Today we feature a guest article from one of BrickNerd’s patrons Liz Puleo. She shares her experience building and modding set 43225 The Little Mermaid Royal Clamshell.

A Spe-shell Set

Yes, buckle up, we are going all in on puns for this article! Get ready to dive under the sea to see what being part of Ariel’s world is like living in a giant clam shell.

Receiving 43225 The Little Mermaid Royal Clamshell on behalf of BrickNerd was an absolute joy. As a lover of all things Disney, I knew that the new Ariel and friends would find a place in my heart and my home. (Make sure to read about a few other Disney princesses I’ve built homes for.) Seeing the set for the first time, I was struck by how structural the base was and how small the minifigures felt in comparison.

When the set was rumored back in March, I had the premonition that it would be an upgraded castle like 43207 Ariel’s Underwater Palace, which at the time did seem strange since that smaller one was still available for purchase. I was bracing myself for building organic golden spires like those depicted on the movie’s original VHS cover.

Imagine my surprise when I received the set from LEGO and discovered a giant shell as the main body of the display! The design choice seems so unexpected that it caught me a little off guard. How many pieces were used for that shell alone vs. the minifgure scenes?

Building the set was fun and seemed like a crash course in LEGO angles and math. This Little Mermaid set is a great set—a fine set even. The designers clearly had a vision and executed it using as many mathematical combinations as they could possibly squeeze into a set this size. I had a lot of questions about why certain design choices were made, but enjoyed the way the display piece came together.

After building Rivendell the previous week, my brain went right back into LEGO math mode when I was building the shell—and I still managed to mess up at least three times. (It was hilarious because so did our friends at Tips&Bricks who messed up at exactly the same spot—is this a coincidence or perhaps some oversight in the instructions? Who knows.)

After the initial shell shock wore off, I can say the minifigures from the set are fantastic—however as an 80s child, I am quite nostalgic for my original animated character friends. The build itself was challenging but enjoyable overall, and I was a tad disappointed in the lack of access to the many details that are hidden throughout the set. Ursulas’ potions are very far back in her cave, and there are not a lot of places to put the un-poseable minfigures with their unmoveable mermaid tails.

But I just kept swimming to finish the build. The overall effect is quite stunning. The color balance and rockwork are striking and are sure to stand out on any shelf. The construction of the shell takes up the majority of the build and for good reason—it is extremely sturdy and well-engineered to hold up to any amount of movement. In fact the shell inspired me more than the rest of the set…

Modding The Clamshell

BrickNerd has a history of modding sets: The UCS Christmas Tree, an Elvesified Rivendell, or a winter A-Frame. I think modding is a natural progression of becoming an AFOL, making a set your own and even better than before. Now that I officially have become somewhat of a MOC builder, I hope the LEGO designers of this set don’t mind that I made a few modifications of my own. In fact, more than a few… I was so inspired by this new oversized shell design that I couldn’t stop myself from experimenting with different looks. Since this set is marketed as a display model, I couldn’t help but wonder… what if you’re not the biggest fan of The Little Mermaid but liked the shell? How could this gigantic shell be put to use in other ways?

To help document this momentous occasion, as this set is the first one I have ever received before it was released publicly—I decided to make a stop-motion animation of the build first before changing anything. However, this was all for naught, as instead of ‘time lapse’ I accidentally hit “slow-mo”. If you’d like to see a two-hour slow-motion building of bags one and two, then wonderful, but I’d rather watch paint dry personally. Here’s the rest of the video of building the set before I decided to rebuild it in quite a few ways.

But again, that striking shell shape inspired me, so I decided right then and there to modify it to my liking. I would like to present to you a photo montage of inspirational ideas that this set has gifted me.

The minifigure and undersea details on the shell are so few that taking them off took mere seconds, so then I was left with a clean slate and strong white frame for whatever my heart desired. Construction of the upper levels was also easily detached and reattached for multiple-sided platforms with the fan acting as a backdrop.

In no particular order here are some other ways that you too, can have a giant shell become part of your LEGO collection even if you are not a lover of The Little Mermaid.

1. Shell-fish

Starting with the most obvious, I built an underwater adventure not involving mermaids but fish and aquatic life! The details were acquired by ransacking my collection for every piece of coral, vine and fishies that I could find. This resulted in a beautiful display that was eye-catching as well as leaving lots of little areas for story building and Easter eggs such as both the new and original Flounders hiding amongst the sea kelp. Not many models have exposed studs, so the inside walls of the shell offered many unique attachment points that I was more than happy to experiment with. I think the color and size of the fish make them stand out against the shell—to the point that this almost feels more like what the set should have looked like. But don’t forget the pearl!

2. Clam Rock

This one is an underwater rock stage! The fan of the shell lends itself to a glam rock stage-like presence, and my children had a blast adding their minifigures and instruments using it as a concert venue. This mod features multilevel stages and lots of floating focal points—and it even has a mosh pit built in. We helped take it to a rave-level party by adding some neon blacklight reactive pieces for glow-in-the-dark action. Possible upgrades include lighting rigs and floating stages, with over-the-top special effects and even more crowd action.

3. Exponen-shell Growth

Heading in a more artistic direction, you can use this shell for a bursting botanical display too. While leaving some of the underwater greenery and adding in any of your favorite botanicals, you have now created a multilevel floral display encased in a giant shell! LEGO has already designed breathtaking botanicals with their sets, and this shell created a unique display option with pockets for plants and places to highlight all of the different colors. The fan backdrop here acts as an attachment point and really holds up well to the amount of weight put on it—no vase required!

4. The Little Jabba

Not into flowers and underwater creatures? The shell also lends itself to highlighting some fantastic Star Wars characters. Jabba the Hut enjoys his high viewpoint where he can look over his precious Princess Leia donning her own seashells, while still keeping an eye on all of his underlings. The little alcoves lend themselves to great hideouts and even a spot for the Rancor to be locked up. All that is missing here is Han cast in carbonite to complete the look! (It was missing mostly because I couldn’t find it in our collection.)

5. Turtles in a Whole Shell

You’ve heard of turtles in a half shell, well with this set they can now have the entire thing as they battle the dreaded Shredder and Spider Bytez while chasing after their ooze. The shell offers a completely new vantage point if you turn it on its side, giving more visual depth to the storytelling aspect of the build. This mod is admittedly a bit lacking but the kids had fun—I’m sure someone somewhere can come up with a killer action scene for my beloved Ninja Turtles.

6. Shell Zen

Speaking of turtles, what if you don’t have the parts or time to mod but still want a great way to display your shell? It adds so much all around the house and even outdoors. The sky’s the limit here, and adding some garden knick knacks to the shell creates quite the statement piece to our rock garden outside. I’m feeling calmer already looking at it, and Groot seems to be enjoying his viewpoint. After a bit of rain, the shell turns into a bird bath too!

7. Clams’ Best Friend

Perhaps the outdoors or weather scares you, and you don’t want to risk damaging your precious UCS Shell. Fear not! It has other great uses inside of the home. Here, it adds ambiance and acts as a splash guard to our animal feeding station—now you’re not being shellfish with the set but sharing the beauty with man’s best friend to catch all of those runaway slobbers.

8. Flushed Away

If you are like me, you have long since run out of room to display any more LEGO sets. One often overlooked place for LEGO is the bathroom, and who doesn’t love an underwater beach theme for their bathroom!? It might be a uniquely American thing, but trust me, beach-themed bathrooms are all the rage. This shell not only could stand out as a sink topper but doubles as a toilet seat cover in a pinch. For this look, the bottom of the shell was removed and a hook was fastened to the back of the fan for easy on-and-off display. (It really emphasizes the ROYAL throne of the clamshell, don’t you think?)

9. Chips and Dips Ahoy

This final mod is a real crowd-pleaser and conversation starter. You can show off your shell to all your friends and family by using it as a centerpiece during your entertaining endeavors! Chips and dip, tortillas and salsa, even a shrimp cocktail platter, this shell does it all! Using dots for excitement, you can spell out any occasion your heart desires to make everyone feel special. The built-in tiers are perfect for dips of all sorts and strong enough too.

Shelling Out Ideas

There are so many ideas and creations that could be done with this statement piece of a shell—your imagination is the only limit. After chatting with a few of my fellow NELUG members at our recent meeting, we came up with a list of some other noteworthy modding ideas including a peacock, outdoor leaf scoops, a jewelry box, an office supplies holder, a spaceship, a toothbrush holder, a burlesque stage, a piñata or even the backdrop of a basketball hoop. A member even pointed out that there is also a stash compartment under the second level of rocks where one could hide some valuables! 🙂

One final note about this UCS shell’s construction quality and building techniques. This set has stood up to being moved and modded over ten times, being ripped apart and put together repeatedly. It might have been easier to just have ten copies of the set, but at no point did it feel unstable nor was I scared to carry the model upstairs, downstairs, or even outside. It is truly a phenomenal work of engineering on display!

Lastly, I’d like to thank BrickNerd once again for giving me this incredible opportunity to help preview this set for their readers and the AFOL community. While at first I was a little salty to discover that the set was not, in fact, a castle, I was soon enthralled with the endless possibilities this magnificent shell has to offer. All I can think of when I look at it now is, “Shell yeah!”

DISCLAIMER: This set was provided to BrickNerd by LEGO. Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

Best of BrickNerd - Article originally published May 1, 2023.

What mods will you create with your UCS shell? Let us know in the comments below!

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