Germany

This post is a review of the nanoblock Schloss Neuschwanstein build. Schloss Neuschwanstein is part of the nanoblock Sights to See collection. Wondering what else is part of the Sights to See collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBH_010

Country: Germany 

Difficulty Rating: 3

Schloss Neuschwanstein is a castle in southern Germany. It served as an inspiration for the Disney castles.

The build begins by laying dark grey bricks on the green 20×20 base. Since everything is connected, it was fairly easy to lay out the initial layer.

There are several layers of dark grey bricks. These bricks create the foundation and the entryway of the castle.

Then, I started to build the main body of the castle. The layers alternate between plain white and white with clear windows. There are several layers of white. In addition to the main section of the castle, there are towers of bricks that grow along the side of the castle. These towers are tricky because they can easily pop off.

The next step is to add the navy blue roof. Over 5 steps, the entire roof goes from being open to being closed. The roof is mostly flat.

The final step is to add the details. There are 3 towers of differing heights. Each tower has different instructions so they all look slightly different. There is also a center peak added to the roof. There are also a bunch of trees to add around the base of the castle.

Things I liked:

• I feel that the building does look quite a bit like the actual castle

Things I didn’t like:

• I don’t really like the trees and how they look

This post is a review of the nanoblock Brandenburger Tor build. Brandenburger Tor is part of the nanoblock Sights to See collection. Wondering what else is part of the Sights to See collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBH_031

Country: Germany

Difficulty Rating: 3

The Brandenburger Tor is also known as the Brandenburg Gate. It’s in Berlin, Germany.

This kit is split into 3 sections. There is the main body, roof, and details.

The main body is the structure holding up the gate’s roof. It begins with laying bricks out on a 20×20 plate.

The structure goes up in very straightforward layers. Due to the size of each step I placed a counter on the step I was on to make sure I didn’t try to add in extra steps. As I neared the end of the structure, keeping everything straight was a bit of a challenge because the columns had gotten so tall.

After building the main structure, set it aside to begin working on the roof. The roof began with 9 long pieces all lined up next to each other. I wanted to make sure things were lined up properly, so I used my nanoblock pad.

After getting the first step tied together in the second step, the rest of the roof is fairly straightforward. There is a direction that is a bit hard to follow because it is creating an overhang but once I got the first piece lined up, the rest fell into place fairly quickly.

Next, attach the roof to the main structure.

The final set of steps is to add all the details.

The first set of details is the statue at the top of the gate. I found these directions to be very cramped and hard to read. I even missed some bricks that I was supposed to place and needed to go back and reread the directions. I was eventually able to figure it out.

The kit also comes with bricks to add nanoids and trees to the build. I didn’t add the nanoids because I don’t think they would fit properly to scale. I didn’t add the trees because I looked online, and the Brandenburg Gate doesn’t have any visible trees nearby. There are some gardens, which may be what nanoblock was going for. I feel that neither the nanoids nor trees added to the build in any meaningful way and were not to scale.

Things I liked:

• Although it isn’t accurate to the actual gate, I really like how the different colors used in this build look in combination

Things I didn’t like:

• I felt the directions for the roof details were difficult to read
• I don’t like when extra stuff is added to the build just because especially when it isn’t to scale