Japanese builder KEI ABE isn’t just an expert on the history of early space exploration, but also nails the construction of Russian Soyuz spacecraft in LEGO bricks. He started this amazing set back in March, and now a whole fleet of Soyuz ships is ready for countless space missions.
After an early tease of 21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V last month, today LEGO has officially taken the wraps off this massive 1:110 scale rocket. First announced last June, the Saturn V will be the largest ever fan-designed LEGO Ideas set with 1,969 pieces, giving even the part count a nod to the year of mankind’s first steps on the moon. The rocket itself stands 39 in. tall (100cm), and consists of all three stages with a full complement of the lunar orbiter, lunar lander, command module with flotation devices, and three astronaut microfigures. The Saturn V will retail for $119.99 USD beginning June 1, the same day as the just-announced 10257 Carousel.
The Saturn V is the first of two upcoming LEGO Ideas sets based on NASA, with a Women of NASA LEGO set coming later this year or early in 2018.
Click to see all the images of the Saturn V
It is 1965, and we have been transported to Leba launch site in Poland where Karwick has a Meteor 1 research rocket ready to launch.
Meteor-1A was a one stage ‘sounding rocket’ that would supply valuable meteorological and rocket technical data during its sub-orbital flight. The launch site for the Meteor series of rockets was Leba, Poland between 1963 and 1974.
The details on this yellow launching gantry are fantastic, especially the use of yellow minifig hands and pirate hooks to hold the guide wires in place! The coloured hose details on the detonator box are perfect and the silver rocket is adorable (if rockets can be adorable).
Not satisfied with a sub-orbital launch, in 1970, the Meteor 2 was launched from Leba and touched the boundary of the Earth’s atmosphere into space at an altitude of 100km. Karwik’s Meteor 2 is bigger, better, chromed and has a fantastic gantry that includes a loading buggy on rails.
A series of photographs providing a 360º view of the launch site of Karwick’s can be seen on Flickr.
Damien Labrousse (AKA Legodrome just posted pictures of a piece he built for CNES, the French Space Agency. Two control rooms were built for display and include a working screen and sound system. I just love the clean lines of this build but my favorite detail has to be those adorable little rocket models next to the speaker. Awesome!
