The space shuttle Enterprise, has a new baby brother. A fully-detailed, 1/35th scale replica of the prototype orbiter. Today, Ed Diment, Lego "Master Builder," unveiled his latest model at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. It's on display this weekend ONLY, so get off your ass and check it out!
Diment built the shuttle in Portsmouth, UK and then shipped it to New York City. Its debut is part of the Intrepid Museum's 2nd annual SpaceFest. The replica was built with 16,000 bricks and it's simply gorgeous. There are also loads of intricate feature and details:
It has working landing gear that comes out [including] doors that open so you can pull the landing gear in and out. The flaps, the elevons on the end of the wings, operate. And the payload bay doors open and close, so you can put a payload inside if you wanted to.
Although the Enterprise never flew in space, it's the only U.S. space shuttle to go on a European tour (having headlined at shows in France, Germany, Italy and the UK). Visitors to the Intrepid Museum this weekend are also invited to assist Diment in recreating this iconic photo of the Enterprise being flown over Central Park in 2011, atop a Boeing-747. The mosaic will use nearly 53,000 bricks to complete:
If all that's not reason enough to jump in your car and head straight to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, there's also a line-up of astronaut appearances and other NASA exhibits on display. So, head to New York City and gawk at the 3-foot Lego model AND the real-life actual 122-foot Enterprise shuttle. After Sunday, both the Lego model and mosaic will be placed into museum storage. [collectSpace]
I Want This 3-Foot-Long Lego Space Shuttle So Badly