When the British Army deployed their new invention, known as the ‘tank’, in the First World War the results were slow, unreliable and easily captured. They were also disguised as water carriers, hence the ‘tank’ name which has stuck around until today. Mrutek’s Feuerlöschpanzer Marder has something slightly more in common with its ‘tank’ name than most. See why at Mrutek’s photostream here – it’s worth your click!
Back in the 1980s the Paris Dakar Rally was a very different proposition to how it is today. GPS hadn’t been invented and the race was as much about navigation as speed. European manufacturers were taking the event seriously though, and creating purpose built machines. Dutch truck builder DAF joined the race in 1985 with their heavily modified 3300 off-road truck, driven by Jan de Rooy. ‘The Bull’ as it was known finished in 2nd place within the truck category, and we bet it looked bloody cool doing so.
Nanko Klein Paste shows us how The Bull looked with his awesome recreation in Lego form. Utilising four Power Functions medium motors for drive and with some monster suspension, Nanko’s Technic version of the Dutch legend looks as capable off road as any Lego model is likely to get. See all the photos and details on Flickr at the link above.
We kick off the new year in style with an incredible supercar; Sariel‘s new Technic Ferrari Enzo. His latest work features Power Functions remote control drive and steering, a lifelike V12 engine, fully independent suspension, pneumatically opening doors and a remotely controlled 4-speed gearbox. We certainly can’t do all that justice here, so view the video below and then take a trip to Sariel’s MOCpage to see all the photos.
Welcome to the Lego Car Blog review of set 42023 – Construction Crew, one of the latest additions to the Technic range. We’ve got our finger on the pulse here at TLCB towers…
So, there I was in the Lego store, staring at the Technic range and torn between buying this and the Skip Lorry. I’ve seen women choose shoes faster. We’ll see if I made the right choice soon enough…
First impressions are good. The three vehicles do look cute on the box, and they all seem to do stuff. The box is quite elegantly designed as well. There is, however, precious little sign of any B-models shown on it; just one tiny picture of a laptop with a road grader model that looks like the alternate for the front end loader. Said laptop won’t help either, for as I write this, the instructions aren’t up on Lego’s website yet.
There are three instruction books and 3 pairs of numbered bags of pieces – one for each model – and a small sticker sheet that managed to survive the onslaught of not being protected by cardboard. Taking each of the three models individually, I’ll start with the blue one.
It’s a rather fetching looking tipper lorry, 9 studs wide and it features working steering and a tipping box, the latter raised and lowered by a small linear actuator. It’s not a difficult build, by any means, but it’s an enjoyable thing to put together. You build the front end first, then the box and the chassis rails that hold it all together come last. The resulting model does look nice, especially as attention has been paid to the colour of the fixings and blue ones have been used on the cab where possible.
So, it’s pretty, but is it clever ? In a word, no. The steering is rather vague and imprecise with a very limited lock, and the tipper bed has a few too many holes in the bottom – a shame as it did seem from the pictures that they might have designed this properly for once. It does work OK, though, and the hinged flap at the rear opens as it goes up. It’ll open before it goes up as well, unfortunately; there’s no means to lock it shut. So, an aesthetic success but not a technical one. Next!
A little red excavator, which wears stickers on the side that somewhat redundantly say ‘Excavator’, just in case we weren’t sure… this features another little linear actuator to lift the arm and it’s extended manually via a set of simple crossed levers. This aspect works well, and it’s got a control to rotate the body on the base. This is completely pointless as the thing will swivel around of it’s own free will anyway. If it was geared down it might have worked.
It’s got a pair of caterpillar tracks, using the older, small black chain link type – 40 per side so get clicking! – and I always like seeing these, although they appear to be made of a softer plastic than used to be the case. These need gears at each end to act as sprockets, and this model doesn’t have that – the chains simply slide over the ‘sprocket’ provided by pairs of bevel gears that don’t mesh with them, meaning the tracks have some free side-to-side movement, and will slip over the sprockets. They won’t slip right off, though. So, a partial success and, like the truck, it does look good.
The best of the three is undoubtedly the yellow front end loader. This looks very purposeful with it’s big yellow wheels, with new squarer tyres that’ll suit most of your truck mocs very well – and it features articulated steering and a lifting, tilting bucket at the front. The joint in the middle is very sturdy, it steers nice and smoothly and the bucket’s lifting mechanism is fine, although the bucket itself tips back as it goes up. The tilting action is a bit sloppy, however, and could not be more basic. That aside, this is a good model.
The three models are also provided with a small pile of round 2×2 bricks to dig up/load/carry. All great fun, although they had to be this big lest they fall through the holes in the truck’s floor…
If all this sounds a bit.. lukewarm, blame the reason I chose this set:
I already had 42004, the little JCB, and it’s a complete delight: the thought of three more like that in one set was extremely tempting. That wouldn’t be too much to ask either, as the 42004 costs £18 to 42023’s £50, and it has less than a third of the pieces. IT’S GOT AN INSTRUCTION BOOK FOR THE B MODEL AS WELL. If I shout maybe someone at Lego will hear me…
Whereas each of 42023’s models have 2 or 3 functions/moving parts, 42004 has 6 on it’s own, in a model that’s the same size. These functions are not perfect, but they’re at least as good as any similar systems on 42023. All this and cuteness; can’t ask for more.
So, to sum up, I should probably have bought the Skip Lorry… 42023 is a nice enough set, and it would make a very good starter kit for someone new to Technic, but there’s not really enough here for the seasoned builder at this price. 6/10. 42004 on the other hand, is an outstanding little model that looks even better value now. 9/10.
This is the Lego Car Blog. We make these mistakes so you don’t have to!
Because one is never enough, MOCpages’ Nick Barrett has built a small army of tipper trucks ranging from Technic to micro. Each features a variety of working functions (well, except the last one), and all are available to view at Nick’s MOCpage here.
The Lamborghini Miura has been done so many times, your model of it would need to be spectacular to get our attention…
… trust Senator Chinchilla to wake us up from our post-Christmas slumbers. Find this beauty on MOCpages.
With the red and green, it looks like it could belong to a jolly fat man… welcome to TLCB’s review of the Lego Technic 42008 Service Truck.
Not quite the latest in a long line of mid-range truck models that always seem to be the meat of the Technic range, this one with its 1276 pieces and £100 price is definitely edging upwards from mid-range, despite its still-modest size.
It’s got most of the sophistication of a much larger model too, as we shall see.
First impressions: Well, you’ll either get on with the green or you won’t… Personally, I think a grey or black (not red) chassis would have helped. Nevertheless, it is good to see Lego broadening the Technic colour palette once again – long may that continue! You get an entirely typical box, well stuffed with goodies and three instruction books. And a sticker sheet, natch. You’ll need that…
Building it is a reasonably familiar experience for anyone who’s had any other mid-range truck set in recent years, apart from the pneumatics, possibly. This may be unique in combining pneumatics, linear actuators and a PF motor in the same model – I can’t think of any others that have all three – and it’s this fact that makes the price seem pretty reasonable. It’s a fairly intricate and densely packed thing, with little wasted space, but the instructions are typically clear and simple to follow.
After a leisurely afternoon’s building, you’ll have a pretty impressive model with many functions:
Steering: A very well engineered progressive-rate system that operates on the first two axles via the usual gear on the roof. It works very smoothly, there’s a reasonable amount of lock and nothing for me to complain about. Technic steering systems would seem to be improving, at last.
Rear Stabilizers: Operated via the left hand gearbox and motorized, like all the following functions, these raise and lower via a pair of small linear actuators and are of limited use, frankly. They don’t lock in place and they’re not strong enough to lift the rear of the model. Next!
Hook: Anyone expecting this to take an age to raise and lower, like every other motorized crane, is in for a surprise. The thing fairly rips along, assuming you’ve lifted the stop-lever if you’re extending it…. which item won’t stay up on it’s own so you need three hands to do so. Grrr! It has the strength to pull a similar size model onto the ramp, so it does it’s job.
Boom Lifting: Done by a single large linear actuator and operated via the right hand gearbox, this works smoothly and well. It goes a lot further up than it needs to for a service truck, but I’m not complaining. Much.
The pneumatic compressor is actuated via the right hand gearbox and this powers the boom extension and the ramp lowering mechanisms. Each of these items uses a small pneumatic piston to actuate it, which works fine – if rather suddenly, as is the way with airtank-less pneumatics – without a load, but the small pistons don’t have enough grunt to do much actual work. The standard, larger, pistons would have been better.
That’s an impressive array of working functions for what is still a relatively small model; the more so because there’s a motor and battery box packed in as well. Most of them work alright, after a fashion, and it does make this an extremely playable set. The only major gripe concerns operating the motor via the switch on the battery box; you’ve got to be delicate to avoid switching it to the other direction when you want it off. Adding a PF switch would make this a much more manageable thing to use.
You can use it well enough, though…
Model Team trucks are pretty but they break down a lot…
42008 will never be called pretty, exactly, but it looks… purposeful. There’s a fairly minimal amount of detail around the cab, but there’s enough. The doors open to reveal the usual pair of angled-liftarm seats and a rudimentary dashboard and (unconnected) steering wheel. As for the colour, it’s certainly striking… I don’t usually apply stickers to my sets, but with this it’s very necessary; and they do successfully break up what is a big slab of green without them.
Overall, I like it. It ain’t perfect, it ain’t pretty, but it’s packed with features and you get a sense that the designers were being ambitious with it. Perhaps a little over-ambitious, but there’s a lot to admire here. 7/10
The LEGO Technic Mercedes-Benz Unimog (8110) might be the best model The LEGO Group has ever made. At 2000 pieces and including both Power Functions and Pneumatic systems, as well as a huge array of mechanical functions, 8110 is one of the most sought-after sets the company has produced to date. However, unlike most other Technic sets, it didn’t really come with instructions for an alternate – or ‘B’ – model.
Eurobricks member djshiver (aka Mr. Tekneex) has rectified this with his creation built solely from the parts found within the 8110 Unimog set. His Jeep features the Unimog’s superb 4×4 drive system and couples it to a two-speed gearbox whilst utilising the original model’s compressor motor to power a front-mounted winch. The Jeep also includes an inline 4-cylinder engine up front, superb all-round suspension, working steering, and full Power Functions remote control compatibility. Everything LEGO could’ve included had they designed a ‘B’ model themselves!
You can see all the photos, design details and discussion for the Unimog alternate model at the Eurobricks forum via the link above, or alternatively you can visit Mr. Tekneex’s MOCpage here.
The Lego Car Blog staff seem to be a bit portlier than they were before Christmas. Blame this on decadence of the TLCB Christmas party food and the fact that, well, someone had to eat the Smarties usually designated to the Elves whilst they were incarcerated.
With normal service resumed here at TLCB Towers it seems fitting that one of the creations uploaded over the Christmas break is a machine that enabled our mass sugar consumption, Eric Trax’ incredible Holmer Terra Dos T3 sugar beet harvester.
Powered by no less than eleven LEGO Power Functions motors and containing over 6,000 pieces, Eric’s harvester is a fiendishly complicated piece of kit. Watch the video below to get a flavour, and you can see all Eric’s photos on either Flickr or Brickshelf.
YouTube Video:
It’s that time of year again, when several lucky Elves ‘volunteer’ to get thrown over the perimeter fence of The LEGO Group’s development HQ. Weeks have passed since the office sling-shot fired the Elvish task-force into the Danish darkness, but today the final Elf returned and thus we now have the complete Technic line-up for the first half of 2014! Some of the stolen images have watermarks on, but hey – we’re not picky.
42025 – Lego Technic Cargo Plane
The main picture of this article is the main Technic set of 2014, and it marks a return to air-based Technic not seen for some time. The ‘feature’ model for the start of the year, LEGO’s new Cargo Plane features some rare Technic colours and a whole host of Power Functions and mechanical goodies, including; turning propellors, opening nose-cone, lowering ramp and adjustable flaps. Targeted at the upper end of the Technic age-range 42025 is aimed at builders aged 10+ and will likely sit at the top of 2014’s prices.
42021 – Lego Technic Snowmobile, 42022 – Lego Technic Hot Rod
Next up are the two mid-range vehicles in the 2014 LEGO Technic line-up; 42021 and 42022, a snowmobile and hot rod respectively. Each is aimed at a slightly younger audience than 42025, but they still include a variety of proper Technic mechanical functions, including steering, suspension and piston engines. Each also continues LEGO’s expansion into brighter colours and decals, making them very visually appealing sets. Like all of the 2014 Technic range, instructions are provided for two possible models and these will also be available digitally via Lego.com.
42026 – Lego Technic Black Racing, 42027 – Lego Technic Desert Racer
Our third volunteering Elf snaffled two new starter Technic sets aimed at the 7+ age group; 42026 and 42027. As with all starter models their simpler build does mean less functionality than the larger Technic sets, but the LEGO Group does enhance the play value with pull-back motors. The Elves, being optimistically at the mental capacity of a 7 year old, love these, and we suspect they’ll be the biggest sellers in the range next year. Bold colour choices abound in 2014 with more lime green and a dash of bright orange – we’re sure that we’ll see these re-surface on a few muscle car MOCs throughout the year.
42020 – Lego Technic Double Rotor Helicopter
Probably our least favourite of the 2014 LEGO Technic sets is this transport helicopter, but the range has to start somewhere. The rotors spin in unison and it features some useful looking rotor blades, but not much else. It will be cheap though.
42023 – Lego Technic Construction Team, 42024 – Lego Technic Container Truck
The final two new Technic sets in LEGO’s 2014 range get back to the heart of the brand; big chunky construction equipment with loads of mechanical features. It’s safe to say we’re delighted with these two sets.
On the left is 42023, the Construction Team, and the first multi-model set we’ve seen in years. Featuring a tracked excavator, front-loader and a dump truck it looks like a great way to expand a Technic collection with some excellent mechanical models. Aimed at ages 8+ the three models are quite simple, but they’re also full of play potential. Bravo LEGO.
And finally, the last model in LEGO’s 2014 Technic range is 42024, container truck (or ‘skip lorry’ as we’d call it here in the UK). Aimed at the 10+ age group it features some strong mechanical features including working steering, a lifting container arm and extending support legs. It’s also – despite the modern studless construction – rather retro looking in a classic red-yellow-blue combo, and we like that.
Overall it’s a pretty strong line-up for 2014, and there will be further additions, including a new flagship, for the second half of the year. As always we may review some of these sets throughout the year, and if you’d like to read The Lego Car Blog’s expert reviews on official LEGO sets from previous years, check out the Reviews page here.
Over to Eurobricks now, where TLCB favourite Piterx has built a most excellent winter toy. Fully remote control by way of LEGO’s Power Functions system, Piterx’s snowmobile is as capable on the white stuff as the real thing. There’s a video of it in action on YouTube, and you can join the discussion on Eurobricks here.
Snappily titled the ‘superawesomemicroproject’ it’s the product of two men, Australian marketer Steve Sammartino and 20 year-old Romanian engineer Raul Oaida, who built the life-size Lego hot rod using over half a million Blacktron-coloured LEGO pieces.
Their creation is powered by 256 LEGO pistons mounted within four enormous orbital engines fed by compressed air, with only the wheels and loaded components featuring non-LEGO construction.
Funded via crowdsourcing, the superawesomemicroproject has reached speeds of 30km/h with a driver on board and will probably go faster than that, all while built purely from little blocks of Danish plastic.
To read more about this amazing vehicle check out the superawesomemicroproject at Steve and Raul’s website, and watch the incredible video below.
Thanks to Bricknerd who beat us to the punch.
Jennifer Clark’s Demag all-terrain crane was uncovered on MOCpages today, and it’s one of the best we’ve seen this year. Fully remote controlled and featuring a huge variety of functions, you can see more of this Technic masterpiece here where there’s also a link to Jennifer’s own website containing full details of all her builds.
The Elves are still hard at work, despite the miserable weather outside The Lego Car Blog Towers. Today’s find, by an Elf who’s now pegged up by the ears near a radiator to dry out, is an unusual model in Lego form.
We’re not really sure why Ford’s Model-T is overlooked by the Lego-building community, what with it being one of the most numerous (and famous) cars ever produced. Brickshelf’s solic helps to give the vintage vehicle some plastic recognition with his superb Technic Model-T truck. It comes compete with authentic leaf sprung suspension, Power Functions control and a working piston engine. See all the photos on Brickshelf at the link above.
As the icy finger of winter draws ever nearer to The Lego Car Blog Towers we’re beginning to post a little less often. Whilst the Elves, being elves, are used to Christmas working, most of the staff here will be drunk on a variety of festive beverages for the next few weeks and thus quality (never our strongpoint) is likely to take a turn for the worse.
It seems appropriate then to round off the last full week of (mostly) sobriety with a wintery model; something red, something good at ploughing through the snow, and something that’s able to carry a lot of presents in the back. No, not Santa’s sleigh, but a monster 8-wheel-drive Tatra T813 Kolos trial truck.
Built by gkurkowski, the T813 Kolos features all the usual Technic Truck Trial toys, and there’s a whole gallery to peruse on Brickshelf. Check it out at the link above.
