Set Review ➟ 10242 Mini Cooper
The first thing to say is that I grew up surrounded by Minis. My father had a British cars repair garage, especially Minis. So the Minis paid, until I went solo, my food, my clothes, my studies…my LEGO. My first car was a Blue Mini 1000. When I came back from something like a "dark age" I had in my college days, and I regained the level of mobility needed in both mind and fingers, I tried to build my own version. Imagine my excitement when I heard that LEGO released its own version. When the opportunity to get myself a copy came I did not hesitate.
The box is smaller than I imagined (Personally, I find large boxes appealing) and it has the typical images of the model and its features. It brings two instruction booklets, two sticker sheets and the parts bags are numbered. The picnic blanket comes in its small single box. You can choose from different plates of different countries for your model. Note that choosing some of the plates means that you have to change the side of the steering wheel ;D. The selection of parts is good, and dark green color makes them even more interesting.
Regarding the construction of the model I have to say that it is not particularly complicated, and draw attention to a couple of SNOT techniques used by the designer to fill complicated gaps. For the rest there is no big news It is a pleasant build that is not particularly repetitive. The model is built from the bottom up and from back to front.
Regarding the finished model. It isn’t clearly a classic Mini Cooper. Those wheels with Minilite wheels, those wheel arches, those seats, the instrumentation behind the steering wheel…that’s not the Mini Cooper of my childhood.
Once my heart is broken, I can keep talking about the model, and without that much emotional baggage.
The interior has a small size problem, steering wheel and shifter seem out of scale, especially if we are talking about the sport model of Mini, which used to have a smaller steering wheel that allowed the car to be handled more nimbly when driving fast (but without power steering; you missed that big steering wheel when parking). The steering wheel practically hits against the seat and the gearshift. I have to see how the model looks with a smaller steering wheel because maybe the solution taken is the least bad one.
Regarding the front I have nothing to say. It is very well done and the resemblance here is the strongest of all the car . However, I’m not convinced with the rear. It lacks the small tail that houses the license plate light and that is set over it. I do not understand the reason for its absence, it is a fairly characteristic detail. The wheel arches make the car too wide, and the rear view I think is the hardest hit.
Regarding the roof, hmmm, that’s where I suffered more. I know that maybe there isn’t a better way to build it on this scale. I think the front and rear windscreen need more tilt, and the ceiling gives the feeling of being too square. I will not go into evaluating the solution of using stickers to reduce the visual thickness of the roof pillars, surely the designer thought about it much before making that decision, but I must be honest, and I do not like the end result.
Having read the last few paragraphs maybe you are thinking that I do not like the model and would not recommend it…you are mistaken. The LEGO model is good, very good. The thing is that it is always easier to list the failures than the successes, and this car has many successes. The front is beautiful, the details are many and very well done, the overall look is spectacular. The English racing green is fabulous. My personal relationship with these cars may have made me see the model in a slightly different way from a normal builder, but I recommend this set without reservation.
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