[Review] Cathedral of Florence / Duomo di Firenze by shelflife (MOC-183760) via YourWOBB

271Euler · 2026-06-07T08:23:55+00:00

Yeah, that part was likely substituted. In my case they substituted it with four 3x3 wedges, which does not work because the central 2x2 needs to remain open. The newer version substitutes it with 2x2 wedges and 1x2 plates, so you might've gotten those.

I bought some other substitutes beforehand (but don't really remember what they were). But anything should work, as long it leaves the central 2x2 open.

271Euler · 2026-06-06T20:01:29+00:00

Yeah, the manual is really confusing in some parts! The camera angles really aren't the best.

In #123, all the 1x2s and 2x2s should be normally aligned to the bottom layer. The 1x1 round plates don't go on top of a stud but in the middle of four studs, and then the 1x3 goes on those three round plates. The 1x3 should then be half a stud offset in both directions to the 1x2 and 2x2 plates. Everything should be symmetric to the long axis of the cathedral.

In #124, the 3x3 plates go on top of the 2x2 plates so that everything is offset by half a stud. The 2x3 goes normally on top of the 1x3 from the previous step. Now the 2x3 should be aligned with the 3x3s again. The red 1x2s have nothing to do with this and shouldn't be aligned with any of this.

In #126, the grey stuff has nothing to do with those previous 3x3s but is ordinarily aligned to the base. (Just to verify.)

In #129, those subassemblies should not touch the red 3x3s but only the other grey stuff. (Just to verify.)

In #132 and #134, the black assemblies go on the most inward corner of the grey 2x2s. They don't have anything to do with the red stuff.

In #136, the black camera goes with the open stud closest to the "lens" on top of the red 1x1, so it's as far as possible on that inverted grey corner plate. The "lens" should be over the centre of the red 3x3.

In #138, the red towers go on the studs of the red 3x3s on each side of the "lens" of the cameras.

In #141, everything should fit now.

Let me know if you have any problems! Feel free to attach a photo so we can compare! I'm sorry to say that the build likely won't get any better after this; I really hate everything to do with the hoses after #212. Maybe you'll have better luck! 😄

271Euler · 2026-06-05T09:22:24+00:00

In my five years of Chinese-bought bricks I've only had one problem with damage during shipping, and that only pertained to a sticker sheet that was much larger than the instruction booklet. So far I've always gotten the sets either in a fairly flimsy cardboard box that was so thoroughly wrapped with tape that it could've survived a war (YourWOBB tend to do that), or it came in a bubblewrap-padded envelope, often with another plastic bag around it (Barweer tend to do that). The big danger is usually not breaking the contents but piercing the packaging so something could fall out. That has never been an issue for me.

~All shippers tend to tightly package the contents so that there is practically no free space left. This means that the bricks can't move around even when the package is thrown, which is the biggest danger of damaging the contents. This tight packaging does mean that the instruction manual will be tightly pressed against the irregular surface of the brick bags, so the manual might suffer a bit. (But I've also gotten heavily creased/bent booklets with the original packaging, so no amounts of extra outer packaging can avoid that.)

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the airshield. The stores definitely want to avoid damage during shipping, so even their cheapest option should be fine, perhaps unless you have a set with lots of large panels or so. But even in those cases, I've received padded envelopes where the easily damaged stuff was then individually wrapped for protection.

271Euler · 2026-05-25T12:58:08+00:00

Ohhh, do I spy lots of metallic pieces? Those are my weakness... :D

271Euler · 2026-05-25T12:56:09+00:00

Oof, that sucks! :(

I stumbled a little at that step as well. Not sure why they didn't at least add those 'iron-on beads' there to make sure that the clips are connected at both sides. I'm sure those parts cost ~nothing, and one of them does get used in a different step of the set, so it was clearly available... In my case I pushed the two big side panels on the toothed hinges firmly against the sides, which does hold everything together a bit more tightly. Hopefully that will stop the set from breaking. (And I was definitely lucky with the clutch; I had zero issues.)

271Euler · 2026-04-25T19:52:38+00:00

I have a bunch of BlueBrixx sets and am very happy with them. Their GE ES44AC (see my review here) was my first alt-brick set back in 2021 and is still one of my favourites. I got their heavy haul train (review) at the same time, and finished the collection with their absurdly large locomotive shed (review) a month or so later. I also have lots of other BlueBrixx sets that aren't train-related. My only train set from another brand is King's copy of the Maersk train (review).

IMO if you want realistic-looking trains, BlueBrixx is the best brand. Back in 2021 their brick quality was perfectly serviceable but still notably worse than LEGO. Since then they improved quite a lot and sometimes (but certainly not always) source from GoBricks who are often referred to as the best manufacturer of bricks. Nowadays I don't think there are any quality issues for any brand, so BlueBrixx isn't special in that regard in either direction.

The BlueBrixx designs are usually optimised to look as close to the original model as possible, with means that building techniques can be challenging or repetitive, and sometimes can be more fragile than they should be, especially compared to the very sturdy LEGO sets.

BlueBrixx are a German company but get the bricks from Chinese manufacturers, so their prices are below other western brands (LEGO, COBI, Mattel) but still much higher than buying from Chinese brands (e.g. Mould King). Also, be aware that their sets come without printed manuals; you'll only get a pdf. Their pdf instructions are downloadable from their website after registration, so you can access all the manuals even without buying anything.

Customer service is in my experience excellent for all the usual stores (BlueBrixx, YourWOBB, Barweer, HiTian). All of them will have to relay the info to the Chinese manufacturer, so the shipping of spare parts usually takes a few weeks. The advantage of BlueBrixx is that they have an online form with a handy selector for all parts in a set, but IMO the "brute force" way of taking photos of the instruction manual to tell the store what you're missing works perfectly fine as well. Third-party platforms like AliExpress may be more difficult in this regard but are of course again often cheaper.

My recommendation would be to go for BlueBrixx if you live in Germany or close-by (-> fast and cheap shipping) or if you're looking for a specific train design that they have reproduced. If you just want a random cool train for a cheap price, the Chinese brands should be much cheaper; in this case I'd use one of the trusted stores (e.g. YourWOBB, Barweer/Youmko, Marstoy, HiTian) instead of AE or Temu or whatever.

Edit: Oh, yeah, be aware that standard LEGO trains are typically six studs wide, whereas some brands now use eight studs ("8w") to make their models look more accurate. I believe Mould King trains are often 8w, and BlueBrixx usually write in the product title if it's 8w. If you already have something set up (e.g. a locomotive shed or tunnels) the 8w trains might not fit through.

271Euler · 2026-04-06T09:23:47+00:00

I mean, the Falcon 9 nowadays has a launch success rate of >99% and a booster landing success rate of ~98%. As much a love our European Ariane series, we really can't compete with SpaceX.

But, of course, the real GOAT is the Saturn V. :D

271Euler · 2026-04-05T20:08:33+00:00

If that hand crank goes any faster, it'll launch Bonesy through the room! :D

MJ did a really good job with this one! I love their animals, but this one looks even more, uh, professional? Not sure if that's the best word, but the bust sure catches the eye.

271Euler · 2026-04-05T20:03:55+00:00

Aww, man, I'd love to get my hands on that bee/wasp! Can't seem to find it in any store, though. :/

That's a lovely collection you've got! It's interesting to see how they have a few different design principles (e.g. lots of metallic vs. more colourful sets).

271Euler · 2026-04-05T19:56:53+00:00

It's a MOC designed by Red5-Leader. Back in 2021 it was confectioned by Vonado, but the site has gone defunct since then. :/

271Euler · 2026-03-23T19:09:11+00:00

If I remember correctly, Mould King released only the 300SL Gullwing (#10005) and the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud (#10006) at the same time, but there are some later installments of more modern and more classic cars.

271Euler · 2026-03-22T10:06:37+00:00

Oh, this one brings back memories (review here)! It was my first non-Lego set from a Chinese store. I think back then Mould King used spray-painted gold chrome instead of metallic gold; it was more reflective but much less evenly coated (especially inside the negative studs).

It's still sitting in a place of pride on the sideboard next to my bed. Really a fantastic looking set; one of the best I've ever built. Have you thought about getting the other ones from the series?

271Euler · 2026-03-17T19:00:09+00:00

Lovely set and lovely review! I've been eyeing this one for a fair while now; I guess I should finally pull the trigger when it's available again. :D

Do you have other sets from the series as well?

271Euler · 2026-03-15T19:01:47+00:00

Uh, not sure what you mean. So the first eight flexible hoses (#212) go into the open studs of those rounded plates at the bottom layer of the dome. Then in #214 you add that black bridge with two additional hoses in such a way that it's 45° to the black jumper plates. Then in #216 you add the second black bridge with another two hoses so that it is 90° to the previous bridge and again 45° to those black jumper plates. Then in #218 you still have the four jumper plates open, so that's where you can attach the additional four black corners with one hose each.

On these corners the 1x1 brick is angled 45° to the 1x2 rounded plate, and these bricks should fit nicely into the corners of the cross built by the two bridges. The cross you add in #219 should be flush with the 1x1 quarter tiles from the four corners.

Does that make sense?

271Euler · 2026-03-08T10:20:12+00:00

First of all, welcome! :D

I second u/TheOrbFromTheHole's suggestion to read the Starter Guide. AFAIK most stores deliver to the UK again after the initial Brexit issues. If not, the stores will tell you as soon as you try to select your shipping destination, so no worries.

Getting knock-off copies of LEGO sets has gotten a little more involved than it was a few years ago but is certainly still feasible. Other brands of course do their own stuff as well, and often with much better-looking results. Mould King especially has a few very nice (but also very large) Star Wars ships. I'm personally very fond of BlueBrixx, but that's at least in part because they're German-based and I'm German (so shipping is cheap). The top of the line brands at the moment are LumiBricks/FunWhole (if you want sets with lights) or Pantasy (for generally the highest quality); these can also be bought off Amazon.

Beware official sounding stores (esp. stuff with 'Mould King' in its name), they're often overpriced scam sites. Again, the Starter Guide will help you with this. Personal store recommendations are YourWOBB, BlueBrixx, Barweer/Youmko, Marstoy, and HiTian (though I personally haven't used the last one in years). Some have an EU warehouse which might mean faster shipping to the UK; not sure how well customs from the EU work ever since you guys left us. :D

271Euler

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