Audi’s Allroad is the only understated and classy vehicle that the company now makes. Discuss.
This rather lovely Technic version of the Teutonic tourer comes from Flickr’s Wigboldy aka Thirdwigg. It’s got all-wheel independent suspension, a three-speed transmission, remotely controlled steering and drive, and there’s more to see on Flickr, Brickshelf, and at Thirdwigg’s own website here.
DTM, Germany’s touring car championship is, along with Australia’s V8 Supercar Series, the absolute pinnacle of saloon car racing. No, NASCAR doesn’t count.
The racing cars of DTM make big power, create huge downforce, and – whilst they have almost nothing in common with anything you can buy for road use, aesthetically they closely resemble their real-world counterparts.
This spectacular machine is a replica of BMW’s current entry in the series; the mighty M4 DTM Coupe. Underneath the incredible (and very yellow) bodywork is a fully suspended chassis powered by four XL Power Functions motors, a servo motor for steering with Ackermann geometry, LED lights, and two re-chargable batteries.
It’s been built by BrunoJJ and it’s one of the best Technic racing cars we’ve featured this year. Suggested to us by a reader, there’s a huge gallery of images to view on Brickshelf, plus a Eurobricks forum with more details and close-up shots available here.
Perhaps the only part of the Volkswagen group of companies that will remain unaffected by the emissions scandal is Lamborghini. Customers buying a 690bhp, 6.5 litre, V12 engined car, probably won’t be surprised that its emissions are quite high and its fuel economy is best measured in miles to the pint. Still, there are some compensations. You can top 200mph when you pop down to the shops.
Nick Barrett’s version of the Aventador might be even faster, as it lacks the aerodynamic drag caused by wing mirrors. However, that’s being very picky, especially when you get your eyes into the details of this 1:10 scale monster MOC. The car is roughly 25 studs wide (or 1/4 of a SHIP) and the Technic axles used for the windscreen wipers don’t look out of place. Nick’s car has all of the working features that you’d expect from this Master MOCer. It includes Hand of God steering for playability and Nick’s take on the Aventador’s rear windscreen. Click this link to MOCpages to see more.
…a Mercedes Benz. In this case it’s a 180 Ponton, built by nameless_member. It’s been published on Flickr and the wonderfully named German website Imperium der Steine. The car is massive, scaled to Lego’s biggest wheels. Many Pontons were used as taxis in their native Germany and we can fit the entire TLCB research team inside this Lego version, after the recent lawnmower incident.
The Elves who survived yesterday’s smushings had settled down to their quiet life of pointless bickering, interspersed with the occasional punch up. Then a triumphant Elf returned from BrickShelf, driving this lawnmower. Damianple’s creation has a battery box and XL motor hidden in its grass box, plus working steering and whirling blades. Only a swift intervention from Mr. Airhorn left us with any research staff at all. Readers often suggest models to us but please don’t recommend more mowers: we’ll run out of workers too quickly!
It’s a hard knock life being an Elf on The Lego Car Blog staff. You’ve spent a long day dodging stray dogs and seagulls, scouring the world for the finest automotive Lego models and return safely to the office. You sit, happily munching a well deserved Smartie, when one of your “colleagues” smashes into the editorial suite atop the latest Technic Power Functions monster machine. Smushery ensues until the Editor intervenes with Mr. Airhorn.
This 4kg 8×8 armoured vehicle from Sariel adds to the chaos by having a working crane, amongst a load of other motorised functions. There’s also a working gearbox, adjustable ride height, opening doors, propellers and lights. It’s modelled on the WZM Rosomak, as used by the army of Sariel’s native Poland. You can see more views on MOCpages, see what’s hidden under the bodywork on Sariel’s website or just marvel at the video below.
We’re donning TLCB Reviewing Anorak today, as it’s time for another official set review!
We revealed LEGO’s 42022 Technic Hot Rod quite a while ago now, and we finally have a copy of the set in the office. Sitting in the middle of the 2015 Technic range, 42022 proudly flies the flag for mechanical engineering against a tide of sets boasting electrically operated functions. Electricity has its place of course, but sometimes we like to see how things work, and that is something that 42022 does brilliantly.
So, those mechanical functions; 42022 features a working V6 piston engine, functioning steering, and a beautifully engineered folding roof. The big V6 is turned by one (and only one) of the rear wheels, whilst the steering is operated by a vertical axel protruding from the rear of the car. It’s also quite possibly the single most abysmal example of steering that LEGO has ever had the audacity to put into a Technic model. Regular readers of this site will know we often moan about the poor steering on Technic sets, but 42022’s is so comically dreadful it’s like LEGO did it on purpose just to annoy us.
Luckily the folding roof is the complete opposite, being an absolute delight to operate. A small cog on the passenger side of the car raises the rear deck as the roof simultaneously folds down under it. It’s a wonderfully elegant solution, but sadly it also highlights the main problem with 42022: It isn’t really like an actual hot rod.
When you look at 42022 it is of course, unmistakably, a hot rod. But it also sort of isn’t, because it seems as if it’s been designed by someone that knows the key ingredients to make a hod rod, but doesn’t have a recipe for how to cook them.
It is far too low, or long – depending on your view, and many of the details, like that brilliant roof, are totally out of place on a vehicle such as this. A mid-00s sports car would be the perfect fit, but not a modified vintage car.
The odd proportions can actually be solved quite easily; simply doubling (or more) the height of the windscreen re-balances the whole car and makes it far more life-like. But of course then the roof doesn’t work…
The rest of the bodywork itself is OK in a minimalist sort of way – there are in fact only six blue pieces in total – and the funky stickers are quite a fun inclusion.
Besides a slight error in one of the sub-assemblies (which shows pieces present on the model which are yet to be placed in reality) the instructions are typical of LEGO – clear, fun to use, and beautifully laid out. 42022 also comes with digital instructions too, which gives an insight into where LEGO sets will probably head over the next few years.
Overall 42022 is a bit of a mixed bag. Whilst the proportions and detailing are a mile away from accurate (the online Lego Community does it so much better), the mechanical functions – even the terrible steering – are fantastic learning aids for any young builder; all are highly visible within the model and are easy enough to replicate with spare pieces. And that is what Technic should be all about.
42022 is currently on offer for around £20 instead of the usual £30 at a few well-known online retailers. At that price, it’s a worthwhile purchase. 7/10
…Or a plane. Or a helicopter.
Bell-Boeing’s ingenius V-22 Osprey is in fact a tilt-rotor aircraft, the first of its kind in the world. Powered by two mighty Rolls Royce AE engines unique to the V-22 (and therefore frighteningly expensive), the Osprey can both take off and land like a helicopter and cruise like a turboprop plane.
Conceived way back in 1983 the V-22 first flew in 1989, and just over half of the planned 400 aircraft have been built to date.
This superbly engineered Technic recreation of one of the world’s most remarkable aircraft has been built by Brickshelf’s leinhardt and it features folding rotors, working landing gear and an opening rear loading ramp. There are more images available on Brickshelf at the link above – click the link to take off.
This insane looking vehicle is – of course – the brutal War Rig from the 2015 movie epic Mad Max – Fury Road.
Built by MOCpages’ Desert752 Kirill the War Rig features a multitude of remotely operated functions and, rather than the real truck’s 6×4 drive train, a full 6×6 system. Plus 6-wheel-drive for the trailer. And 4-wheel-drive for the trailer’s trailer. Yup, this marvellous beast has a 16×16 drivetrain, which has got to be a TLCB first.
16×16 is also incredibly effective at squashing TLCB Elves, as many of them discovered today thanks to the delighted Elf at the controls.
You can see more of Desert’s incredible build on MOCpages at the link above, plus you can check the Rig out in action via the video below, which is complete with a suitably ridiculous soundtrack.
YouTube Video:
Here at The Lego Car Blog we firmly believe that you can never read too much, so it’s with great pleasure that today we can bring you a review of a book that could be tailor made for this blog – The Art of Lego Scale Modeling.
Created by two of our Master MOCers, Dennis Glaasker and Dennis Bosman, and produced by the awesome guys at No Starch Press, The Art of Lego Scale Modeling brings together some the most brilliant vehicle builders of the current generation.
Running to over 200 pages No Starch’s latest publication features more than fifty incredible Lego models from twenty-four of the very best Lego model makers in the world – including the authors themselves – neatly divided into several categories, including trucks, ships, heavy equipment and motorcycles.
As we’ve come to expect from No Starch Press, photography and print quality are excellent, with double page spreads used throughout to score maximum visual impact. All of the models included are accurate replicas of real-world vehicles, and alongside each is a brief description of both the build and the model’s full-size counterpart. Most of the builders and many of the models have featured on blogs like this one over the past few years, but however impressive a Lego model may look on a computer screen, they are far more so in print.
The final few pages of the book are given over to a ‘How to’ section, although this section is fairly short and is clearly not the main aim of the publication.
It’s actually this topic that we would like to see more of in future Lego books. Whilst Lego building is intuitive to many of us (and after all, it should be – any child can design their own creation without any difficulty at all), we’re continually amazed by the number of ‘Please can I have instructions’ and ‘How can I build like this?’ emails and comments that we receive here at TLCB.
The Art of Lego Scale Modeling does not set out to answer these questions. Moreover ‘Art’ in this case refers to the visual brilliance of its subjects, rather than the act of doing something, and it excels at sharing this through print. As a coffee table visual stimulant for any fan of Lego, or even just for fans of vehicles and machines, it has set the bar beautifully high.
The Art of Lego Scale Modeling is available to buy now directly from No Starch Press as well as from several well-known online retailers for as little as £19.99. More like this please No Starch Press!
The darkening skies outside The Lego Car Blog’s skyscraper can mean only one of two things. 1) The Elves have opened an apocalyptic portal to Hades again or 2) it’s autumn and time to brace ourselves for various sci-fi themed building months. The TLCB editorial staff are renowned for our lack of comprehension of sci-fi. We would actually be more comfortable facing a hellish hoard, armed only with Mr. Airhorn (our Elvish research team is pretty hellish and we deal with them on a daily basis). However, we have a duty to our readers to bring you the best of what internet Lego has to offer. So we’re girding our loins and proudly present our SHIPtember 2015 Review. SHIPs tend to be long and pointy, but we thought that we’d focus on some of the more unusual SHIPs from this year’s Flickr thread.
At the top of this post is Pico van Grootveld’s massive EVE online custom Scorpion battleship. Coming in at 130 studs long by 120 wide and 70 tall, this SHIP is a real departure from the typical long & thin configuration. Click the link to see more photos of this monster, include one of Pico attempting to “swoosh” all 22lbs of it. Also going wide was Matt Bace with his Klingon D5 Deuterium Tanker. It’s unusual for us to feature a virtual build but the quality of the details on this SHIP, especially its wings, warrants its inclusion. From reading conversations on Flickr and MOCpages, Matt has also thought carefully about making his Klingon ship structurally sound, which can be lacking in some LDD models and Klingon starships too.
Bob Hayes went down the retro route with a SHIP right out of Dan Dare and covered in studs. Patrol Ship 014 comes complete with a crew of six minifigures, a cargo bay and one of the smoothest hulls in SHIPtember (Bob says that he thinks of studs as smooth, a bit like Nick Barrett does).
Looking like Blacktron’s version of Blake’s 7’s Liberator from Hell, Josh Derksen’s “Demon’s Maw” is an impressive piece of design and engineering. This SHIP is approximately 112 Studs long and 50 studs in diameter and contains two Power Functions XL motors, plus a load of lights from Brickstuff. It’s worth clicking this link to see the working star drive and appreciate the scale of this build.
Possibly the most graceful SHIP in this year’s collection was Michael Steindl’s “Mikajo”. Michael used brick-bending type techniques to create the compound curves of his SHIP’s wing in just three days. This was a real contrast to his other SHIPtember build, a huge, thuggish Blacktron Missile Boat.
Lastly, TLCB regular F@bz, came up with this eye-catching use for all of those brick separators that accumulate at the back of your Lego collection. His Juuken Spaceship was built in a day a features 36 of the orange tools.
We thought that we’d finish this post with a contrast to the SHIPs with their thousands of bricks. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again on this blog: it’s not how many bricks you use but how you chose to use them that counts. Featured below is Simply Bricking It’s “Shiptober”.
The Mercedes-Benz Arocs creations keep on coming! The latest to grace these pages comes from Eurobrick’s Samolot, and it’s one of the most impressive developments of LEGO’s 42043 set that we’ve seen thus far.
Featuring remote control drive and steering, suspension and pneumatic outriggers, Samolot’s Arocs truck includes as many functions as the official set, and that’s before you get to the junk in the trunk…
Mounted over the rear wheels is a platform suspended by six pneumatic cylinders (controlled via a Power Functions electric compressor), which can raise, lower, pitch, and yaw. Insert some patrons into said platform along with a large TV screen and this Mercedes-Benz Arocs becomes a flight simulator ride!
Samolot’s creation is one of the engineering highlights of the year so far, and includes five Power Functions motors, three Power Functions switches, ten pneumatic cylinders and six meters of pneumatic hosing.
You can see all the details on Eurobricks by clicking here, alongside a full description and, best of all, a video of the flight simulator in action!
LEGO’s hot-air-ballon pieces might seem a bit single-use to some, but not to Flickr’s František Hajdekr, who has incorporated them brilliantly into his swooping Technic chopper. Float over to Flickr on link above.
This is, quite simply, the most effective Elf-smushing vehicle that has ever graced the halls of TLCB Towers.
It’s Sariel‘s incredible newest creation, taken from the equally incredible Mad Max – Fury Road movie, and it’s one of our favourite cars of the year so far.
Underneath the ruined muscle car bodywork, and above the brilliant suspended track system, sit a pair of LEGO batteries connected to twin LEGO RC buggy motors, each controlled by the superb SBrick third-party bluetooth system.
And that makes the Peacemaker one of the fastest, most agile and most highly manoeuvrable Lego vehicles that this site has ever published. And none of this was good news for our Elves.
You can see more of Sariel’s awesome creation on MOCpages by clicking here, you can read more about the builder through our interviews page here, and you can witness the Peacemaker in action via the epic YouTube video below.
YouTube Video:
We’ve been quite pleased with TLCB Elves recently. Not only have they found lots of tasty Lego creations for us to feature, they’ve beaten the proper blogs to a few of them by days. We’re not always as rubbish as we think we are here!
Sadly the Elves, being violent little turds, can consistently be relied upon to balance out any of their good deeds with something awful.
In today’s awful event, two Elves were found pinned against the office cactus by a (brilliant) remote controlled Technic fork lift, its wheels still spinning furiously as the Elf at the controls tried to drive its colleagues deeper into their spiny green hell.
Upon discovery the demented driving Elf abandoned its find and escaped cackling into the night, leaving us to extract the assaulted Elves and – borrowing an office intern’s eyebrow tweezers – spend an evening removing cactus spines from various Elven body parts. Sometimes we hate working at The Lego Car Blog.
Back to the creation, and it’s almost worth all of tonight’s fuss. Built by Eurobricks’ Kevin Moo it features five Power Functions motors for a variety of functions, and you can see more at the Eurobricks forum via the link above.
