Unexpected, but good
Now, I bought this set with the idea to make it into a pub to sit in a newly vacated place in my city. My plan was to completely clear the 1st floor and build a custom made kitchen and bar, I was going to convert the 2nd floor into seating, and use the remaining seating from the first floor as an outdoor patio.
The Bus
This bus was a really fun build, kinda repetitive but really fun. There are a couple of neat details (gum under one of the seats) that I enjoyed but aside from that it was as I expected. The whole of the 2nd floor comes off allowing great access into the first floor, which has seats, and a magnificent stairway, which was one of the highlights of the build. The driver's compartment is tiny, with an opening window to its left, one of 2, the other one being located in the strangest spot, right above the engine. The engine does have a cover which once opened lets you look at the tiny little engine detail. The front grill could've been better with a sticker or a printed tile but I'll let that go. Only the center part of the roof comes off allowing you to look at the center of the second floor which is the worst part. If you want to see the interesting staircase from an interesting perspective or see out the other side of the big front window you have to start tearing apart the roof. The set comes with 2 sets of advertising which I found a really good feature but I didn't like putting stickers on window panes, especially trans-brown ones, where you can easily see your mistakes. If you had to have them on Window panes at least make them black. The seats were nice to build with sibling who aren't that advanced as they were relatively simple yet the sibling still feels involved in the build process.
Extras
The set came with a can of soda, a newspaper, an umbrella, another set of license plates, a fire extinguisher, and 2 printed ticket tiles (which were new for me). I really appreciated all the smaller details but I chose to remove them and add them to my larger city layout. Honestly I would've appreciated a minifigure, just a ticket collecter with a bag and a stand, which would have completed the set but aside from that, still a good set!
4 out of 4 people thought this review was helpful.
One of the biggest model on wheels
I got this set as a gift from my wife and at the first look, I was not very enthusiast, but now, the more I look at it, the more I find it essential.
For this model also, a mini scale is available.
This review has been rated unhelpful.
Great overall set worthy of the Creator line.
The London Bus is a very beautiful and well-crafted set. The red, double-decker buses are very iconic across the world, let alone the United Kingdom, so to see one joining the Creator vehicles series here is exciting.
The set contains 1,686 pieces, and in the U.S. goes for $140. I think that's a fair price considering the size, and I feel like I got my moneys worth as far as Lego sets go.
The construction itself isn't very complex, but there are some clever designs incorporated, especially with the rounded and curved parts at the front and back. They all work really well and help give this set the iconic feel. Building the seats can be pretty repetitive, as I believe you have about 14 of the same for each level, give or take a few. However, it all looks really great. The advertising panels on the sides can be switched from the Union Jack and London signs to one of "quality biscuits" for tea time. In addition, the license plates on the front and back can be switched to show a white and yellow alternative, respectively. This set is technically not minifigure scale, but you could fudge that a bit and place minifigures inside. I don't feel they would look too out of place.
Overall I highly recommend this set. It looks great when built and is very unique, adding to the Creator line while presenting something that is not another car. If you have an interest in the London Buses or the Creator line itself, you should definitely pick this up.
2 out of 3 people thought this review was helpful.
London Calling...
Glad to see something different in the line of Creator Advanced Models cars. A London double-decks bus... This model is not in license with a brand like the VW Beetle and T1 Camper, or the Ferrari F40, the MINI, but that's not a bad thing... Let's see...
Parts:
There are 4 bags of parts in total. The instructions are sealed in with the sticker sheet. 1686 pieces, lots of windows, and red parts always look good when new ;-) 2 red quarter round arch 5x5 bricks are nice, just like the 1x2 tile with ticket print. Oh, the umbrella is also a nice surprise
Instruction Booklet:
The instructions are in one booklet, has 174 pages and 187 steps. On the cover is the bus with the London skyline in the back and the Big Ben in the right upper corner.
The Build:
Bag 1
With bag number 1 you have the parts to build the chassis, and lower body. The chassis is mostly made out of studded Technic beams. After the bottom edge and the floor plating/tiling, the seat supports go in. On the outside the seats rest on palisade 1x2 bricks, and on the inside, taps (You know, the pins with a little nozzle). The engine is not too detailed, it didn't really strike me as an engine', however, once in the bus, and you look from it with the hood attached and all, it looks OK. The lower side of the bus is build mostly out of 1x4 wall elements and the fenders from 1x3x3 bow bricks. The drivers seat and steering wheel. The entrance tray and the quarter-circular stairs. The steps of the stairs are only connected in its centre point. The steps rest on top of each other and are held in place by the walls. The back-end of the bus holding the light units and the license plate. You can choose between 2 different license plate set; a black set and a yellow/white one... there are 2 black, a yellow and a white tile. I chose the yellow/white set on the black tiles, this makes it seem that the license plates are build in a frame. And what is that yellow spraybottle in that black cabinet, a fire extinguisher? lol. And finally the two benches in the back. The seats are made of beige 2x2 sloped tiles and look pretty good. I like the heating vents at the feet of the benches... Pretty nice build so far :-)
Bag 2
With bag 2 the rest of the ground level will be build. It kinda starts with the seats. This is a repetitive thing, because you need to build 10 double seats, but if you do them all the same time, it is not so bad... Nice detail is that one seat (only 1 out of 20) has a sticker of a rip in the upholstery for the rest it is lots of windows and closing the ground level body. Other details are the ticketbox with the 2x1 printed tiles (the tickets).
The right-back corner of the bus is also worth mentioning. The used SNOT technique makes it a round corner that connects the side and back perfectly. Then, the wheels with the dark red rims, and hubcaps of the same colour on the front wheels... Hahaa, now it rolls :-) but the front wheels do not steer, which is normal with these kind of sets. with this bag you will also build the front of the bus, the grill/ headlight assembly with the second license plate. The hood of the engine bay, and finally, also a nice detail, an umbrella in the holder at the bus' entrance.
What I like as well is the tiling on the side of the bus. It is horizontally underneath and above the windows. This makes it seem that the windows are sunken in the body. The top of the bus is mostly build out of tiles with a stud here and there, so that the second floor can be easily removed
Bag 3
Bag 3 holds the parts for the first half of the second floor. It is a sub-build that will be placed onto the bus once it is finished, but as soon as the floor was done, I had put it on top of the bus. This way it feels more like "building the bus".
The top floor starts the same... floor tiling and the seat supports just like the down floor. The yellow line around the bus are bricks, not a sticker. On all sides of the bus there are signs that tells you the route. The names of the locations are hilarious: Brickston is the end of the line and the stops are "Yellow Brick Road", "Brickadilly Circus" and "Twobytwo Square". On the front and sides, those signs are sunken into the body. The Brickston sign is a 1x6 black tile, but the others are quarterly rotated windows with a sticker... Briljant. So on the front, apart from the Brickston sign, a sign with the stops and the line number in seperate windows. On the sides only one window with the stops and line number combined, and on the back a stop-list and a Brickston sign, no line number. On the back, the signs are not sunken, but tiles on the body.
The round corners on the back of the top floor are made the same way the corner of the down floor was done. The seats are the same as on the downfloor except the the 2 front seats, which are one stud smaller. In total there are 14 seats of 4 studs wide, and 2 of 3 studs wide... And again, one seat with a tear in the upholstery, nice :-)
Bag 4
The last bag of parts finishes the build :-) You continue with the windows, which is done pretty quick because you are still used to it from the down floor ;-) it is time to build the back of the roof with the quarter round 1x3x3 bow bricks. That slope is very well maintained in between those bow bricks using 2x3 sloped tiles and 1x1 sloped tiles. Ofcourse the window is straight, but all in all it looks really good. And after a little sub build that forms the front of the roof, the corners are finished with a SNOT assembly that also holds the blinker, and eventually, the rearview mirrors... The upper front window gets a sticker so that there is a split in the middle...
The sides are finished with a tile trim underneath the windows and then with the advertising plates. The plates itself is the Banner W.18 Stick 3x8 and there are six of em, 3 for each side. The 3 banners per side is actually one advertisement. There are 2 different advertisements. The "Visit London" one, which has a white sign in the middle, and a Union Jack on the left and right side (in the background). the second advertisement is for "Quality High Tea", cookies I guess. This advertisement has a white/beige graphic on it, that goes on over the 3 signs, a picture of some cookies in the middle, and some text on both sides. Each panel has a sticker of both advertisements, and you can choose which advertisement you want to show by flipping the banner plates. The banner plates hook up to the bus on hooks build in the siding of the bus earlier. When flipping them against the bus the plates will always be parallel to the bus because of 1x1 tiles behind each banner. All in all, very clever...
The middle part of the roof is a sub build, and is actually pretty cool with it's rounded SNOT edges. That does mean that 2 rows of studs were unavoidable, but that is ok. The roof is also made removable.
Final build:
I must say, it is way cooler than I thought, the lines in it are awesome, like how the rounded corner from the roof edge goes down to the bottom of the back, The windows that seem to be a little deeper in the bus, and great building techniques. Lots of nice details like the soda can in front of a seat on the top floor, the umbrella at the entrance, the place names on the signs. I had great fun building this bus.
Playability:
Well, like said before, the Creator Advanced Models cars never have steering, and that bites playability a little, and there are no opening doors or anything like that, but roof and top floor come off, and you can put minifigures in it.
Overall opinion:
I like it... I'm actually surprised that I like it... I was a bit sceptic about this set, but it really is a fun build. Well, if you have done a floor of seats for the second time, your fingers might feel numb, but apart from that ;-) well, no matter what, it will fit in very well with the rest of my Creator models. It looks good, and has many parts. Building this bus is fun... So, to me, it was worth the money.
Thanks for reading :-)
5 out of 5 people thought this review was helpful.