Download free .pdf with building instructions here.

I got the Technic motorcycle 42132 as a gift, and started brainstorming about an alternate build. There are some alternates, obviously. They are mostly more motorcycle designs, but no droids.

I wrote a Rebrickable Workbench post while building this one. It’s copied below:

First I organized the bricks a bit on the table, especially the bigger bricks, to see how many there are of which and then started thinking about what could be made out of them.

How do you go about when you want to make an alternate build?

The set does not have many remarkable bricks, except maybe the 90 degree tube

and the curved L-beams

and

First I thought of an airplane, but there are plenty of airplanes in Rebrickable and then I thought of sharks. Unfortunately, I could not come up quickly with an easy way to connect the curves with the rest of the shark body. Maybe later…

Then when I put the curved bricks next to the other liftarms, I saw legs and feet.

That got me going and soon enough there was a funny little tin man with a crooked nose and big eyes that remind me of Gonzo from the Muppets.

My partner immediately loved it and had no critical remarks. To me that counts as a really good start. However, I wanted it to have smaller hips, and a bit thicker or more filled body. Also, the hands …. mmmmm.

One problem I ran into is that to the legs and the feet, use up all of the 4 blue axle-pins.

It’s a bummer because the set has a lot of elements that have both pin and axle holes. Fortunately, there are plenty of small axles, a few regular 2L and 3L pins and of course the relatively new Axle Pin 3L with Friction Ridges

To get the hips less wide took some tinkering with complex constructions, which all went to the waste bin in favor of something much simpler:

The price for this is that the body, which was already too long in relation to the legs, became even longer. Fortunately, I don’t care too much about that, the weird ratio makes it funny … right?

Also, suddenly the head could fall forward – no friction connection.

I’ll solve that later.

The body has a better V shape, but it is still flat as a dime. And there still are two of these left, so there should be options.

… okay … I forgot to take pictures of the many versions, but this is what it eventually became.  It has a bigger body, a different color scheme on the arms, and some additional details such as elbow joints and knees, and ears. Also, the head can tilt forward which gives it puzzled look. The ears can tilt up and down a bit. It is shocking how big of a mood difference there is.

All your comments and suggestions are most welcome.