Lego

[Jump_Ace]

That's not sped up by the way; that's how fast my hands move when moderating...


And typing out bold/color tags 83,500 times

We know.

That looks like a fun little build!



Jerome

 

[ScottPuss20]

View attachment 1324224View attachment 1324225View attachment 1324226View attachment 1324228
Available March 1st $79.99/€79.99

It's not bad, maybe the rear tires could be bigger and have Goodyear logo, but I like it.

Wait, this is real? They stole my creation!

 

[Jump_Ace]

I'd probably have to modify those rear wheels on the 'official' car to add some single wide tires. That is if my memory serves me right that they exist(?)



Jerome

 

[SPhilli911]

Even more F1 sets coming out, including another large Technic one and a Speed Champions! All available March 1. Sorry wallet.

42171 Mercedes-AMG F1 W14 E Performance – US$219.99 / AU$299.99 / £189.99 / €219.99 / CAD$289.99

76919 2023 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car – US$26.99 / AU$39.99 / £20.99/ €26.99 / CAD$34.99

42165 Mercedes-AMG F1 W14 E Performance Pull-Back – US$26.99 / AU$39.99 / £20.99/ €26.99 / CAD$34.99

 

[sesselpupser]

Boy am I glad I have no interest in F1 anymore! Although having said that, when I finally get around to ordering replica stickers from brickstickershop I was planning on getting a sheet for 5540:

Edit: doing some more lowballing this evening, made four offers and got three accepted. The one that was rejected must have been a joke, I offered £8 for an incomplete 31049, the seller countered with £9 but I saw a complete one for £11... Why would I go for that? But then in looking to see what else was around, I saw a bundle of 31049, 31059 and 31037 for £15.70.

So naturally I offered £14.70 and they accepted. But that's a really good deal, IMO. 31049 and 31037 were on my list, 31059 wasn't but given that I was expecting to pay at least £10 for each of the others I'll take it anyway.

The other two that were accepted were 31088 - I took my son to the aquarium today and thought I should get something fishy - and 31092, which I think I overpaid for, I'm sure I could've gotten it cheaper from a BL seller if I got it along with something else.

 

[Awong124]

My latest purchase. Not exactly Lego, but it's so cool I couldn't resist. Price was pretty reasonable.

 

[SPhilli911]

Very cool and probably a fraction of the cost of a comparable Lego set. I've always wanted to try building a "knock off" Lego set. Well, other than Mega Bloks, that is.

 

[Jump_Ace]

Very cool and probably a fraction of the cost of a comparable Lego set. I've always wanted to try building a "knock off" Lego set. Well, other than Mega Bloks, that is.

I gave that a whirl like 8 years ago with a knock off UCS Star Destroyer set. Let's just say I requested the return not 15 minutes after opening it. Granted, I think it was some Chinese knock off from ebay, but Lego's consistency is second to none.


Jerome

 

[Awong124]

I gave that a whirl like 8 years ago with a knock off UCS Star Destroyer set. Let's just say I requested the return not 15 minutes after opening it. Granted, I think it was some Chinese knock off from ebay, but Lego's consistency is second to none.


Jerome

The thing with these new knock-offs is that they aren't Lego set clones. They are of things that Lego doesn't make. This particular set that I got is officially licensed by Alfa Romeo F1 to CaDA.

In addition to this set, I also bought a 1:24 scale version of the same car from CaDA. Kind of similar to Speed Champions, but a little bigger. I started it last night, and the parts quality is pretty decent. It's clearly a step down from Lego, I would say around 90% Lego quality, but functionally it's more than sufficient. They even mould "CaDA" on top of each stud like Lego does. The things I find are not great are the instructions, lack of numbered bags, and sticker quality.

The instruction steps are kind of odd. They show you a picture of the pieces arranged in a certain way illustrating how to put it together, but not really in logical order of how you would actually do it. Like they would show several pieces placed side by side (not actually connected), then tell you to plop that assembly onto another collection of loose pieces, which is impossible to do in real life. Lego instructions shows you how to connect pieces in order. Also, the contrast in the printing isn't great, making it a little hard to make out different pieces. Though honestly, I'm not too concerned about the instructions. Better instructions would make it easier, but I'm satisfied as long as the finished product turns out well.

There are no numbered bags, and the pieces are not bagged in chronological order. So for the first few steps, the pieces required are all in separate bags, and you basically have to open all the bags and dump them out to begin with. That is a little annoying, as it makes things harder to find.

My biggest gripe is probably sticker quality. Modern Lego stickers are very durable, with almost a bit of a plastic quality to them. Lego stickers don't fray at the edges, and you can peel them off and reapply them if you get position wrong. These stickers are reminiscient of Lego stickers from like 20 or 30 years ago. They are papery, and edges can fray. They are durable enough that you can peel them off and reapply, but they end up curling up quite a bit, making it very hard to apply again, though they do stick well. And these stickers are cut way too big. You end up with a margin of maybe 0.5 mm on every edge, making it very challenging to position properly. I've also encountered stickers that were actually larger than the surface they went onto, and by the time I stuck it on and figured that out it was too late to trim the sticker. Lego stickers give you quite a bit of room on each edge, so it doesn't have to be so precise. There are also some stickers that go over multiple pieces, which I don't really like, so I end up cutting it at the seams after.

But overall, I quite like the set. Overall, I would say the experience is around 80% as good as Lego. It should look nice when I'm done. At this point (having not started the large Technic set yet), I would definitely recommend getting the smaller set.

 

[sesselpupser]

So for the first few steps, the pieces required are all in separate bags, and you basically have to open all the bags and dump them out to begin with. That is a little annoying, as it makes things harder to find.

As someone who has a lot of Creator 3in1 sets this sounds like my typical Lego experience. Actually they've started doing numbered bags now, the astronaut had them (and they were paper, finally!) and it's actually pretty annoying because if you're doing the B or C build using the app, every time it tells you to look in a specific bag for a piece it plays the "bag opening" animation EVERY time. Although I noticed when I built 31064 the other night my phone didn't go to sleep every 30 seconds so they've updated it recently, I wonder if they fixed that annoying behaviour. (Edit, they have, now it just shows a bag graphic with a number on it in each step's piece count)

Stickers that cover multiple pieces is the main reason I don't want to part out 10177, the Boeing 787, even though I'd get replica stickers for it. Well, that and it's pretty ugly... I'm SO glad Lego doesn't do that anymore.

 

[Awong124]

As someone who has a lot of Creator 3in1 sets this sounds like my typical Lego experience. Actually they've started doing numbered bags now, the astronaut had them (and they were paper, finally!) and it's actually pretty annoying because if you're doing the B or C build using the app, every time it tells you to look in a specific bag for a piece it plays the "bag opening" animation EVERY time. Although I noticed when I built 31064 the other night my phone didn't go to sleep every 30 seconds so they've updated it recently, I wonder if they fixed that annoying behaviour. (Edit, they have, now it just shows a bag graphic with a number on it in each step's piece count)

Stickers that cover multiple pieces is the main reason I don't want to part out 10177, the Boeing 787, even though I'd get replica stickers for it. Well, that and it's pretty ugly... I'm SO glad Lego doesn't do that anymore.

Even Lego City sets with like 300 pieces have numbered bags now. I'm not sure if the large Technic CaDA set has numbered bags, as I haven't checked yet. But I think it might. It would be super annoying if it didn't, having to rummage through 1800+ pieces.

 

[Jump_Ace]

... It would be super annoying if it didn't, having to rummage through 1800+ pieces.

The first time I bought the 10178, I built it, then immediately disassembled it to rebuild it again (before kids, obv). I dumped all the pieces into a rubber bin and OMG it too FOREVER to find all the pieces and it took like a month to finish it, or more. So I then had the idea to make 'The Rebuilder' out of some unused USPS long, medium boxes. It worked great, I still had to stack larger pieces around my table, but the second time I rebuilt it, it was almost as fast as the first time. I really want to 3D print the boxes for it, but A) every time I try 3D Printing, I have an awful time and B) if I get it printed elsewhere its like $750+ (even though the CAD work is done).


Jerome

 

[DG_Silva]

I've done a few non-Lego kits in the past (Ford Mustang and Mini Cooper Creator-look-a-like models) from CaDa Double Eagle, and found them on the whole to be quite good and within tolerance.

I will say they're not as good as Lego, but there's no way that I could afford the £150+ for the bigger kits that CaDa or Mould King would charge less than half for.

Also, as @Awong124 mentioned, they often do models which just aren't available at Lego such as the two I've just bought (Ford GT and Aston Martin Vantage GT3), or the models I've yet to start (Ferrari Enzo, Lamborghini Huracan and a 3500pc Lamborghini Centenario).

All the kits I've done have numbered bags, however you'll find there's three or four bags with the same number, so it won't be 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc. I will say that it doesn't bother me too much though as I empty all of the bags for the whole kit into a Stanley Sorter before I start.

 

[Jump_Ace]

View attachment 1325983

That works great for sets under like 1,000 pieces or so. I remember scouring the interwebs for a while and the closest thing I found that could maybe work was a part separator for tools, something like: https://www.amazon.com/Akro-Mils-10124-Plastic-Hardware-6-5-Inch/dp/B003TV3NL0?tag=gtplanet-20 But it was too small after doing some math for the super mega huge lego sets.


Jerome

 

[Awong124]

I'm just too lazy to sort stuff before starting. But from what I've read about CaDA sets, I might have to at least sort the Technic pins. Because supposedly with CaDA they're all black, and not color coded like Lego.

I've also noticed that CaDA has occasional parts that don't exist in Lego, which is interesting. Not like custom steering wheels or wheels/tires or anything like that, but just some regular bricks, wedges, and tiles in their own custom dimensions.

 

[Jump_Ace]

Give us some pics when you can buddy. I'm curious, especially about these new pieces.


Jerome

 

[Awong124]

Give us some pics when you can buddy. I'm curious, especially about these new pieces.


Jerome

The two wedge tiles on the front wing and barge board only exist in Lego with some studs on top, not completely smooth like this. The white curved slope piece on top of the side pod, Lego has a similar piece, but the dimensions are slightly different. This one is one plate thickness flatter.

This piece doesn't exist. I don't think Lego has any plates with studs on both sides. Though if you look at how this step was constructed, there is no reason to use this piece at all. They could have just used an inverted curved slope piece and a normal 1x2 plate, and it would have ended up looking exactly the same. They have inverted slope pieces included in this set for other places, but they didn't think to use it here, which was just bizarre. This is an example of how the design on this set is sometimes weird.

This piece Lego has something almost the same, but this one is one stud shorter at the bottom end of the slope.

I noticed these when I tried to build this thing in Studio, and realized I couldn't find the right parts. So I had to modify the model to use what Lego had.

 

[sesselpupser]

I finally started buying the pieces for the Master Builder Academy book I bought a while back and boy, it hasn't been the best experience so far - one seller discovered she was short a piece after I'd already placed the other orders and then sent me a handful of plates in "play wear with nicks" condition that look like they were dredged from their toilet (I have them soaking in washing up liquid now), and another seller claimed to have sent me the full manifest but has excluded a piece and sent another of the wrong colour! Almost enough to put me off buying used Lego. Almost.

Ah, who am I kidding, I'd still buy used Lego even if it came with a free slap to the face in every order.

 

[DG_Silva]

That works great for sets under like 1,000 pieces or so. I remember scouring the interwebs for a while and the closest thing I found that could maybe work was a part separator for tools, something like: https://www.amazon.com/Akro-Mils-10124-Plastic-Hardware-6-5-Inch/dp/B003TV3NL0?tag=gtplanet-20 But it was too small after doing some math for the super mega huge lego sets.

Yeah, that would work to a certain degree, but I think you might have issues with the longer or larger body pieces. I think this might be a better option with the larger bottom tray.

I'm just too lazy to sort stuff before starting. But from what I've read about CaDA sets, I might have to at least sort the Technic pins. Because supposedly with CaDA they're all black, and not color coded like Lego.

I enjoy sorting parts, as it helps lengthen the build time and it lasts longer. CaDa do have colour coded parts, but their 1x1 peg, 1x2 peg and 1x2 axle peg are all black, but there are also 1x2 blue pegs and 1x2 red female axle pegs.

 

[Awong124]

I just finished the 1:24 CaDA Alfa Romeo F1. Another thing I want to add is that the white stripe and Pirelli P-Zero logos on the tire sidewalls are transparent stickers. They don't look that great in person, and don't stick very well. I expect they will fall off after a while.

 

[sesselpupser]

Buying pieces is such a slippery slope. All I needed was three 1x4 yellow plates but obviously paying £0.06 for the pieces and £3.50 for the shipping was lunacy so I added some missing pieces I needed plus pieces to make another set (2011 duck) to bring it up to a reasonable volume, but in doing so I necessitated placing four more orders (because one seller only has the string, another only has the big plate and two others have the rest of the pieces), so I placed two more orders and bulked those up with pieces for the Hoth and Endor dioramas... Which each need a couple more orders to finish off!

I do kinda like having "open" bags for sets I kinda want that I can add a few pieces for to orders of other things I do actually want, though. Almost like Lego osmosis.

 

[W3H5]

That's not sped up by the way; that's how fast my hands move when moderating...

 

[Jump_Ace]

I picked up one of these:

Because the wife and I are going to the UK in July. I've never been to Europe, we only have one week, but so far my bucket list of items is to ride one of these buses, have a pint, ride the Eye, see the palace and the crown jewels. Aaand, try to 'sneak' off to Germany for a few days to drive on The Nordschliefe....not sure if I can swing it with the travel time. If not, then I'll try to get over to Donington.


Jerome

 

[MedigoFlame]

I picked up one of these:
View attachment 1327766

Because the wife and I are going to the UK in July. I've never been to Europe, we only have one week, but so far my bucket list of items is to ride one of these buses, have a pint, ride the Eye, see the palace and the crown jewels. Aaand, try to 'sneak' off to Germany for a few days to drive on The Nordschliefe....not sure if I can swing it with the travel time. If not, then I'll try to get over to Donington.


Jerome

Please tell me you'll be in the UK in time for the Goodwood Festival of Speed! (It is in July I believe) That event's well worth going and was my reason for traveling to the UK for my first time. Maybe next time I'll do the more touristy stuff. Reminds me that I haven't built my bus set yet either. Been itching to do a new set now that I moved out of my apartment with plenty of room to finally display more kits.

 

[Jump_Ace]

Please tell me you'll be in the UK in time for the Goodwood Festival of Speed! (It is in July I believe) That event's well worth going and was my reason for traveling to the UK for my first time. Maybe next time I'll do the more touristy stuff. Reminds me that I haven't built my bus set yet either. Been itching to do a new set now that I moved out of my apartment with plenty of room to finally display more kits.

No, that week didn't work for the rest of the family who will be watching the kids all week for us unfortunately. That was pretty much the first thing I looked up We'll be there the week after.


Jerome

 

[sesselpupser]

@Jump_Ace don't forget the Science Museum! I might be biased but of the three big museums in South Kensington ours is the best because it's the least popular, trying to visit the Natural History Museum is a nightmare because it's always packed. Also I suggest looking at https://www.msv.com/ to see which of their circuits you can get to and what's on during your trip, or if you're feeling more adventurous see if anything's happening at Shelsley Walsh, typically a much more intimate (and absolutely stunning) place to see some cars go fast.

In keeping with this theme (kinda), I'm probably going to order some replica sticker sheets for some rare sets - the Piper plane, the Shinkai sub and Hayabusa Cuusoo sets, Peril in Peru and some Model Team sets - and in searching for the sticker sheet for the 787 Dreamliner I discovered the sticker sheet for this: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-129182/SFH_Bricks/mazda-787b-1991/ so now I think I need to make this a birthday present for a mate who loves the 787B but isn't into Lego (yet), I've already bought the instructions and it looks like a really good build. I'm also thinking about getting this same user's Ueno Clinic F1 GTR for myself but I hate stickers so I'm not sure.

 

[Roo]

but so far my bucket list of items is to ride one of these buses, have a pint, ride the Eye, see the palace and the crown jewels.

You can do all that in an afternoon which leaves plenty of time for, say, a quick trip to Germany.

Aaand, try to 'sneak' off to Germany for a few days to drive on The Nordschliefe....not sure if I can swing it with the travel time. If not, then I'll try to get over to Donington.

If you do go to the Nordschliefe, check the opening hours beforehand. It looks like it's evenings only that week, 5/5.30-7/7.30pm. There's plenty of companies that'll rent you a car. I'd suggest not taking your road rental car on the track as you could end up in a pile of trouble! From London it's about 8 hours drive each way to Nurburg if you cross the English Channel on the Eurotunnel, so you could drive out during the day, spend the evening there, and drive back the following day.

I'm also thinking about getting this same user's Ueno Clinic F1 GTR for myself but I hate stickers so I'm not sure.

I'm not sure I'll bother with the stickers. As you can see there's a few orange bits I still need to replace because...

Buying pieces is such a slippery slope. All I needed was three 1x4 yellow plates but obviously paying £0.06 for the pieces and £3.50 for the shipping was lunacy so I added some missing pieces I needed plus pieces to make another set (2011 duck) to bring it up to a reasonable volume, but in doing so I necessitated placing four more orders (because one seller only has the string, another only has the big plate and two others have the rest of the pieces), so I placed two more orders and bulked those up with pieces for the Hoth and Endor dioramas... Which each need a couple more orders to finish off!

...I'm in this post and I don't like it

 

[Jump_Ace]

You can do all that in an afternoon which leaves plenty of time for, say, a quick trip to Germany.



If you do go to the Nordschliefe, check the opening hours beforehand. It looks like it's evenings only that week, 5/5.30-7/7.30pm. There's plenty of companies that'll rent you a car. I'd suggest not taking your road rental car on the track as you could end up in a pile of trouble! From London it's about 8 hours drive each way to Nurburg if you cross the English Channel on the Eurotunnel, so you could drive out during the day, spend the evening there, and drive back the following day.



View attachment 1327811

View attachment 1327812

I'm not sure I'll bother with the stickers. As you can see there's a few orange bits I still need to replace because...



...I'm in this post and I don't like it

@Roo Would it be alright if I PM you for some details on that trip to Germany? I am planning on doing a full day with RSR and drive an i20 of theirs (not the rental car).


Jerome

 

[Roo]

@Roo Would it be alright if I PM you for some details on that trip to Germany? I am planning on doing a full day with RSR and drive an i20 of theirs (not the rental car).


Jerome

Sure. I've never rented a car there though, but it makes sense that a hire company uses the track during the day outside of the touristenfahten sessions - I hadn't thought of that.

 

[Jump_Ace]

@Jump_Ace don't forget the Science Museum! I might be biased but of the three big museums in South Kensington ours is the best because it's the least popular, trying to visit the Natural History Museum is a nightmare because it's always packed. Also I suggest looking at https://www.msv.com/ to see which of their circuits you can get to and what's on during your trip, or if you're feeling more adventurous see if anything's happening at Shelsley Walsh, typically a much more intimate (and absolutely stunning) place to see some cars go fast.

In keeping with this theme (kinda), I'm probably going to order some replica sticker sheets for some rare sets - the Piper plane, the Shinkai sub and Hayabusa Cuusoo sets, Peril in Peru and some Model Team sets - and in searching for the sticker sheet for the 787 Dreamliner I discovered the sticker sheet for this: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-129182/SFH_Bricks/mazda-787b-1991/ so now I think I need to make this a birthday present for a mate who loves the 787B but isn't into Lego (yet), I've already bought the instructions and it looks like a really good build. I'm also thinking about getting this same user's Ueno Clinic F1 GTR for myself but I hate stickers so I'm not sure.

I'm subscribed to their newsletter. I saw a date for March 4th drop for Donington yesterday, so I'm srsly crossing my fingers something will come up for that week. I'm looking at the logistics for getting to Germany and my choices are 1) not great or 2) not ideal so far The wife says we should plan a separate Germany trip next time and that "Nerd Shelf" (yep, she almost got it-...actually no she didn't ) will be there later. Baaaah!


Jerome