LEGO Technic 42154 Ford GT detailed building review - smaller means better?

LEGO Technic 42154 Ford GT detailed building review - smaller means better?


LEGO Technic 42154 Ford GT detailed building review - smaller means better?

The LEGO Technic 42154 2022 Ford GT is the first set of the March 2023 wave I review on the channel. It is smaller than the usual branded 1:10 scale Technic cars but on paper it has all of their features and even more, can it be the winning combination?

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Content

3.57 -> Hi everyone, this is Balazs from RacingBrick!
5.96 -> LEGO Technic sets come in different waves, you could already see the January 2023 sets
10.71 -> on this channel, now it's time to review everything that comes in March!
14.94 -> Here are the 4 boxes, and we will start with the biggest one, this is the 42154 Ford GT!
21.6 -> It's an 18+ set with the usual design, you can see the dark blue car on a black background
26.33 -> with all the different logos around it.
28.47 -> On the back of the box there's the rear of the car, the dimensions in the bottom row,
32.739 -> some data about the real one, a group photo and another one of the original Ford GT.
37.399 -> Let's open the box!
38.49 -> The set has 1466 pieces, the price is 120 EUR / USD and it will be available from March
46.73 -> 1st.
47.73 -> Oh boy, this sticker sheet really suffered in this box, and even the manual has some
51.57 -> battle scars.
52.75 -> Why couldn't they put them in an envelope?
54.81 -> I mean this really sets the mood even before we start building the set, c'mon LEGO this
59.64 -> is really something you could fix easily.
61.9 -> There are 11 numbered bags in the set with 5 building phases, an unnumbered one with
66.46 -> the rims and bigger frames, 4 tires, the poor sticker sheet and the manual.
71.59 -> We get a nice comparison photo with the real car here, some details of the LEGO build,
76.47 -> then about the 2022 Ford GT, a little history lesson about the generations of this model,
82.29 -> and a few words from Milan Reindl, the designer of the model.
85.36 -> Too bad his name is spelled wrong here, that one should be an L at the end.
89.9 -> I know it has nothing to do with the model itself, but this is a rookie mistake I found
94.42 -> instantly.
95.42 -> Quality control has a lot of work to do at several LEGO departments...
98.65 -> I had a chance to talk to Milan about the model and he shared some great insights, I
103.049 -> will share all the information from that interview in this video.
106.45 -> He was very passionate about this set as the GT40 MK IV is his favorite car of all time.
111.92 -> Here is the part list of the set if you are interested, now let's start building!
115.75 -> We begin with the rear axle and the good old differential, then comes this brand new double
120.11 -> CV joint piece, I don't know yet the official name.
123.11 -> This is a solution for a very specific problem, the scale and more precisely the width of
128.22 -> the car and the 5 module long wishbone setup that is required for that.
132.11 -> As you see these old CV joints wouldn't fit as they are one module longer together, so
136.88 -> this new part was necessary.
138.77 -> The new piece does not seem to be as versatile as these pieces here where you can extend
143.269 -> the length by putting longer axles in between, but we'll see.
146.95 -> It's interesting to find a white half bush in a Technic set, last time it happened was
151.4 -> 19 years ago if I'm not mistaken.
154 -> This one is even funnier, I mentioned the white half pin in my recent Stuntz video as
158.59 -> it never appeared in a Technic set before, well the time has finally come!
163.29 -> And we can see the transparent engine blocks appearing again after the BMW motorbike and
167.819 -> the Batmobile, this might not be a realistic representation according to some, but Milan
172.62 -> is a huge fan of these, and he wanted to use them because it makes the inner workings of
177.09 -> the engine more visible, and people at Ford were also happy with this solution.
181.709 -> Yet another recolor you will really like, we had the green version in the Monster Jam
185.959 -> Dragon, now the 7 module long flip flop beam is available in a more versatile dark bluish
190.68 -> gray color.
191.68 -> We are adding some very specific complex structures to the build, this one will be part of the
196.12 -> hand of God steering setup for sure.
198.629 -> Time to add the shock absorbers, now we get the ones with hard spring in black!
202.94 -> According to Milan these are only recolors and should have the same stiffness as before,
207.489 -> interestingly the coil setup has changed in the past 1-2 years for the hard ones.
211.98 -> Previously we had this setup that Bricklink calls the one with tight coils in the middle,
216.34 -> and now this one with tight coils at the end.
219.09 -> These are listed as alternate items for a few recent sets, as I have early samples they
223.76 -> all still have the old variation, but I guess now they are sold with the new ones.
228.23 -> Anyway, I think we'll see this setup going forward, according to my very non-scientific
233.11 -> test their performance is quite similar, it is very difficult to define an exact endpoint
238.08 -> and power.
239.239 -> If you made better measurements please let me know in the comments!
242.53 -> Things get quite crowded back here, we connected the differential to the fake engine, but there's
247.189 -> a mechanism here that'll control the rear wing I guess.
250.42 -> This glow in the dark rod won't be really visible when the car is finished but it was
254.34 -> available to use so Milan thought it's a nice piece to add.
258.03 -> Here we are at the end of phase 1.
260.049 -> We begin phase 2, and here's this rather new piece that appeared this year in the Dump
264.33 -> Truck where it was required for the steering setup.
267.18 -> The assembly is quite specific and requires attention, now we realize that we are building
271.729 -> the front axle.
272.88 -> Here comes the steering rack and the gears, and as you can see things got pretty dense
277.18 -> around here.
278.18 -> Time to attach it to the rest of the build!
280.32 -> We continue building some very specific assemblies, full attention is certainly required as the
285.13 -> manual might be tricky.
287.13 -> Here due to the perspective you might think that grey piece is connected somehow to the
291.27 -> pin hole on the black L beam, but as you see in reality it is not.
295.45 -> And it does not stop here, when you put the assembly in place you are supposed to be able
299.49 -> to push the grey pin with bush in the hole of the white connector piece, but they don't
304.139 -> line up.
305.139 -> The whole thing is very wobbly as the front and rear sections are not connected yet, but
309.35 -> to be able to do that you need to lift the whole thing up, push that rear mechanism all
313.84 -> the way down and then the pieces will line up.
316.6 -> I wish this was explained better in the instructions.
319.69 -> We add the bases of the door mechanism that have a quite complex geometry on their own.
324.31 -> The first stickered pieces are for the dashboard, and here's the steering wheel that is not
328.36 -> connected to the wheels unfortunately.
330.57 -> Here are the seats, don't try to push that pin with pin hole fully in place as it won't
335.15 -> work, that's by design.
337 -> We finally arrived to the point when the big side frames are attached, and I think it could
341.11 -> have been done differently.
342.75 -> We are at step 203, and the front and rear sections were joined in step 126.
348.61 -> Since that step only that steering cross axle connected the 2 sections, making the handling
353.91 -> of the model very inconvenient, as they can separate very easily.
358.169 -> Actually nothing required us to join those 2 sections at that point, so it could have
362.08 -> been much better to add the dashboard, the seats and everything else to the 2 assemblies
367.229 -> separately, and then join them together right now right before the big frames are added.
371.77 -> Make sure to have that blue pin attached properly to the frame by the way as that won't be trivial,
376.479 -> the geometry you see there is quite impressive.
379.21 -> Here is the build at half time, you can see already how the mechanism of the rear wing
382.91 -> works with that lever, and also most of the hand of God steering.
387.069 -> There's also one thing I noticed, the surprisingly unified color scheme of the whole chassis.
391.99 -> There's no trace of the usual colorful pieces that most of you call color vomit, we have
396.81 -> a nice and pleasant palette of pieces.
399.19 -> Milan's focus was mostly on the reusability of all parts for potential alternate models
404.16 -> for example, but I think everyone will like this approach for one reason or another.
408.88 -> Here's phase 3 and we start to add the body elements, there are tons of pieces that are
413.31 -> new in dark blue.
414.59 -> The dark blue / white racing stripe color combination was specifically requested by
418.99 -> Ford, and they also wanted to see as much striping being brick-built as possible.
423.86 -> We have the A pillars and the hand of God steering knob in place, then comes the rear
428.23 -> section that has a nice printed GT tile, then the diffuser with a lot of small panel fairings,
433.639 -> and a system assembly with a substantial amount of stickers.
436.8 -> We start to build the iconic teardrop shape of the cockpit and the rear section, just
441.069 -> look how this assembly is carefully designed to fit into that space and connect firmly
445.31 -> on both ends.
446.78 -> Here's one of the new 11 module wide wheel arch element with the surrounding pieces including
451.569 -> hidden System bricks here and there, and once you line it up properly it's a perfect fit!
456.3 -> Then comes one of the flying buttresses, then the same assemblies go to the other side,
460.81 -> and the final thing to build from phase 3 is the rear spoiler.
464.37 -> In phase 4 we start covering the front end, then comes the other new 11 module wide wheel
469.21 -> arch piece with the curved top.
471.18 -> These new elements will also appear on the new Firefighter aircraft, but this time they
475.479 -> are transparent and printed.
477.129 -> They are attached to this clever assembly with funky angles that still work somehow
481.449 -> and the whole thing is surprisingly solid.
483.569 -> System studs being attached to Technic pin holes, then the whole thing goes in place.
488.02 -> This connection adds extra stability, and then comes the grille.
491.53 -> Here's the assembly to finish the hood, then we need to add two of these tricky things
495.12 -> with the flex axles to complete the front end, and it is time to open the last bag!
499.99 -> This one has the engine cover with some accents made of System bricks.
504.08 -> The last challenge is to build the doors, it begins with some seemingly random pieces
508.17 -> loosely attached to each other, but then everything goes in place and we have this thing full
512.919 -> of quirky angles, it looks super cool once it is attached to the body.
516.89 -> All we have to do is to add the wheels, and the build is finished!
520.08 -> So, here is our finished Ford GT in its full glory!
523.529 -> I think this color scheme looks great on the car, I totally understand why Ford wanted
528.48 -> to have it.
529.83 -> Panels flow nicely everywhere with fewer gaps than usual, the appearance of the new smaller
534.399 -> panel fairings really help with the body shaping.
537.139 -> The iconic teardrop shape is clearly visible from the top, we can respect how the panels
541.81 -> of the door continue seamlessly towards the rear with that iconic tunnel under the flying
546.5 -> buttresses.
547.73 -> The door mechanism works very nicely, this was one of the biggest challenges of the model
551.9 -> to solve and a close cooperation of experienced Technic designers was necessary to solve it.
557.579 -> It still does not open as wide or as high as Milan would prefer, but I think they did
562.459 -> a respectable job.
563.93 -> We have an easy to use hand of God steering knob on the roof that can be removed for display.
568.2 -> A part of the hood can be opened, and also the engine cover at the rear.
572.519 -> The fake engine is visibly driven by the differential, and the pistons can be easily observed thanks
577.53 -> to the transparent engine block pieces.
579.77 -> The rear wing is operated by the lever in the cabin, and we can also adjust it manually
584.27 -> to simulate the air brake.
586.36 -> We have independent suspension at the front and at the back as well.
590.07 -> The model received some complaints after the reveal for the big gaps between the wheel
594.209 -> arches and the wheels, well if we want a noticeable suspension travel then there's a gap required.
599.709 -> There's no current wheel / rim combination in the lineup that would have a better fit,
603.899 -> theoretically these would fit in the wheel arch but they are too wide, and proportionally
608.68 -> also too big compared to the real car.
611.529 -> About the scale - I think you only realize how small it is if we put it next to some
615.339 -> previous 1:10 scale cars like the Ferrari 488 or the Porsche, it looks super tiny.
620.85 -> It is actually closer to the Ford Raptor which is about 1:13 scale.
625.62 -> 1:12 wasn't a designer decision by the way, it was defined by the Marketing and Creative
630.75 -> lead team.
631.76 -> As Milan said the complex shaping of the car didn't really work in this smaller scale,
636.38 -> but they didn't want to go bigger for some reason, so that was the compromise made.
640.73 -> I think the fact that the functions that we could find in these bigger models, and actually
645.17 -> even more with the adjustable rear spoiler could be squeezed in a car of this size is
650.089 -> truly remarkable.
651.779 -> There are of course things to complain about, the wheel arch profiles don't really match,
656.12 -> headlights neither, proportions are somewhat off looking from the side, but all these are
660.93 -> limitations of the material itself, and it's not a diecast model after all.
665.47 -> The building experience is quite challenging, it teaches you a lot about the process of
669.6 -> body sculpting with Technic elements.
671.779 -> I know some people would look for a gearbox or anything mechanical inside, but don't forget
676.61 -> that we did get less than this in ever bigger branded car models previously.
681.24 -> Considering the price point of all these cars you can see here, I think we get a lot of
685.69 -> experience and look for our money.
688.05 -> There's a whole world of difference if we compare it to Dom's Dodge Charger from a building
692.13 -> complexity perspective.
693.839 -> It's a shame the 18+ label made the previous age rating pretty much useless in the Technic
698.44 -> world, but as the Porsche RSR was a 10+ set, I would easily add the 14+ label for this
704.74 -> one, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who's looking for a nice and challenging
709.09 -> Technic building experience focusing more on the styling but still having a decent amount
714.24 -> of functionality.
715.92 -> Please let me know your thoughts in the comments folks, if you liked this video then please
719.32 -> give it a thumbs up, and don't forget to subscribe with notifications as we have all these Technic
724.61 -> reviews coming very soon, and even more of course!
726.079 -> See you next time, bye bye!

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LDVKNAfes4