Tag Archives: Vehicles

LEGO planes, trains, and automobiles! Well, maybe not trains, since they don’t like to play with the other LEGO themes, but here you’ll find all our favorite cars, buses, boats, ships, helicopters, and anything else with an engine (and some without).

This Star Wars X-Wing gets by with a little help from its friends

LEGO builder Tom Loftus had a mission that was almost as exciting as destroying the Death Star. That mission was to build a compact design T-65 X-Wing Fighter with engines that were three studs wide. A LEGO X-Wing is nothing new, but I think the look of the iconic ship was achieved nicely here. What sets it apart from some of the scores of X-Wings we’ve already seen is the use of sand blue for the canopy, which is pretty vital for that ship but alas is a difficult color to obtain in quantity or various shapes.

While iconic, building the X-Wing accurately is no easy feat but Tom does a great job of it as evidenced by these many views.

Tom is one of those builders that seek help and advice from his friends then uses it accordingly. In his write up he names and thanks a slew of friends who had helped out which is a class act, in my opinion. It makes sense because while Luke ultimately destroyed the Death Star, it was really a team effort and everyone got awarded for it at the end of the movie, except Chewbacca. hey, wait a minute! Doesn’t Chewie deserve some love? While you’re mulling that over, check out the other times we gave Tom Loftus some well-deserved love.

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The Knight Industries Two Thousand

The TV show “Knight Rider” sold itself as “a shadowy flight into a dangerous world of a man who does not exist.” But, when it comes to LEGO, Knight Rider has been a frustrating struggle to cope with a car that does not exist. Because we got the man instead — a minifigure of Michael Knight was released as part of the LEGO Dimensions game in 2017. But Michael’s famous talking car, K.I.T.T.? We don’t have an official minifig-compatible one of those. Thankfully Jerry Builds Bricks has come to the rescue – again. Because this isn’t Jerry’s first KITT. But it is an all-new 8-stud-wide model, making use of the newer Speed Champions windscreen, and it perfectly captures the sleek awesomeness of the 80s Firebird Trans Am. Man, remember when a self-driving car was such a crazy notion you could build a prime-time TV show around the idea?

LEGO unveils the new Expert vehicle set: 10290 Pickup Truck [News]

Today LEGO unveils the new addition to the LEGO Expert cars, 10290 Pickup Truck. The new truck is a 1677-piece set, which makes it a bit bigger than the previous 10295 Porsche 911 Turbo. However, the new set comes with the price of US $129.99 | CAN $169.99, which is $20 less in the US than the Porsche. The pickup truck has functional steering, a detailed interior, and a bunch of accessories for a perfect display. The set is currently available for pre-order and will ship in October.

Click here to take a closer look…

LEGO 42126 Technic Ford F-150 Raptor unveiled [News]

We get an early look at a set from the new wave of Technic sets for the second half of 2021 with a Ford collaboration. The 42126 Techni Ford F-150 Raptor is listed on Walmart and retailing for USD 99 with 1379 Pieces. There is no indication of when the set will be available for order.

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All hail the shiny slammed pickup

Here at The Brothers Brick, we’re a lot like raccoons in the sense that we love shiny things. (And also eat from garbage cans on occasion.) That’s why when 1saac W. built this sweet slammed LEGO Chevy pickup with shiny chrome rims and engine we were all foaming at the mouth for reasons definitely not having to do with rabies. At least I was anyway. The rest of TBB staff looked pretty normal, come to think of it. Throw in a rare color and that has rendered this particular writer and custom car nerd extra-foamy, kinda like an ill-poured beer. I declare this LEGO creation the best in the history of the world ever for all eternity or until a few hours from now when we see something else that strikes our fancy, whichever comes first. If you like vehicles as much as I do, then click the blue link to see what 1saac and other builders have come up with.

The Tachyomatic Combine combines complex angles and interstellar build techniques

Well, I’m pretty sure Nick Trotta is from outer space or he’s been sent from the future to kill us all. How else could you explain LEGO build techniques of this caliber? This Tachyomatic Combine combines (how do you explain word association that good?) complex angles, futuristic aerodynamics, and interesting colors and textures. The end result is so cohesive you’d be convinced Nick visited the future. Actually, he’s taken inspiration from artist Weiyi Qin whom I’m pretty sure is also from outer space.

Care to see other angles and the inner workings of this mind-blowing model? I’m pretty much going to speak for you here and say that you do. Go on, click the link! You know you want to!

No seriously, click it. You won’t be disappointed!

This anti-gravity Wipeout Racer has a checkered history

You may have heard the humorous adage that if you paint racing stripes on your vehicle it’ll automatically go faster. In the case of this LEGO anti-gravity Wipeout Racer by David Roberts that might actually be true. He tells us that this ship was first in its class partly due to its powerful engine pack and partly due to its color scheme distracting other pilots and causing them to crash. He goes on to explain that this led to a rule change where the team had to paint their ship in a more sober pattern and thus the success of the race sadly and predictably waned. The lesson learned here is that racing fans like crazy stuff and now we can’t have nice things. Speaking of nice things, this would not be David’s first lap with brightly-colored ships and other awesome stuff. Check out our archives to see what I mean.

Go anywhere in the rugged Toyota FJ40

LEGO automotive enthusiasts lost our collective cookies when they came out with the 10271 Fiat 500 set in bright lemony yellow. (I think I peed a little!) It was a previously difficult color to come by but as Jonathan Elliott pointed out, even with the Fiat, there are only 352 parts available in that shade, a large chunk dedicated to minifig hairstyles. This means building your own creations in that tasty color is still somewhat difficult. Boy, don’t I know it! That didn’t stop Jonathan from building a totally awesome Toyota FJ40 though. This model is so accurate it almost feels like you can actually go off-roading in it. While he is no slouch with building LEGO cars, his automotive chops really shined with this one. Check out the archives to see what I mean.

Take the Minnie Winnie on a maxi road trip

With vaccines rolling out and COVID numbers dropping in most countries, many folks are looking to travel again. However, some areas are unfortunately spiking, so airplane travel with strangers can still feel a bit icky. That is why a road trip is a compelling option for many people right now. If you still love the folks you’ve been locked up with for the last several months to a year-and-a-half, then look no further than this neat little LEGO 1977 Minnie Winnie built by 1saac W. This builder has been on a hot streak here at The Brothers Brick lately, and it’s clever build techniques like this are the reason why. I’m loving the iconic “W” for Winnebago. Or maybe it’s an homage to the builder’s last name? Oooh, maybe his last name is Winnebago! How perfect would that be? While you’re mulling that over, check out some other cool vehicles built by 1saac and many others.

This ship is barrels of fun!

While classic greys have their place, I’m a sucker for a vibrant color scheme on my spaceships. The Blue Barrel by David Roberts certainly doesn’t disappoint in that arena, with a checkerboard pattern of red and orange that really offsets the blue bodywork to make this vessel stand out. I love the smooth lines and the Technic gears in the nose.

The real treat, though, is when this baby comes in for a landing. Dave’s focus on this build was the development of hinged hatches and extendable landing gear. Fingertip pressure is all it takes to pop open the landing struts, but apparently, you’ll “need some fingernails to get at the legs and pull them out!” Truly, one of more obvious-but-still-clever uses of Technic rods I’ve seen in a while. Also be sure to spend a moment or two examining that innovative ladder. It doesn’t use standard stud attachments to hook onto the ship but rather uses 1×1 Tooth plate to hang on the cockpit rim.

Did this whet your appetite for more space-y goodness? Take a stroll through our archives for even more great featured builds!

A small truck for mammoth tasks

Like many men my age, at heart, I don’t necessarily feel all that different from when I was six years old and playing with my LEGO train. Besides LEGO and trains, as a boy, I liked fire engines, diggers and trucks, preferably with lots of lights. My latest build still fits that pattern. It is a Mercedes Actros truck with a stepframe trailer, as operated by the Dutch company Mammoet, which is Dutch for mammoth.

They specialize in heavy lifting and transport of oversized and heavy objects. So, by their standards, this truck is actually quite small. Their vehicles have an attractive and distinctive color scheme. It uses a lot of red, but the vehicles’ cabs are usually black. The trailer, built by the Dutch company Nooteboom, has a yellow edge for increased visibility. When I started building the truck, I wasn’t sure what load I’d put on the trailer, except that I wanted it to be predominantly yellow. Ultimately I picked a Liebherr wheel-loader with nicely chunky wheels. As a display base for some future LEGO event, I also built part of a road, which I decorated with some flowers and two road signs, both of which (would you believe it?) I already had as a six-year-old.

Negative space (travel)

Two of the bigger challenges that a builder can face when creating a custom LEGO creation are angles and empty space. Blake Foster has done a great job of conquering both with his Procyon Planetary Research Hovercraft. I can only imagine the number of techniques at play in creating the craft’s hexagonal outer wall. Complicating the matter is all that empty space in the center, which gave Blake the opportunity to outfit the sides of the wall with some great greebling. But I think my favorite aspect of the whole build is one of the more subtle choices – the use of the 1×4 spring shooter launchers, added so that the notch of light bluish gray from the scaffolding cuts slightly into the dark bluish gray of the engines. It’s a great touch that helps keep anything on this craft from looking like a plain old square.