How I fixed my alt-build puppy when it looked off

Same expirience here with the little dachshund build from the 3-in-1 set my niece got for her birthday. I skipped the side profile check entirely and only noticed at the end that the whole body sloped forward because I'd put a 2x1 plate where a 1x1 shold have gone. Tore it down twice before I started building next to the instruction photo on my tablet instead of the paper booklet, since the colors are easier to tell apart on a screen. The paw thing is real too. Mine sat lopsided because one of the hip brackets was rotated 90 degrees and I honestly could not see it til I looked at the build from directly underneath. Flipping it over on the table saved me a third rebuild.

One thing that helped me with the face was counting studs between the eyes and the nose before snapping anything in. On these tiny alt builds the eyes are only a plate or two apart from the muzzle, so if you're off by even one the expression goes from cute to unhinged. My niece now calls the bad version her 'angry sausage' and refuses to let me take it apart, so it lives on the shelf next to the fixed one as a warning.

Ha, this whole thread takes me back. Back in my day we didn't have alt builds from screen pdfs, you got one booklet and you squinted at it. What saved me on the little terrier I did last year was sorting all the parts by shape on a white towel before I touched a single one. When everything's laid out, a slope flipped the wrong way sticks out like a sore thumb because the color and the angle are facing up at you.

Also, and I know this sounds ancient, but a cheap magnifying lamp from my electronics bench days is worth its weight in gold for these tiny faces. Eyes are two plates wide at best. My first attempt had a permanent snarl until I redid the head under the lamp, and now it just looks mildly grumpy, wich honestly suits a terrier.

This thread is making me feel better about my attempt. Mine ended up with one ear sticking up and one lying flat because I used two pieces that look almost identical but are slightly diferent lengths. Kept staring at the picture wondering why my dog looked like it was listening to only one side. Is there a trick for telling those tiny brown pieces apart when they're nearly the same shape? I ended up holding them up against the instructions and counting the little bumps on top, which worked but took forever.