Revisiting the Carousel

My LEGO Set 10257

Here's mine - you'll notice I've added the power functions kit and fitted it to a large 48x48 dark green baseplate. (I'll wait for the shouts of horror, since The LEGO Group never made one this size in this colour!)

The battery pack is a real problem for this set. It simply has to live in the top part of the carousel, yet doing so is both in the way and inconvenient to turn on and off.

First dismantle the top of the carousel to reveal the battery pack.

Then take the battery pack and carefully slide it down through the wires so it hangs down next to the animals.

You'll also need these two things : an elastic band and a long LEGO brick. I've used a technic beam since it was to hand but a 10 or 12 stud long brick would do fine too.

Loop the elastic band around one end, down around the battery pack, and back up again.

Et voila - the battery pack is out of sight, firmly help under the carousel's top, and the on/off switch is within easy reach.

This may be a personal gripe but others may agree. Once the set is fully assembled and lit up you can see the flashing coloured lights through the canopy, and they highlight all the wires.

After a quick bit of measuring I used four thin sheets of A4 card and glued them together at the edges to make a larger sheet. Then cut out a circle. Cut a slit across one side and bring the edges together to make a slight cone shape. The end result needs to be about 31cm in diameter with a 6cm hole in the centre.

You'll see below that I've cut out notches around the edges. This is to get the shield out of the way of the connectors for the white roof struts that sit on top of the canopy. Just lay the shield on the model, mark where those connectors are with a pencil, and cut out a bit. This doesn't have to be hugely accurate or scientific!

And here's how it looks once done. You can see that the flashing coloured lights don't show through, and the white cardboard reflects the light downwards nicely onto the animals and riders.

The end result : it looks just like before - but better!

Oliver

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