I recently received a copy of the Reobricks 66005 Medieval Blacksmith Set from Mocmodel.com, which I will build and review. After getting a large package in the mail, I eventually finished the set, and I must say it's lovely!

Building Experience

Mocmodel, followed by Lightake.com, made shipping and delivery simple, and the goods arrived in good shape in pretty packaging. The big base plates were loosely packed in the box, and the 2366 parts were divided into nine plastic steps.

A 125-page guide with 240 building steps is included inside the box. Both the instruction guide and the displayed photographs were of excellent quality. The pamphlet offered instructions on where to put particular studs when joining plates and a helpful guide style highlighting the new portions by greying out the prior steps. I must, however, take issue with the booklet's color scheme because brown, dark brown, dark tan and black bricks frequently had a lot of similarities. Sometimes, I spent minutes hunting for a part in brown when I should have been looking for it in dark tan.

Model Integrity and Ease of Build

Regarding the actual build process, I spent roughly six hours finishing it, primarily due to the numerous little details and components included in the model. The project extensively uses customized bricks and a lot of 1x1 and 2x1 bricks to create the wall features. Unfortunately, the wall characteristics caused some instability and problems with the absence of connectors holding the walls together, which resulted in some serious issues with the integrity of the construction during the process. The structure wasn't stable until a layer of plates was positioned on top of the walls at the end of each story.

Despite this, the methods and brick selections were frequently ingenious, especially in accomplishing trickier angles and brick placements, such as on the roof.

Details

The Lego 21325 Blacksmith and many of the details inspired the kit. Although the whites and tans create a worn-in appearance, there are moments when I wish the pieces were smaller to enhance the intricacies. For a different company, this extra detail will likely result in a fair price-per-part rise in smaller pieces.

The floorless ceiling designs offer a smooth surface, and the part selection used to accomplish some minor embellishments is pleasing. I am also excited by the degree of interior detail in the model and the part selections to illustrate it.

Unfortunately, some of the inside design is not up to par with the much better outside design, and I would not grade it higher than the official 21325 set.

I was consistently pleasantly surprised by the set's large number of original parts as well as its astounding number of custom-colored pieces. Additionally, the construct used its distinct color—an off-grey component that served as a mediator between the grey and white components. Although the build regrettably occasionally overuses custom-shaped weaponry to the point that it occasionally pulls you out of the build's immersion, this was a lovely touch and an engaging aspect of the build. Although a knife, axe, sword, and possibly even a cutlass are standard, the "European" element starts to fade away as we encounter orc weapons, jagged ghost blades, and enormous fantasy swords.

Lastly, the pictures of the construction show personalized stickers for the wood pattern on the building's exterior framing. I was thrilled to use these; however, as you can see below, they only fit 1×6 tiles, even though they should be used on 1×8 bricks.

Overall Impression and Rating

This build is excellent all around. Many of its redeeming features are based on the official set. Still, the designers did a fantastic job of transforming the inspiration into something amazing to look at and greatly enhancing the original design. It has many flaws and was occasionally challenging to construct. You should acquire more sets in this style so it doesn't stand alone, and I highly suggest this piece, especially if you can get it at a bargain. It has a beastly build, is stunning to view from a distance, and appeals to those who enjoy the medieval aesthetic. I'll have this on my display for a long time.

Total scores:

  • Building Process: 4/5
  • Structural integrity: 4.5/5
  • Exterior: 4.5/5
  • Interior: 2.5/5
  • Details: 4/5
  • Overall rating: 4/5