Builder badge

 In October I really got to grips with doing the Builder badge. Now, this is a badge that I knew I could do fairly easily, and would enjoy doing, but it still took me quite a bit of time to really get going on it. Heaven alone knows why, as I am lucky enough to possess quite a collection of Lego, with several sets that I have not yet made. When I got a set for my birthday for my sister, I knew that it was high time I worked on this badge.

The first set I made was the one I got for my birthday - the Orchid set. I set myself a bit of time each day to get it done, and after a few times of making a few errors, I got it sorted!

This was quite a fun set to make, although a few of the pictures were a bit tricky to work out what was required. Some of the colours were very similar, and it was difficult to work out the orientation of some of the sections. Working on a little bit each day certainly helped, and within a few days I had completed it. This is one orchid that I can’t kill! This fulfills the plant clause of the badge.

The next set I worked on  was one that I’ve had for 7 years (just under 7 years at the time of making it). It is the TARDIS from Dr Who, complete with a Doctor or two, and weeping angels. I had helped a previous foster child make this, and from the start it was noticeable that things were a bit different from the previous set. For a start, there were no numbered bags, meaning that everything was mixed in together. That meant trawling through the pieces trying to find just the right piece. It has a thicker instruction book, and some of the pieces / sections needed quite a bit of careful manipulation.

There were times it felt like my fingers were a bit too thick and less nimble. I can see why the foster child had difficulty with it previously - although they did struggle to follow the instructions in order (something that I found myself doing as well while doing this badge!). This fulfils the scene clause of the badge (I did consider it as a form of transport for a brief time!).

The next set was one that I bought using Amazon vouchers. A few years ago I joined ShopandScan for a second time - and so every time I go grocery shopping, I scan the barcodes on my shopping. Once a week I upload the barcodes, and also upload till receipts from the shopping trips. This then gives me points that I can swap for a variety of items - such as Amazon vouchers. I used some of my Amazon vouchers to buy two Lego sets earlier in the year. I bought the Wildflower bouquet and the dried flower arrangement. For my third set I worked on the dried flower arrangement. This was a great set to make - back to having numbered bags. There were a lot of different sections to this - lots of different flowers to make with quite small pieces, so dexterity was essential. The interesting thin about this set is that you can make larger dried flower arrangements by combining multiple sets, and the set includes pieces to allow you to do this. This fulfils the flower arrangement clause for the badge.

The final set I made was one I’ve had for seven or eight years. It is a three in one set, and I opted to do the most difficult one - the camper van. The set has the instructions for two other creations. This set took me longer to complete. As it is an older set, all the pieces are in unnumbered bags, so you have to combine all the bags to be able to start to make the set. The attention to detail in this set is fantastic - the space for a map, the mugs, the cooker, the fish in the boat that the camper van pulls on a trailer. The instructions include some trees, and also a bear!

Each of the sets took at least 2 hours to make - sometimes a bit longer. It was great to make 3 sets that I’ve had for some time, and I hope that I won’t leave it so long before making my remaining sets. I do have quite a few larger sets to make - including some Harry Potter ones. I now need to spend time sorting out a few rooms in the house so that I have space to display the sets I make. 

I made these sets in October and November of this year, but I’ve been so busy doing so many other things, that writing up and keeping up with this blog has take a bit of a back seat! I’ll try to do better at keeping up to date in 2024. It feels a bit like double duty doing making notes for the clauses in my dedicated Rebel notebook, and then repeating it in the blog. As for the sorting rooms out in my house, that may have to form part of the adulting badge - something to work on in the new year!