Lego Space Shuttle Bag 10

Build date: 2022-11-27

Finally, we’re moving away from the body of the shuttle and onto the real meat and potatoes of the build – the engines. Lots of mechanical components here.

Flat space shuttle body laid flat. Next to the shuttle are bag 10 of bricks and the Lego manual showing the shuttle with the three main rocket boosters installed on a panel that juts inwards at a slight angle from vertical relative to the body.

The engine installation is interesting to build – the panel that they are installed on clips onto a bar on the base of the body and moves slightly backward and forwards. The top of the three main engines is able to be rotated – it is mounted onto a long axle that connects to a rotatable unit behind the engine plate with two ball and socket beams that connect to horizontal bars that move the ailerons of the shuttle.

Close-up shot of the ball and socket unit behind the engine plate showing connections to the aileron axles.

The effect is that pushing the left aileron mounts down results in the right aileron mounts lifting and the top of the three engines rotating. This sort of left-right coordination is how an aircraft turns on its longitudinal axis.

Pushing the left aileron down with a finger moves the right aileron up.

Pushing the right aileron down with a finger moves the left aileron up.

The idea in this set is that the turning effect is instigated by rotating the top engine. Very cool. Looking at the model down the length of the body shows the exposed mechanism in action.

Exposed ball and socket rotation mechanism on the back of the engine plate shows pushing down on the left aileron rotates the unit on its axle, which pulls the right aileron axle connection up.

Exposed ball and socket rotation mechanism on the back of the engine plate shows pushing down on the right aileron rotates the unit on its axle, which pulls the left aileron axle connection down.

We now have the main engines installed!

Close up shot of the engine unit in side-on perspective, showing the three main engines on the right. The entire mechanism is exposed on the left hand side.

This post is part of a series. You can read about the backstory behind this pet project of mine and navigate all the posts via an index on Lego Space Shuttle Mega-Build.