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Hi, I recently bought the Lego Arctic Base set on sale and decided to build a supply unit car (although it is actually a very unrealistic idea). The unit consists of an intermodal car with two types of containers. The tank container is an improved version of the tanktainer I showed last year: http://www.eurobrick...tank +container I hope you enjoy this little build. My three-year-old daughter likes to load the container with huskies and ice bears ;) Cheers Of course the arctic base does not have its own train station. The containers will be delivered by helicopters and transported by this tracked vehicle (which is a longer version of the standard vehicle from the official Lego set).
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Here is the result of spending a few restful days at the seaside with a handful of arctic sets: the Goliath, a heavy arctic snowcat. It is built from parts coming from the other arctic vehicles in order to combine some of their play features. Arctic team in action by Veynom, on Flickr The Goliath is great at crossing any kind of difficult landscape: Goliath in Action by Veynom, on Flickr Arctic Goliath Snowcat by Veynom, on Flickr The Goliath is packed with many features; - forward cab to host the driver and an additional passenger with room for some equipment as well; - large storage compartiment in the centre to put 2 crates; - fully equipped lab at the rear side; - tow cable; - Plenty of powerful lights to enlighten the arctic night; - remote camera on the roof; - Additional storage locations around the vehicle to clip many different tools; - radar and radio antennas. Rien de tel pour épauler l'équipe : Goliath deployed. by Veynom, on Flickr Here is the lab: Inside the Goliath by Veynom, on Flickr More pictures: Arctic Goliath Snowcat by Veynom, on Flickr Arctic Goliath Snowcat by Veynom, on Flickr Arctic team in action by Veynom, on Flickr I know making an arctic vehicle during summer and taking pictures on the beach is not perfect as background for the model, sadly, I can't change sand into snow. ;) Arctic team in action by Veynom, on Flickr Arctic Goliath by Veynom, on Flickr I love holidays. I hope you enjoy yours as well.
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Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to Aquaman on Ice! No, it's not an ice-skating show. I'm talking about the latest set in the Batman and Friends Super Heroes theme, "Arctic Batman vs. Mr. Freeze: Aquaman on Ice." Is that the longest Lego set name ever? I guess they were trying to squeeze the names of all three characters into the title. Anyway, I was lucky enough to order this set (along with some other 2013 sets) when Amazon had them up for sale for a short time, so I am able to bring you an early review of this set! Set Number: 76000 Name: Arctic Batman vs. Mr. Freeze: Aquaman on Ice Theme: Super Heroes Subtheme: DC Universe Year of Release: 2013 Pieces: 198 Minifigs: 3 Price: $19.99 USD S@H description: Mr. Freeze has trapped Aquaman in a block of ice and only Batman can release him! Speed to the rescue in the powerful Batboat with exhaust flames, deploy the missiles and release the bombs to bust that block of ice. It's time to turn the heat up on Mr. Freeze! Includes 3 minifigures: white Arctic Batman, Mr. Freeze and Aquaman, all with assorted weapons. Brickset Bricklink Brickshelf The Box The box is the same size as that of all sets of this price range this year and it's very blue, which fits the winter theme well. It has a nice illustration of Batman in his nifty new arctic suit in the top right corner. The boxart shows our two heroes battling Mr. Freeze on what is presumably a frozen Gotham City Bay. My copy of this set appears to have a typo in the set title as it says "Artic Batman". Hopefully they'll catch on to this before these are widely released as it is quite embarrassing to have a typo right on the front of the box. The back of the box is mostly orange for some reason. It doesn't go very well with the winter theme, but it doesn't look bad. It shows an alternate action shot and all the play features. Contents Inside the box you'll find an instruction booklet, a relatively large sticker sheet, a comic book, and four bags. Surprisingly, none of them are numbered. The comic is about Batman's enemies escaping from Arkham and Batman, Robin, and Aquaman trying to stop them. There's also a short comic featuring the Tumbler and Bat, but it hardly has any story. The TDKR Bane on the cover looks a little out of place to me. The instructions also have an orange background which doesn't suit this set at all and is a bit distracting, but other than that the instructions are pretty easy to follow. As usual, there's a slight image of three figs from this wave in the top right corner of some of the pages: Aquaman, TDKR Batman, and Arkham Asylum Joker. Quite a random group of characters. I think it would have made more sense if it were the three figs from this set, but oh well. These are some of the notable pieces in this set. The long Ninjago blade appears for the first time in pearl silver and the rock piece comes in trans-light-blue for the first time. The colors of the big flame piece seemed different to me too, but it turns out they're the same. I think there was just a little more red mixed into it than usual. Minifigs The minifigures are the main selling point of this set as they are all new and exclusive. Batman comes in a new, mostly white suit that is supposed to keep him from freezing. I guess that makes him the Light Knight? He looks pretty cool, in every sense of the word, although this specific suit wont be very versatile. Mr. Freeze gets a complete redesign from his previous incarnation. The biggest difference is that he now sports a sand-blue Atlantis diver helmet. It looks pretty good and I really wanted to like this fig since Freeze is one of my favorite Bat-villains, but the face just ruins it for me. He looks more like an angry zombie than Mr. Freeze. He is supposed to be emotionless, so why is he so angry? And where are his goggles? Only the worst interpretations of this character didn't have goggles, so I really don't like that he doesn't have them. There are people who are fans of Aquaman, and then there are people who view him as a joke. Unfortunately, I am one of the latter. I can't believe that out of all the DC superheroes they could have put into this set, they chose Aquaman. I mean, he's just a guy who talks to fish! I would have much rather gotten Green Lantern, or the Flash, or Martian Manhunter, or anyone really. But I guess in the context of the set, it kinda makes sense for him to be included, and I find it pretty funny that TLG seems to think that he is a joke too since he merely plays the role of a damsel in distress in this set. It's even implied in the set name! I would probably feel warmer towards this minifig if it at least looked cool, but it doesn't. It looks like Aquaman, yes, but there's something about the face or the hair that makes him look too boyish. He looks more like Justin Bieber in pajamas than the king of Atlantis. I do like the printing on his torso though. Here are some reference images. Mr. Freeze seems to be based on his Arkham City design whereas Batman's Arctic suit originates from the The Batman cartoon. Aquaman is based on his usual comic appearance. They are all very accurate. Looking at them from the back, you can see that Aquaman also has some nice printing on his back. Batman with his white cape and cowl blends into my white background like a ninja! I have taken off his cape and cowl and Mr. Freeze's helmet so that you can see their back printing too. It's pretty detailed, and considering that they don't really need it, it's nice that TLG added it anyway. Mr. Freeze also has some great printing on the front. Batman and Aquaman have double sided heads with angry expressions. Mr. Freeze, however, doesn't. He's just angry all the time for some reason. This is very disappointing since they could have easily given him a second face too, one with a calm expression and perhaps even goggles. I really don't understand why they didn't do this. Here's a comparison with the old Mr. Freeze. I don't have the trans-clear helmet the old one is supposed to have, so I used the closest thing I had. The suit on the new one better, I think, and so does the freeze gun, although I kinda like the piece they used for the freeze beam on the old one better. Of course, if you have the old Mr. Freeze, you can easily swap their heads, and this is what you get. I think this combo looks very good and makes me wonder why they didn't go for a similar face design on the new head. Perhaps the new face could be explained like this: Here's a lineup of all of Batman's different suits so far. The Arctic suit fits in well with the rest. And here you can see Mr. Freeze next to the Atlantis divers. They look quite good together. One could almost think his suit is a left-over design from a scrapped wave of Atlantis sets. The Build The first thing you build is Mr. Freeze's freeze gun. It looks nice and retro. I like the energy cell attached to it, but I'm not too fond of the overall lance shape. Batman gets two of his usual black batarangs. This seems like a missed opportunity to make Batarangs in new colors like white or blue, but oh well. Aquaman fittingly comes with an Atlantis trident. Next, you build Aquaman's ice prison. The base is comprised of slopes and tiles. Then you put Aquaman in the middle and trap him inside the two rock pieces. See ya, fish whisperer. He fits inside easily, but it can be difficult to close the trap when he is carrying his trident. Overall, the ice block looks pretty good, but I think I prefer the marbled rock pieces from the old Batcave set. In order to save him from becoming a fish-stick, you simply push down the white tab on the side. Since the rock pieces are only attached by one stud, it works fairly well. Then comes the main part of the build, the Batboat. Here's a picture of it in mid-build. As usual, there several randomly colored pieces used during the build, but most of them become invisible in the finished model. And here it is, the completed Batboat! I must say, it looks even better in person than on the official pictures! It looks pretty good from the back too! Like Aquaman, this batboat is almost identical to the one from the videogame Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes which is pretty neat. The differences are only very minor. Here's a shot of it from the front which has the obligatory Bat-logo sticker. And here it is from the back. Don't get too close to that exhaust port! It looks very sleek and streamlined from the side. There is a clip on each side for attaching the Batarangs which I really like. So far, none of the Batvehicles have had any place to store those things. Much like the Batwing, the Batboat has the shape of a bat when looking at it from above. The "bat ears" are only attached by a hinge and tend to snap off when moved sideways, but they can just as easily be snapped back on. Play Features The Batboat has several features. The cockpit opens up and there is a steering wheel and two control panels inside. It's kind of a tight fit, though, and it's impossible to seat batman inside without wrinkling his cape. Each side of the boat has a pin for shooting discs which I guess are supposed to be some kind of heat-batarangs. It works well and the discs shoot pretty far. On the back, it has two bombs which can be deployed by simply pushing them off the stud they're attached to. It's pretty low-tech, but it works. You can also spin the engine flame. The Complete Set Here's the full set. I think it all fits together nicely. You get a cool vehicle, a nice piece of exploding scenery, and three exclusive figures. It's a worthy opponent to its Marvel counterpart, Spider-Man's Spider-Cycle Chase. Ratings Design: 5/5 - I love the Batboat. It's so sleek and swooshable. It looks like a bat and has several play features, including Batarang holders. I think it's my favorite Batvehicle so far. The block of ice looks good too. Build: 4/5 - The build is varied, not repetitive, and overall quite satisfying. It's a bit of a pain to put on all those stickers though. Minifigs: 4/5 - The minifigs are pretty good for the most part. Arctic Batman looks great and Aquaman looks decent too, although the choice of hair piece could have been better. Mr. Freeze looks pretty good in his Arkham City style suit, but they really screwed up on his head in my opinion. Playability: 5/5 - Like I said before, the Batboat is very swooshable and has 2 disc shooters and 2 bombs. What more could you want? The exploding feature of the ice block is nice too. Parts: 4/5 - You get a good variety of useful parts, some of them in rare colors. Price: 4/5 - 198 pieces is a decent amount for a $20 set, especially a licensed one. Overall: 4.5/5 - This set is a good value. It gives you one of Batman's signature vehicles from the videogame, an exploding piece of scenery, Batman in one of his special suits, a new Mr. Freeze (who will go nicely with the upcoming Arkham Asylum), and another hero to add to your Lego Justice League, as useless as he may be. It's a good buy for Batman fans of all ages and a very fitting set to build during the winter season. The only thing that keeps it from being great are Mr. Freeze's and Aquaman's terrible heads, but that's just my opinion. I hope you enjoyed this review and that it was helpful to you. And to finish it off, here's one more Aquaman joke: Are You Friggin Kidding Me? by Oky - Space Ranger, on Flickr
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REVIEW - 42038 - ARCTIC TRUCK INTRODUCTION Arctic vehicles aren't new to LEGO. Back in 2000 the Town theme already had several small orange arctic vehicles. In 2014 TLG again released a number of Arctic sets in the City theme (formerly known as Town). Some of these sets are actually pretty big, containing over 700 parts. Looking back in history it seems that Arctic sets may have found their origin in the Technic theme. Although these sets were white instead of orange, they are unmistakenly Arctic. The 1986 Technic Arctic Sets contained the infamous Technic Figures. Unfortunately the 2015 Arctic Truck doesn't contain any Technic Figures, but nonetheless it's great to see a new Arctic vehicle in the Technic line, not counting several snow scooters. Let's see if the new Arctic Truck lives up to the expectations. Note: All images can be clicked for hi-res versions. SET INFORMATION Number: 42038 Title: Arctic Truck Theme: Technic Released: 2015 Part Count: 1219 Box Weight: 2110 gr Box Dimensions: 47,8 cm x 28,0 cm x 7,2 cm Set Price (MSRP): € 79,99 / US$ 84.99 / £ 59.99 Price per Part: € 0,088 / US$ 0.093 / £ 0.066 Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX The box measures 47,8 cm x 28,0 cm x 7,2 cm and weighs around 1385 grams. The box actually feels pretty heavy which means it's filled properly. This seems to be a trend in the Technic theme. Slightly smaller boxes can save shelf space for retailers. THE FRONT The front of the box shows the main model and in the lower right corner there's a image with the dimension of the model. It's 40cm long and 18cm wide. THE BACK The upper part of the back of the box shows the functions of the main model. The lower left section shows the B-model, which looks very promising (more on that later). The lower right section shows the motorization options for the main model. The crane (partially) and the bed can be motorized. Besides motorization some LEDs can be added as headlights. THE SIDE On of the sides shows one of the newer smaller style panels. This is the first time it appears in orange. When you take a look at the sticker you can see that it's not symmetrical. Not sure why TLG "cut of" one of the sides of the stickers, since the position of the panel is very suitable for a continuous sticker. CONTENT OF THE BOX The box is pretty densely packed, which is better than semi-filled boxes. It feels like you actually bought something which matches the box size. The box contains: 2 Booklets 1 Sticker Sheet 8 Bags BOOKLETS & STICKER SHEET Unfortunately the instructions and sticker sheet haven't been packed with cardboard protection, which results in a curved sticker sheet and slightly bent instructions. In my case this wasn't so bad. At least no real damage. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS This set proves to be a great parts pack, especially when you might have missed some of the 2014 sets. BLACK LINK TREADS Usually the Link Treads come in Dark Blue Grey, but this sets includes 96 Black treads, which is great if you'd like to replace the DBG ones in your MOCs, or other official sets. UNDERCARRIAGE AND SUSPENSION Several parts are included to build the undercarriage driving the treads. Four Large Tread Sprockets and eight Small Tread Sprockets, which are used as return sprockets. Also included are four Steering Portal Hubs and four Steering Portal Axles for driving and steering the vehicle. Several frames, including two C-shaped Pivot Frames and two Steering Ball Joints to create an undercarriage much like the 4x4 Crawler. The set even includes two H-shaped Frames (a.k.a. Dog Bone Frames). NEW CHANGEOVER CATCH PARTS This year (2015) three new parts have been introduced to improve the changeover catch. More on these parts later. NEW PIN CONNECTOR Another new part for this year (2015) is the "1L Round Pin Connector", which looks like a pin connector, but acts more like a bush. NEW PINS Furthermore this sets includes quite a large number of three (relatively) new parts. 17 x Pin with Pin Hole, 14 x 3L Pin with 1L Axle and 11 x 3L Pin with 2L Axle, which have been introduced this year (2015). When the new 3L Pin with 1L Axle was introduced in 2014 it was only a matter of time before the new 3L Pin with 2L Axle would appear. Both new Pins are a great addition to the parts portfolio. PANELS Last but not least this sets contains a fair number of orange panels, including the 3x11 Panel in Orange, which is the first time we've seen this part. PART LIST Below is the entire part list for the 913 parts. As usual this part list can be found at the end of the second booklet. THE BUILD The build immediately starts with some of the new parts, used to build the compact gearbox in the center of the model. Notice the two 20 Tooth Bevel Gears. One would have been enough to drive the 12 Tooth Bevel Gear, so the second seems to be useless. TLG probably used it in the A-model, because they needed it in the B-model, which you can see later. The front and rear suspension are almost identical. The front side also has the 13L Gear Rack, used for steering. The picture below shows the steering rack on the front suspension in more detail. At this point you have more or less finished the chassis. The gearbox is in place and the majority of the functions has internally been connected to the right gears. The small turntable shows where the crane will be attached later on. At the end of the first booklet, some of the bodywork has been attached to the chassis. The orange-black color scheme never fails to please me. Throw in some cool stickers for the extra effect and we have a winner. If you decide to motorize the model, using PF, the top of the cabin can be lifted to accomodate the battery box. The chassis uses lots of orange (and some black) panels to give the model it's distinctive look. The protective black bumber/railing is a nice addition which adds something to the exterior. The dumping bed at the rear can tilt to empty it's load. It's operated by a Mini LA. The Treads, which look very cool in Black, are driven by a Large Tread Sprocket and returned by two Small Tread Sprockets. The front and rear sections are identical. Building the undercarriages feels a bit repetitive, which is a problem for most tracked vehicles. FINISHED MODEL Adding the crane to the model finishes the build. Your model should look something like this. When you take a close look at the finished model, you realize this is something else. It's trully a unique vehicle. The color scheme is brilliant and the fact that it's an Arctic Truck is really neat. It's a welcome change for the Technic line to see a vehicle like this. This picture emphasizes that's it's a very cool vehicle. Imagine this beast plowing through the snow! As far as I know it's not based on a real life vehicle. If's probably a combination of several vehicles and some imagination. I can be totally wrong though. The rear of the vehicle shows the crane and drum, placed on the tipper bed. From this angle you can see some of the internals of the model, the gearbox behind the cabin for example. The crane can be partially motorized (rotation and base), while the boom is operated manually. What I like a lot is the protective railing around the vehicle. LEFT OVER PARTS Some leftover parts, nothing noteworthy. FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS This set has several functions/features: Steering Driving Suspension Crane Tipping bed STEERING As you can see in the image below the steering mechanism has quite a bit of negative caster (please correct me if I'm wrong), which causes the treads to rotate a bit upward/downward instead of only to the left and right. DRIVING You mention driving as a feature?! Yes I do and let me explain why. Normally I would ommit this as a feature and take driving for granted. However, driving this vehicle (on a flat surface) causes it to simply slide over the surface. For other arctic vehicles this would be a plus, but with a tracked vehicle it limits playability. This is one of the main drawbacks of these tread, they simple don't work properly on smooth surfaces. SUSPENSION The suspension is working properly. You do need to apply some pressure, but all things considered it's not too bad. CRANE The crane has four degrees of freedom: Base rotation Lower boom Upper boom Hook It does what it's supposed to do. Base rotation and lower boom can be motorized and switched using the gearbox, while the upper boom and hook are operated manually. TIPPING BED The tipping is operated via a Mini LA. CONCLUSION While the set does offer various functions and features, driving and steering is a serious issue. Therefor this set is more likely to be showcased than to be played with. B-MODEL Instructions for the B-model are of high quality. Looking at the image below, you will see what I mean. Here's the finished B-model, a tracked Jeep with a communcations device. This alternate model looks so good, it could easily have made it as a main model. One thing that does pop in mind; how would this look with tires?! More on that later. When you are in the artcic region it's imperative to have proper communication channels. Since there's no internet backbone, you will need a big antenna of some sort. This B-model actually features a small trailer wagon with a transmitter/receiver. Here's more detailed image of the B-model, without trailer wagon. I would buy this model in a heartbeat if it were a main model. Simply gorgeous. The side view doesn't give away that this in alternate model. The stickers also work really well in this model. And again, nothing to complain here. The model even has a small crane at the rear, operated by the Mini LA. Here you can see the arctic fleet, comprised of both the A-model and B-model. I bet these two can get some work done!! A bit of a messy picture, but this should give you an impression of the size of both models. LEFTOVER PARTS Not too many parts left, which is obviously a good thing. ALTERNATE MODEL WITH TUMBLER TIRES Just like me, you probably have been wondering how this model would look like with (Tumbler) tires. Well, here it is. As I imagined it does look great. Admittedly, these are not the type of tires we ought to use, but to be honest; I don't really care. Again, the negative caster results in quirky steering. The tires are a bit too big, so they hit the chassis when you compress the suspension. While this has absolutely nothing to do with an arctic vehicle, I really love this picture. SUMMARY We're almost at the end of my review, so what do I think of this set. Let's start with getting the Elephant out of the room; this set lacks proper driving and steering. Does that make it a bad set?! Definitely not! It's a great set, but it lacks some playability when it comes to moving the vehicle. The crane and tipper bed do work properly, so there's still some playability left. Does this set look cool? Definitely! I think it's one of the coolest (no pun intended) and most original models of recent years. The orange and black color scheme works great and the stickers are well designed. The B-model is of very high quality and some might even prefer it over the A-model. And if you are not interested in either of these models, this set provides you with a variety of great parts! All in all I think this is a great set! Maybe not to play with, but it scores high on all other criteria. PROS Original model Great color scheme Lots of interesting parts Great B-model CONS Steering and driving don't work too well Repetitive build of undercarriages (minor con) SCORE Below are my scores based on different categories. 8 DESIGN Original and good looking model. 7 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Fun to build, albeit a bit repetitive. 8 FEATURES Packs quite a few features. 7 PLAYABILITY Some features work, some don't. 9 PARTS Comes with interesting parts. 9 VALUE FOR MONEY Two great model in a single set. 8 COOL! As a bonus, here's picture of the main model with Tumbler Tires. Why? Because we can!
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I love the work of H.P. Lovecraft, so I decided to build a diorama inspired by his story "At The Mountains Of Madness" after recently re-reading it. Here you have some more views of the "Elder Thing" and some artist's paintings of how they imagined it to look like...
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Hi! It's been quite a while since I managed to put something together and even longer since I managed to put it "on paper". I'd like to present you my latest, and already an old MOC, may it rest in pieces, The Red Pitbull Terrier! At first, this one was supposed to be my noble steed for the unfortunately canceled winter trial truck (kinda) competition organised by our national LUG. Stressed out due cancelation, this horsey grew bigger and fatter than it was ment to be for the actual race. I admit, it is rather fugly, but it was a lot of fun to build and drive also. I am especially happy about how did the suspension come out - the tracks adapt(ed) to the surface very smoothly and there is no bending of the road wheels towards the outside. Thanks to our EB colleague Kelkschiz and his I learned, that what I've built is called a Christie tank suspension . As a keen eye will certainly notice, I used the small shock absorbers with normal springs. Only when I put the cab on, I learned that the front road wheels had to be suspended on hard springs, because the weight of the cabin was pulling the whole truck's front down. My intention was, to build the tracks like a module with spring inside this module, which would then be attached to the hull. After several trial and error iterations, I abandoned that idea, because I didn't manage to eleminate the bending of the road wheels towards the sides of the truck. I ended up attaching each road wheel one after another, kinda like stitching and prepared me quite some "fun" for disassembly As for the hull, I thought I managed to seal the bottom and the sides of it quite well, but that damn half melted snow reached every dark corner of that ogre anyway! As you can see on the photo below, I decided that this puppy should run on four PF XL motors, with all sprocket wheels driven. The motors were geared down just a bit (12/20 -> 1/1.67). I really recommend those "new" wheel hubs for mounting the sprocket wheels - they hold as Kragle and I don't recall the tracks ever slipping of them, as it seems it often happens when sprocket wheels are mounted on axles only, as they tend to bend. As you can see, I built some kind of a gutter for the tracks , so that no return wheels were needed. That two stud wide gutter in combination with the mudguards also kept the tracks tucked in nice, preventing them to slip off. Some transversal girders were also used to make both sides of the suspension sturdier. A nice, warm pit remained in the center of the hull for two AAA battery boxes. Two sets of 63 tracks were used. The motors were connected in pairs, each pair to its own V2 IR receiver. The receivers were placed under the hood of the cab, therefore a fake cooling fan. Although the tracks tend to slip, I decided not to mount any transversal ribs on them and went for a tight fit with the muguards. So here it is, with some accessories to make it look badass - at least that was my intention . Final dimensions are approximately W/L/H = 48/25/26 studs. Weight: 2.3 kilos. Two sets of PF LED lights were used, each powered by one of the BB's, so they were lit all the time. I tried to make the cab look a bit like the older tracked trucks that goooooogle provided me with. I had those transclear dome pieces for a while so I tried them out as a bulb for the lights. I still can't say whether I like the outcome or not. Can someone please explain why would somebody need turn signals in the middle of Syberia??? I sure can't say :laugh: ! The cab was somewhat fun to build because it starts with even width and ends with odd. Lately I really like Technic creations to be manned, so there are my three brave soldiers, kicking winter and bora in the face! I hope you like it, otherwise feel free to rip me apart P.S.: Yes, there is . I was, again, foolish enough to edit the video along with music that is under copyright, so the actual music you'll be hearing is just barely coherent with the cuts... I recommend listening to the "original" music which should be in the video, but it got shot down due forementioned world of legal stuff etc... I provided the link at the begining of the video. I must also add, that this baby was named after that song...I hope this little naivity of mine won't degrade your opinion on this build.Cheers, miha P.P.S.: I hope my "hero-doesn't-go-pro" didn't make any of you sick because of all the shaking... My fair lady provided me her LG G3, which I abused on this torture tool Thx baby.
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So I told myself when I bought 60036 last year that I wouldn't buy any more Arctic sets, and that I didn't need 60034 because I probably had all the parts anyhow. But then I went into Smyths, and they had a sale, and well....err... here is my review of 60034: Arctic Helicopter Set #: 60034 Year Released: 2014 Piece Count: 262 Minifigs: 2, plus 4 dogs RRP: $39.99, £24.99 I must admit the first time I saw images of 60034 I was quite excited; a lego helicopter not in police or fire colours. Not only that but clearly based on a real helicopter; the Sikorsky S-65 (CH-54) Skycrane, and almost in the livery of a real operator; Erickson Air-Crane. Also the huskies looked awesome! So did the set live up to expectations? The Box: A surprisingly compact square number: The front shows the helicrane doing what it does best, coming to pick up a crate under radio direction from the explorer on the ground. The husky team stand firm despite the rotor downwash and somehow avoid an unplanned swim. A nice touch is the pilot visible in the cockpit as this pose is not really possible in the actual model and he just disappears in the dark behind the trans-blue glass. Note the city skyline hiding just behind the mountains at the back. The back of the box is extremely busy as the left half is entirely taken up by the modular build and city online adverts leaving the right side to demonstrate the action/play features of the set: Take your husky team, detect the crystal block, call in the chopper, then race it home. The top edge is less action, more science with the team photographing and sampling the ice. A 1:1 pic of the helicopter pilot is shown for reference at 90° to the rest of the image as the box is barely a minifig tall. The Contents We get 3 bags, two booklets and a sticker sheet which between them pretty much fill the box (it barely rattles when you take it off the shelf): Sorry no printed parts in here! Here are the contents of Bag 1 which makes the crate, minifigs and dogsled: The ice block and crystal (in this colour) are unique to the theme, there are some 1x1x2s in light bley, we get a couple of ice picks and this is the first time I have seen the new style radio and metal detector pieces. Compare for example the new parts on the left with their classic equivalents on the right: I think the older radio looks much better, I'm also slightly disappointed by the loss of the stud on the detector as this reduces the MOCing potential of the part. Bag 2 & 3 give us too many parts to photo so here are my highlights: 3 2x2 round tiles with hole, 1x2x2 orange windows (though only 1 piece of glass), some orange Technic arm pieces and grey 1x2 plates with Technic axle holes. The Instructions The first booklet is about half the size of the second and covers the husky sled and crate build from bag 1. The cover shot is exactly the same as the box, but removes the helicopter and photoshops in the pilot: The second booklet cover also replicates the box art the same but photoshops out everything but the helicopter. The instructions are clear with good colour differentiation and a wavy pale blue background. My only possible gripe is that, as with 60036, the 'sticker' icon is missing from some steps so stickers magically appear on parts such as: The shot below shows the good colour differentiation between dark bley and black and light bley and white which is occasionally poor in other sets (including 60036). The instruction steps are all very clear and provide part callouts and plenty of pointers so your are unlikely to miss anything. The Minifigs Here we have our pilot with standard smug aviator sunglasses face and the Arctic pilot torso; I still love the leather jacket and parachute printing even if it is identical to that for the 60036 pilot. The explorer fig is the same female fig found in 60036 with the, in my opinion, unnecessary torso hourglass print; the details of the rest of the print are great though as noted in my 60036 review the goggle print limits use of the head to winter MOCs. A view from behind, I do very much love the Arctic logo: The Build and Model: Dog Sled and Crate The crate comes first and there is not much to it- plates over the base stack 2 bricks per support then add the roof, done: It does look quite effective, though lacks some realism in that the contents are not secured in any visible way. The sled is a very similar size to that of the one in 60036 though featuring some design differences. Oddly the sled features a much larger radar screen than the 30036 offering but no visible radar dish. Believe it of not this shot is the sled finished except for accessories and dogs: With everything on the sled looks quite good, and as ever the huskies are brilliant with each having a slightly different appearance due to the grey/white plastic mix: Although it looks good the sled has some drawbacks over that of 30036. Firstly there are no 2x2 round boat studs or similar on the underside to reduce friction so it tends to get caught in carpets. Secondly the camera attachment is rather flimsy and as the equipment in the crate is loose you tend to lose pieces if mushing too vigorously. Finally the crate attached direct to the large orange piece and so has a low of clutch power, so changing loads to the ice block (as shown in the instructions) requires quite a bit of effort and can lead to unplanned disassembly of other parts. 30036 got around this issue with jumper plates though that resulted in some loads being offset due to the different footprints of the 3x4 crate and 2x2 ice block (a problem this set does not have). Here is the sled carrying the ice block: The Build and Model: The Helicopter The helicopter starts with the spine, I was slightly confused at this point about the two 1x2 plate with hinge facing each other: It tuns out that these are a clever method of holding the engines (which I should note are the 2x2 stud versions not the older versions with the same shape but 1x2 pylon attachments): The spine grows very quick and suddenly you realise this model is going to be huge! Notice the winch, which passes through a gap in the spine: The cockpit is a separate build to begin with, and the reason for having 3 windows but only 1 glass element becomes clear: I assume this build method was chosen over using the equivalent 1x2x2 panels to reduce the overall number of unique parts required in orange. I suspect for this reason we also see 1x1 and 1x2 bricks used where we would normally see a 2x2 corner brick: You can also spot in this shot that I was mistaken, we do get 1 printed part after all, the instrument panel which is fairly common to city era aircraft. As with the 60036 helicopter the pilot gets a single control stick rather than the classic 90's two. The rather heavy build at the back of the cockpit gives the model some strength but unfortunately makes the rear window and spotlights feel a bit redundant as the pilot cant really get to them. The real skycrane had a rear facing operators station from which the winch operator could control the aircraft during winching operations. The snot plates of the cockpit are used to provide additional structural attachment to the spine via some 2x6 plates with a few bits of greebling: The landing gear is then built from a variety of Technic parts and some snazzy stickered wedge parts for decoration. The landing gear is probably the only fiddly bit where younger builders might need help (aside from sticker application of course) as parts have to be correctly aligned when inserting pins/axles: Finished, and my is it a big helicopter, although the crate just fits underneath. This is not helped by the fact the model actually sits a few degrees nose down as the nose gear is 2-3 plates higher than the main gear: As the winch is a single point attachment your loads will tend to swing around, though his can be temporarily fixed for the crate by attaching it to the plate at the bottom of the spine when winched fully in. And to justify having this set as well as 30036, well what happens if the mini helicopter from 30036 breaks down and needs rescuing: One last shot of the helicopter from the front: I think lego did a great job in capturing the feel of the skycrane in this model. It looks convincingly like a heavy workhorse and makes me think this model is what 60021 should have been (tilt-rotors don't make sense for logging operations). I must however, note two small deviations from the instructions I made in this build: 1 - I build the rotors with the opposite offset of the blades to produce an anticlockwise (Sikorsky type) rotor rather than the clockwise (Airbus type) the instructions showed. 2 - The rotor mast has an empty Technic pin hole behind the engines which I filled with a pin and 1x1 clear round tile from the spare bits in the set to simulate a gearbox oil sight glass. Finally a beauty shot of the whole set: Conclusion and Scores Parts: 7 - Good selection of bits but nothing unique except in terms of colour. The Figs: 8 - Very nice printing on both figs despite the unnecessary hourglass torso effect. If I hadn't already got the same figs from 60036 (admittedly different pilot face) I would be extremely happy so have rated accordingly. The dogs are simply great, very cute and the individuality of each due to the colour mix is a real bonus. Build & Model(s): 8 - The Dog-sled build disappoints slightly (until you get to adding the dogs) due to its simplicity. The helicopter has enough interesting techniques to please seasoned builder without being complicated; and when finished it just looks great! It would also be easy to use this helicopter in a city/forest scenario by simply swapping the skis for wheels. Playbility: 8 - Should be 10 but points lost due to the issues with changing loads on the dog sled and running it on carpet. A few extra parts could easily have solved these issues. The accessories (metal detector etc) allow for some play before the helicopter swoops in, but let's be honest, that's where the action is! The helicopter winch is easily controlled one handed whilst flying with the other and the model is very robust and swooshable. Value for Money: 8 - Though I think this score depend on whether you have any of the other Arctic sets as you could easily find yourself with many duplicate figs and vehicles fulfilling the same functions which will determine your view on the value of these element and also affect how long each particular set may be played with. Certainly for the sale price (£21) I was very happy, for RRP I would probably still be. Overall: 8 - Excellent helicopter, let down slightly by issues with the dog sled, but not enough to seriously affect the playability or enjoyment of the set. So what's your view?
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Hi. Here is my review of the City Arctic Icebreaker. I bought this set last year when it was released but kept it until early this year to build. Arctic Icebreaker set # 60062 Year released - 2014 Piece Count - 717 Pieces - 9 bags Instruction Manual - 6 Minifigures - 7 plus 4 huskies and 1 Polar Bear Price - £79.99, $129.99, e99.99 This set is similar to 60036 Arctic Base Camp, in that it is made up of a collection of smaller sets that can be played almost by themselves bu make up one big set. Box The front of the box artwork depicts all the playability of the set with all the minifigs in action shots. The rear is the now standard city and shows off actions shots from the set, aswell as what each of the 9 bags make up. The side panel shows off all 7 of the minifigs plus the Polar Bear and a Huskie. The 6 instruction manuals come in a protective bag, along with the sticker sheet. The contents of the box along with the Instruction manuals are, 9 bags, a Dark bluish Grey plate and the Boat base. Bag 1 & Instruction Manual 1 A good little play set in its own right. Comes with the Ice wall and 2 Ice Blocks, scene lighting and the polar bear. The Minifig from this bag is the Arctic Research Assistant with snow shoes. This minifig is the exact same as the Research Assistant from 60035 Arctic Outpost and 60036 Arctic Base Camp, which isn't too good if you have these set also. Bag 2 & Instruction Manual 2 Like bag 1, bag 2 has its own good play feature with the Tracked snowplough vehicle. comes with a load area at the rear and a heavy duty chain used to pull off sheets of ice from the ice wall or towing ice blocks. The minig is an Arctic Explorer and comes with full Arctic clothing and orange goggles. This minifig is also found in 60032 Arctic Snowmobile, 60035 Arctic Outpost and 60036 Arctic Base camp. Bag 3 & Instruction Manual 3 Bag 3 has the Huskie Sled dogs and sled. Although the sled is slightly different in design from the one in 60036 Arctic Base Camp, it also has a carry basket and is driven by the same female explorer albeit this time she has snow shoes. The female artic tunic differs from the male tunic as its more tailored at the waist. This female is also found in Arctic sets, 60034 Arctic Helicrane, 60064 Arctic Supply Plane and 850932 Polar Accessary set. Bag 4 & Instruction Manual 4 Bag 4 is a remote Research Lab. It comes with microscope, computer and satelite dish with aerial. There is also a fridge to preserve the ice crystals. The minifig with this bag is a scientist with orange sweater and white overcoat. Bag 5 & Instruction Manual 5 Bag 5 is the mini sized Helicopter which can be used to lift the equipment modules to and from the Ice breaker or for carrying the ice blocks using its onboard winch. It sits perfectly on the heli-pad of the Ice Breaker. the helicopter has many similarities with the mini sized helicopter from the Arctic Base Camp. The minifig with this bag is the helicopter pilot complete with Pilots leather jacket and helmet. Yet again this minifig is the same as the pilot from 60036. Bag 6 & Instruction Manual 5 Bag 6 see's a Large satelite dish which goes with the Remote research Lab. It also the a couple of items that are carried on the Ice breaker Boat, the equipment modules and the Snowmobile. The minifig from this bag is another Arctic Explorer, this time with green goggles. This explorer also comes in the following sets, 60033 Arctic Ice Crawler, 60035 Arctic Outpost, 60036 Arctic Base Camp x2, 60064 Arctic Supply Plane and 850932 polar Accessary Set. Bag 7 & Instruction Manual 6 Bag 7 is the first bag of the Ice Breaker boat build. It see's the boat's anchor, engine and sleeping accommodation being fitted along with the equipment module holders Bag 8 & Instruction Manual 6 Bag 8 sees the boats chimney/funnel fitted along with access ladders and the helipad fitted to the rear. Bag 9 & Instruction Manual 6 Bag 9 see's the build of the Wheel House and the Ice Breaker completed. The minifig with this bag is the Ice Breaker's Captain.He sports a streotypical Captains beard and his torso comes with a White marine sweater and Orange blouson jacket. Overall Ratings Parts: 8 - Good variety of parts. Works out at 11.16p, 18.13c & 13.946c per part depending where you buy it. The Figs: 9 - There are 7 in this set which is a decent number and the Huskie prints are great and due to the blend mix of these dogs, each one should be deifferent, I am reliably informed. The only let down is that many of the Minigfigs in the Arctic theme are the same as stated throughout this review. Build & Model(s): 8 - All the builds are fun and easy to make. And because of the way they are seperate builds, you don't ned to do them all at once. Playability: 10 - This set really has lot's of playability; Boat, Helicopter, Tracked vehicle & Huskies with sled, not forgetting the small snow mobile. Value for Money: 8 - Not too bad for what you get but would have liked it to come in about £10 cheaper, but then what would TLG have left out if it was. Overall: 9 - A great set from a theme that I like personnaly. This set is designed for great fun play and is good as a stand alone set, but is also a great companion to the rest of the Arctic theme.
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I hope this is the right theme for presenting my small Arctic research submarine series X2. I don't have much orange bricks, so that's why some details are missing. I also made only top of the submarine, because it will be seen on bigger MOC which will have blue baseplates for sea and no bottom part of submarine is needed. This "Orange stuff" is little boring, so I made some environment around it.
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This is my first attempt at a train MOC. Its not as detailed as many, but I tried to put in some good play features. This is built largely on 60052, 60036, and 60035. This glass bottom observation platform slides in and out. A place to rest and unwind (but only in shifts). The crane also reaches the hopper when the cars are in sequence.
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Just thought I'd share my latest MOC as I don't get much built that often. This is a small display showing part of an Arctic research building with a couple of vehicles outside. The larger tracked vehicle turned out to be an ugly beast of sorts, but I really wanted to try and use the helicopter cockpit windows (part 11289) on the front if I could, which proved difficult. There's also various SNOT on the snowmobile and brick separators on the building walls which I wanted to try out. Not the best photography, but I think it'll suffice. Full album of pictures which includes some more shots of the vehicles can be found by clicking here; https://www.flickr.c...57650420476168/ Any and all comments welcome and thanks for looking.
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I was recently drawn out of my dark age with the wonderful new Arctic sets and this is one of the first MOCs I've done since I was in high school. I would have liked to make a few different color/part choices, but you gotta work with what you have, and right now I don't have much. But I'm pretty happy with how it turned out overall. C&C welcome. The initial inspiration to do an Arctic motorcycle came from this picture from Popular Science: After I put this together, I Googled Lego sidecars and discovered that TLG did a motorcycle and sidecar set in the Indiana Jones line (7620). They use a much sturdier link to keep the motorcycle and sidecar together and I might try to make another model using their conection method as this one is pretty weak. But for now I don't have the pieces. It can survive a little bit of pushing, but certainly won't hold up to much play involving kids. Edit: figured out how to post pics from Flickr
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Mr. Freeze is back! And no, this time he is not to freeze anyone, but to free his frozen wife Nora Fries, and let her enjoy the city like normal people. However, he must first freeze the entire Gotham first! His new machine Arctic Core is a hovercraft, and the turret-like equipment is actually a drill! Don't laugh at a non-rotatable turret because it is not really a turret, but a game changer! While it can fire freeze ray to straight-on targets, it can also freeze the ground, turning the ground into ice and letting the air drill crack the ground open. Then, his secret cryogeneration core can then be injected into the ground and let it slowly turn the surrounding into ice! Gradually, the Gotham city will finally become an ice world, where he and his wife can live forever without the cage or suit! Now Batman has to find a way to stop him! (Flickr: https://www.flickr.c...57648641659087/ ) Complete set, with Nora Fries in the cryogenics chamber waiting to be freed. The cockpit, in which Mr. Freeze controls the ship... This is the mobile mode. The two turbines (rotatable) can be flipped up and the ship can move at full speed now. Batman, run! View the ship upfront... From the side, Action Mode vs Mobile Mode The two sides of the ship are hovering devices. Moving on the ice or snow will never be a problem now... Batman this time has to deal with two villains, one of ice and one of fire. How is he going to prepare for the battle? Thank you!
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Eurobricks and Rebrickable were challenged by LEGO to make alternate models for current year city sets. The builds had to only use the pieces in available in the official LEGO model, be made in LDD, digitized, tested in real brick and be a model a 7-10 year old could build!! I received set 60033 "Arctic Ice Crawler". It's a cute, nostalgia-inducing, but sadly smallish truck. With only 113 parts, some of them only connecting in one way, making alternate models out of this one really was a challenge. Luckily there were a good deal of brackets and functional elements available, so building nice playsets still was possible and fun. I hope you enjoy them and maybe rediscover how fun it is to build alternate models! Here are my two alternate models: "Bulldozer" [MOC] Bulldozer - 60033 alternate model by Bert.VR, on Flickr You can find the LDD model and building instructions there on Rebrickable. "Snowplow" [MOC] Snowplow - 60033 alternate model by Bert.VR, on Flickr [MOC] Snowplow - 60033 alternate model by Bert.VR, on Flickr LDD model and building instructions are available on Rebrickable as well I hope you like it, and stay creative with those lovely chunks of plastic!
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LL-924 Arctic Cruiser by Veynom, on Flickr You are kindly invited to read the full article concerning the LL-924 and many of its variants: - Part I: LL-924 & Variants - Part II: LL-924 Backhoe (on MOCpages) - Part III: LL-924 TIE Cruiser This version was designed following the interest regain in polar and arctic exploration missions. Indeed, some well-established scientific communities had then formulated that if a space ship could endure the almost absolute-zero temperature of space emptiness then it could for sure endure the warmer icy temperatures. Additionally, as ice and water was also present on various stellar bodies across the stars, retrofitting space ships could make sense in the long run and decision was taken to re-use the good old LL-924. Back then rumors also reported that in fact, the choice of the good old LL-924 was merely dictated by budgetary constraints. Anyway and whatever the reason, the LL-924 Arctic Cruiser was born. LL-924 Arctic - Laterial View by Veynom, on Flickr And so started a long operational career as some photo could show. LL-924 Arctic in action by Veynom, on Flickr Several modifications were necessary in order to face coldness, blizzard, snow and ice. First of all, the landing gear was modified in order to be equipped with skis. Several schematics were designed but ultimately, the final solution looked very similar to the original system, ensuring the same height. LL-924 Arctic - Bottom View by Veynom, on Flickr On both sides, powerful light projectors were added in order to help scientists in their missions. LL-924 Arctic - Top View by Veynom, on Flickr Finally, a reinforced isolation plate had to be mounted on the rear in order to improve the engine protection. Sadly none had foreseen that blizzard and freeze could deteriorate both engines so fast. LL-924 Arctic - Rear View by Veynom, on Flickr That extra isolation plate lead to important modifications concerning the cargo compartment as the traditional opening engine pods were replaced with lateral doors. However that modification revealed quickly its usefulness as tools could easily be stored and retrieved while preserving the total storage capacity. LL-924 Arctic - Cargo compartment by Veynom, on Flickr The inside of the ship was equipped like a full-scale laboratory for the passenger who could sit behind the pilot. Next to a very impressive analyser, an extra computer screen was installed to display additional information and data from from the powerful sensor mounted on the top of the ship. Various tools could fit the cockpits and even a modern nuclear-based temperature sensor guaranteed the measures accuracy. LL-924 Arctic - Interior View by Veynom, on Flickr LL-924 Arctic- Open Cockpit by Veynom, on Flickr Comments welcome !
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REVIEW 60033: Arctic Ice Crawler Details: Series: City / Arctic Release year: 2014 Quantity of bricks: 108szt. Quantity of minifigures: 1 Quantity of bags with bricks: 2 bags (1 big + 1 small) + 2 tracks chains Bricklist: BrickLink Proce: ~15Euro Brickset BrickLink Summer 2014, over 30 degree heat outside, and you need to incorporate into the skin of the Arctic explorer, where it is also 30 degrees, but less than 0, and review the latest edition of the Lego City - Arctic. It's the reactivation of the same subject from the beginning of the millennium. There already appeared snow creepers, scooters and base. I wonder what was the "response from the market"? I'm trying to understand what was the spark for that decision, why Lego decided to return to the monotonous Arctic topic? 2014 Arctic gives us also a banch of snow vehicles and main base. What precisely incldes whole set ? 60032: Arctic Snowmobile 60033: Arctic Ice Crawler 60034: Arctic Helicrane 60035: Arctic Outpost 60036: Arctic Base Camp 60062: Arctic Icebreaker 60064: Arctic Supply Plane Yes, I remember about 30310 but I do not treat it as a part of whole set. I do not like polybags, at all. Sorry. :-/ Today's set is the second largest, but the least on my personal list of Arctic sets, which I would like to have in my collection. And how in the details presents 60033? Box: A small rectangle measuring approximately 20cm x 10cm. Leading blue colors are of course, a spin-off series Arctic City, white and blue as arctic white and orange and blue and shades of gray as the main colors of bricks. Tempted to say that the color has not been drastically altered from the sets of the 2000 ... FRONT & REAR TOP & BOTTOM RIGHT & LEFT Instruction and additionals: Small 40to page booklet, which describes the 36 steps of the submission of the model. On the last pages advertising the latest sets: Arctic and trains. inAnd ... big bag of parts (without number) and smaller, cha tracks and a template with labels. Minifigure(s): ... but the quality of minifigs, vehicles and proportions of the models stand on a much better level. Good example is the ice crawler's driver. The body has printed a lot of details: 2 x Arctic logos, zippers, pockets, fur and a transmitter? Complemented well as refined pants and blue hood. Bricks: Not much new stuff here, which is a strong argument. From my point of view, only these two things, listed below, I treat as "new". Black Tread Small (20 tread 'links') Light Bluish Gray Plate, Modified 2 x 4 with Pins Work in progress: Finished set: Last two pics made with 60032, which I bought for my daughter. BENEFITS: + track chains – had carried out a car with this element. You get the feeling that this is how the original works. Lightly tick. Cool! + nice and I think a good return to the topic that seemed to be so far now, as the Arctic land, + minifig, + set of colors, + set skillfully reflects, or at least gives you feeling, how work machines on research expeditions, + playability, + relatively not much stickers, but I think that the Arctic logo could be printed as it was done in 60032 set, WEAKNESSES: - price – in extreme cases, you can buy twice time bigger set from Great Vehicles series,, - distance between axes could be a little bit bigger..., - ... that's the main reason, IMO, why ice crawler looks less in comparison with a similar vehicle from 60036, Summary: Ice Crawler, strikingly reminds me of my first sets bought over 25 years ago. Subject simple model also, lack of additional interest in a set (only vehicle), a small box, over a hundred parts and as a result a lot of joy and fun that fits in your hand. Vehicle that is worth noting, was built based on existing blocks. Great for a small gift or a gift from a fan of Lego and of course must have in your collection !
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Well, I couldn't resist, my local toy store not only had 10% off, but were just putting the new 2014 sets on the shelves and the big orange white and blue box was shouting "buy me, buy me!" from its shelf. So whithout further ado here is my review of the 60036 Arctic Base Camp. Arctic Base Camp Set #: 60036 Year Released: 2014 Piece Count: 733 Minifigs: 7, plus 4 dogs, 2 fish and 1 bear RRP: $89.99, £59.99 (according to Brickset, but UK retail seems to be £69.99 at the moment). As the set is a collection of models rather than one big construction, I will break the review down per the instruction booklets before giving my overall impressions at the end. So in this post enjoy Part 1: The Box the Snowmobile and the Dogsled (the less popular rip-off of the lion, the witch and the wardrobe!) The Box: Pretty big, as you might expect for a set of this price: The front shows nicely all the models and minifigs packed into the set and everything is in full action mode hinting at the playability of this set. The base is perched at the edge of an ice shelf, with snow covered mountains in the background. Just in case we forgot this was part of the City line the logo looms above the base and there are skyscrapers on the far horizon in the top right. The back has a standard 'hey' guy, but in arctic gear showing us a few of the models and play features of the set., the left side tells us this is a numbered build with pretty much one bag per model. The bottom left corner tells us to go online to play the LEGO City game, though our arctic player is dressed a little warm for downtown; also he appears to be making off with some money being chased by the police- maybe it is only so long before we get arctic police and fire sets!? The top edge shows the 7 minifigs we get with the set along with a couple of the new huskies and polar bear. The Contents We get 8 bags, and a cardboard backed deck of instructions along with a single sticker sheet. Loose in the box is a 16x16 plate (not baseplate) and conveyor belt. Disappointingly we aren't trusted to build a conveyor belt, it comes as a permanently assembled moving POOP. As it is split into mini builds, I'm going to deal with each as it comes as I explained above. Her you can see the DSS and the instructions for build 1; the dog sled and snow-mobile. First page of the instructions gives us the open bags in order comic strip and an advert espousing the virtues of the brick separator. Random instruction shot: The pale white/blue snowscape background shows up the models well and generally colour distinction is good; though occasionally the white parts look a little bley. Despite this, with the bagged nature of the build and clear part callouts, you're pretty unlikely to be confusing parts. There are also quite a number of single part steps, so this should be easy for even the youngest lego fans to put together. The Parts (Bag 1) Already new, or at least interesting, bits everywhere, inverted 1x3 cursed slopes, new skis, 2x2 tiles with studs, the parka hood, husky, handlebar type bits and an orange brick separator. The Minifigs In this bag we get 1 male and 1 female researcher, with male and female specific torsos; note the 'hourglass' shading on the female and different pocket configuration. Both seem to have some kind of GPS, temperature sensor or stopwatch on their person- the girl's reading '4^' the guy's '3^'. The different coloured ski goggles are a nice touch, though unfortunately having printed goggles rather than a goggle piece makes these heads theme specific. Legs have various climbing gear printed on them and the rear torso has a nice mission patch. The Build and Model: Snowmobile Part way in: Here you can see the use of the SNOT tiles and inverted curves to make the model a healthy carpet-runner; an interesting step away from the usual 2x2 round dish pieces you see on most LEGO boats (and in fact on the dog-sled in this set). Bam!: Here we are, finished, and I like it. The front curves come together nicely with clever parts usage and, whilst I missed it in the unbagging, the 2x2x2/3 slope on the front is printed, yes, printed! With a friend: Let us compare him with the 1990's offering; you can see the definite 'up-scaling' from 'town' to 'city' era. Whilst the new model has no obvious drive mechanism (though chainsaws probably weren't the best or safest) the shapes possible with the new parts just make it look so much better. My only criticism of this model is the width- due to the car axle used the thing is 6-wide at the skis. Unfortunately due to how the nose is put together it wouldn't be easy to change, but I cant help but feel this might be better with the skis at 4-wide (dry test example below): The Build and Model: The Dog Sled Part way in: After the snowmobile, this disappoints slightly in being a much more traditional vertical brick-stacking affair, we also come to our first sticker- that 1x2 cheese gets a radar screen and radio handset sticker. Finished the sled: Radar you ask? Why yes, here we are with everything but the dogs and you can see a small radar dish so the driver can see everything that's forward and left of the sleigh I guess. The use of a small boat mast to build the dog harness is an interesting feature and quite inventive use of bricks. The dogs! Yes the doggies! A new mold as you can see compared to the standard City dog on the right. Although the face/ear prints are identical the coat colouring appears to be achieved by mixing plastics which gives a subtle variation between dogs and makes them appear like individuals- a nice touch whether intentional or not. Note the traditional City dog is 1 stud taller- so there can be no Disney style city dog becomes sleigh dog scenarios. Finished: As with the snowmobile the 6-wide feels a little on the large side but otherwise I can't fault it, there are lots of play features packed in with the fishing gear and radar. The dog attachments are surprisingly strong and play-able so a race between dogs and snowmobile wouldn't be a question of who falls apart first. Plus dogs, did i mention the dogs? I like the dogs! Scores for Bag 1 Parts: 9 - very good selection for such small models, Lose a point for disappointing me with a sticker after delighting me with printed parts. The figs: 9 - Very nice printing on both figs and their hoods. I don't really see the need for a feminine torso though- I doubt real arctic explorers cinch their waistbands to show of their hourglass figure (if you are an arctic explorer feel free to tell me I'm wrong). Along with the face prints which are only really good for snowy scenarios this isn't quite a perfect 10. I'm still tempted to give it a 10 just for the huskies, they are simply excellent. Build & Model(s): 8 - The builds are short but sweet, and the curves of the snowmobile were satisfying to put together. The models look good if a little wide from some angles and its a shame the snowmobile has no visible means of propulsion. Playbility: 9 - The snowmobile is pretty swoosh-able, though compared to the dog-sled is a one trick pony. The dog sled has fishing gear, a something detector/radar and dogs as well as swooshing pretty well. The separate instructions and bagging also adds to playability as kids of shorter attention span (or simply wanting to prolong fun) can build, play, pause, build more, play more etc...as I am off to now before I bring you Part 2: The Helicopter! Note : value for money score will come with an overall score once I get to the end of part 5...
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Made this around 2008
