British builder Martin Redfern (redfern1950s on Flickr) recently caught our attention with his recreation of one of the cars from the old cartoon Wacky Races. Once we saw he was creating more cars from the show, we got in touch and interviewed him in preparation for the inevitable completion of the starting grid. With all 11 cars and all their drivers completed, learn how they were made and why Martin made them.
Get up close and personal with the builder and his creations
The simplicity in the curves of a Lamborghini is never understated. And this pair of City-scale LEGO vehicles stand out for that reason. Beautifully captured in all its glory by Mark Gotidoc and showcasing the essentials, this is what LEGO building is all about; being able to take the simplest of shapes and overcome the limitations of the brick to transform them into their real world equivalents.
It’s the tiny features that count – the icing on the cake are those scissor doors and exhaust pipes, that leave no mistake as to what this little beast can do in less than 2.9 seconds. And if you really have to ask… 0 to 60 mph is what it does in that span of time.
If there’s one vehicle that I’d like to secretly own from the Star Wars universe, this would be it! The famous speeder bike from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi has been re-imagined in LEGO as a Winter version featured in white, and looks like it could have easily been used in the snow filled scenes from the battle of Hoth. The details that Ian Ying put into this machine make you wonder if this could exist in the real world. The build is clean and full of sleek lines. I just love the silver ribbed hoses as exhaust pipes.
The bike is built to the scale of the official 75114 First Order Stormtrooper figure, which fits on it very well! All I need to know is where do I put my order in to get me one of these in my garage?
This fantastic minifig-scale LEGO motorcycle was built for a contest for the German LUG ‘Imperium der Steine’. The task was to build a motor vehicle from a movie or TV show. Ben Tritschler chose the John Travolta movie Wild Hogs (or as it’s known in Germany, Born to be Wild ) This bike is very reminiscent of the motorcycles used in the film, provided by Harley-Davidson. Simple techniques have been used to create the uneven and cracked road with fantastic effect, the flowering cacti dotting the desert drive look great. But by far, though, the best part usage goes to the Shark Guy’s arm as the bike seat.
It’s still more than 80 days before the next Formula One racing season starts, and the all-new racing cars are still scheduled to be revealed in February. In the meantime, let’s have a look at a vehicle that stays behind the scenes, but still helps drivers make their way to the finish flag. Ryan Link, a huge Ferrari fan, surprises us with a LEGO version of the iconic Scuderia Ferrari transporter. I bet the scene below will instantly remind many of our readers of the legendary 2005 set 8654 Scuderia Ferrari Truck, which was absolutely cool. Unlike the trailer in that set, all of the signage on Ryan’s one is brick-built, from the diagonal stripes to the Ferrari logo at the back!
Don’t forget to check out more pictures in the builder’s album.
There are wings and portrusions of unknown function sticking out of this starfighter by Perig Perig and I am totally cool with that. Unique shaping like this is becoming more and more the standard of spaceships lately, which is comparable to extremely detailed stonework in castle creations. There is a great balance of smooth surfaces and technical looking details, which together with great colour blocking and splashes of contrasting colours come together into a very memorable little fighter. It looks very swooshable too.
And very good presentation (combining two angles on the same photo) really invites a closer inspection. My only complaint is the “windshield”, which is not integrated very well into the white frontal area.
‘Lifelike’ isn’t a good enough adjective to properly describe this Kenworth K100 wrecker by Dennis Bosman. Built to 1:13 scale, this thing is not just big but beautifully detailed.
At such scale, the little details really come to life. We can see how much painstaking effort was put into creating such an accurate model. I could go on and on about everything to love here, but a few details really stand out, like the fuel tanks, cab striping and the radiator build on an offset. Oh, and all those lovely chrome bits. And the liftable cab, exposing the nicely detailed engine. And, well, everything else, too. Can you tell I’m in love?
French builder F@bz is well known for building fabulous sci-fi vehicles of every sort. His latest futuristic LEGO creation has some sharp, clean lines and a lovely pop of lavender. But what really caught my eye was the use of those Paradisa roof slopes on the rear of F@bz’s spacey drone.
In fact, those printed tiles remind me so much of LEGO Set 6419: Rolling Acres Ranch (and consequently, my childhood) that I cannot stop picturing these drones being remotely controlled by a crack team of horse scientists (via hoof-compatible controls, of course). Come to think of it, the shaping on this drone looks a little like a horse’s head and neck… anyone else see that?
Sariel has long since been a regular feature on this site with impressive Technic and Power Functions builds such as a motorised Kaneda’s bike from Akira and a remote controlled Batpod.
Now the builder’s newest creation — an RC car modeled after the Pagani Huayra — is sure to make petrol heads like myself happy. While it may not be a purist build (it uses 3D printed covers to simulate a new rim design as well as aftermarket chromed pieces) it’s still an amazing model and all the functioning and structural bits are LEGO.
Particularly impressive are the awesome features of the build such as the “aero flaps” which flip up in unison with the front steering as well as the rear wheel drive propulsion with a transmission. Sariel gives a lot more information on how he built this car, including pictures of partial breakdowns on his website.
I imagine making any car instantly recognizable at minifigure scale would be difficult, and George Panteleon does it beautifully with his LEGO Lamborghini Countach. He made great part choices for the windscreen and the headlights, and the lines of the sports car are captured rather well in a 7-stud-wide package.
See more of George’s minifigure-scaled vehicles on his Flickr.
Take to the skies in style with Ted Andes‘ latest LEGO creation. This single-seater aircraft has a dieselpunk feel, with an impressive level of detail for such a small creation — much of it down to the intelligent repurposing of Bionicle armor pieces. The brick-built clouds around the plane give the whole image a wonderful cartoonish sky effect, but the highlight of the model for me is that slight downward angle on the nose turbine — a lovely touch.
Designer BenFifteenTheChicken puts together the playset that every Batman fan not only needs but deserves. At first glance, the setting of this LEGO creation looks similar to the 76001 The Bat vs. Bane™: Tumbler Chase, but the huge difference is not just that the models have the right bat-colored theme, but also that the builder has upgraded and redesigned each vehicle so that they have the proper look of the machines featured on the big screen.
My favourite bit is actually the miniature Bat-Pod built with minimal elements, but with maximum impact — with a secret feature! It actually is part of the Tumbler, secretly hidden and tucked within the front wheel layout!
