Tag Archives: Technic

Not in Iran

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If you’ve been vaguely aware of the news over the past few weeks it’s been getting a bit bomby in the Middle East.

That’s because President Trump knew that Iran were going to start a war with America, a war that they in fact started 47 years ago, and so he started a war himself, that’s not a war, that Iran started. Ok it might be a war, but it’s not about regime change. It’s about Iran’s imminent use of the nuclear weapons that America “completely and totally obliterated” only last year. Although the regime has also changed.

Anyway, the not-a-war will only last a few weeks, in fact it’s already been won. Although it might go on forever. And NATO need to grow a pair a get involved. Not that Trump needs them.

And if all that sounds like the ravings of an unfiltered toddler making the words up literally as they leave their mouth, that’s because it is.

Thus here’s NATO’s actual front line – the one designed to keep America safe from the Soviet Union behind the buffer of Europe, which isn’t in the Middle East at all – a tremendous Czech Tatra 815-7 8×8 Starkom electronics jammer.

Constructed by Samuel Nerpas (aka Tatrovak), this incredible creation features all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering via eight Power Functions XL Motors and two Servos, working all-wheel suspension with adjustable ride height via two M Motors, and pneumatically driven stabilisers via another M Motor. Two CaDa micromotors power the roof-mounted weapons system, with all fifteen operable remotely via a pair of BuWizz Bluetooth bricks, plus there’s a tilting cab complete with a fully detailed interior, opening doors and hatches.

It’s a hugely impressive build, and you can take a closer look at what is still the front line of NATO, which is not in Iran, via both Eurobricks and Flickr.

Skiddadle

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It’s an alternative day here at TLCB, as we’re back B-Modelling. This excellent skid-steer loader is our alternate of choice, being constructed only from the parts found within the Technic 42082 Rough Terrain Crane and retaining the donor set’s focus on motorised functionality.

A gearbox enables power to go to the boom elevation, bucket tilt, or drive, although not all at once. Which means you can chase a TLCB Elf down the office corridor but not simultaneously scoop it up. Not that we’ve tried…

Anyway, building instructions are available and you can see more of this neat 42082 B-Model courtesy of paave at the Eurobricks forum.

Mining Cornwall

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The Cornwall Peninsula in the very south of the United Kingdom is famous for its pasties, beaches, cider, and – at one time – mining.

This began with silver and tin, plundered by the Romans, and ended with coal, plundered by the Government.

Mines were a combination of dangerous ‘pits’ and open cast, with the latter exploited by enormous mechanisation in later years. This is one such machine from the time, the 390-ton Ruston-Bucyrus 195-B electric rope shovel.


Recreated in 1:28.5 form, this spectacular replica of the Ruston-Bucyrus 195-B comes from recent bloggee Beat Felber, to work alongside his Terex 33-11C mining truck.

Like his previously featured Terex, Beat’s electric rope shovel is packed with electronics to bring it to life, with four Power Functions motors driving the tracks, two the swing motion, another the main winch, and an eighth the dipper handle. No, we don’t know what a dipper handle is.

Finally two CaDA micromotors power the bucket door release and motorised access ladder, there are two sets of LEDs lighting the model, and the whole lot is controllable remotely via twin SBricks.

It’s a hugely impressive feat of engineering, with lots more of the model to see at Beat’s ‘Ruston-Bucyrus 195-B’ Flickr album – where it’s pictured alongside the Terex 33-11C with which it would have worked mining Cornish coal.

Grab a pasty and a cider and head to 1980s Cornwall via the link above.

Blue and Yellow*

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There are few things cooler than a red (they were all red) Ferrari F40. But if that thing is a blue and yellow F40 racer, that’d do it.

Cue Lachlan Cameron’s spectacular Technic Ferrari F40, which appeared here in road-going form back in 2023, and has now been built – courtesy of Lachlan producing instructions for his models – in a brilliant blue and yellow racing livery by another builder.


Xiao Baiya is behind the F40’s stunning conversion from road car to racer, which includes custom 3D-printed wheels with brakes behind them, and of course the epic decal work required to transform the model into the 1996 Team Ennea Ferrari F40 Le Mans contender.

There’s much more of the F40 to see at its original designer’s photostream, and you can check out our interview with Lachlan Cameron via this bonus link.


*Today’s excellent title song.

Big Forker

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One of LEGO’s finest themes and eras was the early-’90s ‘Town’ range. Railways, airports, emergency services, and harbours all featured, with perhaps the best of them all being the huge 6542 Launch & Load Seaport.

Cue regular bloggee Thirdwigg, who has set out to recreate all of the elements of the wonderful 1991 set in Technic form, including the crane, containers, ships, truck, and forklift.

It’s the latter of these that he has recently completed, supersizing the original forklift from the set to Technic scale with working rear-steer, and tilting / raising forks, all operated mechanically.

There’s much more of Thirdwigg’s Technic 6542 forklift, and the other components completed so far, at his ‘6542 Bigger’ album, and you can take a look on Flickr via the link above.

Technically Trucking

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From a tiny RC truck to one that’s rather larger, this is nico71’s splendid fully remote controlled 1:30 Scania.

Fitted with a pair of LEGO Power Functions motors for drive and steering, Nico’s truck also features opening doors, a tilting cab, lockable three-axle trailer steering, working support legs, and – if motors aren’t your thing – a manual version that switches the electronics for ‘HOG’ steering and a piston engine.

Building instructions for both versions are available, and you can find full details plus a video of the truck in action at the Eurobricks forum here, plus you can check out Nico’s interview in the Master MOCers series via this bonus link.

Peak Nineties Nissan

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Japanese performance cars, and Nissan in particular, used to be on top of the world. With all-wheel-drive, all-wheel-steering, and a twin-turbocharged inline-6 engine, the ‘R32’ generation Nissan GT-R dominated early-’90s Class A racing.

Around 50,000 road-going examples were produced alongside the racing counterparts, with the GT-R quickly becoming one of the cars of Japan’s golden performance era.

This phenomenal brick-built replica comes from Eurobricks’ NoEXIST, who has not only replicated the R32 GT-R’s exterior wonderfully via a blend of Technic and System parts, he’s included the car’s defining all-wheel-drive, all-wheel-steering, and twin-turbocharged inline-6 engine, plus all-wheel independent suspension, working steering, and opening doors, hood and trunk.

Building instructions and a remote controlled version are both available, and there’s more of this amazing Nissan GT-R recreation to see at the Eurobricks forum, where full build details, links, and a video of the RC version can also be found, with the complete image gallery available at Bricksafe. Click the links above and jump back to peak ’90s Nissan.

Horse Handler

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Ford Bronco owners like to think that by driving their boxy SUV people will think they’re outdoorsy farming types, rather than Jeff from Marketing. But they’re fooling no-one. However Flickr’s M_longer can help! Because this splendid telehandler – complete with working arm elevation and extension, deployable stabilisers, spring operated forks, all-wheel steering, and an inline piston engine – is constructed solely from the parts of the official 42213 Technic Ford Bronco set. No-one’s gonna think you work in marketing driving this! Switch up your Bronco for a real farm machine courtesy of M_longer via the link above, where building instructions for this brilliant Bronco B-Model can also be found.

Technic 42228 McLaren MCL39 F1 Car | Set Preview

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TLCB have just reviewed a championship-winning Formula 1 car, and now we have another! This is the brand new LEGO Technic 42228 McLaren MCL39 F1 Car.

Like the Williams-Renault FW14B a quarter-century before it, the McLaren MCL39 won both the Constructors and Drivers World Championships (making Lando Norris a world champion), and with LEGO’s longstanding relationship with the British car maker and its race team, the arrival of 42228 was almost to be expected.

At 1:8 scale and with 1,675 pieces, 42228 is a hefty Technic set, with a price-tag to match, costing £189.99 / $229.99 / €209.99 when it arrives on March 1st ’26. For that sizeable outlay buyers will get working steering and pushrod suspension, a V6 engine and two-speed (boo) gearbox under a removable engine cover, and a functional drag-reduction-system (DRS) on the rear wing linked to the transmission’s top (aka ‘only other’) gear.

You also get a seriously large amount of stickers to recreate McLaren’s 2025 sponsors (even the dodgy crypto-currency ones), but not – and unlike the aforementioned Icons 10353 Williams FW14B set – staggered width tyres. Again. Come on LEGO, this is a $220 set.

Still, we suspect 42228 will be a hugely successful Technic set when it lands later this year, and further cements LEGO’s relationship with the pinnacle of motorsport and – for 2025 at least – the team at the top of it. Even with a two-speed gearbox and chronically lazy tyre sizing.

 

Town to Technic

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The early-’90s were a golden era for LEGO’s ‘Town’ theme. Shops, restaurants, race tracks, 9V trains, and – our favourite – sea ports. The pinnacle was 6542 Launch & Load Seaport, which included two ships, a marvellous crane, and a truck, from which containers of various loads could be transferred to sea or rail, with LEGO ingeniously standardising the container mounts across a wide variety of sets.

Friend of TLCB Thirdwigg (aka wigboldy) is on a mission to recreate this glorious Town set in Technic form, including an upscaled version of 6542’s truck and the containers it carried. With working steering, deployable trailer support legs, and a piston engine under the tilting cab, the increased scale affords a few more working features than the four-wide original, and you can check out further images of Thirdwigg’s fantastic truck and the other components within his 6542 project created so far via the link above.

Free Dump

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No we’re not talking about the utter scumbags who tip their trash on the side of the road, but – today – all of us, because this lovely mini dump truck can be built for free, courtesy of previous bloggee Thirdwigg.

It features working steering, a mechanically raising tipper, opening doors and dropsides, plus those free building instructions (a hundred TLCB Points to Thirdwigg), and you can dump for free on Flickr via the link above.

Swingin’

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Neither boxing, 1940s jazz music, nor keys-in-a-bowl, today’s creation is this excellent – and rather unusual – swingloader.

Constructed by TLCB Master MOCer thirdwigg, this mini front-loader can pivot its bucket arm to allow it to more easily off-load the contents, with its manoeuvrability further aided by all-wheel steering.

The bucket swing, elevation, tilt, and that all-wheel-steering are all mechanically operated, and you can get into the swing of things at thirdwigg’s ‘Swing Loader and Dumper’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to go swingin’.

Matt’s Off Road Recovery

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There’s a certain segment of the off-roading community who like to intentionally get stuck, just so they can winch themselves out again. Which to us feels like deliberately getting fat so that you can join Weight Watchers. But it nevertheless explains why ‘Matt’s Off Road Recovery‘ has over two million YouTube subscribers. Because when someone is really stuck, intentionally or otherwise, they’ll need this…

‘This’ is Matt’s all-wheel-drive, all-wheel-steered hot rod wrecker, as faithfully recreated here by Technic engineering genius Anto. Staying true to the unique real-world off-road tow-truck, Anto’s model features all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering (with three selectable steering modes, as per one of our favourite ever LEGO Technic sets), a working V8 piston engine, immense multi-link live-axle suspension, opening doors, toolboxes and hood, plus no less than five working winches.

It’s a hugely impressive replica of a fantastic one-off real-world vehicle, with loads more to see – including engineering diagrams and over forty superbly presented images – at both the Eurobricks forum and Anto’s ‘Matt’s Off Road Recovery Heavy Wrecker’ album on Flickr. Get stuck in via the links above, plus you can watch this amazing model in action via the video below.

YouTube Video

Red Lorry, Yel… er, Red Lorry

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Despite the protestations of the Elf that found today’s creation, it is in fact only one lorry (and thus earns one meal token). But its creator (and TLCB Master MOCer) Nico71 has ingeniously engineered his design in no less than three different ways; manual, Power Functions, and Control+, with the option of BuWizz bluetooth control too.

All variants feature opening doors and hood, working steering, second-axle suspension, and a clever lockable steering mechanism for the three-axle trailer, whilst the Power Functions and Control+ variants add a motor to the steering (either via a rack and pinion or Servo, depending on the format) and remote control drive. It’s a brilliantly executed trio of options and you can find full details, plus a link to building instructions, at the Eurobricks discussion forum. Click the link above for red lorry, red lorry, red lorry, or on the video below to watch Nico’s truck in action.

YouTube Video

Home Built Hypercar

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Barely a week goes by without some announcement of a new 2,000bhp, 300mph hypercar from a start-up company no-one’s heard of that will absolutely never get built. But this one is different, because this incredible Technic Supercar captures a hypercar that is currently being built for real by a man named Benjamin in his garage. And as he’s already built a Ford GT40 replica from scratch, we have every reason to believe this will drive in anger too.

Created by previous bloggee Levihathan, this incredible Technic imagining of Benjamin’s to-be-completed hypercar is an engineering masterpiece in its own right, with mid-mounted V6 engine (a replica of Nissan’s VR38DETT), working steering that locks and unlocks the rear differential based on steering angle, inboard fully-independent suspension with anti-roll bars, push-button scissor doors, and a six-speed paddle-shift gearbox with gear indicator.

There’s also an opening front trunk (revealing spinning cooling fans connected to the engine), an opening rear clamshell, a three-seat central-driver cockpit, full exhaust plumbing, and even pneumatically operated ‘air’ jacks to raise the car off the ground for wheel changes.

It makes for one of the finest Technic Supercars we’ve ever featured, and you can check out all of the stunning imagery at Levihathan’s ‘Hyperpilote 1:8’ Flickr album plus find full build details and a link to building instructions at the Eurobricks discussion forum. Take a closer look via the links above and perhaps even build this astonishing creation for yourself, ready for when Benjamin’s full-size version one day hits the road.