Tag Archives: Volvo

LEGO Technic 42175 Volvo FMX Truck & EC230 Electric Excavator | Set Preview

Leave a reply

Following our preview earlier this month of the brand new H2 2024 LEGO Technic sets you may have been wondering where the promised fourth real-world vehicle was. Well today can we reveal all, starting – as the more eagle-eyed reader will have spotted – with the new 42175 Volvo FMX Truck & EC230 Electric Excavator not being one real-world vehicle at all, but two.

Following a long tradition of truck-with-trailer-and-vehicular-load Technic sets, 42175 ushers Volvo’s off-road FMX truck and electric EC230 tracked excavator into the Technic line-up, bringing pneumatics back in the process.

Aimed at ages 10+ and constructed from 2,274 pieces, 42175 features working steering, a tilting cab, and a six-cylinder engine on the truck, fold-down ramps on the trailer, and a 360° slewing superstructure and a two-stage pneumatically-operated bucket arm on the excavator.

There’s also a ‘charging station’ that can be lifted off the trailer by the excavator for when it needs some more electricity, which we can only assume in real-life would be a giant battery or – more ironically – a diesel generator. Either way it looks a bit pointless within the set, doing precisely nothing whatsoever.

The three other components (truck, trailer, excavator) look sufficiently playable however, if a little under-endowed aesthetically for the £170 / $200 asking price. This is particularly true for the excavator’s bucket arm, which uses two small buckets to create one of the correct size. If this approach isn’t to support a B-Model, it’s a bit of a corner cut.

Still, 42175 could be a worthwhile addition to the 2024 Technic line up, and you’ll be able to get your hands on it when it reaches stores in August of this year.

Bubbly Chocolate

Leave a reply

Volvo’s newly announced FH Aero truck has got this TLCB Writer thinking about bubbly chocolate. Because he’s very distractible. And he likes Aeros. But do the bubbles mean there’s less actual chocolate?

Whatever, back on task, this splendid brick-built replica of the new Volvo FH Aero 62 comes from Stefan Eeckman, who had some insider knowledge in order to create his model so swiftly after the actual truck’s reveal.

A tilting cab, Powered-Up remote control drive and steering, and some really very tricksy building techniques are available to view on both Flickr and Eurobricks, and you can take a look via the links above whilst this Writer hunts down some bubbly chocolate.

B-Hoe

Leave a reply


LEGO’s 42081 Volvo Autonomous Loader set thoroughly perplexed us when it was revealed a few years ago. It still does really, but tungpham of Eurobricks saw greater potential in the Technic oddity than we did, turning his 42081 set into this fantastic backhoe loader.

Looking considerably better than the set on which it’s based, tungpham’s 42081 B-Model includes a raising and tilting front bucket, in-cab steering and rear arm skewing control, stabilising legs, and a rotating driver’s seat.

It also features some of the finest presentation we’ve ever seen on a LEGO model, mimicking LEGO’s own box, catalogue and digital imagery with superb photography and editing.

Building instructions are available and there’s more to see of tungpham’s incredible alternate at the Eurobricks forum – click the link above for a B-Side that’s better than the Single.

Scania & Stepframe

Leave a reply

From a truck-based flight of whimsy to a hauler altogether more real-world. Ralph Savelsberg’s Scania T730 with stepframe trailer is an exact miniaturisation of one of the trucks in use by Hodge’s of Scotland, pictured here with a Volvo excavator in tow. A replica livery adds to the realism and there’s more of the models to see at Ralph’s album by clicking here.

Black Box

Leave a reply

A few months ago the coolest car we’ve ever published appeared on this page. A mildly modified Volvo 242 Coupe, it was everything we could want in a 1980s Volvo. Except of course, to be a proper 1980s Volvo, it should’ve been an estate…

Now its maker Stephan Jonsson has constructed a station wagon counterpart, in the form of this fabulous Volvo 245, also lightly modified and fitted with a brick-built T6 Turbo engine. There’s even a tow-bar. Don’t be fooled by that rear ‘spoiler’; it’s a wind deflector for a caravan.

We’ve never wanted a car more, and there’s more to see of Stephan’s wonderful Volvo 245 T6 Turbo at his album of the same name. Click the link above to make the jump.

Carry the Wind

Leave a reply

Wind turbines are massive, able to service a whole community, and difficult to move. Just like your Mom. But they are also vital for a de-carbonised future, which means we need a lot more of them harnessing the power of the the earth’s atmospheric currents and turning it into electricity if our species is not to die a hot and miserable death.

Cue Ralph Savelsberg‘s enormous Volvo FH16 heavy haulage transport, as operated by Dutch transport company Van der Vlist, which is depicted here carrying the huge nacelle of a wind turbine.

Despite being only 1:43 scale Ralph’s model measures almost a metre long, and includes the split trailer and hydraulic rams (in this case brick-built) that support and raise the massive turbine nacelle on the real truck.

Over twenty images are available to view and you whirl your way there via the link above, plus you can check out the transport’s accompanying escort that appeared here earlier via this bonus link.

Cooler Box

1 Reply

We don’t care what anyone says, this is the coolest car we’ve ever posted. Yes, this magnificent slab of Swede, a Volvo 242, is so deeply cool that The Brothers Brick can’t look at it directly. We on the other hand, being connoisseurs of cool, can’t get enough of Stephan Jonsson’s glorious grey box. Even more so as it’s the ‘Coupe’ variant.

Of course being an ’80s Volvo the 242 is the single squarest coupe ever devised, and – unlike every other Volvo of the time – your Ikea boxes have to go on the roof rather than in the boot, but that just makes it cooler.

A beautifully detailed engine, opening doors, hood and boot, a spectacularly orange interior, and accessories like a roof rack and tow bar add to our delight, and there’s more to see of the coolest car we’ve ever posted at Stephan’s ‘Volvo 242 Group H’ album on Flickr. We like really like old Volvos.

Tank Top

Leave a reply

Or rather, top tanker, because this is perhaps the cleanest tanker truck build we’ve seen yet. The aesthetics of MCD‘s Volvo FMX 8×2 are even more impressive when you consider this is a Technic creation, not a Model Team one, and is entirely LEGO, even down to the rubber bands holding the pipes. There’s more of MCD’s model to see at the Eurobricks forum, and you can tank on over via the link above.

Railroad Inspection

1 Reply

This is a Volvo PV 831, built from the end of the 1930s, through the ’40s and ’50s, primarily as a taxi. However this PV 831 has swapped one form of public transport for another, as there won’t be any fare-paying passengers sitting in its back seat.

Instead this PV 831 has been adapted to run on the rail tracks, in order to perform its job as an inspection vehicle for Sweden’s railways. Built by Flickr’s SvenJ, a third-party motor and bluetooth receiver bring the model to life, and there’s more to see at his ‘Volvo PV 831 Railroad Inspection Car’ album. Click the link above to inspect some Swedish tracks in the 1940s.

Knuckle Dragger

Leave a reply

This astounding creation is a Volvo FH16 750, and it’s one of the finest Technic creations of the year so far.

Packed with working functions, it took builder blaz62 over two years to complete, with a remote control 8×6 drivetrain linked to an inline-6 engine that resides under a fully suspended cab, all-wheel suspension, LED lights, working front, middle and rear outriggers, and an incredible three-stage folding ‘knuckle boom’ crane.

Based on the Palfinger PK 165.002 TEC 7 crane (ah yes, that one. Ed.), blaz62’s amazing feat of engineering can unfurl (via much knob twiddling) to reveal a three-stage first boom, with a further second two-stage jib and third single-stage jib thereafter. It offers 360° of rotation, a 400g payload, and a reach longer than a 1983 Monty Python sketch.

Building instructions are available and there’s much more to see at the Eurobricks discussion forum and Blaz62’s ‘Volvo FH16’ Bricksafe album.

Scandi Grey

Leave a reply

Scandinavian design is very ‘in’ right now. Grey, white, with a dash of a calming colour like blue, it’s the default for every upper-middle class redecoration. Here at The Lego Car Blog we don’t follow such fads though, which is why TLCB Towers hasn’t been redecorated since the late ’80s. That, and our redecoration budget stretches to a roll of duct tape and some blu-tack.

Representing Scandinavian design minimalism beautifully however, is MCD‘s 2022 Volvo FH500 truck, which utilises the aforementioned nordic colour palette to great effect. MCD’s monochrome tractor unit successfully blends Technic and System bricks to capture the real truck, whilst a Maersk Sealand container sits atop an excellent three-axle trailer behind.

There’s more of the MCD’s build to see at the Eurobricks forum, and you can sit in a monochrome chair drinking a coffee from an exquisitely designed cup, enjoying 18 hours of daylight via the link in the text above.

Grab Some Wood

Leave a reply

This giant claw with a vehicle attached to it is a Volvo L180HL, a front-loader-based machine designed for moving logs. Lots of them.

This brilliant Technic recreation of the log-grabbing Volvo is the work of Akassin of Eurobricks, who built it for a recent Technic competition in which it took the silver medal.

A wealth of mechanical and pneumatic functions accurately replicate the real machine, with articulated steering, an enormous (and rather clever) two-piece boom powered by compressed air, plus a mechanical claw that’s able to grab bundles of ‘logs’.

It’s a hugely impressive creation with much more to see at the Eurobricks forum, and via the excellent video below. Grab some wood via the links.

YouTube Video

Monotone Mixer

Leave a reply

We’ve nearly reached our Christmas closedown here at The Lego Car Blog, but we still have time for a few more creations before we turn off the lights and get drunk.

This one has amused us immensely, being perhaps the single least Christmassy creation that it’s possible to conceive.

The gloriously grey Volvo FM12 cement mixing truck pictured here comes from regular bloggee Damian Z. (aka thietmaier), who has applied his usual brilliant attention to detail to create a model that looks much, much larger than it actually is.

It’s also wonderfully mundane, and we like that. Because we’re weird. Weird enough to encourage more boring builds in 2022…

Was that a hint for a ginormous 2022 Building Competition?…

Moving on, there’s more to see of Damian’s excellent Volvo FM12 cement mixer truck at his photostream – click the link in the text above to jump into the mix.

Doublevo

Leave a reply

It’s a Volvo truck double here at The Lego Car Blog, much to the joy of the Elf that found this pair of Model Team creations, thus earning itself two meal tokens. Will it save one for another day or use both to pig out? We think we all know the answer to that…

Anyway, the models. Both are the work of newcomer MCD of Eurobricks, who has recreated Volvo’s ’90s F16 truck beautifully in 1:21 Model Team form. Twice. Each build includes a linear actuator operated raising axle, ‘Hand of God’ steering, opening doors, and superbly replicated interior and exterior details that incorporate both Technic and System pieces.

Further imagery and full build details can be found at the Eurobricks discussion forum, and you can make the jump via the link in the text above.

Heavy Swedish Action

1 Reply

It’s time for some double Volvo goodness here at TLCB, thanks to the super-talented TLCB regular Damian Z. (aka thietmaier).

Damian’s latest builds are a Volvo FH12 truck, hefty three-axle low-loader trailer, and a wonderfully life-like Volvo EC240 excavator, each of which has been both built and presented beautifully.

All three builds demonstrate stunning attention to detail, with some brilliant building techniques used to achieve it, and there’s more to see of Damian’s Volvo truck, excavator, and the trailer that allows one to transport the other at his album on Flickr. Click the link above to take a closer look.