A variant without Power Functions in the tower (manual operation) is being planned and will then be added to this MOC as an update. And since the finally selected Technic sets also contain a lot of gears and two motors, I got the idea to motorize as much functions as possible. Originally, I didn't really want to do that. The elevator is a great addition, but guiding the wire into place was not a fun experience for me. That will probably be a personal thing, but make sure you have a good supply of patience when you start here ;-). Seeing it work in the end makes it worth it. 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.

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. 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. Three nanofigures are included to represent the three-man teams that the Saturn V transported into space from 1968 and to the moon from 1969 to 1972. Perhaps a decade ago the novelty of receiving LEGO representations of the astronauts in the form of plain white nanofigures would have been enough, but the fine prints that capture a great amount of detail from their suits is remarkable and truly elevates the quality, finish and authenticity of the entire set that much further. Each chapter has its own inventory. If explanations in the instructions are needed, they are written in English and German.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 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.

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 :) 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 If you want to support us with our fight against Chinese MOC-thieves, join the FB group from Stefano Mapelli: Facebook group linkAs countdown begins to 92176 NASA Apollo Saturn V’s release from November 1, let’s take a look at 21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V. — Set details — 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.

However, other changes like for example an improved transmission with less friction would mean a significant redesign for big sections of the LUT. And this is not easily done with a simple update. Overall: I'm happy with the result, and had a ton of fun and challenge getting there. TLG: please take notes. This is so much more entertaining than another car.Are you buying sets with the intention of turning them into MOC’s or do you design MOC’s from your larger collection? 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… ;-) That´s also the reason why I didn´t focus on the details of the original LUT, but on the general concept. 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. 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. Though, I´m not satisfied with the winch. It was a last minute decision to operate it motorized. Due to the concept of my transmission, I was forced to gear down the motor speed first, then travel all the way up into the crane, and gear up the speed again. This causes a lot of friction, and the result is a not perfect running winch. I struggled with myself a lot about removing the function, but decided to keep it because I thought an imperfect function was better than no function. 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 don´t have a large collection of parts such as a parts bank, I try to keep all sets strictly separated - either in assembled state or as individual parts. 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! ;-) 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! 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. 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.