Author: shygal - Page 13 - Shy Gal's Building Blog

Review of nanoblock Piplup NBPM_079

February 21, 2023March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Piplup build. Piplup is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon Collection? Click here for a list.

Names:

English: Piplup
Japanese: Pochama

Number: NBPM_079

Number of Pieces: 170

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

The nanoblock build for Piplup has 2 parts. There is the head and the body.

The section you build is the body. It begins with a layer of bricks in various shades of blue. The body is then built up using layers of blue bricks. In building layers, you add the white for the spots on Piplup’s chest. You also add Piplup’s wings.

The second part of the build is the head. The head begins with a layer of blue and white bricks. The head is built by adding layers of bricks. As you add the layers of bricks, you add the details of the beak and eyes. In my opinion, they are super large for the build, so it looks a little funny. The beak looks closer to yellow than the gold bricks that come with a kit in the directions. When finishing the head, I had the unusual problem that the top layer caved in a bit, so adding the final layer of bricks was challenging.

To finish the build, there are a couple steps. First, you need to attach the head to the body. It is a bit challenging to tell where exactly where the head goes. Then you add a final bottom layer of bricks. The final step is to add the feet to the build.

Things I liked:

Piplup is one of my favorite pokemon, so I’m glad we got a build for him

Things I didn’t like:

His eyes are huge and look too big
I’m not sure if changing out the gold bricks with yellow bricks would look better

Review of nanoblock Gyomei Himejima NBCC_115

February 16, 2023March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Gyomei Himejima build. Gyomei Himejima is part of the nanoblock Character collection. Wondering what else is part of the Character Collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBCC_115

Number of Pieces: 200

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Gyomei Himejima is a member of the Demon Slayer Corps in the Demon Slayer Anime. For more information about him, check out the fandom wiki page. For more information about the nanoblock builds, check out my collections page for links to other reviews.

This nanoblock build is split into 2 parts. There is the head and the body.

The base layer is made up of skin tone. I laid the base layer out on my nanoblock pad. After the first couple of layers, I built the rest of the head in my hands.

The head goes up in straightforward layers. The hair on the back of his head uses dark grey bricks and is topped off with black hair on the top of the head.

In the step following putting in the white headband, several bricks have fewer studs on top than the size on the bottom. (For example, space for 2 studs on the bottom and 1 stud on top). Lining up these bricks was tricky but doable.

The head is finished off by adding the spikes to the center of the hair and Gyomei Himejima’s eyes.

After finishing the head, it’s time to move on to the body.

I began the body by laying the bricks out on my nanoblock pad. The body goes up in straightforward layers to create the main core of the body.

The next step is to create the hands which are attached to the front of the build. The next layers add his beads and finish the base of the neck. Then the hands are added to the front of the build.

Next, I flipped over the build and added the bottom of the coat and hips. Then I added the clear bricks that help to hold up the build. Next, I added the very straightforward legs, which are just 4 brick stacks.

The final step is to connect the head to the body. It is a bit tricky to tell where exactly the head goes on the body but it is possible to figure out by looking and counting carefully.

Things I liked:

I really like that his hands are out in front of him. It’s unique for the demon slayer builds.

Things I didn’t like:

The white on the back of the build seems to be a bit random, but you can’t see it from the front of the box

Review of nanoblock Chimchar NBPM_078

February 14, 2023March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Chimchar build. Chimchar is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon Collection? Click here for a list.

Names:

English: Chimchar
Japanese: Hikozaru

Number: NBPM_078

Number of Pieces: 150

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

The Chimchar nanoblock build has 2 parts. There is a head and a body.

The build begins with the body. It begins with a layer of bricks, including clear bricks. The clear bricks will become Chimchar’s flame tail. This is a detail that mirrors the builds of the Charmander family.

The rest of the body is made of cream and brown bricks. The body and the tail are built together in layers of bricks. At some point, you attach the arms. This can be a tricky step because the bricks are chained together. Meaning it is easy for a brick lower in the chain to fall off even after the top is secured. You finish building the body by eventually adding the feet.

After building the body you move on to the head. The head begins with a layer of cream bricks. The head is built up in layers of mostly brown and cream. As you build the layers, you add the details of the eyes, nose, and ears.

The build is completed by combining the head and the body. I personally had some difficulty lining up the head so it was straight on the body.

Things I liked:

The clear blocks for the flame on the tail are similar to how they are used in the Charmander family.

Things I didn’t like:

It was a pain to get the head centered when I combined the head and the body

Review of nanoblock Sanemi Shinazugawa NBCC_114

February 9, 2023March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Sanemi Shinazugawa build. Sanemi Shinazugawa is part of the nanoblock Character collection. Wondering what else is part of the Character Collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBCC_114

Number of Pieces: 210

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Sanemi Shinazugawa is a member of the Demon Slayer Corps in the Demon Slayer Anime. For more information about him, check out the fandom wiki page. For more information about the nanoblock builds, check out my collections page for links to other reviews.

This nanoblock build is split into 2 parts. There is the head and the body.

The base layer comprises skin tone and hair to create the base. I laid the base layer out on my nanoblock pad. He has very detailed hair. The front section of the head is very straightforward. The back of the hair is more complicated, and you need to pay a lot of attention to ensure that you get every angle. The directions are very straightforward, which makes getting the detail relatively simple.

After finishing the head, it’s time to move on to the body.

I began the body by laying the bricks out on my nanoblock pad. The body goes up in straightforward layers. Then you attach the hands. After attaching the hands, you attach the sword.

The next step is to connect the head to the body.

The final steps are to attach the bricks that hold up the model. First, a stack of clear bricks is attached to the back, holding the finished build up. The final detail is Sanemi Shinazugawa’s legs which are just a stack of bricks.

Things I liked:

I like the teal bricks that are used in his body. It’s a very uncommon color.

Things I didn’t like:

I don’t like the detail in the face, but I’m not sure if it does a good job of representing a mark on the character’s face. It’s not very clear in the character’s image if he has a mark on his face.

Review of nanoblock Turtwig NBPM_077

February 7, 2023March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Turtwig build. Turtwig is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon Collection? Click here for a list.

Names:

English: Turtwig
Japanese: Naetle

Number: NBPM_077

Number of Pieces: 130

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

This build is made up of 2 major parts. There is the head and the body.

The head begins with a layer of yellow and green bricks. The head is built in layers of green, yellow, and black bricks. The eyes are added by having black bricks that remain visible. Once the head is mostly built, you add a cap of brown to complete the head.

The next chunk that is built is the body. Like the head, the body is built in layers. In this case, the base is green. Using brown and black bricks, you then build the hump on Turtwig’s back. After you build him up, you flip the build over and add the feet and a brick to keep the build from tipping over due to the size of the head.

Now that you have the 2 major pieces, it is time to combine the head and the body. The final step is to add the leaf on Turtwig’s head.

Things I liked:

I think it’s a cute build

Things I didn’t like:

The starters keep getting a bit bigger, so they don’t match in size to the other starters
I think the leaf on his head would look better if it was the lighter green

Review of nanoblock Obanai Iguro NBCC_113

February 2, 2023March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Obanai Iguro build. Obanai Iguro is part of the nanoblock Character collection. Wondering what else is part of the Character Collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBCC_113

Number of Pieces: 190

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Obanai Iguro is a member of the Demon Slayer Corps in the Demon Slayer Anime. For more information about him, check out the fandom wiki page. For more information about the nanoblock builds, check out my collections page for links to other reviews.

This nanoblock build is split into 2 parts. There is the head and the body.

The base layer is made up of white and black bricks. The layer is staggered. I laid the base layer out on my nanoblock pad. The rest of the head goes up in layers of interlocking layers.

After building the main section of the head, you add the hair on the front of the head. Then you add the final details to the head.

After finishing the head, it’s time to move on to the body.

Obanai Iguro wears a pinstripe jacket. This means there are a lot of details in the jacket which adds the need to pay attention to the build.

I began the body by laying the bricks out on my nanoblock pad. The body goes up in straightforward layers. After building the body going up, you flip the build over and add the hips and legs.

The next step is to connect the head to the body. This was a bit tricky because it was hard to lie up the head based on the image. However, there was only one way to actually connect the head.

Things I liked:

I like the snake head that is coming off his shoulder

Things I didn’t like:

In the build, there are few places where bricks easily pop off, which was frustrating

Review of nanoblock Mega Venusaur NBPM_092

January 31, 2023March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Mega Venusaur build. Mega Venusaur is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon collection? Click here for a list.

Names:

English: Mega Venusaur
Japanese: Mega Fushigibana

Number: NBPM_092

Number of Pieces: 250

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

Mega Venusaur is the mega evolution of Venusaur. This build is similar in size to the original Venusaur build. Mega Venusaur looks like a normal Venusaur, except the flower on its back is taller and much larger.

This build has 2 major sections. There is the body and the flower on Mega Venusaur’s back.

The first section you build is the body. The first few steps create a large base. from there, the body is built in straightforward layers. The hardest part is noticing there is a dark red and dark brown brick, and the red is used to create the eyes. I didn’t notice the colors, so I needed to take sections of the build apart to fix the mistake.

The body adds details to the build, such as the shadows under the leaves and the pink from the flowers on Venusaur.

After building the body, it’s time to build the flower on Mega Venusaur’s back.

The flower’s first steps create the leaves on one side of the flower. Next, you build leaves for the other side. Then you build the center stem of the flower. The first 3 parts of the flower are combined to create the base of the flower.

After building the base, it’s time to build the actual flower. The directions for building the flower are very straightforward.

The final step is to connect the flower to the body.

Things I liked:

I really like that the side is pretty close to the original Venusaur
I like the amount of detail in the flower

Things I didn’t like:

The flower in the final build is a little flimsy

Review of nanoblock Mitsuri Kanroji NBCC_112

January 26, 2023March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Mitsuri Kanroji build. Mitsuri Kanroji is part of the nanoblock Character collection. Wondering what else is part of the Character Collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBCC_112

Number of Pieces: 200

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Mitsuri Kanroj is a member of the Demon Slayer Corps in the Demon Slayer Anime. For more information about him, check out the fandom wiki page. For more information about the nanoblock builds, check out my collections page for links to other reviews.

This nanoblock build is split into 2 parts. There is the head and the body.

The build begins with a layer of skin-tone brick on the base with pink for the hair on the back of her head. I built the head on my nanoblock pad. Her head is more tricky than a lot of the other Demon Slayer builds because of the detail in her hair. Other than the hair, the head goes up in straightforward layers.

Once you build the main unit of the head, you add the detail to the front of the head. I found these to be confusing instructions, but I figured it out.

After finishing the head, it’s time to move on to the body.

The body begins with a layer of smaller bricks. There are 2 bricks with studs on the sides, so the layer doesn’t lie flat, so you can’t build the body on the nanoblock pad. The next layer connects all the bricks in the base layer so the body can easily be held.

The next couple of layers are straightforward.

Mitsuri Kanroji wears her jacket open. This means that her breasts are visible. There is a step where you add her breasts. The fact that the bricks aren’t lined up with the other body bricks isn’t clear from the instructions. After adding the breasts, there is a final step to complete the body.

The next step is to connect the head to the body.

There are a few more steps to add some details. First, there is her hair in front. The instructions for these hair bits were a bit rough. By looking at the picture on the box, I could figure out how the hair should look. The last step is to add her sword to the front and back of the body.

So far, I have built 10 of the Demon Slayer nanoblock builds, which is by the most challenging of the figures. Mitsuri Kanroji has the most complicated hair in terms of various bricks used to create both while building the head and in the final details. She also has a lot more detail in her body than a lot of the other builds.

Things I liked:

I really like her hair and how much detail was put into creating it
I really appreciated that you could adjust and make her breasts larger and smaller. Some of the older builds for busty female characters had breasts that seemed huge compared to the rest of the build

Things I didn’t like:

I wish the hilt of the sword was a short brick or that the back was 2 bricks long so that the hilt and sword were different lengths

Review of nanoblock Mega Blastoise NBPM_093

January 24, 2023March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Mega Blastoise build. Mega Blastoise is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon collection? Click here for a list.

Names:

English: Mega Blastoise
Japanese: Mega Kamex

Number: NBPM_093

Number of Pieces: 360

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

Mega Blastoise is the mega evolution of Blastoise. This build is similar in size to the original Blastoise build. Mega Blastoise looks like a normal Blastoise, except its cannons are on its hands and the center of the back.

The build begins by creating the base layers of cream and blue. Each section is built separately and connected together to create a complete base.

The next several steps are building the body in layers. It was a bit tricky because the base and layers were flexible for the first several steps, so the build kept sliding apart. After a few layers, there was enough overlap, so the build was much more solid.

The next step is to build the arm cannons. The cannons are straightforward and attached easily. The next step is to lock the arms in place and begin working on the head.

The main section of the build is completed in layers. Once you start working on the head, the build will tip over if you set the build down.

The next step is to build the cannon on Mega Blastoise’s back. The cannon is fairly straightforward but flexible, so it is tricky to line up in the first couple of steps.

The final step is to finish off the feet. This step is by far the hardest of the build. It is hard to see where exactly you need to put the bricks. I could figure it out by looking at the box and the instructions.

Things I liked:

I really like that the side is pretty close to the original Blastoise
I like the amount of detail in the build overall

Things I didn’t like:

How hard the last step is to figure out

Review of nanoblock Pikachu in Lunar New Year Costume NBPM_081

January 22, 2023March 3, 2023shygal

Pikachu in Lunar New Year Costume build and box

This post reviews the nanoblock Pikachu in Lunar New Year Costume build. Pikachu in Lunar New Year Costume is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBPM_081

Number of Pieces: 140

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Pikachu in Lunar New Year Costume front view

This Pikachu looks similar to the original NBPM_001 Pikachu, except this Pikachu is wearing a Chinese-style jacket, hat, and hat. I like that the front of the jacket has grey bricks representing Chinese-style jacket ties.

Pikachu in Lunar New Year Costume side view

Since it has been so long since I’ve built NBPM_001, I can’t really compare the 2 builds, but the final Pikachus are similar.

The first step is to lay out the base layer, Pikachu’s pants. I built most of Pikachu on my nanoblock pad.

The next 5 steps are to create the Chinese-style jacket. The details building jacket includes having dark grey for the fasteners in the front. You also add Pikachu’s front paws.

Pikachu in Lunar New Year Costume back view

After building the jacket, it is time to build Pikachu’s head. The head is straightforward and has simple layers but adds a lot of detail. You add the nose and the eyes. The other thing that makes this build unique is that Pikachu wears a hat. The hat is straightforward. I’m not a fan of the brown in the hat and wish it had been a different color.

Then it’s time to finish the details by adding the feet, ears, and tail. The feet are simply 2×4 bricks attached to the bottom of the build. There is also a clear block to keep the build from tipping. The ears are each a simple 3 layers of bricks attached to the head. The tail is by far the trickiest part of the build. Several layers of bricks are stacked together to create the zig-zag tail. It was also hard to tell how exactly to connect the tail to the body.

Things I liked:

I think the costume is a cute and creative detail and is unique to the build

Things I didn’t like:

It was hard to figure out how to attach the tail
The brown on the hat is a little random compared to all the other colors in the build