This is the Lego Set in question. It is Set number 21307 from 2016 - and is the Caterham Seven. This was one of the very first Lego Ideas set, where Lego turns amateur designers designs into official sets. It has 771 pieces, and is what would probably be considered a middle of the range type of set, but in complexity and size.
I happened to see this set advertised on Facebook Marketplace for $50 (Australian) Dollars which is about 30 Euro or USD for those in other countries. I thought that was a bargain so went off a bought it. Like a lot of secondhand sets it was constructed, so I immediately took it apart (not that much fun) then let it sit in a bag for a few weeks until I decided to re-build it, slowly.
So I figures I would work out how long it takes, and I decided to take a photo at the end of each 30 minutes of building (the actually building is spread over multiple days) so let's get started
This is the beginning, we have bags of colour coded pieces from where I took it apart, obviously this would be different if it was a brand new set, but hey this has been sitting on some guys shelf for ten years
After thirty minutes we have the back bone of car and the makings of a back axle. (Excuse the incredibly dirty outdoor table - it needs a good clean)
Moving back inside and it's a different day we are now an hour into the build and we have some rear wheels arches, which are the first of the really unusual upside down building method.
An Hour and Half in and this is absolutely taking on it's final form, what a nig half hour it's been, the seats, the engine, complete with various hoses and whatnot which I like and the start of the unusual angled body. I should also say all of the labels 'Caterham, the Seven R' on the engine are all printed pieces not stickers which is a nice touch.
Two Hours and we have spent the last hour doing the comically large exhaust- which I thought was unrealistic until I looked a picture of the actual car (which you can see below) and a very clever front end, lots of unusual angles, the front feeders over the wheels and 'frog eye' lights which are on stalks all require some good thinking from the designers.
And Finished in just under 2 and a half hours, the last hour was the bonnet, again complicated by it's tapered nature which is not some Lego is reknown for. I have to say I really liked this build, it was 2.5 hours of mildly challenging but very clever building and at the end of it you end up with a very cool model - $50 well spent in my mind.
And lets do some more glamour shots of the final car....
That bonnet is fancy
Oh and this is what a Caterham Seven looks like in real life, I think you'll agree they did a pretty darn good job
