Tag Archives: Technic

Streamliner

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This is a Tatra T87, and it was one of the fastest and yet most fuel efficient cars of the era. Built from the mid-’30s to early-’50s the T87 was powered by rear-mounted air-cooled 2.9 litre V8 engine which was about half the size of its competitors, yet – thanks to its streamlined shape – it could reach almost 100mph whilst using nearly half the fuel.

The occupying Nazis loved it, calling it ‘the autobahn car’, but so many German officers were killed trying to reach 100mph that the T87 was dubbed ‘the Czech secret weapon’, and they were subsequently banned from driving it.

This brilliant Technic recreation of the Tatra T87 comes from Horcik Designs who has replicated the car’s streamlined shape beautifully from Technic panels. Underneath the aerodynamic body is functioning swing-arm suspension, working steering, and a detailed engine under an opening cover, and there’s more to see of all of that at the Eurobricks discussion forum and at Horcik’s Bricksafe folder.

Click the links above to ty to reach 100mph on the autobahn c1940. Unless you’re a German Army officer.

My Other Car’s a Helicopter

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We’re nearly half way through TLCB Lock-Down B-Model Competition, where we’re looking for your awesome set alternates the could win you an incredible SBrick Pro Pack!

This is Tomik’s of Eurobricks entry, using the Technic 42075 First Responder set to create an alternate which unusually switches wheels for rotors, and includes one of the most ingenious hand-operated mechanisms we’ve seen yet!

Tomik’s ‘Pull-Back Helicopter’ uses the shock-absorber from 42075’s suspension to store energy from winding a gear, releasing it to simultaneously turn both the main and tail rotor. It’s a mighty clever use for the humble shock-absorber and it makes us think LEGO’s own Pull-Back efforts, derided upon their release here every year, are even weaker.

An opening cockpit is also included and there’s more to see of Tomik’s B-Model competition entry at the Eurobricks forum – click here link to see more – including a video of the ‘pull-back’ mechanism in action – and here to find out how to enter your own B-Model into the contest!

My Others Car’s a Porsche 911 GT3 RS

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After revealing the brand new LEGO 42115 Technic Lamborghini Sian FKP 37 (what?) set yesterday, and wishing it was a Lamborghini we’d actually heard of – like a Miura – Flickr’s James Tillson has risen to the challenge with extraordinary timing by uploading his entry into TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model Competition which is… a Lamborghini Miura. And it’s orange!

Thanks to the 42056 Porcshe 911 GT3 RS brick source, James’ Lamborghini B-Model is as searingly orange as one of the Miura’s actual paint options, and it manages to replicate the real car’s swoopy bodywork rather well too. The model also includes working suspension, functioning steering, opening doors, engine cover and front clamshell, and there’s more to see of James’ excellent alternate on Flickr. Click here to head to James’ photostream, here to read how to enter your own B-Model into the competition, and here to see the prizes on offer!

Technic 42115 Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 | Set Preview

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This is the brand new LEGO Technic 42115 Lamborghini Sian FKP 37, the fourth largest Technic set ever made, and the first officially-licensed Lamborghini to join the Technic range, following sets from Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Ducati, and – of course – arch rival Ferrari.

At 3,696 pieces 42115 becomes LEGO’s first 1:8 scale Technic car, with many parts debuting on the set – largely thanks to the very lime green colour and stunning gold wheels, faithfully replicating those on the real Sian FKP 37. Ah, the real Sian FKP 37; we’ll come on to that in a bit…

Before then, the functions. Like LEGO’s other recent Technic Supercar sets 42115 is packed with incredible technical realism, and features a working mid-mounted V12 engine hooked up to an eight-speed sequential gearbox. Eight! In a Technic set.

Now LEGO’s track record on sequential gearboxes isn’t great, with the six-speed effort in the 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 being, well… crap, but hopefully they’ve cracked it with the eight speed in 42115. Working in-board suspension front and rear, functioning steering, all-wheel-drive, opening scissor doors, and a deployable rear wing also feature, all operated mechanically and true to those found on the real Lamborghini Sian FKP 37.

OK, the real Lamborghini Sian FKP 37…. yeh, we’d never heard of it either, and we’re a car blog. With such a fantastic back-catalogue of iconic cars (the Miura, Countach, Diablo, Gallardo, Murciélago, Aventador, amongst others), we find the choice of an ultra-limited run (63 units) yet-to-be-built hypercar an odd one. Particularly as what sets the real Lamborghini Sian FKP 37 apart from the three-hundred other ultra-limited run Lamborghini hypercars that proceeded it is the world’s first production hybrid super-capacitor powertrain. Which of course is impossible to recreate in a LEGO set.

Still, that doesn’t stop 42115 from being a seriously impressive addition to LEGO’s officially licensed line-up, bringing with it a wealth of new parts, LEGO’s fanciest box yet (for those who are into such things), that possibly-awesome-possibly-crap eight-speed sequential gearbox, and a very Lamborghini price tag.

Expect the new LEGO Technic 42115 Lamborghini Sian FKP 37 set to cost an enormous $380/£350 when it reaches stores later this year. We’d have paid that for a Miura…

My Other Car’s a Mining Excavator

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With over 4,000 pieces, bluetooth remote control, and seven electric motors, LEGO’s enormous (and enormously expensive) Technic 42100 Liebherr R 9800 Excavator set is the largest yet produced by the company. If you’re going to make a ‘B-Model’, using just the parts from one official LEGO set, it may as well be from the biggest!

Previous bloggee and Technic genius Grohl has done just that, with his amazing 42100 snow groomer B-Model. With seven motorised functions including remote control drive and skid-steering, an elevating front blade, lowering groomy-thigumy on the back, plus a crane and winch, Grohl’s 42100 alternate is as functions-packed as the set from which it’s been built.

Grohl promises instructions are on the way if you fancy turning your own Liebherr excavator into a snow groomer yourself, and until then you can check out the build on Flickr via the link above.

We’re also looking for you to build your own B-Models from existing LEGO sets (whether that be from the enormous 42100 Liebherr R 9800 or the smallest City set) in TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model Competition. You could even win yourself some brilliant bluetooth remote control prizes to bring your Lego creations to life! Check out the competition details by clicking here and get B-Modelling!

Buy Cigarettes!

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It’s time for one of TLCB’s infamous rants! We know you’ve been missing these…

Mission Winnow. “What?” we hear you ask. Exactly. We all asked that when the world’s most famous (read ‘expensive’) Formula 1 team revealed a car emblazoned with a brand that no-one had ever heard of at the start of the 2019 season.

But Ferrari being Ferrari – i.e. having the morals of a Mexican drug cartel – we knew it was worth digging into. If only to find out what the hell a ‘winnow’ is. What it is, according to the press release, is this;

“‘Winnow’ originally referred to the removal of chaff from grain, but it came to be used more broadly to describe the separating out of the unnecessary, the extraction of the good and distinguishing what is true from what is inaccurate or misleading.” Which is so gloriously ironic that we suspect Ferrari might be taking the piss. Because Mission Winnow is a front for selling cigarettes.

Of course Ferrari have long had an association with tobacco, being title-sponsored by Marlboro since the mid-’80s. However when Formula 1 banned tobacco advertising in 2006 after learning that cigarettes may in fact be bad for you, Marlboro’s owners had to find other methods of promoting their cancer-sticks on Ferrari’s racing cars. Cue the ugly barcode thing that appeared on the rear wing or the big white chevron that featured on the engine cover for a number of years, described by doctors as simply ‘subliminal advertising’ for Marlboro.

A public enquiry and probably a quiet word from Bernie Ecclestone saw the barcode dropped after a time, but that hasn’t stopped Marlboro’s owners Philip Morris International and Ferrari continuing to pursue their partnership marketing tobacco to children.

And thus we arrive at the 2019 Scuderia Ferrari SF90, carrying Philip Morris International’s latest “We’re not trying to sell cigarettes, honest” brand message. In fact the Mission Winnow mission statement is so vague and rambling it could have been tweeted by Donald Trump;

“Mission Winnow has a simple goal: drive change by constantly searching for better ways of doing things. And by committing to learning and knowing more, it’s easier to make choices that improve the future for everyone. To make this happen, we’ll get inside the minds of outstanding innovators and change-makers, to see why and how they achieve excellence.”

By ‘achieving excellence’, we can only assume they mean Selling More Cigarettes.

Oh yeah, we’re a Lego blog… this superb Technic recreation of Marlboro’s mobile advertising board is the work of Mane of Eurobricks, making their TLCB debut (sorry about the rant Mane!). Looking wonderfully accurate, Mane’s Scuderia Ferrari SF90 includes front and rear suspension, a working V6 engine, steering, and DRS on the rear wing, a removable engine cover and front wing, and brilliantly accurate ‘Mission Winnow’ (amongst other sponsors) decals.

There’s more to see of Mane’s wonderful creation on Eurobricks (where building instructions are also available), plus there’s an extensive image gallery at Bricksafe. Click the links to take a closer look, and then go on Scuderia Ferrari’s social media accounts and tell them to shove Mission Winnow up their arse.

Air Train

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This is the most interesting Lego creation that you’ll see this year. By a mile.

Built by newcomer Alfred Boyer, this huge Technic steam locomotive really works, and is built from 100% standard LEGO pieces. Of course fire and plastic bricks don’t mix that well, so instead of superheating water to generate steam, Alfred’s astonishing creation uses air pressure to drive pistons, which is essentially exactly the same operation as a real steam engine, only without setting fire to coal to generate the energy.

Four LEGO pneumatic cylinders turn the eight drive wheels, with two speed ‘gearbox’ – if you can call it that – controllable from the cabin. Also controllable from the cabin are working brakes, with shows that press against each wheel through pneumatic pressure, and -amazingly – a working whistle, which diverts air pressure through some hollow bricks to create the sound. It’s a good thing the Elves haven’t figure this out otherwise it’s all we’d hear all day.

It’s a phenomenal piece of engineering and one that probably takes LEGO’s pneumatic system further than any model before it. The only way to really appreciate Alfred’s creation is to take a much closer look – head to Eurobricks by clicking here for the complete build details (where you can also find a link to it on LEGO Ideas), and definitely watch the video below!

YouTube Video

 

Lancia-Italia Fulvia HF Rally Car | Picture Special

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It’s not often that TLCB Team are stunned by a model brought back by one of our smelly little workers. We are of course experienced professionals, experts in Lego creations, and with a wealth of building talent ourselves. Oh, sorry – that’s the Brothers Brick – we’re still as incompetent as ever, but nevertheless it takes a lot to genuinely excite us, so blasé have we become through years of blogging. Today however, we are all spectacularly impressed, thanks to All.About.Lego and his amazing Technic Lancia Fulvia HF rally car.

Built for the current Eurobricks small car contest, this incredible recreation of one of rallying’s all-time-greats not only looks absolutely wonderful (and superbly accurate, despite being the difficulty of being a Technic build), it features more working functionality than models five times its size. So much in fact, that this tiny Lancia really is a Technic ‘Supercar’.

A working V4 engine is driven by the front-wheels (yup, the fronts, as per the real Fulvia and we have no idea how All.About.Lego has managed it), whilst a rear-mounted gearbox (technically a two-speed transaxle) can be controlled via the cabin gearstick.

Working leaf-spring suspension and functioning steering feature too, completing the Technic ‘Supercar’ necessities, plus the model features opening doors, hood and trunk, as well as an accurate period livery complete with superbly replicated decals.

It’s a phenomenal build and one that will start a riot here in TLCB office if it doesn’t win the Eurobricks Small Car Contest. Head to Flickr or the Eurobricks forum to see more of All.About.Lego’s spellbinding creation and LEGO, make this a set please! We’ll buy eight.

Stick a V8 in it

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Ask the internet any car-related question and when the answer’s not ‘Miata’, it’s ‘Stick a V8 in it’. More specifically an LS. It seems that’s what builder Zux has done in creating his entry for the current Eurobricks Small Car Contest. Literally.

Before we get onto the engine, Zux’s Technic pick-up truck features some decent functionality, including working suspension front and rear, opening doors, hood and tailgate, and working steering.

Now that engine… It’s not a load that the pick-up is carrying in the second and third images you can see here, rather it is the pick-up’s engine, driven by the rear wheels and making the pick-up’s pick-up-ness completely pointless.

As such Zux has photographed his creation with and without its ridiculous cargo/power-plant, but you can guess which version the Elves preferred….

There’s more to see of Zux’s build on both Flickr and in the Eurobricks forum; ‘stick a V8 in it’ via the links!

Humdrum Supercar

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Technic Supercars are not defined by the type of car they would be in the real world. Most would still be super cars of course, but some… some are little more mundane. Like a Fiat 125p for example. And we love them for this.

This heroically humdrum Technic Supercar is the work of Porsche96, who has created Fiat’s 1960s sedan in unbelievable accuracy. In fact Fiat’s regular 125 was too flashy for Porsche96, who decided to built the 125p version; the Polski-Fiat built under license by FSO in Poland until a scarcely believable 1991.

Porsche96’s recreation of the Polish peoples’ car includes all of the prerequisites to be classified as a Technic Supercar, plus a whole lot more besides. Working steering, a functioning four-cylinder engine and four-speed gearbox, and all-wheel suspension tick all the Supercar boxes, whilst remote control for the drive, steering, and even gearbox (thanks to a suite of Power Functions motors and servos, plus an SBrick and BuWizz battery) goes much further indeed.

There are opening and locking doors, an opening bonnet with a working interior release mechanism, adjustable seats, LED head and tail lights, and also fully removable bodywork.

It all adds up to Porcshe96’s Fiat 125p being one of the most accurately engineered (and brilliantly built) Technic Supercars that we’ve ever featured, even if the real world car is about as far from a super car as it is possible to be. Which somehow makes this model all the cooler.

There’s much more to see including a full build description on Eurobricks, the complete and extensive gallery of images can be found on Bricksafe, and building instructions are available via Rebrickable. Plus you watch this amazing Technic Supercar in action via the brilliant video below.

YouTube Video:

 

Little LMP

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Eurobricks’ Small Car Contest continues to generate some wonderful creations. One of our favourites is this, thirdwigg‘s excellent LMP (Le Mans Prototype) racing car. Working steering, a miniature functioning V8 engine, removable bodywork, and a surprisingly detailed chassis all feature, and there’s more to see on Flickr via the link above.

Small Supercar

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This brilliant little Technic Ferrari F40 was discovered by one of our Elves today, and it continues the run of excellent small-scale supercars being generated by the Eurobricks Small Car contest. Built by previous bloggee paave it features a wealth of functionality that you’d normally expect to find in a model much larger, including a working V8 engine, steering, pop-up headlights, and opening doors, front truck and clamshell engine cover. There’s more to see at the Eurobricks forum and you can make the jump there via the link above.

Mod My Mazda

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OK, we’ll come right out with it. This incredible 1:8 scale Mazda RX-7 with RE:Amemiya bodykit isn’t strictly, entirely, 100% LEGO. But that’s only because LEGO don’t make all the parts in the right colours. Builder Gray Gear has therefore used a few clone brands to complete his creation, with the white wheel-arches and white pins not part of LEGO’s range. Switch them for orange and black respectively though, and Gray’s Mazda can be built with genuine LEGO parts.

However it seems almost appropriate that Gray Gear’s model uses a few non-genuine pieces as his RX-7 also features an RE:Amemiya bodykit, which isn’t exactly a Mazda factory option…

Underneath that wild exterior Gray has created a working two-rotor engine, replicating the unusual set-up of the real RX-7, which is hooked up to a functioning 6-speed gearbox. Working steering, all-wheel independent suspension, and opening doors and hood also feature, and you can see more of all of the above at the Eurobricks discussion forum where further images and a video displaying the model’s features can be found.

Gray is also considering making instructions available should you wish to create his RX-7 RE:Amemiya for yourself. You’ll have to build it in orange if you want to use purely official LEGO pieces, but we think it’ll look rather excellent if you do! Head to Eurobricks via the link above to take a look and pester Gray for those building steps…

Acceptable in the ’80s

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Get ready for the most 1980s thing you’ve ever seen. OK, this is the most 1980s thing, but aside from that. Mahjqa‘s glorious remote control ’80s Porsche 911 has featured here before, and it now has the (second) most 1980s video ever made to accompany it!

Power Functions motors, LEGO’s new Control+ app, and whole heap of clever cinematography have created very probably the best Lego-related film you’ll see all year. And it has more ’80s effects than The Terminator, Tron, and Slave to the Rhythm combined…

YouTube Video

My Other Racing Car’s a Racing Car

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Today’s other Lock-Down B-Model Competition entry takes one of Technic’s more unusual sets, the 42039 24 Hours Race Car from 2015, and turns it into… another racing car. But don’t be fooled, it’s one heck of a transformation.

Abandoning the closed cockpit of the original design, builder Anurbis has created a Formula 1 car alternate the looks so good you wouldn’t think there were any parts constraints at all. Like the set upon which it’s based, Anurbis’s B-Model includes working steering, all-wheel suspension, and a V8 engine, plus adjustable mirrors and an opening engine cover.

There’s more to see at the Eurobricks discussion forum where Anurbis has published several images, build specs, and details of a version that switches the mechanical functions for motors and remote control. Click here to take a look, and here to read the competition details if you’d like to enter a B-Model of your own!