Big birthday, big present (to myself).

Six boxes of parts, two manuals, nearly 1000 steps.

Presentation is amazing. Books have details about the car, even Bugatti sketches on the inside of the lid.

I will warn you now, I’m not great on engine and gearbox parts at the best of times, let alone Lego interpretations. I may end up sounding a bit like this.

Lego Technic has moved on a lot since I last removed a splined nut piece with my teeth.

To mask my appalling mechanical knowledge, if I don’t know what something is I’ll just declare it a balancer shaft assembly.

I think this is the engine subframe, but balancer shaft assembly it is.

This has an actual gear in it. Possibly part of the differential.

Two suspension assemblies done. Time to marry them to what I’m starting to think is actually the differential.

I’ll be honest, the concentration is surprisingly high, but it’s fun! Quite therapeutic.

Working differential! In LEGO! I’m impressed.

Lots of fiddly bits and bracing, but we now have an input shaft! Is it an input shaft? I heard that somewhere...

That’ll do for tonight, box 1, bag one done. Rear suspension, diff and engine subframe. This thing is going to end up huge...

So one 4 rod with end missing from the kit and a delivery from Lego (and some other stuff), time to build a gearbox!

The complexity - and colour! - of this gearbox is amazing. If there’s ever a Richard Mille Lego kit, I imagine it something like this.

I can’t get over how well these books are designed and printed. However this also needs the precision to allow a gearbox to work!

The gearbox is in! Hopefully for the last time.

Bag 2, box 1 done. Only another 337 steps until I get to the end of build manual 1! Next job, build a W16 engine.

16 cylinders. I’m assuming the real Chiron isn’t quite this modular, but a cast one piece engine block isn’t very Lego...

Lego pistons!

One of four crankshafts. My God, the detail...