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jae_buildsThis set continues to delight. When I built the hull walls for box two, I talked about being pleased that there was a different method for doing so than there was in box one. Near the end of this stage, I realized that the third box has another different method; I won't actually do it until the next stage, but I love that even this far in, I have new things to look forward to.
One small frustration, though: near the end of box two, one of the stages was missing a piece. It happened again in this stage. Both times, I was able to replace the missing pieces with my small spare piece collection, but each time I had to improvise a bit, using a row of 1x1 studs instead of a 1x2 (for box two) or 1x4 (for this stage) piece, and each time the bits that won't be visible in the final build were the wrong color. I didn't mention it here last time, because it didn't significantly affect the build. This time, though, the fact that the four 1x1s aren't connected to each other makes this section slightly less stable than it would otherwise be. Because of where it is in the build, if I wanted to order a replacement part from Lego, I'd have to put the whole build on hold waiting for it to arrive; if I go ahead (which I clearly am) and then get a replacement, that would mean hours of disassembling and reassembling multiple elements. The stability issues aren't a huge deal; as I proceed, I'll add more pieces that will reinforce it, and I don't think it will end up causing any problems. But now that it's happened twice, I am worried that there's an endemic issue with this set, and concerned that it might happen again, possibly with a piece I can't replace or substitute for. I'm also surprised; Lego's QA process is usually better than this. (I said with the misprint in book 1 of the assembly instructions that this is the first time I'm assembling a first-production-run build, and that might again be relevant; maybe errors like this are common in first runs. But even if that is the case; the misprint in the build instructions was annoying but minor, in fact I've encountered a few more misprints and haven't even bothered mentioning them. Missing pieces might actually prevent me from completing the build until they're replaced, so this feels like a bigger deal.)
Anyway; apologies for interrupting the build blog. Here's the mise-en-place for this stage (and, apparently, the edge of my finger; sorry about that).
The piece that's missing is a double of that blue 1x4 plate in the top row right next to the small-pieces plate; there are supposed to be two of them. I didn't get a great photo of where it's supposed to go in the build, but I'll point it out when we get there.
I started by adding two layers of tiny rooms. The lowest layer is once again not at all furnished; just a set of blank rooms with nothing in them in the bowels of the ship.
Then a level of third-class cabins with beds.
The blue 1x4 on the right side of the photo, under the tan 1x3, is supposed to be mirrored on the other side (where I cut off the image), but if I hadn't cut it off, you'd see that it is instead a set of grey 1x1s.
Anyway. I added the floor for the next deck up, and then took a flash photo looking into the tiny rooms.
Next I built these panels of portholes; I've done this tech before, so I didn't take detailed photos of the sub-assembly as it was being built, but this form factor is new, and is the preview of the new hull wall method I mentioned in my intro.
I put them in place, and added the lines of orange/gold pieces along either side.
And that's it for stage 30. Thanks as always for reading.
Discussion prompt: What's something you know of multiple methods to accomplish? Which is your favorite method?
One small frustration, though: near the end of box two, one of the stages was missing a piece. It happened again in this stage. Both times, I was able to replace the missing pieces with my small spare piece collection, but each time I had to improvise a bit, using a row of 1x1 studs instead of a 1x2 (for box two) or 1x4 (for this stage) piece, and each time the bits that won't be visible in the final build were the wrong color. I didn't mention it here last time, because it didn't significantly affect the build. This time, though, the fact that the four 1x1s aren't connected to each other makes this section slightly less stable than it would otherwise be. Because of where it is in the build, if I wanted to order a replacement part from Lego, I'd have to put the whole build on hold waiting for it to arrive; if I go ahead (which I clearly am) and then get a replacement, that would mean hours of disassembling and reassembling multiple elements. The stability issues aren't a huge deal; as I proceed, I'll add more pieces that will reinforce it, and I don't think it will end up causing any problems. But now that it's happened twice, I am worried that there's an endemic issue with this set, and concerned that it might happen again, possibly with a piece I can't replace or substitute for. I'm also surprised; Lego's QA process is usually better than this. (I said with the misprint in book 1 of the assembly instructions that this is the first time I'm assembling a first-production-run build, and that might again be relevant; maybe errors like this are common in first runs. But even if that is the case; the misprint in the build instructions was annoying but minor, in fact I've encountered a few more misprints and haven't even bothered mentioning them. Missing pieces might actually prevent me from completing the build until they're replaced, so this feels like a bigger deal.)
Anyway; apologies for interrupting the build blog. Here's the mise-en-place for this stage (and, apparently, the edge of my finger; sorry about that).
The piece that's missing is a double of that blue 1x4 plate in the top row right next to the small-pieces plate; there are supposed to be two of them. I didn't get a great photo of where it's supposed to go in the build, but I'll point it out when we get there.
I started by adding two layers of tiny rooms. The lowest layer is once again not at all furnished; just a set of blank rooms with nothing in them in the bowels of the ship.
Then a level of third-class cabins with beds.
The blue 1x4 on the right side of the photo, under the tan 1x3, is supposed to be mirrored on the other side (where I cut off the image), but if I hadn't cut it off, you'd see that it is instead a set of grey 1x1s.
Anyway. I added the floor for the next deck up, and then took a flash photo looking into the tiny rooms.
Next I built these panels of portholes; I've done this tech before, so I didn't take detailed photos of the sub-assembly as it was being built, but this form factor is new, and is the preview of the new hull wall method I mentioned in my intro.
I put them in place, and added the lines of orange/gold pieces along either side.
And that's it for stage 30. Thanks as always for reading.
Discussion prompt: What's something you know of multiple methods to accomplish? Which is your favorite method?