LEGO 92176 Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V

Product Information

In addition to the components from the three alternate sets, another cord is required (for the hammerhead crane). Ideally, a pure nylon cord should be used as the friction should not be too high. Minimum length: 240 cm, better a little more.

Yes, there are some things which I could have done differently. Some of them I have added as optional updates to the LUT instructions. Having exactly 1969 parts is quite a clever achievement, I wonder how many iterations it took to add or remove just a few more parts to get to that magic number!For example what I miss the most are the fuel pipes. Therefore I have recently released the update No.4 where I added the fuel pipes, and in my opinion this is the most important update. Other updates (No.1-3) improve the overall color scheme, such as more red parts on the tower. Favourite set is more difficult to say. From Ideas, the Saturn V is absolutely outstanding, from Technic, I love the 42055 and 42082 because they have a great price/part ratio, no control+ and the parts range make them perfect for a lot of great MOCs. I hope there will be released more big sets like these in the future. Since I bought the 21309 Saturn V, I thought about building a LUT for it. My first LUT MOC was completely without red parts, however I wasn't happy with the result. So I thought about how to get a relatively cheap LUT that looks as close as possible to the original. And since I didn´t want to buy hundreds of red fences which I couldn´t use for anything else, it was obvious to me to design the whole thing as an alternate MOC. After counting the red parts in a few Technic sets, it turned out that one needs at least three sets to get a reasonably red painted tower. This MOC is not suitable for Lego Technic beginners. There are sometimes difficult steps that require a certain amount of experience. However, anyone who has already built a "big" model like 42055 or 42082 should also be able to handle this! ;-) To be honest, it is easier to say what´s my most hated part: the 15100 “Technic Pin Connector Hub with 1 Pin”. Although it is a very important part for technic models, my fingers hurt just thinking about it. ;-) Note from reviewer: This part has seen an update in 2021 as 65487, which is a lot easier to use

Although the crawler is permanently integrated, it can simply be omitted for a display model without a crawler. Holy crap, this was an intense but so satisfying build! I have to admit that I was a bit overwhelmed at first by the size, not sure I would be able to finish this. But here we are! Total build time was around 18 hours, including part of the photography. I started with sorting the parts and making some concept studies in early April 2020. Due to family & job obligations, I was unable to work on it continuously. So it took until December 2020 until the instructions were ready.If the set had been released a little later, in 2019 on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, it would get a lot more attention. But I'm sure it will still be on shelves at that time, perhaps even getting a new boost in production. Concerning favourite part: I would nominate the technic panels (3x11, 5x11 and the new 3x7). On the one hand they are really robust and make structures quite stable, on the other hand they can perfectly be used as cover. You see, the original LEGO Ideas set includes 26 dark grey 2×4 plates. The relaunched version, however, includes just 25. The missing piece has instead been swapped out for a 2×4 plate with Technic holes, which is put to use in the mini Lunar Lander that accompanies the main model. You can see the difference in the instructions for both sets below. I am very happy about the elevator and how smooth it works. It took me a lot of time figuring out the correct setting of the wheels and pulleys, but in the end it worked really smoothly at my preferred speed.

Only the parts from the Lego Technic Sets 42055, 42082 and 42098 are required to build this LUT+Crawler. (except for the additional cord for crane operation, see below) I'm a huge space fan, so this set was an automatic must-have from the moment it was announced. Now I just have to figure out how to display such a huge model :)My name is Daniel and I work as a mechanical engineer for the automotive industry. I returned to Lego in 2014, when a colleague of mine was very excited about his 42009 mobile crane. It was my wife who finally gave the 42009 to me as birthday present, not knowing what she was activating in me… ;-) In conclusion, I would like to say that I really like the challenge of getting the best possible result from a very limited number and variety of parts. That´s probably the reason why I solely make alternate models from existing sets, because that's what I enjoy most. Are you buying sets with the intention of turning them into MOC’s or do you design MOC’s from your larger collection?

The crane works on the edge of the motor's capacity. The raising and lowering goes very jerky. I feel it's caused by the worm-gear on the axle with the wire, but I'm not 100% sure that is the real issue, or the last straw. Each chapter has its own inventory. If explanations in the instructions are needed, they are written in English and German. This Lego Technic " Launch Umbilical Tower" for the Saturn V (21309 or 92176) was designed with the focus to have a cheap build. So I decided to make a Triple-Alternate: I have bought most of my AFOL sets with the intention to make a cool MOC out of them. Because I first want to realize my own ideas, I have never even built the A model for several of my sets. If there is still some time after building some MOCs, I will (maybe ;-)) build the A-model.

Summary

The power functions in the tower are not perfect. Unfortunately, the small motor is a bit overwhelmed with the gear ratio, so it is very important to build all gears with as less friction as possible and to use freshly charged batteries when playing. If you want to support us with our fight against Chinese MOC-thieves, join the FB group from Stefano Mapelli: Facebook group link That´s also the reason why I didn´t focus on the details of the original LUT, but on the general concept.