One of our Eurobricks-based Elves returned today clutching this in one claw – with the other held out expectantly for a meal token. It was quite a brave choice by the aforementioned Elf as we don’t tend to blog small Technic creations here, but this is one we’d buy with our own pay packet if it were available.
Gsia17 is the builder, and he’s used under 200 parts to build this mini motorbike, even with a working engine and steering included. Check it out on Eurobricks at the link above.
Suggested to us by a reader we round off today’s Technic-biased musings with this superb Land Rover Defender. It was found on Image Shack and has been built by the previously unknown-to-us dirtzone.
The Defender features Power Functions drive and steering, opening doors, and a truly fantastic suspension set-up. Dirtzone has made a large gallery of images available to view at the aforementioned link, which includes chassis and component photographs. Check it out and be inspired!
Image sharing site Brickshelf – oft overlooked by Lego blogs classier than this one – still yields our Elves some good finds. This is one such creation, a marvellous Technic cement/concrete truck by przemo. Underneath the (actually quite lovely) bodywork is a range of classic mechanical functions including four-wheel-steering and working leaf-sprung suspension. You can see all the images over on Brickshelf by clicking the link above.
Doc Brown’s dinky bucket excavator proves that size really doesn’t matter when it comes to Technic creations – it’s as functional and playable as models three times its size! See all the photos on at Doc’s Flickr page via the link.
The steady stream of Elves returning to TLCB office with a great build originating from Poland and/or the LUGPol group indicates that something special must be happening over there.
Marek Markiewicz (aka M_Longer) is one such builder, and his latest work typifies the excellent creations produced by LUGPol’s users. It’s a fully Power Functions remote controlled MAN tipper truck (pictured here with his L580 front loader), and the engineering inside is impeccable. See what Marek’s MAN can do in the video below!
YouTube Video
Our second creation comes from one of Poland’s most famous builders – and one of the most frequently blogged – the incredible Sariel.
His latest work is probably the most capable remote control Lego vehicle we’ve ever seen. See how unstoppable his Ripsaw XL is via the brilliant video – complete with a killer Death in Vegas soundtrack – below.
YouTube Video
Special thanks go to LUGPol for continuing to supply our Elves with so many high quality creations. We know many LUGPol members visit TLCB, so if you’re one of them and would like us to feature LUGPol as a Group of the Month* let us know how we can find out a bit more about you!
*Or Several Months. We’re quite unreliable with this feature!
It’s a beautiful summer day here in the northern hemisphere, and what better way to celebrate than by putting the top down and going for a drive? Coming to us today from František Hajdekr on Flickr is this System and Technic hot rod with a functional convertible roof. Pull up to the Malt Shop in this, and Scooby-Doo and the gang wouldn’t even know what to say!
With special thanks to Guest Blogger Chris Elliott.
Welcome to The Lego Car Blog’s new series! Today marks the start of our collaboration with one of the top Lego Vehicle groups on Flickr, the superb Head Turnerz.
Head Turnerz’ members have supplied our Elves with a wealth of blog-worthy vehicles since the group’s inception in late 2013. We’ve decided to extend the mini-figure grab-hand of partnership to the group administrators in order to bring you the Top 5 creations in a variety of categories over the coming months.
First up we’ve decided to tackle the Big One – the Top 5 Technic Supercars ever built! Over to Head Turnerz to count down the list…
Jorgeopesi’s Pagani Huayra is not just as visually stunning as the real thing, but with a working 7-speed manual gearbox, remote controlled drive, and a huge list of other amazing features, this Pagani is our favourite Technic Supercar ever. Congratulations to Jorgeopesi, and you can click here to see more of the world’s current best Technic Supercar.
The incredible Crowkillers takes a close second place with his amazing 997 Porsche GT3. Porsche’s 911 is very difficult to replicate in Lego, but Crowkillers has built the most accurate 911 we have ever seen – and it’s not just the body that’s accurate, there’s even a working 6-speed transmission hooked-up to the famous flat-6 engine. To see more details of this supercar make sure you visit Crowkiller’s brilliant website, you can even buy the instructions so that you can build it yourself!
Dirk Klijn’s McLaren MP4-12C has a 3+Reverse gearbox and is one of the most visually appealing Technic Supercars on the web. But that’s not all. It’s also fully modular – meaning that the body can be completely separated from the chassis and each component removed, replaced and upgraded with ease – exactly how LEGO themselves design their products. To see the full gallery of number three in our list click here to visit Flickr.
It wouldn’t be a Technic Supercar Top 5 without one of Sheepo‘s incredible models, and what’s better than a Volkswagen Beetle?! Sheepo’s VW Bug is not your typical ‘supercar’, but it is a technical masterpiece featuring everything that a real Beetle does, and it’s exceptionally detailed inside and out. Sheepo’s brilliant bug can be found on Flickr here, plus on his own website via www.sheepo.es.
Sariel’s incredible Enzo Ferrari comes in at number 5 with beautiful body lines and more functions than you can believe! With full independent suspension, a manual 4-speed gearbox, V12 piston engine, pneumatically opened doors, moving accelerator pedal, electrically adjustable seats, automated rear wing and much more, the only way to see it all is to take a visit to Sariel’s excellent website.
There you have it; the Top 5 Technic Supercars ever! Do you agree with the Head Turnerz choices, or has someone been missed who really should have made it onto this list? And is the Top 5 simply too red?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments or via the Feedback page, and you can let the Head Turnerz administrators know your opinion on their Top 5 by joining the discussion at the Head Turnerz Group – just click the link above to join.
We’ll see you soon for our next Top 5. Watch this space!
Here at The Lego Car Blog we are not fans of 1970s Americana. We grew up on a diet of small, nimble, efficient cars that could go around corners and that didn’t break down unless they were French. 1970s American barges therefore are definitely not our bag, being precisely the opposite of all of the above.
However, even in America’s automotive wilderness years there were a handful of oases. This is one such vehicle, the utterly gorgeous Chevrolet Corvette C3.
This beautiful Lego Technic example of Chevrolet’s icon is the work of Eurobricks resident (and Technic genius) Madoca. Underneath the wonderfully curvaceous bodywork sits a fully functioning remote control chassis, complete with independent suspension all round, working lights (including pop-up function), opening doors, trunk and hood plus a removable targa roof panel, and of course RC drive and steering.
To see more of Madoca’s exceptional build head over to the Eurobricks discussion via the link above, but first make sure you check out the Corvette in action via the video below.
YouTube Video:
Master MOCer Paul Boratko (aka Crowkillers) is back! The latest in his long line of exceptional supercars is ‘Phantasm’, a mid-engined, two seat sports car featuring a huge range of Technic functions. Under the rear deck sits a V8 engine driving the rear wheels through a working gearbox, with steering, independent suspension and butterfly doors all appearing too.
Paul’s newest masterpiece will appear on both Brickshelf and his own website shortly, but you can get an early look at the Phantasm via the Eurobricks forum; click the link above to join the discussion! You can also read Paul’s Master MOCer interview with TLCB by clicking here, or by visiting the Interviews page in the main menu.
After several non-car posts one of our Elves finally returned to the office with a vehicle worthy of our blog name. This ace hot rod pick-up is the work of Flickr’s SM 01 who has continued working on his previously featured model. His rod now features a list of working functions so long we couldn’t fit them all here. To see what his creation can do take a trip to Flickr by clicking the link above.
Two hundred Lego pieces. It isn’t a lot is it? Especially if you’re aiming to build a functional Technic model.
Lego fan site Eurobricks has set the challenge of using just two hundred elements to create a whole new Lego Technic set. Here at The Lego Car Blog Towers we use two hundred bricks every time we build a steering rack, because we’re a bit rubbish, so we’re not really qualified to enter. Thankfully the interweb contains far more talented builders than us, and here are two such prudent engineers.
First up (above) is previous bloggee Jorgeopesi with his two hundred piece mini Technic front loader. He’s used the meagre parts count to produce a raising and tipping bucket, hand-of-God steering system and even pendular suspension on the rear axel. See more of his excellent mini front loader on Brickshelf via the link above.
Our second two hundred piece Technic model comes from fellow Brickshelf user Nikolyakov (also on MOCpages), and he’s also taken the machinery route. Nikolyakov’s mini combine harvester features a raising and lowering harvesting head – which also spins when the wheels are turned, hand-of-God steering, and posable unloading pipes. You can see more of his mini combine via the links above, and you can check out the rules, prizes and other entries in the Eurobricks two hundred piece challenge by visiting the Eurobricks site here.
When we think ‘muscle car’ we usually picture an American behemoth with a massive V8 and two stripes painted over the bonnet. However that would be stereotyping the genre, because this is an Australian behemoth with a massive V8 and two stripes painted over the bonnet.
Australia’s muscle car tradition is as strong as the US’s, and whilst their road racers are derived from their US parent companies, they were very much home-grown down-under.
Sadly in recent times all mass vehicle production has, or will very shortly, cease in Australia, with GM (Holden), Ford and Toyota all abandoning manufacturing in the country. Doc Brown’s 1971 Ford Falcon XY GTHO remembers a time when the industry was flourishing, and you can see more of his Power Functions controlled Technic supercar at both Eurobricks and Flickr.
The builder of this Baja Bug, Piterx, says he doesn’t like it very much! He has set the bar very high with his previous builds (use the Search function at the foot of this page to see his previous work), but we like it a lot. It’s controlled via Lego Power Functions motors and it looks a blast to drive. You can let Piterx know whether you like it or not on Eurobricks.
We are not fans of Hummer here at The Lego Car Blog. In fact it might be collectively our least favourite vehicle brand of all time. The Elves though – having no taste whatsoever – love this American institution, and so this post is for them.
Built by Technic legend Sariel, this Hummer H1 is one of the most complex and brilliantly engineered creations of the year so far. Containing four(!) XL Power Functions motors for drive, a remotely controlled high/low range gearbox, working indicator and reversing lights, windsreen wipers and a whole host of other functions, the only way to really see what it can do is in a suitably aggressive video complete with a hard rock soundtrack. Handily Sariel’s got that covered…
…or the Elves go Technic. Regular readers of this blog will remember that the Elves have “helped” us to build some of sets that we have reviewed, including some of the 3-in-1 Creator series. We decided that it was time to let them go solo with the smallest, cheapest Lego set that we have ever reviewed (we have to buy this stuff you know!).
After the usual explosive opening of the two bags of parts in this set, we helped the Elves to gather the pieces up into a pile and then realised that there were no tyres. These are packed loose in the box and had all rolled under The Lego Car Blog executive beer fridge and champagne chiller. Fortunately a skinny Elf fitted under the fridge. He was soon forced into the gap by his colleagues poking him with the axles from the kit. He reappeared a few seconds later with all four tyres and a Malteser that had rolled under there two months ago.
The Elves then set to work on book one of the two instruction books that come with the kit. “What?!?!” we hear you cry, “Two instruction books for a set with just 100 pieces?”. LEGO have come up with a new concept for this model. The first booklet builds a common chassis and then the second booklet has instructions for two alternative bodies to fit onto the chassis. A novel, fun concept, with lots of play and re-building potential.
The instructions are in the usual clear, LEGO format, with just a couple of parts per stage. This is slow for a Technic set but remember the starting age for this kit is just 7 years old. By stage 6, a 5-wide frame has taken shape, with swing arms for each wheel. The Elves had to resist the temptation to bash each part down hard and tight, so that the suspension would work on the finished buggy. The first Elf-fight broke out at stage 8, with the adding of the two elastic bands which make the “springs” of the suspension. The temptation to flick the bands at each other was too great to resist and order was only restored when both bands had vanished under the beer fridge. Annoyingly, for a set aimed at kids, LEGO provide the usual spares for some of the smaller, cheaper parts but don’t give you a spare elastic band. The skinny Elf was sent under the fridge again and this time returned with the elastic bands and something blue and furry: possibly left-over cheese nibble from the office Christmas party. The last stage of the instructions is to turn the chassis the right way up, though even the Elves didn’t really need a page of instructions for this.
The first body quickly builds up in typical Technic style, with some 1×1 round trans plates for front and rear lights. Stages 3 & 4 have a bit where you have to do things in the right order or pieces won’t connect but that’s the trickiest part of the build. Stage 12 requires strong fingers to insert a 2 stud-long axle and we had to do this for the Elves. After 22 short stages the Elves were left with a nice-looking, orange and grey, short-wheelbase off-roader. It rolls across carpets and desks and its long-travel suspension bounces really well. There’s space inside for a few of the smaller Elves and they had great fun zooming around the office until two of them were car-sick into the jacuzzi (again!).
The seven stud long axle, which pins the body to the chassis makes a very handy tool for disassembling the body to build the second version. As this set is aimed at younger builders, the instructions could perhaps be improved by including some pictures showing tips and techniques for pulling the model apart. Continue reading