB’s home nation in action against the Czech Republic tonight. We may even have a few super subs on the bench to help us top the group…

A Giant Red Digger

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Things TLCB Elves like; Things with Guns. Things with Racing Stripes. Megan Fox (although she’s equipped with neither). Giant Red Diggers. Today is therefore a good day.

This Giant Red Digger is the work of previous bloggee Levihathan, and it’s a Poclain HC 300 – or rather a 2,000 piece remote controlled fully working replica of a Poclain HC 300.

There are no less than six motors, two bluetooth hubs, dual differential tracked drive, a V12 piston engine, and some suspiciously metallic looking linear actuators.

An extensive gallery of imagery is available to view, showing the construction, inner mechanics, and the amazing reach of the excavating arm. Head to Levihathan’s ‘Poclain HC 300’ album  via the link above for more Giant Red Digger goodness.

Bug(gy) Squash

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The Lego Car Blog Elves, as regular readers of this crumbling ruin of the internet will know, are not a peaceful bunch.

If they find a vehicle that is capable of running over their colleagues, they will do it. It’s as certain as Russian athletic doping, Fox News bias, or your Mom putting out.

And so, with absolute inevitability, this (rather excellent) RC buggy was today used to squash dozens of our smelly little workers.

They didn’t stand much of chance in today’s mass smushing event, as this model by A_C of Eurobricks is one of the fastest, nimblest, and most agile remote control creations that we’ve ever seen.

At less than 400 parts LEGO’s enormously powerful Buggy Motor has an easy time of it, and – when hooked up to a third party BuWizz bluetooth battery delivering up to eight times the power of LEGO’s own – you can see why even the fastest Elf couldn’t escape it.

All-wheel-suspension and Servo steering also feature, and there’s more to see of A_C’s brilliant ‘RC Buggy’ at the Eurobricks forum, where a link to building instructions can also be found.

Check it out via the link above, and watch it in action in an empty tennis court below!

YouTube Video

Vintage Erection

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If the content of TLCB’s spam folder is to be believed, we’re in for a future of certain erectile disfunction. However, not all old things have trouble getting it up, as this unusual GAZ-AA ‘Tower Wagon’ by Kent Kashiwabara proves.

The GAZ-AA was effectively a Ford Model A constructed under license in Russia, long before the two countries hated one another and the Soviet Union began buying everything from Fiat.

This particular GAZ-AA is based on the Model-A pick-up, but features an extending platform tower mounted behind the cab that can whir skywards, in Kent’s model thanks to some cunningly concealed Power Functions motors.

Remote control drive and steering also feature and there’s more to see of Kent’s erection at his ‘GAZ’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to get it up.

Truckasaurus REXX

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Whiiiir, crunch. Whiiiir, crunch. That’s not a good noise thought this TLCB Writer. A weary and well-worn trudge out of the office revealed the source, and more Elven carnage than we’ve experienced for some time.

Stampeding down the corridor was a troop of Elves, being chased by the most enormous, and enormously fast, truck that this writer had ever seen. Behind it, squashed thoroughly into the carpet, were those that had failed to keep up the pace, or – more likely – those that had been tripped by one of their colleagues.

With the driver apprehended we can take a look at this astonishing 1 metre long machine, which turns out to be a fully working replica of the enormous 160-ton Australian REXX mining truck.

It comes from previous bloggee Kirill Mazurov (aka Desert Eagle/desert752), and it is a phenomenal bit of kit.

No less than fifteen motors and four third-party BuWizz bluetooth batteries power the REXX, with five Buggy Motors delivering power to all ten fully-suspended wheels. That explains the almost implausible speed.

Three Servo Motors drive the steering, the vast tipping bed is powered by both an XL and L Motor, whilst five Medium Motors operate the cab’s motorised ladders, doors, and even the windscreen wipers.

It’s a truly astounding build and one that is definitely worth a closer look via Kirill’s ‘REXX Truck’ Flickr album, the Eurobricks discussion forum, and via the excellent video showing the model in action below.

Click the links above to make the jump, and you can check out the BuWizz bluetooth bricks that provide Kirill’s REXX with all that power by clicking here.

YouTube Video