LEGO Botanical # 10280 Bouquet of flowers
Tip: if you want to see the live construction of the set, the video of the episode of LEGO MANIA dedicated to this set on the Twitch CulturaPopITA channel.
The package
The LEGO 18 Plus set # 10280 Bouquet of flowers is contained in a box of overall dimensions, considering the price of € 49.99. Inside we can find the usual transparent envelopes, numbered from 1 to 3, as well as an instruction manual also closed in a transparent envelope and an unnumbered envelope containing the long 32-stud "stems" (seen so far as the skeleton of the flagpoles of the ships / galleons, here in sand green color. The set does not include stickers or other decorative elements, but on the other hand is really full of known elements but in new and exclusive colors. An old in age but new in color is the piece of the bush , produced so far are bright green or lime green. This new dark green version will appeal to many diorama builders, to make the vegetation of their brick landscapes even more varied. The new large steering wheel that debuted last month with the LEGO 18 Plus set # 10274 Ghostbusters ECTO-1 is also featured in this new Botanical set, obviously in dark green. The instruction manual includes a brief introduction by LEG O Set designers - Anderson Grubb and Astrid Sundorf Christensen, along with a brief description of the six real flower varieties that inspired those included in the set. The set includes the elements needed to build three Roses, two Snapdragon (Snapdragon in the instruction manual), a Lavender flower, an Aster, two Common Daisies and a California Poppy. The set also includes three elements of green filler and two bushy twigs also fillers to complete the bouquet.The construction
The instruction manual of the set LEGO 18 Plus # 10280 Bouquet of Flowers guides us in building flowers one variety at a time, combining duplicates where possible. For example, the two Daisies are identical and therefore the manual reports a “2x” at the end of the steps to build the single daisy. The three roses have two variants of stem, so the steps have a "3x" indicator at the end of the steps to build the actual flowers, then diversifying those to make the two different stems, two straight and one angled (as happens with real roses). Some of the flowers have a simple stem consisting only of the 34-stud LEGO Technic Axle, while others have more complex stems to be made with connectors for the LEGO Technic 3L Axle joined together by Axle Technic 2L. If you are interested in reading the information sheets on real flowers and the story of the two LEGO designers who took care of this set, you can download HERE the Italian version of the introductory pages of the instruction manual.The Daisies
Building the LEGO 18 Plus set # 10280 Bouquet of Flowers begins with the Daisies. They are composed of a tight spiral of plate round elements: three flowers are built for each stem, with the place for the fourth flower occupied by the representation of a branch. Daisies are by far the simplest of the six flowers and the three, single flowers are set very simply on top of one of the sand green LEGO Technic Axles. Honestly, of the six flowers included in the set, they are the least successful and the least resemble the real flower. If it were not for the typical white color of the petals and yellow of the corolla, it would be difficult to recognize them as daisies and, thanks to the small size, they are lost a little easily inside the bouquet. I honestly don't think I would recognize them as daisies if it weren't for the key colors white and yellow. A different solution would have been more adequate to make the petals larger and more distinct, so as to make playing with them "loves me not loves me" credible.La Rose
We then move on to the construction of the Roses, and the complexity of the construction grows! The rosebuds included in LEGO 18 Plus # 10280 Flower Bouquet set consist of a small tan bracket structure at the top of a pair of dark green flyers above, which form a solid docking base for the colored petals. peach pink. Each rosebud consists of eight large petals. The construction of all 24 petals is a somewhat boring process but equally essential, inevitable and all in all quite fast. Unlike those of the Daisies, the stems of the roses are made with connectors for Axle Technic 3L dark green (a new color for this element too), joined together by Axle LEGO Technic 2L. A single left wing element of pterodactyl for each stem replicates the typical leaf found under the buds of real flowers. Roses are gorgeous, instantly recognizable as such. The light peach pink is very elegant, but perhaps a more vivid and brilliant color like red or white would perhaps have been preferable, but when combined with the bright colors of the Poppy and the two Snapdragons, the result is elegant and sober. In any case, the elements that are used to build the petals exist in various colors, so making Roses of other colors will be extremely simple, starting for example with the red ones in the LEGO expansion set # 40460 Roses.The California Poppy
The California Poppy, like the Daisies, is a very simple flower to make. In the center of the bud there is a well-designed assembly that lets the yellow clips work as a stamen. Four orange hood elements are attached to the external clips for the four orange petals of the Poppy. The final result is a little too precise, with the four petals a little too square and despite the bright color, it is not as evident as one might think while building it. On the other hand, being present in only one specimen inside the set, it contrasts with the violet colors of Aster, Lavender and Snapdragons.La Bocca di Leone
It is now the turn of the two Lion's mouths. Even if the editing is at times a bit boring because it is repetitive, the result is truly splendid. The central part made with octagonal plates provides an anchor point for the small buds of the Snapdragon. The real Snapdragon that can be found in nature in a great variety of colors, and with the appropriate LEGO elements in another color, it will be very easy to recreate various other versions. As for the variant included in the set, it is definitely the best made, with the best visual rendering and the best construction experience. Its bright magenta color becomes the focal point of the deck, and the flower really realistically mimics its real-life counterpart.The Lavender
The construction of the flower of Lavender is certainly the one that turned out to be the most boring (again due to the repetition of the steps), but the result is undoubtedly delightful to the eye. The construction of this flower basically consists of assembling 10 pieces to be repeated for as many times. The individual modules are then stacked to create the tall, flowing Lavender flowers. The variant of this flower reproduced with bricks and included in this set is the one that has very little spaced flowers along the stem. Not that the reproduction itself is inaccurate, but perhaps it would have been better if the variant chosen to be included had been one with the narrowest and most compact flowers to have a more lush and delicate appearance, rather than the woody appearance with many stems.L'Aster
Finally, it's the turn of the Aster flower. Complex and delicate, the structure of the Aster is made up of a series of concentric circles of small petals (34 in total). Just like lavender, it's not an engaging build per se, but the end result is really beautiful. The flower family of the Aster includes a very, very wide range of varieties, and the one chosen to be included in the set and reproduced with bricks is certainly not one of the most common, but there are indeed some that have petals. very closely arranged and close to each other, of uniform color, and the brick version is a splendid reproduction.The filling green
I Bushy sprigs of green filler included in LEGO 18 Plus set # 10280 Bouquet of Flowers probably represent a plant or shrub that actually exists in nature, but there is no indication of this in the instruction manual, so we are not told which one might be or what can be called the real counterpart. The purpose of these elements is to add volume and visual balance to the bouquet, so the information about the real counterpart is definitely not meaningful. These are extremely simple constructions but they are really a great completion of the whole.The same goes for the leaves: they also add visual balance and interest to the LEGO set 18 Plus # 10280 Bouquet of flowers. They are made with long sand green 16 × 4 wedges, with the surfboard element of the same color representing the tip. A pair of hinges has been inserted at the base of the leaves to be able to angle the base itself with respect to the stem of the leaf and adapt it to your needs.
