Posted by
Dan
at
11:07 PM
| Name of Model: Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover |
| Created by: Apojove Stephen Pakbaz |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/65402716@N07/sets/72157627997956311/ (flickr) and http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/3431 (cuusoo) |
Details:  One of the biggest news events of the past few weeks was the successful landing of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover on Mars. Naturally, it was a matter of time before a decent LEGO version found its way into the world - fortunately, it was before the actual landing, with plenty of time to be displayed at BrickFair (a kit of this model was donated to the convention's charity auction). This model also features realistic working suspension.
Perhaps more noteworthy is the fact that this model has met the 10,000 vote threshold on LEGO Cuusoo. Cuusoo is a recent project by LEGO that allow anyone to send in a design for a future set. Designs that hit 10,000 votes get reviewed to become an official kit. Many of the popular projects have involved elusive movie licenses or unusually high price points, which have made it difficult for most of them to be made into kits. In this case, it's quite likely that this will actually be offered by LEGO in the future, since they've had success with similar NASA-licensed toys in the past.
The builder has a full write-up of this model on the Cuusoo site.
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Sean and Steph Mayo are rapidly becoming the most talked about couple in the AFOL (Adult Fan Of LEGO) community. We could do an entire round-up of just the recent models from these prolific builders. When they're not winning awards at LEGO conventions for our favorite models, they're busy making goofy inverted models (and then inverting them, they're stacking parts sideways instead of connecting them, and they're experimenting with MegaBloks for just long enough to see how well they burn. To continue showing up the rest of us, they're now making great desktop models for friends and coworkers. This one was for a friend who got a job at NASA. As usual, there are some stunning uses of unexpected parts: a knight's helmet for the top of the fuel tank, a support beam for the launch tower, minifig hands to get the shape of the wings, and round plates for tufts of smoke. It's a stunning amount of detail in just a 4 stud by 6 stud footprint.
