Showing posts with label lepin 15002 cafe corner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lepin 15002 cafe corner. Show all posts

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Lepin 15002 Not Lego Cafe Corner Set Review - Part Two

Due to my busy schedule, I'm not able to sit down and build the Lepin Cafe Corner modular all in one go.  So I'm just pacing myself and building it when I have time.   I took a look at the instruction manual and I figure I will build 10 steps each day. 

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The completed Lepin Cafe Corner.

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Day One


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The above picture shows the progress after reaching step 10 of the first floor.  All of the tiles for the base have been applied.  The building foundation has been laid and the walls and step construction is underway.  Day one complete.

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Day Two


its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

Here's the progress after day 2.   The building has now reached step 20 as per the instruction manual. The walls of the main floor are now up, as are the doors and windows.  First floor staircase for the hotel is now complete.  I had to bring in a few friends to help out with the construction.

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Day Three


Welcome to day 3 of the Lepin Cafe Corner build.   Got lots of pictures to share today.

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The first floor is now complete.  All the awnings and over door details have been installed.  As the interior space is empty, there's nothing new to report there.  The Hotel signage has also been fixed to the side of the building.

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Here's Sam the supervisor confirming that the left side of the cafe is complete.

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There's Dan the Man, taking a break in the shade.  Boy, is it ever hot out day.   Please note that the front door design of the Lepin Cafe is different than the original Lego door.   The baseplate corners are lifting ever so slightly, despite me trying to bend the corners down.

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Carpenter Ken decides to hide from Sam the Supervisor behind the cafe.  No windows here for anyone to spy on him.

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

The back of the cafe is really devoid of any details.   Hmm, this would be a really good place to put an outhouse, lol.

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

The HOTEL sign sure looks confusing when seen from behind.   The hotel door goes up the completed staircase but the second floor still needs to be built.

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

Dave and Mike are still cleaning up the mess left inside.   We are now finished step 30 in the instruction manual.  Today, I encountered a missing part, light gray 1x2 tile.  Not sure if I dropped it on the floor or it was missing from the set.  Luckily I've got lots of these in my brick inventory, so no delays yet on the build.  Well that's it for the pics from day 3.   See you tomorrow.

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*   *   *   *   *

Day Four


So this is how things looked at the end of Day 3.  On day 4, I started to build out the floor of the second storey and found I didn't have the necessary black plates to complete.  I kept checking the remaining parts and could not find them.  It was upon reviewing the instruction manual that I discovered that I made a big mistake on the last step.  

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

See the black brick plates over the awning?  That's supposed to be dark gray, not black. After I realized this mistake, the build started to go smoothly again.

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

Ok, this is how it's supposed to look.   All the debris has been swept up from the first floor too.

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

The exterior details like the tables and umbrellas have been added.  Also the bench and lamppost.  The bicycle was challenging until I realized the bike rim was two pieces.   The second floor walls are now being built up at the end of day 4.

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Day Five

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

More brown bricks added to the second floor walls today.  The second floor kind of snaps into the first floor, but it's a little bit loose.  Not sure if it's supposed to be that way or not.

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

Second floor windows installed and we're starting to use some red bricks now.  The last of the light blue bricks have been used up.  Stair railing added too.

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Here's the street view of the cafe corner so far.

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And finally the overhead shot of the second floor.   Oh, I forgot to mention that I changed the white lamp post from the set to a silver one instead.  I didn't like how the white post stood out.  Ok, that's a wrap for today.

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Day Six


Welcome to day 6.  We didn't really do a lot today so it will be a short update.  The top of the second storey walls were completed and the arch windows and grills added.  The grills are up and down grid shaped and not diagonal like the original Lego set.  The second floor staircase was put in also.

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular


To complete the second storey walls, you need to put some non-studded pieces around the rear perimeter of the cafe building.  I was supposed to have 4 1x4 brown smooth bricks to complete the top of the walls.  

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

Instead, I got 4 1x6 smooth bricks instead.   I used a couple of them and rearranged the placement of the bricks.  I didn't have any 1x2 smooth brown bricks, so I ended up using a couple of 1x2 brown grill pieces instead.

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

Wrong bricks, should be 1x4, not 1x6.

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

 Anyways, after that little diversion, work started on the third floor base.

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

Carpenter Ken, get back to work and quit ogling the girls.  Tomorrow, the third floor walls and windows go up, see you then.

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Day Seven



Well it's been almost one entire week, ( well actually a couple of hours each day), and the Lepin Cafe Corner is finally complete.

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After the third floor walls went up, we didn't stop to take any more pictures. The workers had to hurry up construction as they have another job to go to.

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These were the left over parts after completing the build.   Luckily the handful of parts that were missing were easily replaced by other bricks in my stash.

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And here's the completed set. Yay!

So I really enjoyed the build, although I did it somewhat leisurely.   I did not sort out all the parts, and basically left them in their 43 different bags (yes, I counted) and hunted for them as I needed them.

I really like the colour scheme and some of the interesting building techniques such as building the hotel sign, and putting in the angled front facade.   I wished that there was an interior on each floor, but that's now something that I will plan for and add to the building later.   The set is quite sturdy so I don't have to make any adjustments structurally, however the door leading to the hotel stairs is loose (looks like a design flaw), so I will come up with a fix for that.

I'm already thinking of some minor modifications to the Cafe corner such as replacing the front door with a full glass door.  I want to fence off and make a patio area where the tables are.  I want to add some planter boxes under some of the windows and add a door and window or two to the rear of the building.

Well, that was fun, soon i will tackle my next set which is the Lepin 15004 Fire Brigade set.  See you then.

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular



Brand: Lepin
Series: Creator Modulars
Model: 15002 Cafe Corner
Number of pieces:  2133 pieces, according to the description
Price paid: $71 CDN (after Aliexpress seller discounts and coupons),  DHL shipping included.

Recommended?  Big YES.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Lepin 15002 Not Lego Cafe Corner Set Review - Part One

Having read many positive reviews on Facebook and brick forums about the Lepin modulars, I decided to spend some money and I ordered two sets from Aliexpress.  I ordered two sets instead of one so that the shipping costs could be combined and make it more cost effective.   I bought the Lepin 15002 Cafe Corner and the Lepin 15008 Green Grocer sets to review.

Normally I look for free shipping on my Aliexpress purchases, but when searching for the Lepin modulars I found building sets to be cheaper with separate DHL shipping, than those sets with prices that included free shipping.

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One week after I ordered my sets from Aliexpress, my doorbell rung and a giant package was left on my doorstep.  I opened the door just in time to watch the DHL delivery truck pull away.  Here's what I got:



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Here's the package after unravelling.  There were two Lepin sets inside.  One was the Cafe Corner set that I ordered, but the other set was the 15004 Fire Brigade set, not the Green Grocer set.  I've contacted the seller to let them know of the mixup and hopefully we can find a solution.  For now I'll start reviewing the Cafe Corner set.

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

The Lepin Cafe Corner is a knockoff of the Lego Cafe Corner 10182. I didn't count all of the separate packages that make up the Lepin modular, just too many to count.  You get all the bricks pictured here, an instruction booklet and two green base plates.  Here are some sample pics of the manual.

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

The minifigures:  Apparently the hair pieces do not match that of the original Lego minifigures.

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

its-not-lego.blogspot.com, lepin 15002 cafe corner modular

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Well, that's it for now.  I'll start building the Cafe Corner and post pics when I'm done.

Update:  You can check my progress of the Lepin Cafe Corner build here.