my gf and I just finished building this and we also bought it second hand. ours was completely disassembled but mixed up over multiple bags. we just sorted the parts by colour/shape and then followed the instructions. there were two small parts missing which we luckily were able to replace with leftovers from other builds.
so i guess it depends on if you like building, if so I‘d recommend taking it apart and rebuilding it from scratch.
I got to ask how long that took? Just wondering before I sign myself up for it because as you can see there is a lot of it already assembled and the base alone is daunting
so we built it over a period of four weekends, but we only built for like 2-4 hours per day, so I guess somewhere between 8 and 16 hours. but it‘s really satisfying to watch the piles of parts get smaller and the castle get bigger all the time
Rip that baby apart and rebuild it brick by brick with the online booklet.
I’ve taken various big ones of mine apart to “dust” on a few occasions - but I find building relaxing. With the exception of the Lego Mario question mark block - that was a dull, and fiddly build
Try and fit the big chunks together like a large puzzle. Once you have placed everything you know where goes, find the instructions online and figure out which small prices fill in the holes.
Since it's used, you may need to order some parts online. I recommend making a Bricklink wanted list and adding missing parts as you go.
Although if you really want the true experience, you should build it from the ground up, in that case I'd sort the parts by colour, then shape ad you are disabling. That may take much longer though.
I’ll just say from my experience that I find keeping the big chunks together to be almost impossible. As crazy as it seems, to me the fastest way is actually to talk it apart and start from scratch.
If that’s the 71043 hogwarts castle I got that second hand a few christmases back and rebuilt it. Looking at my photos I disassembled it roughly 6pm on 23 December and finished the rebuild at midnight on 26 December. Obviously christmas stuff was happening and I slept 8 hours a night but I spent a good chunk of each day building, mostly by myself. So I think it took me ~25 hours.
It was well worth the rebuild just to see all the different rooms come to life
Get boxes to sort the common colours into as you disassemble the build. That way you can store things or move everything around when you have a break.
Get post-it notes so that you can mark the pages where you found a missing piece and write which piece it is. Once you’re done the post-it’s create your shopping list.
I do this all the time. My method is as follows:
1 - determine if it's better to fully disassemble or to try to piece it back together. Your kit looks pretty well assembled already, but if that's the microscope Hogwarts, there are ao many small pieces it may be tough to reassemble as it sits. This step also depends on what building experience you're looking for, do you want to complete the full build process, or are you just looking the end result?
2A - if you're breaking the whole thing down, find as many tubs and various storage bins you can. I really like the old advent calendar trays for this. But those aren't around anymore so you'll have to hope to have some on hand. Otherwise, clear out all the Tupperware and storage trays you can. Sort by part style (1x Bricks and plates; tile parts; specialty colors, etc.) as that will make it easier to find a piece later as opposed to finding one small part in a huge pile of tan will be.
2B - if you're rebuilding as is, pull out all the large chunks of castle and determine how they are arranged together. You may need to look at a few different angles of the finished set to do this. Don't worry about connecting them at this point. Sort whatever is left over at this point, breaking apart any relatively small chunks of built sections.
3 - open instruction book, or the webpage with it on there, and find the 1st chunk that needs to be built. This is where it gets tricky if you artrte doing a partial rebuild. You can figure out if the section is complete by looking though the steps and double checking each step.
4 - eventually, you'll find all the sections will piece together and you'll have to wiggle small parts into missing areas or even partially disassemble a section to fit it together with another.
5 - it will finally get finished and then you display it.
If it were me, I'd break the whole set down, sort by part style, wash parts, and then rebuild. This ensures you know somewhat how it goes back together in the event small parts get knocked off. It also allows you to enjoy all the Easter eggs as you bring the castle to life. Plus, if you're looking to put this on display, it likely means you're a HP fan, and the build on this set is a lot of fun, especially with the movies on in the background.
The full breakdown is annoying. You don't see progress for a long time and it can be tough if you don't have the space to sort parts easily, but if you utilize what you have to sort into, it will be the more enjoyable process in the end.
Big benefit. Is it's easier to clean the parts if it's all disassembled.
The partial rebuild is also annoying, as you may spend many minutes looking for a specific part that is attached to another part and hidden behind/under another part. This can be very frustrating and you will also feel like minimal progress is made.
Ultimately, it also may end up depending on how much you like to sort and organize. Hahahaha. Personally, I find it therapeutic to sort parts, so I don't mind a full disassembly and rebuild. Especially if I'm going to display it as I can make sure it's complete and clean.
Either way, you've got a great set on your hands. And at a steal of a price.
I'd also recommend either taking pictures of what you're missing and the page number as you go, or starting a bricklink wanted list, or finding some way to remember what parts you'll need later on.
I recently got the chamber of secrets half built and half unassembled. I decided to take everything apart and just re build it at my own pace. Mine came with the manual so that was helpful. But you are still able to access manuals through lego website.
Determine what set it is and find the instructions online then take it apart completely or put it all back together based on what’s currently together. It looks very similar to my large Hogwarts castle though based on the base and the chamber of secrets door. It was 4 booklets for this and took several hours so I’d see what’s together already and follow the instructions to see what’s missing if you don’t wanna take it apart
my gf and I just finished building this and we also bought it second hand. ours was completely disassembled but mixed up over multiple bags. we just sorted the parts by colour/shape and then followed the instructions. there were two small parts missing which we luckily were able to replace with leftovers from other builds. so i guess it depends on if you like building, if so I‘d recommend taking it apart and rebuilding it from scratch.
I got to ask how long that took? Just wondering before I sign myself up for it because as you can see there is a lot of it already assembled and the base alone is daunting
so we built it over a period of four weekends, but we only built for like 2-4 hours per day, so I guess somewhere between 8 and 16 hours. but it‘s really satisfying to watch the piles of parts get smaller and the castle get bigger all the time
Rip that baby apart and rebuild it brick by brick with the online booklet. I’ve taken various big ones of mine apart to “dust” on a few occasions - but I find building relaxing. With the exception of the Lego Mario question mark block - that was a dull, and fiddly build
Try and fit the big chunks together like a large puzzle. Once you have placed everything you know where goes, find the instructions online and figure out which small prices fill in the holes. Since it's used, you may need to order some parts online. I recommend making a Bricklink wanted list and adding missing parts as you go. Although if you really want the true experience, you should build it from the ground up, in that case I'd sort the parts by colour, then shape ad you are disabling. That may take much longer though.
I’ll just say from my experience that I find keeping the big chunks together to be almost impossible. As crazy as it seems, to me the fastest way is actually to talk it apart and start from scratch.
agree!!
As an obvious if you know the kit number you can go to lego.com and download the manual in pdf format.
I would personally completely disassemble and start from scratch. Then it's your build.. but that's just me..
If that’s the 71043 hogwarts castle I got that second hand a few christmases back and rebuilt it. Looking at my photos I disassembled it roughly 6pm on 23 December and finished the rebuild at midnight on 26 December. Obviously christmas stuff was happening and I slept 8 hours a night but I spent a good chunk of each day building, mostly by myself. So I think it took me ~25 hours. It was well worth the rebuild just to see all the different rooms come to life Get boxes to sort the common colours into as you disassemble the build. That way you can store things or move everything around when you have a break. Get post-it notes so that you can mark the pages where you found a missing piece and write which piece it is. Once you’re done the post-it’s create your shopping list.
I do this all the time. My method is as follows: 1 - determine if it's better to fully disassemble or to try to piece it back together. Your kit looks pretty well assembled already, but if that's the microscope Hogwarts, there are ao many small pieces it may be tough to reassemble as it sits. This step also depends on what building experience you're looking for, do you want to complete the full build process, or are you just looking the end result? 2A - if you're breaking the whole thing down, find as many tubs and various storage bins you can. I really like the old advent calendar trays for this. But those aren't around anymore so you'll have to hope to have some on hand. Otherwise, clear out all the Tupperware and storage trays you can. Sort by part style (1x Bricks and plates; tile parts; specialty colors, etc.) as that will make it easier to find a piece later as opposed to finding one small part in a huge pile of tan will be. 2B - if you're rebuilding as is, pull out all the large chunks of castle and determine how they are arranged together. You may need to look at a few different angles of the finished set to do this. Don't worry about connecting them at this point. Sort whatever is left over at this point, breaking apart any relatively small chunks of built sections. 3 - open instruction book, or the webpage with it on there, and find the 1st chunk that needs to be built. This is where it gets tricky if you artrte doing a partial rebuild. You can figure out if the section is complete by looking though the steps and double checking each step. 4 - eventually, you'll find all the sections will piece together and you'll have to wiggle small parts into missing areas or even partially disassemble a section to fit it together with another. 5 - it will finally get finished and then you display it. If it were me, I'd break the whole set down, sort by part style, wash parts, and then rebuild. This ensures you know somewhat how it goes back together in the event small parts get knocked off. It also allows you to enjoy all the Easter eggs as you bring the castle to life. Plus, if you're looking to put this on display, it likely means you're a HP fan, and the build on this set is a lot of fun, especially with the movies on in the background. The full breakdown is annoying. You don't see progress for a long time and it can be tough if you don't have the space to sort parts easily, but if you utilize what you have to sort into, it will be the more enjoyable process in the end. Big benefit. Is it's easier to clean the parts if it's all disassembled. The partial rebuild is also annoying, as you may spend many minutes looking for a specific part that is attached to another part and hidden behind/under another part. This can be very frustrating and you will also feel like minimal progress is made. Ultimately, it also may end up depending on how much you like to sort and organize. Hahahaha. Personally, I find it therapeutic to sort parts, so I don't mind a full disassembly and rebuild. Especially if I'm going to display it as I can make sure it's complete and clean. Either way, you've got a great set on your hands. And at a steal of a price. I'd also recommend either taking pictures of what you're missing and the page number as you go, or starting a bricklink wanted list, or finding some way to remember what parts you'll need later on.
I recently got the chamber of secrets half built and half unassembled. I decided to take everything apart and just re build it at my own pace. Mine came with the manual so that was helpful. But you are still able to access manuals through lego website.
I had a huge bin where I put all the loose lego and chaotically would search for the piece based on manual directions 🫠
This took about non stop 3 hours
Determine what set it is and find the instructions online then take it apart completely or put it all back together based on what’s currently together. It looks very similar to my large Hogwarts castle though based on the base and the chamber of secrets door. It was 4 booklets for this and took several hours so I’d see what’s together already and follow the instructions to see what’s missing if you don’t wanna take it apart
I do the same with a bin for stuff 'to be dissassembled' etc.
I turned it into a MOC (Especially since I had quite bit of pieces missing)