LEGO Masters Sweden
Season 2 Episode 5 – Hanging Brick Challenge
The door rolls open (“Is it a bit slow?” someone asks) and the teams arrive at the sight of Mauri chilling out on a hammock. This sets them wondering what the theme could be.
Magnus sets the stage by pointing out the tables are missing and pulls out of his pocket a brick hanging from a wire. Yup, it’s the hanging brick challenge.
The teams have ten hours to complete their builds. Magnus points out to Mauri the challenges of building in the air. The first being balance as the build generally needs to keep upright. The second is keeping the weight low so the clutch power of the bricks doesn’t pull apart. And finally finding that balance between technical and storytelling.
The Builds
Jonas and Liv – Hot Air Balloon
The team has decided on creating a hot air balloon. Magnus drops by and wonders if there are going to be any characters to help tell a story. They are challenged to come up with a fun story with a bit of drama. The team also feels they are finally working as a team.
But the technical problems are slowing them down. They use a clever method of hinges to create a great bulb shape for the balloon, but the fragile nature is making it hard to attach to the string resulting in the structure breaking to bits halfway through the build. With the balloon hung and with only a couple of hours to go the team starts settling on a story. Liv wonders if thieves hanging from the balloon could be the way to go. They also start working on a giant bird that punctures the top of the balloon to add some of the drama that Magnus is looking for.
Magnus loves how well they have captured a difficult shape and have created a dramatic story. Where it fails is the bird is a bit blocky in its wings given its last-minute build. But overall it’s well-received.
Jacob and Robin – Submarine
A submarine that’s been attacked by a squid. Jacob uses a similar technique that he did with the snake in their temple build. Robin is tasked to build the submarine and is including motors inside. Magnus comes by and wonders how much weight the final build will be and notes the submarine looks a bit square. Jacob also puts in an easter egg for his dog Robin, who sits in a little cockpit.
When it comes to testing the propellors, the mechanism isn’t working leading to Jacob getting a bit stressed over whether it will work with only a couple of hours remaining.
Magnus loves how fantastic the scene is with its dramatic action of the octopus clinging to the sub. But notes the story is a bit lost with a key element of the treasure in a net somewhat hidden under the sub. But top points for construction, creativity, and styling.
Felix and Vidar – Marionette Mauri
A “marionette” puppet that is suspended by strings. Magnus notes this is a challenging build to pull off as they are using strings to connect parts of the arms. The other issue is that it’s not balancing. The team is struggling to work out a solution to their problem. The team sets Mauri to be a model from time to time.
But the stress sets in as they hang the puppet. The weight causes a crossbeam to sheer off requiring a last-minute reinforcement of the struts.
Come judging Mauri has a go at moving the puppet and it manages to stay together. Magnus loves the ambition that the build brings, but the build might be fun, but it lacks anything cohesive as a story.
Joakim and Johan – Flying Machine
A farmer whose property is resting on a giant floating steampunk platform.
Magnus comes by and notes the giant two plates they are building and wonders how their story is going. Magnus and Mauri find the story a bit bewildering. The size of the construction is adding a ton of weight which is burning through the time needed to get the story staged as it’s still needing to be hung. The huge build is causing the model to list awkwardly and the fragile nature of the two plates behind held together has parts pop off from the shifting weight. With ten minutes to go they try to get as much together before the clock runs out.
As the team with the most wins, the pressure is on. Magnus gives points of how playful the build looks with its mix of colour and contrasting elements as well as the fact a heavy build is balanced. But notes the overall story is vague.
Melina and Nathalie – Dragon
A dragon that has escaped from captivity. Magnus comes by and points out that dragons really need to keep to proportions and they will need to have quite the wingspan. Melina is also suffering from a migraine which is slowing the team down as the build is quite complex. Magnus comes by and gives them a tip of starting a creature build with its head to gauge the rest of the proportions. Struggling to get it all together they manage to get a basic dragon created, then just as the head goes on, it falls off. The two rush to put it all back together in the final ten minutes.
Magnus notes they did struggle but gives points for how expressive the head is and the fact they’ve gotten all of the story elements, such as the castle turret and chains. But the wings are noted for being a bit patchy.
The Verdict
Magnus announces the top two: Jacob and Robin’s for having so much action it should be on a movie poster and Felix and Vidar for having a sense of humour. But there’s a third team at the top, Liv and Jonas with a great story and construction. So with three in the running, the team that goes home with the brick badge this week are Liv and Jonas. They also win an advantage next week.
And now for the bottom two: Melina and Nathalie and Johan and Joakim. Both are criticized for bold concepts that fall way too short. And Melina and Nathalie are picked to leave the series.
But…not so fast. The doors roll open to reveal past contestants Anton and Viktor.
It’s time for an elimination duel. The two bottom teams have to compete in a challenge in which the winner is allowed back into the competition. They have to build a 1:1 copy of a toaster. They have three hours.
More
Magnus points out that this is a challenge as the toaster has rounded objects and it must be as similar as possible, including the slices of toast. Mauri adds to the challenge by taking a bite out of a slice. The teams have different approaches. Victor and Anton are focusing on building everything modular which is all brought together. Melina and Nathalie are going for a straight-up build off a baseplate.
They also work on creating a lift mechanism for the slices. The big challenge is where the bevelled edges meet at the corners of the toaster. All the while the other teams watch from the sidelines and comment on the process.
With two hours over it’s time for judging. Anton and Victor are credited with getting the best result for the corners while Nathalie and Melina have an overall good result of the toaster. But Magnus points out that Anton and Victor’s build has a square grey rim that isn’t present on the original toaster and that lack of accuracy means they lose the rematch and Nathalie and Melina remain in the competition.
Next week – the teams must creatively reinterpret an object.. but there’s a twist!
Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed this please leave a comment below.
Thank you for reading
Support BrickBanter.com by shopping for your LEGO® via the affiliate links below.
It’ll cost you nothing but will mean the world to us. 🫶
🇦🇺 Australia – 🇨🇦 Canada – 🇪🇺 Europe – 🇬🇧 United Kingdom – 🇺🇸 United States – 💛 Everyone else
Explore more articles
BrickBanter.com is a recognized LEGO® Fan Media account.
Review sets are supplied by the LEGO group.
