Cuusoo Showcase: Real Space

 

  • Cuusoo Showcase: Real Space

    Posted by glenbricker, 05 Dec 2012 00:04. Filed under Cuusoo.

    If you have looked at Cuusoo at all in the last couple of days, you have probably seen Architecture: Space Shuttle crawler transporter by Teazza

    It was released to Cuusoo on Monday and has, at the point of this writing, garnered over 250 votes.  

    This is no surprise.  It is a fantastic MOC.  It is a perfect scale for display while still large enough for details.  And what details!  

    Even the base is a work of art unto itself.  It uses a combination of vertical and horizontal brick to great effect.  If you look really closely you can see that the crawler is "leaving" tread marks on the road.  

    The only problem I have with this MOC is that the primary booster of the real shuttle is a dark orange color, not the depicted red.  I know, it's a lame complaint.  

    What follows is a collection of the best "real space" builds found on Cuusoo that could also use your support.  

    As this is a showcase, it is mostly a summary of like-themed projects rather than a detailed analysis.   Note that the creators with links for names have a multitude of other projects that do Cuusoo proud and I recommend you peruse them if you are inclined to such behaviours.  

    Apollo 11 Lunar Mission by  Suzuki

    This is one of the oldest projects on Cuusoo by one of its most prolific and supported creators.  (By the way, his Wall-E is fantastic).

    It has some interesting greeble and the collapsing landing struts is a clever technique.

     Hubble Telescope by GRusso

    If the Hubble needs an introduction, then I would send you to Neil deGrasse Tyson's article "For the Love of Hubble."

    This MOC is certainly a worthy send up of the beloved telescope.  

    Apollo 11 - Scale Model - Lunar Orbit by Johnmknight

    Yeah, one of the weird things about Cuusoo is that some projects get duplicated.  This version is much more detailed than Suzuki's, but of course, uses more parts.  

    If you are a serious space nut, I really suggest you take a better look at this one.  It even has internals!

    Lunokhod 1 by Kei_Kei

    The Russians landed the first extra-planetry rover in 1970.

    You might not be as familiar with this milestone as the others presented here, but it is a very accurate model.

    Space Shuttle Launch Complex by Teazza

    Teazza is the creator of the much more conservatively scaled crawler at the beginning of this article.  Last week, they released this monster of a MOC.

    I include this for two reasons: a). It's awesome and b). To bring up a point.  A LOT of people complain about projects on Cuusoo having unrealistic part counts.  While I wholly agree that this project has way too many parts as is to see the light of day as an official release, that is not a reason not to support it.

    I have talked with LEGO staff about Cuusoo project part counts and viability of them being produced.  The consistent response has been that part count  does not disqualify a project.  That being said, LEGO will base its final design budget on supporter feedback and market research.  

    So, if you WANT a  Space Shuttle Launch Complex, but DON'T care for the huge part count, support the project and enter the price point you are looking for in the feedback, not the price you think the displayed MOC would cost.

    Cheers!

     


    17 comments, latest one posted 5 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by PsyKater in Germany, 05 Dec 2012 03:41

Thanks for the hint. And can you highlight the last sentence please?

Posted by CCC in United Kingdom, 05 Dec 2012 04:13

There are some great models on cuusoo. Some of them will not make it. I wish the creators would release their instructions, even for a cost. It is a shame there is not the option on cuusoo to do this. For models that fail to make 10000 after say 6 months, the creators could opt to sell the plans to supporters via cuusoo if they wanted, with revenue for them being split 50:50 (or whatever) with lego.

I guess one reason not to would be quality reasons - would lego be able to take payment for instructions that they have not created themself?

It just seems a shame that there are some great models on there that will never see the light of day, and that there is no way to do the instructions via cuusoo. You have to go off cuusoo, which often means loss of viewers.

Posted by Chompers in United Kingdom, 05 Dec 2012 05:17

Liking this very much indeed. Agree with CCC, instructions for models that don't make the cut would be a good idea.

Posted by AVCampos in Portugal, 05 Dec 2012 06:31

I don't think TLG has any problem with selling/making available the instructions outside Cuusoo: two examples are the Serenity (which failed approval) and the Vampire GT (which hasn't reached the 10K votes yet).

Posted by defiant.nx74205 in United States, 05 Dec 2012 08:02

Regarding part counts, why couldn't TLG release a model in phases?
One can look at the modular buildings (town hall, fire brigade, etc) as a huge city that was released in phases.
They could do the same for any other large model.

Posted by CCC in United Kingdom, 05 Dec 2012 08:19

@AVCampos. It's not that they don't have a problem with doing it outside, but it would be so much easier if it was within cuusoo.

Posted by Graysmith in Sweden, 05 Dec 2012 08:36

I like the Apollo 11 lander set but LEGO has already done an Apollo lunar lander (10029) so I highly doubt that'll happen even if it'd reach 10,000.

Anyway, agree with CCC about instructions. I've had my eye on that Wall-E set linked in the article, and I'd love to build it myself but there are no instructions available and it's never going to get to 10,000.

Posted by rousoug in Cyprus, 05 Dec 2012 08:51

My first post here.

I LOVE Space Shuttle Launch Complex. Voted for it. I have found something similar on ebay (crawler and launch complex out of hard paper) that i have been considering to buy.

The Lego one above looks much much better. I already have the Space Shuttle. It would be a good idea to release it in separate parts using similar scale like the existing space shuttle:
- Space Shuutle already exists (10231, 10213)
- Crawler part
- Launch Complex Part
- Spectatots part
- Possibly a mission control part
Possibly some other sets can be created for this theme.

Releasing it separate sets can make it more affortable, meaning no need to spend a large amount immediately, can be bought over time.

Posted by lippidp in United States, 05 Dec 2012 10:05

I had a poster of a shuttle crawler from Lego in the 80s and have wanted it ever since!

Posted by glenbricker in United States, 05 Dec 2012 10:05

@CCC, Chompers, Graysmith

In my early days on Cuusoo I felt very much the same and made this project: http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/18050. It is basically a canonization of the idea of creating instructions from Cuusoo projects as a Cuusoo product. I no longer believe that this is the kind of thing that Lego will do anymore. I created the project back when a lot of projects were esoteric and weird. It is pretty clear now that Cuusoo is about producing Lego Sets only, not "general" products or systems.

As for Lego producing official instructions, that would mean that they would have to have one of their designers do their interpretation, follow TLG standards, and then document the process. For something like Wall-E they would need to get licensing on top of that. Not saying that is a non-starter, just pointing out what is involved.

As far as creator provided instructions, Cuusoo has always been clear that a project creator can provide their instructions for free...Some believe that they are allowed to sell their instructions and, as they have not been stopped, it is hard to disagree with that view point.

Many do it, the Winchester is a great example. I find this is based on building style more than anything. Some builders always design first then build. I do something in between and I have only just begun to dabble in documenting my MOCs. It is no simple task. It is hours of work, more-so for those who build as they go. Without the incentive of a financial return it is a very time consuming and laborious act of charity to fellow builders.

Posted by cjg in United States, 05 Dec 2012 11:23

@glenbricker: I don't know if the red fuel tank is a "lame complaint"...I would definitely want it to be the correct orange.

Posted by glenbricker in United States, 05 Dec 2012 11:30

@cjg Ha! Thanks for the support. Really the only reason I think it is "lame" is that color matching is something that would be quietly addressed by the Lego Designers before production.

Posted by IAmWillGibson in United States, 05 Dec 2012 12:09

I've been watching the Shuttle Crawler with amazement [and jealousy?] at the rate it's pulling in votes. I'm not sure how it's doing it, but I want in on that action, man. It's at more than 425 already!

Doesn't hurt that it's a very well-done model, but he has to have gotten it out into the interweb somehow, which is not a tremendously easy thing to do, I feel.

Posted by cjg in United States, 05 Dec 2012 13:09

@glenbricker: I would hope that they would fix that if it makes it all the way to 10,000!

Posted by Perijove in United States, 05 Dec 2012 13:22

Great article, Glenbricker. Good to see you on Brickset. Providing free instructions greatly helped my Curiosity rover project on CUUSOO and I believe it would do the same for many others. It is indeed a time consuming and laborious task, though. However, I thought it was certainly worth the effort. The instructions have been downloaded thousands of times from Rebrickable. I also worked with an enthusiastic space exploration outreach advocate who made over a hundered copies that he passed out to kids and teachers at various educational events.

Posted by Kulturkampf in United States, 05 Dec 2012 13:34

This is fantastic. I'd buy it in a second.

Posted by glenbricker in United States, 06 Dec 2012 20:02

@Perijove

Thank you and Thank you.

Well, we both agree that it is not a simple task. As for the return from the community. I would have to say that "mileage may vary."

Your Curiosity, besides being fantastic to begin with is also educational and topical. I doubt many teachers and parents would be downloading my Defender instructions to teach their kids about Ancient Hyperdrive. ;)

I think it might be wise to say that any project WILL benefit from have instructions made available. For many projects though, they might be better served by spending the time improving the design or presentation.

Although it is hard to make any generalities with the wide expanse of Cuusoo projects, one simple rule would be that Large builds with complex geometries and rare parts (which are harder to document and less likely to get built) will not be as successful as small "simple" projects with common parts as for as a ratio of effort to support goes.

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