Tag: Sights to See - Page 3 - Shy Gal's Building Blog

Review of nanoblock Optical fiber LED+ Merlion NBH_158

March 6, 2025August 11, 2024shygal

Optical fiber LED+ Merlion build and box

This post is a review of the nanoblock Optical fiber LED+ Merlion build. Optical fiber LED+ Merlion 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_158

Country: Singapore

Number of Pieces: 300

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

Optical fiber LED+ Merlion off build front view

The Merlion is the official mascot of Singapore. I believe this build is the 8.6m tall statue at Merlion Park but there are several other statues around Singapore.

Optical fiber LED+ Merlion off build side view

This is a lit version of the nanoblock Merlion build number NBH_105. There is an optical fiber that directs the light from the NB-26 LED base plate.

The first step is to prepare the base of the fountain. The first step is to attach the blue plate making sure you end up with the holes lined up. Then you add the docks and the splashes in the water.

Optical fiber LED+ Merlion ok build front view

Most of this build is to create the actual Merlion. Overall the steps to build the Merlion are pretty straightforward. In a few cases, it is a bit tricky to tell where exactly to place the bricks depth-wise. Sadly once I had built several layers of my Merlion I noticed there were some gaps between layers. When I pushed tried to push the layer together, things would fall off instead of the build getting closer together.

The final step is to build the trees. They are very straightforward. Getting the taller trees to stand up straight was a bit tricky.

Optical fiber LED+ Merlion on build front 3/4 view

Things I liked:

I really like how the build looks when it is lit up
I like that when it is not lit up how it still looks like a normal fountain

Things I didn’t like:

When I noticed that there were gaps partway down, I couldn’t push them in place without the whole build collapsing

Review of nanoblock Five-Storied Pagoda NBH_088

February 27, 2025August 11, 2024shygal

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

Review of nanoblock Shigezo NBH_120

February 20, 2025August 11, 2024shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Shigezo build. Shigezo 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_120

Number of Pieces: 190

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

I bought this kit used, knowing I would at least get the instructions. I ended up buying a second set in order to get the bricks I was missing since I couldn’t buy them individually. Sadly, however, the white has become yellow with age. The discolored bricks may be visible in my photographs.

Shigezo was a popular entertainer who is/was active in Yoshimoto Shinkigeki. Yoshimoto Shinkigeki is a variety show in Osaka.

This kit has 3 sections. There is the head, the body, and the feet.

The head begins with the layer that has his teeth, face, and hair. I was able to lay this layer out on my nanoblock pad which was nice so that the teeth couldn’t roll away. The head goes up in fairly straightforward layers building the on the face and hair in each layer. After building the top of the head, I flipped the head over and added the chin area. Adding the chin was difficult because it was upside down, so I was guessing a bit as to which bricks to use.

At no point while I was building the body was I really positive about what I was doing. I began the build by laying the base layer of bricks on my nanoblock pad. I added each layer as instructed, even though each step seemed random at the time. In the end, I ended up with a completed body section that appears to be holding a sword.

The feet are very straightforward. It is just a few layers of bricks connected to the base.

The last step is to combine the 3 sections into 1 complete piece.

Things I liked:

I actually really like how the finished model looks, especially the body. It looks complete with a lot of little details, such as how the fabric would flow

Things I didn’t like:

I didn’t enjoy building upside down. Normally, I can figure out where things are connected, but this time, I had a really hard time

Review of nanoblock Succhi NBH_119

February 13, 2025August 11, 2024shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Succhi build. Succhi 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_119

Number of Pieces: 190

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

I believe from research there is a typo in the translation of the Romanji. Other people refer to the build as Sutchi. They were popular entertainer who is/was active in Yoshimoto Shinkigeki. Yoshimoto Shinkigeki is a variety show in Osaka.

The build is made up of 3 sections. There is the base, body, and head.

The head is by far the most difficult section to build. This is because of the glasses. The head starts with a base that builds up in layers. There are several sections where there are overhangs held on by one stud. The glasses are tricky because they are created with 1×1 and 1×2 with 1 stud on top. Getting everything lined up is tricky.

The skirt and body were fairly straightforward. The hardest part was building the arms. Once again, each arm was held in place with one stud. The arms are locked in place, so once they are put together, they have an easy time staying in place.

The base section is very straightforward and is simply attaching the legs to the base.

The hardest part was was putting the final build together. Each section is at an angle. There isn’t really much guidance on where to put each section.

Things I liked:

I like the depth and detail in the glasses

Things I didn’t like:

I didn’t like the lack of guidance as to how to put the sections together

Review of nanoblock Milky Peko NBH_063

February 6, 2025August 11, 2024shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Milky Peko build. Milky Peko 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_039

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

Peko is an unusual package because her name is written in Japanese characters, whereas most of the other kits are written in English or Romanji. It’s also strange because all the imagery I can find of Peko has her name written in Romanji, not Katakana. Peko is one of the mascots for a confectionery shop in Japan named Fujiya. She has been around since the 1950s.

This build has 3 major sections. There is the base, the head, and the body.

The base is a piece of candy the Peko sits on. It is white with speckles of pink and baby blue. It begins with building the center section of the candy. Then the ends of candy are added. Then the top of the candy is added and rounded up.

The head is truly a marvel in getting things to line up. This is because there are a huge number of bricks that have space for 2 studs on the bottom and only 1 stud on top. These bricks require extra work to make sure everything lines up properly. The instructions were very clear, but it could be a bit difficult to tell where the off shifts were.

The body fairly straightforward. The first layer had from bricks offset so I wasn’t able to use my nanoblock pad. After the first layer was lined up and locked in the rest of the body is very straightforward.

Things I liked:

I really like how the build catches details of Peko-chan, such as her tongue being out and the buttons in her overalls

Things I didn’t like:

I don’t like the large brick that represents her mouth. Peko-chan appears to only have a smile with her tongue out, so making her seem like her mouth open is an odd choice

Review of nanoblock Peko NBH_039

January 30, 2025August 11, 2024shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Peko build. Peko 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_039

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

This build has 3 major sections. There is the base, the head, and the body.

At first glance, the base appears to be square, but it is actually a 9×8 rectangle. This means that the rectangle needs to be built. I laid the clear bricks out on my nanoblock pad, and the second layer holds all the bricks in place. Then, all I needed to do was add the feet and legs.

The body is by far the most straightforward part of the build. I simply laid the base layer of bricks out on my nanoblock pad and build the body in normal layers.

Things I liked:

I really like how the build catches details of Peko-chan, such as her tongue being out and the buttons in her overalls

Things I didn’t like:

I don’t like the large brick that represents her mouth. Peko-chan appears to only have a smile with her tongue out, so making her seem like her mouth open is an odd choice

Review of nanoblock Shaun the Sheep – Timmy NBH_068

January 23, 2025August 11, 2024shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Shaun the Sheep – Timmy build. Timmy 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_068

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Timmy is one of the many characters in the Shaun the Sheep tv series. This build is created by connecting sets of ball joints together to create a posable sheep.

I bought this kit in an auction containing several kits that didn’t have boxes so I don’t have the box for this kit.

This build is broken up into 5 sections. There is the head, body, tail, arms, and teddy bear.

The head begins with a base layer of yellow and black bricks. I couldn’t build the head on my pad because the yellow brick on the base is off-center from the rest of the bricks. The head goes up in layers. It creates Timmy’s pacifier and the core of his head. Creating the eyes was a bit tricky because it’s putting round 1×1 into the socket of the ball joint. The eyes were super tight in this case. The last step is to build and add the ears via ball joints.

The body begins with a base layer of white bricks. The second layer includes the ball side of the joint for the base legs. From there, building the body is mostly building the outside of a sphere. The top of the sphere has the balls for the front legs and head.

The tail is very straightforward. It is 3 layers of white bricks.

The arms on the top and bottom of Timmy are slightly different. Both are chains of black ball joints with a hoof brick on the end.

Once you have built each section, you need to connect the arms, head, and tail to the body. Once you connect the head, the legs need to curl forward to hold the build-up.

In addition to the sheep, Timmy has a teddy bear. Overall, the teddy bear is pretty straightforward. The trickiest part is getting everything set in the right direction, but it was fairly clear overall.

Things I liked:

I really like how posable the build is.

Things I didn’t like:

I think the eyes would have been better if it had been a black socket with a colored eye instead of a white socket

Review of nanoblock Shaun the Sheep NBH_040

January 16, 2025August 11, 2024shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Shaun the Sheep build. Shaun the Sheep 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_040

Country: UK

Difficulty Rating: 2

This build is divided into four sections: the head, the body, the tail, and the base.

The tail is a very straightforward 4 layers of white bricks.

The head begins with a layer of black bricks. The head goes up in layers, leaving gaps that create the nose. To create the eyes, you take a socket and put a round 1×1 into the socket. I’m not a fan of this technique, but it does get the job done by creating the eyes. After adding the eyes, you add the white to the top of Shaun’s head. The last part of the head is adding the ears.

I started the body on my pad but after a couple layers, I did most of the building in my hands. The body section is straightforward and creates a hollow tube for the body.

At this point, I connected the head, body, and tail together to create one complete unit.

The last section is adding the legs to the base. Creating each leg was very straightforward since all I needed to do was count 10 1x1s. The hardest part was making sure that I counted where exactly to put the build so that it was properly centered.

The last step was to add the body unit to the legs. I was surprised by how easy it was to get the body attached to the legs.

Things I liked:

How easy it was to connect the body to the legs

Things I didn’t like:

I don’t like the technique for creating the eyes

Review of nanoblock Shaun the Sheep – Shaun NBH_067

January 9, 2025August 11, 2024shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Shaun the Sheep – Shaun build. Shaun 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.

This is the second Shaun build. The first build was NBH_040, and Shaun stands on all 4 legs. This build has Shaun standing on 2 legs.

Number: NBH_067

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

Shaun is one of the many characters in the Shaun the Sheep tv series. This build is created by connecting sets of ball joints together to create a posable sheep.

This build is broken up into 5 sections. There is the head, body, tail, arms, and legs.

The body is the first major section of the build. It begins with creating smaller builds A-E. Each section is made up of white bricks and is very straightforward. The next step is to connect sections A-E to create the actual body of the sheep. I think this is a creative way to build the body instead of it being a solid layer of bricks.

After connecting all the sections, it is time to build the tail. The tail has very simple instructions. After building the tail, it is attached to the body.

The next step is to build the head. I was able to easily build the head using my pad. The hardest part was getting the eyes in place because getting the 1×1 in the socket was a bit challenging. I really like the poof of wool on Shaun’s head.

The final 2 sections can be built in unison. The sections are the arms and legs. Both sections are simple chains of bricks that require counting the number of bricks properly.

The final step is to connect all the sections with the ball joints. The hardest part is keeping the head attached because the top brick doesn’t have bricks on top of it to lock it into place.

Things I liked:

I really like how the main body is created by creating the various sections that are all connected

Things I didn’t like:

I think the eyes would have been better if it had been a black socket with a colored eye instead of a white socket
The socket that holds the head in place isn’t locked in place, so it can easily fall off.

Review of nanoblock Moominhouse MOM-042/NBH_062

November 23, 2023October 20, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Moominhouse build. Moominhouse is part of the nanoblock Moomin collection.

Number: MOM-042 or NBH_062

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

The Moominhouse is the home of Moominmama, Moominpapa, and Moomintroll. It is a multi-story blue cylindrical building with a red cone-shaped roof.

When I opened the kit, I was surprised that there were 2 bags of 1×2 blue pieces. I guessed after seeing that the build would be just building the outline of the house.

The build begins by laying the outline of the building. This outline includes the porch, which comes off the front of the building.

The building goes up in simple layers. The first few layers include the main body of the house and, the building on the porch, and other details of the house. After adding the details to the base layers of the house, all that is left is to finish building the main section of the house.

For the main house, it is all blue other than the windows. Because the sides are built stacking 1×2 that rotate each, it is hard to keep the build perfectly squared. This made adding the roof a bit tricky.

After adding 3 floors to the house, it’s time to add the roof.

The roof is very straightforward. Each layer makes the roof a bit smaller and creates a cone. Adding the roof is where you can see the cumulative effect of the main tower not being perfectly square. I was able to add on my roof, so I didn’t need to go back and square the main section.

Things I liked:

How many little details there are in the house between the porch and the chimney on the roof

Things I didn’t like:

How hard it was to keep the main tower of squared between floors