Tag Archives: Ukraine

It’s Be-Hind You

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This is a Mil Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunship, a 1970s product of the Soviet Union that remains a formidable aircraft even today.

The MI-24’s speed, size, troop carrying, and attack capability have led to its use in a depressingly long list of wars, conflicts and insurgencies over the last five decades, with over fifty operators worldwide, including countries in direct conflict with one-another, and some less-than-reputable dictators, despots, and militias.

The U.S even have a few, as does much of the former Soviet Union, with this excellent brick-built example by Flickr’s Steffan Johansson flying in Ukrainian colours. Ukraine’s former Soviet comrade Russia flies the greatest number of Mi-24’s of course, with many currently deployed in the ‘Special Military Operation’ (read ‘Illegal War’) in Ukraine.

At least five Russian and one Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters have been lost in the conflict to date, which is a number that is at least the right way round, and you can see more of this one at Steffan’s ‘Mi-24/35 Hind’ album on Flickr.

Click the link above to take a look, or here to donate to those whose lives have been devastated by Russian aggression against their former ally. Both sides may be deploying the Mil Mi-24 Hind in the current conflict, but one deserves your support.

Ukrainian Harvest

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There has been no finer sight in 2022 than that of Ukrainian farmers pulling abandoned Russian tanks out of the mud during the Russian invasion and claiming them for the Ukrainian Army, having been deserted by their crews due to poor logistics, low moral, incompetent navigation, or all of the above.

Unless you’re a viewer of Russia-1 television of course, in which case the story is one of grateful Ukrainians helping the brave Russian tank crews in their noble quest to rid Ukraine of ultra-nationalist Nazis. Or some other bullshit.

Stefan Johansson is the builder behind this wonderful depiction of Russian military ineptitude / Ukrainian ingenuity, and there’s more to see of his creation ‘Spring Harvest in Ukraine’ on Flickr via the link.

You can also help the relief efforts in Ukraine required due to Putin’s war via the Disasters Emergency Committee and many others. Whilst wonderfully brave Ukrainians have indeed pulled abandoned Russian tanks from the mud for repurposing, an estimated twelve million Ukrainians have now fled their homes, or what’s left of them. If you can, help.

Ukrainer Container

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The war in Ukraine (or ‘Special Military Operation’ to our Russian and Belarusian readers) continues, with more devastation, civilian killings, and Kremlin lies. So far though, the Ukrainian flag continues to fly, being raised over areas retaken from the invading Russian forces in recent days.

Showing his support is Jonathan Elliott, whose neat hook-lift truck is pictured raising the Ukrainian flag in container form. If you’d like to show your solidarity with Ukraine too, please do build in blue and yellow, and you can donate to the enormous refugee crisis Putin has created via organisations such as the Disasters Emergency Committee.

Soviet Synergy

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The Soviet Union, for all the terror, oppression, and poverty meted out on its inhabitants, achieved some amazing things. Uniting almost all of Eastern Europe, it spanned over 22,000 square kilometres and eleven time-zones before its collapse in 1990, heralding a freedom long-awaited by millions.

The two largest countries within the bloc were the Russian SFSR and the Ukrainian SSR, where collaboration on military, vehicle and aircraft manufacturing was particularly close.

Which makes it all the more awful that Russia has decided to invade and bombard its brother, despite a shared history, language, people, accomplishments, and that Kyiv is actually even older than Moscow. It’s a war to revive the Soviet Union, in a time where – thankfully – such oppression is incredibly hard to achieve, and is – we hope – doomed to fail.

Today’s creation captures the shared history of Russia and Ukraine beautifully, being a Russian Lada Niva constructed in Ukrainian colours. Flickr’s PalBenglat is the builder, answering our call to build in blue and yellow, and there’s more to see on Flickr. Good luck Ukraine.

Where’s Our Facebook Page Gone?

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For those of you who follow us on Facebook, The Lego Car Blog is no longer visible on the platform. It looks like we’ve been ‘unpublished’ due to our stance on the war in Ukraine.

Hopefully this is an error, as Facebook battle to remove disinformation surrounding the conflict (a good thing). It would be very odd if not, as we’ve mocked Trump regularly and that’s been fine. Maybe Putin’s more powerful than we thought!

Hopefully we’ll reappear soon, but if not thanks for following us there. If we have been unpublished for raising Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (and the threats we have received when we’ve criticised the Russian Premiership), we’ll stand by it, and with Ukraine.

TLCB Team

Ukrovery

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The news from Ukraine is heartbreaking. Almost eight decades of peace in Europe has ended, and the human cost is going to be enormous.

We’ve pilloried Putin before (and received threats as a result), but the mask is off now, and what lies beneath it is monstrous.

As such we hope blue and yellow vehicles might feature here a bit more prominently for a while following our recent call, which Flickr’s Frost has answered, rounding off Febrovery with his final lunar rover looking wonderful in Ukrainian colours.

So that’s it for Febrovery 2022, but sadly not Putin’s ‘Special Military Operation’, which – thanks to the heroism of those defending Ukraine – looks far from being over. If you’re one of the 5,000 TLCB readers from Ukraine, or indeed one of the 17,000 from Russia and are as dismayed as the rest of us, a special welcome to these pages to you.

If you’re looking to help the situation in Ukraine but don’t know how, check out the Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal and the UN Refugee Agency Appeal where donations are now open.

Build in Blue & Yellow

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We published a post last year in which some famous lyrics were mildly amended to highlight a certain murderous rat-faced tyrant. In it we wrote, but then left out, a verse about his intent to invade Ukraine. It was too provocative and an unnecessary addition we thought. We thought…

Perhaps we should build only in yellow and blue this week.

KRAZY

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Lego KrAZ 255 Truck Remote Control

This is a Ukrainian KrAz 255 6×6 off-road truck, launched in the late 1960s by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The KrAZ factory actually started out making bridges, then combine harvesters, before moving on to military trucks. Communism meant you built what you were told to…

KrAZ were good at trucks though, and in 1971 they were awarded the Order of Lenin (the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union) for their successes, and their products were exported to several countries around the world.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union KrAZ are no longer under the control of the state, and – a little weirdly – are supplying vehicles to the Ukrainian army to defend Ukraine from invasion by their old masters Russia.

This superb Model Team style recreation of the Soviet-era KrAZ 255 is the work of xxtruck of Brickshelf, making his TLCB debut. Underneath the realistic exterior is a remotely controlled 6×6 drivetrain, working suspension on all wheels, a detailed engine and interior, and functioning head and tail lights.

There’s lots more of the KrAZ 255 to see via xxtruck’s Brickshelf Gallery – take a look via the link above.

Trolleyed

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Lego Trolleybus Remote Control

Looking like a normal bus, but powered by electricity via overhead cables (just like a dodgem), the Trolleybus is a very smart solution for emissions-free urban transport. With the current focus on air quality and global warming it seems very strange that the humble trolleybus is now completely extinct in TLCB’s home nation.

However trolleybuses do still exist in other parts of the world, and in Ukraine amongst other countries they’re still a reasonably common sight. This ZiU-9, a remnant from the extensive Soviet trolleybus system constructed in the 1960s, is the work of previous bloggee paave, and it’s packed with functionality.

Lego Technic ZiU-9 Trolleybus

Hidden within the realistic bodywork are three Power Functions motors, five linear actuators, a LiPo battery, two IR receivers, and a set of LED lights. An XL motor takes care of the drive whilst a Medium motor controls the steering, and a Large motor completes the set providing power to each of the automatic opening doors. All of this is remotely controlled via LEGO’s excellent Power Functions infrared system.

There’s lots more to see, including a video of the trolleybus in action, at several of the key creation-sharing platforms; click on a link to climb on-board: MOCpages, Brickshelf, Eurobricks.

Lego Technic Remote Control Bus ZiU-9

Cold War

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Lego F4-B Phantom

The news is making for pretty grim reading at the moment. Russia is on the war path again (yay…), albeit covertly and surrounded by furious Kremlin denials, and America is too, although this time they have the support of forty countries including some unlikely middle-eastern allies (even Iran).

Unlike the era from which today’s models originated, the two great nuclear powers are currently fighting on different fronts, and merely throwing testosterone fuelled political doctrine at one another in regards to their respective conflicts. Of course during the Cold War it was only strong words that were exchanged too, but it could have been so very different.

The awesome F4-B Phantom was the cornerstone of America’s air attack in the 1960s-’80s, and this incredible recreation of the multi-role fighter is the work of the brilliant Bricktrix on Flickr. Featuring custom decals, working flaps, air-brakes, tail rudder, tail hook, folding wing tips, retractable landing gear and flashing nav lights, you can see the Phantom’s full gallery via the link above.

To defend the Soviet Union from the likes of the Phantom the Soviets responded with this, the Tunguska 9K22/2S6 Tracked Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft System. D-Town Cracka‘s perfectly recreated Lego version is detailed right down to the eight 9M311 surface-to-air missiles that would have been used to defend the motherland’s air-space.

Thankfully the two giant (and moronic) superpowers never exchanged fire. Just two decades earlier they had stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the Second World War to defeat Nazism too. How quickly we forget the lessons of history…

Lego Cold War Soviet Missile-Launcher