Ferris Wheel (10247) - Week 1 Progress

The biggest challenge with the build so far has been finding time when both my mom and I are free to work on this together. We would be able to make a lot more progress if we worked on it separately but that takes the fun out of the project.

Getting back into Lego mode has been a fun journey so far. It has definitely sharpened our attention to detail - making sure we are placing blocks in the right place so we don't have to backtrack later on to find out why something doesn't fit.

After a week of toil, stealing a half hour here and there to work on it, we've gotten most of the foundation and base for the Ferris Wheel done. This set has a lot more gears and moving parts than I am used to in previous sets and required deft fingers to line all the small pieces together.

Week 1 progress - most of the base done

The footprint of the set is not too large (14" x 21") but it should make a pretty imposing presence on the table once it's finished as the set should stand roughly 2 feet tall. As you can see, with the current progress, we are barely 2 inches off the table surface at the moment!!

Close up ground level shot

HANDY TIP!!!

If you hate having to shuffle through a whole pile of pieces just to find the bricks you need, we feel your pain! Yes, Lego has made it far less painful by dividing the builds up into chapters and then labeling the parts bags with the chapters numbers but you can make life for yourself a little easier by keeping a bunch of shallow boxes and using them to hold your pieces.

We use about half a dozen boxes to hold our open pieces so that we can spread them out in a single layer. This makes it far easier to spot the pieces you need - especially the smaller ones that tend to get lost in the shuffle if they are mixed in with a large pile.

Lots of empty boxes for parts

As you use up pieces, you can amalgamate into fewer boxes - just don't overcrowd the boxes.