When I was a kid, one of the best things about getting a new LEGO set was the box.
Yes, the box.
You see, if you've never seen an old LEGO box this would seem like a dumb statement - but trust me, the box was almost always awesome. For starters, on a large set the box would have a flip up flap where you could see some of the "key" pieces - plus the minifigures and often any weapons or printed pieces.
That was awesome enough - but there was something even cooler on the boxes of sets of all sizes.
Alternate build photos!
That's right. Every LEGO box had a few images (typically on the back of the box or on the inside flap) where you could see other models that the pieces within the box could be used to build. Modern boxes no longer have that - all you get now on the box are images showing play features (useful, but nearly as cool - nor as good for promoting creativity)!
Well, I'm here to fix that one set at a time!
That's right. In this (slowly) growing feature I plan to take a single set (typically ignoring any extra pieces) and build some sort of alternate model. My goal is to keep things varied as best I can - and remember, I'm only using the pieces from the set in question!
Well, today's set is LEGO 60058 which is the SUV with Watercraft. I already reviewed this set (which you can read here).
As you can see from the above photograph, the actual set contains a single SUV, a trailer, and a pair of watercraft. I decided to try and build something that wasn't meant for water which meant taking everything apart first.
You have the SUV pieces.
You have the trailer pieces.
And finally, you have the pieces for the pair of watercraft.
My goal for the project was to use as many of the pieces as possible - but not to throw pieces on unnecessarily (i.e. no burying or hiding pieces within the model). In the end, I managed to succeed with flying colors - in fact, I used all but six pieces!
So, what did I turn the SUV with Watercraft into? Well, I created a pair of vehicles. The first vehicle is a sort of a crossover - or at least a pair of vehicle types melded into one. The front of the vehicle is clearly a roadster of some sort while the back is almost tow truck like.
Personally, for a first attempt at doing an alternate build I was happy enough with my end results - but this is clearly the weaker of the two vehicles that I built. In terms of this car, I really like the front - I managed to take the essence of the water ski from the regular model and turn it into a race car front!
I think the lime green looks pretty snazzy too. Unfortunately, the set didn't contain a lot of lime green parts so there was no way to carry the lime green look throughout the rest of the car.
The back of the car sort of reminds me of a tow truck, though I don't know why exactly. It's definitely got a tougher appearance. As you may have noticed, I used the pair of license plates for this car - the second car only gets one (different) license plate. I also realized after the fact that I could have (and probably should have) placed both control panels in this car and then used the otherwise unused red steering wheel in the second car).
Speaking of the second car, this one is my favorite! It's a race car for sure.
Once again, I took the main color of the watercraft (in this case orange) and used that to help shape the front. In fact, the front of the car is one of my two favorite elements of my personal build - I really like how it looks like there is an orange stripe over the engine block.
I also like the spoiler on the back of the car - it made good use of the bits that were normally used for the steering component of the two jet skis.
All things considered, this was a fun exercise (and a bit harder than I originally thought)! I think the first car (the green one) is the weaker of the two models - but it does have some bits that I like. I was mostly pleased with the fact that I managed to create two models that have very little in common with the original LEGO-produced model. In fact, You probably couldn't even tell the main LEGO model was a big 'ol black SUV given how the my two cars turned out!
Yes, the box.
You see, if you've never seen an old LEGO box this would seem like a dumb statement - but trust me, the box was almost always awesome. For starters, on a large set the box would have a flip up flap where you could see some of the "key" pieces - plus the minifigures and often any weapons or printed pieces.
That was awesome enough - but there was something even cooler on the boxes of sets of all sizes.
Alternate build photos!
That's right. Every LEGO box had a few images (typically on the back of the box or on the inside flap) where you could see other models that the pieces within the box could be used to build. Modern boxes no longer have that - all you get now on the box are images showing play features (useful, but nearly as cool - nor as good for promoting creativity)!
Well, I'm here to fix that one set at a time!
That's right. In this (slowly) growing feature I plan to take a single set (typically ignoring any extra pieces) and build some sort of alternate model. My goal is to keep things varied as best I can - and remember, I'm only using the pieces from the set in question!
Well, today's set is LEGO 60058 which is the SUV with Watercraft. I already reviewed this set (which you can read here).
As you can see from the above photograph, the actual set contains a single SUV, a trailer, and a pair of watercraft. I decided to try and build something that wasn't meant for water which meant taking everything apart first.
You have the SUV pieces.
You have the trailer pieces.
And finally, you have the pieces for the pair of watercraft.
My goal for the project was to use as many of the pieces as possible - but not to throw pieces on unnecessarily (i.e. no burying or hiding pieces within the model). In the end, I managed to succeed with flying colors - in fact, I used all but six pieces!
So, what did I turn the SUV with Watercraft into? Well, I created a pair of vehicles. The first vehicle is a sort of a crossover - or at least a pair of vehicle types melded into one. The front of the vehicle is clearly a roadster of some sort while the back is almost tow truck like.
Personally, for a first attempt at doing an alternate build I was happy enough with my end results - but this is clearly the weaker of the two vehicles that I built. In terms of this car, I really like the front - I managed to take the essence of the water ski from the regular model and turn it into a race car front!
The back of the car sort of reminds me of a tow truck, though I don't know why exactly. It's definitely got a tougher appearance. As you may have noticed, I used the pair of license plates for this car - the second car only gets one (different) license plate. I also realized after the fact that I could have (and probably should have) placed both control panels in this car and then used the otherwise unused red steering wheel in the second car).
Speaking of the second car, this one is my favorite! It's a race car for sure.
Once again, I took the main color of the watercraft (in this case orange) and used that to help shape the front. In fact, the front of the car is one of my two favorite elements of my personal build - I really like how it looks like there is an orange stripe over the engine block.
I also like the spoiler on the back of the car - it made good use of the bits that were normally used for the steering component of the two jet skis.
All things considered, this was a fun exercise (and a bit harder than I originally thought)! I think the first car (the green one) is the weaker of the two models - but it does have some bits that I like. I was mostly pleased with the fact that I managed to create two models that have very little in common with the original LEGO-produced model. In fact, You probably couldn't even tell the main LEGO model was a big 'ol black SUV given how the my two cars turned out!
Very Nice. It gets harder to achieve that result as the sets get bigger. I really like that racecar.
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