Lego Architecture – Himeji Castle Review
Luke Blakemore Posted on:-31-01-25 Reviews,
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The Lego Architecture series is a really nice group of Lego sets for people with an interest in creating famous buildings and cityscapes from Lego.
Having sets for London, Paris, New York and Singapore skylines it was time to upgrade and look at something with a whole extra level of challenge “Himeji Castle”. Rather than small replicas of famous landmarks in a cityscape, this set represents building a Lego model of a Japanese Castle complex, with much greater levels of detail, and therefore difficulty.
Himeji Castle complex was built over hundreds of years between the 1300s and 1600s and is described as “the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle”.
What’s in the box
As you’d expect there are bags, and bags, and bags of Lego pieces. Some coming in the new style paper bags and others in the older plastic ones. These are numbered to coincide with the instruction manual. This really is a manual with well over 100 steps required to complete the construction.
The Building Experience
Confession time: The main building of Lego sets is generally completed by my eldest son (He is 16). I sit in reserve to support in cases of difficulty (he has an ASC so problems can be quite distressing for him).
The instructions are really clear and, despite the complexity of the construction, quite easy to follow. There were three issues where I had to support.
First, a piece was missing! This must rank as the first time I have ever known a Lego set to be missing a piece! Thankfully, it was possible to use one of the pieces that were included as duplicate in its place and it was even in an area that was completely out of sight once built.
The second problem was a part of the build that involved a hinged join, where a piece was angled. I had to demonstrate how this worked and rest could then be done without issue.
Finally, there was a section that I could tell had not quite clicked together as well as it might. This is because there were so many pieces meeting in a relatively small area. I supported to improve as you could see a large gap in the building. however, it was still not quite perfect upon completion. I suspect that greater care being taken earlier in the build would have stopped this being a problem later on.
The model itself is cleverly built in what are almost pyramid like stages. Lower stages of the building support the higher parts. You create the model from the “ground” up. As the centre of the build is hollow, this means that the Lego Himeji Castle is lighter than it appears. You do, however, need to take care of this when transporting. I attempted to carry it on my hand, like a plate, and was fortunate not to do any damage to the model. This is down to the fact, what gives the impression of being a solid base plate is not in fact one piece.
The End Result
The final product is an amazing looking piece of Lego creativity. Himeji Castle is a striking building in photographs and the model does it justice. The plants and landscaping help lend the build a reality that is way in excess of the city-scape sets that share the “Architecture” name. It has now got a pride of place spot on display in my son’s bedroom. Of the various pieces of Lego that are in there, this is by far the best looking. It is also a lot more detailed. If you, or someone you know, has enjoyed the Lego Architecture range and would like a go at something requiring a bit more time and care then Lego Architecture Himeji castle would be an excellent choice.
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