Tag Archives: Remote Control

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

Big Hero 6

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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.

YouTube Video

Know The Drill

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We often link to music here at TLCB, but not today, because drill music – named after the power tool that is simply horrific to listen to – sucks.

Thus there’ll be no link to an appropriate drill track at the foot of this post, because you don’t need that in your life, but there will be a link to this; Eric Trax’s remarkable Pottinger Terrasem R3 seed drill.

Towed by a version of his previously featured fully remote controlled, SBrick-programmable New Holland TM140 tractor, the Terrasem R3 both looks and sounds like a sci-fi creation you’d expect to find on the Brothers Brick, but is in fact one of the many mechanised wonders that quite literally feed the world.

A Claas telehandler is pictured below filling the Pottinger with seed (snigger), and there lots more to see of it and the excellent tractor pulling it via Eric’s ‘Pottinger Terrasem R3 seed drill‘ album on Flickr (where you can also find a link to a video of it in action and another to building instructions) via the link above, or via Brickshelf here.

Slowly Sovieting

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Some might think today’s title could refer to Russia’s creeping direction under its definitely fairly  democratically elected President, but – fortunately for us as we don’t want to experience Novichok poisoning – it also relates perfectly to this; Sariel’s amazing fully remote controlled pneumatic and motorised Ural 375D 6×6 truck.

Sariel‘s latest astonishing creation is a spectacularly engineered replica of the mighty Soviet military truck, built entirely from Lego pieces, plus a few choice third-party-supplied enhancements.

The first of these is an SBrick bluetooth controller, which allows the four-motor 6×6 drive, steering, servo-powered 3-speed gearbox, three pneumatically locking differentials, and Brickstuff LED lights to all be controlled remotely via a mobile phone or other bluetooth device.

Sariel has further enhanced his model with RC4WD ‘Rock Crusher’ tyres, fitted to Lego rims and mounted to live axle suspension on axles 1 and 3, with pendular suspension on axle 2. A motorised rear winch, working V8 engine, opening doors and hood, and a canvas load cover complete the build, and make Sariel’s Ural one of the most realistic and technically accurate trucks of the year so far.

There’s a whole lot more of this incredible creation to see at the Eurobricks forum, plus the complete gallery of stunning imagery is available to view on Flickr, where there are even a few images that seem to depict a TLCB Elf in shot, but we might be imagining that.

You can also check out a video of the Ural 375D 6×6 in action below, in which the working functions, bare chassis, and a pug named Muffin can all be viewed.

YouTube Video

Bugzilla

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There were Elves everywhere.

This morning has been a stressful one here in TLCB Towers. Maybe we got complacent. Maybe we thought the Elves had wised up to the threat of remote control creations. Or maybe we’d simply forgotten this particular narrative, but whatever it was we were rudely and wholly reminded of the Elves’ propensity to smash one another to bits if given the opportunity.

The ‘opportunity’ arrived in the form of this, Michael217’s incredible Volkswagen Beetle monster truck ‘Bugzilla’, as featured in the video game ‘Wreckfest’.

All-wheel-drive via a Buggy Motor, Servo steering, enormous suspension above even more enormous wheels, and a slew of body-mounted spikes give Michael’s creation almost mythical Elf-squashing abilities, which were used to full effect by the one at the controls.

At least a dozen were flattened in the corridor with amusing cartoon tyre prints running down their lengths, a few were splatted against the skirting boards, and a handful were even impaled on ‘Bugzilla’ itself thanks to the spiky bricks mounted all over it.

Of course the Elf that found Michael’s creation was ecstatic about the whole event, which seeing as it’s likely a victim of multiple past smushings itself is probably understandable.

We have much cleaning up to do now, which probably includes a few trips to ‘Elf Hospital‘, so whilst we do that there’s loads more for you to see of Michael’s brilliant ‘Bugzilla’ build – which includes a V6 engine, opening doors and hood, and a detailed interior too – at the Eurobricks discussion forum, with the complete image gallery available on Bricksafe.

Click the links above to make the jump.

Seventies Stripes

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That’s probably not what the ‘SS’ part of the Chevrolet Chevelle SS’s name stood for, but it may as well have been if you’re a TLCB Elf. They really like stripes.

This magnificent fully RC recreation of the 1970 Chevelle SS by Jakub Marcisz features two most excellent stripes over its hood and trunk, which by TLCB maths add at least 50bhp.

Power Functions remote control equips Jakub’s model with drive and steering, there’s a two-speed gearbox, all-wheel suspension, opening doors, hood and trunk, and LED lights.

A sizeable gallery of images is available via Jakub’s ‘Chevrolet Chevelle SS 1970’ album on Flickr, plus you can see full details and a video of the model in action at the Eurobricks discussion forum here.

Remotely Truckin’

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TLCB favourite Sariel is back with another build, and this one is rather simpler than some of his previous engineering masterpieces, but rather more attainable for it.

Submitted to LEGO Ideas, Sariel’s Kenworth-esque truck features remote control drive and steering (which also turns the steering g wheel in the cab), opening doors and hood, and a working trailer hitch.

A battery box is easily accessible in the sleeper portion of the cab, whilst the Control+ hub that enables bluetooth control is activated via a brick on the roof.

It’s neat, simple, and very ‘set-able’, which isn’t a word but should be. Head to Eurobricks or Flickr to see more, including links to Ideas, the full image gallery at Bricksafe, and a YouTube video of the truck in action.

Hooker

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This is a Volvo FH ‘hooklift’ truck, as built by Volvo Trucks employee and previous bloggee Sebeus I.

Sebeus’s Model Team recreation of the latest version of FH-series includes Power Functions drive and steering, flashing warning lights, and motorised lifting axle and hooklift mechanisms.

There’s more to see at Sebeus’s ‘Volvo FH’ album on Flickr, at the Eurobricks discussion forum, and via the video below.

YouTube Video

SuperGreat

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Unlike today’s other off-road truck post, this one certainly doesn’t have a bland name. The Mitsubishi Fuso SuperGreat FX 6×6 is an off-road military tow truck, depicted here in Technic Japanese Self Defence Force form.

All six wheels are driven by a Medium Motor, the steering is powered by a combination of a  Medium and a Micro Motor, whilst the crane rotation, elevation, extension, and outriggers are all controlled manually.

Leaf-spring suspension features too and there’s more to see courtesy of LXF (Brickshelf) / syclone (Eurobricks) via the links.

Heavy Metal

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This is some heavy metal. The Ural 43206 features the usual terrible Soviet name, but otherwise it’s a most excellent heavy-duty off-road truck.

This Model Team recreation of the Ural 43206 is equally excellent, and it comes from previous bloggee Krzysztof Cytacki (aka dirtzonemaster).

Featuring a full remote control drivetrain, Krysztof’s model deploys two XL Motors to drive all four wheels, with impressive suspension on both axles, and a Power Functions IR receiver mounted in the cab.

Of course as anyone who’s put XL Motor torque through a LEGO UV-joint will know, off-roading with a driveline made from plastic can cause a few issues, usually in the form of a UV-joint exploding.

This isn’t something that will afflict Krzysztof’s Ural however, as he’s replaced the LEGO UV-joints in his model with custom metal ones, allowing for proper off-road ability.

A canvas load cover, opening tailgate, and detailed cab complete the build, and there’s more to see of Krzysztof’s metal-enhanced Ural 43206 off-road truck at both Flickr and via the video below, which includes a suitably metallic soundtrack. Click the links to take a look!

YouTube Video

Towering Inferno

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This is the NASA ‘Launch Umbilical Tower’, designed to send the world’s most powerful machine – the Saturn V rocket – into space, and carried by the world’s heaviest land vehicle.

LEGO’s enormous 92176 NASA Saturn V set has allowed space fans to conduct their own bedroom-based lunar missions, but the ‘blast-off’ bit (in this writer’s opinion, the coolest bit) requires a few additional accessories not supplied by LEGO…

Fortunately Janotechnic of Eurobricks – here making his TLCB debut – has the answer, not only building this incredible 1:110 scale Technic Nasa Crawler and Launch Umbilical Tower, but doing so from three official LEGO Technic sets; the 42055 Bucket Wheel Excavator, the 42082 Rough Terrain Crane, and the 42098 Car Transporter.

That expansive parts supply has enabled Jano to equip his B-B-B-Model with a huge array of motorised functions, including drive and steering, crane rotation, retractable support swing-arms, and even a working lift within the tower!

It’s an incredible creation and one that (in simplified form below) you can build for yourself, as building instructions are available. There’s more of Jano’s amazing NASA Crawler and Tower to see – including a video of the model’s motorised and mechanical functions – at the Eurobricks forum. Click the link above and prepare to blast-off!

Contain This

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Most of what’s around you (unless you’re reading this on your phone in a field) got to where it is via a shipping container. They might just be big metal boxes, but the entire global economy hinges on their transportation (cue headlines when said transportation stops). This Detroit Diesel-powered Skoda Xena is pulling two such monuments to global capitalism, which Martin Nespor has recreated brilliantly in brick form. A neat three-axle trailer with lifting axles and an extending rear overhang follows the Skoda, which itself features Power Functions and SBrick bluetooth remote control. Excellent custom decals complete the build and there’s more to see at Martin’s ‘Container Semi-Trailer’ album on Flickr; click here to take a look.

Caseload

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This is a fully remote controlled Case QuadTrac 620, built by mktechniccreations, and it’s really very good at squashing Elves. It’s also one heck of a build, with no less than six Power Functions motors, two BuWizz bluetooth batteries, and a pneumatic system with on-board compressors. And that’s before we get to the Elmer HaulMaster 2000 trailer.

Back to the Case, where two L Motors drive the fully suspended tracks, whilst a Servo articulates the pivot steering (the rear section of which can also oscillate independently from the front to keep the vehicle level on uneven ground).

Two M Motors power the on-board pneumatic compressors/switches, a third drives the rear PTO, there’s a suspended cab, swing-out ladder (that automatically pivots out of the way of the tracks when the tractor articulates), a rotating driver’s seat, and pneumatically operated hitches.

The Elmer HaulMaster trailer features a few trick of its own too, with the Case’s PTO driving the conveyor belt and auger worm-gear, pneumatically operated auger boom extension, and pneumatically deployed support legs.

It’s an unfathomably complex and wonderfully engineered build, and there’s lots more to see of mktechniccreations’ incredible creation at the Eurobricks forum via the link above, where complete technical details, further imagery, and a link to building instructions can be found.

You can also see all the amazing working functions of both the Case Quadtrac 620 and Elmer HaulMaster 2000 in action via the video below; click play to take a look at one of the best models of 2021 so far.

YouTube Video

Hummers Suck

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Categories of people that like Hummer; Under nines. TLCB Elves. Conspiracy-theorising, ‘FREEDOM!’-yelling neanderthals. Middle-eastern oil sheiks. Idiots.

This is a Hummer H2, and we absolutely love it! Not the real car of course, which is total garbage, but this thoroughly excellent fully remote controlled Technic recreation by Eurobricks’ damjan97PL.

The real Hummer H2 was neither capable nor sophisticated, but damjan97’s version is certainly both. Two XL Motors power the 4×4 drivetrain which includes three differentials, independent front and live-axle rear suspension, and Servo steering (which is also linked to the steering wheel).

A working V8 engine resides under the opening hood, all four doors open and lock, the seats adjust via geared racks, and there’s an SBrick programable brick mounted in the cabin providing bluetooth remote control.

It’s as excellent as the real Hummer H2 is terrible and there’s much more to see of damjan97PL’s incredible creation at the Eurobricks forum at the link above, or via the extensive image gallery available on Bricksafe.

Click the links above to join under nines, TLCB Elves, conspiracy-theorising ‘FREEDOM!’-yelling neanderthals, middle-eastern oil sheiks, and this TLCB Writer (an idiot) in taking a look!

Three is the Magic Number

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Britain has a long tradition of making crap cars. This is widely considered to be one of them.

The Reliant Robin has been the butt of jokes in TLCB’s home nation for years. Cheap, slow, and missing something that is taken for granted with almost every other car (a fourth wheel), it was derided for decades.

However, the humble Robin (and its Rialto and Regal forbears) was actually phenomenally successful. The second most mass-produced fibreglass car in history, the Robin’s success came from its ability to exploit loopholes, as with Germany and France’s microcar classes and Japan’s kei cars.

Three wheels meant the Robin could be driven on a motorcycle license, drivers paid less tax, and the oil crisis of the 1970s caused sales to rocket. It was this success that led to the derision, as there were actually loads of British three-wheeled microcars but no-ones heard of any of the others.

This brilliant Technic recreation of everyone’s (least)favourite British car comes from previous bloggee Danifill, who has not only replicated the Robin’s inline 4-cylinder engine, the steered and suspended centre wheel, and the live rear axle, he’s also equipped his Robin with a third-party BuWizz bluetooth battery and three (appropriately) Power Functions motors.

An XL Motor drives the rear wheels, a Servo powers the steering (which also turns the steering wheel), whilst a Medium motor controls a two-speed gearbox. There are also opening doors with functioning locks, an opening hood and tailgate, plus working head and taillights too.

It’s a great build of a crap but somewhat unfairly derided car and there’s more to see of Danifill’s ’90s Reliant Robin at the Eurobricks forum, where there’s also a video in which you can watch all three wheels in action.