Building the Barrel Escape

Slowly but steadily I`m catching on, as this set was `only` build near the end of january.  Luckily, I keep notes so that my Swiss cheese for brains doesn`t have to remember everything.

Hauling from the The Hobbit range, set 79004 - Barrel Escape is build around the scene where Bilbo frees the Dwarfs from Thranduin`s court and sets them off hidden in wine barrels on a roller coaster ride down the river.  Including a gigantic and funny Bombur moment, petty that particular figure only exists in the video game.

At 334 pices, this is a medium sized set, and opening the box gets us two polybags of pieces.

In the first bag, we get the figures for Bilbo, Gloin and Oin, who are traditionally high quality prints.

The first part will be the `barrel launcher` or drop down hatch if you prefer, from which the barrels are rolled into the river in both movie and book by a hidden trapdoor.

The platform contains a rising element, and this will make the barrels actually roll off.

Then we move to the central piece of the `wall`, which contains the hinges to which the right and left sides of the build are connected on, to make an arched structure when ready.

To it`s left side we then attach the completed barrel launch section.

Next we start working on the right side then, where the staircase will come.

Using a SNOT technique, the large winebarrels are put together for the central side of the build.

The same technique is also used to create racks of lying down bottles.

We then continue by making the large arch that resides over the barrels.  I`m really fond of the detailing they did on this with the 1x2 tiles, and that is one technique I will definitly be introducing in my Age of Mitgardia builds left or right when I can get back to MOC`cing for them (I`m currently resorting all my bricks you see).

Moving on to the second bag, we get two more figures with the Elves.  A guard and the wine cellar master are also included in this box, and I like the jolly (drunk?) face of the latter.  But considering how Legolas can drink in Return of the King, that would mean he must have swallowed a river...

The main part of the right side is a cell for where the dwarves where being held while at the court.

Add to this a small section still on the right, and we can see the outlines of the build nearing completion and up to start detailing.

With the pillar and then the triangle stairsteps, the winding stairs is being erected.

The arch is then detailed as well on this side of the build, and we start `dressing up` the section with a lamp and the likes.

One of the final things to do is to add the back wall of the cell.  This can `explode` outwards by using a lever inside the cell itself to make a daring escape.

The only things that remain to be build now are the `accessories` for the set, like a weapon rack.

A table with some stools.

And finally another small wine barrel...

And then the set stands completed!

I think this is a very intresting set with the use of the SNOT and how the arched walls are being detailed, and it has some fun playfeatures as well.
 
And it is of course a nice addition to my personal collection to boot ;-) with a great selection of extra parts on top!