Review: 60164 Sea Rescue Plane
Posted by CapnRex101,
The first full wave of Coast Guard sets was released in 2008 and the original white and orange livery introduced then remains intact today. 60164 Sea Rescue Plane is among the smallest sets in the latest range but appears to offer considerable play value for a seemingly reasonable price of £15.99 or $19.99.
Having missed 60015 Coast Guard Plane in 2013 I decided to purchase this set on the basis of its low price point and the delightful inflatable life raft which is included. In fact the entire assembly of minifigures and vehicles has proven to be a pleasant surprise!
Minifigures
The pilot wears an orange flight suit with a small life jacket printed on both sides of the torso. This is linked to the belt using a carabiner and includes a coast guard badge which looks rather nice. I think the design looks fairly realistic and the blue cap is a nice touch, matching the blue accents found on much of the coast guard equipment.
A team of deep sea explorers were introduced in 2015 and one such character returns in this set. He wears a dark red knitted cap to keep warm while awaiting rescue and a red jacket featuring an anchor symbol on the reverse. A handheld signal flare is included along with yellow life jackets for each minifigure. Unfortunately, these accessories extend the length of the neck to an awkward degree and I think a new design is required.
The Completed Model
The sea plane is relatively simple but looks great overall, with an attractive colour scheme and plenty of realistic features. Its shape is very similar to that of 60116 Ambulance Plane from last year but I think the design is well suited to a seaplane with the addition of pontoons slung beneath the wings. The nose looks very sleek and makes use of a large component which includes trans-light blue windows and a sticker featuring the coast guard symbol.
Removing the canopy reveals a blue steering wheel and space for two minifigures to sit in tandem. This is a tight squeeze but they do fit and there is a small area on either side where you might wish to place a few accessories. A control panel behind the steering wheel would have been nice but I think the exterior details compensate for the lack of furnishing inside.
Blue and orange stripes run along either side of the plane. These are heavily reliant upon stickers which is somewhat disappointing, although they are easy to apply and the results look superb. The roof of the model is also quite detailed, featuring a couple of radiator grilles to generate some texture and a new panel with sloping edges which lines up with an existing element towards the rear. The same new part also appears in 60154 Bus Station as well as two of the Jungle sets.
The high wing configuration seems appropriate for a coast guard plane and this structure is supported by a pair of white arches on the fuselage. Pontoons hang from the underside and these continue the orange highlights which are present throughout the aircraft. The light bluish grey Technic struts are offset towards the centre so look a little odd to me, although they provide a sturdy fixing for the floats.
Turboprop engines are situated on top of the wings and each one is decorated with a sticker showing rows of bolts surrounding an exhaust vent. The propellers spin freely and navigation lights are situated at the tips of the wings. I like the contrasting light bluish grey design colour scheme but the 2x10 plate across the top looks a little out of place to me. Perhaps the white of the fuselage could have been extended to reach the twin tail booms.
The booms consists of layered plates with a blue stripe running through the centre. This design continues onto the exterior surfaces of the dual vertical stabilisers where the coast guard insignia appears again. A 2x12 plate links the tail fins and leaves plenty of room for the opening hatch at the rear of the fuselage. I am not particularly keen on the studded surface but the tailplane would probably look too thick with tiles on top.
Once the plane has landed on the water it can deploy a small water scooter from the back. The feature works very well and I like the colours which match those of the aircraft. There is room for a minifigure to sit or stand while holding the handlebars and the set description suggests that you can fit another figure behind it, although this looks very awkward to me.
A small life raft is included for the stranded sailor to be rescued from. I love the stickers showing zipped flaps which are applied to either side of the model and the graphic showing the minifigure capacity is a delightful inclusion. The black and yellow livery looks splendid and would also prove practical given its visibility against the ocean waves. As indicated on the outside there is room for a single minifigure to lie down beneath the protective cover or stand at one end to look out for rescue planes, although another could fit during emergencies.
Overall
Sets like this one represent the epitome of LEGO City in my opinion. The seaplane consists of only just over one hundred pieces but is packed with attractive details and fun features, the most significant of which is its intrinsic swooshability based on the sturdy design. I like the smaller accessories too as these greatly increase the play value and would look great as part of a larger coastal display.
Ultimately, if you have already picked up similar sets such as 60101 Airport Cargo Plane or 60116 Ambulance Plane then this is model will probably be of little interest. However, for those who have not recently purchased a City plane I think this set is worthy of careful consideration. It is fairly modest in appearance, as one would expect, but offers tremendous play value and represents very good value for money.
I hope you have found this review informative. Let us know by liking this article and share your thoughts on the set in the comments below.
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20 comments on this article
love the small life raft
With the countless array of new mounded items that LEGO are producing, I find it unfathomable that they haven't canned that lifejacket and produced a new one. It's an offence to the eyes seeing it, and it's been around for I don't know how many years now, the biggest design fail I've ever seen them make.
Neat set. Lego definitely needs a new lifejacket design.
I like the life raft, i's a cool feature. I haven't seen a raft of that type in lego form before.
I think it's not a bad set but I'm not really keen on City airplanes. I would buy this set just for the yellow raft.
A good looking aeroplane, I do like me a new city plane! Plus, ROOF PARTS FOR MY TRANSLINK BUS!!!!!
I just want that yellow raft.
Every set with that lifejacket elicits the same responses, and I agree. I'm not sure what it is about that lifejacket, but it just doesn't work.
^ it raises up the head and means that there is a large, conspicuous gap between the head and the torso. I personally stockpile old ones and bricklink them when they're cheap.
Wow, what a great little set! Good price, too, considering Airport Cargo Plane is £17.99. I love that we have two seaplanes to choose from this year, and that helicopter with pontoons in one of the City Jungle sets...
Do the admins of this site have some accosciation with the youtuber JangBricks, because they've both seemed to be reviewing similar if not the same sets recently?
@Lego Armys - We do have an association with JANGBRiCKS in that he uses Brickset data in many of his reviews but we do not liaise with regard to the order of our reviews. Ultimately, we are both reviewing summer sets and in that respect there is some inevitable overlap.
Looks like the wings are bent upwards a bit... so, are the landing skids a plate or two below the rest of the plane, or what? It's rather disconcerting...
make it yellow and you have a modified Conwing L-16.
Thanks for the answer, thats understandable. Love your reviews
Bit basic. Love that photo of the rescue guy breathing down the pilot's neck!
I really like the fact that they are tying this set to the deep sea explorers. Of course this is cool because if you want it to be a static display and have the DSE sets you can integrate it very easily. I wish that these small details were put into every set and allows for cross play with older themes.
I don't mind the idea of this set, but the plane is really oddly-designed, to my eyes. The wings are too short or else, the cockpit is too large. It just seems really weirdly-proportioned. I'll probably pass on this one.
Really like this set and agree that it's an incredible value! I'm not super interested in the Coast Guard theme per se, but this one will integrate nicely into my little ocean set-up.
I much prefer the sea plane from 31064, Island Adventures.
I love Lego using continuity in its City sets, this could have belonged to a ship in an undersea explores set from a couple of years back that suffered an accident while retrieving contraband from undersea.