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Does anyone have sets that they thought were hard to build?

pantenkindpantenkind Member Posts: 258
edited May 2011 in Building and Techniques
I haven't seen many or any posts about this on here so I thought I would start one. Most sets are fairly easy, but I am sure most of us have seen sets, or at least parts of sets that were kind of hard. I started this thread, so of course I have a personal example :-)

For me the numbers for the date on the fire brigade were a pain in the rear....Building them is not so bad, but building them so they are all straight and look good...well, that's another story. I think I even cussed a little on this one. So I am anxious to hear if this or any other part gave anyone else a hassle or two.

Comments

  • StuBoyStuBoy Member Posts: 623
    Not necessarily hard, but my first new set after I came out of my dark ages was a castle set with some dark bluish grey pieces that I mistook for black when looking at the instructions. It was my first time I'd used the new dark bluish grey and they look extremely similar to black on the instruction manual. Another pain is the unclear PDF instructions - some small pieces are real blurry and sometimes its a bit of guesswork (I'm talking about you, UCS Falcon!).
  • wagnerml2wagnerml2 Member Posts: 1,376
    I built the Twilight for my son....What a PITA that set was, and, on top of it, it falls apart easily.
  • JezzatheshedJezzatheshed Member Posts: 164
    Probably the first ARC 170..My son got it for christmas from his grandma, he was very patient with its building then at about 5pm he lost the plot as the wings wouldnt fit, handed to dad who spent an hour re-examining the build and decided bricks were missing, then daughter pointed out that there was an instruction page still in the box, turns out a page in the book was wrong so lego had kindly inserted the correct page into the box loose!
  • drdavewatforddrdavewatford Administrator Posts: 6,755
    8480 Technic Space Shuttle - surprisingly challenging to put together, and I still haven't got the various motorised functions and fibre optics to work (although that's due to a faulty battery box or cable I suspect).
  • JohnnycogsJohnnycogs Member Posts: 68
    I had the Technic test car 8865..... I could never get that 3 speed gearbox to work... I was only 10 though..... Would love to get the set again, y'know, so I could conquer that particular demon!!! :D
  • jgadgetjgadget Member Posts: 192
    ^The 8865 car had a tricky gearbox, since the gears were moved to mesh with each other, so it worked better with the car moving very slightly, or you had to "jiggle" it a bit.

    ^^ Incompetence is likely to be Dr.D's problem. :-)
    The shuttle has the same clever gearbox that was fitted to the later Technic car 8880 with the gears always meshed with each other, but using the driving ring part, 6539, to either engage the appropriate gears or allow them to spin freely on the axles.
    (Sorry if I've used the wrong terminology.)
  • xowainxxowainx Member Posts: 112
    edited May 2011
    I built the Twilight for my son....What a PITA that set was, and, on top of it, it falls apart easily.
    Yeah, the Twilight took me something ridiculous like 6-7 hours to build, then another 2-3 when I decided to partially deconstruct it a few weeks later so that I could add a floor into the hold (cheers to The Lego Group for not including the extra 10-15 pieces that took). And yes, the back platform (and it's sides) falls apart if you look at it. For all it's flaws though, I still quite like it as a set.
  • atkinsaratkinsar Member Posts: 4,258
    The only 2 sets I've ever had trouble building were The Twilight, and 7674 V-19 Torrent. I had to de-construct a significant amount due to an innocuous mistake I made earlier on.

    With the V-19, I finished the model, and the landing gear just didn't look right in terms of the angle the ship sat at, it didn't seem to compare with the box picture, I tried to resolve it by rebuilding and following the instructions more carefully but still couldn't work out what I'd done wrong so I gave up.

    Actually, I remember now I also made a few mistakes in the motorised AT-AT internal build as well, that was a PITA to correct.
  • PaulTRPaulTR Member Posts: 115
    My 6211 Star Destroyer took me around 5 hours to make on Christmas morning. I was around 12 years old at the time, and it was my first major LEGO set, so I made a ton of mistakes. The worst mistake was when I used the wrong axel piece in the spine of the set; I spent an hour alone trying to find that piece before I realized I was usung it in another part of the set.

    Looking back at it now, the set was more exhausting to build than difficult; I guess I was so young it just seemed impossible to me.
  • monkey_roomonkey_roo Member Posts: 1,411
    Not sure it really counts but the Emarald Night motor conversion has never worked for me. No matter how many times i pull the gearbox appart and rebuild it the wheels always stick and the train runs along the tracks like it is having a fit, stop start, stop start. Sure i am missing soming obvious but no idea what.
  • MinifigsMeMinifigsMe Member Posts: 2,844
    Hmm - what tracks are yOu using for EK? It hates the flexible tracks
  • HuwHuw Administrator Posts: 7,088
    edited May 2011
    8480 Technic Space Shuttle - surprisingly challenging to put together, and I still haven't got the various motorised functions and fibre optics to work (although that's due to a faulty battery box or cable I suspect).
    Agreed -- that is indeed one of the most challenging sets to build. I made a simple mistake, getting a couple of the right-angled technic joiners the wrong way round, which required almost a total rebuild. It did just about work in the end, though.
  • YellowcastleYellowcastle Administrator, Moderator Posts: 5,234
    I found the new arc fighter to be an unenjoyable build and a frustrating design.
  • monkey_roomonkey_roo Member Posts: 1,411
    The track is a mixture of flexi and normal, but it doesn't seem to make much difference.
  • MatthewMatthew Administrator Posts: 3,714
    I've found some sets to be a complete chore to build. Not hard, but not fun either. The other thing I hate is sets like 7739 - I picked it up to move it yesterday, must have pressed too hard on the floor of the top office, and it all collapsed, and I was left holding the base and the roof! Of course these are all 'Easy Building and Instant Play' sets, so easy to rebuild, if a little annoying...
  • rocaorocao Administrator Posts: 4,290
    edited May 2011
    I'll third DrDave and Huw's mention of 8480 Technic Shuttle; when I saw this thread that set came immediately to mind. My first mistake was pure forgetfulness: I forgot to put batteries in the battery pack and you have to dismantle a good amount of the fuselage to get to the box to open it. That's a bit of a design flaw, of course but forgivable with all the function packed into it. I believe I had another issue with the fiber optics nit working initially, although I can't recall what exactly I built wrong and had to fix.

    It's still probably one of my most rewarding builds, both in spite of and because of it's complexity.
  • LegoboyLegoboy Member Posts: 8,827
    My most frustrating was 8043 Mechanical Excavator around Christmas time. I used the wrong small cogs from the outset to construct the gearbox and was extremely difficult to swap-out for the right cogs without taking the whole thing apart. That was a very late night!
  • madforLEGOmadforLEGO Member Posts: 10,794
    Any technic set is a chore to build.. even better to try to take apart..
    The biggest pain I have had is with the emerald night .. trying to ensure you are using Drk Gry instead of black.. I am guessing it is not much easier for any new sets.. Did Lego say they were going to address that as well?
    Otherwise a pain set is the larger pirate ships, at least the Black Seas Barracuda and Skull Eye Schooner.. LOT's of plates in a certain order and set up a certain way... it can be a pain.. Once you build them you are no hurry to take it apart...
  • pantenkindpantenkind Member Posts: 258
    edited May 2011
    With the V-19, I finished the model, and the landing gear just didn't look right in terms of the angle the ship sat at, it didn't seem to compare with the box picture, I tried to resolve it by rebuilding and following the instructions more carefully but still couldn't work out what I'd done wrong so I gave up.
    I was actually coming back on here to add the v19 as I had forgotten about it. I had the same issue with the landing gear. I did manage to fix it after an hour or so of "trial and error" with the gear system.
  • xowainxxowainx Member Posts: 112
    edited May 2011
    I did manage to fix it after an hour or so of "trial and error" with the gear system.
    WHOA WHOA WHOA, hold up a minute, you mean the V19 CAN be built so that it doesn't lean forwards? I definitely rebuilt that section quite a few times during the build trying to get it "right" and swear, that even the reviews on Eurobricks had it tilting. I just gave up and assumed the box art was a bit disingenuous!
  • pantenkindpantenkind Member Posts: 258
    nope, if I remember you have to almost grind the gears back as far as you can and force that peg into them. I am not looking at the directions so I cannot be more specific than that. I know it was an "unnatural process" to do it though and remember thinking this cannot be right. But to answer your question, yes, it can be put together like the box art.
  • SapmiSatanSapmiSatan Member Posts: 106
    1349-Steven Spielberg Moviemaker Set, I wasn't too old when I got it, and had to have a friend help me assemble the function that makes the camera move sideways. I never really used it(the function that is, the Moviemaker set I used for many years), which was a shame, because it could have been real handy, as my technique advanced.
  • AETerryAETerry Member Posts: 48
    Hard, I would have to say the Black Seas Barracuda the year it came out, due to my age. Had my Uncle help me with that one.

    After that I'd say the Portal of Atlantis set and mostly I'd say it was time consuming vs. hard.

    Hard to build for me also comes in the form of my cat laying on the pieces as I open up a new box and demands that I pet her rather then play with the lego pieces.
  • madforLEGOmadforLEGO Member Posts: 10,794
    ^--- HAH. Cat Beats Legos... better then cat EATS Legos I guess
  • AETerryAETerry Member Posts: 48
    It is... any time I'm working with legos, my cat is right there ready to get in the middle of things.
  • technicaltacticstechnicaltactics Member Posts: 47
    edited May 2011
    It is... any time I'm working with legos, my cat is right there ready to get in the middle of things.
    Odd thing with cats, my cat walked in on me while I was building the time-consuming Maersk train. He walked through the sorted piles of parts I had, and got them mixed up, lengthening the build about 3-4 hours.

    My most frusturating set to build must be the BIONICLE (A phase I passed) Vezon and Kardas. Technic is not only frusturating to build, but a nightmare to dis-assemble. It was a few years later when I realized the money and time I wasted on Technic. The problem I had with this set is the stiffness of axles and axle joints, plus the fact that many parts had to be forced into pegs, axles, etc. Set took me a day.....
  • llanowarsoldierllanowarsoldier Member Posts: 357
    Right now I am currently building the Death Star. It's not a hard build...just time consuming. It took me 3.5 hours to just get done with the 1st box..and I have 3 left. I might get done with it by the end of weekend, heh.
  • madforLEGOmadforLEGO Member Posts: 10,794
    ^^---- Cats don't like competition for attention...
  • ZeyaZeya Member Posts: 36
    I would imagine the really large exclusive sets are some of the hardest to build.

    The Taj Mahal just shy of 6000 pieces:
    http://www.brickset.com/detail/?set=10189-1

    The Eiffel Tower looks pretty repetitive:
    http://www.brickset.com/detail/?set=10181-1

    And the Statue of Liberty is almost entirely one color:
    http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=3450-1

    These all look like pretty repetitive builds. I can imagine some steps in Taj Mahal might be like "make this window part 20 times". Ugh!

    I don't think any Lego set is hard to build for an AFOL, per se, it's just a question of time, patience, and whether the build is actually fun or not. I suspect that there is some large Technic set that might put someone off, but I think people only get into Technic if they're really technically oriented and into that sort of thing.
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