back to article Space fans eye launch of Lego Saturn V

A proposed Lego Saturn V is gaining momentum down at Lego Ideas, and is well on the way to the 10,000 supporters it needs to be considered for production. The miniature heavy lifter features a full-fat Apollo 11 Moon mission kit, including lunar orbiter and Eagle lander. The Lego lunar orbiter and lander For the LEGO fans …

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  1. Efros

    I'd have that

    I remember in my youth putting together the Airfix Saturn V kit, not the most challenging of kits but certainly one of the most imposing standing nearly 2 feet high, although it seemed bigger then.

    Addendum: seems Airfix have revamped and reissued the Saturn V kit!

    1. Andrew Newstead

      Re: I'd have that

      They certainly have! New tooling for the Apollo CSM to make it the correct diameter and a Skylab version with the Skylab fairing (no Skylab unfortunately, but does keep the Apollo bits). Mat Irvine, ex BBC model maker and a prominent figure in the space modelling community (yes, there is one) consulted for Airfix on the new parts.

      And yes, I would have one of these Lego jobs like a shot!

    2. deshepherd

      Re: I'd have that

      Glad I'm not the only person who immediately had nostaligic thoughts about the Airfix Saturn V ... I had two of them!

    3. Simon Harris
      Happy

      Re: I'd have that

      I remember getting that one for Christmas when I was about 10. Certainly was impressive and seemed bigger at the time!

      1. TheOtherHobbes

        Re: I'd have that

        You can get a 1/48 scale ready-made from Moonpans:

        Saturn V 1/48

        Bit pricey though. And not a kit. And not Lego.

        Still, quite impressive in a corner of the man cave.

        1. Simon Harris

          Re: I'd have that

          I'd have one of those...

          if it came as a kit and didn't cost almost $7000!

    4. Mark 85

      Re: I'd have that

      Ah...joyous times. There was the Airfix and I think Revell had one in plastic. Then there was the Estes that actually flew. Launching that 3 foot high Estes Apollo was very satisfying and enjoyable. IIRC, it needed 3 of the "D" engines (the big ones).

    5. Mike Flugennock

      Re: I'd have that

      I first got into the Airfix kits as a young teenager around '69 or '70, while our family was stationed in Germany.

      The Airfix kits were way cooler than even the best Revell kits I built back in the States at the time. Airfix had models out of planes I could never get kits for in the States, lots of really sweet models of early MiG and Dassault fighters. I had a really nice Airfix MiG-15 hanging from my ceiling along with my Mirage and my F-100 and my X-15.

  2. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Specialised Lego?

    Somehow Lego always seems better when you can make something like this out of standard bricks. Having specialsed moulded pieces for every part takes away from the creative aspects, and they can't always be reused for other ideas from kids' imaginations.

    Still, I voted for this.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Childcatcher

      Re: Specialised Lego?

      Moan, moan, kids today have it easy...

      You are James May AICMFP!

      1. Simon Harris

        Re: Specialised Lego? James May.

        Nahh.. James May would have you building a life-sized version out of Lego

        1. Ogi

          Re: Specialised Lego? James May.

          To be fair, James May (and the rest of Top Gear) went a step further, and actually built a real life rocket and launched it. That was my favourite Top Gear Episode.

          I still wish they would have another go at it, they came really close. Although, perhaps not based on the space shuttle launcher (which is not the best rocket design, due to the shuttle having to hang off its back rather than on top like other payloads).

    2. Yugguy

      Re: Specialised Lego?

      Agreed - too much of today's lego is basically model-building to a pattern.

      1. Lamont Cranston
        Happy

        Re: model-building to a pattern

        Sets like this are model-building to a pattern, yes, but that's the point - you want to build a Saturn V, but don't have all the bits you need, nor the time/money to collect them all (nor, perhaps, the necessary skill).

        Doesn't matter, as once you've built the model shown on the box, you (or, more likely, your children) can smash it apart again and have lots of interesting pieces to work with - just because they're specialised pieces for building a rocket, doesn't mean they can't be turned into something else (e.g. skeleton legs make for an excellent balustrade).

        1. Bronek Kozicki

          Re: model-building to a pattern

          My children love taking these "specialized" pieces and putting them together in unexpected ways. Recently they built large crossbow (large enough to fit my hand, although not fully functional) without any visible studs or unnecessary sharp angles on the outside, from pieces which were original designed for Star Wars (or was it Lego Movie). You can still do that, they have few (even if not very visible) studs and fit with other lego pieces. This requires more imagination, but is exactly the reason why I love buying my children more of such "specialized" sets. These sets do not cover in dust at my home, as long as there is place left on the floor to play with ;)

          1. Simon Harris
            Happy

            Re: model-building to a pattern

            "My children love taking these..."

            Children - nature's way of allowing grown men to play with Lego.

            1. Lamont Cranston
              Joke

              Re: "allowing grown men to play with Lego"

              Play with it?! It's not a toy, it's a highly sophisticated inter-locking brick system.

            2. 9Rune5

              Re: model-building to a pattern

              "Children - nature's way of allowing grown men to play with Lego."

              In most cases, yes. My son just turned 1 year, and I can't wait for him to get past the Duplo-stage.

              That said, a colleague had in his possession the big Lego Technics crane (the most expensive Technics kit I believe). Then Lego, in their infinite wisdom, released an updated version, the Mark II.

              My colleague bought the upgraded kit, built it, and then donated the old kit to his gf's son. Absolutely no pretense there.

    3. AceRimmer

      Re: Specialised Lego?

      Specialised?

      There were similar complaints back in the '80's when I was a nipper and playing with my space Lego.

      Can't say I wished it was any different

      1. Simon Harris

        Re: Specialised Lego?

        I think there have always been specialised bricks (at least since the early 1970s when I had my first Lego) - it's just that some are more specialised and difficult to incorporate into new designs than others.

        My little sister had Lego doll's house sets including things like pre-made kitchen cabinets with opening doors - specialised yes - but dimensionally compatible with the bricks so I could steal them and build them into my own structures.

        Even back in the 1970s though, the one thing that annoyed me about the themed sets was that the base-plates often only had studs in the areas of the themed design making them hard to reuse generically - I think the doll's house kitchen only had studs around the outside where you were expected to put the cabinets, cooker, etc. - at least my sister was safe from me stealing those!

        1. Bleu

          Re: Specialised Lego?

          Mr. Harris, you are correct, it is stupid. Lego's rightful place is as a toy for toddlers. Except for their experiment with programmable control years ago, it remains the same.

          At one of the smaller booths at CEATEC this year, they had a Meccano robot. That did impress me, although it wasn't active at the time.

    4. Mike Flugennock

      Re: Specialised Lego?

      Yeah, I knew Lego was jumping the shark when they started issuing specialized kits for specific projects.

      Granted, I was only 6 or 7 at the time, but looking back it always seemed more fun to figure out on my own how to build a spaceship with just the big box of standard Lego bricks that I had.

  3. malcolmus_rex

    That's cool! Supported!

  4. Stuart 22

    The Real Thing

    Just to say, in case you haven't already done it - seeing the remaining Saturn V at Cape Canaveral is a must for your list of things to do before you die. For memories for those of us who watched every launch in the late sixties - and to impress the young what really spectacular and heroic engineering is all about.

    1. Francis Vaughan

      Re: The Real Thing

      One of the three remaining actually. All three are on display at various NASA facilities. They are a mix of flight and test-article parts. Apollo 18 and 19 were cancelled. But the hardware was all ready. Skylab used the first two stages of a Saturn to fly, the Skylab itself being a refitted third stage. Add in the Dynamic test article (which whilst not considered flightworthy was built identically to the flying ones) and you get one at KSC, one at JSC, and one at the US Space and Rocket Centre.

      http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/saturn_apollo/display.html

      A visit to building 30 at the JSC in Houston is also an absolute must. You walk up the same stairs that Gene Kranz and his fellow mission controllers took each day. They have refitted one of the control rooms back with all the Apollo era gear. Little beats seeing that.

      1. Neil Barnes Silver badge
        Alien

        Re: The Real Thing

        Made a point of seeing it years ago. Touched a moonrock, too. Cried a little.

      2. Peter Simpson 1
        Thumb Up

        Re: The Real Thing

        On the list for the next trip.

        Do you have to dress in white shirt and skinny tie before they let you in? :-)

        Also, for the doubters - does the LEGO Saturn V come with a little soundstage and a Stanley Kubrick figure to fake the landing?

      3. Bleu

        Re: The Real Thing

        but is the refitted control gear made of

        LEGO bricks?

  5. Clive Harris

    That reminds me

    That reminds be of the Airfix Saturn 5 I got for my 12th birthday. My brothers and sisters clubbed together to pay for it. I'm sure I never thanked them enough for it, but it took pride of place on my bedroom mantlepiece for many years. The label on the base had a blank for the date of the second moon landing, because it hadn't happened yet. I remember the tiny little Command Module perched on the top - about half an inch high - which was the only bit that made it home.

  6. Christoph

    That second picture is incorrect - the CSM separated from the third stage (and then extracted the LEM) just after the Translunar Injection burn, well before it got to the moon.

    1. Anonymous Custard

      It's also a shame that they've left the escape mechanism attached to the Apollo craft in the poster. The obsessive nerd in me would always be bugged by the whole thing being labelled as the craft if I had to make do with just the poster on my wall.

      Still voted for the thing though, and agree with others above that the real thing (the actual rocket, not the lego) is a thing of engineering magnificence that should be seen before you die. Vivid memories of doing so when I was (much) younger, and being overawed by the sheer scale of the damn thing.

      1. Alan Brown Silver badge

        "It's also a shame that they've left the escape mechanism attached to the Apollo craft in the poster."

        Future modules (dragons) will leave it attached, as it's part of the landing system.

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  7. Winkypop Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Want

    So very much!

    The eager have landed.

  8. stucs201

    Obligatory XKCD

    I'm surprised I've not been beaten to this:

    https://xkcd.com/1133/

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Scale?

    This is a big kit, but still not big enough to be the right scale for getting three minifigures in the capsule. Would need to be something like 2.5m long, I think, which makes you appreciate quite what a beast the Saturn V was.

    Need more bricks!

    1. JacobZ

      Microfigures? Re: Scale?

      There are microfigures now -- the Shield Helicarrier was one of the first sets to have them. I wonder if this would be a good use for them?

    2. Daniel von Asmuth
      Boffin

      Educational!

      At last, a toy for math geeks that comes with plenty of pounds (not Sterling), feet and gallons for our kids to convert into metric units.

  10. gryphon

    Model

    Would love this.

    My father had this when I was way younger and also a Sikorsky (I think) helicopter with winch and mini capsule which I ended up with.

    Which I seem to have mislaid over the years. :-(

    1. Vinyl-Junkie

      Re: Model

      Corgi did a beautiful 1/72 Sea King and Apollo 11 command module diorama in the early noughties. It was a limited edition and now commands sums significantly above the original asking price.

      There are some good free card models of the Saturn V out there on the web, including one in 1/32nd scale!

      1. Simon Harris

        Re: Model

        I noticed someone has proposed a similar scenario for a Lego kit on the Ideas site as well.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    I'd love that!

    Aaand then I'd be wanting extra parts so I could reconstruct all my favourite Kerbal Space Program builds... :-}

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I'd love that!

      There's nothing that can't be improved by strapping on a few more solid rocket boosters.

  12. Patched Out

    This must happen

    See title.

  13. Vinyl-Junkie
    Thumb Up

    Check out the full album!

    http://bit.ly/1HqvlVu

    I want one with the tower and crawler!

  14. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Count me in!

    I grew up worshipping the astronauts (and cosmonauts, when we did get the news of them) as heroes. I successfully nagged at my parents to allow me to stay up late to see the first moon landing live on our old B&W tele.

    1. Old Used Programmer

      Re: Count me in!

      Heh... I got a paid day off work because of the first Moon landing. My father, sister and I took photos off the TV screen of the EVA on the surface. (Argus C3, focused using a special piece of ground glass, High Speed Ektachrome Type B film, shooting at 1/30 sec. My apologies that I don't recall the F-stop.)

    2. Mike Flugennock

      Re: Count me in!

      Wow, you actually had to nag your parents to let you stay up and watch the first visit to another world by humans?

      My mom and dad rushed to my room and woke me up so I could watch it.

      1. Peter Simpson 1
        Thumb Up

        Re: Count me in!

        You have excellent parents!

        I watched it. Then, the next day, went out and bought papers. Still have them. One of the times in my life I was acutely aware that I was living through history being made.

        I still tear up a bit when watching the landing video...and the Apollo 8 Christmas readings.

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