Interview: 10363 Leonardo Da Vinci's Flying Machine from LEGO® Icons

Coming 1 January 2025, LEGO® Icons set 10363 Leonardo Da Vinci's Flying Machine is quite unlike anything you've seen before from The LEGO Group! 

We were present at the reveal of the set at Fan Media Days in Denmark in September 2024, where Antica Bracanov, Senior Designer (above) and Nathan Davis, Graphic Designer spoke about the product they helped develop.

This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.

10363 Leonardo Da Vinci's Flying Machine

• Release date: 1 January 2025
• Pieces: 493
• Minifigures: 1
• Measures: over 25 cm (10 in.) high, 29 cm (11.5 in.) long and 35 cm (13.5 in.) wide

Price:

• US$ 49.99 on LEGO.com US
• CA$ 64.99 on LEGO.com Canada
• GB£ 54.99 on LEGO.com UK
• AU$ 99.99 on LEGO.com Australia
• NZ$ 109.99 on LEGO.com New Zealand
• DE€ 59,99 on LEGO.com Deutschland
• NL€ 59,99 on LEGO.com Nederland
• FR€ 59,99 on LEGO.com France
• PLN 269.99 on LEGO.com Polska
• NOK 829,90 on LEGO.com Norge
• DKK 529.95 on LEGO.com Danmark

Other countries click here

 

The reveal

Watch our 1min 45sec recap of the LEGO Flying Machine set reveal by Antica Bracanov and Nathan Davis below or on our YouTube Shorts channel. The video is in portrait format. 

Interview with lead designer Antica Bracanov

Later that day we were given the opportunity to ask the lead designer some questions of our own. This transcript has been edited for clarity, readability and narrative flow. 

New Elementary: How did an idea like this come about? 

Antica Bracanov: Part of the concept phase is just thinking what new ideas we can bring to the portfolio, and this came up on the list. We were thinking, what could be an interesting invention that we can do? We really wanted to follow what Leonardo had in mind. The idea is that a person is lying down, head sticking out of the frame face down. You pull with your hands, and kick with your feet. Leonardo made over 500 different sketches and so many different iterations of the wings. He was really persistent with this idea that a human being could make enough energy to actually lift themselves in the air!

New E: It sounds like a tough assignment?

AB: It doesn't look like it, but it was a really challenging model, and also really fun to work on, because, like, the whole model is basically one big function. There are numerous ways you could make this: you could use a lot of LEGO® Technic elements to make the function, but we did want to keep it in LEGO® System, because it is a LEGO® Icons model. There's always a balance, if necessary, but it was also maybe a personal challenge – I just wanted to use as many LEGO System bricks as possible.

New E: Since you weren't using LEGO Technic elements, what did you use for the function?

AB: Our main goal was to make everything move by the string; it's the string that's actually powering it. So basically, you have the main chassis, and everything else that's movable is one big function. Everything is interlinked, and if you put a link just like a millimetre further away, you get a different effect. It was really fascinating to just learn. I was learning a lot while working on this model. I worked with Mike Psiaki as well. I work with people that have so many skills and so many passions, but it is also sometimes really cool to work on something that you're not as passionate about, to learn so much.

New E: What was your favourite aspect?

AB: My favourite challenge on this was to calculate where the string had to be; you know, tight but not too tight? The big string goes around the whole model, and it needed to fit perfectly without being stretched. And at some point when I built one of the versions, you just find that perfect balance to go around the whole thing that feels so perfect.

New E: Was there ever a version where you tried to do it at minifigure scale or was it always bigger than that?

AB: We wanted to do it at this slightly bigger scale right away, because simply, it was the functions we want to show. We just want to showcase this as best as possible, the whole engineering behind it. 

New E: I see you've put the recoloured elements on a display plate for us! I'm excited to see the bent posing stick here [Bar Curved with Axle End and 1 x 1 Round Plate; part 4042].

AB: I made it in brown; I think transparent was the only one before. [Ed: It also now comes in white in LEGO® Wicked set 75681 Glinda, Elphaba & Nessarose at Shiz Uni.]  My favourite recolour is the steam pump. I mean, we wanted to keep it Renaissance, you know? We also have strings for the first time in dark tan. We wanted to have a proper rope colour – jute, or whatever this rope is made from.

New E: These are wonderful elements to have in these neutral colours.

AB: Everything was picked deliberately with the idea that we were staying close to the original colour scheme. There are a few elements that are grey that kind of resemble metal.

New E: Thank you so much, Antica!

 

READ MORE: Review of the epic Black Friday model The Endurance from LEGO® Icons

View the LEGO Flying Machine on LEGO.com

 

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