Review: 42057 Ultralight Helicopter

[Siegfried]

Review: 42057 Ultralight Helicopter

Name: Ultralight Helicopter
Number: 42057
Theme: Technic
Year: 2017
Pieces: 199
Price: USD $19.99, Euro 14.99€, AUD $29.99
Brickset:Extra Info

 

Technic Early 2017 Review Series

Welcome to the first in my batch of 2017 Technic reviews! I was offered all the small sets early 2017 for review late last year... but I ended up getting them all! Thus I have a lot to review. I've been doing them in parallel and changing my process as I go so hopefully the latter ones will end up being the best. On that angle I'll probably retcon some of the earlier reviews if I improve my process. Due to this remember that I'm happy to take extra photos or provide extra info on request, and anything especially good will be added to the main body of the review. Do note though that sometimes the model may no longer exist if I have have made an alternate. On the subject of alternates, I will be making the alt model, if I have the instructions, think the model is worth making, and I have the time. Also I'll show mid stage construction only if I think it's relevant. Thus don't ask for construction photos or alt models if they aren't part of the review.... I am prepared to extract parts for detail photos though. Photos will all be hosted on Flickr so larger versions are available, and relevant videos will be on YouTube and linked to from here. I don't edit photos much; very rarely I'll crop one and almost never will "correct" them so the photos should be as natural as possible. I will try to not be repetitive; thus it's worth reading my other reviews. For example I'm not going to complain too much about the digital instructions; I'll try to complain about new things, or maybe not complain at all!

Here's all the other reviews of H1 2017 Technic...

42057 Ultralight Helicopter 
42058 Stunt Bike 
42059 Stunt Truck (and 45058/42059 Combiner) 
42060 Roadwork Crew 
42061 Telehandler 
42062 Container Yard 
42063 BMW R 1200 GS Adventure 
42064 Ocean Explorer 
42065 Tracked Racer 

Mucho multi thanks to the EB LUG Ambassador CopMike and the LEGO CEE Team and Designers for allowing me to review these sets for Eurobricks. So onto the review!

 

Packaging

Front....

 

...back....

 

...top. I find it odd that the 40th anniversary promotion is on the top, not the front, but I'm not in marketing! I also think it's misleading the 
"+ beam" claim as it's NOT a plus, it's part of the model, and often structural. (From what I've seen so far it's always visible.)

 

Unboxing

Standard punch box. Surprisingly there are two books; one for the alternative model. Staple bound, the main model has a better cover. Loads of stickers; all panels get one.

 

The build is not sectioned, but it's not really that big a model.

 

Quite a decent variety of parts, the special parts being....

 

..the anniversary part....

 

...this connector, which seems to be new this year...

 

...and this recolour. (If I'm missing any please tell me!)

 

Parts list.

 

Build

It's done! First things first, it's not a helicopter, it's a gyrocopter. Not sure why LEGO would pick the wrong name, perhaps to avoid confusion, but it does annoy me. (Grrrr.) But I'll pick more on that kind of stuff later.

 

Spare parts.

 

Side view highlights the rudder control and the inline engine...

 

...which fits in very neatly.

 

The anniversary parts is used as part of the rudder control...

 

...which probably deflects enough to be functional.

 

The other control surfaces are static.

 

The cockpit isn't really designed for a walrus.

 

Underneath you can spin the rotor and propeller and make sounds to your hearts content. 

 

Adding the stickers does make the model look a bit more exciting, but I do think a more exciting colour would have made more sense here... but considering the rest of the line the year white isn't overused.

 

The overall model is rather small, but it is a low price point.

 

Build (Alternate)

The alternate build is an "Experimental Aircraft".

 

It looks Burt Rutan-ish to me....

 

...but it doesn't use much of the parts. (Hair is not part of the set.)

 

The cockpit is very squeezy....

 

...and it has a flat engine.

 

You can see the anniversary part here.

 

 

Ratings

Function:

Really I think a set this small could have got away with just the rotor, adding the rudder, and having the alternate use a flat engine instead of an inline is excellent as well. 8/10

Parts:

Nothing too exciting, but it's a very good blend and is a good source for some of the new connectors. 8/10

Price:

$29.99 AUD (19.99 USD) for 199 parts is good value considering the size of the set, the full set of printed instructions, and the variety of parts. 9/10

Accuracy:

If I rated this as a helicopter I'd give it 0/10.... but I'm not that mean. But even as a Gyrocopter it's wrong; the main blade is supposed to be free spinning. Some you can give a rolling start, but they are not powered, and this model gives the wrong impression. Also the blade is way too short.... 4/10

Fudge:

This is an excellent set for someone starting out in Technic, and a good parts pack for others. 8/10

 

Overall:

Buy! 7/10

 

[Dazenie]

Great review,especially because you did the b model. Personally I don't think that I will get this set straight away, but maybe if I see it for good price in a local shop.

[Richard Dower]

I like both the A and B model....so i might get two, this is also an excellent parts pack on the cheap.

On 5/1/2017 at 7:35 AM, Dazenie said:

Great review,especially because you did the b model. Personally I don't think that I will get this set straight away, but maybe if I see it for good price in a local shop.

I think it's more of a €9.99 set myself.

[Dazenie]

7 hours ago, Richard Dower said:

I like both the A and B model....so i might get two, this is also an excellent parts pack on the cheap.

I think it's more of a €9.99 set myself.

On the uk Lego store its £15 practically double!

[Saberwing40k]

Nice review, although some of the pictures are a little dark. Not enough to really impair viewability, but is certainly noticeable. It's something that could be better is all. Overall, the B model is okay, and the A model is good, for what it is. I'd actually say that the B model is better than the stunt jet of last year, by virtue of including a prop piece. I might pick one up, but it's not high on my list.

[Siegfried]

On 07/01/2017 at 2:10 PM, Saberwing40k said:

Nice review, although some of the pictures are a little dark. Not enough to really impair viewability, but is certainly noticeable. It's something that could be better is all. 

 

Yeah, I agree. As I said...

 

On 05/01/2017 at 4:43 PM, Siegfried said:

I was offered all the small sets early 2017 for review late last year... but I ended up getting them all! Thus I have a lot to review. I've been doing them in parallel and changing my process as I go so hopefully the latter ones will end up being the best. On that angle I'll probably retcon some of the earlier reviews if I improve my process.

 

...and this was one of the issues I decided I wasn't happy with so I decided to re-arrange my room to take better photos of larger objects and not care if I was late. Originally I was only being given the smaller sets which I was going to photograph in a light box I bought recently as it enabled me to take photos faster. Ultimately I've decided I don't really like it that much (it doesn't really help as I still need good lighting) but those photos of the alt model and some of the parts were already taken. A greater percentage of the photos in the latter reviews I'm happy with...

Thanks though for the feedback!