Star Trek fans are finally getting their seemingly impossible dream – LEGO Icons is delivering a buildable model of U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D, with Captain Picard at the helm.
It’s time for Trek in the brick! LEGO Icons 10356 Star Trek Enterprise is on the way, ready to engage for Black Friday. The 3,600-piece set will retail for £349.99 / $399.99 / €379.99. It will launch at LEGO.com on November 28 and if you buy it early, you will get 40768 Type-15 Shuttlepod for free.
U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation is fully crewed by nine minifigures – Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Commander William Riker, Lieutenant Worf, Lieutenant Commander Data, Dr. Beverly Crusher, Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge, Counsellor Deanna Troi, Bartender Guinan and Wesley Crusher.
There are a host of minifigure accessories such as a teacup, trombone, phaser, tricorder and Spot the cat.
The 60cm long model features a detachable command saucer, secondary hull and warp nacelles. “It is meant for display, and it was very important for us that this thing could sit on one single display, arm, no support under the dish, which was a big technical challenge, because the dish alone is like one and a half kilos,” said LEGO Senior Model Designer Hans Burkhard Schlömer.
“As Commander Riker, I spent a lot of time on the bridge of the Enterprise, and now fans can take the helm themselves… in LEGO brick form!” said actor Jonathan Frakes. “This set is a fantastic way to relive the adventures of the crew, piece by piece.”
Despite its size, the shape meant that there was limited space for an internal structure, as Hans explained: “For example, say a Star Destroyer, you remember like a massive internal skeleton with Technic bricks and beams going everywhere. That didn’t work here because there is not enough space, it is a structural nightmare to build with LEGO bricks. So there are a few building tricks, which I hope you will recognise once you build it.
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“One trick is to build sideways with plates. Plates are quite bendy, but if you put them on the side, you suddenly have a very strong element. That’s one trick that has helped to make this happen.”
Star Trek: The Next Generation aired 178 episodes between 1987 and 1994, as audiences grew to embrace the new characters just as much as they had the crew of the original Star Trek series.
If you buy the set between November 28 and December 1, Black Friday weekend, you’ll get 40768 Type-15 Shuttlepod for free. It’s a minifigure scale support craft, with the vehicle name, Onizuka, on the outside and a LCARS system display with the Stardate 45076.3 on the inside. It includes a minifigure of Ensign Ro Laren.
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