A Review of The Lego Build-It Book, Vol. 1!

Today's fabulous book review covers the latest Lego guide from No Starch Press - The Lego Build-It Book, Vol. 1: Amazing Vehicles. This is one guide for which I have been waiting quite a while, and I am quite excited to get into it!

The book begins with a nice introduction, including some expert building tips, such as how certain numbers of plates, when laid on their sides, equate to the same width as certain bricks, plus how this can be used for cool effects in building. Next, it jumps right into the instructions. One of the things that I found most fun was how all ten (yes, ten!) of the models in this book can be built from the same set of pieces. In fact, those pieces are all from one set. So, if you own the set, "5867: Super Speedster," you already have all of the pieces you need! Most of them are relatively common and should not be hard to find, even if you do not have that set. (There is a full list of all parts used at the front of the book.) The ten instructions are then marked for various levels of difficulty.

I opted to build the Classic Car, and, because I was utilizing the Lego Digital Designer, I could build it in colors other than the red, white, and black that came with the set (blue with yellow accents and green upholstery in this case). Turning to the portion of the book with the instructions, I immediately found that each step lists the parts needed in addition to showing where they go.

My building experience went well. While I anticipated having issues keeping the book open on account of the spine binding, it stayed open well on its own. Because I was not using actual bricks, the build took a bit longer than it would have otherwise. Additionally, there were a few places, where the instructions were not entirely clear, because the other side of the model was not shown in the instructions or the angle was not entirely descriptive. Some of the build techniques, especially in this model (which, you will note, is marked as being complex) were a bit complicated...but they were awesome! The inventiveness that went into this design was mind-blowing, especially it the use of SNOT techniques (Studs Not On Top). Check out the final model (I know, I am missing a windshield...)

The authors, Nathanaël Kuipers and Mattia Zamboni, did a fantastic job in arranging this book, and I found it to be a lot of fun. The best part of all this - Volume 2 of The Lego Build-It Book will be released in September of this year, and it will contain more amazing vehicles! Be sure to check out this book and be on the look out for the next volume. I also definitely suggest checking out the other Lego books that No Starch Press has to offer.

Many thanks to No Starch Press for the opportunity to review this book.
It is available from their website, here.