Last week, I returned to LEGO after more than 30 years, and built a spaceship.

avatar
(Edited)

I am an engineer. I recently acquired some old Lego parts from the 1980s and finally built the spacecraft I had dreamed of as a kid (more than 30 years ago). Let's take a look around the end result, The Klara-420:

IMG_5274 2.jpg

IMG_5286 (2).jpg

I began with a lot of old boxes of Lego that looked like this:

IMG_5265.jpg

Slowly, from the junkyard of these abandoned plastic shards, the Klara-420 began to emerge. After two-hours of rummaging, the imagination of my inner-child flickered online: I suddenly remembered how to Lego!

The keystones of the Klara-420 are the two original plastic hatches from the 80s. These are really incredible pieces and, for me, represent Lego's golden age: High quality fabrication, no single-use parts, and lots of potential for reusing and rebuilding models into new designs:

The incredible depth of these reds and blues has never been revisited by Lego. These are Lego components as they should be: Reusable in many different modelling situations, with no pre-defined purpose:

IMG_5278 (1).jpg

Luckily the stash of old Lego I acquired contained the Holy-Grail of lego components: Two, original Lego-Moon decals:

IMG_5288 (2).jpg

I wanted to stick to using only parts that were available during my childhood. Although, in the end a couple of later parts did sneak in there, simply because they were available and looked rad. The flames, from a Ninjago Skull Motorbike (2011) being the obvious example:

These became the afterburners on the Klara-420:

IMG_5275 (2).jpg

Because I like these Lego models to represent the design-ideals of proper aeronautical craft, I tried to design a fuselage that embodied the engineering-considerations required in building real spacecraft. Here is the top view of the ship:

IMG_5292 (2).jpg

And here is the undercarriage:

IMG_5293 (2).jpg

Finally the Klara-420 was complete. A homage to my technicolor Lego dreams of the 1980s, and a testimony to how great Lego components should be made, and once were. I was able to take essentially the same sort of Lego pieces I played with in the 1980s and create a ship for the hem of the 2020s.

Thank you for reading. Happy building!

Now I have to figure out what to do with this:

IMG_5210.jpg

childhood love connection building
0
0
0.000
22 comments
avatar

Highly rEsteemed!

I recently delved back into this therapy myself. Something about Flow States and exploring pieces really brings out the relief. Stellar work Bruv! Please keep it up. SteemON!

Screen Shot 2019-10-02 at 11.15.20 AM.png

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Thank you!
Yes, Lego is the perfect meditation aid and, as you say, has put me in some amazing flow states.

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Ah the nostalgia. Those classic space logos are in great shape for their age. Thanks for helping to grow the Lego tag on Steem.

Hey @supdork, is this worth a little upvote?

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Thank you.
The classic space logos were an unexpected treasure that I found within the random chaos of second-hand Lego that I sourced. Glad to have been reunited with the theme of Lego Moon!

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

This is very cool! I've come back to Lego for the first time in about 35 years recently but am only buying sets, mainly technic. I plan to take a look around to see if I can find some old-school Lego for builds like yours...Feeling the need to freestyle. I'm no engineer though, so mine may look somewhat more wacky than yours does. 😁

Thanks for sharing.

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Thanks!
It's interesting that you're into Lego Technic.
I enjoyed that too, as a kid, and I want to return to it to model some engineering ideas I have. Which Technic sets did you get? I'm after the 1988 Lego Technic Test Car:

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Hey there...I just finished the Landrover Defender, and about to start the Mack Anthem and have the Extreme 4x4 off-roader waiting to go after the Mack. I haven't got any old-shcool Technic, but wouldn't mind finding some.

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

I wasn't feeling nostalgic until I saw this little guy.
image.png

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

My favourite nostalgia piece too!

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Congratulations @kida!
Your post was mentioned in the Steem Hit Parade in the following category:

  • Pending payout - Ranked 5 with $ 43,07
0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

This is great! I remember I had an interview with a potential employer who shared that he just rediscovered Lego. He didn't have any kids either. He just had a comfortable lifestyle and wanted a hobby. Legos are expensive, but compared to many other hobbies, relatively affordable. Love this project and the detail you shared!

Posted using Partiko Android

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Thank you. It's good to hear that others are returning to Lego too.
Lego is not so expensive if you buy in bulk second-hand. But then it can be unpredictable what you will actually get. I ended up with some good Lego, but about 20% of it was from the dark-age of Lego: A phase in the 90s where the kits featured a lot of single-use pieces that can't really be creatively modelled with.

I'm told Lego is back on track now though.

Thanks for reading!

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Hey @kida! We've manually upvoted your post with both accounts, @build-it.assist and @build-it.curator.

As a matter of interest, there's a tribe on the steem platform known as Build-it that accommodates all DIY, How-to tutorials, and life-hacks respectively.

Your DIY/how-to tutorials get rewarded with the tribe's token known as BUILD upon posting via our website or by using one of the recommended tags; #diy, #how-to, #build-it, #build, and #doityourself. Chat with us on our discord and telegram channels Discord, Telegram. Are we adding value ? your witness vote will be appreciated! Click here to vote

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Thank you for your support.
I'll check out the Build-it platform.

0
0
0.000
Reply