Tag Archives: SBrick

Nooteworthy

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The Online Lego Community can be a wonderful place of collaboration. Take this spectacular three-in-one build by TLCB Master MOCer Dennis Bosman.

Despite his own prodigious talent, Dennis can still find inspiration from other builders, and thus his stunning Scania T143E heavy haulage truck uses elements of a remote control chassis design by the late Ingmar Spijkhoven, hooked up to his own remotely operable Nooteboom low loader trailer, with motorised neck height. Riding atop the Nooteboom sits a previously-blogged Doosan DL 470-7 front loader by fellow Master MOCer Eric Trax, who himself was inspired by Dennis’ work. Which is gloriously circulatory.

Head to Dennis’ photostream by clicking here to see more of the build, and you can check out the builders and models that helped to create it via the additional links above.

Flying Across New York

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Many Marvely-type superheros have flown across New York. Or run. Or swung on spiderwebs. Or been propelled by their supersuit/hammer/insertmagicspaceitemhere.

The real heroes of New York however, take the bus.

Nurses, firefighters, police officers, teachers… the people that keep NYC’s engine running, whilst simultaneously not being able to afford to live in it.

Cue the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s New Flyer XD40 buses, transporting hundreds of unsung heroes across New York City every day.

This superb brick-built recreation of true hero transport comes from previous bloggee JLui15, who has not only captured the New Flyer and its MTA livery beautifully, he’s packed it with working functions, including motorised drive, steering, and opening doors controlled via an SBrick.

There’s much more of the New Flyer XD40 to see at Flickr, Eurobricks, and in the video below, and you can join the everyday heroes transiting New York on board via the links in the text above.

YouTube Video

 

Wheelie Big

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Nothing makes our smelly little workers happier than flattening one another with a remote control find. Cue much excitement from the Elf that found this enormous fully remote controlled Komatsu WD900-3 wheel dozer as it entered TLCB Towers, high on the expectation that it could smush any number of its colleagues into the office carpet.

Fortunately for us, that number was zero, seeing as Beat Felber‘s 1:28.5 scale replica of the 100-ton dozer is much too slow to catch any of them. But whilst it is indeed slow, it’s also incredible, with remotely operable all-wheel-drive, articulated linear-actuator controlled steering, a fully adjustable blade positionable via three pneumatic cylinders, each equipped with their own Servo-actuated valve, and an on-board pneumatic compressor.

That enormous blade can lift, lower, pitch fore and aft, and tilt left to right courtesy of the compressor, valves and pneumatic cylinders, all of which can be controlled remotely via bluetooth thanks to two third-party SBricks and an on-board rechargeable Power functions battery.

A work of engineering brilliance, there’s lots more to see of Beat’s Komatsu WD900-3 replica at his album of the same name, where twenty stunning images can be found along with further build details and a link to a video of the model in action.

Click the first link in the text above to make the jump, whilst we cheer up a despondent TLCB Elf with a well-deserved yellow Smartie.

Litronic Liebherr

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From one 300-ton machine to another, only this one is real. The Liebherr R 944 B Litronic is the smaller brother of the 800-ton Liebherr R9800 that LEGO used to create the largest Technic set ever released, working to load 100-ton mining trucks in the world’s open-cast mines.

Taking the tracks, sprockets, XL linear actuators and clamshell bucket from the 42100 Technic set, previous bloggee Beat Felber has recreated the smaller R 944 B Litronic, only in a much larger 1:28.5 scale.

Ten motors, two third-party SBricks, three sets of LED lights, and two rechargeable battery boxes bring Beat’s incredible creation to life, with accurate crawler movement, structure slewing, boom, stick, and bucket cylinders, a retractable motorised access ladder and opening service flap.

An extensive gallery of imagery is available to view, and you can take a closer look at this astonishing mining machine at Beat’s ‘Liebherr R 994 B Litronic’ album on Flickr via the link above.

Big Tow

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Mining trucks are slow. But even slower are the tracked vehicles that fill them, designed as they are to move very heavy things very short distances.

Which means if you need to relocate an enormous bulldozer or tracked excavator to the other end of the mine, you’d better clear your schedule for the next few weeks.

Which is where this curious machine comes in. Effectively a Komatsu mining truck with a gooseneck hitch in place of the dump body, it can tow the aforementioned mining machines to their new location aboard a specially-designed single-axle TowHaul Lowboy trailer, capable of transporting 250 tons. We bet parking isn’t fun.

This spectacular fully remote controlled recreation of the world’s biggest vehicular trailer comes from previous bloggee Beat Felber, whose converted Komatsu HD785-5 mining truck features motorised drive, steering, and gooseneck hitch, enabling the model to load and tow a huge TowHaul Lowboy trailer and its Komatsu D575A-3 ‘Super Dozer’ load.

There’s loads more to see of the both the Komatsu HD785-5 truck and the TowHaul Lowboy 250 ton trailer behind it at Beat’s Flickr album, and you can watch the whole rig in action courtesy of the video below.

YouTube Video

Tank Hunter

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Does anyone else remember that fiendishly addictive early computer game in which the player was tasked with manoeuvring around a seeming infinite plain populated by the outlines of various 3D shapes, hunting and destroying enemy tanks? Just us? OK.

Anyway, perfect cubes and prisms aside, the concept of hunting tanks was based on reality, with specific machines (themselves looking rather like tanks) designed for their destroy enemy counterparts.

This is one such device, the Sturmgeschütz III tank-hunting assault gun, as deployed by Germany during the Second World War (and Syria until 1973).

Handily known as the STuG III, it saw service on almost every front, from Russia to Europe to Africa, and proved very successful at destroying Allied armour.

This excellent fully remote controlled Lego version of the STuG III comes from TLCB favourite Sariel, who – despite the model measuring just 32cm in length and weighing under 1kg – has packed in drive and steering, fully suspended tracks, and an oscillating and slewing gun barrel, all powered by a LEGO battery and controlled via bluetooth courtesy of a third-party SBrick.

There’s more to see of Sariel’s STuG III at his Flickr album of the same name, plus you can watch the model in action via the video below. Go tank hunting across a plain of cubes via the links!

YouTube Video

Weekend in Drag

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This a dragline crawler crane, used in open-cast mining for digging really big holes. Built by previous bloggee Beat Felber, this incredible creation is a fully-working replica of one the world’s largest; the 700-ton P&H 2355 diesel-electric dragline that worked the Rix Creek Mine in Australia.

Remotely controlled by three SBricks, Beat’s creation can hoist and drag the bucket, rotate the superstructure, raise the boom, drive and skid-steer, and even raise the two access ladders thanks to seven Power Functions and two Micro Motors.

Four pairs of LEGO LEDs illuminate the floodlights and interior, whilst removable panels give access to the motors and winches within.

It’s a spectacular build, with a fully detailed machine room and interior to match the astonishing working mechanisms, and you can head to the mine via Beat’s ‘P&H 2355’ album to get in drag.

Big Reach

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Reach. It’s a word we hear a lot in the running of a world-famous top-quality Lego site. OK, a mildly-known bottom-of-the-barrel Lego site. But nevertheless, we still hear it a lot. Countless messages offering great value reach improvement services are deleted with alarming frequency.

Anyway, today we have great reach, courtesy of TLCB favourite and Lego-building legend Sariel, and this incredible fully remote controlled Liebherr LTC 1045-3.1 mobile crane.

Powered by fourteen motors and three SBricks, Sariel’s crane can extend its reach to well over a meter, with a further half-meter boom extension possible on top of that.

Four Power Functions motors drive the boom’s elevation, extension and winch, another three the cabin boom elevation, extension and tilt, one rotates the superstructure, another folds the mirrors, two more the outriggers, and finally three power the drive and steering.

Over five meters of wires are hidden inside to link the motors, LED lights, LEGO battery, and SBricks, with the total model weighing almost 5kgs and able to lift ¾ kg.

There’s much more of Sariel’s superbly presented creation to see at his Liebherr LTM 1045-3.1 album, you can read how Sariel turned his hobby into revenue via our ‘Become a Lego Professional‘ series, and you can watch this amazing model in action in the video below. Click the links to reach the full content.

YouTube Video

MAN on a Mission

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If this TLCB Writer received paid holiday (no chance! Ed.), he’d like to go adventuring in something like this.

Built by collaborative building channel MTC, this MAN 8×8 off-road expedition truck includes everything you could need to escape to a place far away.

Two XL Motors power all eight fully suspended wheels, a Servo powers the steering, a Medium Motor drives a lift for a motorcycle/ATV platform mounted under the rear of the fully-equipped camper section, whilst another drives a compressor that can elevate the camper roof on four pneumatic cylinders.

All of the functions can be controlled via bluetooth courtesy of two SBricks, which you can watch in action via the excellent and appropriately sound-tracked video below, plus there’s more to see of this amazing rig at both Eurobricks and Flickr.

Click the links to join this TLCB Writer dreaming of places far far away.

YouTube Video

Mind Bending

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This is an MAN Lion articulated bus, created in Technic by Fosapifi of Eurobricks, and in place of the usual nonsense we write on these pages, this post is mostly an almost unfathomably long list. Because Fosapifi’s model is as complicated – and has as much hidden from view – as Trump’s tax returns.

Firstly the bus is remotely driven, with four Power Functions XL Motors driving the third axle. A Servo steers the front axle, and there are eight sets of LEDs illuminating the lights.

Two separate pneumatic systems, each self-compressed by individual Power Functions L Motors, power the doors and air-suspension, allowing the bus to ‘kneel’ at the kerb for passenger embark/disembarkation. A total of twenty-two pneumatic cylinders (plus ten shock absorbers) are built into the suspension, controlled via Servo, whilst another Servo and six further cylinders operates the doors, the second and third of which can be deactivated via a switch in the cab.

Finally, a Micro-Motor unfolds the wheelchair ramp, with all the above controlled remotely via four SBricks and a BuWizz Bluetooth battery, with all of it hidden away to allow for a complete bus interior.

No we don’t know how it’s possible either, but you can join us having our minds bent at the Eurobricks forum via the link above, where a video and a link to building instructions can also be found.

Racing Point(less)

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Racing trucks are a bit like starting a removal company with a Mazda Miata. There are vehicles considerably more suited to the task.

But, much like moving house in a Miata, a racing truck is a somewhat impressive sight. This one is a Scania R730, as constructed by previous bloggee Vladimir Drozd (aka LegoV94), and it comes complete with remote control drive and steering via an SBrick, a two-speed gearbox, a working piston engine, and sponsorship by every company ever.

There’s more of Vladimir’s remote control Scania R730 racing truck to see at both Flickr and Eurobricks, or alternatively you can move house in a Miata here.

Surprise Squashing

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‘Huh…’ thought this TLCB Writer as he entered the office today. The cause of the casual surprise was a weird yellow vehicle, trundling up and down the corridor with a gaggle of happy Elves in the back.

Seasoned readers of this crumbing ruin in the corner of the internet will know such peaceful interaction between TLCB Elves is seldom seen. The Elf at the controls was smiling, the Elves in the back were smiling, and for a moment we thought that 2022 could be the dawning of a harmonious new era for our little workers.

Was it balls.

The Elf at the controls, knowing its find was too slow to mete out any smushings, had ingeniously offered its colleagues rides in the back. After a joyful excursion around the TLCB Towers the aforementioned little psychopath then deployed the model’s tipping bed, tumbling its Elven cargo onto the ground before immediately reversing over them.

To compound the smushing it then spun the vehicle on top of those trapped underneath via the skid steer system, smearing quite a few into rather artful arcs in the carpet.

Of course the controls were swiftly were taken away, a meal token and yellow Smartie begrudgingly awarded, and the victims either patched up on site or taken to the ‘Elf Hospital‘, depending upon their triage assessment.

We’re really not sure how we’re going to get all the Elf bits out of the office carpet, so whilst we figure that out you can check out Arie’s Morooka MST 2200VD tracked dumper with SBrick control, twin L Motor drive/skid-steer, and linear-actuator operated tipper at both Eurobricks and Bricksafe.

Perhaps we should install lino.

Building Big

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Really, really big.

The human in the above picture is Beat Felber, a Lego builder of gigantic proportions. His models we mean.

Surrounding Beat are ten spectacular fully remote controlled pieces of mining equipment, many of which have featured on these pages over the years, including the Komatsu D575A-3 Super Dozer, the Marathon LeTourneau L-1200 loader, the Marion 204-M Superfront cable-operated mining shovel, the Terex 33-19 Titan mining truck, and the astonishing Marion 5760 ‘The Mountaineer’ 2,750-ton mining shovel. 

Beat’s assembly is even larger and more impressive than your Dad’s collection of speciality magazines, and we suspect it makes Beat more than capable of tunnelling underneath his own house should he choose to.

Head to Beat’s photostream via the first link for a closer look at the jaw-dropping image above, and you can check out some of the individual models pictured within it via the links in this post or via the search function on this page.

Water on Mars

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Mars. Our closest neighbour that isn’t orbiting us, and bleak desolate planet where water turns directly from a solid to a vapour, and back again.

Cue BobDeQuatre‘s ‘Dionysus’ armoured water tanker, a nuclear-powered transport, capable of carrying large quantities of water from remote extraction sites back to Mars Corporation outposts. Or something like that.

Bluetooth remote control via an SBrick and a rather snazzy paint-job caught our attention, and there’s more to see of Bob’s water-carrying martian on Flickr via the link.

Camp Fire

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We love repurposed vehicles (or anything else for that matter) here at The Lego Car Blog. Taking something and transforming for a different purpose is not only far less environmentally damaging than making something new, the results are often way cooler. As evidenced by Beat Felber‘s wonderful 1984 Land Rover 110.

Beat’s real-world Land Rover served as an off-road fire engine for about twenty-five years, before it was retired and converted into the superb off-road camper it is today, and Beat has now recreated it in Lego form, capturing his real-life vehicle beautifully.

Underneath the brilliantly life-like exterior – complete with opening doors and hood – is a remotely controlled 4×4 drivetrain powered by an SBrick, with L-Motors driving both axles (each of which is suspended), a Servo the steering, and an M-Motor the high/low gearbox.

It’s a delightful build made all the better by its real-world counterpart, and there’s more to see of both Beat’s Lego Land Rover 110 and the real fire-engine-turned-camper that inspired it via the link above.