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

Humankind has been dreaming of taking to the skies ever since we saw birds and insects soaring. Many flying machines have been designed in the past, usually unsuccessful, and one of the most famous was sketched in the 15th century by all-round Renaissance genius Leonardo Da Vinci. Today, we’ll build a LEGO interpretation of his designs with LEGO® Icons set 10363 Leonardo Da Vinci’s Flying Machine.

Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
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

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

 

Leonardo (insert obligatory joke about turtles living in New York sewers here) is best known for painting masterpieces such as The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa, the latter being immortalized in LEGO bricks earlier this year. (You can read all about the lady with the smile in Eero's LEGO Mona Lisa review.) But Da Vinci was a man of many trades, including anatomy and engineering. He combined those trades to make designs for an ornithopter: a flying machine which mimics the flapping of a bird's wings in order to take humans up into the air. The machine would be controlled and powered by a single human, using their body strength to pull the levers and strings to make the wings flap.

c. 1488, by Leonardo da Vinci, Public Domain

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!

 – Antica Bracanov, lead designer 

New fabrics

The only new "molds" found in the set are cloth pieces. We get 2 wings and a tail piece, all printed with dark grey stitching. 

Using plastic foils would have looked more reflective and more toy-like. Cloth gives it some of that fabric feel, especially getting some of the stitching in the top to help sell that effect.

– Nathan Davis, graphic design

• Wing Cloth 12 x 20 Right with Dark Grey Stitches print in Tan (6522103)
• Wing Cloth 12 x 20 Left with Dark Grey Stitches print in Tan (6522097)
• Tail Cloth 11 x 13 with Dark Grey Stitches print in Tan (6522105)

They have the right look and print for their purpose when viewing the flying machine from above or the back. When viewed from the front however, you’ll see their plain undersides.

Very simple, but we wanted to make sure they fitted with the language of the model that Antica built. 

– Nathan Davis, graphic design

Check out LEGO® Black Friday 2024 Sets & Deals

Recolors

• 8x Bar Curved with Axle End and 1 x 1 Round Plate new in Reddish Brown (6516553 | 4042)

This curved bar has already proven to be useful outside of its original purpose of posing minifigures, and they suit perfectly here as battens holding up the wings, like the bones in a bat wing. I imagine this recolor to be very useful in building trees.

• 2x (+ spare) String with End Studs 11L Overall in Dark Tan (6533185 | 14226c11)
• 1x String with End Studs 41L Overall in Dark Tan (6532367 | 14226c41)

The mechanism to ‘flap’ the wings is controlled by strings, which are recolors of existing LEGO string lengths. The color is Dark Tan, which looks correct on the plastic studs on the ends; the string itself however has a lovely metallic shine to it.

The remaining recolors all come from the LEGO® Technic System:

• 1x Technic Brick 1 x 2 with Hole and Dual Beam Extensions in Reddish Brown (6534905 | 85943)
• 1x Technic Shock Absorber 6.5L with Hard Spring, Tight Coils at End, Tan Rod in Reddish Brown (6519042 | 89954)
• 2x Technic Link 1 x 6 Perpendicular in Dark Orange (6523583 | 4514)

This shock absorber has come in several versions with different spring stiffnesses and housing colors, but it is only the second one where the piston rod is not black; the other being the same length but with Soft Spring and Pearl Gold Piston Rod (6472027 | 89953).

The perpendicular link piece is only the second set this mould appears in, after being introduced in August in 42182 NASA Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle - LRV in Light Bluish Gray.

Decorated elements

I’m happy to report there is no sticker sheet in this set, and all decorations come courtesy of newly printed elements, designed by Nathan Davis. 

First up, two tiles with new prints:

• Tile 2 x 4 with Groove with ‘Leonardo da Vinci’s Flying Machine’ print in Black (6562781)
• Tile 2 x 2 with Groove with Da Vinci’s Flying Machine Schematics print in Tan (6523327)

Note that Nathan has replicated Leonardo's mirror writing, although the only legible text is the A, B and Cs identifying the diagrams. The schematics match the designs of the LEGO model. 

Nathan tried to stay close to one of Leonardo's sketches, but he also wanted to give it a little bit of creative freedom.

 – Antica Bracanov, lead designer 

The other new prints are for a minifigure version of Leonardo, joining the ranks of historical figures. Only his beard and hair being used before, usually for Dumbledore:

• Head with print in Light Nougat (6523324)
• Torso with Robe and Shirt print in Dark Blue (6530674)
• Legs with Robe print in Dark Blue (6523326)

Noteworthy elements

The set also contains elements that are not new, but still worth showing to you in case you are considering buying this set:

• 2 x Bracket 1 x 2 with 1 x 2 Vertical Studs in Reddish Brown (6502370 | 4585) was introduced in September and has appeared in 3 sets since.
• 6 x Hinge Cylinder 1 x 2 Locking with 2 Click Fingers and Axle Hole, 7 Teeth in Reddish Brown (6503738 | 57360) was until now unique to 75397 Jabba's Sail Barge.
• 4 x Plate Special 1 x 3 Rounded with 3 Open Studs in Medium Nougat (6492538 | 77850) is not really rare anymore, with 4 set appearances prior to this one, but the first appearance was only 3 months ago, and we haven’t shown it in any New E reviews until now.
• 1x Tile Round 2 x 2 Half Circle in Medium Nougat (6474122 | 5520) has appeared in 3 sets so far.
• 2 x Bar 2L with Towball in Black (6509664 | 22484) was introduced in August in 21350 Jaws.  Read Ben's review of the LEGO Jaws set..
• 2 x Wire Clip with Axle Hole in Medium Stone Grey/ Light Bluish Gray (6471951 | 49283) has appeared in one set back in January.

The build

We start off with the elegant stand, featuring a tile on the front telling us what we are building, and a spot for Leonardo to take his place later on.

Then on to the flying machine itself. 

At the center we find the shock absorber that forces the wings back into the base position. I’m always a bit nervous leaving a spring under tension in a model for a long time, and I wonder, how long before that bend becomes a permanent deformation? 

Behind the spring we find a clever use of brackets to get the holes in the Technic brick in the right position to hold the trigger. Hinges are used to angle the beams in the top of the body. Seeing the telescope lining up feels so satisfying. 

With the body mostly built, we move on to the wings, starting with the tail. 

A rubber connector makes sure the tail stays in the top position at rest. The tail is then connected to a ‘trigger’ by the strings. Pulling the trigger brings the tail down, and when released the rubber connector springs it back up.

At the front we find arms that will hold the wings. These get connected through Technic links and wooden arms to the axle that holds the shock absorber, pushing the wings to the top position. 

Meanwhile, a string running from the trigger to the front pulls the wings down when the trigger is pulled. It’s a great piece of engineering, and works flawlessly.

All that is left now is adding the wings, and this machine (might?) take flight.

Check out LEGO® Black Friday 2024 Sets & Deals

Conclusion

As soon as the first rumours of this set started circulating, I knew I had to get my hands on it. I’ve long been intrigued by Da Vinci’s work, fueled by shows like Doing DaVinci and Mythbusters, which tested many of his designs in real life. Of course, being enthusiastic for an upcoming LEGO set also sets high expectations, and I can say that for the most part, they are met. 

The design looks great, and is instantly recognizable as a work by Leonardo. The color scheme is fitting, matching the color of his drawings and paper, although even more Technic parts would have benefitted from being recolored. 

The combination of looks and functionality is well balanced, as the Technic bits blend in with the overall design. Aside from the grey colors of a few parts, they fit the model and add to the ‘sketchy’ look of the flying machine. The flapping of the wings is a great design feature that is loads of fun, and brings the model to life – explaining Leonardo’s intent without needing words. 

The only improvement I can suggest would be the stand. It looks nice enough, but is really only for storage purposes as the machine is meant to be operated in your hands. If you operate the trigger while the machine is on the stand, it often falls off, or the stand bends until parts came loose. Some reinforcements would be welcome so that using the machine on the stand is a viable option... but it is certainly more fun to use in your hands.

The set comes with just a handful of new elements, with the curved bar being the most interesting to me, and I’m sure people will be keen to reuse the wings in some sort of Renaissance or Steampunk MOC, as well as that beautiful two-tone spring.

For more details on the design process, check out our interview with Antica Bracanov.

READ MORE: The biggest LEGO.com price cuts this weekend are on Pick a Brick

Help New Elementary keep publishing articles like this. Become a Patron!

A huge thank you to all our patrons for your support, especially our 'Vibrant Coral' tier: London AFOLs, Antonio Serra, Beyond the Brick, Huw Millington, Dave Schefcik, David and Breda Fennell, Gerald Lasser, Baixo LMmodels, Sue Ann Barber and Trevor Clark, Markus Rollbühler, Elspeth De Montes, Megan Lum, Andy Price, Chuck Hagenbuch, Jf, Wayne R. Tyler, Daniel Church, Lukas Kurth (StoneWars), Timo Luehnen, Chris Wight, Jonathan Breidert, Brick Owl and our newest top-tier patron, BrickCats! You folks are just the cutest little baby bows.

All text and images are ©2024 New Elementary unless otherwise attributed.