14 January 2020

Inthert's alternate build of LEGO® Overwatch 75976 Wrecking Ball

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Our little fiesta of LEGO® Overwatch 75976 Wrecking Ball finishes today with original alternate models designed by British builder Inhert, using only the pieces found in this set. The set is priced £17.99 / US$19.99 / 19.99€ although perhaps you may now be seeing it on sale. If you missed our Wrecking Ball review by Inthert and Jonas Kramm, check it out here.

Alternate builds are tricky enough with the majority of sets but with 75976 Overwatch Wreaking Ball containing only 227 parts, I was a little doubtful I could make anything half-decent without dipping into my existing collection. As a safeguard against that temptation, I decided to take this challenge on holiday! Four days in a log cabin with LEGO bricks seemed like the perfect setting, with plenty of time to come up with ideas - my thought being I could come up with one alternate build per day.

Day 1: Bipedal Mech



It felt rude not to put the ball joints to good use so my first build was a mech. Since the majority of ‘aesthetic’ parts from Wrecking Ball are sand green, I stuck with it as my main colour here and indeed for all three builds. The hard part was working out how best to use the remaining parts without the build looking too messy. I found that by ‘colour blocking’ wherever possible, potentially random colour splashes looked more intentional – as evidenced by the yellow bars. But the headline here is that this thing does actually stand on its own two feet – just!

Day 2: Deep Sea Rescue Pod


My favourite of the three, this build grew forwards from the reactor section at the rear where I was trying to come up with other uses for those orange ball joints.

The shaping of the main body was modelled on the Apollo lunar ascent module (i.e. the top part of the lunar lander), what with the bulbous protrusions on each side and the downward facing hatch. The addition of the large claw and laser cutting tool made me think this should be a submersible rather than some kind of spacecraft.

Day 3: Gunship


At this point I regret to admit I was struggling to come up with ideas that were significantly different to what I’d done previously. I got the design of the engine pods pinned down quite quickly but kept leaning towards compact shapes like that of the rescue pod. Once I finally mounted them on two pylons with a hinged connection in the centre, the rest fell into place more rapidly. I Imagine this as some kind of automated craft capable of performing some hair-raising aerobatics.

Day 4...

I attempted to make some kind of moon base with various sand green elements acting as terrain but I couldn’t seem to coalesce the remaining parts into anything resembling a fledgling lunar installation. So unfortunately, I only managed three alt models… I know, I know... but it was meant to be a holiday, give me a break!

Building from a limited selection of parts, away from my larger collection, brought back memories of childhood holidays where I’d take a small stash of bricks with me to keep me occupied. Actually, one time I seem to remember I was allowed to pack my own bag and instead of packing - you know - clothes, seven-year-old me decided it would be far better if I brought my entire LEGO collection! Now whether that’s classed as a cause for concern, a sign of a budding AFOL or both I’m not too sure but I’m pretty sure I had a great holiday either way!

So there you have it - My three alternate builds for set number 75976 and an embarrassing childhood story, what more could you want?




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6 comments:

  1. I really like the gunship, I have the wrecking ball but never thought to do such cool stuff with it
    Could you post or email me instructions or take some pieces apart so I can get a better angle(or just more pictures with different angles) my email is sasuuuukeplayz@gmail.com if you can't send me pictures and stuff I would really appreciate you just emailing me to let me know you saw this.
    Thank you!

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  2. Can i also get the instructions?

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  3. Can i also get the instructions

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  4. Is it possible to get the instructions?

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  5. Is it possible to get the instructions

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  6. Pls give me the tutorial for the gunship pls

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