HarrisBricks

[MOC] A-83 Exploration Base (Neo-Classic Space)

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I had some great feedback on my ship, LL-997 Viper (thanks!), so thought I might share the display that it was built for here. This MOC is a Neo-Classic Space base inspired by Classic Space LEGO from the 80s but using the range of pieces and building techniques now available.

Growing up in the eighties and nineties means that I have fond memories of the LEGO sets from that time, Classic Castle and Space would have to be my favourites. I personally didn’t have a lot of Classic Space sets when I was younger but I have always loved them and their limited colour palette appeals to the graphic designer in me and their retro tech aesthetic speaks to my love of old-school science fiction.

In designing and building my Neo-Classic Space base I set out to honour the range and play options available in those original Classic Space sets. I have reimagined several must-have elements from the classic space sets including a range of ship sizes and types, small one person rovers, movable blue lab pods, light grey terrain (I had more fun with the terrain than I expected!), handy robot assistants, and a lot of satellite dishes.

You may be aware that there are established ‘rules’ for Neo-Classic Space MOCs, but I disagreed with some of them so I used my best judgement as to how to apply them in my MOC.

My base is named A-83 after my younger brother Adam (he was born in 1983 at the pinnacle of the Classic Space era) who sadly passed away at the age of 18 in 2001. Together with my sister Sarah, Adam and I spent countless weekends sprawled out on the loungeroom floor playing with our LEGO when we were growing up and blue Classic Space minifigures (and classic police minifigures for that matter) remind me of Adam to this day.

You can see some more detailed photos of the two larger ships, LL-999 Explorer and LL-997 Viper here.

For this MOC I created a range of custom stickers for all the signage of the base as well as a set of 6 custom printed pieces for computer screens. The aim was to create graphics that echo the original LEGO printed parts from the Classic Space sets as well as the classic Seventies and Eighties science fiction vernacular. The printed pieces were expertly printed by Edd at BrickSanity in the UK. If you would like to get your hands on my sticker artwork so you can print your own, you can do so here.

I recently submitted my LL-995 Viper  ship design from this display for consideration to LEGO Ideas, if you would like to see it made into an official LEGO set, you can register and show your support here.

 
 
Edited by HarrisBricks
Fixing image sizing issue.

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6 hours ago, hagridshut said:

Nice work on the terrain and the facility built into the brick mountainside. 

Thanks!

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Very nice :classic:
Looks great with all those details. It looks 'new' but it still has a bit oldskool look with the colorscheme and those minifigures and stuff. Nice too see, like it.
Another thing I like is that base build in that rock (nice rock too, and terrain).

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@HarrisBricks This is fantastic, well done!

If I had to dream what an ideal classic space layout would look like, this would be very close.

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Fantastic build with lots of stuff going and thus much to see.

However which touched me the most was the fact that it was build in memoriam. Thanks for sharing your very personal story. :hug:

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Wow, what a fantastic build! I love the way you sculpted the ground with the wedge plates. The rock formation is brilliant, very inspiring! Thanks for the share.

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Awesome base. I especially like how the main building looks like it was built into the mountain. The gunship and white storage tanks are also really nice.

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On 6/1/2020 at 11:13 PM, neonic said:

Very nice :classic:
Looks great with all those details. It looks 'new' but it still has a bit oldskool look with the colorscheme and those minifigures and stuff. Nice too see, like it.
Another thing I like is that base build in that rock (nice rock too, and terrain).

Thanks, I had a lot of fun building terrain (nevermind everything else).

On 6/2/2020 at 2:11 AM, Jerry McGlade said:

Awesome work! Great job.

Thanks!

On 6/2/2020 at 9:19 AM, leafan said:

@HarrisBricks This is fantastic, well done!

If I had to dream what an ideal classic space layout would look like, this would be very close.

Wow, that is a great compliment, thanks!

On 6/2/2020 at 10:52 PM, Covi said:

Fantastic build with lots of stuff going and thus much to see.

However which touched me the most was the fact that it was build in memoriam. Thanks for sharing your very personal story. :hug:

Cheers, and thanks :)

On 6/3/2020 at 5:13 AM, GeoBrick said:

Man, that's really out of this world. Splendid job! :excited:

Thanks!

On 6/3/2020 at 5:59 AM, Brixtof said:

Wow, what a fantastic build! I love the way you sculpted the ground with the wedge plates. The rock formation is brilliant, very inspiring! Thanks for the share.

The terrain (though really a background detail) is one of the most satisfying elements of this build. Thanks!

22 hours ago, CP5670 said:

Awesome base. I especially like how the main building looks like it was built into the mountain. The gunship and white storage tanks are also really nice.

Cheers!

19 hours ago, DodgeDude5498 said:

What can I say, this is just incredible!

Thanks!

38 minutes ago, Mrlikesninjagomoviethings said:

That looks good. Space sure can create good mocs

Cheers!

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I think the most elegant character in this entire construction is the moon/ lunar surface. The attention to unique crags, stone faces and layers looks extraordinarily natural and the inclusion of the base and other space elements make this a masterpiece!! Well done. I'm pretty sure if you had a MOC instruction for this, people would buy it (my brother included who is a space nut!)

 

-Magnuson24-

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On 6/10/2020 at 4:25 AM, Pholvandir said:

This is absolutely exquisite. Superb job!

Thanks, glad you like it!

On 6/9/2020 at 8:56 AM, Magnuson24 said:

I think the most elegant character in this entire construction is the moon/ lunar surface. The attention to unique crags, stone faces and layers looks extraordinarily natural and the inclusion of the base and other space elements make this a masterpiece!! Well done. I'm pretty sure if you had a MOC instruction for this, people would buy it (my brother included who is a space nut!)

 

-Magnuson24-

Thank you!

On 6/8/2020 at 6:58 AM, peedeejay said:

This build has written "awesome"all over it! Love it.

Thanks!

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This is a fantastic build, with tons of wonderful details. The classic space theme was my favourite one when I was a child. The lunar shape is excellent and very convincing. I like specially the LL-999 ship and the base interior.

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Beautiful work! It's in an instantly recognisable, personal style, yet adheres to the principles of neoclassic space building! Great work.

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On 6/18/2020 at 12:41 AM, Celloguy said:

Beautiful work! It's in an instantly recognisable, personal style, yet adheres to the principles of neoclassic space building! Great work.

Cheers!

On 6/17/2020 at 6:30 PM, dvogon said:

This is a fantastic build, with tons of wonderful details. The classic space theme was my favourite one when I was a child. The lunar shape is excellent and very convincing. I like specially the LL-999 ship and the base interior.

Thank you!

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This is truly amazing.  I can only imagine the amount of work that went into building this.  My only wish with this is that I get to see it in person one day.

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11 hours ago, pombe said:

This is truly amazing.  I can only imagine the amount of work that went into building this.  My only wish with this is that I get to see it in person one day.

Thanks, it was about seven months work I think, but very gradually in my spare time.

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