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).

Microscale space racer is a stickered beauty

Luc Byard uses all-official LEGO stickers to bring an impressive level of texture and depth to this microscale space racer. The choice of stickers, mostly featuring thin-line detailing, coupled with some decent macro photography turn this model into one of those creations which, on first inspection at least, appears much bigger than it really is.

This thing just looks mean. I love it. Luc describes this creation as what happens when you cross a Spitfire with a muscle-car, strap it to a massive engine and send it into space. Sounds pretty cool to me. Where can I buy one? I wanna race.

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Hefty futuristic ride is ready to roll out

There’s an effective mix of Technic pieces and regular LEGO bricks, coupled with smart color-blocking in this interesting vehicle from chumuhou. That’s a battery box lurking behind the cab there, and from the looks of it, those front wheels are motorized. I’d love to see a video of this bad boy in action. The visible suspension springs and cogs on this rig lend it a chunky sense of functionality, and the icing on the cake is the rear ball wheel, fashioned from Death Star halves.

The future of luxury is now

For my latest creation I wanted to use the unique canopies from the UCS Slave I set. They formed a nice bubble so I decided to build a futuristic bubble boat. The initial photos taken against a standard poster board backdrop didn’t do the model justice, so I decided to photograph using real water dyed with food coloring.

Collaboration breeds a fine set of rovers

Jason Briscoe has shared an excellent space rover featuring multiple trailers. It was part of a collaborative display at the recent Portugal fan weekend, with many of the attendees bringing along a trailer design based on the common chassis. I was lucky enough to see Jason’s contribution “in the brick” at the Bricktastic show and they’re lovely little models.

Miguel Reizinho came up with the original design for the trailers. It’s a smart little build and clearly made for a good solid base for the participants to riff on. Nice work. I love when little collaborations spring up like this — especially ones that cross borders. It reminds me our hobby is an international one, and that plastic bricks speak their own language.

The hardest part of space travel is getting off the planet

I’ve been inspired lately to build some near-future space vehicles, and so I’ve got at least a couple of vessels in the works. But the first step of space travel is always getting off the planet. This space shuttle, the Indefatigable, is designed to carry payloads to orbit, where they can be assembled into a much larger craft. The shuttle is designed for undergoing the rigors of liftoff, while a vessel capable of interplanetary travel may not be.

I generally avoid using stickers, often not even applying them to official models. However, this model really needed a tiny detail for the cockpit, and there’s no way to achieve that with bricks, since the area is just too small. So, a few carefully cut official LEGO stickers work well to mimic cockpit windows.

All are not supercars that are called Porsche

…Unless a vintage tractor is a supercar for you. DB_Kit Fisto entered the latest Build the Porsche of your Dreams contest not at full speed, but definitely with class. His massive tractor is a scaled replica of the Porsche Super from 1960s. That was the time of truly beautiful agricultural machinery, much more elegant than the modern!

The design of this vehicle is simply fantastic thanks to amazing combinations and connections of System and Technic pieces. My favorite part is that small technic corner panel above the front axle placed right among regular plates and slopes. This is how you build a Super tractor!

In for the (micro) long haul

Semi trucks are quite fascinating, really. These modern day work horses are integral to global infrastructure. We share the road with them every day. They’re huge!

Chris Rozek gives us this fantastic truck and trailer, in bright red.

Great, isn’t it? Let’s take another look:

This tiny hauler is an excellent example of a micro-esque scale vehicle. It’s very well done and deceptive with scale, until you have something to compare it to.

The great outdoors awaits

… and what better way to get there than in Lino Martins‘ latest creation? This fabulous 1974 Ford Bronco features the trademark touches which make Lino one of my favourite builders — smooth curves and good color choices all wrapped up in the large scale he seems to have made his signature.

Obviously the canoe and the power winch are lovely, the wood paneling effect is neat, and that metallic stripe down the side is just sweet. But what tops this model off for me is the detailed engine beneath the bonnet — brilliant stuff.

Teal me a story

Spoiler alert: most UFO pictures are faked, including this one. Teal is a very rare color, and most of these bricks were never made in it. Which makes this virtual model all the more striking. Digital artist dunkleosteus_ldd used Lego Digital Designer and Bluerender to design this uniquely shaped alien craft. Perhaps it could be built in real life using a more common color. Would it still look this cool in red?

Passing on to LEGO Nirvana

There’s a saying in Japan that you’re born Shinto, get married as a Christian, and die a Buddhist. In other words, you practice Shinto rites from birth, have a Western-style wedding, and leave this world through Buddhist funeral ceremonies. Thus, one of the many unique aspects of Japanese culture I experienced growing up there was seeing station wagons with tiny, shiny golden Buddhist temples sprouting from their backs. These little mobile temples are actually Japanese hearses, and Moko has once again used his collection of chrome-gold bricks by building a LEGO version of this iconic Japanese vehicle. In case you’re too dazzled to notice, I’ll also point you to the clever front grill on this 4-wide LEGO car.

Check out Moko’s blog for more photos, including breakdowns and building techniques.

And for all our bilingual readers out there, here’s a totally ridiculous vehicle. Unfortunately, that’s the best I can do, since the very silly pun in Japanese (「オハカー」) simply does not translate. The car has a pullback motor, though I suspect a crash could result in grave consequences.

That pun is so funny I need to go lie down now and meditate on my life. Memento mori.

The Foxbat Fighter rebuilt for combat

As new pieces and building techniques emerge and as builders improve their style, it’s interesting to see a builder revisit a previously built design. Benjamin Cheh Ming Hann shows a side-by-side comparison of his custom fighter design, the FB12 Foxbat, with his original 2013 build on the left and 2014 rebuild on the right. Improved color blocking, an overall smoother shape, and added rear fins and air intakes show Benjamin’s efforts to rework an already great compact fighter design.

See more views of Benjamin’s FB12 Foxbat on his Flickr, with an album each for Mark I and Mark II.

The ultimate muscle car: The Ford GT

If you ask me, the Ford GT is the coolest modern day American sports car, and probably one of my favorite American cars of all time. Based on the legendary Ford GT40 LeMans racecar of the 1960s, the GT looks like nothing else on the road. It can be difficult to capture the car’s squat curves at such a small scale with LEGO, but this version by George Panteleon is instantly recognizable.