I fear that my blogs are starting in similar ways but there's no way to avoid what will become blatantly obvious - I am not a born DIY-er. I can build it, I can fix it but I will need to take my time and think things over.
I also realised that The Review could easily slip into "I read this..." territory but this should rectify that issue for I have built my first shed. Just to get you into the mood as I review the journey and the product itself, here's how it all began...
I would also recommend you have the following to hand (or at least know where they are) before starting:
Day 1: Unpainted
club hammer
hammer
power drill - charge it!
screwdriver
wood saw
shed paint
step ladder
hacksaw
sharp craft knife or scissors
We also invested in an Eeze-base to stand the shed on due to the somewhat uneven nature of our garden. Now according to this YouTube video and as I have already stated, this should take four hours, start to finish. Let me tell you that this is absolute and total codswallop. Good video though and does give you some idea of what you're going to be doing if you've never built a shed before - so perfect for me.
Day 1: Four hours work
The ground where the base was to stand was uneven and needed clearing of crazy-paved concrete slabs. Once they were removed then it was a case of levelling the ground. Now, before you do anything else, lay out the Ezee-base (if required) and make sure that it will fit. With ours the basic frame was too big for the shed and The five horizontal beams had to have about a foot of wood chopped off otherwise the entire shed would have been resting on them. Once laid out, we marked out equal points on the vertical beams and then laid the supports in at these locations - three internal and two at the ends. They need to be double-screwed at either end with 100mm screws. There are four metal "L" shaped supports to help settle the base level and these were of good use here and you will need two of you to ensure that the base is level as you screw them into place with 45mm screws.
Paint first; build second
Next screw into place the four corner spikes and, using the club hammer, secure the base into the ground. Now this all seems pretty straight forward but it's the laying out, marking and cutting that takes the time here. If it was all pre-cut and on a bowling green it would probably be all done in an hour or so. Just beware that a lot of this is taking DIY in the literal sense.
At the same time as you're laying out and setting the base it's worth having your helper (in my case Daniel) painting up all the shed panels in preparation for construction. We chose to use Wilkinson's Timbercare dark oak which is why it's a different colour at the beginning and end! Also if you are painting it there's no way this will take four hours. Indeed, in the video referenced above they don't even show the shed some paint and dependent on weather conditions it can take between two and four hours to dry. Now for us at this point the light faded and our first day's work was cut short ready for Sunday and some proper man-sized construction work.
The "generic" instructions
Sunday came and, lo, it did rain. It rained all day which is not the best when you have a lot of unbuilt shed sitting in your garden. Getting the floor down was the first move. Our Eeze-base was slightly larger than the floor but I'm happy with that and am happier that it was larger than being smaller! Now I have a massive issue at this point. The instructions you get with the 4' x 6' shed are very, very generic and you need to have a bit of nous about you to ensure that it goes together correctly. They seem to be for a 6' x 6' or even a 12' x 8' given the inclusion of four windows and a double door. Great that they cover all possibilities but when you're dealing with the baby of the range it's not a great help.
Day 2: Fixing panels
Having all the panels painted by this point pays off because all the hard to reach points are covered as you become aware when placing the first rear and side panels into place. I would recommend that this isn't the side with the window so you get a strong section to work from. Having everything laid out ready is also recommended as you can easily select the next piece without too much hassle even if the instructions are, frankly, rubbish. In fact the next rear, window side and two door support panels went together very easily. Make sure you're drilling pilot holes for 45mm screws and don't be too worried about losing one or two as there are plenty in the bag. Now at this point it's feeling like it's about six degrees below zero and all feeling below the neck is rapidly fading but with the rain still coming down getting the roof on was becoming something of a necessity. I must also apologise for this picture mid-construction. I only wear tracksuit bottoms for such tasks as heavy-duty gardening and decorating. They are not a clothing item of choice.
Ok, the evening was drawing in as we lined up the two roof gables. One is clearly for the door so don't get them mixed up at this point in the build or you'll be in for some fun later on. They should go on pretty easily and then comes the interesting part and you will need two people. Each of the roof panels needs to be aligned with the gables and you will need someone to hold it as each one is nailed into place. Oh - did I mention it was also raining at this point?
Day 2: Felt roof next
Once in place you'll need to cut the roof felt to size. If you've never used it before, this stuff is both gritty and will rip in an instant so be careful how you handle it. I would have waited for better light as our was fading fast but due to the weather conditions it needed to go on asap. Looking back it would probably have been wiser to measure and cut the felt BEFORE putting the panels on the roof but there's the benefit of hindsight and sense. Again two people are necessary for holding and tacking the felt into place - one for each panel and then a third piece to close any gaps across the top. At this point we called it a day - it was dark and neither myself nor Daniel could hold anything metal due to the temperature!
Day 3: Starting point
Now it would take a week and a slight snow shower before we could get back out to the shed although at this point it was more like a wooden lean-to with no windows or a door attached (above right). Getting out to finish it on a sunnier, warmer Saturday morning was great. First job was a bit of touch-up painting and then trimming down the felt and attaching the edging boards. This was done and dusted quite quickly in comparison to the previous weekend's activities. Be gentle with the boards because a bit too much hammering can crack them - and the same goes for the finials at the roof top. I had to glue one of the latter back together after a fairly rough knock with the hammer.As you will note from the picture to the left, this was our starting point on Day Three. There was quite a bit of felt to cut away and some minor painting to finish due to the previous weekend's weather. I'd also point out that even at this stage the shed was not fixed to the base - I wanted to make sure the door would fit before we attempted setting it firmly in place on the base forever more. Also it meant that there could be some painting touch-ups at the back where necessary.
Day 3:Union tea break
Using the batons for guidance, the door hinges attached with 30mm screws and it was straight onto the frame with no concerns. The only thing I did notice was that there was a slight gap down the opening edge of the door but I'll cover how that was resolved in a bit. I also added both the swivel catches to the main frame of the shed to ensure the door closed fully, again with 30mm screws. Next on were the two window panels. The last time I assisted in shed-building with my dad in the early 1990's I remember these being glass so I was more than happy to find the ones supplied with the BillyOh shed were plastic.They, as with most of the shed, fitted very easily and were held in place by three strips of wood nailed to the frame. This made me realise that you need to be careful where the screws holding the panels together are placed back at the initial construction stage as it could affect how you fix in the plastic windows. I would say this was one of the few stages where I referred to the instructions - also helpful when working out why there are several long strips of "modesty" wood and how they should go to cover up corners and panel joins around the structure. At this point you can screw the whole structure down to the base with 45mm screws. There are more than enough in the pack so don't worry about how many you use. From personal experience I would say one at either end of each panel is a minimum and then possibly 2 more central if you're concerned it might be flimsy. I chose to do the latter however it was pretty rigid before I did.
One thing that the instructions don't account for is the padlock. I would say it's worth having some spare wood to hand because however you attach the fixing the screws will go through the door and frame. Having that extra few bits of wood will suffice to give the screws something to drill into. The gap down the side of the door was easily covered by placing some extra strips of "modesty" wood into the gap, gluing and screwing them together. The end result, while a little "A-Team" was more than enough to solve the issue. Also the padlock itself doesn't come with any screws if you order it with the shed. However, saying all this is great but how about we take a look and see it in glorious HD...
Thanks for that opinion and tour of the shed, Clive. Much appreciated. The overall result (as you have now seen) is much better than I expected and does the job it was intended for. The instructions are little better than guidance in a very general sense so don't take them as gospel at any point as common sense is probably more reliable and accurate. It's a good structure and for the price and size it's thoroughly worth it and has solved some storage problems. For someone who has never built something like this before it was very easy to work out but you do need two people for some of the lifting and adjusting. I found that keeping it off the base until the last possible moment meant I could check everything at the back of the shed was in place and right as there is very little gap between it and our existing outhouse. To any of you thinking of having a go, this is the perfect way to start - and make sure you paint it first though as otherwise you might end up with fiddly gaps exposed! I've not been disappointed and look forward to my next DIY challenge.
Day 3: Operation Complete
Thanks also to Daniel for helping out for the weekend through rain, wind and freezing temperatures. Your help was appreciated all the way! Thanks also to my partner, Melissa for supplying sandwiches and tea throughout the experience - and ensuring the heating was on!
As you will come to appreciate from either this blog, The Commentary... or Some Kind of Star Trek, I'm a bit of a big kid when it comes to anything sci-fi/geek related.
I'm almost thinking that this review could do with an Alcoholics Anonymous introduction but in reality it's not something I'm going to be weened off anytime soon and that's why I've chosen to talk about the latest - and long overdue - addition to my Lego Star Wars collection which has been steadily growing since the late 1990's. To help you get a better feel for the model I've included some larger than usual photos to save you squinting!
First of all, let's have a short interlude:
This is purely to give you an idea of the scale of this Lego monster. How well did I open and close the roof segments? Oscar performance, no doubt yet it does give a good impression of how easy it is to get into and close up the outer hull. Just watch the central back and central front panels go down in the right order! Ok, serious now; I've waited a long time to get my hands on the Millennium Falcon and this is the third version that Lego have released since 2000. The first was based on A New Hope (7190) and had a single plastic removable lid (urgh). The second version, this time updated to The Empire Strikes Back (4504) placed the legendary ship on Hoth with a special Han Solo snow figure and Snowtroopers to boot. The lid was in segments and the interior nicely detailed - even the entry ramp could be lowered through a quirky little pull and push mechanism in one of the side ports. A good friend of mine had this one and it was a smart chunk of kit especially due to the link in with Episode V. Oh yes - there's the massive 3000+ piece Collector's Edition ship as well but as that's not in what I would class as the "affordable" range I'm omitting it from this discussion.
Box art for set 7965
What we're looking at here is Version 3.0; a new A New Hope edition (apologies - bit of a mouthful there) featuring the Clone Wars packaging from the 2011/2012 range. At best guess it took about four to five hours to complete with 100 steps over two booklets of around 160 pages taking you from brick to end result. The only thing I would say here is that the instructions could do with noting how many "Step 1" or "Step 2" bags there are rather than just pointing out that you have reached the next point in the process. To be fair I'm not sure if telling you which bags are needed is a good thing as half the fun with Lego is trying to find the accursed brick at the bottom of the box/tray/bowl you're using to store everything in during construction. I'm still not comfortable with the additional feature of each stage telling you what you require (very much like 1980's Technic) but it does avoid the embarrassing moment at stage 84 when it dawns on you that the black flat six you're now holding was an essential part of the structural supports back in stage 12.
Note the landing legs, missiles and ramp - and Vader!
That said, the instructions are clear, logical and should be straight-forward for any builder to follow - even chunky-fingered 33 year old ones. The only bits that get a bit repetitive (understandably) are building the sections for the folding roof panels and the edging at the back of the Falcon. Don't be concerned though as it's all worth it in the end. I'd also note that in comparison to the Imperial Star Destroyer kit (6211) from a few years back, this is much sturdier in construction and won't crumble to pieces when you touch the underside. Additionally the base is supported by four small landing legs which allow you to deploy the boarding ramp so our heroes can escape from Mos Eisley...or the Death Star. As you can possibly just see on the picture to the left, there are also four small "missiles" (red spots) prepped under the hull. They clip in so no worries about them slipping out when the ship is airborne! While I've compared, possibly harshly, the construction of the Star Destroyer to the Falcon, it's interesting to note that a good portion of the early steps is taken with firming up the underside of the model before you go on to build the interior. Good move, Lego; hope this is a sign of what you will carry through if you ever decide to update the Imperial battleship.
Note the positions of the internal features
It has to be said that the method in the instructions is irrefutable and at no point was I left wondering where the odd brick was supposed to be placed. There are a few extra bits rolling about in the box at the end but they're additional single brick lights and control sticks mainly in case any decide to do a fateful disappearing act when you're attempting to navigate the odd asteroid field to evade Imperial spacecraft. Figure-wise we're presented with new editions of Han Solo, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker. While the Han and Leia figures simply have costume redresses, the Skywalker mini-fig has a reversible head, switching him from farmboy Luke to light-saber training Luke complete with visor and helmet. Alongside them we also have a robed Obi-Wan Kenobi, Chewbacca and Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader. Only shame - could have done with a C3-PO and an R2-D2 to complete the crew which then beggars the question as to why we really needed Vader in here.
Just room for two at the controls
"Farmboy" Luke at the gunner controls - turret at the side
Let's take a closer look inside the kit itself. This new edition has a wealth of features and I really loved some of the final finishing touches more than anything on the outer hull. Besides providing budding ship-builders with some extra stickers to mark up their craft, Lego dusted the ship with grills, vents, a radar dish and electric blue rear engine - which all add to a great building experience. I would add here that the engine "hose" piece can be a pain to fit as it only just reaches around the exterior to the two fixing points where it is required to attach to the hull. Don't get frustrated at this time, it will go! Looking in comparison to the older 4504 model, there are some slight changes and updates. While you don't get the drop ramp feature you gain the removable gun turret (pictured right) with seating for two mini-figs - useful to fend off TIE Fighters from above or below and a nice addition piece that I didn't expect - but that's just one little bit of the whole Millennium Falcon experience. Also this model is slightly longer with a couple of extra brick rows added to the two forward "prongs" and some detail changes on the upper hull sections. Nothing massive and unless you stuck them side by side you probably wouldn't be aware. Technically as this is modelled on Episode IV, it's the "older" version of course!
Computers, smuggling hold and games area
The protruding cockpit will take both Han and Chewbacca although it is a staggered seating arrangement. The canopy is easily removed from two clips to place or remove your mini-figs. It's one of the last sections to build and is an easy clip on piece to the main hull. Moving a little further back the hull sections swing outward (as per the introductory video) and here we have some great interior features. At the front and facing toward the central section is a bank of computers which can be manned by two characters. Beside that are seats for four mini-figs to battle over the holographic chess-style game featured in A New Hope (see picture right) when the ship is escaping from Tattooine. Straight in front of that is the concealed smuggling bay. Directly opposite the boarding hatch this will stow away a single figure however getting them back out is exceptionally fiddly considering there is a section of fixed roof right above it. Turning this ship over to try and free Leia from her hiding place is not an option for anyone of a young age due to the weight of the Falcon - but then smaller fingers might not need to go to that extreme!
Luke in the training bay - note ramp to the right
Moving to the rear of the ship there are beds for two of the crew to rest between shifts right next to the hyperdrive unit. In comparison to the engine in The Empire Strikes Back version of the ship this is a less detailed model and not removable. Not a deal breaker but it would have been nice to have left this feature onboard - as opposed to the removal of the automated ramp in respect of the gun turret it didn't affect another feature. However what we do get directly behind the cockpit is a small area for "Ben" Kenobi to begin training young Skywalker. Complete with droid and blaster-shield helmet he'll make a Jedi of Luke yet! Great to have another A New Hope specific feature within the model. I was very impressed that Lego have gone to the lengths of making it as canon as possible to the original movie.
Rear view - engine "hose" fitted to the two blue blocks
As you can see from the image here there is also a handy toolbox just in case that hyperdrive needs a talking to and there are several other clip points around the ship to hang a blaster when all hands are needed at the controls to repel an Imperial attack. Nicely Chewbacca even gets to have his bowcaster in this set and there are enough tools and lightsabers to go around. There is a bit of "wasted" space just behind the cockpit although what could have been done with it is anyone's guess (check the instruction diagram earlier) as it's not needed for access to the flight controls.
Up above - hull details are just enough
This is one of the three largest kits that I now own alongside the Imperial Star Destroyer and the Republic Cruiser (7665) from The Phantom Menace. It's definitely the most impressive kit I've built and nowhere near as fiddly as the other two were at stages of their construction. It's not an essential addendum but if you want to drop it back in the box it will easily fit for storage with the legs and upper and lower gun turrets removed. Lego have done a great job here with the model, providing excellent detail, some quirky tweaks to the included mini-figs and an excellent finish to what is undoubtedly one of their trademark Star Wars kits. It is large and can be heavy for children to move so just be aware of that when you purchase however it is exceptional and a worthy addition to any collection. The only thing that might put you off is the price. Due to the licencing (I suspect) the whole of the Star Wars range has always seemed a bit higher in cost than any other Lego products so I would expect you to pay over £100 for the Millennium Falcon from Amazon and that's a good price. Overall a sound recommendation to buy but it could damage your wallet a little more than you might have planned!
