Mainman's Lego AN-225 Mriya Cargo Plane

[DLuders]

On his Flickr photoset, Mainman posted 11 pictures of his HUGE Lego AN-225 Mriya cargo plane. He wrote,

"The Soviet Union built the massive An-225 Mriya as a transport for their Buran shuttle and booster rockets. It was largely based on Antonov's already-giant transport the An-124. Once the Buran program fell through and the Soviet Union broke down, the single completed An-225 passed eventually to Antonov Airlines, who now operate it as a heavy cargo lifter. The An-225 holds the records for heaviest gross weight and takeoff weight, so even though the Spruce Goose had a wider wingspan, the Mriya is widely considered the largest aircraft ever made."

"This model is 1:100 scale. At 106 studs long and 110 stud wingspan....Built for the [Flickr] Military Group's 2011 contest."

"This project was a beast in many ways. I made a basic cross section template last year, but upon building I realized that one cross section doesn't cover much of the plane (in fact that cross section in its unaltered form only constitutes six studs worth of fuselage length). Using this drawing I made a similar "frame" template for each of the cross sections shown. Then I just had to combine the frames and work the transitions. This was the first time I've really had to do much sculpting on a fuselage. Also the first time I've had to make a technic frame for one of my scale aircraft."

"It's hard to see, but this jet's wing's trailing edge has three angle changes. That was the reason I put wing plates on the trailing edge rather than the leading edge like I usually do. That left me with a 'straight' leading edge which allowed me to do an elegant taper along the whole front of the wing. I really liked the result."

"I love the unusual tailfin layout of this jet. I ended up lucky that the blue line worked. It's all actual tiles except for a strip of electrical tape on the nose. I also now understand Lino's love affair with curvy slopes."

"The wings were another trick. I ended up using my usual hinge technique for the wing root area, but made the whole thing three studs thick which allowed for both a studs-forward leading edge, and some technic connections inside. The real aircraft as a noticeable anhedral which begins at the inboard engine nacelle, so that's where I put my break. The only connection between the root and the rest of each wing is some beams pinned together plus a single 2x3 wing plate. The anhedral didn't come out as prominent as I had hoped, but having removable wings did make things simpler to work with."

Edited May 29, 2011 by Rufus
Indexed

[Vindicare]

Wow, that is very impressive. I'm not familiar with the actual aircraft, but a quick search would remedy that. That thing is huge, the comparison shot really gives weight to how big it really is. Job well done.

[XimenaPaulina]

Great find DLuders! That's certainly a very impressive build and what I really like about this is not only its accuracy with the real plane but it has the right balance of the modern SNOT build and the classic studded-look.

[Brickdoctor]

Very nice! I love the shaping of the wings.

it has the right balance of the modern SNOT build and the classic studded-look.

I agree. The SNOTed slopes are all in the right places.

[Siegfried]

Stunning work... this is five minutes off being front paged! The Mriya is actually a favourite aircraft of mine; I even partially named my daughter after it! (Myra.)

Thanks for highlighting this MOC for me.

[Yatkuu]

What a beast, and what an impressive build! For anyone not familiar with the plane, it is featured in the movie 2012 from R. Emmerich.

[Aeturnus]

Really an impressive model.Now try building one fig scale haha :D

[Mr. McDuck]

this is epic! Just amazing

I love it !

[Blackknight112]

wow, this MOC is huge. It looks amazing aswell.

keep up the good work

[Fuzzylegobricks]

What a amazing model! The SNOT is definitely in all the best spots.

[Stonir]

This is Cool! I love BIG Scale

[dr_spock]

Nice build. That looks like a lot of 1x1 slopes.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

Its great to see one of these built. This is a great MOC, very well done

[DLuders]

Mainman has built quite a few 1:100-scale aircraft -- check out his latest image on Flickr:

[meyerc13]

That last picture really puts the size of this into perspective. I've seen many of those planes up close in real life, and some of them are decent sized, but this makes them look like toys. Very well done!

[Mainman]

Mainman has built quite a few 1:100-scale aircraft -- check out his latest image on Flickr:

Hey, thanks for the mention! I've never hung out at Eurobricks, so I didn't really know I was noticed here. Glad you guys like it - 'twas quite a project.

Great find DLuders! That's certainly a very impressive build and what I really like about this is not only its accuracy with the real plane but it has the right balance of the modern SNOT build and the classic studded-look.

The studs-vs-studless problem is one that I've dealt with on all my aircraft, since wing plates don't come in tile form (though I'd love to see such). I could do fully studded wings, but then I'd end up with a very stark contrast between wing surface and fuselage. So, I tend to opt for a partially studded surface, with mostly tiles, but adding some studded plates to compliment the wing plates and make sure they don't look out of place. I do think it came off well in this MOC.

[Alec]

This is a great Model, and all the others look great as-well. I think that's a Filckr to look out for!

[Ecclesiastes]

That's an epic plane! Also like the smaller ones!

[SquirrelArmy]

Glad there was already topic on this. I don't want to trigger a discussion on the conflict in Ukraine but rather a conversation on this aircraft in particular. It's apparent destruction is a loss to the aviation world.

It's last flight was actually from Billund to Kyiv taking aid to Ukraine.

I've just seen a rumour that Lego could be making this into a set. Is there any truth in this? I would certainly be interested especially if proceeds were donated to helping those affected by the conflict.

 

[jpx]

I saw this tweet

After the AN225 had departed Billund just one month ago. I'm crossing my fingers! 

[Shiva]

AN-225 in 1:110 That I would <3 to see.

Or a combo with AN-225 and Buran spaceplane.

They might try to rebuild Mriya. But it will cost a lot.

[SquirrelArmy]

3 hours ago, Shiva said:

AN-225 in 1:110 That I would <3 to see.

 

A Lego wingspan of 80cm. That would take up some serious shelf space, would you get the detail in a smaller scale though?

[Shiva]

1:100 vs 1:110, not that big difference. But still a difference.

If LEGO does release this, what scale could it be?

[SquirrelArmy]

1 hour ago, Shiva said:

If LEGO does release this, what scale could it be?

We could definitely rule out System scale. It would be an absolute monster that no one could fit in a city so it would be have to be primarily a display set. Even at 1:200 you would only just get it on a shelf with a 40cm wing span. I suppose the question is how small can it be made and still keep the detail.