Another writing accomplishment means another LEGO set to build! This time, I celebrated finishing the second draft of Steel Shadows, the fifth book in my Steel Empires series, by building the SHIELD Helicarrier after sending the draft off to my awesome beta readers.

If you’ve been following me online for a while, you know that I’m a total Marvel Cinematic Universe fangirl, so it was awesome to build the ridiculous ship made famous by 2012’s The Avengers.

The SHIELD Helicarrier (76042) — 2,996 pieces

This LEGO set is now retired, so many thanks to a friend of mine for helping me to acquire it before time ran out! 

The first things to be built were the stand and the SHIELD logo, which I added the five minifigs to as they emerged from later bags.

Next came the interior hull of ship, which included the control room. That bright blue drink is the leftovers from a baby shower that was held at my house earlier that day. Apparently blue curacao, pineapple juice, and Sprite are excellent architectural accompaniment.

Next up came the rest of the hull’s interior, which included lots of mechanical gears that would later attach to the four engines. (Say hello to tiny Hawkeye!)

This LEGO set was big enough that I ended up spreading it out over about a week. This especially helped to keep building the four engines from getting too repetitive. Obviously, I had appropriate feline assistance throughout this endeavor. (And wine.)

Finally, all four engines were attached, and I started adding the large pieces of runway. This sucker was starting to get huge. Definitely no longer fit comfortably in my LEGO tray for picture-taking.

Finally, time to build up the front of the hull and add more runway. I was impressed with how a small section lifted up to allow play access to the control room.

Adding the second runway and the rear engines/thrusters. That crank in the back turns all four vertical engines!

As a last step, I added the full control tower and all the little incidentals. I love the tiny quinjets!

And finally, here’s the completed helicarrier. It’s actually too big to sit comfortably on the stand I built, so it lives on top of the shelves in my guest room next to my Millennium Falcon.

The gang is ready for action!

Captain America: Okay, so here’s the plan–
Iron Man: I got this, Capsicle! *launches himself into the air without waiting to hear the plan*
Nick Fury: Motherfucker.
Hawkeye: I’m just here to shoot things.
The two SHIELD agents in the back: We are trained spies. Why are we hauling cargo on a flying aircraft carrier?!