Since I bought the 21309 Saturn V, I thought about building a LUT for it. My first LUT MOC was completely without red parts, however I wasn't happy with the result. So I thought about how to get a relatively cheap LUT that looks as close as possible to the original. And since I didn´t want to buy hundreds of red fences which I couldn´t use for anything else, it was obvious to me to design the whole thing as an alternate MOC. After counting the red parts in a few Technic sets, it turned out that one needs at least three sets to get a reasonably red painted tower. You see, the original LEGO Ideas set includes 26 dark grey 2×4 plates. The relaunched version, however, includes just 25. The missing piece has instead been swapped out for a 2×4 plate with Technic holes, which is put to use in the mini Lunar Lander that accompanies the main model. You can see the difference in the instructions for both sets below. Concerning favourite part: I would nominate the technic panels (3x11, 5x11 and the new 3x7). On the one hand they are really robust and make structures quite stable, on the other hand they can perfectly be used as cover.

And since the finally selected Technic sets also contain a lot of gears and two motors, I got the idea to motorize as much functions as possible. Originally, I didn't really want to do that. Are you buying sets with the intention of turning them into MOC’s or do you design MOC’s from your larger collection? This MOC is not suitable for Lego Technic beginners. There are sometimes difficult steps that require a certain amount of experience. However, anyone who has already built a "big" model like 42055 or 42082 should also be able to handle this! ;-) I started with sorting the parts and making some concept studies in early April 2020. Due to family & job obligations, I was unable to work on it continuously. So it took until December 2020 until the instructions were ready. As countdown begins to 92176 NASA Apollo Saturn V’s release from November 1, let’s take a look at 21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V. — Set details —

Build - Stage 3

Only the parts from the Lego Technic Sets 42055, 42082 and 42098 are required to build this LUT+Crawler. (except for the additional cord for crane operation, see below) How did you get the idea of combining these 3 sets into this MOC? Did you see the sets first? Or the real life model? I have bought most of my AFOL sets with the intention to make a cool MOC out of them. Because I first want to realize my own ideas, I have never even built the A model for several of my sets. If there is still some time after building some MOCs, I will (maybe ;-)) build the A-model.

This Lego Technic " Launch Umbilical Tower" for the Saturn V (21309 or 92176) was designed with the focus to have a cheap build. So I decided to make a Triple-Alternate: However, other changes like for example an improved transmission with less friction would mean a significant redesign for big sections of the LUT. And this is not easily done with a simple update. Overall: I'm happy with the result, and had a ton of fun and challenge getting there. TLG: please take notes. This is so much more entertaining than another car.That´s also the reason why I didn´t focus on the details of the original LUT, but on the general concept. Favourite set is more difficult to say. From Ideas, the Saturn V is absolutely outstanding, from Technic, I love the 42055 and 42082 because they have a great price/part ratio, no control+ and the parts range make them perfect for a lot of great MOCs. I hope there will be released more big sets like these in the future.