The designer behind the upcoming 21367 Tintin Moon Rocket has revealed just how challenging it was to create the curved shape of the LEGO Ideas set.
The 75th LEGO Ideas set was officially revealed this week in the shape of the 1,283-piece 21367 Tintin Moon Rocket. The model recreates the iconic look of Hergé’s red-and-white space vehicle including its unique curved main body, one area that represented quite a challenge to construct.
The instruction manual for 21367 Tintin Moon Rocket mentions that countless different building techniques and angles were explored for the curvature of the set, a design approach that was discussed in detail at a recent LEGO Fan Media Days event.
“One of the main things about the rocket is this exciting shape,” explained Master Model Designer, Ellen Bowley, “but also it has this really fine curve from top to bottom. And because the IP partner wanted that accuracy, we had to represent Hergé’s work very accurately. That was one of the big hurdles to overcome, to create this shape to have it smooth all the way through and not broken up, but also have a very, easy-ish building experience.
“So, the technique that we had in the end, with the main bit of the model being attached in the centre and then everything else being attached by ball joints to itself (and not to the rest of the core of the model), was a decision that we made after a lot of different iterations on how to create this ever-so-slight angle.”
That attempt to translate the original comic vehicle into a physical LEGO Ideas set also extended to other areas of 21367 Tintin Moon Rocket, beyond the main body of the build to its three large stabilising fins.
“We tried different designs, tried a lot of different techniques to get this angle of the fin,” said Ellen, “and also from the concept model where we were using wedge bricks instead to create that shape, we needed a lot of strength, and we needed that angle, we needed that curvature.
“We ended up with a reflected triangle that we included in the top to attach to the rocket, and then also again, on the feet to get it back into a flat surface. There was a lot of development in looking into different angles. Then I think the ones we ended up with were quite simple to solve some of these struggles.”
21367 Tintin Moon Rocket is due to launch on April 1 priced at £139.99 / $159.99 / €159.99 and can be
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