Lead Sled reverse engineer

I am a big fan of miniscale cars like the ones built by Mad Physicist or the Arvo brothers. The challenge is entirely different compared to building large cars: instead of simply putting bricks on top of each other they require a lot of attention to the details to put everything in place. A special piece or a tricky solution has great impact to the model but it may need a lot of experimentation.

I considered building a replica for myself several times, for example one of the cars made by the Mad Physicist or the Porsche from the Arvos. Our friend the reverse engineer who helps to build the whole thing by looking at the end result only. From Lego bricks, of course.

So far I never got past a couple of thought experiments because apart from obvious details I had no clue how to continue building. But now I have decided to go on with the matter. Mad Physicist has built his '51 Mercury Lead Sled. On one hand looks very desirable, on the other hand it has several detailed photos so that I can have some hope. On top of this Ralph is very helpful and did not object and even gave some clues when I had questions about the details.

I started with Lego Digital Designer. Some bricks are unavailable and even more so some colors, but at least I have infinite supplies. Compared to other virtual building tools it is an important advantage that it models the physics of the bricks and does not let me build stupid things. This is how far I got (click on the album):

The colors are not quite right and some other details like the wheels are different too. But it looks promising. I am truly uncertain about some invisible areas but the external feels right.

When I am done with all details the next step will be Bricklink in the New Year.

Youngtimer from Santa

Car fans call a car "youngtimer" if it passes the check for veteran cars but it is not old enough to be a real oldtimer. I think "Car Chassis" no. 853 from the beginning of the Big Technic Car history fits this description since it was first sold in 1977.

As I have blogged before, I have set myself as a long term goal to get all the cars from the Big Car series. (Well, the first five at least.) It looks like Santa listens to my wishes well since the postman has brought me this set yesterday. At the first glance it is in an excellent shape as a real youngtimer should. Of course I will not build it until Christmas.

Now if only I could get a 8860 - well, I need some goals for the New Year too :)

Christmas is upon us

I have noticed this from several things. First, the Lego company has surprised us with excellent building instructions for Lego decoration:

Then we have excellent special offers for Black Friday like this:

Then shops have items like these:


And of course if you would like to have an exclusive older piece you are still in time to buy it on Bricklink or Ebay. Happy browsing!

'51 Mercury Lead Sled

This time out favorite Mad Physicist created a classic hot-rod from bricks. I think it looks great.

Scania Dump Truck

Sariel has created something excellent as usual:



Detailed description with technical gems on his blog.

8872 and co.

I wanted to write this post a long time ago. It was before the summer when I decided to take some risks to buy the latest piece of my "Big Car" series, the 8865. Already before the purchase it was clear that the pile contains a lot of extra parts. Luckily I found everything for the big car in a good condition. This is where the riddle started, I wanted to find out the rest. I started from here:

First question: what are all these wheels? There are eight small ones, then six more of the same with larger tires, then the one in which the axle rotates, and then I did not speak about the larger off road ones yet. They seem to come from different sets, but still... Which set contains so many wheels?

After a short search I have found the first suspect, the 8872 Forklift Transporter from 1993:

It was clear in the beginning that I do not have all the parts for the forklift: the chain was missing and many other parts too. But I though the truck could be there:

Still many pieces left, let's try the trailer:

Well, that is something. I abandoned the forklift, six small and six larger wheels are crossed out. But what about the other wheels? This wing piece helped to solve part of the puzzle quickly. It was included in two Lego sets ever in yellow, only one of them Technic: the 8840 Desert Racer from 1991:

Of course the driver is nowhere, pistons neither, so this list has many missing items too. Maybe once I will try to fill the parts from my other sets, until then there is this photo. The four large offroad wheels are also crossed out, but I still have eight small ones. This part was the key to the last missing set:

So I got a 8808 Mini F1 Racer for free, year 1994. I have found almost all pieces for this one:

As a conclusion, for the already good price of the 8865 I got two thrids of an 8872, an 8808, a lot of yellow spare parts and an interesting riddle:

Finally the link to the album and a video - if there is no forklift then let us transport a racer:

Hispabrick magazine vol 006 in English

The 6th issue of the Hispabrick magazine is now available in English. You can find the download links on this page (89M) and also access the web preview.

From the contents:

• Race car building tips from the Arvo brothers. Amongst others they reveal some details of favorite Porsche model.

• Pneumatic excavator.
• Calypso - the famous ship of Jacques Cousteau from Lego bricks in 119 centimeters (4 feet).

• The history of Lego castles.
• Building trees.
• LDraw tutorial part 6.
• Robotics with Lego Mindstorms, part 3.

Fresh version of Lego Digital Designer

Virtual builders have probably noticed that a new version of Lego Digital Designer available, which is the free builder application from the Lego company (see our previous post).

Version 3.0 brought these improvements:

• There is a new user interface. Instead of the grid we are now building on a transparent baseplate and there are other small changes.
• Round bricks can now built in between four other studs.
• The hinge tool got a bit more usable and there is the new hinge align tool.
• Bricks can now be organized into groups and templates.
• The building guide mode is completely new and more usable.

The main advantage of the program is still the same: you run out of virtual bricks much later than from real ones... Happy building!

Lego Shop in new countries!

As of yesterday shop.lego.com accept orders to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Norway and Poland. This means that besides the full selection one can order models designed in Digital Designer, hard to find exclusives and even bricks by the piece through Pick-a-Brick.

New Technic sets for 2010

In the last few days a lot of new details have surfaced about the plans to introduce new Technic sets for 2010. Let's see them!

8045 Telescopic handler

Price: 12.99$

Lego parts: 117

What does it do: Using the handle at the rear one can upper and lower the handler arm. The B set is a motorcycle with a side car.

8046 Helicopter

Price: 19.99$

Lego parts: 152

What does it do: We can move the main and tail rotor in sync. Another handle operates the lifting winch. The B model is a seaplane.

8047 Mini excavator

Price: 24.99$

Lego parts: 252

What does it do: Working treads, knobs to control the excavator arm. The cabin can be rotated around completely. The B model is a treaded handler.

8048 Buggy

Price: 39.99$

Lego parts: 314

What does it do: Suspension on all four wheels, the front wheels with functional steering and the rear wheels drive a V4 engine. The roll cage can be opened. The B model is a tractor.

8049 Log handler

Price: 59.99$

Lego parts: 525

What does it do: The tractor has steering, the trailer can be attached and detached. The lift arm on the trailer can be operated pneumatically.

My favorite so far is the Buggy - one can pack a lot of technics in a small space in 2010!!

Source: TechnicBRICKs. Pics: album.