Lego Space Exploration

Deep-Space Explorer

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Inspection by Maint Droids

Here's TriTech's premier product, the Deep-Space Explorer. Capable of long-range exploration, relative to other designs of the time, such vessels paved the way for discovery and learning. Since TriTech was not only a space manufacturer, but also having sections for science and weapons, this made a good starter project that involved all three of TriTech's branches. A science ship, but also with armaments. In this scene, we see a prototype in a messy landing zone undergoing inspection by several droids. [LargePic]

[I finally got around to designing a much nicer and larger ship. Eventually I want to make a large capital ship with decks and cargo/storage and a shuttle/fighter bay, etc... But for now this will do. The ship is 85 studs long, excluding the antennas/guns that extend off the front. This ship, though large by some standards, is still small compared to what a lot of people do, and yet with my large collection it still taxed my supply of lego parts, since each part of the ship required very specific sizes and colors. This introduced some interesting design problems, especially in the engine attachment, but I think it all turned out quite well.]

Front View

As you can see, the Deep-Space Explorer is a sleek design, both functional and aesthetic. With a standard crew compliment of six, it can keep the crew in relative comfort for long journeys, though perhaps a bit cramped. [LargePic]

[I made the front fuel-station before I even knew what the back of te ship would look like. The "weapon nacelles" on the sides of the front were the last thing to get added, but were one of the first ideas I had early in the construction process. The ship looks pretty good without them too, and so I was unsure as to whether to add them or not. But once attached, I thought it was a nice improvement.]

Side View

Here we see a full side-view, looking at the starboard side of the vessel. The ship's subtle (and not-so-subtle) lines and curves make for an interesting visual design, but as you can see, little was sacrificed in the way of functionality. An enormous propulsion system allows for distant and speedy travel, and a weapons array allows for security and safety. [LargePic]

[This is a good picture that gives you a good feel of the overall design.]

Bridge + Crew Cabin

Here we see a closer view of the rear half of the ship. Mounted on top of the bridge (the dome section) is a large all-purpose sensor array. This is used not only for navigation, but for scientific experiments as well. It's fully equipped for planetary surface scans in extremely high resolution. Below the bridge is the crew cabin. In this section there are work-stations for the other four members of the crew (two stations are on the bridge), plus there are some of the basic necessities for life, including a food station. [LargePic]

[I made a fairly complex double-sided computer console that you can get a glimpse of in another picture (but not a good glimpse), but otherwise most of the interior details were left to the imagination. I was just worried about getting the structure complete.]

Mid Section, Crew Area

Here we see the mid-section of the ship. Each window is integrated into a single crew person's sleeping area. This section of the ship primarily functions as a corridor, structural support, and auxilliary systems, in addition to providing sleeping space. [LargePic]

[This was the first part of the ship that I built. I didn't actually do any interior design here, except for the fact that the corridor does actually connect the crew cabin at the rear to the refueling station and docking hatches at the front.]

Fore Section

Here we see the front-end of the ship. Notice the weapon turrets and gun/antenna arrays sticking off the front of the weapon nacelles. In the center is the refueling station.. Here there are fuel pumps (cylindrical projections), fuel hoses, and remote manipulator arms to operate the hoses. Inside the viewport is a control station for operating the arms and the pumps. Just behind the refueling station is the airlock and docking hatches. [LargePic]

[I'm sure you'll recognize the window from a tie-fighter, as well as arms from a classic space set. The hoses are from the newer "Life on Mars" theme.]

Top View

From above, the ship's overall layout is clearly visible. [LargePic]

[Personally, I like the way the contours flow in this model. The nacelles at the front and the large engine assembly at the rear make it neither front-heavy nor rear-heavy.]

Rear View

Here's the view of the ship from the rear. It gives a good overall view of the propulsion system and how it works into the design. [LargePic]

[I've felt that the propulsion system is something that is often neglected in a lot of models, so I wanted to make something that actually looked functional... a huge propulsions system with lots of thrusters and storage tanks. What I ended up making worked pretty well with the overall design and size of this particular ship, IMHO.]

Aft Section - Engines

This is a close-up of the propulsion system. You'll notice that the ship has two primary engines, 4 secondary thrusters, and two backups (on either side of the bridge). Redundant thrust systems allow for simple changes in thrust vectors to comensate for any failures. [LargePic]

[The "smaller" engines are made almost entirely of the parts from the Mono-Jet "Life on Mars" sets. The two large engines also use the "Droid Escape" sets from the 2001 Star Wars line. Some of the cylender sections from those sets are also used for the fuel canister in the center, as well as for crew-cabin hull pieces.]

Bridge Detail

The bridge is rather cramped, and though the dome does open, this is generally not done in space except for maintenance/repairs in dry-dock. [LargePic]

[Internally, the bridge doesn't actually connect to the crew cabin. The hatch between them is part of the fiction. :)]

Crew Cabin via Access Hatches

As you can see, each crew member has a workstation in the computer area of the crew cabin. [LargePic]

[I've adjusted the colors a bit so that it's not as noticeable, but originally this picture was very red (you can still see a lot of it). This is because my finger was over the flash, and the red is from the flash going through my finger... it's my own blood colorizing the picture... neat huh? :)]

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