grum64

Thank you. It's good to be building something bigger than my last few builds.

Build Day 2 - Days build time 3hrs 50mins / Total build time 7hrs 20mins Today's building went really well thanks to my makeshift 'frame' placed under the chassis. The frustrations I encountered during the first days building have been conspicuous only by their absence. Aforementioned frustrations gone, I've been able to enjoy this build. From being daunted by it I'm now embracing it (not literally you understand!). I've not seen the 8880 in the brick before so it's size is coming as something of a surprise. It's much bigger than I thought it would be. As I'm still having to build on my laptray that size is slowing progress a little as it over hangs each side by a good 3-4 inches making moving it around a little difficult. I keep knocking the cars front plates off. Flying front plates aside, one thing I will say is just how well designed this set is. Layers of beams and plates mean this is going to be one seriously strong chassis and as the build goes on its only going to get more so. All these beams, plates etc make this fairly heavy even at this stage. I've decided to stick with the instructions and leave it LHD (sorry Glen ) Being the dust magnet it is it won't be going on the shelf but will be dismantled and possibly sold. The eagle eyed among you will no doubt have noticed that one of the Thin Liftarm Triangles (2905) at the rear of the build is black when it should be blue. When sorting out the parts I found one of the blue ones was cracked so I've ordered a replacement. Until it gets here the black one will have to do. .

Great review as always. Thank you for all your hard work Jim. If you'd not told us why your review was delayed I'd have put it down to the time needed to take all those beautifully shot photos. Outstanding.

Your reviews always are.

Thank you Edwin. I do get frustrated occasionally when building but I certainly don't think I'm alone there. Thank you. I've been thinking about changing to RHD but am still undecided. With the 8880 being a dust magnet it probably won't stay assembled for very long.

Yep. I was not a happy Grum.

As promised and considerably later than planned I've today started the much requested 8880. To be totally honest this is the only build that I've felt a little intimidated by. Over the last few months I've spent many hours going through the instructions with a view to, as I normally do, working out a build plan. With the 8880 that hasn't been as straightforward as planning my other builds has been but I'm not entirely sure why this is. Maybe it's down to the complications presented by the combination of studded and stud less elements to achieve the iconic shape of this car, maybe it's the 'old school' instructions with their plethora of steps on one page leaving you to work out where some have been fitted. Who knows. I'm sure as the build progresses I'll work things out. Build Day 1 - Days build time 3hrs 30mins / Total build time 3hrs 30mins Todays build didn't start well faced as I was with a diff to put together. Those of you who've read some of my previous ramblings will know that diffs are my nemesis. Over an hour of today's build time was taken up putting just one together. And there's two more later in the build! Once the diff was assembled and placed into the chassis it was clear that it had more problems to cause me. With it protruding below the chassis fitting the parts that followed was a frustrating experience. Pressing down on one part resulted in the rest fell apart. Grrrr... After trying a few different 'solutions' I settled on the easiest, making a frame of beams for the chassis to sit on & raise it up. Now the chassis can be supported along it's length when fitting parts and the diff has clear air under it. Job done. With the diff and frame taking up time you can see from the pic below that not too much progress was made today. I've a hectic couple of days ahead so may not get any building done but I'll be back to it sometime over the weekend.

Jaw droppingly awesome!!!

Welcome to Eurobricks B-Legos. Great to have you with us. I look forward to seeing your builds.

That's one cool looking truck. The mods you've carried out make a real difference to what was already a brilliant set. Really makes me wish I hadn't sold mine.

Each of my sets has its instructions along with a spare set of stickers (where possible) stored in a suspension file in metal filing boxes. The suspension files hold even the largest instruction books and keep them crease free. I'm looking to change from the boxes to a filing cabinet sometime soon. Edit: Spelling correction.

Great work, well done. I think this'll do very well in the competition. The very best of luck.

You are wise indeed.

Simply Awesome!

Technic is and will always be my first love. I find it far eaisier to build with than System. The hardest thing with System is positioning pieces whilst applying enough pressure to fix them together. This usually means giving them a 'whack' (or as Jake calls it, a Grum knock) with the hard boney part at the base of the palm of my hand resulting in them either flying through the air or going on at an angle that makes it near impossible to get them on properly. I enjoy the challenge of System but give me Technic any day.

Simple, fast and fun. I love it.

Thank you Edwin. Thanks Bart. You're right about it being good looking model. It has its critics who say the windscreen's too upright, the curvature of the roof isn't quite right and the tyres a little big but while I see what they mean I don't care. No one said it's a scale model, it's Lego with all the limitations that imposes. Personally I think the designer's done a brilliant job, it's instantly recognisable and was a joy to build. As for how it compares against the Mini. I think the Bug's roughly the same scale, side by side they don't look to far out. They do have one thing in common. They're both a really good build. Some of the techniques used to achieve the shape of each vehicle are very clever indeed, especially with the Bug. Would I recommend the Bug? You bet I would. One last thing. Anyone who has the Mini will know the windscreen used doesn't look right at all. If you phone Lego they'll send you the updated one (as used in the Bug but tinted) free of charge. Thank you.

I'm very pleased to say that as of yesterday my leg is now brace free. This can only mean one thing... building the 8880 will be starting very soon Oh, and the Beetle's finished. And yes Glen, it's right hand drive

Thank you Bart, it's good to be building again. There were a couple of days when we had really hot weather when it was too warm in the shed to build but it's fine now.

Yes and the BWE and the Volvo are both available as 3 for the price of 2 :classic:

This terrific little set won't disappoint. Thank you.

Thank you. The Fire Plane certainly does look good. I also like the B model, I think it's good enough to be released as a set in its own right. Thanks Andy. The Kart is a really nice set and much like the Fire Plane, turns out bigger than you think it will be. I like that a set this size has several functions especially the gearbox. I can see this being many young builders first Technic set and I can't think of a better introduction. It's an educational build.

Thank you, it's really good to be back. I've always thought the Sopwith is a great looking set and one I'd love to build. If I see one at a good price I'll definately buy it. Oh dear, am I that predictable?

Hello My Friends After almost 3 months away I'm back to the pages of this forum with more of my ramblings. Before I go any further I'd like to say a very big thank you to all of you who've left comments, sent PM's, emails and the even the occasional Skype call wishing me well. Your kindness is very much appreciated by Gilly and I. Being confined to bed for almost 3 months put paid to any building and believe me, I tried, but I had a video to edit so that's kept me busy and helped bide much of the time. I'm very pleased to say that for the last couple of weeks I've been allowed out of bed so building has resumed. Still having the brace on my leg means I can't get under my table so building has had to be done on my laptray & this rules out building large sets. With smaller sets I can fit all the parts on and build on the tray. With smaller sets being the order of the day these are what I've built: 42040 Race Kart which is a nice little set and enjoyable to build. 42007 Dirt Bike which was also a nice build but I had to recruit Gilly to help with the chain. I had an hour or so trying to join the links but after I'd sent most of them flying around the room it was time to collect them up (strangely one's still missing so it's a good job there was a spare) admit defeat and call for reinforcements. 42040 Fire Plane. It's a very nice model, surprisingly big for the part count, with some nice details. It's a really enjoyable build and one I'd recommend. 10252 VW Beetle. This is turning out to be one really nice model and one I'm enjoying building immensely. The designer's done a terrific job and has used some very clever techniques to come up with the iconic Beetle shape. Building this set is proving to be quite educational, furthering my very, very limited knowledge of SNOT building. Here's how far I've got. Hopefully I'll be able to start the 8880 soon. Edit: The 1x2 plate with jumper above the door hinge has been moved in one stud.

Daily Mail :classic: