Tag Archives: Soviet

A Clockwork Orange

This has got to be one of the weirdest aircraft that we’ve featured, and almost unbelievably it’s an accurate miniature replica of a real-world helicopter – the 1960’s Soviet-made Kamov Ka-26.

Like much of what was produced behind the iron curtain in the early post-war years the Kamov Ka-26 was a bit rubbish. It required its two unreliable radial engines to be working constantly at almost full power to stay in the air, meaning it needed ridiculously frequent maintenance. Despite the design faults over eight-hundred Kamov Ka-26s were built, with many of them employed as crop spraying aircraft in Eastern Europe like the Hungarian version we have here.

This neat Lego recreation of the Soviet oddity is the work of Flickr’s Dornbi, and there’s more to see at his photostream – click the link above for take off.

Extreme Loggers

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This monster MAZ-537 logging truck was discovered not by our Elves, who are now sulking, but by one of you. It’s been built by Pavol Vanek of Flickr, and it is quite simply one of the most impressive Technic models we’ve seen this year.

The MAZ-537 was designed for the soviet military (like pretty much everything else from Communist eastern Europe) and was manufactured from 1959 until 1990. It was powered by a 39 litre 12-cylinder diesel engine coupled with a three-speed hydromechanical transmission, featured 4-wheel-steering and 4-wheel-drive, and it could carry 50 ton loads.

Pavol’s superb Lego recreation features all of this (minus the crazy gearbox), plus some clever pneumatics that allow his MAZ-537 to fulfil its post-military civilian role.

There’s lots more to see at Pavol’s photostream – join in the extreme logging here.

Red Russian

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This, er… thingumy is apparently a Soviet Martian Dump Truck. And who we are we to argue when it looks this cool? Shannon Ocean is the builder, and you can see more of his whimsical creation here.

Cold War

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The news is making for pretty grim reading at the moment. Russia is on the war path again (yay…), albeit covertly and surrounded by furious Kremlin denials, and America is too, although this time they have the support of forty countries including some unlikely middle-eastern allies (even Iran).

Unlike the era from which today’s models originated, the two great nuclear powers are currently fighting on different fronts, and merely throwing testosterone fuelled political doctrine at one another in regards to their respective conflicts. Of course during the Cold War it was only strong words that were exchanged too, but it could have been so very different.

The awesome F4-B Phantom was the cornerstone of America’s air attack in the 1960s-’80s, and this incredible recreation of the multi-role fighter is the work of the brilliant Bricktrix on Flickr. Featuring custom decals, working flaps, air-brakes, tail rudder, tail hook, folding wing tips, retractable landing gear and flashing nav lights, you can see the Phantom’s full gallery via the link above.

To defend the Soviet Union from the likes of the Phantom the Soviets responded with this, the Tunguska 9K22/2S6 Tracked Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft System. D-Town Cracka‘s perfectly recreated Lego version is detailed right down to the eight 9M311 surface-to-air missiles that would have been used to defend the motherland’s air-space.

Thankfully the two giant (and moronic) superpowers never exchanged fire. Just two decades earlier they had stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the Second World War to defeat Nazism too. How quickly we forget the lessons of history…

Gazza

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It might sound like the Match.com identity of a guy in a pub in the midlands*, but the Gaz 67 is actually a rugged little off-road vehicle that was originally developed for the Russian military. Which explains the ‘Z’ in the name, as the Soviets seemed to name everything with a Z (‘cos Z’s sound cool), and also why it was a bit rubbish. [Maks] mini-figure scale Gaz is anything but rubbish though, and you can see more of his ace little creation on Flickr at the link.

*Apologies to our non-British readers, who probably have no idea what we’re talking about.

Room 101

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We quite like Fiat here at TLCB. They make the 500 and also own Ferrari, which has got to put them pretty high up on anyone’s cool car company list.

Unfortunately for every good thing Fiat have done there’s something else from their back-catalogue to cancel it out. This is one such event, the truly awful Zastava 101 (named, we think, after the room from the George Orwell masterpiece ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’*).

As with most Soviet Bloc monstrosities from the Cold War era, the Zastava was based on an old Fiat (see also Lada, FSO, Yugo etc.) and was built with all the care and attention of a kamikaze pilot checking his landing gear. We can be fairly sure then that this wonderfully detailed Lego example by Chapachuk took far more skill and love to create than the real car. See more of the miniature plastic version on Eurobricks or Flickr.

*”You asked me once, what was in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world.” (George Orwell)

Blue Number Two

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Today is the first time ever that we’ve publicised two models by the same builder back to back. The reason is obvious; they’re both completely brilliant. Flickr’s Karwik is the builder in question and his second model of the week is another curious Soviet truck, a MA3-503B (clearly communism had no place for a marketing department when it came to product naming). The real truck is another slightly rubbish Russian oddity, but in LEGO form, especially in this rare light blue colour, it’s one of the most charming models of 2014. You can see all the photos of the MA3-503B on Flickr via the link above, along with Karwik’s other wonderful Town vehicles.

Кировец

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We have no idea how to pronounce today’s title, so instead we’ll go with the description that František Hajdekr has used on his Flickr photo, of ‘Massive Soviet Tractor’. Because it is a massive soviet tractor. See more at the link.

Russian Rubbish

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The Lego Car Blog favourite Karwik is back, with another beautifully recreated Soviet marvel, this time a UAZ 469. The UAZ, like most Russian metal from the era, was an anonymously-named off-road military vehicle with a reputation for not working properly. Unbelievably production of the 469 only ended last year, 41 years after it started, as UAZ try to switch to manufacturing passenger vehicles following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Looking at their latest efforts, we’re not too hopeful of a bright future, but we do like an underdog. You can check out Karwik’s wonderful build on Flickr.

Military Monday

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Following last week’s Mech Monday we’ve continued the alliterative theme with today’s post. It’s also a little heavier in tone than normal, but occasionally we like to shine a light where we can. If it’s not your bag then please skip this text and normal service will be resumed shortly!

First up is Mad Physicist’s P-61 ‘Black Widow’ diorama, complete with Willis Jeep and refuelling tanker. The Northrop P-61 was the first aircraft specifically designed to use radar, intercepting enemy aircraft at night and allowing Allied fighters to do their stuff. Used in the Pacific in response to the atrocities committed by Japan (the Nazi’s murdered 26 million people during World War 2, Japan – often forgotten – murdered 30 million) it proved effective, being used right up until the Japanese surrender. At which point the U.S undid all their good work and granted immunity to those responsible for torture, rape, and biological and chemical weapons testing (on civilians) in return for the ‘research’ data. Yay America.

Which brings us onto the second of today’s posts, a superb Soviet T-72 AV tank by Chris L. Sold by Russia to various dubious regimes, the T-72 is currently in action in Syria, the Government of which is using chemical weapons against its own people. Syria largely buys its weapons from Russia, which developed its chemical weapons during the Cold War in response to the U.S. And as we know, the U.S got much of its chemical and biological weapons research via the immunity granted to Japan upon surrender. So there we have it; two models, 40 years apart, from rival superpowers, linked by mankind’s propensity for destruction.

Sometimes when we see a great military Lego creation it’s worth stopping to remind ourselves why they exist in the first place.

Red Cross, Med Air, Christian Aid

SPAAG

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This mean looking device, built by D-Town Cracka on Flickr, is a Self Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun, or SPAAG for short. This one is a ZSU-23-4V1 made by the Soviets from 1962, and used in a variety of conflicts since.

Due to its light armour the ZSU-23 was vulnerable to anti-tank and machine guns, and as such was usually placed well behind the front line. However, it was very good at shooting things that weren’t strictly aircraft, and thus it was often deployed to urban environments in places like Syria.

News today from the region indicates further massacres of the Syrian people by their own Government. With Syrians fleeing their homes into Turkey, Iraq and other neighbouring countries the refugee crisis is growing daily. Find out more about the crisis, and what you can do to help, via the UN Refugee Agency.

Triple Filtered

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Communistical Transport

We’re not sure what’s got into the Elves recently. Until this week we’d probably only posted three Russian MOCs in our whole existence, yet in the last few days alone we’ve posted another three. Anyway, while we investigate the Elves’ obsession with Soviet-era transportation, you can view this rather brilliant Ural motorbike from Lino M on Flickr.

It’s the end of the world as we know it…

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21/12/12. The date the Mayan’s reached on their calendar before they got bored and went down the pub.

Is this our last post ever? Probably not. But if it were, it’s good to go out with a bang. Even better to go out with four really big bangs! D-Town Cracka is the megalomaniac behind this ridiculous Soviet SA-3 Goa Rocket launcher. Whilst he sounds like an early-’90s rapper, Mr Cracka is properly handy with a LEGO brick; there are over 300 pieces in each missile alone. View the full gallery on Flickr.

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Tag Archives: Soviet

A Clockwork Orange

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Extreme Loggers

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Red Russian

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Cold War

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Gazza

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Room 101

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Blue Number Two

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Кировец

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Russian Rubbish

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Military Monday

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SPAAG

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Triple Filtered

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It’s the end of the world as we know it…

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