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woofmcmoose

Review: 6673 Solo Trainer

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Solo Trainer

Set #: 6673

Year Released: 1990

Piece Count: 65

Minifigs: 1

RRP: unknown (Edit- probably around 4.99GBP).

Searching the review index I spotted that no one had yet given attention to another of the sets I wished for but never had back when I was a kid. So after a little e-baying I give you my take on 1990's Solo Trainer. But... before we start I will raise my one issue with the set: it's name. Apparently the lego town flying school teaches their students by sending them up alone in a twin engined aircraft....though, maybe this is one of the reasons lego town's and city's have such well funded fire departments! Anyway, onward with the review!

The Box

Unfortunately I don't have a box for this one, however as with all kits of this era, the front print on the instructions matches the front box art, showing the aircraft from perhaps its best aspect (more on that later) against a washed out representation of a runway and airport control tower set against a cloudless blue sky - the weather was always good in 1990's town! Also on the cover in soft focus we see the ground equipment that comes with this set.

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The Minifig

Yep, just the one, well he is training solo. No printing to be found, just a plain blue torso with white sleeves plus red pants and baseball cap. He's not exactly up to the standard of the smug pilot of today's sets:

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The Parts

Here are the bits that go together to make your plane, nothing of particular note, but you do get some nice blue wedges in there which are good for 90's era boat/plane (or dare I say classic space?) MOCs. You also get 4 trans-blue 1x2x1 panels:

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The Instructions

Standard double sided fold out affair split into a very short (2 step) ground equipment build followed by 15 steps of aircraft. Despite the change in background colours from sky to grass, there are no issues with contrast and they are relatively easy to follow with a few mini-build call outs. Our intrepid student might be worried though as he was hoping for some instruction on how to fly the plane, not just build it!

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The Build and Model

The build starts with the ground equipment which includes a simple shell liver fuel drum and hose and a big spanner which our student will need to build his aircraft. Luckily for him there's no particularly novel techniques involved. Here is a shot about a third of the way through:

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Fuselage is done, onto the wings, which are a separate call-out build:

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As you see in this next shot the wings and roof are a single assembly which hinges forward to let the pilot in through the roof. The gaps at the back of the cockpit really irk me, particularly as this ugly feature is hidden from view on the box art. Why they did not use plates and tiles, or 1x1x1 cornet panels to fill the gaps I do not know? Im also unsure about the open sides here, it 1x2x2 panels or airplane windows might look better. It is a bit of a struggle for our student to get in!

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Having finished the plane, it's time for a pre flight walk around. From the side the plane is noticably short and stubby, but does look quite smart if you ignore the cockpit issues. The engines are simple 2x2 with pin pieces and again could perhaps use a little detail:

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From the front, no complaints:

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Fueling Up:

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Our smug modern pilot instructor gives some final words of wisdom: "so there I was, in a 2g inverted dive..."

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Oh dear, first flight hasn't gone too well!

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The IP decides its time to make himself scarce:

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The Verdict

Build& Model: Average, nothing novel, but the resulting model is well shaped and reasonably robust for the part count. Just a shame about the 'missing' parts around the cockpit: 7

Parts: Some useful bits in here, nothing unique though: 7

Figure: Pretty plain, and there's only one, this set could use a maintenance guy, or instructor with a walkie talkie to add a bit more appeal: 5

Playability: Its a plane, you can 'swoosh' it! The ground equipment adds a little extra too: 8

Overall: A fairly solid all round set given the part count. Looks good from most angles though some modding of the cockpit and engines would likely improve things. If you want a small civilian aircraft for cheap, then you could do worse than start here: 7

Edited by Rick

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But... before we start I will raise my one issue with the set: it's name. Apparently the lego town flying school teaches their students by sending them up alone in a twin engined aircraft....though, maybe this is one of the reasons lego town's and city's have such well funded fire departments!

That is a LOL. And it does explain for the big fire department.

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That is a LOL. And it does explain for the big fire department.

But what is the police doing letting him fly alone?

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Probably to busy trying get all the lose criminals running around.

Or maybe, it's all a conspiracy to get the pilot to crash into the road where the loose criminals are running and have him do the work for the cops.... *oh2*

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I really appreciate this classic town review. Well done, and thank you woofmcmoose for sharing such a good insight to this simple aircraft set. I don't recall seeing this around but I am glad I got a chance to know it through this review.

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Or maybe, it's all a conspiracy to get the pilot to crash into the road where the loose criminals are running and have him do the work for the cops.... *oh2*

Dun Dun DUUUUUUN

Great review, it's a really cute little set, I'll probably get a couple for my city.

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Is that a crack in the white wedge-like piece at the back?

Nice review!

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Is that a crack in the white wedge-like piece at the back?

Unfortunately yes, at first I assumed cat hair (that stuff gets everywhere) but going to check the model, yes there is a small crack. I've never seen that in such a piece before.

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Pity! I've got cracks in relatively new pieces (say, nog more than 2 years old).

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I think price for this in 90s would've been £4.99 or so.

Keep up the work on classic town reviews, really enjoying them!

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I think price for this in 90s would've been £4.99 or so.

Good spot, a copy/paste error from a previous review. 4.99 sounds about right.

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