Well, it is if you’re reading this in the Northern hemisphere. Plus we heard your Mom likes a good plough*, so today we’ve got one! Built by Damian Plesniak it’s quite a bit of kit too, and it’s absolutely packed with working functionality.
Fully remote controlled, Damian’s MAN truck includes working drive (via an XL Motor), steering (via a Servo), plough* blade raising/lowering, blade rotation and gritter rotation (powered by a Medium Motor each), plus a tilting cabin, opening doors, a working V6 engine and LED lights.
There’s lots more to see at both Flickr and Eurobricks, where you can also find a video showing all of the functions in action.
It’s getting all wintery here at TLCB Towers. This means a) we barely see any daylight, b) our Elves often need defrosting when they return to the office (but that’s OK, they’re elves), and c) we’ll try to direct a bit more of the advertising revenue that your visits generate to those without a roof over their heads this Christmas (so please keep visiting – no pressure!).
It also means that we’d like to go out and buy something really silly like a snowmobile for the four days a year that it snows here. Luckily Eurobricks’ Kevin Moo has just the creation to scratch that itch, with his brilliant fully remote controlled Technic Ski-Doo.
Powered by two L Motors, with Servo steering, and with both front and rear suspension, Kevin’s snowmobile is pretty capable in powder, and it can be controlled via a Bluetooth device thanks to a third-party SBrick receiver too. There’s more of Kevin’s build to see at the Eurobricks discussion forum – click the link above to make the trip.
We’re not quite sure why Nissan’s late ’80s – early ’90s compact pick-up truck was called the ‘Hardbody’. All cars have a hard body. Well, apart from whatever this is. It’s also meant that today’s blog post titles are both a bit ambiguous in nature, so we’ll move on quickly and get to the technical stuff…
Built by previous bloggee Filsawgood of Flickr, this neat Technic Nissan D21 Hardbody is one of our favourite trucks of the year. It’s also one of our favourite trucks in real life, being the total antithesis of the hateful Dodge Ram and its ilk.
Filsawgood’s recreation of the little Nissan looks the part thanks to a few well designed Model Team style details, and it’s packing some decent Technic functionality underneath too, including remote control drive and steering and all-wheel suspension. There’s lots more to see at Filsawgood’s photostream – click the link above to get hard.
Presents are being wrapped, Santa is checking his list twice, and we’re about to spend the next few days getting drunk. So as we wind things down here for our usual Christmas break we have one last creation to share, Sariel‘s slightly terrifying mechanised-reindeer propelled sleigh. Watch it in action via the link above, have a very Merry Christmas, and we’ll see you all soon!
Full disclosure; this magnificently menacing model was not found by our Elven workforce. We stole it. From Bricknerd. We’re ashamed, and remorseful, but not enough to stop us from blogging it. The Elves are in trouble though.
It’s a shame they didn’t find this Technic trike too, as they would have absolutely loved it. It’s been built by Flickr’s ianying616, making his TLCB debut, and it’s a spectacular thing to behold. It’s also packing some quality Technic engineering, with working steering, suspension and engine.
A huge gallery of superb images is available to view on Flickr; you can check out all of the trike’s details via the link above.
We’re not really sure why you always get an orange at the bottom of your Christmas stocking. This TLCB writer usually gives his to the Elves, who – having been caged over Christmas – are usually pretty hungry and devour the fruit – skin, pith and all.
Technic car building legend and TLCB Master MOCer Paul Boratko (aka Crowkillers) has returned with his Christmas orange, and it’s far more exciting than a loose piece of citrusy fruit. Even if you’re an Elf.
Featuring a 4-speed sequential gearbox, working steering, a mid-mounted V8 engine, all-wheel drive and all-wheel suspension, Crowkiller’s ‘Scorpion’ is a proper mechanical Technic supercar, and we love it.
There’s a huge gallery of the build available to view on Brickshelf, which includes detailed chassis imagery as well as further photos of the complete car. Click the link above to start peeling!
Just like your Mom, this fully remote controlled Technic Caterpillar 6120B HFS mining shovel is absolutely massive.
Designed and constructed by Technic-building legend Shineyu, this brick-built behemoth weighs nearly 15kgs, replicating perfectly in Technic-figure scale the largest hydraulic mining shovel ever made.
With nine Power Functions motors driving the Caterpillar’s tracks, turntable, shovel action and bucket opening there’s some serious engineering at play, and without a single non-LEGO piece being used anywhere in the build Shinyu‘s creation really shows how far LEGO-building can be taken.
An extensive gallery of images is available to view, and just like your Mom there’s an easily accessible video of the 6120B in action too. Click the link above to jump to the Eurobricks discussion forum for the full story.
LEGO’s 42054 Claas Xerion 5000 tractor is one of the very best sets that we’ve ever reviewed. It’s so good in fact that we can think of little that could be done to improve it. But that’s not to say it can’t be enhanced with a little MOCery. With an adjustable hitch both front and rear that includes a power-take-off, a wealth of attachments can be developed to accompany LEGO’s brilliant set.
Which is exactly what MajklSpakjl of Eurobricks has done. Coupling neatly to the rear of the Claas Xerion tractor Majkl has constructed an enormous Krampe HP30 dump trailer, complete with steering axles and working suspension, and utilising the tractor’s rear power-take-off to drive the dumping mechanism remotely. The complete rig functions beautifully and you can watch it in action and see all of the photos at the Eurobricks discussion by clicking the link above.
McLaren Automotive are on a roll right now. After two decades away from car building they’ve re-entered the market big time, first with the MP4-12C (easily the worst named supercar in history), and now with a range of super sports cars based around the same carbon fibre tub and twin turbo V8 engine.
This one is the most powerful in the range (excluding the limited run P1 hypercar), the 675 LT, and it’s been recreated in Technic form as a commission piece by previous bloggee Jeroen Ottens. With remote control drive and steering, an electrically deployed rear wing and a working electric convertible roof Jeroen’s build is more than just a static display piece.
There’s more to see at Eurobricks and Flickr, where you can also find a link to a video of the functions in action and where instructions are available so that you can build your own 675 LT Spider too.
LEGO’s 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS set… we’re not really fans here at TLCB, and we’re also definitely not fans of the weird part of the online Lego community that seeks to buy sets like this and leave them unopened in a sealed box somewhere. By extension therefore, we are fans of this. Built exclusively from pieces found within the official Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS set, Brickshelf’s marthart has not only opened his 42056 box but he’s used the pieces to not build the Porsche too. The hot rod pick-up he’s created from the Porsche’s parts includes a working piston engine, gearbox, independent suspension and adjustable ground clearance, it was suggested to us by a reader, and it can be found in more detail at the link above.
It’s time for something special. Really special. Poland’s Paul Kmiec, better known as Sariel, has been wowing the online Lego community for years. He’s a published Lego author and a veteran of this site, with a huge range of diverse Technic machinery published here over the years. His latest creation, in construction for months, reached TLCB yesterday, and we may only be a few weeks in but 2017 will have to be a pretty incredible year to beat it. This is Sariel’s fully remote controlled Technic Pagani Huayra…
Built in 1:8 scale Sariel’s Huayra is a perfect Technic replica of the ultra-rare Italian hypercar. The bodywork, constructed from LEGO’s Technic panels, flex tubing and lift-arms, is a work of art, but it’s what’s underneath it that is truly remarkable.
A remote control drive train, controlled by a third-party SBrick bluetooth module, powers the Huayra, with a remotely operable two-speed gearbox and fully independent adjustable suspension included too. There are opening doors, and functioning turn signals, reversing and brake lights – all engaged automatically when the Huayra turns, reverses or decelerates.
Yes, decelerates – because Sariel’s Pagani features remotely operated working pneumatic brakes and the Huayra’s trick active aerodynamics, including the front and rear spoilers deployed on each side when cornering and the rear-mounted airbrake used during heavy deceleration.
Flickr’s Manuel Nascimento has appeared here at The Lego Car Blog before with his utterly spellbinding Lego Technic Porsche 919 Le Mans LMP1 racer. This is his latest iteration of the race winning hybrid endurance car, now updated to 2016 specification.
Pictured here alongside the 2015 edition, Manuel’s update retains the full Power Functions remote control drive and steering, LED lights and working functions of the earlier model, but updates the bodywork and livery to match the 2016 race-winner.
There’s more to see of Manuel’s incredible creation at his Flickr album, where you can also find a link to a video demonstrating the Porsche 919 LMP1’s features.
Just like your Mom, the Mercedes-Benz Unimog U90 is a bit… er, aesthetically challenged, but it likes to get dirty. With portal axles, four-wheel-drive and huge travel suspension the 1992 U90 series Unimog was about as capable an off-road vehicle as you could conceive, and it could be fitted with an enormous array of attachments and tools to suit almost any job. The strange off-centre hood was in fact designed to allow the driver to better see any tools attached to the front from the driver’s seat.
This neat Technic recreation of the asymmetrical ‘mog comes from previous bloggee Thirdwigg, and it’s just as odd on the outside and clever underneath as the real U90. Remote control drive and steering, four-wheel-drive via portal axles, live axle suspension, a 4-cylinder piston engine and a three-way tipper bed all feature, and you can see all of that lot plus a video of the model in action via Flickr, Brickshelf and Eurobricks.
This exceptionally neat Technic flatbed truck by Flickr’s Damian Plesniak was discovered by one of our Elves today, and underneath all that neatness is a full remote control Power Functions drivetrain. Luckily Damian’s creation is too slow and cumbersome for the Elves to use it run each other over, so instead (and in rare moment of Elven peace) a hoard of them are riding around the office in the back. It’ll probably end in tears at some point but for now we’ll enjoy the quiet and you can check out all the images of the build via the link to Damian’s Flickr album above.
2016’s brilliant ‘Zootopia’ showed us no matter what we look like on the outside, it’s what’s inside that counts. The same is certainly true for this recreation of the meter maid police cart from the movie by Flickr’s Sheo.
A glorified golf cart it may be, but Sheo’s build has more packed inside it than many Technic Supercars. There’s fully independent suspension, remote control drive and steering, a four-speed sequential gearbox(!), a working windscreen wiper, illuminating headlights and rotating flashing beacons.
There’s a whole lot more to see on Flickr, MOCpages and Eurobricks, where you can also watch a video of the meter maid in action.
Previous bloggee pipasseyoyo of Brickshelf returns to The Lego Car Blog with another top quality Technic creation. His latest build packs in no less than six Power Functions motors to drive the truck’s steering, propulsion, and trailer hitch, plus the trailer’s support legs and tipping mechanism, and – as we discovered – it’s able to transport a whole troop of Elves outside and then dump them in the hedge. You can see the full gallery via the link above, where you can also find a link to watch the truck and trailer in action.
Ah, Back To The Future, an office favourite here at TLCB Towers and the film that made a star of the iconic Delorean DMC-12, a car that was… total and complete crap.
If you’re unfamiliar with the true story of the DeLorean, which is very nearly as remarkable as the film, you can read it here, but today we’ll be moving on from that steaming turd of a car, saved from obscurity only by a chance decision by Universal Pictures, to feature a vehicle from the movie that’s the total opposite of the DMC-12.
This is, of course, a humble Toyota 4×4 pick-up, known as the Hilux in most of the world, and it’s everything the DeLorean wasn’t. Hugely successful, superbly built, and unbreakably reliable, the Toyota truck was the dream vehicle for 1980s Marty McFly. His version featured a few mods too, which have been faithfully recreated in Technic form by regular bloggee paave.
Paave’s creation doesn’t just look the part either, as underneath is a four-wheel-drive fully remote controlled drivetrain, working leaf-spring suspension, and opening (and locking) doors, hood and tailgate.
You can see all of the images as well as a video of the Toyota in action at both Eurobricks and MOCpages – click the links to go back in time.
Sigh. It’s been a while since we’ve had a mass Elf squashing here in the office, but today, thanks to builder Madoca 1977, we were reminded what it feels like to slide a spatular underneath a flattened mythical creature to prise it out of the carpet. Still, in this situation it’s considerably better than being an Elf.
The cause of the carnage was this, Madoca’s (brilliant) Technic Toyota Tacoma pick-up. With remote control drive and steering, plus a two speed gearbox, it’s a model that is marginally faster than some of our fatter Elves. That’s Darwinism in action right there kids.
The aforementioned Elves would have caused a traction issue for most remote control models once they became smushed underneath the wheels, but Madoca’s Technic Tacoma not only features four-wheel-drive and front and rear suspension, but locking differentials too, meaning that even with three wheels lifted off the ground the fourth will continue to drive the truck forward.
With the model now safely under our control and the jubilant Elven discoverer contentedly cashing in its meal-token, we have an exciting half an hour ahead of us tidying up, so whilst we get on with that you can check out all of the images of Madoca’s superb Toyota pick-up at the Eurobricks discussion forum, where there’s also a video of the truck in action.
With the Elven bodily fluids and most of the bigger body parts cleared away from today’s earlier situation, we were hoping for a quieter remainder to the afternoon. No such luck. Screeching down the corridor came this, one of the fastest remote control Technic vehicles we’ve seen in some time, entitled the ‘Hatchback Type R’, and made by the same bloody builder that caused the earlier incident. Thanks Madoca.
Ergh, we’ll get back to the story above in a bit, but for now, the model; Built by Madoca 1977 (again) it’s a generic hot hatchback (although no prizes for guessing the inspiration behind it) powered by a single L Motor, steered by a Servo, controlled via a third party SBrick, and featuring LED lights too.
That lone drive motor may not seem enough to create one of the quickest models we’ve seen in a while, but Madoca’s Type R is fantastically light, and the Elf guilty of today’s earlier smushing was still eating the rewards of its find when – launched from the other end of the corridor – the Type R shot towards it and slammed it against the wall.
The Elf at the controls, thirst for revenge satisfied, escaped into the street outside, and will no doubt claim its meal token later in the day. It’s unlikely that it was actually a victim of the earlier assault, but ‘revenge’ amongst Elves is a communal thing and it may have been holding a grudge against a totally different Elf from months ago. Either way, we have more clearing up to do, so whilst we get the mop back out you can see more of Madoca’s Type R, as well as his earlier Toyota Tacoma pick-up truck, by visiting the Eurobricks discussion for both models here.
This stunning Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 DTM racing car was discovered on Eurobricks, and it’s one of the most original Technic Supercars we’ve published in ages. Underneath the brilliant bodywork, complete with wonderfully authentic decals, is a wealth of superb mechanical engineering, including a paddle-shift operated 4-speed gearbox, a miniaturised working V8 engine, independent suspension on all wheels, and working steering.
Builder Brunojj1 hasn’t stopped there though as he’s constructed a matching AMG C63, replacing the mechanical goodies with a Power Functions remote control drivetrain and LED lights. Drive is delivered by a combination of an XL Motor and an L Motor, geared to match one another, with a Servo powering the steering. There’s loads more to see of both models, including a of each, at the Eurobricks discussion forum. Click the link above to join the race.
Image may be NSFW.
