MOC: Lego Ideas - Space Shuttle (Saturn V Scale)

[KingsKnight]

On 4/28/2018 at 8:27 PM, Ashchord said:

Hi, I was a bit confused on the bottom part of the external tank interior and a little bit on the plating for the nosecone. I really love this space shuttle! So on the LEGO ideas decription, I saw landing gear but was that just for looks? Also, where do you find all the brick parts at? **Maybe include a parts list** Thank you for creating this beauty!!!

Hi Ashchord. Welcome to Eurobricks. There's a super clear shot of the bottom of the External Tank (ET) in the linked photos. If you need clearer ones I can try and take some. If you follow nosecone images in reverse, you'll see how it all goes together. The landing gear was made of separate pieces you attach. I can show you what those look like. Although the assumption is that most people would want to display it as a full stack without the landing gear. I don't have a parts list, but if there's certain parts you can't identify, I can look for the part number. For buying parts, my go-to is bricklink, although it gets pricey, so many other people have built up pieces over time by buying sets.

[KingsKnight]

I’ve been working on a simpler structure for the External Tank. It seems to be stable based on a mock-up I built. The white cones (part 6233) are a more elegant solution to going from odd to even bricks. The plates in the center (I've colored red) are actually 1x5 technic plates with axle hole (part 32124), so they're locked into place with the long center axle and attached sturdily to the sides. It’s 150 fewer pieces than the original version.

concept: https://i.imgur.com/pzvT7Nk.jpg
rough mockup: https://i.imgur.com/nkMpttX.jpg

Edited May 1, 2018 by KingsKnight

[Shiva]

KingsKnight, that looks OK :)

[ScottishDave]

That really does look a lot simpler.

Are the stacks of 1 x 2 bricks sturdy enough?

In place of the red 1 x 5 technic plates, why not try an old 4-bladed propeller: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3461#T=C

This is what I used throughout. They obviously don't lock to the central axle, but it passes through them and they lock even more securely (and simply) to the sides.

[KingsKnight]

41 minutes ago, ScottishDave said:

That really does look a lot simpler.

Are the stacks of 1 x 2 bricks sturdy enough?

In place of the red 1 x 5 technic plates, why not try an old 4-bladed propeller: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3461#T=C

This is what I used throughout. They obviously don't lock to the central axle, but it passes through them and they lock even more securely (and simply) to the sides.

 

The stacks in the mockup actually work ok, but probably not a strong as I imagine the 1x2x5s (in the concept) will be. I just didn't have those longer pieces on hand.
That propeller might work too! I thought the bottom had an odd shaped lip, but it looks to be just a brick width. It wouldn't lock to the axle the same as the 1x5 technic plates, but I noticed in my rough mockup that it may not even need connecting to that axle at those points like I thought. I'll double check but the the cone parts and the 2x2 round bricks may be enough of a connection to that axle, and the cross members can be simplified to a 1x3 brick on all sides. I hope this is the case because that could really simplify it even more.

Edited April 30, 2018 by KingsKnight

[KingsKnight]

I think I figured out a way to make the bottom skirt on the SRB a little less awkward. Lego doesn't make a white half barrel with axle hole, so right now you have to use one with an odd color. But it can be slightly less odd by using a gray half barrel. In that color it only comes without an axle hole, so you have to flip some of the parts and make some creative connections. You also have to use a 12L axle instead of a 16L axle. Let me know what you think.

[ScottishDave]

That looks like it’ll work just fine.

my own solution was to use the pearl grey one from the Saturn set. They don’t look too bad: but if that colour really bothers you, then this is good.

[MOMAtteo79]

i made the saturn V the other day and it was a really cool model, this wil be a great addition

[CCarmichael89]

Have just bought the parts for the orbiter. Next stage building the external tank.

[KingsKnight]

13 minutes ago, CCarmichael89 said:

Have just bought the parts for the orbiter. Next stage building the external tank.

Awesome! Before you buy for the External Tank, I'm still working on simplifying it as you can see in the image posted a couple posts back. It should make it cheaper and stronger.

[KingsKnight]

Since Lego doesn't make 1x3 curved slopes in Dark Orage, I wanted to figure out an alternate build that would work in the right color. It's not perfect, but it's exactly the right diameter needed.

Edited May 11, 2018 by KingsKnight

[Shiva]

Thumbs up to that 6 star, but is it possible to do a 5 piece for smaller circle?

By the way, KingsKnight, middle part of the ET might be possible to do with that technique too "6star"?

I'll someday in the near? future take more pics of my version of the External tank.

And someday I'll test if I can have 4x of the technic waterwheels for the middle part, if no one else does it before. i'm doing other stuff before these.

 

[zux]

I just stumbled on this great MOC. Is there a picture of this entire structure compared with existing 10213/10231 sets? Just to understand the proportions.

[jiraph]

5 hours ago, zux said:

I just stumbled on this great MOC. Is there a picture of this entire structure compared with existing 10213/10231 sets? Just to understand the proportions.

[zux]

Wow, that's much closer to the real thing than I originally thought! 

How do you guys build this thing? Is there some sort of LDD/LDraw file of the MOC?

[Shiva]

zux, KingsKnight posted some nice photos of the build.

On 2018-04-26 at 11:06 AM, KingsKnight said:

Hi all, I was so bummed when my idea wasn't selected, but it's been so inspiring seeing what you guys have done with it here! I've been incredibly busy, but I've been meaning to take some reference photos to share. I hope they'll be helpful to anyone who wants to try it out. Some parts are really complex, so if anyone wants to figure out how to simplify it, please share!

LEGO Space Shuttle - Reference Photos

Orbiter:
https://imgur.com/a/KNJHXd8

External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters:
https://imgur.com/a/jvpyhVE

And thank you all again for being fans of the idea :)

[Ashchord]

Do you have any suggestions on where to find the 4x4 wedge plates? I've ordered the dark grey but white is hard to find that is not too expensive.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Ashchord

[Shiva]

My variant of the External Tank's Nose:

Photo 1:

Photo 2  , Photo 3 , Photo 4 and Photo 5. Not superdetailed, but shows how it is built, mostly. Connection to middle part of the External Tank differs a bit to KingsKnights original.

And a preview? photo, of the mid section:

2bricks and a plate (7plates) between the technic waterwheel pairs. 1 tile between the pairs in top and bottom.

The axle is a 32 technic axle.

 

 

 

 

[KingsKnight]

That looks great Shiva! I wish they made those 1x3 curved slopes in dark orange. That was my original approach. I will be keeping my eye out for that in a future set if it ever happens. That intertank looks clean.

Edited May 20, 2018 by KingsKnight
merged posts

[KingsKnight]

I have updates. I replaced the complex old internal structure of the ET with the streamlined and stable new one. With the extra space I was able to update some of the colors to the correct dark orange (I had to use part 2577 Brick, Round Corner 4 x 4 Full Brick since the macaroni version (48092) doesn't come in dark orange). I was also able to rework the bottom to make it more stable. It looks a lot better and is so much more secure to handle than the old version.

I later went in and adjusted the bottom part further. It's still a work in progress, but I was able to get the color of the tank at the bottom to be all dark orange. Sorry these aren't the greatest photos, but this is how it went together:

 

[KingsKnight]

I also wanted to work out what the wing might look like using the new triangle pieces instead of the old discontinued wedge plates. Until these new triangle parts existed, there wasn't a way to get the correct length 45 degree angle without gaps unless you used the old discontinued wedge parts. The new parts have the advantage of letting you make the bottom of the wing all black, and also letting you make more of the wing SNOT.

[icm]

Excellent work.  Thanks for posting these pictures.  It's amazing how much you've managed to simplify and improve the External Tank.  I'm not sure how I feel about the revised wing, though.  On the one hand, it uses modern parts and avoids the awkward gap in the original version.  On the other hand, it's very...busy, and the parts needed aren't all available in dark bluish gray.  Of course, it would really help if TLG introduced some nice new chainable 45-degree wedge plates with the same design as other wedge plates, like those used for the elevons.  I wonder if the original version's reliance on old-style wedge plates is one of the reasons why it didn't make it through the review.

[KingsKnight]

1 hour ago, icm said:

Excellent work.  Thanks for posting these pictures.  It's amazing how much you've managed to simplify and improve the External Tank.  I'm not sure how I feel about the revised wing, though.  On the one hand, it uses modern parts and avoids the awkward gap in the original version.  On the other hand, it's very...busy, and the parts needed aren't all available in dark bluish gray.  Of course, it would really help if TLG introduced some nice new chainable 45-degree wedge plates with the same design as other wedge plates, like those used for the elevons.  I wonder if the original version's reliance on old-style wedge plates is one of the reasons why it didn't make it through the review.

Yeah true it's busy. It's just one solution. You can make the wing cleaner by using 3 triangle parts instead of alternating with the other corner tile. Those parts are so new right now that they're hard to come by. And I agree with the color. Hopefully they make more colors for that part.
I doubt the old style parts would stop Lego from making it a set. They pretty much always rework the model anyway, and they probably would have figured out an alternative (maybe even using the triangle tiles since they probably knew they existed before we did!)

[Shiva]

KingsKnight, thumbs up from me :)

I still hope that the No, this got from Lego Ideas, would be due to them making a new good shuttle.

"oops... seems I forgot to post this a few days ago. Reminder.... use the 'Submit Reply' button!"

[KingsKnight]

On 5/21/2018 at 8:43 PM, Shiva said:

KingsKnight, thumbs up from me :)

I still hope that the No, this got from Lego Ideas, would be due to them making a new good shuttle.

"oops... seems I forgot to post this a few days ago. Reminder.... use the 'Submit Reply' button!"

Yeah, I really want a nice new shuttle, and I'm hoping they only said "no" because they're working on one. One can hope.