We Build LEGO River Steamboat, a Gorgeous Tribute to Classic Americana

The River Steamboat is from the LEGO Ideas line. A LEGO instrumentality submits an archetypal idea, on with a proof-of-concept, for consideration. The assemblage past votes connected it. The chosen fan's thought becomes an authoritative LEGO set, and the instrumentality who conceived the thought gets a chopped of the profits. Prior palmy LEGO Ideas see The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jaws, and Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale.

The LEGO River Steamboat is inspired by the monolithic real-life paddle boats that chugged up and down the Mississippi River successful the 1800s. Originally utilized for concern transport, the steamboat was yet supplanted by the steam motor bid and the screw propeller boat. With nary applicable crushed to exist, the paddle boats became pleasance boats, with amenities and gambling connected board. They proceed to service that intent today; erstwhile my woman and I went connected our honeymoon to New Orleans, we took a riverboat cruise down the Mississippi, wherever we dined, drank, danced, and listened to jazz.

The LEGO River Steamboat comes with a jazz lounge and a eating room. But it besides has its applicable areas, including a boiler motor country that connects to the paddle wheel. Push the boat, and the instrumentality turns. The pilothouse has a steering wheel, and erstwhile you crook it, the rudder astatine the bottommost of the vessel besides turns. There's a room country and a sleeping country for the crew. There's an anchor connected a concatenation that rolls up connected a spool. And meanwhile, different spool of riggings raises and lowers the boarding stages connected the ship's bow.

The designers divided the physique – 4,090 pieces – into 32 abstracted bags. You commencement with the basal of the vessel which includes the boiler country and a miniature nautical museum. Here, successful summation to the existent vessel engine, you tin spot a piston engine, an aeolipile (steam turbine) and a Watt steam engine. Across from the motor country is the tiny room with a refrigerator, stove, and basin sink. I'm continually impressed by the minimalism of LEGO plan and the designers' quality to repurpose a portion by simply changing its colour scheme; a blistery canine bun from a Fairgrounds physique becomes an motor reinforcement successful a Steamboat.

One level up is the main deck, which contains the eating country and jazz lounge. The lounge is positioned supra the boat's stern and includes tiny LEGO accessories for drums, saxophone, microphone, and an upright bass. The eating country is fancy, with tablecloth elements and charismatic chairs. There are airy fixture elements that straddle the wrong and extracurricular of the compartment. On the partition are posters which advertise the on-board entertainment. One of the partition paintings is simply a stylized depiction of the A-Frame Cabin, different LEGO Ideas acceptable (see astatine Amazon).

You physique the eating country separately and 'drop' it into the larger build. And due to the fact that the ship's footprint is wider and longer than the eating room, you make a platform space, wherever your minifigures tin thin connected the extracurricular railing and instrumentality successful the sights. Speaking of minifigures, nary minifigures travel with the set. Some unit members and immoderate tourists could person fixed the vessel a spot much beingness and playfulness. But possibly LEGO wanted to nonstop a connection that this was a acceptable for amusement and not for play.

One level up from the main platform is the unit deck, which includes a acceptable of beds and a bath (with a toilet, sink, and ablution stall). Above that is the pilothouse. One of the astir awesome quirks of the Steamboat is the aforementioned steering wheel. It's a insignificant feat of engineering that turning the instrumentality connected 1 extremity of the vessel turns the rudder connected the different extremity of the ship. It's accomplished by threading a rod done each 4 levels of the steamboat. The magnitude of readying that surely went into accomplishing this is impressive. But it's worthy it. It's a tiny mechanical effect, but immoderate LEGO builder who's ever attempted thing akin volition admit the effort that went towards accomplishing it.

I emotion galore small things astir this set. There's the achromatic billowy flags, repurposed from a croissant accessory. There's the clean, neat, achromatic rows of railings that enactment the outer decks. There's the patterned tiles successful the lounge areas, which springiness the content of rugs. Though monolithic (and it is rather massive), this acceptable looks much similar 3,500 pieces than 4,000 pieces. But aft gathering it and indulging successful each its circumstantial details, each its well-appointed rooms, you'll cognize wherever those other 500 pieces went.

There's a guiding rule to penning that William Strunk mentions successful his publication The Elements of Style:

"Vigorous penning is concise. A condemnation should incorporate nary unnecessary words, a paragraph nary unnecessary sentences, for the aforesaid crushed that a drafting should person nary unnecessary lines and a instrumentality nary unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer marque each his sentences short, oregon that helium debar each item and dainty his taxable lone successful outline, but that each connection tell."

The River Steamboat is the LEGO equivalent of that principle; each ceramic tells. Every rod and stud has its intent and function. Every decorative constituent is pleasing, not superfluous. And each room, each abstraction connected the ship, is individually pretty, portion contributing to the whole. Definitely cheque it out. This is simply a LEGO physique for LEGO lovers.

LEGO River Steamboat, Set #21356, retails for $329.99, and it is composed of 4,090 pieces. It is disposable exclusively astatine the LEGO Store.

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Kevin Wong is simply a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing successful LEGO. He's besides been published successful Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him connected Twitter astatine @kevinjameswong.

Originally posted:

Apr 11, 2025 2:05 pm