LEGO IDEAS Classic Space (CRATERPLATE VERSION) PERMANENT PLANETARY STATION

[Operacion Saturno]

The wait is over.

Follow the link and check the new images added.

I had to choose brown color so it would contrast the base itself.

I hope you like this.

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/43814e85-ead4-46d0-886c-b024d6156756

PLEASE SUPPORT!!!

Edited August 21, 2021 by Operacion Saturno

[Operacion Saturno]

Visit my Facebook page I added an image of the small rover and the Meteor crab. I couldn't upload it on Lego Ideas.
https://www.facebook.com/astronautagris

 

[thebrickhamster]

pretty cool - supported

[Pisces no Aphrodite]

Supported.

[danth]

Very cool! Already supported.

I was kinda surprised that you went with a two-toned light and dark brown color scheme for the crater plate build. I was wondering why you did -- and then stumbled upon one of my old builds from a while back where I did the same thing!

So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised!

[Operacion Saturno]

On 9/20/2021 at 8:52 AM, thebrickhamster said:

pretty cool - supported

Thank you!

On 9/21/2021 at 12:44 AM, Samus Aran said:

Supported.

Appreciated!

On 9/21/2021 at 3:50 PM, danth said:

Very cool! Already supported.

I was kinda surprised that you went with a two-toned light and dark brown color scheme for the crater plate build. I was wondering why you did -- and then stumbled upon one of my old builds from a while back where I did the same thing!

So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised!

In deed. It adds more color variety to the MOC.

 

[Aanchir]

I love this, actually! I've felt for a while that a lot of the curve pieces that LEGO's introduced would be great for recreating the sort of terrain that the old crater plates depicted, and you did a pretty good job of coming up with a build that achieves that!

I'm not 100% sold on the Reddish Brown for the raised parts of the terrain, though, mainly because the sharp contrast between the dusty-looking ground and rocky-looking protrusions makes them seem more like volcanic craters and ridges than ones formed by meteors. That's not to say that a two-tone look can't work, but I think it'd work better if it were a color like Sand Yellow/Dark Tan that's closer in hue and tone to the main ground color.

I also kind of wish that instead of turbines/rotors, the thrusters on the VTOL had glowy radar dishes on the underside or something. The turbines feel a bit at odds with the Classic Space look, both because no actual Classic Space sets had propellers or turbines like that, and because they make the setting feel a little too "Earth-like" for my tastes since turbines like that would only work within some kind of atmosphere.

But I do love the base itself! Not only are the futuristic curves and greebly exterior fixtures very stylish, the interior spaces are very beautifully and practically furnished with features like a lab, crew quarters, communications/command center, rocket launch bay, and garage/workshop. So while it's a far cry from the boxy exteriors raised up on support struts that were typical of actual Classic Space sets, it feels very true to the sort of base I would want to be stationed at for the sorts of missions that those sets and others typically depicted.

The vehicle fleet you came up with also offers plenty of potential for different types of planetary or lunar expeditions: scouting/reconnaissance, collecting geological samples, delivering or handling supplies, responding to distress calls, etc. There are certainly some defunct parts in this model like the magnets that would not be viable in an actual set, but I have no doubt that LEGO's set designers could find good replacements for those sorts of details when it comes time to fine-tune the design for production. I think it's particularly neat that you gave the mech an alternate set of gripper arms so the crew can upgrade/refit it for different tasks. That adds some great play value to both the mech and garage/workshop, plus a practical sense for how a material handler mech like this might be designed in real life!

I'm especially pleased that you actually maintained some elements of the Classic Space theme that other modernized takes often disregard, like the green and grey color schemes you used for some of the ground vehicles or the black and white color scheme and nosecone-mounted satellite you included in your rocket design. Although not as popular with AFOLs as iconic blue and yellow spaceships, these color choices and details greatly add to the model's sense of authenticity. Plus, the green and grey color scheme pairs beautifully with the green-suited astronauts that the Ideas Exo-Suit set introduced for mech/walker crews! Red wheel hubs instead of grey ones might be a bit of an improvement from a nostalgic standpoint, but aside from that, I'm very happy with the vehicle colors you chose.

And needless to say, the meteor crab is ADORABLE — and exactly the sort of weird space critter that feels suited to this sort of planet, which otherwise has no obvious signs of life. I could easily picture it making nests inside craters, tucking its legs away for protection/camouflage, and consuming extraterrestrial minerals or bacteria deposits for sustenance.

Great work overall, and I will definitely be checking out some of your other projects! Even if I'm not satisfied with every little detail, you did a great job weaving a coherent design out of all sorts of fantastic details and features that many LEGO Space fans like us are sure to love!

Edited January 22, 2022 by Aanchir

[Operacion Saturno]

On 1/22/2022 at 2:20 PM, Aanchir said:

I also kind of wish that instead of turbines/rotors, the thrusters on the VTOL had glowy radar dishes on the underside or something. The turbines feel a bit at odds with the Classic Space look, both because no actual Classic Space sets had propellers or turbines like that, and because they make the setting feel a little too "Earth-like" for my tastes since turbines like that would only work within some kind of atmosphere.

Thank you for your comment.

The original idea was to mount the large communication dish over the roof of the lab facility but was a stud short so I instead place a wind turbine to have an extra source of energy. remember this is a Permanent base, so needs different ways to get energy on a hostile environment. Other planets like mars have 60 mph winds so is viable to have wind turbines. Plus back the the late 70s there were no wind turbines yet. So Lego designers sould not include this or it would look like an old ranch windmill water pump (remember the fishbone antennas on early CS sets).

 

On 1/22/2022 at 2:20 PM, Aanchir said:

I love this, actually! I've felt for a while that a lot of the curve pieces that LEGO's introduced would be great for recreating the sort of terrain that the old crater plates depicted, and you did a pretty good job of coming up with a build that achieves that!

Thank you for the compliment. If you like the custom craterplate you should see my newest project. It has also the same craterplate, but in dark gray.

[Operacion Saturno]

On 1/22/2022 at 2:20 PM, Aanchir said:

There are certainly some defunct parts in this model like the magnets that would not be viable in an actual set, but I have no doubt that LEGO's set designers could find good replacements for those sorts of details when it comes time to fine-tune the design for production.

You are right. Originally it have a hook, also the large crane arm has both a hook and a magnet. You see in 2020 Lego reisued magnets on sets 60243 Police Helicopter Chase and 60245 Monster Truck Heist. So I changed the hooks for magnets. Bad idea. New Lego Magnets were not well recieved.

[Aanchir]

On 1/30/2022 at 6:20 AM, Operacion Saturno said:

You are right. Originally it have a hook, also the large crane arm has both a hook and a magnet. You see in 2020 Lego reisued magnets on sets 60243 Police Helicopter Chase and 60245 Monster Truck Heist. So I changed the hooks for magnets. Bad idea. New Lego Magnets were not well recieved.

I think the new LEGO magnets could potentially be viable in a Space model like this, but the old ones depicted in this project definitely won't be coming back since they're small enough for a kid to swallow (which is why they got retired in the first place — toy regulations involving magnets are stricter than they used to be since even if they're not a choking hazard, they can still pose a danger by getting caught in the digestive tract).

[Operacion Saturno]

22 hours ago, Aanchir said:

I think the new LEGO magnets could potentially be viable in a Space model like this, but the old ones depicted in this project definitely won't be coming back since they're small enough for a kid to swallow (which is why they got retired in the first place — toy regulations involving magnets are stricter than they used to be since even if they're not a choking hazard, they can still pose a danger by getting caught in the digestive tract).

Now that you mention it, the old magnets could be swallowed easily. That makes sense. Too bad for that I really miss the old magnets.

Please free to review my newest post the Tezta Tower. I will post an upgrade of that project next week.

[Aanchir]

On 2/2/2022 at 8:53 AM, Operacion Saturno said:

Now that you mention it, the old magnets could be swallowed easily. That makes sense. Too bad for that I really miss the old magnets.

Yeah, I agree. They were a defining gimmick in a number of my favorite themes of my KFOL years, and even by modern standards they were outstandingly versatile! Plus, I really loved magnet-based toys in general back then. But a lot of magnetic toys are way more dangerous than I realized at the time, and loads of kids have ended up in the emergency room from swallowing them.

A lot of countries first began rolling out tighter regulations on magnetic toys after a child died from swallowing magnets from a Magnetix kit in 2006. LEGO stopped including the classic magnet pieces in sets shortly after that, though by this point they'd already replaced them with larger pre-assembled couplings in City train sets due to these sorts of safety concerns.

It's a shame the newer magnet pieces from the 2020 City sets haven't appeared in any other sets since then. While their bulkier and more complex design definitely makes them less versatile (and more expensive) than the classic magnets, they still seem strong enough and versatile enough that they could have a lot of uses in Space and City builds, at least from what I've seen in reviews like this one.

[danth]

I wish the new magnet piece was gray or black. Yellow is pretty unfriendly for MOCing, especially when MOCing something like M:Tron.

[Operacion Saturno]

5 hours ago, danth said:

I wish the new magnet piece was gray or black. Yellow is pretty unfriendly for MOCing, especially when MOCing something like M:Tron.

Maybe it has to do with the magnet swallow incident. They use this color to highlight to be careful with it.
or.... they want us to build a Blacktron Moc with magnets.

 

[Operacion Saturno]

large images for some days

[Aanchir]

On 2/4/2022 at 11:37 PM, Operacion Saturno said:

Maybe it has to do with the magnet swallow incident. They use this color to highlight to be careful with it.

I don't think that's it, since they don't do that with train magnets. Pretty sure it's just because real-world industrial electromagnets like the ones excavators, cranes, etc use for lifting scrap metal often have a yellow or yellow-orange housing (Here's an example of a real one of that sort). And so that's probably what the City designers based theirs on.

Red or gray would be exciting recolors to see if LEGO ends up reusing that magnet piece. You CAN use two of the square gray magnet pieces together just as easily as you can use two of the yellow ones or one of each, though the shape and connection points might be a little awkward for uses like attaching it to a crane arm.

And actually, thinking about it now, I'm surprised it hadn't occurred to me before now how well the yellow ones could work in an Aquazone MOC. Maybe just cuz Aquazone isn't a theme I think to build in all that often, despite how big an impact it had on my childhood.

[Operacion Saturno]

On 5/27/2022 at 7:49 PM, Aanchir said:

I don't think that's it, since they don't do that with train magnets. Pretty sure it's just because real-world industrial electromagnets like the ones excavators, cranes, etc use for lifting scrap metal often have a yellow or yellow-orange housing (Here's an example of a real one of that sort). And so that's probably what the City designers based theirs on.

You are right, but would be nice to have that piece in Red or at least Black or Gray. We could use it in M:tron Mocs widely,
I´ve never seen a Tipper bed in red color, however Lego has made it in that color. So...