This post is a review of the nanoblock Himeji Castle build. Himeji Castle 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_099
Country: Japan
Number of Pieces: 330
Difficulty Rating: 3/5
This build begins by laying the outline of the castle and wall on the baseplate.
The next steps are adding a couple layers of bricks to create the castle and the wall.
The next steps are to add the large walls on the side of the building. These use dark grey to create the roof details on the walls. Each step also adds a layer to the castle building.
Then, a couple more layers are added to the castle before starting on the roof.
The next several steps are to create the light grey roof.
The last step was to add the trees to the baseplate. I didn’t add them when the instructions said to because I knew I would keep knocking them off when I was building the rest of the building.
This kit also came with nanoids, but I didn’t include them because I knew they didn’t match the scale.
Things I liked:
I like the various shades of grey that are used to add details to the build
Things I didn’t like:
I don’t love how the tower at the wall corner doesn’t line up with either of the walls
This post is a review of the nanoblock Tokyo Tower Transparent ver build. Tokyo Tower Transparent ver 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_001R
Country: Japan
Number of Pieces: 260
Difficulty Rating: 2/5
This is a rerelease of the original Tokyo Tower (NBH_001). It was released using clear red bricks for nanoblock’s 10 anniversary.
The build began by laying bricks out on the base. This includes some tree trucks, the supports for the tower, and the building under the tower.
The next few steps add to the supports of the tower and create the building under the tower. I didn’t add the treetops at this point because I didn’t want to need to look out for the tree while I was building the tower.
The next couple steps of the build require building a structure of the tower and then adding that structure to the tower. There is also a tower of dark grey bricks going up the tower’s center. I don’t like how visible the grey bricks are.
After adding 3 structures that were built off the tower, it is time to finish the tower. The instructions for each layer are very clear.
The last step for me was to put the tops of the trees.
Things I liked:
I really like the clear red bricks and how they changed the color to create the tower
Things I didn’t like:
I don’t like how visible the center dark grey tower is in the build
This post is a review of the nanoblock Streets of Gion build. Streets of Gion 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_126
Country: Japan
Number of Pieces: 390
Difficulty Rating: 3/5
This kit is labeled as Bic Camera Limited. Bic Camera is a shop in Japan, so I’m guessing the set was only available there.
Gion is a region of Kyoto that is famous for having geisha. This build includes 2 nanoids that have white faces like the geisha would have when they go out in public. I did include the nanoids because I could tell they were on a similar scale to the buildings in the background.
I bought this kit used so all the bricks were combined into 1 large ziplock bag. This kit uses several shades of brown, gold, and yellow. It was very difficult to tell which brown to use. I looked at the photos on the box to decide which color to use and when.
The build begins by laying out bricks on the clear blue 20x2o base plate. The next few layers add bricks all around the base, creating the nanoids, the bridge, and the foundation of the buildings.
The next step is to build the building. The two buildings are built in parallel and go up in layers. One building is blue and gold. The other building is brown and gold, and it was difficult to figure out the right colors.
Then, some details are added to the front of the build, including the trunk of the tree.
The final step is to build the top of the tree. There are 2 options for coloring. There is a spring version and a fall version. I built the spring version. I had a hard time following the directions and getting the branches correct. I did get a tree top that looked approximately correct, so I attached it to the top of the tree.
Things I liked:
I really like that the nanoids have white faces like geisha
I like that the trees can match the seasons
Things I didn’t like:
I wish the directions for the clear had been clearer for colors and the tree top
This post is a review of the nanoblock Koinobori build. Koinobori 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_174
Country: Japan
Number of Pieces: 400
Difficulty Rating: 3/5
This kit was a lot more difficult to build than I had originally suspected. This is because of how the koi kites are built.
The kit begins with the black fish on top. After building the head, a connecter brick is added to the bottom of the fish. Then there are a bunch of steps creating the body of the fish flipping around where the scales are. It was tricky to keep track of which exact step I was on while building the body of the fish since lots of the steps were nearly identical. (It may have been easier if I had used a counter to keep track of which step I was on. Finally, the tail is added.
Then, the next 2 fish are added and chained together using the connection pieces. Overall, each of the fish is built in the same manner to create the scale patterns on the side of the fish.
The next step is to built the base. This was fairly straightforward since other than the pole base, the lone round clear brick, and the bricks holding the plates together it didn’t really matter where grass was added. I do like how the grass hides the other things on the baseplate so it appears the kites are floating.
The next step is to attach the fish to the base plate. I missed there is a 3rd clear brick originally so I needed to add that after adding the pole. Then the pole is attached to the base and the fish are attached to the pole.
Then, the fins on the sides of the fish are added. I needed to be really gentle so that the fish stayed centered.
The final step is to add the pinwheels on the top of the pole.
Things I liked:
I like how the grass hides things on the baseplates, so it looks more like the kites are floating
I like how the finished scales look on the fish. I feel that it catches the effect of the real kites
Things I didn’t like:
I wish the instructions for building the fish had been less cramped. I think it would be easier to keep track of where I was
This post is a review of the nanoblock Sumo Yokozuna build. Sumo Yokozuna 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 138
Country: Japan
Number of Pieces: 300
Difficulty Rating: 3/5
Yokozuna is the highest obtainable rank for Sumo wrestlers. I’m not sure why there are 2 people on this build, but I’m guessing the guy in purple is an aide or an assistant.
This kit is labeled as Bic Camera Limited. Bic Camera is a shop in Japan so I’m guessing the set was only available there.
This kit has 3 different sections. There is the base, what I am calling the assistant and the sumo wrestler.
The base is very straightforward. I simply layered bricks around the outside of the 20×20 base plate to create the idea of a stage instead of just having a flat base. I also added the detail bricks to the top, along with bricks that would eventually hold the people in place.
The second section is the assistant. He begins with a layer of purple bricks. Overall he is very straightforward to build. There is some very unusual brick usage to create the idea that his arms are bent. This is achieved by using corner pieces and attaching bricks to just the ends of the corners. This creates a lot of movement in the arms.
The next step is to build the front of the mawashi (the traditional Sumo outfit). It begins with a simple stack of red, blue, and yellow bricks. Then, white ribbons are added in front of the rainbow stack, covering most of the colors.
Next is the actual sumo wrestler. He begins with a single white brick for the bottom of the mawashi. Then, skin tone and white bricks are added to the build to create the body. The body has some unique bricks, which are quarter circles I have never seen before. These unique bricks do a great job of creating curves for the stomach and back of the sumo wrestler.
Once the body and mawashi are completed, the head is built and attached. Then, the legs are attached. The legs are somewhat posable because they are attached to the body with ball and socket joints.
Once the legs are attached, the Sumo wrestler is attached to the front of the mawashi on the base.
The final step is to build the arms. When I was looking at the instructions I was a bit confused because it wasn’t super clear that there are 3 different ways to finish the build depending on how the arms are placed. All three poses are shown on the box but I had completely missed that until I was trying to figure out the instructions. I went with the first option for how to pose the arms.
Things I liked:
I really like how the unique bricks look and how they create the curve of the body
Things I didn’t like:
I’m not sure why the assistant is there, so I think I would rather it was just the sumo wrestler
This post is a review of the nanoblock Hina Dolls build. Hina Dolls 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_171
Country: Japan
Number of Pieces: 430
Difficulty Rating: 3/5
This build is for the emperor and empress dolls from the traditional girl’s day doll set. These dolls traditionally sit on top of the stand of dolls.
There are several sections to this build, including the base, the empress, the emperor, and the final details.
The base begins with 3 10×10 red square bases. The row took up most of my nanoblock pad, but I was still able to lay out the bricks. Then more red bricks are added to the back to create the entire base layer for the bricks. Next, the details for the pillows that the dolls sit on are added. These details are still visible on the final build so it didn’t feel like a waste adding the details.
The second section is the empress doll. She is built directly on the base in layers. There are a lot of details that make up her kimono, so I needed to be careful when adding each layer to make sure the stripes lined up. Other than the detail, the build was fairly straightforward other than the head. The instructions for the head were clear, but it was a bit challenging to see where the finished sections would end up.
The third section is the emperor doll. He is built off the base and added to the base once the doll is complete. I had a lot of trouble with the emperor. This is because of the Dark Blue bricks. The bricks looked black when I was building the kit, so I kept needing to take sections apart when I noticed I had used the wrong color. It was also very difficult to tell which shade of blue I was supposed to use when looking at the directions, and not every brick had a color pointing to it.
The emperor begins by putting the spine and upper torso together. Then, the legs and hips are built and attached to the main section. Finally, the head is built and attached to the body. I had a bit of difficulty figuring out where exactly the emperor went when I attached him to the base, but I think my final build looks fine.
The last set of steps is to build the details of the platform. This includes lanterns, bonsai trees, and mochi. Each section is very straightforward. The hardest part was moving the finished build once I attached the lanterns because they were so delicate.
Things I liked:
I really like the amount of detail that is added to each of the dolls in this build
Things I didn’t like:
I didn’t like how the multiple shades of blue were handled in the directions
This post is a review of the nanoblock Five-Storied Pagoda build. Five-Storied Pagoda 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_088
Country: Japan
Number of Pieces: 320
Difficulty Rating: 3/5
This kit is labeled as Bic Camera Limited. Bic Camera is a shop in Japan, so I’m guessing the set was only available there.
The Pagoda is built on a clear base and has clear blocks throughout it, which means that if the build is put on one of the LED plates, the entire pagoda will light up.
The build begins by laying the base layer of bricks on the clear 20×20 base. This includes the walls and the base of the pagoda. Over the next few steps, the wall is built, and the larger base story of the pagoda is added.
While building the base story of the pagoda, there are some clear green bricks added. In the instructions, they appear to be clear kiwi green instead of the dark green bricks that were provided. I was very confused with this instruction, and it took me a while to figure out to use the dark green.
After building the base story, the 4 additional stories are all identical and added using large steps showing about 5 layers of bricks in one step. Even though there are lots of layers, there is a lot of space, and the printed arrows are clear, so the instructions are easy to follow.
After building all 5 layers, the roof and roof decoration are added. Both are very straightforward.
This kit did come with 3 nanoids that I chose to not include because I’m not sure if they are in scale with the building. A lot of time, nanoids are not to scale.
Things I liked:
I like the use of the clear blocks so that the pagoda can be lit
Things I didn’t like:
I wish the color in the instructions for the clear green had been closer to the actual brick color
This post is a review of the nanoblock Umeda Sky Building build. Umeda Sky Building 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.
Umeda Sky Building is one of the tallest buildings in Osaka Prefecture. It is 2 towers that are connected by bridges and escalators. For more information, check out the wiki page.
Number: NBH_172
Country: Japan
Number of Pieces: 680
Difficulty Rating: 3/5
Umeda Sky Building was a kit I bought open; I ensured there were bricks and instructions. Before starting the build, I pulled the kit that arrived apart and split all the bricks into reasonable piles. I then started the build.
This build has 2 major sections there is the building and the roof.
The first thing I noticed about the build was that starting from the base layer wasn’t symmetrical. This made me excited to see how the final build would look.
The first step is to create a base layer on the 20×20 base. There are a variety of colors in the base to create the various textures around the building.
The next step is to create the base of the building. Starting in step 4, the actual windows on the outside of the building are outlined and begin creating the walls of the buildings. The building goes up in layers over the next 20 steps. Each layer is different from the previous one and needs to be carefully tracked.
The trickiest part of building the main section of the building is creating the elevators. This is because it is a chain of 1×1 bricks that can easily snap as you are adding bricks. It is also easy to miss adding a brick to any given layer since the new brick just hangs out separately from the large chunks in the directions.
After building most of the building and locking the elevators in place, it’s time to add the escalators that go across the open area between the towers. I really like that this detail is included and how the escalators are created.
The main building is completed with a few more layers of bricks that create the top of the building
The roof was very straightforward. I could lay the roof out on my pad to create the roof. Finding enough round clears took a while because they were hard to see and like moving.
After building the roof, the final step is to attach the roof to the building.
Things I liked:
That the build isn’t symmetrical
The escalators in the center of the build
Things I didn’t like:
I’m not sure what all the details at the bottom of the building are supposed to be
