“Honey, I shrunk the Galaxy Explorer.” LL 918 rebuilt as a half scale interpretation of its bigger brother LL 928.

My first mod of LL 918 was pretty much based on the original model, just with the new half scale wings section of LL 928. A few days ago I was playing around with some down scaled versions of LL 928 when I had the idea of a modified LL 918 with the look of LL 928. I tried a few different designs and came up with a mix of LL 918, LL924 and LL 928.

Rear left view:
The most important change is an extra rocket engine and a bigger cargo area. It now has big cargo doors, just like LL 924 and LL 928 have. The cargo area is more than original 2x2x1 box with doors now. There is space for a 2x4x2 box inside.

Top view:
You can see the half scale wing shape of LL 928 with 1×1 plates in black and yellow. I’ve added the posts for extra rockets on the sides of the wings. Due to the limited space I used the small thrusters from LL 924. And, last but not least, the hinge for the roof is now on the rear end, combined with blue plates on the side of the roof panel.

So here it is: My second mod of the Lego Classic Space LL 918 One Man Space Ship with a design similar to the LL 918 Galaxy Explorer. I call it the One Man Space Explorer.

Bonus picture:
A preliminary rendering I made with Mecabricks.
… Hmm, I might go back to those shorter rear wings…

More colours! :-))

I was inspired by Pat-Ard and his picture, so I just had to take one with my bunch of CStronauts. It’s great to see new colours coming and I’m still thrilled by the new retro helmet mold from the Lego Movie 2 set “Benny’s Space Squad” (70841).

The first five of the guys in basic “Mondrian” Lego colours are original CS minifigs. The green one is from the Ideas “Exo Suit” set (21109), modified with a classic head and without a helmet visor. The grey one is a combination of the CMF “Rocket Boy” and light bluish grey parts combined with classic light grey helmet and air tank. The pink one is “Lenny” from “Benny’s Space Squad” and the orange one came with DK’s “Visual History” book.

So let’s wait and see which colour will be next… Lime would be awesome! :-))

Here they are with some of their classic and newer space colleagues. I have to get another box… ;-))

Febrovery 2020: A Classic Space Rover with Classic Technic Rocker-Bogie suspension.

Last minute entry for Febrovery 2020: The missing parts for this one arrived just in time today.

I wanted to combine the 1979 Classic Space look with a Rocker-Bogie suspension built with Classic Technic parts from the same era. I started the design with LDD, but I really wanted to build it with real used bricks for the special look.

I didn’t find time to finish the project earlier, so I was lucky to have the extra day for that. This is the result.

Canopy open:
There is a toilet behind the drivers’ seat, covered by a 2×2 tile.

Roof open: A small bunk just under the roof.

Rear end: A seat, a desk and a computer workstation are placed under the bunk.

The suspension in action: 1, …

… 2, …

… 3 …

… and 4.

So this is my  Classic Space/Technic Rover with Rocker-Bogie suspension. I hope you like it :-))

Bonus pictures:
The Technic suspension

You can see the “heart” of the suspension system in the middle: The differential connects the two Rocker arms on the sides. So when one arm moves up, the other one moves down and vice-versa. This suspension worked well on the NASA Mars rovers, so why shouldn’t it on a Lego Moon rover?

You can also see good old Pythagoras at work on the angled Technic beams. Each of them forms a virtual triangle with edges that are 3, 4 and 5 studs long.

Classic Space Maths: 6980+6952+1979=927. LL927 combines the functions of  6980 Galaxy Commander and 6952 Solar Power Transporter with the style of 1979.

I’ve had the idea to build a Galaxy Commander in classic 1979 style for quite a while. I even have a finished LDD file for such a spaceship on MOCpages since 2013.

I came back to the idea some weeks ago when I thought about another spaceship to transport 16x8x8 Space Cargo Units (SCUs). The Galaxy Commander already carries a station module and my 1979 version of the Solar Power Transporter has an SCU station module as it’s middle section.

So I came up with the idea of a frame similar to the one from the Galaxy Commander and to connect the parts of my “1979” Solar Power Transporter to it. This is the result.

– “Rover to Hab. We’ve found the cargo at the drop zone”
– “That should be the upgrade they have promised for this month.”
– “You are right! We’ll come for you and the Hab.”

– “Hey guys, that thing is cool, isn’t it?”
– “I like it! Let’s see if it works as shown in the manual.”

– “This should be the right place for the couplings.”
– “OK, we’ll bring you this one!”

– “The coupling is fixed.”
– “The wings look good, too.”

– “Second coupling – Check!”
– “And now the first cockpit”

– “We are almost done with the wings, here.”
– “The SCU couplings for the Hub look good, too.
We’ll go inside, now”.
– “Roger. We’ll lock it. See you at the base.”

– “Everything locked!”
– “Roger. Closing roof hatches”

– “And lift off!”
– “LL927 is on the way to Moon Base 1”

– “It’s great that we don’t need an extra carrier, any more!”
– “You are right.
I think, we’ll have a few beers tonight at Moon Base 1″
– “Oh, yeah!”

So, this is LL927, a combination of Lego Classic Space 6980 Galaxy Commander and 6952 Solar Power Transporter in 1979 design.
I hope you like it!

Right now it’s my favourite Classic Space model in my collection. There are so many possibilities to combine the sections and play around with them, even as an AFOL… :-))

If you want to build your own one, feel free to download the LDD LXF file.

Bonus picture: Possible combinations (1/4)

Bonus picture: Possible combinations (2/4)

Bonus picture: Possible combinations (3/4)

Bonus picture: Possible combinations (4/4)

A new set of wings for LL918 with a very popular shape.

LL918m is just a little mod of LL918 with a new wing section. It’s more of a coincidence than a planned design. I wanted to build a scooter or a small spaceship with the wing shape of LL928 in half scale.

I started building a little version of LL928 with an open 4-wide cockpit in LDD, but wasn’t really satisfied with it. So I built the wing section with real bricks just to see which ideas I would get during the building process with real bricks. Suddenly I realized that the new wings had almost the same size and shape as the wings from LL918.

So I just built the rest of my existing LL918 around them. This is the result.

The new wing shape.

LL928m with its “big brother”. Looks cool for me ;-))

So this is my Lego Classic Space LL918 Mod LL918m with a half scale LL928 wing shape.

I hope you like it! :-))

926/493 Reloaded: A new version of the Space Command Centre from 1978/79 packed into two of my Space Cargo Units (SCU).

My story with set 926 was more or less the same as with set 920: I always wanted one, but never had one. So after building a “new” version of set 920 with a pair of SCU containers , 926 was the logical choice for my next SCU project.

It was much easier to pack it into two SCU containers. The Command Centre itself is already built like a container with enough room inside for the external stair during transport. And there is enough room in a second SCU to pack all the dishes, lights and antennas into it and build the roof section with it.

These are the two SCU containers

SCU #1:  Command Centre. The interior is very similar to 926/493.

SCU #2: All the antennas, dishes and lights packed into a transport container.

The floor plates from the container (2 4×8 and 2 1×8 plates) are used for the roof of the “garage”. I only have one intact classic TV antenna left and I’m not willing to pay a fortune for a second one. So I added a second “brick built” one instead.

Everything built on a baseplate. It looks pretty much like the original model.

That’s it: My Lego Classic Space SC926 Space Command Centre based on the set 926/493 and built with two Space Cargo Units (SCUs).
I hope you like it! :-))

Febrovery 2019: An 8×8 flatbed transporter for 16L Space Cargo Units (SCUs) which can be “squeezed” to be transported as a single  SCU.

The All-Terrain Transporter and the SCU Carrier are both too wide to move SCU containers on a base. What I needed was a compact 8-wide transporter.

At the same time it should be possible to be transported as a single 16L SCU, just like the Carrier and the Exploration Rover. So once again a transformation function had to be included. The best way to change between transport and transporter mode was a variable wheelbase.

The sliding mechanism was based on three 12L Technic axles in the middle of the structure. The wheelbase could be extended by six studs with the rest of the structure still keeping some stability. So these six extra studs in length were the space where the four supports for transport and the driver’s cabin had to fit in.

The design of the space truck was inspired by MAN KAT1 8×8 military trucks. I noticed that there weren’t enough grey vehicles on my moon base, so no blue this time. This is the result.

Four studs in length aren’t much for a driver’s cabin with a steering wheel. So there is no closed windshield and no rear wall. The main purpose of the cabin is to support the front of the truck when it’s transported in a cargo ship.

For the transformation the center support is removed from the middle of the structure an positioned on a second fixing point on top of the flatbed.

Both halves of the vehicle pushed together and locked.

Side view – transport mode

Side view – transporter mode

And that’s what it’s made for.

Ready for work.

Time to move on!
Oops, the truck is too long…!

OK, that’s better!

And ready to boldly go where no flatbed transporter has gone before…

The SCU vehicles:
Exploration Rover, Carrier and Flatbed Transporter

This is it: My Lego Classic Space 8×8 SCU Flatbed Transporter.
I hope you like it! :-))