Larking With LEGO

Before you say “Hey, it’s ‘Legos’.” We’re both wrong. LEGO is a brand, and should not be pluralized. Technically I was “larking with LEGO Technic” or “larking with LEGO bricks.” But, hey, now I’ve got that out of the way, let’s get on to the fun.

Inspired by the Metal Grudge Lego project, which is one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed in Lego, I set out to build my own poorly realised clone. After all, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” And Metal Grudge certainly looked awesome and handled beautifully.

I dub my clone, Metal Fudge. It’s a close approximation, I spent a pretty penny buying up some of the parts to make it look similar, particularly the cannon which is a really great engine part.

I started with the basic Metal Grudge chassis, which is available to download as a Lego Digital Designer project file. From this I built the rest of the “tank” on top, making modifications where I lacked the right part, or simply had to incorporate the much cheaper, but much heavier dual AA battery packs I decided to use in lieu of the ridiculous, overpriced Â£44 rechargeable battery pack (Lego, if you want me to review one of those, I’ll gladly oblige!)

Overall I’m pretty satisfied with the results. There are probably improvements to be made, not to mention a test with just a single battery pack (although re-routing the wiring requires a complete tear-down and slight redesign).

Sorry about the music. It’s a bit of a self indulgence. And not a great fit.

For anyone wanting to replicate this build, check out the first link and the photos of Metal Grudge. Beware, though, as the Power Functions parts alone total almost Â£60. Ouch. The Omniwheels cost almost Â£10. Here’s the parts list: