Tag Archives: Tipper

Achtung Baby

This is a Mercedes-Benz Unimog U20, one of hundreds of Unimog variants, but unusual in being the only ‘forward control’ version, and – by TLCB maths – exactly ten times better than a long-standing Irish soft rock band.

It comes from previous bloggee and Master MOCer Thirdwigg, who has packed it not just with working Technic functions, but also an array of attachments and tools in much the same way as the real thing would be.

Working steering, pendular suspension, a piston engine, and a tipping cab all feature, with a folding crane, three-way tipping bed, street sweeper, and snow plough all attachable via the adjustable hitches and mounting points.

There’s much more of Thirdwigg’s excellent Technic Unimog U20 to see at both his Flickr album of the same name and at the Eurobricks forum, where full imagery and yes – building instructions are available too!

Master MOGer

TLCB Master MOCer Thirdwigg continues to expand his Mercedes-Benz Unimog catalogue. This one is a U5000 short cab tipper, meaning there’s more room to put stuff to tip. A three-way (snigger) tipping bed, working steering, high/low gearbox, rear suspension, piston engine, plus front and rear winches all feature, and you can see more – including a link to building instructions if you’d like to create it yourself – by clicking here.

Russian Winter

It’s the day after the conclusion of the Russian Presidential Election, in which the highest voter turn-out in history awarded incumbent Vladimir Putin an amazing 204% of the vote, securing him a record-breaking fifth consecutive term in office.

But as bad as Russia is at elections, it’s as good at off-road trucks.

State-backed Kamaz – previously part-owned by Daimler (before the Ukrainian unpleasantness), and also part-owned by a close personal friend of the newly re-elected president – produce arguably the best off-road trucks in the world, and today’s is awesome even by Kamaz’s lofty standards.

Built by previous bloggee mpj, this spectacularly cool Kamaz 8×8 Arctic Truck is roughly mini-figure* scale replica of the real eight-wheel-drive, centre-articulated behemoth.

Featuring that 8×8 drive system and articulated steering, plus pendular suspension, a tipping bed, and a working folding crane, it’s a fantastic Technic creation, and you can check it out in full at the Eurobricks forum, where an image of the real Kamaz Arctic Truck can also be found.

Click the link above to jump into the Russian Winter, as the country celebrates another six years.

*Yes, the real truck is that big!

My Other Recycling Truck is a Recycling Truck

The LEGO Technic 42167 Mack LR Electric Garbage Truck is a thoroughly good addition to the 2024 line-up. Small, cheap(ish), and packed with proper mechanical functions, it’s a welcome return to the roots of Technic.

It’s a set that can also be used to create a properly good B-Model, as proven here by mpj of Brickshelf, who has recycled his Mack LR into this excellent cab-over tipper truck.

Complete with a mechanical crane behind the cab, working steering, and a tipping box, it’s as functional as the set upon which it’s based, and there’s more to see at mpj’s ‘42167 B-Model’ album via the link above.

Even More Mogin’

There are almost as many variants of Mercedes-Benz’s Unimog as there are tasks for them to do. Which is probably the point. Endlessly adaptable, the Unimog is also the perfect choice for Technic builders, as proven by Flickr’s Thirdwigg, who’s back here with another fully-functioning brick-built replica of the heavy-duty tractor.

This one is a U530, complete with a three-way* tipping bed, working steering, a piston engine, under the tilting cab, pendular suspension, plus front, centre and rear selectable PTOs.

There’s a rear pneumatic outlet too, which mean’s Thirdwigg’s model can be fitted with nearly as many pieces of additional equipment as the real thing, with a folding crane, trailer, and snow-plow some of those included in his extensive Flickr gallery.

Building instructions are available (and they’re free!), with much more to see at Thirdwigg’s ‘Unimog U530′ album. Click the link above for even more mogin’.

*Snigger

Big Tip

Discovered by one of our Elves on Eurobricks, this fantastic model is an Iveco T-Way, a heavy-duty 8×4 truck outfitted – in this case – as a huge tipper.

Built by previous bloggee mpj, the truck includes remote control drive on the rear two axles, steering on the front two, all-axle suspension, and – of course – a massive tipping body driven by a motorised linear actuator.

LEGO’s Powered-Up components allow the truck to be operated via bluetooth, and you can see more (and find a link to building instructions) at the Eurobricks forum. Click the link above for a big tip.

Mechanimog

We love the Mercedes-Benz Unimog here at The Lego Car Blog. Designed as a multi-purpose tractor for both civilian industry and the military, the Unimog is simple, highly adaptable, and incredibly capable off-road. Which means it’s only a matter of time before AMG create a black-on-black luxury version for the terminally-insecure to enhance their Instagram clout.

Until then though, we’ll continue to enjoy the Unimog as the workhorse it’s meant to be, with this example being a most-workhorsey U4000 tipper.

Constructed by our latest Master MOCer Thirdwigg, this excellent Technic U4000 is a fully mechanical miniaturisation of the Mercedes-Benz multi-purpose tractor, and includes a working piston engine under the tilting cab, a multi-way tipper that cleverly raises via spinning the fuel tanks, a high/low gearbox, functional suspension, steering, front and rear winches, plus opening doors and hood.

It’s all beautifully engineered and there’s lots more of it to see on Flickr, where a link to building instructions can also be found, plus you can find more variants of this U4000 at Thirdwigg’s Bricksafe page, where – as per any good Unimog – the model can be adapted to suit a number of jobs, including pulling a trailer, being outfitted as a camper, and even equipped as a fire truck.

Take a look via the links above, plus you can find out how Thirdwigg creates his models such as this one via his Master MOCers page, which is available alongside the other talented builders that have proceeded him by clicking here.

Just the Tip

Whilst we like trucks here at The Lego Car Blog, we don’t really know much about them. The engine denominations of British family cars from the ’60s, sure. Trucks… not so much.

Cue our surprise then, when one of our Elves found this magnificent DAF FT 2600 truck complete with an enormous tanker trailer, and we discovered it tips. We didn’t even know tankers could do that.

Every day’s a school day, and we have previous bloggee Arian Janssens‘ brilliantly detailed Model Team DAF FT 2600 and tipping bulk trailer to thank for our education.

Both truck and trailer are superbly constructed and photographed, and you can take a look up close via Arian’s photostream. Click the link above for just the tip.

Gatorade

We love simple basic vehicles here at The Lego Car Blog, perhaps because we’re rather simple and basic ourselves.

Cue the John Deere Gator, an all-terrain utility vehicle powered by a 340cc lawn-mower engine, or a tiny diesel, fitted with a CVT, optional four-wheel-drive, and used for everything from estate maintenance to military supply and evacuation.

This splendid little Technic version of the Gator comes from regular bloggee Thirdwigg, who has captured it wonderfully in small-scale Technic, complete with working steering, suspension, and as tipping bed.

Building instructions are available and there’s more to see at Thirdwigg’s ‘John Deere Gator’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to take a look.

On the Fly

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.

The Best a Man Can Get

There seems to be only one measure when it comes to marketing razors; The More Blades the Better. “You have three, well we have four.” “Well now we have five.” “Alright then, six.” It’ll only end when razors have a different blade for each individual hair on your face.

Trucks are much like razors, being marketed primarily as masculine tools, and where – at least according to Flickr’s Martin Nespor – more is more.

Cue Martin’s excellent fully remote controlled cab-over dumper, with not two, nor three, but five axles. It’s the Gillette razor of trucks.

All five axles are suspended, axles three and four are powered, whilst axles one, two and five are steered. There’s also a huge tipping dumper, operated via a linear actuator, with a self opening and closing bucket door cleverly linked to the tipping mechanism.

Well presented on-location in a sandpit, there’s more to see of Martin’s razor… er, truck at his photostream, and you can take a look via the link in the text above before someone builds one with six axles to beat him.

Tippin’ it Old Skool

We love simple mechanical models here at The Lego Car Blog, particularly if they’re recreating simple mechanical vehicles. Cue regular bloggee Thirdwigg, and his thoroughly excellent Mercedes-Benz 917 AK truck.

Featuring no electric motors, zero app-based controls, and completely devoid of bluetooth, Thirdwigg’s truck is an old-school homage to vintage Technic sets, with a range of mechanical hand-powered functions in place of the software-based wizardry now commonplace in Technic construction.

Working ‘Hand of God’ steering, a piston engine connected to the pendular-suspended rear wheels, a high/low gearbox, tilting cab, and a three-way (snigger) tipper with dropsides pack the model with mechanical functions, and there’s more to see – including free building instructions – at Thirdwigg’s ‘Mercedes 917’ Flickr album, Rebrickable page, and Eurobricks discussion topic.

Click the links to tip it old skool.

Yuletide ‘Mog

What’s more Christmassy than a Mercedes-Benz Unimog? Ok, pretty much anything that’s not a Mercedes-Benz Unimog. But then the title wouldn’t work.

This excellent 1:20 scale Mercedes-Benz Unimog U423 comes from TLCB favourite Thirdwigg, who has recreated the off-road tractor/truck rather brilliantly in the style of recent Technic sets, blending Model Team aesthetics with Technic functionality.

That functionality includes mechanical steering and drive to a piston engine, rear suspension with portal axles, front and rear power-take-offs, and a tilting cab with opening doors.

A variety of attachments can also be fitted, including a three-way (snigger) tipping bed, a crane and winch, or a snow plow and gritter. See, it was Christmassy after all! There’s more to see at Thirdwigg’s ‘Unimog U423’ album on Flickr, where a link to building instructions can also be found – click the link above for a Merry Christmog!

Threeway Knuckle

The excellent Technic Iveco Eurocargo off-road truck was discovered by one of Elves today, and it comes from previous bloggee Thirdwigg aka Wigboldy.

Eqiupped with both a three-way tipper and a knuckleboom crane, Thirdwigg’s creation is packed with mechanical features, including a piston engine and high/low gearbox, pendular suspension, steering, a two section extending and slewing boom, a tilting cab, and working outriggers.

All are hand operated via an assortment of hidden knobs and gears, making the model a fantastic homage to the way Technic used to be.

There’s much more of the build to see at both Flickr and Eurobricks, where a link to free building instructions can also be found, because Thirdwigg is awesome. Take a look via the links above.

Rolling Coal

No, not morons polluting the air in diesel-powered pick-up trucks, but this utterly wonderful 1930s Scania-Vabis 355 tipper lorry, complete with a heavy load of the default fuel of the time, as built by previous bloggee SvenJ. The aforementioned load of coal can be tipped out, there’s posable ‘steering’, and beautiful detailing throughout. See more on Flickr via the link.