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).

Who drove it best? Lamborghini Aventador or Toyota Prius

A couple of really high quality LEGO car models rolled across our monitors this week so I thought we’d take the opportunity to feature both models, hailing from very different economic classes but from a pair of equally talented creators. On the affordable-by-the-common-man end of the spectrum, we have hachiroku24‘s Toyota Prius model topping out around USD$24,000. And he’s provided a handy parts guide and instructional video.

Breaking the bank at the other end of the scale is Jonathan Elliot‘s high class USD$400,000 Lamborghini Aventador.

I genuinely appreciate when iconic shapes are accomplished with creative parts use, and both these cars fit that qualification. Both builders are masters of their craft, consistently perfecting minifig scale automobiles. My absolute favorite new(er) piece use here is the front bumper of the start white Aventador achieved with mirrored Wedge 2×1 with stud notch Left and Right. It’s such a distinctive shape at such a small scale. The utilitarian grey Prius’ curved frame is brought about with flex cable and the Bar Holder with Handle

And if you like these cars as much as we do, make sure to check out hachiroku’s chill, easy-to-follow VW Bus building instructions from last week and Jonathan’s trio of classic cars shared earlier this summer.

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All aboard the wooden railway!

While the LEGO Group is famous for plastic building bricks, the foundation of the company was built on the success of its wooden toys. In light of this, it’s charming to see LEGO fans like Jens Ohrndorf making brick-built versions of classic wooden toys, including this train set. Jens’ model is reminiscent of the wooden railway toys made by BRIO of Sweden, capturing the colorful simplicity of these vintage pull-toys. The iconic metal axles found on BRIO trains are represented by 1×1 round tiles in silver.

Holy Hot Wheels Batman! Can I take it for a ride?

Batmobiles are a recurring theme in LEGO because they come in many variations featured in all the different franchises, which gives LEGO builders a clean slate to work on. This particular Batmobile by Lucas is his version of the vehicle featured in Arkham Knight. What I find particularly unique about this are the tyres made from Technic chain links and some nice use of Katanas to shape the back of the vehicle. Lucas scaled the build with the wheels as a reference point and everything else came after, and he even made it fit a Batman minifigure comfortably.

Retro lookin’ Volkswagen T1 Camper [Instructions]

The VW T1 Camper Van has been released by LEGO both as a Creator Expert set and as a polibag set. This particular build by hachiroku24 stands out for a closer and more accurate look with the new triangle pieces introduced not very long ago and clever use of the vertical tooth pieces. You can now build your very own thanks to the instructions and parts provided in the YouTube Video below.

Click here to watch a video guide!

I ain’t afraid of no colds!

The exploration of the alien worlds is often tightly connected with military conquests. Italian builder Norton74 takes a rather peaceful approach to the idea and creates a Mobile Research Laboratory inspired by the good old Ice Planet 2002 LEGO space theme from 1993. His design features significantly fewer pieces in white compared to the official LEGO sets, however a heavily armoured vehicle’s body looks absolutely stunning in plain blue. The retro vibe of the build is achieved through a very peculiar choice of pieces; note that there are almost no modern LEGO pieces and absolutely no curved slopes.

A penny for your farthing

Back in the late 1800s, bicycling soared in popularity. One of the more unusual bikes to emerge from this period was the penny-farthing high wheeler. It earned the penny-farthing name based on the size of its wheels, which were compared with the size of a British penny in relation to a farthing coin. Melan-E has taken this scary looking cycle and transformed it into an impressive large-scale LEGO model. In addition to looking fit for riding through the streets of London, Melan-E’s model also offers a case study in how the natural flex of stacked bricks can be used to achieve convincing curves. The wheel consists of 2×2 round bricks, and the frame utilizes 1×1 round bricks. Both examples appear to be threaded together with flex tube, allowing the bricks to curve without falling apart. The cycle is supplemented with LEGO versions of period props like a phonograph and Victorian parasol, which help create a cohesive scene that breathes life into this high wheeler.

Straight out of the ’70s, this classic wagon is “groovy.”

From 1972 through 1994, Ford marketed the Granada (not to be confused with the U.S. Granada, which is a different vehicle) as a an executive car for the British market. Mateusz Waldowski built this slick LEGO version of a 1977 Granada MK1 station wagon, and it looks well-suited for any minifigure family vacation. In terms of accuracy, Mateusz has done a great job of capturing the overall shape of the vehicle. The grille is spot-on, and the five-wide half-stud offset technique used for the upper half of the vehicle helps emulate the subtle slant of the window pillars.

Mateusz put a lot of effort into detailing his station wagon, and the end result is enjoyable. It sports windshield wipers, a top-mounted luggage rack, clever door handles, and even custom chrome trim (represented by strips of silver decals). Another enjoyable feature is the tilt to the front wheels, which helps create the impression of steering. I almost want to take this adorable wagon on an overnight camping trip!

The gelatinous wonder from space

We may sound like broken records here at The Brothers Brick every year when SHIPtember rolls around, but I really do believe that spaceships people build are getting more and more imaginative. Inthert‘s contribution to this year’s event is a prime example of that.

The spaceship looks almost alive, like a mix between a jellyfish, a mushroom and pure mechanical evil. Shapes are nothing LEGO bricks naturally support, but the builder has managed not only to make the dome at the front look good but also to make it open, with a beautiful mechanical interior. General consensus for conservative spaceship colour schemes suggests fewer colours used, carefully separated by clean lines, but somehow Inthert has managed to make his build look great even with multiple grays, black, brown, gold and green used in very intense combinations. The secret here is that each colour has a strongly defined role and makes sense in the build. As far as details go I could not even begin to cover all the ingenious little parts, but my favourite by far is the central section, where mechanical tentacles can be seen through transparent panels.

A taxi worth hailing

We’ve featured Martin Redfern‘s impressive retro-styled vehicles previously, notably this 50s Police Cruiser, and more recently a cool LEGO dispatch bike. This curvy taxi makes an excellent addition to the fleet — a delicious yellow and black colour scheme complete with checkerboard stripe, beautiful chrome trimmings, and all executed in Martin’s trademark chunky aesthetic.

The model features opening doors and trunk, a detailed interior, and an engine lurking beneath the bonnet. As well as including all this, the builder has gone to the trouble of putting together an appropriately atmospheric poster for his taxi service. I don’t care what price he’s charging, I’m a willing passenger on this ride.

Tinker around with this tantalizingly tiny T

In continuous production from 1909 through 1929, the Ford Model T became an automotive industry leader in the U.S. and abroad. Even LEGO’s founding father, Ole Kirk Christiansen, reportedly owned a Model T and used it to transport wooden toys to market. Building a LEGO Model T in minifigure scale can be challenging, in part because of the body’s large number of curves and angular details. These issues have been expertly overcome by builder mmurray, whose 1920 Ford pickup is one of the best renditions of the T that I have seen. The builder makes clever use of the wheelchair wheel elements, which look at home on an early automobile and allow it to be built in such a small scale.

The Model T was available in a wide variety of body styles and, in the spirit of Henry Ford, mmurray has also built a roadster version. I can’t stop drooling over the level of detail in this tiny car. The running boards are simple yet tight, and the thin windshield helps sell the front end. However, it is mmurray’s ability to capture so many subtle angles in such a small model that makes his 1920 Ford feel authentic.

If these bite-sized Ford’s were to roll off the assembly line, I would be the first in line to buy one!

Chugging away the day in a trio of steamers.

We recently featured some terrific turn-of-the-century LEGO steam cars by Krzysztof Pusz. He’s back again, this time with some excellent steampunk vehicles. My absolute favorite is the monowheel, which puts the otherwise bulky Ninjago Airjitzu Flyer propeller blades to excellent use. I love how the internal mechanics are visible within the blades, and the side-mounted periscope solves the problem of “driving blind.” I’m not sure what the significance of the baby bunny is, but I like it.

Krzysztof has supplemented his steampunk universe with two other delightful models, one of which is his plane named the Golden Arrow. Incorporating Bionicle elements into the front end of the body looks appropriate for the subject matter. It also looks like the pilot has a hamster friend….I’m starting to notice a theme here.

Last but not least is the Bulbulator. It’s bulky form almost reminds me of military transport, which is probably why we can’t find any cute animals with this one. The risk is far too great and the antithesis of all that is cute.

Steam around the block in style

Back in the early days of motor transportation, the internal combustion engine was far from the only option. For one, electric cars were roaming city streets a century before Tesla made it “cool.” There were also plenty of steam-powered options from the likes of Stanley, White, and the aptly named Locomobile. Inspired by this era, Krzysztof Pusz built a pair of princely-looking LEGO steam cars. My personal favorite is this dark green coal-hauling machine. Clear 1×2 plates look surprisingly nice as smoke, and the wood-grain tiles are used to great effect in forming the truck’s tilted bed. Another nice touch is the absence of a steering wheel in favor of a tiller mechanism. A lot of early cars featured tillers, which were levers used for steering.

A second variation on the steam theme is Krzysztof’s appropriately named U.BER. If you were having an Edwardian night on the town and had a bit too much to drink, you’d better call an U.BER! The use of a bladed claw minifigure element for hood louvers is particularly noteworthy and makes for a “steamtastic” job well done.