We have some very exciting news (if you speak German)!

Television Production company Endemolshine Germany have contacted us in their search for Lego Masters; the TV show where pairs of builders compete to build amazing creations for certified LEGO Professionals. The show has run for a few seasons in the UK already, with the US version’s first season just finished too.

Endemolshine Germany are looking for enthusiastic Lego modellers who are unafraid of the camera, and who live for MOC-making. Anyone over the age of 16 can apply, although remember they are looking for pairs (friends, partners, family members, work colleagues etc.) and applicants must speak German.

How to apply for LEGO Masters Germany!

• To apply for the LEGO Masters Germany TV show you can enter via the Endemolshine Germany application page by clicking the link below;

Click here to apply for LEGO Masters Germany

• Endemolshine Germany have asked us for our recommendations. If you would like us to consider you for endorsement please send us a message at the Contact Us page, via Facebook, or by leaving a comment, and we’ll get back to you.

For further details take a look at the (slightly rough translation) LEGO Masters poster below, and we hope to see a TLCB reader or two on LEGO Masters Germany TV show when it airs later in the year!

It’s not often that TLCB Team are stunned by a model brought back by one of our smelly little workers. We are of course experienced professionals, experts in Lego creations, and with a wealth of building talent ourselves. Oh, sorry – that’s the Brothers Brick – we’re still as incompetent as ever, but nevertheless it takes a lot to genuinely excite us, so blasé have we become through years of blogging. Today however, we are all spectacularly impressed, thanks to All.About.Lego and his amazing Technic Lancia Fulvia HF rally car.

Built for the current Eurobricks small car contest, this incredible recreation of one of rallying’s all-time-greats not only looks absolutely wonderful (and superbly accurate, despite being the difficulty of being a Technic build), it features more working functionality than models five times its size. So much in fact, that this tiny Lancia really is a Technic ‘Supercar’.

A working V4 engine is driven by the front-wheels (yup, the fronts, as per the real Fulvia and we have no idea how All.About.Lego has managed it), whilst a rear-mounted gearbox (technically a two-speed transaxle) can be controlled via the cabin gearstick.

Working leaf-spring suspension and functioning steering feature too, completing the Technic ‘Supercar’ necessities, plus the model features opening doors, hood and trunk, as well as an accurate period livery complete with superbly replicated decals.

It’s a phenomenal build and one that will start a riot here in TLCB office if it doesn’t win the Eurobricks Small Car Contest. Head to Flickr or the Eurobricks forum to see more of All.About.Lego’s spellbinding creation and LEGO, make this a set please! We’ll buy eight.

A film about a flaming motorcycle and little else, Ghost Rider is up there as one of the worst Nicholas Cage films in recent memory. And there are so many. Drive Angry, Outcast, Rage, Season of the Witch, Left Behind… they make us want to push his flaming motorcycle over in disgust at crimes against cinema. Fortunately that’s just what the contestants in the Lego Masters Australia TV show got to do with this incredible life-size motorbike by certified LEGO Professional Ryan McNaught and his team of builders.

Built from over 75,000 LEGO bricks, and with its hollow interior filled with loads more loose parts like some sort of brick-based piñata, the bike was smashed to provide pieces for an episode in the second season of the Australian version of the Lego Masters show entitled ‘Smash & Grab’. We suspect its destruction took a lot less than the 135 hours it took to build it, but that it made for great TV!

There’s more to see of Ryan’s life-size Lego motorbike on Flickr via the link above, and if you’re a German-speaking reader the Lego Masters show is looking for contestants for the German version right now! Click here to read about how to apply and maybe even score a TLCB Recommendation. For our non-German speaking readers (which will be most of you!), don’t worry – you can learn how to become a Lego professional via our aptly named ‘How to Become a Lego Professional’ series – click here to see how some of the bloggees here at TLCB  have done it!

YouTube Video

The police are distracted, the roads empty, and the hot rodders of Willow Springs are about to race for cash! Betting agents, ‘shady looking bikers’, and a wonderful rural gas station filled with details add a suitably illegal atmosphere to the proceedings of Faber Madragore‘s ‘Street Racers’ Haunt’ diorama.

Built for Model Expo Italy, which was cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak, Faber’s brilliant scene finds a second life online. There’s loads more to see on Flickr where you can head to take in all the details – grab some cash, click the link above, and place your bet!

This is a Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic, one of the rarest and most expensive cars ever produced. Just four SC Atlantics were built, named for Ettore Bugatti’s friend whose plane crashed into the Atlantic after an engine failure. Today the cars command a price in the millions, so it’s quite cool to see one built (almost) from the parts of a vehicle far more humble, the Volkswagen Beetle (and VW of course who now own the Bugatti marque).

95% of the Bugatti’s pieces come from the Creator 10252 Volkswagen Beetle set (606 of the 640 used), meaning that builder ZetoVince almost qualifies for TLCB’s B-Model Lock-Down Competition. But not quite. Still, it’s an excellent build and one you can see more of at Zeto’s photostream; click the link above to make the jump and take a look, and if you’d like to create your own B-Model and be in with a chance to win an awesome SBrick Plus Pro Pack take a look at the competition by clicking here.

This is the most interesting Lego creation that you’ll see this year. By a mile.

Built by newcomer Alfred Boyer, this huge Technic steam locomotive really works, and is built from 100% standard LEGO pieces. Of course fire and plastic bricks don’t mix that well, so instead of superheating water to generate steam, Alfred’s astonishing creation uses air pressure to drive pistons, which is essentially exactly the same operation as a real steam engine, only without setting fire to coal to generate the energy.

Four LEGO pneumatic cylinders turn the eight drive wheels, with two speed ‘gearbox’ – if you can call it that – controllable from the cabin. Also controllable from the cabin are working brakes, with shows that press against each wheel through pneumatic pressure, and -amazingly – a working whistle, which diverts air pressure through some hollow bricks to create the sound. It’s a good thing the Elves haven’t figure this out otherwise it’s all we’d hear all day.

It’s a phenomenal piece of engineering and one that probably takes LEGO’s pneumatic system further than any model before it. The only way to really appreciate Alfred’s creation is to take a much closer look – head to Eurobricks by clicking here for the complete build details (where you can also find a link to it on LEGO Ideas), and definitely watch the video below!

YouTube Video

It’s time for one of TLCB’s infamous rants! We know you’ve been missing these…

Mission Winnow. “What?” we hear you ask. Exactly. We all asked that when the world’s most famous (read ‘expensive’) Formula 1 team revealed a car emblazoned with a brand that no-one had ever heard of at the start of the 2019 season.

But Ferrari being Ferrari – i.e. having the morals of a Mexican drug cartel – we knew it was worth digging into. If only to find out what the hell a ‘winnow’ is. What it is, according to the press release, is this;

“‘Winnow’ originally referred to the removal of chaff from grain, but it came to be used more broadly to describe the separating out of the unnecessary, the extraction of the good and distinguishing what is true from what is inaccurate or misleading.” Which is so gloriously ironic that we suspect Ferrari might be taking the piss. Because Mission Winnow is a front for selling cigarettes.

Of course Ferrari have long had an association with tobacco, being title-sponsored by Marlboro since the mid-’80s. However when Formula 1 banned tobacco advertising in 2006 after learning that cigarettes may in fact be bad for you, Marlboro’s owners had to find other methods of promoting their cancer-sticks on Ferrari’s racing cars. Cue the ugly barcode thing that appeared on the rear wing or the big white chevron that featured on the engine cover for a number of years, described by doctors as simply ‘subliminal advertising’ for Marlboro.

A public enquiry and probably a quiet word from Bernie Ecclestone saw the barcode dropped after a time, but that hasn’t stopped Marlboro’s owners Philip Morris International and Ferrari continuing to pursue their partnership marketing tobacco to children.

And thus we arrive at the 2019 Scuderia Ferrari SF90, carrying Philip Morris International’s latest “We’re not trying to sell cigarettes, honest” brand message. In fact the Mission Winnow mission statement is so vague and rambling it could have been tweeted by Donald Trump;

“Mission Winnow has a simple goal: drive change by constantly searching for better ways of doing things. And by committing to learning and knowing more, it’s easier to make choices that improve the future for everyone. To make this happen, we’ll get inside the minds of outstanding innovators and change-makers, to see why and how they achieve excellence.” By ‘achieving excellence’, we can only assume they mean Selling More Cigarettes.

Oh yeah, we’re a Lego blog… this superb Technic recreation of Marlboro’s mobile advertising board is the work of Mane of Eurobricks, making their TLCB debut (sorry about the rant Mane!). Looking wonderfully accurate, Mane’s Scuderia Ferrari SF90 includes front and rear suspension, a working V6 engine, steering, and DRS on the rear wing, a removable engine cover and front wing, and brilliantly accurate ‘Mission Winnow’ (amongst other sponsors) decals.

There’s more to see of Mane’s wonderful creation on Eurobricks (where building instructions are also available), plus there’s an extensive image gallery at Bricksafe. Click the links to take a closer look, and then go on Scuderia Ferrari’s social media accounts and tell them to shove Mission Winnow up their arse.

Toyota have been fiddling with their BMW-platformed A90 Supra, most notably by jumping power by around 10%, so it finally surpasses the old A80 version. SP_LINEUP has been fiddling with his A90 Supra too, and it looks even better in white than it did in blue. Instructions are available and you can find them and more of SP’s brilliant Speed Champions creations via the link above.

We think that’s why a small bulldog is, right? Except pugs are bordering on inhumane. Anyhow, this small bulldog is not a pug, rather a miniature version of the ancient Lanz Bulldog tractor, as built by Flickr’s de-marco. He’s made instructions available and you find them and more great Town scale builds at his photostream – click the link to take a look.

‘Gran Sport’ itself is not a bad name. However it does have certain connotations that may be hard to live up to. You probably wouldn’t want to attach it to a lumbering barge of Americana with about as much sporting pretension as a fridge full of cake for example.

Still, that’s what Buick did – without a hint of irony – in 1973, attaching the ‘Gran Sport’ name to their third generation Century, a car with a three-speed gearbox and as little as 190bhp. In body roughly the size of a grocery store. Full of cake.

That said, the ’73 Century GS did look rather wonderful, at least compared to most of the other crap General Motors was building at the time, and Flickr’s Thomas Gion has done a splendid job recreating it in Lego form. Head to his ‘Buick Gran Sport’ album via the link to see more (and find a link to building instructions), whilst we go an eat some cake.

With over 4,000 pieces, bluetooth remote control, and seven electric motors, LEGO’s enormous (and enormously expensive) Technic 42100 Liebherr R 9800 Excavator set is the largest yet produced by the company. If you’re going to make a ‘B-Model’, using just the parts from one official LEGO set, it may as well be from the biggest!

Previous bloggee and Technic genius Grohl has done just that, with his amazing 42100 snow groomer B-Model. With seven motorised functions including remote control drive and skid-steering, an elevating front blade, lowering groomy-thigumy on the back, plus a crane and winch, Grohl’s 42100 alternate is as functions-packed as the set from which it’s been built.

Grohl promises instructions are on the way if you fancy turning your own Liebherr excavator into a snow groomer yourself, and until then you can check out the build on Flickr via the link above.

We’re also looking for you to build your own B-Models from existing LEGO sets (whether that be from the enormous 42100 Liebherr R 9800 or the smallest City set) in TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model Competition. You could even win yourself some brilliant bluetooth remote control prizes to bring your Lego creations to life! Check out the competition details by clicking here and get B-Modelling!

Lots of things travel between Europe and the Middle East. Drunk British tourists and weaponry seem to the primary exports, whilst the imports aren’t always that great either, but there’s lots of stuff to celebrate, with much of it travelling the Seriously Long Way between the two continents in trucks like this.

Built by Master MOCer Dennis Bosman (aka legotrucks), this brilliant classic Scania LB141 complete with a superb Astran Europe-Middle East livery (designed by fellow Master MOCer Dennis Glaasker (aka Brickonwheels)) is one of the thousands of trucks that route their way between the two land masses.

Spectacular detailing is evident throughout the build, with both the truck and trailer recreated beautifully in Lego form, with a tilting cab, accurate engine, working steering, trailer support legs, and – to emphasise the Middle Easterness – a pair of brick-built camels not shown here.

There’s much more to see of the Astran truck, trailer, and camels at Dennis’ Scania LB141 Flickr album – click the link to join the journey along the Silk Road, plus you can read Dennis’ Master MOCers interview here at TLCB via the first link in the text above.

The Alfa Romeo 4C is not a good car. But it is gorgeous, so we still want one, if only to look at it. It’s also one of Alfa Romeo’s many recent failures, partly because the car wasn’t very good, and partly because these days buyers only seem to want an angry German saloon car with a twin-turbo V8, six million horsepower, and no driving feel or real-world relevance whatsoever.

Which is a mighty shame, because it means lightweight, small sports cars like the admittedly mediocre 4C and the thoroughly brilliant Alpine A110 are bombing commercially, and soon all we’ll have is angry German saloons.

This fantastic Model Team Alfa Romeo 4C comes from previous bloggee Noah_L, who has created one the most beautiful (and difficult to replicate) modern automotive shapes to near perfection from fairly basic LEGO parts. In fact the two flex tubes that form the bonnet and grille may be the neatest solution to the 4C’s shape that we have seen yet, and a technique we think we’ll start to see on all sorts of Lego cars in the future.

Noah’s model also includes a detailed interior behind the opening doors and an accurate recreation of the mid-mounted 1750cc turbocharged 4-cylinder engine under the rear hatch, and there are loads more stunning images to view at his Alfa Romeo 4C album on Flickr. Click the link above to take a look, which – to be honest – is all the actual 4C is really for anyway.

This is a DAF XF Super Space Cab truck and Oceanic Airlines trailer, complete with a brilliant brick-built mosaic, remote control drive and steering, and LED lights. Built by previous bloggee Lasse Deleuran it’s a superb model, highlighting just how good Lego vehicles can be, yet it’s was you can’t see that’s even more impressive.

Utilising a programable PFx brick (a kickstarter project that debuted here way back in 2017), Lasse’s truck not only has remote control drive and steering via bluetooth and a working fifth wheel, it also contains a complete light and sound sequence programmed by the builder into the PFx brick, bringing his model spectacularly to life.

The PFx brick can be programmed with an infinite array of movement, light, and sound, much like the classic Technic Barcode Truck from 1997, only much smaller, and a fair bit cleverer too.

Head to Lasse’s photostream via the link above to see more of his Oceanic Airlines DAF XF, where you can also find a link to YouTube showing the both PFx brick in action and also how Lasse programmed the sequences used in his model.

If you bunk school and steal your Dad’s Ferrari 250 GT California (we’ve all been there), hoping to run the car in reverse later to take the miles off the clock, ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ taught us it doesn’t work. Even less so if you kick the car whilst it’s running so it reverses through a window and down a hillside. Your Dad will definitely notice that.

Thankfully it wasn’t a real GT California (these days a >$20million car), but a modified MGB in the scene in question, but it looked pretty good to us. As does this, x_Speed‘s recreation of both the 1960s Ferrari and the famous movie scene in which it featured. Clever techniques are in evidence throughout the build and there’s more to see of x_Speed’s Ferrari 250 GT California, Ferris Bueller, Cameron Frye, and Cameron Frye’s Dad’s garage on Flickr via the link.

Astronauts are famed for their cars. Those in the Apollo programme pretty much all had Corvettes, thanks to a Florida GM dealer’s ‘dollar lease’ initiative, whilst a couple of NASA astronauts are the only people to have driven a vehicle outside of the Earth’s atmosphere. Classic Spacemen of course get to drive all sorts of things, and they’re always happy to do so, but when they’re back on Earth it’s nice to know they’re regular petrolheads. At least the owner of this is, a Classic Space hot rod complete with all the hallmarks of their more usual space-based vehicles. It comes from Nuno Taborda and there’s more to see at his photostream – click the link to take a look.

Minions is another new LEGO theme we don’t really understand, but one we’re sure will sell rather well. Ah, we think we understand…

Looking like some sort of cute War of the Worlds alternative reality, previous bloggee ianying616 has built the Minions their very own mech, complete with googly eyes and a mini-figure Minion sitting inside the domed head. And if you’re thinking “They’re really stretching TLCB’s brief with this one…”, you’re right – so here’s a Minion racing team too!

Head to ianying’s photostream via the link above for more Minions-based madness.

This TLCB writer quite likes birds. They come in a hilarious variety of shapes and sizes, some of them can swim, run and fly (which makes them some sort of super animal), and some of them are – frankly – delicious. What’s not to like?

Flickr’s Luis Pena likes them too, although he’s a bit more professional about it, being an actual bird watcher/photographer as well as a Lego builder. Combining his two hobbies he’s built this; a neat mini-figure scale Jeep ranger 4×4 and two of Patagonia’s native birds; a Rhea (comical running variety), and an Andean Condor (giant flappy variety). David Attenborough (or Luis himself) would probably be able to categorise those better…

No matter, see more of Luis’ Jeep and Patagonian birds on Flickr!

It’s been a weird sort of day here at The Lego ‘Car’ Blog. A post about Minion-operated mechs, one about bird watching, and now this. Whatever this is.

‘This’ is a ‘Beetle Skyvan’, according to its builder, previous bloggee and inventor-extraordinaire Vince_Toulouse. A myriad of parts from LEGO’s more unusual themes has been used to create it, including ‘ant wings’, a Scala staircase, and even some trusty Galidor pieces.

Head to Vince’s album on Flickr via the link above to see if you can spot them, and to see more of what is a rather remarkable (and surprisingly large*) build.

*That’s what she said.

This is the brand new LEGO Technic 42115 Lamborghini Sian FKP 37, the fourth largest Technic set ever made, and the first officially-licensed Lamborghini to join the Technic range, following sets from Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Ducati, and – of course – arch rival Ferrari.

At 3,696 pieces 42115 becomes LEGO’s first 1:8 scale Technic car, with many parts debuting on the set – largely thanks to the very lime green colour and stunning gold wheels, faithfully replicating those on the real Sian FKP 37. Ah, the real Sian FKP 37; we’ll come on to that in a bit…

Before then, the functions. Like LEGO’s other recent Technic Supercar sets 42115 is packed with incredible technical realism, and features a working mid-mounted V12 engine hooked up to an eight-speed sequential gearbox. Eight! In a Technic set.

Now LEGO’s track record on sequential gearboxes isn’t great, with the six-speed effort in the 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 being, well… crap, but hopefully they’ve cracked it with the eight speed in 42115. Working in-board suspension front and rear, functioning steering, all-wheel-drive, opening scissor doors, and a deployable rear wing also feature, all operated mechanically and true to those found on the real Lamborghini Sian FKP 37.

OK, the real Lamborghini Sian FKP 37…. yeh, we’d never heard of it either, and we’re a car blog. With such a fantastic back-catalogue of iconic cars (the Miura, Countach, Diablo, Gallardo, Murciélago, Aventador, amongst others), we find the choice of an ultra-limited run (63 units) yet-to-be-built hypercar an odd one. Particularly as what sets the real Lamborghini Sian FKP 37 apart from the three-hundred other ultra-limited run Lamborghini hypercars that proceeded it is the world’s first production hybrid super-capacitor powertrain. Which of course is impossible to recreate in a LEGO set.

Still, that doesn’t stop 42115 from being a seriously impressive addition to LEGO’s officially licensed line-up, bringing with it a wealth of new parts, LEGO’s fanciest box yet (for those who are into such things), that possibly-awesome-possibly-crap eight-speed sequential gearbox, and a very Lamborghini price tag.

Expect the new LEGO Technic 42115 Lamborghini Sian FKP 37 set to cost an enormous $380/£350 when it reaches stores later this year. We’d have paid that for a Miura…