REVIEW: Advent calendar 3 December 2020

Yesterday’s microscale build was something different from the minifigure on day one. Will today take us back to minifigure scale, or stay in microscale? Or something else? Here’s what happened on day 3…

Somewhat surprising, opening the third door, there was another micro-scale build. “Again” was my first thought, but then I realised the opportunities combining it with yesterday’s build.

3 December model

Today’s model is a microscale model the Durmstrang ship. Like yesterday, today’s model also had 18 pieces, though they are generally smaller than those included yesterday. As only one spare, the model includes 17 pieces against 16 yesterday (which had two spares).

Here is what the ship looks like when completed. It is a great model, being detailed and having plenty of “nice part usage” (NPU).

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To round this off, it may be worth mentioning that the Durmstrang ship has appeared in one official LEGO set from 2005 (set 4768).

2 & 3 December combined

As noted in the beginning, having built the ship, I quickly got the idea of combining it with Hogwarts Castle from yesterday. Basically having the ship in the foreground with the castle as background.

It didn’t work without lifting the castle a bit, so I found a few dark bluish grey slopes and built a small mountain for the castle to sit on. It also allowed slightly more depth to the model (moving back the viaduct gatehouses one stud) for better perspective. Finally, I used one of Harry’s spare wands (from 1 December) as spire for the Central Tower.

I put it all on a blue plate to represent the lake and added the Durmstrang ship in front. Below is what it ended up looking like.

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Summary

I really like the ship, being highly detailed for its size and with great part usage. And as it also connects well with the previous model, will give it five out of five house points.

It would be great to get a minifigure to go with the ship. An updated Professor Igor Karkaroff (only appeared in the 2005 Durmstrang ship set previously) would be great. Could he be next? Time will tell. Check the page again tomorrow for an update!

Till then, Build the Magic!