Number: NB-022
Number of Pieces: 1420
Difficulty Rating: 5/5
Tokyo Tower is one of the more recognizable sites in Tokyo, Japan. It is the landmark you often see in movies or anime that tells you that the events are happening in Tokyo. It is a red and white radio tower. I haven’t had the chance to see it in person, but it is on my travel list when I go to Tokyo. The Deluxe build for Tokyo Tower is like no other nanoblock kit I have made before. I’m sure there are similar builds in the other deluxe builds, but I haven’t gotten there yet.
The build is broken up into sections A-E. Each section is the base or a section of the tower that is similar. I built things a section at a time. Overall, steps A and B included the most areas that I had to rebuild.
The first thing I had to figure out was how to organize all the nanoblocks. While working on the build, I tried several different methods. I’ll share my opinions on brick storage for just standard storage and working on large builds in another post.
Section A is the base of the tower. Unlike the lego builds I have done, nanoblock doesn’t have baseplates, so you need to make your own. You do this by laying out 2 by something size bricks in squares and placing 10x1o squares on top. This part was a bit tricky because it doesn’t like to lie flat, so I ended up investing in one of the rubber hammers that people use to make sure LEGOs are together. Section A includes the building at the base. The building requires excellent attention to detail because it can be hard to distinguish between the clear and light grey brick. Section A also includes the brinks to connect the tower to the base.
Section B is the first part of building the tower. You begin by making a square that ends up being at the top of Section B. You then build the legs that connect the tower to the base. I found this part to be tricky because the legs are flexible and shift from side to side. It was also tricky getting all four legs into the exact spot needed to attach to the base.
Section C is a reasonably straightforward build. It is working to build the height of the tower. You start with a square outline and build up from there. The directions to make the lattice are clear, so you know that you build the right thing.
Section D has the observation level and the first white stripe that gives Tokyo Tower its distinctive look. Once you build the observation deck, you continue to build up the tower’s height.
Section E is the top of the tower. It is primarily a pillar made of 1×1 nanoblocks.
Overall I really enjoyed each layer of the tower. I really enjoy the lattice on the tower and how it really looks like the actual tower. I’m saddened that my base doesn’t sit flat, even though I was really careful while building.
Things I liked:
- The amount of detail and how it looks like the lattice of the real tower
Things I didn’t like:
- The top of the tower is a line of single bricks so it is hard to get it straight.
- The final tower still doesn’t sit flat on a table