My apologies folks for taking so long to get some of these reviews out. It has been a very long work filled year, and though I found the time to play games and build “Lego” I have had a hell of a spell of writes block, coupled with a real lack of motivation due to my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
But I am forcing myself to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard as it were, and punch out a few rapid fire reviews that have been pending for months now.
First up (but last completed) if the amazing Carbon Freezing Chamber by Onecase and purchased from a Chinese block-off site complete(ish)
Unlike most knock-off sets, MOCs are always a little fickle. They rarely come with printed manuals, so firstly you need a tablet or laptop close by to complete the build.
Second, there is never any semblance of organization, as all the bricks are counted out by the seller, it is literally a mixed bag of what you are going to get.
I tend to keep things sorted as they come, so in this case, about 12 piles.
Things went smoothly for the base build, it is well constructed and feels very sturdy, something that is not always the case in MOCs, but this one was well designed from the ground up. At least to start.
There was some differences in parts compared to what the manual said, like the tank toppers in the back, and the small tank in the front, but it is merely cosmetic and not a big deal.
The problems started though with the 10 part wall construction.
1st off, the instructions once complete are very vague. There is no clear picture of how to put it on the base, it was 100% guess work and trial and error.
Second and more problematic, was the way the connection to the triangle tops are designed. there is zero consistency. the 3 sections in the front were perfect, smooth, giving good surface to connect to.
But as you moved farther around, it was a mish-mash of different styles. Some only connection to 3 “dots” and having zero interior support.
Thankfully there was lots of leftover pieces to fill things in, but it all could have been avoided had Onecase done a better job with the instructions, as he must have run into the same issues, just never corrected them.
Now for the big issues.
First off, the triangle top pieces are terribly thought out. As you can see, this is how they say they should be assembled. They took forever due to their absolutely flimsy design.
Couple that with the fact I was missing about 50 important bricks. For some reason the clear 1×2 were severely under shipped, as well as the 2×2 clear circles.
There are needed so that the lights can shine through cleanly.
I ended up having to add in solid bricks just to complete the build.
The next big issue came when it was time to put them all in place. Due to the poor design, the fell apart when trying to affix them. So I had to go back to the beginning and remove many of the clean 1×2, and add in a solid foundation so they would hold, having even to resort to a bit of kragle to make them hold.
The back triangle was the worst and needed a ground up redesign as Onecase bad it just floating in place, not connected to anything at all.
I was lucky in the fact that there was a pile of unused 1×2 angle pieces left. The centers all lined up uneven originally, nothing came together smooth. But I was able to create a circle in the center with these spare parts to pull it all in nice and smooth.
The place I purchased from included a set of lights I had no intention of using, but figured I had them, and they are not compatible with my Christmas Village lighting, so may as well install them too.
I was glad I did as they look pretty great when turned on.
Adding them in was easy, they are all self adhering and went in no problem.
This set sadly did not include any mini-figs, so I will be picking some up from Ali soon to finish off the look.
All in all it was a fun build, and though there are typical MOC challenges, the finished product looks fantastic.
The fine details of all the hoses and pipes really make the set a show piece.
An excellent build not for the faint of heart or skill. Definitely an advanced level build requiring some out of the box thinking and patience.
A solid 10/10 for end results, and a 7/10 for MOC frustration.