Build Report: 30284 Tractor

A while ago, Axel, guru behind the excellent 80s Geek blog, asked if I would be doing anything LEGO related still.

While the initial answer would be "no", that did make me decide to do at least all the remaining Build Report materials I still have on my hard drive, and that is still, well, quite a lot.

So expect me to be sharing those set builds I made in my LEGO hobby regularly now, right until I finished them all from the backlog, and today I`m picking up the series with a small polybag set from the Creator range, the Tractor from 2015.

Numbering 51 parts, this is a smallscale vehicle and as we open the bag we get the instruction leaflet and the pile of parts.

The base of the vehicle is a black 2x6 plate, to which a hinge is added at the back for it's pulley.

The bottom side of the vehicle is blue, so we commence by laying down these foundations, including the blue mudflap element.

The underside gets the wheel axles installed, which are placed at differing heights, in order to accomodate the height difference of the wheels.

We put down the engine cap and the seating next, and then a small canopy is build around this area.

Addind some details and the wheels, it's now pretty clear while the wheel axles have a plate in height difference.

The small plow is then assembled next, making use of robot arms and hands to build it`s structure.

Once attached, the set is complete

And of course, we have some left over parts

It`s a nice little vehicle if you like to build smallscale cities or to put on your desk if you work in agriculture, but I`m afraid that, as it isn`t suitable for minifigures and the likes, this isn`t the most sought after set released.

The Haul Report # 64

Hello all to another week of hauls and trades for my collection.

And once again, it has been a calm but decent week of gathering and foraging.

I'll start of with this Veers minifigure.  I`m not a SW builder at all, but this one is for something special at Comic Con Brussels next month, so I went to Brick Link and grabbed the figure.

Facebook has been a good provider this week, as I managed to obtain a nice set of polybags from one source, and a Legolas figure from another.  And a third thingie I picked up on the social media channel is a small space set of the K9 robot dog.  I`ll build that one for a picture report (expected publication somewhere second half of 2018) and toss it in my trade box afterwards.

During a clearance at the local supermarket, I picked up "some" polybags of Nexo Knights, good to take along to an event sometime.

Ow, and as a final haul, I picked up the recent Blocks magazine issue ;-)

Now, as this closes off on Friday's, a lot of exclusives that arrived saturday aren`t in this overview yet, but expect next week to be a humongous episode!

Build Report: Creator 31013 Red Thunder

In today's build report, I' tackling one of the smaller Creator range boxed sets.

Red Thunder is one of the 3 in 1 sets, of which it's main build is a big red helicopter.   

I`ll be putting that one together, followed by it's two variation builds, a plane and a speedboat.  but let's begin with the main model of this 66 part set, the Red Thunder itself.

Helicopter

The basis for this model is a 2x3 grey plate with a 2x6 red one attached to it's top.

A plate is slipped underneath with the heli's traffic lights, and the base for the tail is laid down.

As we fill up the bulk of the bodywork, we first finish the nose of the machine and insert the canopy pieces in the form of cheeseslopes and 1x2 bricks.

The tail area is now prepared for the tail itself.

This one starts on a 1x8 plate, that will go on the jumpers of the back of the main body.

Using a wedge for the side fin, the tail is then connected to the main body.

The top of the machine is covered up with curved elements, while the engine exhausts are placed at the side of these.

All that's left to do now is add the propellors, and the helicopter is ready.

This build used up almost every part of the set:

Airplane

We begin with the airplane by using the 2x6 plate again, and putting a 2x2 on it as well as the inverted slope for the tail section afterwards.

Next we make two mirrored builds for the wings, except for the signal lights as one side is red, and the other green.

They are secured in place by using long white plates, while round grey studs will represent the visible engine pistons.

The whole front section is now covered up for a sleeker look.

As the tail fins are added, the cups make the engine exhausts at the front.

The small central tail piece is then put together and attached.

All we have to do is add the cockpit, and the little propellor plane is ready.

Quite a few elements are left over with this build:

Speedboat

The final model that can be build out of this set, it begins with the 2x6 plate again, and two connector pieces placed at the back.

Two skids are then made and added to the bodywork, all covered by the 4x4 plate to make the central body.

As white plates hold it all in place, the middle section gets a raised look by using the inverted red slope.

The engine section then is added on top of this.

Next, we make the cockpit for the sleek little ship

All that's left to do is add the propellor, and the smallest of the three builds is ready

A lot of pieces are left over when you make this variation of the set:

All in all, these small Creator sets are fantastic things in my opinion.  Not for the builds per se, but for the parts / price ratio, or the fact you can build a lot more things with the selection of pieces, making them superb for classroom workshops and the likes.