The life-size Mack Anthem will take two months and close to one million LEGO bricks to complete ahead of its launch at the 2023 Brisbane Truck Show
Mack Trucks Australia is aiming for a Guinness World Record for the largest truck made from LEGO bricks to celebrate 60 years of manufacturing in the western corridor of Brisbane.
Professional LEGO builder Ben Craig will be Mack’s expert on the job, using close to a million pieces of LEGO to achieve the Guinness World Record build of a life-size Mack Anthem.
Measuring four metres high, two metres wide, and eight metres long, the truck will take two months to build before it is displayed at South Bank Parklands as part of the 2023 Brisbane Truck Show. This compares to just six days for a real Mack Anthem.
Following two months of design work, the Anthem is now under construction at Ben’s studio at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast. The finishing touches will be added live in front of the public at what’s sure to be among the most popular displays at the Brisbane Truck Show.
The activation will encourage community involvement as the final pieces are built in preparation for official Guinness World Record adjudication on May 19.
Just like the real thing, the truck will be built from scratch with individual and genuine parts. All components will be held together by ‘Kragle’ – which fans of The LEGO Movie will know is a weapon (tube of glue) sought by Lord Business to ensure everyone touched by it is sealed in place.
Strengthened with metal internal supports, the Anthem will feature a detailed exterior and interior, including wheels, air lines, fuel tanks, turntable, fully operable doors, and 36-inch sleeper.
The final piece of the build will be a LEGO brick version of the famous Mack bulldog, which will be added to the hood on May 19.
Mack Trucks Australia Vice President, Tom Chapman, says big kids and little kids love Mack trucks and building a LEGO version on home soil is a fun way to celebrate being Australian made for over six decades.
“The culture at Mack is one of pride and passion; our Australian Made certification is one we wear as a badge of honour,” he says.
“Every Mack truck you see on the roads in Australia has been made in the western corridor of Brisbane.
“Designing and engineering our Mack trucks locally means we can meet and exceed the demands of customers, focussing on application excellence, providing reliability and durability.”
Best known as ‘The Brick Builder’, Ben’s previous works include a full-size 1973 Viscount Royal caravan. Constructed from 288,630 LEGO bricks, the 2,200mm wide, 2,350mm high, 5,800mm long model weighed 1.6 tons and is the largest caravan ever made with LEGO bricks. The caravan was displayed at the Queensland Caravan, Camping & Touring Super Show in Brisbane in 2018.
Other notable commissions have included scaled models of Brisbane Airport, a Eurostar train set, and the La Jument lighthouse in France.
A secret fan of large trucks and engineering, the Mack Anthem is by far the largest project undertaken by Ben, whose healthy obsession with LEGO began at the age of two and has never ceased.
Ben says the opportunity to create a Mack Anthem made from LEGO bricks is a dream come true.
“Mack trucks are iconic and have a loved cult following. I spend a lot of time on the road and no other truck has the same appeal as a Mack Truck and its iconic bulldog,” Ben says.
As Master Builder Emmet Brickowski would say, it’s going to be awesome!
