LEGO 42138 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 - Technic

Let’s get the few could be better out of the way. It was missing 2 pieces. And the instructions were a mere suggestion and not really helpful. The artwork while wonderful. I found the assembly path wanting. I used a YouTube video slowed down by .25x speed and followed the builder with ease. He put up a template of what you are going to need and how many of them. Cool! The assembly using the video was really fun. I am a grown adult, and never assembled Legos before. Now I am hooked. Having owned a real Mustang GT. This model just resonated with me. All the pieces went together with ease. The stickers easy to apply, just put them on straight. I used a magnifying light for more precision. I used a skillet to maintain the parts. Yeah sounds silly but it worked great. ... MoreLet’s get the few could be better out of the way. It was missing 2 pieces. And the instructions were a mere suggestion and not really helpful. The artwork while wonderful. I found the assembly path wanting. I used a YouTube video slowed down by .25x speed and followed the builder with ease. He put up a template of what you are going to need and how many of them. Cool! The assembly using the video was really fun. I am a grown adult, and never assembled Legos before. Now I am hooked. Having owned a real Mustang GT. This model just resonated with me. All the pieces went together with ease. The stickers easy to apply, just put them on straight. I used a magnifying light for more precision. I used a skillet to maintain the parts. Yeah sounds silly but it worked great. This kit while missing 2 pieces it did have a few spare pieces left. I used on piece to improvise holding the steering column to the dash just fine. I actually think my improvised piece was better than the original. The other was the hood. I combined 2 spare pieces to complete the hood and used tape underneath to hold it in place. There is no visible evidence there, so all is good. This is a static model so the 2 pull motors mean nothing to me. Would have like a bit more detail like under the hood. Give us that flat crank V8. But there is so much to like. I would love a Camaro ZL-1 to compete with and a Challenger Hellcat too to complete the set. I love cars and been a fan since I was 5 years old. This model is fun, not messy, no paint, no glue, and gives you a great sense of accomplishment when you are done. Next kit is the MClaren Senna, then the Corvette. I am hooked and I love how these go together. I used The Brick Builder from YouTube to assemble this. I think he is the best. If you put this Mustang together you can save the instructions and just watch him and build along with him. Just pause and slow down the video or replay as needed. I recommend this kit for great fun. You can maybe be a kid again too.

For some background, I’m a fairly novice, older LEGO builder who enjoys a fun, speedier build. I’ve also built the older Corvette model, which is similar in size and price to this kit, and as a result, I’ve mostly compared this kit to that one.My quick answer is that this kit is a marked improvement over the older kit. The biggest frustration for me with the Corvette kit is that I had built a bunch of non-Technic kits that had parts nicely segmented, and the Corvette kit had all parts mixed together. This meant that a large portion of my build time was spent hunting for one specific piece among piles. (I didn’t have a ton of room to do a lot of organization.) This kit follows suit with LEGO’s newer format of using numbered bags as everything is split into two ... MoreFor some background, I’m a fairly novice, older LEGO builder who enjoys a fun, speedier build. I’ve also built the older Corvette model, which is similar in size and price to this kit, and as a result, I’ve mostly compared this kit to that one.My quick answer is that this kit is a marked improvement over the older kit. The biggest frustration for me with the Corvette kit is that I had built a bunch of non-Technic kits that had parts nicely segmented, and the Corvette kit had all parts mixed together. This meant that a large portion of my build time was spent hunting for one specific piece among piles. (I didn’t have a ton of room to do a lot of organization.) This kit follows suit with LEGO’s newer format of using numbered bags as everything is split into two separate numbered set of bags. It didn’t make things perfect, but it felt like a much less frustrating build.Now, for the big part of this kit… its unique feature: the pull-back mechanism. Overall, the pull-back mechanism works fine, but there are two minor caveats to it that could’ve been worked better.The first is that it’s very easy to push the rear wheels in too far, which causes them to rub against the frame, and the pull back will not work. I’d recommend putting a spacer prior to the wheel on the axel.The second issue is that part of the build is to create a long lever that is used to release the car after pulling it back. This lever cannot be installed while the Cobra-adorned rear plate is attached. This seems like an awkward choice given that the main part of the lever is visible between the roof and the spoiler, meaning that a raised piece going between those would’ve likely worked better. (I don’t have enough spare LEGO pieces to really try this out.)Honestly, I almost swore off the Technic kits in this price range after the Corvette, but in the end, this kit rejuvenated me. It’s not a perfect kit, but it’s fun, relatively inexpensive, and a bit different with its pull-back feature! The best part is that my complaints with the kit are fun areas to try to make your own improvements!

Beautiful car and fun to build this kit. I would highly recommend this to any car enthusiast. Great project for anyone who likes to do puzzles or build things. The details and instructions are easy to read and the completed project is a master piece.