Spaceship Earth Inspired LEGO MOC (My Own Creation)

[Gullwingdmc]

Finally finished my Spaceship Earth inspired LEGO MOC! In honor of #SpaceshipEarthSunday I wanted to share. The finished model has 4,431 LEGO pieces, 90 custom made 3D printed pieces, and 9 custom decals.

The model is based on an original design by Russ Cole which I then recreated in the BrickLink Studio app. I added my own modifications including the entrance to the ride, custom 3D printed elements, decals, and the spiral interior ramp for the show scenes.




For the exterior Russ created a full geodesic sphere created entirely out of LEGO, no small feat. I designed and 3D printed panels to replicate the Alucobond triangle skin since LEGO does not do triangles well. That is all supported by a 6 leg design that comes together a quarter of the way up the sphere, same as the real Spaceship Earth.


On the interior Russ replicated many of the iconic show scenes from the ride in LEGO form including the omnimover ride system. He also built an amazing gear system that allows the entire interior to rotate and show off the different show scenes. I took the central core in his design and built a gradual spiral ramp that mimics the one in the ride. The finishing touch was 9 decals I made pulling from the same historical artwork used in the ride.

I also put together a 688 page manual for building the set and exported the parts list in a shareable form in case anyone else wants to build one too!





Original Designer:
Russ Cole - LinkedIn: Russ-Cole - Twitter: @LSpaceshipEarth

Updated Design:
Don Potito - Instagram/Threads: @Gullwingdmc

Parts List, Instructions, and Decals here

 

[mattinindy]

I sincerely plan to build this, thanks for sharing!!!

 

[Gullwingdmc]

I sincerely plan to build this, thanks for sharing!!!

Nice! Please share pics if you do!

 

[mattinindy]

@Gullwingdmc took a few weeks to get ready for the build but ordered first set of bricks on Bricklink! Once I make some meaningful progress I will drop some photos.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

@Gullwingdmc took a few weeks to get ready for the build but ordered first set of bricks on Bricklink! Once I make some meaningful progress I will drop some photos.

Sweet! I can’t wait. I think you will be the first person outside me and the original designer to build one!

 

[mattinindy]

I'm still working on sourcing. Bought about 90%, just spreading out the cost. Will be building by maybe beginning of next Febuary. Hey if you don't mind, I don't know if I have overlooked the instructions somehow or somewhere, but could you tell me the details on the 3D printing portion?

 

[Gullwingdmc]

I'm still working on sourcing. Bought about 90%, just spreading out the cost. Will be building by maybe beginning of next Febuary. Hey if you don't mind, I don't know if I have overlooked the instructions somehow or somewhere, but could you tell me the details on the 3D printing portion?

Sorry about that. I included the STL files to print, but just realized I didn't include any instructions or images. I just updated the Zip file I like to in the first post to put all the 3D printed files in the sub folder. I also added instructions and images to help.

The TLDR is there are 2 shapes of triangles for the skin, ones the form a pentagon and ones that form a hexagon. Print the number of triangles you want and match them up with the corresponding triangle shapes on the sphere. Each piece of the skin prints in 2 parts, a support piece that snaps in from the back, and the outer skin that snaps on from the front.

 

[mattinindy]

@Gullwingdmc thank you for those additional details sir!! I have everything ordered, will not start on the 3D printing and post photos as this comes along. Thanks again!!

 

[Gullwingdmc]

@Gullwingdmc thank you for those additional details sir!! I have everything ordered, will not start on the 3D printing and post photos as this comes along. Thanks again!!

Sweet! When you get to the assembly, I did the legs and connector platform with the gearing first. I built the sphere next, separately so I could see how it all went together. The. I opened up one section of the sphere, took the legs off the platform. Put the platform in the sphere, oriented it correctly, and then attached the legs from the outside. I then built the interior ramp and show scenes through the opening in the sphere.
There may be a better way to do it, but that’s how I could wrap my head around it.