Late night affairs
Pat burns the midnight oil as he builds a Lego new Defender
Ihad a great African childhood, growing up in a conservative fishing village. My parents lovingly provided for me and my five brothers and sisters. Lots of play (and serious) fighting with my siblings but more importantly we created many memories that will last a lifetime or at least until dementia sets in.
We were anything but spoilt. Dad was a credit controller and ran a tight ship. I remember using mum’s old wooden tennis racquet when playing matches for the school. It had a warped head, probably because we left it in the rain at some stage. Still it did the trick. There was no money for Lego or computer games and we only had four channels on our little TV.
Why am I telling you this in a Land Rover magazine? Well, when the Lego new Defender recently launched I just had to have one. Some might say I am still a child at heart though I will argue that I am just an enthusiast who loves anything Land Rover-related. At nearly £160 the Lego Defender is pretty expensive though Costco were selling them for £130 at one stage so do shop around. My cousin and her partner are Lego aficionados and they recommended a Chinese website who do knock-off versions for about a fifth of the price. Fortunately, I was given the real deal by Lego for a review.
The first thing to note about the Lego Defender is that it comes in a very big box! In fact the box is 58x48x9cm. That box is filled with many plastic bags of Lego, all numbered between one and four so you know which ones to use first. There are 2573 pieces in total and it says suitable for ages 11 plus. I began by putting the pieces from the various number one bags into separate plastic containers. In fact, I used old curry take-away containers. They were perfect for this.
Then I did a very stupid thing. I poured myself a whiskey and sat by the fire and started. Why was this stupid? The nearly 500-page manual has 860 steps in it and when I got to step three I used the wrong piece. I’m blaming the low lighting which made me use a bigger black cog instead of the smaller grey one. Once I got to step 90 I realised that I had made a mistake. By now it was well after midnight and so I went to bed.
So the following night once everyone was in bed I took it all apart and started again. Without an alcoholic drink this time. I went on until about 3.00am and reached step 200. Yes I am a little slower than the average person. I am a Lego virgin remember? I was really enjoying the process. It was pure therapeutic escapism. Just me, the manual and 2573 pieces. The more I built, the faster I became, and the more I began to understand the process of how Lego works. At times it all just flowed beautifully and quickly. I became a little addicted to be honest, and obsessive about it. Every morning Isaac my
six-year-old would want to see the progress that I had made for himself.
All-in-all it took the best part of four long nights to complete. I absolutely enjoyed every single minute of those long nights, even when discovering my mistake. I cannot believe the level of detail of the Lego new Defender. It has to be seen to be believed. The rear seats fold forward so that you can have a good look at the four-speed sequential gearbox, the most sophisticated Technic gearbox ever, according to Lego. Even the pistons move up and down just like on a real in-line six-cylinder engine. Then turn the spare wheel and the rear door opens. Pull a lever and the winch cable disengages – turn a special wheel and you can wind the cable back in again. I have posted a few pictures of my finished Lego Defender on social media and more than one person has commented that the Lego version looks better than the new Defender!
I know it’s one heck of an investment for the average Joe but trust me you will spend more on going out for a few nights in a row! The Lego new Defender is a must-have for any serious Land Rover enthusiast. If I can comfortably build it then so can you.