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LL-228 Long Range Scout

LL-228 Long Range Scout

The LL-28 is a ship built in the studless Neo-Classic space style. There are lots of details on this one, especially the underside, as well as a few extra features.

LL-228 Long Range Scout underside

Underneath there’s plenty of detailed greebling. There are four main engines, which can provide both forward and reverse thrust. The pipes which feed them could be some kind of futuristic fuel lines. Some of the pipes aren’t just decorative greebling, as they contain Technic axles that help reinforce the structure of the model. There are also several manoeuvring thrusters dotted around; see if you can spot them all.

Two thin pipes terminate roughly in the middle of the front wings. These also help support the edging along the wings, made from flexible hose parts, which tend to droop if they aren’t supported.

LL-228 Long Range Scout side view

The side view shows off its sleek profile, as well as the two raised long-range scanning antennae on either side. The communication array is made up of three antennae on the nose and a radar dish at the back.

LL-228 Long Range Scout detachable rear module

The rear module can detach from the spacecraft and slide out. There’s an opening ramp at the rear and the sides swing outwards to reveal an astronaut and control panel inside the module.

LL-228 Long Range Scout engines

LL-228 Long Range Scout underside with undercarriage down

The images above show the underside with the front undercarriage raised and lowered.

Inspiration for LL-228 on page 28 of the 200 Lego Ideas Book

The inspiration for this build is a spacecraft shown at the top of page 28 of the 200 Lego Ideas Book from 1985. There aren’t instructions for this ship in the book, but I always liked the shape of it, so I built as close a replica as I could based on its photograph. I also made a basic Photoshop mock-up of what it would look like in a blue and grey colour scheme rather than blue and white.

The replica model and the digital mock-up served as the starting point for the design of the much more complex and detailed ‘Neo’ version. This took several months to design, mainly through building and re-building different sections until it both looked good and was structurally sound.

The LL-228 designation is based on the number of the Ideas book and the page number the photo of the original ship appears on.

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