I think it’s a nice companion piece to my Working Ski Hill model, and would make a great addition to any Winter Village display. A full building kit is available from BuildaMOC, or you can get just the instructions from Rebrickable. Continue reading for more into about the model and detailed build notes.

History

This model celebrates two of my favourite winter activities – ice skating and visiting a sugar shack. For those who may not be familiar, sugar shacks are small cabins where maple sap is boiled down into syrup. They’re also known for making a delicious treat by pouring the hot maple syrup onto snow, where it hardens into candy. You can spot this tasty treat displayed on the counter in the shack at the back of the scene.

I started working on this model a year ago, and slowly refined it throughout the last winter season. Earlier this year, I submitted it to Series 7 of the Bricklink Designer Program, but it was ultimately passed over. Since then, I have made a few minor changes, mostly to optimize the part list, hopefully making it a bit easier for other people to collect the pieces needed to assemble it.

Instructions and Build Notes

Build It Yourself

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Buy Instructions

Parts List

Rebrickable Page

Mechanics

The mechanics aren’t too complex in the whole scope of things, but if you don’t have much experience building mechanical models it might feel a bit daunting.

As with any Technic model, you should make sure all axles and assemblies rotate smoothly as you are building them. Pushing bushings on too tightly can introduce excessing friction in the system, for example.

Note that the entire mechanical system won’t fully function until the step adding the crank. Once the crank is added, you should definitely test it to make sure the system is working smoothly.

12 Tooth Gear

I am using the relative new non-beveled 12 tooth gear (69778) in the pirouette mechanism. You can use the original double beveled version (32270), but they have more of a flat spot on the very end of the gear teeth, which can occasionally snag as the gear meshes with the gear rack.

Tree

Building the tree is a bit fiddly, but hopefully it isn’t too annoying.

Power

There are two axles that can drive the model, one exposed on the side for the hand crank, and one leading out the back for a motor. The instructions illustrate how to build a motor assembly for the back using Circuit Cubes components. If you choose to build this motor assembly, you will need the following components (not listed in the inventory).

1 x Geared Motor Cube
1 x Regular Battery Cube or Bluetooth Battery Cube

You are, of course, welcome to build a custom motor assembly using any LEGO compatible motor to drive either of the drive axles. I’ve built some Technic holes into the base on the side and back for attaching any you might build.

In the end there was just enough room in the body of the yellow planter to accommodate some gears to make its arms and plant rotate. The plant does have to sit a bit higher in order to make room.

The blue planter is too short to make the plant rotate, but the rotating arms make it scoot across the floor on its butt, which I think is pretty hilarious. You can see both of the models in action in the short video below, and you can continue reading to find building instructions for the yellow planter.

I put together instructions for the yellow planter, if you want to see how it works or try to recreate it yourself. It requires 26 additional pieces, which you can find in this custom list on Rebrickable: 2509 Dancing Yellow Plant Extra Parts. The blue planter is modified in a similar fashion, though I haven’t made instructions for it.

Build It Yourself

Free Building Guide (PDF)

Parts List

Rebrickable Page

The instructions depict motorizing it using a Circuit Cubes Regular Battery Cube and Geared Motor Cube, but other LEGO compatible motors will work. It can also be manually controlled by rotating the Technic axle connector exposed on the back of the model.

The video below shows it in action and you can read on for more information about the model, including the building instructions.

The idea and mechanical design for this model are from my friend Dustin Lebel, one of my fellow ParLUGment members. When he brought his original model to a meeting a couple of months ago, I was blown away by his novel approach to separating the leaves. I quickly built my own version and, with his blessing, refined the appearance and made it suitable to release as a custom model.

Building instructions are available on Rebrickable and a full kit is available for preorder from BuildaMOC. Note that if you order the kit with the minifig, it will ship with Homer’s work shirt, not the plain white shirt as shown in the video. Unfortunately the plain white shirt torso cannot be sourced in quantity anymore.

Build It Yourself

Buy kit from BuildaMOC

Buy Instructions

Parts List

Rebrickable Page

Build Notes

The build should be pretty straightforward, but special care should be taken when placing the rotating leaf components. They need to be angled pretty much exactly as shown in the instructions in order not to interfere with Homer as he slides in and out. When placing these components as depicted, Homer should also be as far back as possible in the bushes.

You can see a demonstration of the motorized model in the video below, and continue reading to find the freely available building instructions.

Design

I increased the depth of the base in order to insert a Technic Chain into the gap between the tracks. This track meshes with a gear in the back, which is driven by the motor. One link of the chain has a bar attached to it (part 3249), which is what pulls the shuttle along the tracks.

To motorize it, I’m using a Circuit Cubes Geared Motor Cube and a Battery Cube. You can manually power it using a hand crank as well if you don’t have a motor.

Instructions

If you would like to make the changes yourself, or just see how it works, you can find the building instructions below. The parts list contains the parts for the entire model, which include those that come in the set. If you just want to see which extra parts you will need, you can check out the inventory on Rebrickable.

Build It Yourself

Free Building Guide (PDF)

Parts List

Rebrickable Page

LEGO recently released 31162 Cute Bunny, another great Creator 3-in-1 set, and I decided it needed to be given the ability to poop out candy treats. If you follow our work, you may remember that I made a similar modification to set 31133 White Rabbit last year. You can watch the video below to get a full breakdown of the design, and read on for building instructions and more information.

A kit is also available from BuildaMOC, with either just the extra pieces needed to make the modification, or with the set as well.

Build It Yourself

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Free Building Guide (PDF)

Parts List

Rebrickable Page

Parts List

The parts list above includes all the pieces needed to build the model, including those that come with the set. If you own the set, you only need 103 extra parts, which you can see on this custom part list on Rebrickable: https://rebrickable.com/users/JKBrickworks/lists/458931

Bunny Design

I was able to reuse many of the design elements from the original set. The legs, ears and tail are identical, so if you’ve already built the bunny, you don’t need to rebuild them. I’ve duplicated the assembly steps for these components in the building instructions for the convenience of those who haven’t already built it.

The head is mostly the same as the original except for the pieces at the bottom where it connects to the body. If you have the head already built, you can partially disassemble it and rebuild the bottom. The steps with the modified parts are steps 98 to 101 and step 127.

Mechanism

The mechanism is pretty much the same as my previous modification to the White Rabbit set, with some small improvements to durability. It consists of 3 tiered levels, each holding one pellet. When you press down on the bunny’s head, it pushes a shuttle that pushes the pellet on the lowest tier out through the tail flap, and each of the other pellets down to the next level.

Pellets

The instructions show how you can make some LEGO pellets to use for ‘poop’, but I originally designed this with dispensing Easter candies in mind. I’ve tested it with some generic chocolate Easter Eggs and Creamy Caramels, as shown in the video. I haven’t tested this version with Hershey Kisses, but I imagine they will work just as well as for the previous bunny.

It is designed to hold 3 candies, but it could hold more smaller ones. Just be aware that the risk of it jamming increases if you do so. Obviously the candies can’t be too large either.

As I was working on the model, I thought it might be suitable to submit to the Bricklink Designer Program, and it is currently gathering support here: https://www.bricklink.com/…/Skating-at-the-Sugar-Shack

If you like it, and want to see it potentially turned into a set, be sure to head over there and give it some love. A full overview of the model and design breakdown can be seen in the video below. I think it would make a great addition to any LEGO winter village display, and a fun companion piece to my working ski hill model.

Further down is a picture of it within the rest of our fossil gallery recreation, but I also designed it to be a stand-alone display model, and you can find building instructions below if you would like to build your own.

Build It Yourself

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Buy Instructions

Parts List

Rebrickable Page

It is constructed in a style similar to the LEGO Art sets. There are a lot of small bar and clip connections to get the intricate bone details, but the build should be pretty straightforward.

You can see a demonstration of the model in the video below, and continue reading for the updated building instructions, along with more details on the changes and why I made them.

A full build kit is also available from BuildaMOC if you would like to get all the parts needed to build it yourself.

Model Updates

The biggest change relates to the drive system. For this version, I included the option to power it manually, using a hand crank, or using a Circuit Cubes Geared Motor Cube. If you want to use a LEGO Powered Up or Power Functions motor, you can build the section supporting the sleigh using the previous version of the instructions.

I also addressed potential performance issues due to variations in part 2853 Technic Engine Crankshaft. There are two versions of this part, one of which has a slightly longer axle component. If you happened to use this version of the part, it introduced a lot of friction between the Technic bricks constraining them. This update still uses that part, but I changed the configuration of the galloping mechanism to eliminate the problem with the longer axle version.

Building Instructions

Build It Yourself

Buy kit from BuildaMOC

Free Building Guide (PDF)

Parts List

Rebrickable Page

Inventory

The parts list assumes you already own set 40499, so it only includes the additional parts you will need to build the base.

The instructions and inventory are also for the 4 reindeer version. The design is modular, so it can be easily extended by building more of the reindeer base sections. The interface between sections has not been changed, so the single reindeer base (for Rudolph) from the previous version can still be used.

Build Notes

Since the reindeer and sleigh all move, the reins cannot be rigidly clipped to the reindeer like they are in the set, which requires the clips on the reindeer to be replaced. These changes are clearly noted in the instructions.

The reindeer are connected to each crank shaft with a single stud below their front hoof, and they can be a bit finicky to attach. I find it is easiest to brace the cone connected to the crank with a finger before attaching the reindeer.

Circuit Cubes Components

If you decide to power it using the Circuit Cubes, I’m using the following comonents.

1 x Geared Motor Cube
1 x Regular Battery Cube

You can purchase Circuit Cubes on their website, or one of their resellers, which you can find listed here: https://circuitcubes.com/pages/stores

Despite the long delay, we haven’t abandoned this project, and the last few weeks have seen a flurry of progress as we have been madly finishing up this model for the Bricks in the 6 LEGO show in Toronto happening next weekend.

You can watch the video below to see the current state of the model, along with discussion of the progress that has been made since the previous update video. Hopefully we finish it in time!

You can watch the video to get a breakdown of the design and see it in action. Continue reading for more details of the model, along with the building instructions if you would like to build it yourself.

Candies

I’m using small square creamy caramel candies pictures below, which are pretty common here in Canada, and are produced by at least a few candy manufacturers. I’m sure you can use other candies that are of similar size, basically anything around the size of two stacked 2×2 LEGO bricks. In fact, it can launch two stacked 2×2 LEGO bricks quite well, as seen in the video. I’m sure other sized candies could be used with appropriate changes to the feed system.

Instructions

The model is built from the LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor set (51515), so if you have that set, you will have all the pieces needed. The build should be pretty straightforward, though connecting the second motor is a bit tricky, and requires pulling the model apart slightly in order to get it connected.

Build It Yourself

Free Building Guide (PDF)

Parts List

Rebrickable Page

Program

The program is extremely simple. It waits until something comes within range of the distance sensor (10 cm), then launches two candies by rotating the launch arms one full rotation (9 rotations of the motors). You can download the program here ( 2415caramelLauncher.lms ), or simply recreate it to match the image below.

If you use this program, you will need to connect the motors to ports A and B, and the distance sensor to port F.