LEGO Icons 10363 Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine review

LEGO Icons 10363 Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine is a beautiful if slightly clunky tribute to one of the most fascinating hypothetical inventions of all time.

While the price is oddly steep in some regions, 10363 Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine is a lot of fun to put together and makes for an impressive display piece once assembled. The central mechanism works decently although feels slightly too heavy to be completely satisfying, but history and engineering fans will get a real kick out of this set nonetheless.

Release: January 1, 2025 Price: £54.99 / $49.99 / €59.99 Pieces: 493 Minifigures: 1 LEGO: Order now

History in the making

10363 Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine is an excellent translation of a beautiful engineering work-in-progress. Despite never actually working, Leonardo da Vinci’s various attempts at designing a flying machine have ended up becoming his most famous contribution to science.

The challenge with an adaptation like this is that the source material is both expansive, and somewhat dated. There needs to be a certain amount of liberty taken with a set like this simply because all we have left of da Vinci’s work on a flying machine are his sketches, and as such, this set is as much an adaptation of pop-culture’s many interpretations of those original designs as it is the sketches that da Vinci made himself.

A balance is struck thanks to the inclusion of a printed tile, held by the man himself in minifigure form, and it has to be said, 10363 Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine absolutely looks the part, with its large wingspan making for an impressive sight once constructed.

All in a flap

There’s an alternate universe out there somewhere in which 10363 Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine was made using LEGO Technic rather than LEGO System, and it’s difficult not to casually wonder what that theoretical set might look like.

This kind of design feels like the bread and butter of Technic, and while it’s understandable why this set is made from System instead (not least because there are plenty of LEGO fans who are still apprehensive about a set with too many Technic pieces), it’s likely that the central flapping mechanism would have felt a little more satisfying in Technic.

There’s nothing wrong with the moving parts in this set per se, it’s simply that everything feels a little heavy. The instruction manual makes a point of highlighting how difficult it was to find a way to operate the flapping wings that didn’t get in the way of the aesthetics of the set, and the solution – a moving part on the flying machine’s belly – works very well.

The problem simply is that, due to the heft of the joints and the thickness of the string that pulls on the model’s wings, trying to make the flying machine actually look like it’s flying never feels quite as satisfying as it could. That said, given that this set is based on a series of designs that couldn’t actually fly, perhaps this is merely an extra level of realism at play.

A Matter of Price

LEGO fans in the United States of America are getting a real bargain with this set. LEGO Icons 10363 Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine costs $49.99, while it’s priced noticeably higher across the Pond at £54.99 and €59.99. Given that the set only contains 493 pieces, this may feel a bit too steep for those who live closer to da Vinci’s old stomping ground.

Some dedicated European LEGO fans may be willing to justify the price as a natural result of the set’s large cloth wings and long string elements, and these have no doubt had an impact on the average cost of the pieces in the box. Others across Europe will look to previous similar flapping sets, such as 76406 Hungarian Horntail which retired in 2023, and wonder why 10363 Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine is more expensive despite containing significantly fewer elements and not even having the markup that typically comes with a licensed set.

Presumably, this is just another sign of the times as the LEGO Group continues to experiment with steeper pricing for its sets. It’s a shame da Vinci never tried his hand at making a money-printing machine.

Our honest opinion: 10363 Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine is a beautiful set that makes a great display piece and comes with a fascinating if slightly heavy flapping mechanism, but the set’s cost may be difficult to justify in some regions.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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