Tag Archives: Volvo

My Other Truck’s a McLaren

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We like a good B-Model here at The Lego Car Blog. In fact we ran a whole competition around alternates during the first Coronavirus lock-down last year.

Cue previous bloggee LoMaC, who has repurposed the Technic 42123 McLaren Senna GTR set into something rather more… upright.

Loosely based on Volvo’s ‘Iron Knight’ racing truck, LoMaC’s 42123 alternate turns the sleek Senna into a racing vehicle about as far from it as it’s possible to get, with a working V8 engine, functional steering, and opening doors included.

Building instructions are available and you can find out more at the Eurobricks forum here.

My Other Piece of Earthmoving Equipment is Also a Volvo

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Not our snappiest title. Still, we don’t mind, because this 42114 B-Model from Marek Markiewicz (aka M_Longer) is absolutely marvellous.

Built only from the parts found within the official LEGO Technic 42114 Volvo Articulated Hauler set, and utilising its Control+ app profile, Marek’s wheel dozer is packed with motorised functionality and looks so good it doesn’t appear like an alternate at all.

Three motors provide all-wheel-drive, articulated steering, and blade elevation, whilst a gearbox  not only provides three forward or reverse speeds, it also connects power to the rotating cooling fans and working six-cylinder piston engine when the model is either driving or positioning the blade.

It’s a superb model, and one you can build for yourself as Marek has produced instructions for his Volvo Wheel Dozer 42114 alternate too.

Full details including that link to building instructions can be found at the Eurobricks forum here, you can watch this brilliant B-Model in action via the excellent video below, plus you can find an alternate alternate for the 42114 Volvo Hauler set via a similarly titled past post by clicking these words.

YouTube Video

Swedish Brick

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We recently wrote a post about things that TLCB Elves like, so today we’re jumping straight to a thing that we like, and ignoring the Elves completely. They’re rather annoyed by this of course, but the intersection of the Venn diagram that displays their likes and ours is quite sparsely populated, so we’re unlikely to please both them and us.

Cue the Volvo 240 estate and the cause of their annoyance, which was once – by some margin – the least cool car on sale in TLCB’s home market. Driven only by antiques dealers at precisely 43mph, even if the road had a speed limit of 70, they caused Volvo such reputational damage that the brand even fired a few off a cliff when marketing later models to show how far they’d come.

However the car itself was actually very good, and now that antiques dealers are all driving SUVs (along with everyone else), the long forgotten Volvo estate has become seriously, deeply, almost mythically cool.

This magnificent slab of vintage Swede is the work of regular bloggee Jonathan Elliott, who has not only recreated the Volvo 240 estate wonderfully in brick form, he’s even chucked a sofa on the roof as a nod to its antiques transporting history.

Join us (but not the Elves) in lusting after 1980s Volvo ownership at Jonathan’s photostream via the link above.

My Other Car’s Also a Giant Piece of Earth Moving Equipment

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Not a particularly catchy title, but accurate, as this ace mining truck is indeed constructed only from the parts found within the LEGO Technic 42114 Volvo Hauler set.

Redeploying 42114’s ‘Powered-Up’ motors and Control+ bluetooth control, builder Eric Trax has built an excellent companion for the enormous LEGO Technic 42100 Liebherr R 9800 set, with remote control drive, steering, and tipping bucket, plus – ingenuously – a three-speed automatic gearbox.

Whilst the scale is much smaller than that of the donor vehicle – as evidenced by the ‘steps’ leading up the front which give a clue to how massive this would be in real life – Eric’s creation still requires a hefty 1,700 pieces (around 80% of 42114), and can tip an impressive 2kgs of load.

A complete gallery of images, including a few of the truck alongside the official Liebherr R 9800 excavator set, can be found on Flickr by clicking here, where you can also find a link to building instructions should you wish to turn your own 42114 Volvo Hauler set into this mining truck yourself.

Cleverly, Eric’s 42114 B-Model uses the same Control+ profile as the donor set, so if you do make the switch you can drive it straight away using your familiar Volvo controls. Take a look via the video below to see Eric’s alternative in action!

YouTube Video

The Estate is Dead

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Volvo, once the estate car manufacturer, now produce more SUV/crossover models than estate cars.

Because everyone produces more SUV/crossover models than anything else these days, and unless a car projects an image that you’re about to go hang-gliding off a mountain, consumers aren’t interested in it.

Still, at least Volvo’s SUV/crossovers looks slightly interesting, unlike the vast majority of their rivals, as shown here by TLCB debutant Peter Zieske and his excellent 1:16 scale recreation of the Volvo XC40 R-Design.

Peter’s model is presented beautifully and there’s more to see of his Model Team XC40 at his album on Flickr. Click the link above to drive to a mountain to go hang-gliding, or whatever it is that SUV/crossovers are supposed to be for.

Hooker

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This is a Volvo FH ‘hooklift’ truck, as built by Volvo Trucks employee and previous bloggee Sebeus I.

Sebeus’s Model Team recreation of the latest version of FH-series includes Power Functions drive and steering, flashing warning lights, and motorised lifting axle and hooklift mechanisms.

There’s more to see at Sebeus’s ‘Volvo FH’ album on Flickr, at the Eurobricks discussion forum, and via the video below.

YouTube Video

LEGO Technic H2 2020 | Set Previews

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Summertime is here at TLCB Towers, when skirts get shorter (the pedestrians outside, not TLCB staff), it doesn’t get dark until 10pm, and a select group of Elven ‘volunteers’ are fired over the walls of The LEGO Group’s HQ tasked with bringing back the second half of the year’s new Technic sets.

Those that successfully dodged LEGO’s guard dogs (who surely look forward to this biannual event), have returned with their finds which – thanks to the magic of the internet – we can share with you today! So here they are; the three brand new for H2 2020 LEGO Technic sets…

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42112 Concrete Mixer Truck

The first new addition to the Technic line up is an interesting one, being hefty eight wheel concrete mixer truck that adopts Technic’s recent more detailed aesthetic and includes a brand new bespoke mixing drum piece. Whether this giant single part is a welcome addition or is at odds with the very point of LEGO is open to debate, but the model itself does look rather excellent, with almost Model Team levels of detail yet also retaining decent Technic functionality.

The front two axles offer mechanical steering via a roof mounted gear, whilst that new mixing drum can rotate either as the truck is pushed along or via a gear on the side, allowing it to ‘unload’ its contents all over the kitchen floor. 42112 also adds a few more dark blue pieces to range, with its attractive colouring enhanced with a few neat decals, and it’s expected to cost around €100 when it reaches stores in August.

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42113 Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey

The second set to join the 2020 Technic line-up is as interesting as the first, and it adds another officially-licensed partnership to LEGO’s impressive list to date. It’s also a partnership we never expected, as this awesome looking tilt-rotor aircraft is based on the real (and amazing) Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey.

LEGO have dabbled with tilt-rotor aircraft only once to our knowledge, back with the 8082 Multi-Model Control set from 1993 (come to think of it, why don’t LEGO make multi-model sets anymore? They were great), making 42113 one of the most unusual and original Technic sets in years.

It’s also the first set to feature LEGO’s new ‘Powered Up’ battery box, which when combined with the ‘Powered Up’ Motor drives the set’s two rotors and (we hope) the tilting mechanism that converts the V-22 Osprey from helicopter to plane. An opening cargo door and working landing gear also feature, as do a few orange panels to break up the military grey.

42113 will place towards the top end of the Technic range upon its arrival (although the mid-point definitely seems to be shifting upwards), is aimed at ages 10+ (as per the 42112 Concrete Mixer Truck above), and is estimated to cost around €130 when it reaches stores later this year.

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42114 6×6 Volvo Articulated Hauler

The final new addition to the 2020 line-up is another complicated and expensive set, meaning that all three of LEGO’s H2 sets cost upwards of €100. 42114 sits at the top of the trio, costing an enormous €250. It is itself rather large though, which helps off-set some of that eye-watering cost, and it brings an old favourite back to the range; Volvo Trucks.

Often the ‘B-Model’ (which is ironic, as all three of the new sets don’t seem to offer a B-Model at all), articulated haulers have appeared a few times in the Technic range, but never on this scale. The 42114 6×6 Volvo Articulated Hauler is huge, and packed with LEGO’s latest components, chief amongst which is the Control+ bluetooth brick, which enables the set to be operated remotely via a mobile phone or other bluetooth device.

42114 includes three of LEGO’s new ‘Powered Up’ motors, which deliver the all-wheel-drive, articulated steering, and power the massive linear actuator-driven tipping bucket. High levels of visual realism are present once again, with the set enhanced by both accurate decals and a level of detail that was only present on Model Team sets not that long ago. It’s an impressive combination, and one that has created a set that looks to be both a fine display piece and gloriously playable. But it still looks mightily expensive…

42114 is aimed at ages 11+ and joins 42112 and 42113 in stores later on this year. Better start saving. A lot!

60075 Redux

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We’ve featured a few models here at TLCB that have brought an old set into the new age, however Flickr’s Thomas Selander has kinda done the opposite, taking the 60075 set from 2015 and making it rather more classic, at least in using a 1960s-’70s Volvo F88 truck as inspiration for his tipper. It’s an excellent Town build and considerably slicker than the official set it emulates, and there’s more to see at the link.

Big Man

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Remote control enormity is the order of the day here at TLCB, as today’s second creation is also packed with Power Functions motors. In fact both are, as this is two amazing models in one, with a BuWizz-controlled MAN F2000 EVO pulling a giant SBrick-controlled Tiefbettauflieger trailer (complete with LEGO’s superb 42030 Technic Volvo L350F set as load). Each is the work of Bricks_n_Trucks of Flickr and each is a stunning showcase for how realistic Lego building can get. Click the link above to make the jump to Bricks_n_Trucks’ photostream for more.

Laying Pipes

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We’re not quite over poo-based titles just yet. Discovered by one of our Elves on Brickshelf, this is gkurkowski‘s Volvo PL4809E pipe layer, a fully remote controlled Model Team replica of Volvo’s real tracked crane.

Phenomenal attention to detail and some seriously intricate pneumatics make gkurkowski’s creation spectacularly accurate, both aesthetically and in its operation.

An array of hidden Power Functions motors drive the tracks, superstructure rotation, boom reach, and the cable winch, enabling the Volvo to lay pipe as efficiently as this TLCB Writer does when he’s rushing to leave for work in the morning.

An extensive gallery of top quality photos is available to view on Brickshelf, where comparison imagery showing gkurkowski’s model alongside the real vehicle and WIP shots can be found, plus plenty more images displaying the completed crane as you see here. Click the link above to head to Brickshelf and lay some pipe.

My Other Truck’s a Mack

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LEGO enormous 42078 Technic Mack Anthem set both impressed and infuriated us in equal measure when we reviewed it here last year. One of the set’s major plus points though is the huge quantity and variety of parts included, making it a superb acquisition for builders looking to expand their brick collection. Or build a C-Model…

This is mpj’s Volvo 8×4 crane truck C-Model (so called because the set already includes instructions for a rather nice B-Model), built entirely from the parts found within the 42078 Mack Anthem set – although with a few new stickers added.

Volvo Trucks own Mack Trucks (but not Volvo Cars weirdly) so there is a neat link between mpj’s model and the truck from the set. Like the original, mpj’s build features purely mechanical functions, with the outriggers, crane rotation, three-stage boom, and two-axle steering all controlled by hand.

The design also leaves around 1,000 of the 42078 set’s 2,500 parts unused, so there’s plenty left over to create all sorts of items for the Volvo’s flatbed.

There’s more to see of mpj’s excellent C-Model at the Eurobricks forum, where you can also find a link to instructions should you wish to turn your own Mack Anthem into a Volvo 8×4 crane truck for yourself. Take a look via the link above, and you can read our review of the original 42078 Technic set by clicking on the first link in the text.

F-ing Fantastic

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This phenomenal Volvo F12 truck complete with a VBA box and a Dapa drawbar box trailer was found by one of our Elves on Flickr today, and we know it’s early but this is surely already a contender for the best truck of 2020.

Built by Master MOCer and truck-building legend Dennis Bosman (aka legotrucks), this spectacularly presented build perfectly replicates the real trucks that were in use with the refrigerated transport company ‘Sties’ whose livery Dennis has expertly recreated.

Dennis’ 1:13 scale replica of the 1980s truck (making it almost 150cm in length) not only looks absolutely beautiful on the outside, it includes a wealth of features too, including a tilting cab with a fully fitted interior, and highly detailed engine and chassis, and opening cargo doors.

An extensive gallery of stunning imagery showcasing the classic Volvo F12 truck is available to view by clicking here, and you can read Dennis’ interview here at The Lego Car Blog as part of the Master MOCers series by clicking these words to discover how he creates incredible models such as this one.

Pole Star

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The name your Mom went by when your Dad met her. You know, before she put on all that weight. Polestar is also the name of Sweden’s coolest new car company, and Volvo’s in-house tuning arm, who launch their new minimalistic-titled ‘1’ later this year. Built in China (as Chinese giant Geely own Volvo these days), the ‘1’ is powered by a 2.0 turbocharged and supercharged in-line four plus a pair of electric motors (yup, it’s a Hybrid), and is expected to produce a combined 600bhp.

We can also expect an astronomical price-tag before more normal (and all electric) Polestars follow, with just 1,500 units of the ‘1’ planned for production. Make that 1,501, because Davanchi M of MOCpages (and a previous ‘Featured TFOL’ here at TLCB, back when that was a thing) has decided to build one more. It’s not just any ‘1’ either, as he’s chosen the insane Khyzyl Saleem edition from the latest ‘Need for Speed’ video game to recreate in Lego form.

With some considerable aero, yellow paint, and a rear wing(s) that resemble a park bench, the Khyzyl Saleem edition somehow makes the standard ‘1’ look rather ordinary. It basically looks like it’s been designed by our Elves. It’s also available on LEGO Ideas should you like it as much as they do and you can find a link to Ideas and all the images at Davanchi’s MOCpage by clicking here.

Model Team Spreen

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This enormous (and beautiful) Model Team Scania T143EL 8×4/4 truck, with Spreen livery, a spectacular gooseneck trailer, and a Volvo 350F loader was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr. It comes from TLCB favourite Dennis Bosman (aka legotrucks) and was two years in the making, with help from fellow builders JaapTechnic and the late Ingmar Spijkhoven. Not only does Dennis’ build look unbelievably detailed, there’s also an SBrick buried in their somewhere allowing this model to operate via bluetooth. There’s loads more to see of this incredible creation at Dennis’s Scania T143EL 8×4/4 album on Flickr – click the link above to take a look, and here to read his interview as part of the Master MOCers series here at The Lego Car Blog.

Volvo FMX & Palfinger PK78002 | Picture Special

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This is a Volvo FMX with Palfinger PK78002 SH crane, which is a very long nome. But then it is a very impressive model. Taking builder Dirk Klijn four years to complete, this FMX takes Lego model making to the extreme, with a level of detail and functional realism that is second to none.

Controlled by three third-party SBricks, Dirk’s creation includes Power Functions motors, pneumatics, custom LED lighting and some off-the-charts engineering brilliance.

Firstly the truck is of course remote controlled, with steering on the front axles and drive at the rear. All are suspended, as is the cab, which also tilts to reveal a highly detailed engine underneath.

Stowed compactly between the cab and the flatbed is the Palfinger crane. A trio of Technic pneumatic cylinder unfurl it beautifully, with air pressure provided by an on-board motorised compressor. Further Power Functions motors allow it to rotate, extend and winch, to pluck the assortment of buildery equipment from the truck and lower it to the ground.

Four motorised outriggers keep the truck stable when the crane is in operation, whirring outwards in unison via remote control. It’s a seriously impressive build, and one that certainly goes to the top of the creations featured here in 2019.

There’s much more to see of Dirk’s amazing remote controlled Volvo FMX with Palfinger PK78002 at his Flickr album by clicking here, where you can also find a link to watch a video showing this magnificent model in action.