Tag Archives: Technic

Micro Machine

1 Reply

Unlike your Mom, Kei-class microbuses are really very small indeed. However they manage to pack a whole lot into their tiny footprint, with room for four adults plus luggage, some feature all-wheel-drive, and a few are even fully-fitted campers.

Cue apachaihapachai‘s terrific Technic microbus which, despite measuring just nine studs by twenty-four, features a complete remote control drivetrain courtesy of an L Motor, a Servo, and a BuWizz bluetooth battery, all completely hidden inside a neat 1990s kei-bus body. There’s even an interior. Kinda.

It’s a miracle of ingenious packaging and you can find out how apachai has done it at the Eurobricks forum. Click the link above to squeeze inside.

A Beautiful Nightmare

Leave a reply

Hailing from the golden era of Japanese sports cars, the ‘FD’ Mazda RX-7 was the third and final generation of the rotary-engined icon.

With assistance from twin-turbos, the FD’s 1.3 litre twin-rotor motor produced up to 276bhp, getting very hot and drinking a lot of oil in the process. It was also, in this writer’s opinion, perhaps the prettiest of all the ’90 sports cars, which is enough for many to overlook the ownership nightmare of that unique engine and enter a relationship of intense unreliability and ruinous expense. Which is probably a metaphor for something.

Anyway, this excellent Technic recreation of the RX-7 comes from previous bloggee Matthew Terentev, and includes opening doors, hood and trunk, plus a brilliantly accurate interior in very ’90s-Japan-appropriate black plastic.

There’s much more to see at Matthew’s ‘Mazda RX-7 (FD)’ album on Flickr, and you can click the link above to make the jump.

The Worst LEGO Sets Reviewed by TLCB

Leave a reply

The LEGO Car Blog’s ‘Review Library‘ contains well over a hundred LEGO set, book, and third party LEGO-compatible product reviews. It also, with an average score of 7.8/10, shows that we generally rate LEGO sets rather highly. No surprises there.

However, whilst several LEGO sets have achieved a coveted 10/10 or 5 Star score, depending upon which rating system we remembered to use at the time, a few… haven’t.

So here they are, the worst LEGO sets we’ve reviewed to date. Although bear in mind we haven’t reviewed any of the abysmal Jack Stone or Galidor sets. And nor do we plan to…

8865 Test Car

Lego 8865

What, a Technic Supercar made this list? Well, two could have in fact, each earning a thoroughly mediocre score of 6/10, but this one’s more controversial.

The 8865 Test Car arrived in 1988, and brought bodywork – of sorts – to the ‘supercar’ chassis formula for the first time. Double wishbone suspension appeared front and rear, as did a V4 engine (still using the old square pistons) hooked up to a three-speed gearbox, some truly rubbish seats, and a plethora of LEGO’s early ‘interference fit’ black pins, which meant that once the Test Car was built, there really was no taking it apart again. Which kinda defeats the whole point of LEGO.

Our reviewer wasn’t overly impressed by the end result, and took his ire out in Review form, his fingers likely still stinging from trying to dismantle it.

8437 Sahara Blaster

Lego Technic 8437 Sahara Blaster

Fast forward a decade and – visually at least – LEGO could still get it just as wrong. This is the 8347 Sahara Blaster, “a sort-of dune buggy, Paris-Dakar type thing, but so loose was its affiliation with the real world vehicles on which it was apparently based in some markets LEGO called it the ‘Future Car’ to hide its inaccuracies”, to quote our reviewer.

It wasn’t just the looks though, as for some unfathomable reason LEGO decided to use their ‘Flex-System’ for the steering arms, which meant the steering broke constantly. It was also rubbish at actually steering, so when the 8437 was fitted with the neat slide-in 9V electric motor, it was incredible easy to crash. Which would break the steering again.

The Sahara Blaster was not a favourite, but it could’ve been worse – it could have been that awful B-Model. Or our next set…

8432 Red Hot Machine

Lego Technic 8432 Review

A year later and LEGO were still flex-tubing mad, with almost every set from 1998 sporting it one way or another. The 8432 Red Hot Machine probably wore this new look the best, looking sleek, futuristic, and enticingly modern with the inclusion of a ‘CD-ROM Game’.

It also included, alongside poor steering and even poorer suspension, some very funky looking new parts – just look at those wheels! Except – despite appearing on a range of 1998 Technic sets – they were never to be seen again. And nor it seems, was the ‘CD-ROM’ game, which doesn’t exist anywhere on the internet.

Everything exists on the internet, but the Red Hot Machine’s game? Nope. Gone. Which probably tells you all you need to know about it. 5/10, and one of LEGO’s darkest years.

42058 Stunt Bike

LEGO 42058 Stunt Bike Review

There was a time when Technic ‘Starter’ sets included everything the big sets did. Steering, piston engines, suspension… all gone by 2017.

What we got instead was a pull-back motor, a cardboard ramp, and a ’40th Anniversary of Technic’ brick. And the single worst motorcycle ever conceived.

The Technic 42058 Stunk Bike achieved the lowest score of any set in the Review Library, earning just a 3/10.

However 42058 is still a LEGO set. And that means it can be taken apart to be turned into something altogether better than the model on the front of the box.

Thus, even a bad LEGO set, remains a thoroughly excellent toy.

…

You can find all the LEGO sets reviewed here at The Lego Car Blog – both good and bad (although none are really that bad) – in the Review Library, and if you think we’ve missed a set that should be included, do let us know, especially if you think you own a set worse than 42058. Just as long as it’s not Galidor.

Happy Being Single

Leave a reply

Discovered by one of our Elves on Eurobricks, this is newcomer McMarky’s rather good tracked excavator. Like all good Technic models, McMarky’s creation can operate just like the real deal, being able to drive and steer, rotate the superstructure, and dig – thanks to a three stage boom and excavating bucket – all of which are motorised.

Naturally such functionality necessitates a suite of motors, so how many do you think McMarky’s excavator has packed inside?

Nope. One.

Just a singular Power Functions L motor is able to drive all of the aforementioned functions, and – in many cases – multiple functions simultaneously. Which means not just no additional motors, but also no fancy programmable app-based remote control is required either, with the huge array of working functions instead controlled via a trio of red levers, each linked to the most complicated gearbox that we’ve ever seen.

It’s an outstanding example of mechanical engineering, and demonstrates that even if you don’t have the finances for a suite of motors, a third-party bluetooth battery, or access to a programmable app, immensely realistic motorised Technic creations are still within reach.

There’s more of McMarky’s seriously impressive uni-motor tracked excavator to see on Flickr and at the Eurobricks forum, where further images and a video of all those motorised functions in action can be found. Click the link above to be happy being single.

My Other Car’s a Huracan

2 Replies

The Lamborghini Huracan is boring. At least if the regularity at which YouTube ‘influencers’ (yuk) switch out of them into the next clickbait supercar is any indication. But no matter, because if you’re bored with your Huracan too (in LEGO Technic 42161 form), you can switch it up into this rather neat Technic truck, as previous bloggee mpj has done with his. Click the link above to see more of mpj’s 42161 B-Model on Brickshelf.

B-Hoe

Leave a reply


LEGO’s 42081 Volvo Autonomous Loader set thoroughly perplexed us when it was revealed a few years ago. It still does really, but tungpham of Eurobricks saw greater potential in the Technic oddity than we did, turning his 42081 set into this fantastic backhoe loader.

Looking considerably better than the set on which it’s based, tungpham’s 42081 B-Model includes a raising and tilting front bucket, in-cab steering and rear arm skewing control, stabilising legs, and a rotating driver’s seat.

It also features some of the finest presentation we’ve ever seen on a LEGO model, mimicking LEGO’s own box, catalogue and digital imagery with superb photography and editing.

Building instructions are available and there’s more to see of tungpham’s incredible alternate at the Eurobricks forum – click the link above for a B-Side that’s better than the Single.

Get Your Digs for Free

Leave a reply


The internet is full of wonderful Lego models, many of which can be recreated at home thanks to readily available building instructions. For a fee.

Because one of life’s few certainties is that if something can be monitized, it will be.

But not today! Previous bloggee Thirdwigg is the hero we need, having created this excellent Technic tracked excavator, complete with a linear-actuator operated arm and bucket, a working piston engine, and a slewing superstructure, and he’s released building instructions for free.

The Lego Community could do we a few more members like Thirdwigg, and you can see more of his tracked excavator on Flickr. Click here to take a look, and here for a direct link to the free instructions.

My Other Tractor’s… er, Also a John Deere

1 Reply

The LEGO Technic 42157 John Deere 948L-II Skidder set is one that – after a look through our archives – we must’ve missed, what with it not being there. Still, we’ve never claimed to be competent, and the set does look rather good. Cue Dyens Creations of Flickr, who has repurposed the 42157 John Deere to create, well… another John Deere.

Dyens’ is the 9R, an XL wheeled tractor with up to 700bhp (there’s a tracked one too, which looks mad), outfitted in this case with a pneumatically operated bulldozer blade. There’s also articulated steering, a working piston engine, and a rear hitch with PTO, and there’s more to see of Dyens’ 42157 John Deere B-Model on Flickr.

My Other Car’s a Ferrari

Leave a reply

Once seen as a knock-off Ferrari, yet now revered more than the Maranello products it sought to take on, Honda’s NSX is often regarded as the pinnacle of driver’s cars.

It’s fitting then, that this stunning Technic recreation of the first generation Honda NSX is built only from the parts found within an official Ferrari product, the LEGO Technic 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3.

Built by Eurobricks’ Romanista, who is making not just their TLCB debut but also posting their first ever creation online, this amazing alternate includes all-wheel double-wishbone suspension with positive caster, working steering with Ackermann geometry, a V6 engine linked to a functional gearbox, pop-up headlights, and opening doors, front trunk and engine cover.

Full details and further imagery of Romanista’s spectacular 42143 alternative can be found at the Eurobricks discussion forum via the link above, and if you’d like to check out TLCB’s huge archive of brilliant B-Models that have appeared here over the years – many of which have building instructions available – you can start your search by clicking here.

Detroit to JDM

Leave a reply


There aren’t many Japanese cars that can challenge bona fide supercars, however the Toyota Supra Mark IV did just that, being faster and having more power than 1990s supercar exotica.

Cue this splendid Technic example, which is constructed only out of the parts from a genuine supercar; the LEGO Technic 42154 Ford GT.

Built by Eurobricks’ Alex Ilea, the Supra features working steering and suspension, a piston engine under an opening hood, and opening doors too.

There’s more to see at the Eurobricks forum and at Alex’s Bricksafe gallery, where links to building instructions can also be found, and you can convert your 52154 set from Detroit to JDM via the links above.

Skippy

Leave a reply

Following a vehicle that appeared here earlier in the week (which the builder has now updated with an indolent, tracksuit-wearing, oxygen-wasting, fly-tipping scumbag after reading the post, earning themselves 100 TLCB points), this is how you should actually dispose of waste, via a properly licensed skip company.

Cue previous bloggee damjan97PL (aka damianPLE), and this rather excellent Technic Scania P-Series skip lorry. (Damian also earns 100 TLCB Points for calling his build a ‘skip lorry’, rather than a ‘container truck’ as LEGO would.)

Wonderfully realistic, Damian’s Scania not only looks the part, it also features some fantastic manually-operated and pneumatic functions, including rear outriggers, ‘HOG’ steering, a working inline 6-cylinder engine underneath a tilting cab, and a pneumatically-powered boom, able to perfectly lower and hoist a neat brick-built skip.

Damian has made building instructions available and there’s more of his top-quality Technic Scania skip lorry to see at the Eurobricks discussion forum, his ‘Scania Skip Loader’ Bricksafe gallery, and via the video below.

Click the links above to dispose of your waste without vandalising the local environment, and keep indolent, tracksuit-wearing, oxygen-wasting, fly-tipping scumbags out of business.

On the Fly

2 Replies

The most hated vehicle in TLCB Office, and very probably the entire of TLCB’s home nation, is the tipper van.

Often seen with tatty and deeply ironic ‘Eco Recycling’ type decals on the doors, they are used to collect people’s waste (for a fee), and then dump it at the side of the road. Or in the middle of the road. Or in farmers’ fields. Or in lay-bys. Or anywhere that isn’t a recycling centre.

Cue this superbly-engineered Technic example by kralls_workshop, which features working steering, an opening bonnet, and a two-way tipper that can tip both rearwards and sideways for maximum illegal dumping ease.

It doesn’t include an indolent, tracksuit-wearing, oxygen-wasting, fly-tipping scumbag at the wheel though, which would’ve been nice for maximum realism.

Anyway, there’s more of the truck to see at Krall’s ‘Tipper Van’ Flickr album, and you can vandalise a quiet lane in the countryside via the link above.

Kodiak Moment

Leave a reply

This fantastic creation is a first generation Kodiak C70, a 1980s medium-duty truck marketed across both Chevrolet and GMC for a variety of applications.

Built by TLCB Master MOCer Nico71, this outstanding Technic recreation of the American workhorse captures the Kodiak’s no-nonsense exterior beautifully, but it’s what’s underneath that is most impressive.

Featuring a remote control drivetrain linked to a V8 piston engine under the opening hood, Nico’s model includes all-wheel-drive, servo steering, suspended axles, a locking fifth wheel, opening doors, and either bluetooth control via the LEGO Powered-Up app or IR Control via LEGO Power Functions.

There’s more of the truck to see at Nico’s Brickshelf gallery, where a link to building instructions can also be found, you can watch the model in action via the video below, and you can read Nico’s Master MOCers interview here at The Lego Car Blog to learn how he builds models like this one via the first link in the text above.

YouTube Video

A Doosy

1 Reply

It was all going so well at TLCB Towers this morning, until this arrived…

This astonishing creation is a 2,600-piece fully remote-controlled Doosan DL 420-7 wheel loader, driven by four Power Functions motors and powered by a BuWizz bluetooth battery.

It’s the work of the amazing Michał Skorupka, better known as Eric Trax (a TLCB Master MOCer no less), who has replicated the South Korean wheel loader in simply incredible detail.

Working four-wheel-drive, articulated steering, pendular suspension, plus a motorised lifting and tipping bucket arm all feature, and all of which the Elf at the controls used to launch an assault on today’s other four-motor remote control creation.

A brick-based ‘Battle Bots’ inevitably ensued, with the Elves happily riding upon the other combatant machine being squashed in a variety of ways.

Anyway, we have control of both now, so whilst we commence some important ‘testing’ (which may or not be a similar remote control construction machine battle…) you can check out more of Eric Trax’s stunning Doosan DL 420-7 wheel loader via  Flickr, Eurobricks, and Brickshelf.

Skid Row

1 Reply

The Lego Car Blog Elves are having a great time this morning. Too slow to run them over but fast enough for them to ride upon, Bricksley’s four-motor Liebherr LR 636 G8 tracked skid-steer loader is providing much amusement to our little workers.

Those four motors are the LEGO Powered-Up variety (meaning they can be controlled via bluetooth), and they power each track, the arm, and the bucket, with two Powered-Up Hubs delivering the control.

The Liebherr’s exterior realism matches the excellent engineering within it too, with outstanding attention to detail, beautifully accurate decals, and perfect presentation making it a specularly life-like creation. Except in the TLCB Office that is, where half-a-dozen mythical creatures are joyfully riding upon it.

It’s all fun and games until one of them falls under the tracks, but until then we’ll continue to enjoy Bricksley’s brilliant build, and you can check it out too to via Eurobricks, or their ‘Liebherr LR 636 G8′ album on Flickr, where over twenty top quality images are available to view.