Scratch-built Lego elephant.
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One of Jiajia's customers gave a Batmobile Technic Lego set to her young adult son as a gift. He tried to build it for over a month and finally gave up. So the customer said that JD could keep it if he could finish it. Three days later....
One of JD's Christmas presents was a Lego typewriter. He started it by himself, but struggled a little when the various moving parts and gears needed to be constructed. So we decided to finish it together.
4200 pieces and bigger than a basketball - it took me over ten hours to complete, but the Death Star was a great project on which to finish 2022.
 JD is keeping track of the number of days to Christmas with a self-made Post-it Advent Calendar! It has no chocolates or nativity pictures, but at least he gets to rip something off each morning and savour the countdown! He has already opened one present, actually, since we are all in quarantine with COVID - using his spare time throughout each day to construct a huge Lego aircraft!
I woke JD up an hour early yesterday and got him dressed and ready for school before pointing out it was April Fool's Day! Still, he quite enjoyed the unexpected hour, playing with his Lego.  This is JD's latest Lego build: a Star Wars Rebel Bomber spaceship.
During odd five minute-breaks at home, in between his daily 3-4 hours of homework, JD has been gradually building an airport in his bedroom using Dupo Lego, toy cars/planes/tanks/etc and furniture legs!  Although it looks fairly random, he has a long back-story and can spend ages explaining to you how each part of the airport works and why everything is in its rightful place. Untidy, but imaginative!
I've not built Lego Technic before, but this Christmas gift promised a huge remote-controlled forklift truck, so I gave it a go.  Ten hours later I finally finished it. There were some significant delays when all the functions worked except for reversing. I had to pull half the truck apart in order to spot, and then insert, a tiny missing cog from way inside! JD is enjoying playing with it, now that it works.
I think though that, overall, I prefer classic Lego. It's more reusable and instantly recognizable as Lego. Plus, I'm no engineer!  The biggest scratch built Lego model JD and I have ever made.
 JD and I have been knuckling down to some serious Lego building lately. I started out trying to make a zebra but it very quickly insisted on being a black-and-white bird! JD was inspired to recreate "Branch", one of the characters in his favourite film - "Trolls". Without any help at all from me, he managed to work out the colours, the pose, the eyes and the hair, all from memory! I only realised how accurate it was when I Googled a picture of the troll in questions. Just forgot the ears!  Our ever-changing Lego display, featuring kit and scratch-built models made by both JD and I.  JD took part on a huge Lego Competition this morning along with 43 other kids of a similar age. He got first place in the initial round ("Make your name out of Lego"), then made the tallest tower (though not the most stable, so 4th place there) and then came first again in the final solo round ("Make an amazing building"). Overall, a sensational first place! His prize was a Harry Potter Lego set worth 700RMB (£70), a certificate and a handshake with the head of the bank who sponsored the event. JD was gob-smacked, and we were pretty chuffed too!  It took me about 5 hours but I've finally completed my main Christmas present - a Star Wars AT-AT Walker. Over 1400 pieces. Fully functional.
This one was very much a joint project, with JD building the body and me adding the wings. Again, not a kit, just built from a photo [below]. 
Armed with just a photo [above left] and boxes of Lego, JD and I had a crack at building a Lego Star Wars AT-AT Walker [above right].  No mean feat to include a dozen bending, swivelling and rotating "functions" whilst keeping it looking something like the original!
 I got this huge Lego build as a Father's Day present last week. It's made by the Chinese company who used to make the pieces for the Lego company , but now do their own "same-quality" models at 10% of the official price! It was 1500 pieces and took me over 3 hours to complete. Loved it though. Very detailed and full of cool functions.
 Last weekend JD and I built a Duplo maze and gave the hamsters a variety of races. Being nocturnal critters, we found they were more likely to snuggle up under the Lego and fall asleep than race around the many corners! But by the end, "Whitey" was a clear winner (sorry, "Bitey"!) and got a JD cuddle as a medal...   JD and I have taken on a "30-day Internet Lego Challenge", with a new build each day. Yesterday we built "a town" complete with a church, a hospital and a rescue helicopter. Today's challenge was a castle. I don't think we'll be able to keep up the build-a-day pace (and it's sad to have to dismantle each new creation the next day) but it's a little "carrot" to get him to do his homework quickly. He's back to school in 3 weeks.
 China has a new aircraft carrier - the "JDAC Tidal Wind 981" !
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 AuthorPaul Hider lives and works in Kunming (SW China) and regularly updates this blog about his life there. Past blog entries
March 2023
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