[MOC] The Bumblebee

[arnoldtblumberg]

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-45666/arnoldtblumberg/the-bumblebee/?inventory=1#comments

I was looking up the set inventory on the Futuron monorail (which I’m lucky enough to have from childhood) for another build I wanted to try, and I just happened to see two parts in particular: 2342 Utensil Control Panel and 4598 Space Seat (for those playing at home). I decided to see if I could build a little ship around them, and then for some reason decided to see if I could keep almost the entire thing yellow, with a black accent stripe, as if I’d lifted just the bumblebee stripes from a classic ship. After all that preamble, here is the result.

The Bumblebee was one of 33 Planets’ most popular sport gliders, patterned somewhat on the early CCS one- and two-pilot shuttles, and ‘borrowing’ its two-tone motif and name from the so-called “bumblebee stripes” that were a distinctive design feature on CCS ships (fortunately for 33, the CCS had no legal protection covering that feature). This compact, contoured little wing ran on the same Yaxxline fuel as most vehicles of the era, and not only featured a single energon node behind the pilot’s seat, but two supplementary repurposed lasersticks modified to serve as additional propulsive emitters. The result was a surprisingly peppy ride for something so tiny, and its dual-lever control panel, while deceptively simple, offered a pilot a fine degree of control over any journey. The Bumblebee played a small (appropriately enough) but significant role in the Undead Incursion at the First Outpost in ’68…but that’s a story for another time.

[Jerry McGlade]

I really like the stylistic choices you made when choosing the colours of the ship. It looks just out of Cloud City in Star Wars. Great job!

[arnoldtblumberg]

Thank you so much! The Cloud City connection totally hadn't occurred to me when making it, but I absolutely see it now.