Thanks for checking out the video everyone! I tried to cover a lot of topics with this one and I feel it *mostly* worked. Let me know your feedback in the comments below. I just wanted to point out a couple of errors or issues I ran into making this: firstly, the LMS Explorer is actually closer to 120 metres longer than the Seattle Space Needle is tall, not 80 metres. Whoops! Normally I would go back in and change that before publishing, but there was something about this video that proved harder than normal for my computer to edit. This is my 8 or 9th render attempt, so what you see is what you get. For some reason, Davinci Resolve had a hard time with this one, so there are a few more visual errors than I would like. Hopefully next episode will go more smoothly!
Hiho! I think that only the picture around 6:50 might not fit since that's the 1.0 version and not the 1.2 version you based your real life version on, but other than that I didn't find an issue in the video. In other words: it's very good : ). So far that's probably the only video that's specifically about the L.M.S. Explorer I can think of, which is quite astonishing when you consider when LEGO Rock Raiders as a series was released (over 20 years ago). I guess it has to do with the sheer scale of the project since even building a smaller version can be a challenge like you mentioned in the video. PS The difference between version 1.0 (and 1.1) and version 1.2 is that 1.2 is non-modular (I probably made this due to stability reasons). I also started a 1.3 version, which was going be to non-modular as well, but I never finished that one.
@@arthurielaurillion That makes sense - it didn’t seem quite right compared to what I had built, haha. Thanks for your hard work on all of this! Making this video and talking with you has really given me a new appreciation for your efforts with the LMS Explorer. 🙂
I can relate to that! I made a 7 minute long video using Davinci Resolve and when it finished rendering, I checked my video and for some reason, the audio is silent for like 5 seconds in the beginning. I rendered it 3 times. I think your video turned out great! Even if there are a few errors made. (We all make mistakes)
As a Geologist I find it funny that on their planetary diagram at 0:20 it says granite, energy crystals, then volcanic rock. Granite is a volcanic rock technically 😂. Nonetheless love your channel just stumbled on it last night.
You sound and speak like the professor from tolarian academy, the mtg channel. Not a bad thing he’s a legend and has a very calm and understandable voice.
Cool! Based off the idea that a Lego minifig is about 5 studs long, and is equivalent to 7 feet high in our real world, and assuming a meter is about 3 feet, I’ve got a ship that’s about 30 meters in length built in minifig scale, at around, erm, I want to say about maybe 3/4 the height of 7905 Tower Crane…. Maybe? Maybe 2/3? I dunno. Point is she’s just shy of 30 meters in Lego terms last time I measured. So, in other words, my Nexus-Class Cruiser, Nexus-1, is about a tenth the size of the LMS Explorer, which is pretty cool. Kinda gives it that Tantive IV inside an ISD vibes, doesn’t it? Rockatoa, Brickticks out!
the LMS explorer has a really cool design. Something about its angular design with lots of blocky simple shapes reminds me of the ships from Babylon 5 (particularly the Omega class) and the ships from SAAB.
Great video. Can you say which music did you use in the background? Is it from the Playstation game? I only played the PC version which has different music.
Thanks! I create all the music used in these videos, but you can find them all for free on my Bandcamp page. I don’t recall if it’s in this video description, but if you go to one of my more recent videos you’ll be able to find it no problem. 😊
Absolutely! All of my music is available for free on my Bandcamp page: rrslugger.bandcamp.com/album/r-r-sluggers-rock-raiders-mix-tape The track you’re looking for is called “Oresome!”
the LEGO ship LMS Explorer is another great science fiction spacecraft , up there with USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and C&C Tiberian Sun Kodiak .
I agree completely! From what I know, Data Design Interactive (the folks who made the PC game) designed the whole ship and even had a section of it constructed at a 1:1 scale - they were doing near Industrial Light & Magic level stuff on the LMS Explorer and it really shows in the final product!
Since it’s twice the length of the 1 : 16, it would have eight times the volume. A reasonable estimate would be 8x the price of the model slugger showed, or about a thousand dollars if you use the 200$ bricklink benchmark slugger gave.
I wonder if LEGO ever would have made an official LMS Explorer set if Rock Raiders received any further waves? Of course it wouldn't have been as massive as the actual thing in the game, but still it would have been neat to see what they would have done with it. (Now that I think about it though...imagine an alternate universe where Rock Raiders was a huge hit and we got a UCS LMS Explorer set.) Kudos to Arthuriel for painstakingly bringing this behemoth to life in multiple forms and thank you for making another fantastic video showcasing it! I wish I could bring the 1:8 version to life, but that's way outside of my budget.
Yeah, I'm still drooling over the thought of building the 1:8 someday, but after the amount of time it took to do the 1:16, I doubt I will ever muster the courage to do it. And the money thing, like you pointed out, haha.
Great set and a phenomenal review! Thank you, R.R.Slugger! Because of your cozy videos, I have ordered a few of the Rock Raiders sets. My childhood favourite theme was Power Miners, and it will be most interesting to own the predecessor ;)
That’s awesome! Which sets did you order? I have 3 of the Power Miners sets from wave 1 from when I was younger - I can definitely appreciate the lineage there, even if the colours and story of that theme never jived with me.
I grew up on Rock Raiders but didn't have all the sets. Unfortunately I missed out on Power Miners sets due to my finances at the time. Hoping to collect them all someday!
I’m so excited about this! I’ve been thinking for a long time that I’d love to make a small little build based on the ship, but now I can just use this amazing design
It really is fantastic! If you do take the plunge, let me know how I can help! As mentioned in the video, there is also a 1:32 version too, if you’re looking for something smaller/cheaper.
I was around in RRU when Arthriel first started this. So great to see people still having so much fun with this series. I still have my collection, but I may need to dust it all off after watching your videos.
Great presentation. Your video is the top result after a quick google of LMS Explorer, which I just came across on RRU. I usually turn to Rebrickable for an idea of what the community has done with a given subject matter (in terms of MOCs with instructions), but the explorer hasn't been submitted there in any form :( Like you say, here's to this video serving as some inspiration to see this behemoth in real bricks from even more builders.
Thanks for the subscription guys! I go back and watch your excellent video presentation on rare bricks you did a year ago every now and then - it's a great video! I'll mention it to Arthuriel - he's currently looking into posting the LMS in more places, so I imagine that site must be on his list.
6:18 I know this video was posted a year ago, but I believe in Studio 2.0 you can automatically generate instructions from a design. At least that was the case for me when I last used it about a year and a half ago! Excellent video!
For the 1x1 round tile in trans-neon green: These pieces do exist, however in very low quantities. Somehow one of them found their way into my collection, so I can verify it's existence. However following my failed attempts to acquire a 1x1 round in trans-neon yellow, getting four of them could be a frustrating adventure…
Has anyone thought of 3d printing the LMS Explorer? Sacrilegious maybe, but it could be a more affordable option for any scale. Even if it were a PLA base hull that the port holes, radar dishes, and other details could be applied to, to still give it the LEGO feel
So the official name is actually "LEGO Mining Ship"... that's disappointing. I mean, it's pretty much what was to be expected, but it makes it nearly impossible to take it seriously in any semi-realistic setting (And I personally prefer the themes that are less lego, more human, if that makes sense) Anyways, I think Arthuriel mentioned at some point that the model would be around 7 meters or something like that, if you were to build the entire thing in real life (which is obviously impossible because of all the parts that don't exist in the right colors) Eh, maybe we're lucky and Monkie Kid or ninjago give us the teal peaces we need so that we're only stuck with the large UFO pieces.
I hear ya. I think using the word "confirm" in my script was maybe a little too absolute - "imply" would have maybe been better. To my knowledge there is no document that states LMS = Lego Mining Ship, but the one document that we do have definitely implies that connection. Make of that what you will. :)
@@RRSlugger well, it is the only official document we have, as far as I can tell. still, I think it would make for a more interesting story if "L" was the first letter of some big interstellar company. Lexcorp, maybe xD - although that may have problems with licensing. but something like that. Eh, for my personal headcanon, I'll still keep something like that, I doubt we'll get anything official out of Lego any time soon
The proliferation of home FDM 3D printing makes the nonexistent pieces much less of an issue. Someone with a well tuned printer could make them themselves.
I'm playing dwarf fortress as I'm watching this video!! They are fantasy Rock Raiders. I bet if you asked bet someone could make a Rock Raiders conversion mod for DF that's lots of fun.
dwarf fortress has always given me that same Rock Raiders feeling more than any similar RTS games tbh. at least in fortress mode, adventure mode just gives me feelings of beating up crabs and falling out of trees. personally I'd love to see the opposite, a rock raiders game with more underground features and depth like DF has
People tend to underestimate just how much crew ships have especially ones that carrie parasite craft. Aircraft carriers have crews of up to 6000 if remember correctly a crew of only a couple hundred for the size of craft LMS explorer would be miniscule
They should built a life size / minifigs scale of the last which I would like to buy for a reasonable price 😀 😉 👍 ❤🎉😊😮❤ instead of just the microscale of the last now that would be be incredible 👏 😀 🙌 😉 👌 👍 👏 😀 ❤!!!!
*It still bothers me that Lego never released a small version of the LMS Explorer or even just small sections like the bridge or something, I guess the closest thing we have to an official LMS Explorer set is the 4980 Tunnel Transport.*
I didn't hear the final number for the 1:1 mentioned, but had it been released, it would have been the largest set ever by part count. The current largest is the World Map at 11,600. Arthurial said the Explorer had over 18,000 before it was even finished.
Rock Raiders has been a huge inspiration for many of the builds I've done over the years, but the LMS explorer was the inspiration for the Obelisk, perhaps my greatest. ruclips.net/video/jcqxRd5Xy2s/видео.html I'm glad I found this channel, and that this old theme is getting some of the respect it deserves.
The 1:1 Moc is mindbending. I downloaded it 2 years ago. Over 50000 Lego pieces. I think i will build 1:16 version. I had some sets from Rock Raiders at the time. (1 year before my dark ages began) i plan building some modernized minifigs. Especially Jet. There are some really cool white hairpieces around... really love your videos. ❤ Can i ask how old you are? I'm 39 myself. Greetings from Germany
I could be wrong, but I think Studio now has an instruction maker, so as long as one is made you shouldn't have to worry about blindly putting things together anymore.
It does, though as far as I know, it's far from perfect and requires a lot of human oversight to make something functional with a model this complex. 😕
Off hand, I do not. Something to the tune of “thousands” though… The 1:8 *looks* amazing, but after building the 1:16, I couldn’t imagine doing the 1:8 - that would definitely be biting off more than I can chew.
I can agree with you on the likely loading capacity for the LMS Explorer for Mining Machinery and Resources, though I doubt a crew of Six would suffice. Like how big would Crew Quarters be?
Wow! I hope someone does manage to build it 1:1 IRL someday - I reckon it'll happen, even if they need to commission some custom bricks for ones LEGO's never made. Regarding the lack of instructions problem you had, LEGO Digital Designer did have an instructions generator, so you could maybe have exported the model back into LDD for that!
Might see if I can go for one of the smaller builds, I'm starting a collection and want it to include things from the games. When it comes to using the Studio program without instructions, it might help to learn how to use the instructions feature, as you can get into a rhythm of creating instruction steps one piece at a time, essentially disassembling the model in the process. And as a bonus, you've created instructions lol
Hey, sorry for the late reply! I had to do some digging, but I found it again! www.brothers-brick.com/2019/09/13/hunt-for-pirates-on-the-hms-white-card/ I will add this to the video description too. 👍
Thanks for the upload and insight :) I already put down an oath to build a model of the Explorer if ever a new pandemic occurred. Maybe not this 1:1 version, but definitely one with interior as you described it. Luckily I have a job by now and don't rely on my mom and grandma to buy sets anymore 😅
Really liked Rock Raiders. Think they look much cooler than that similar newer mining theme. I only had the tractor and the drill though. And unfortunately could never try the game as it didn't work on our PC.
@@RRSlugger One of my friends took a picture of the ship and did some pixel measurements and got it to around 45 Meters. So seems my two reliable sources are pretty much agreeing there haha.
That is definitely really cool. I hope that the guy, or the community design the interior as well. That would definitely be awesome to see. If he/they doe do that it should have sections with different purposes, and have little bits of environmental storytelling. This would be stuff like a section that has a bunch of vehicles, and buildings (some would be partially unassembled with workers on them as a way to show they’re getting repaired). There could be a cargo hold with a bunch of ore ready to be melted down, and spare parts laying around for maintenance. A mess hall with all the sandwiches and a band with the cut saxophones from the game. Maybe a section with captured creatures from Planet U (Rock Monsters, those spiders, and the different creatures added in the awful PlayStation game). An engine room where they’re either feeding crystals into some sort of bug furnace, or they just hook them up to a machine that drains them. And finally crew quarters. There’s just so much untapped potential with this ship. I unfortunately haven’t played the game or owned any of the sets because they were before my time (born 1999). I just learned about them recently, and thought they were really cool. I can definitely feel for you and the other fans who wanted this line to continue a bit longer (I’m that way with Bionicle and Mars Mission). It’s definitely really good that there’s a community who’ve been keeping this alive for as long as they have (and that cool looking Manic Miners game). If only Lego would rerelease/remaster their old games in a bundle that you could buy on Steam or somewhere else. That would definitely be really good. In a way this mining ship reminds me of the Spirit of Fire from Halo Wars because in lore that was a colony ship that was converted into a Warship by attaching a bunch of weapons all over it, and filling the storage with vehicles and supplies for repairs. Another connection is the fact that these two massive ships that sends troops and supplies down to the planet, but for two very different reasons. It’s truly impressive how this guy made that. I’m sure the crazy amount of pieces really lagged his computer.
I loved reading your comment! I share your vivid imagination for what could be going on inside the LMS Explorer. I think it would be neat to see everyone's different takes on what certain rooms could look like - it's a cool "puzzle" I'd love to see solutions to, even if it is just a single room at a time. I did build a small facade of a "radio room" that can be seen in my Race For Survival episode, but it would be awesome to see what other creators could come up with too.
Hi, I am glad you liked the model! I remember that I made most of the rooms (except for the reactor room, because the brick dimensions are all over the place) or at least large parts of them for Baraklava to use in the Rock Raiders remake Manic Miners, but I didn't upload pictures outside of chat rooms if I recall correctly. I don't know, if I will remake the spaceship again (since it's basically the same stuff, but all over again), but considering the size of the Manic Miners community I wouldn't be surprised, if someone else would make it again. Personally I would go with a ton of submodels in a program like Studio 2.0. That way it should be easier to add and remove rooms, but the model would contain even more bricks than it already has (around 58k).
@Arthuriel Aurillion Thanks for making the thing. Honestly didn’t think the guy who made the thing would see my comment. It’s really cool how you pieced it together using different official prototypes and sections as a base. It definitely came together really well. I hope that you one day post the different interior sections, and maybe even the new version (assuming you actually do that). Good luck with any other things you make. I can tell based on this they will be really good.
@R.R. Slugger Sorry for the atrociously late response. I would have responded a lot sooner, but I’m terrible with procrastination. I really hope that different people collaborate to make the interior of the ship. It would definitely be really cool to see different approaches to making the interior, and how well they’d match up. There’s plenty of potential. It all just depends on if people are willing to work together, and if the thing is actually big enough to have a bunch of interior rooms (I’m sure it is, but you never know until it’s tried).
Hey this is incredible, thank you. I couldn't find a way of importing your PDF parts list to BL, so I pulled it from Authuriel's model file. What sort of tweaks did you make to the 1:16 model?
Oh no! Sharing Wishlists appears to be a "Coming Soon" feature of Bricklink, whatever that means... My tweaks were incredibly minor, but I go through them in the video - I had to swap out a few pieces because they don't exist in the right colour and I also chose to swap out a few colours for cost reasons. I also added some details to the engine in the rear - minor things like that. Hopefully this video is helpful for you!
That would be my guess. I believe the LMS Explorer is about 300 meters long (if it were a real spaceship) so I guess it would depend how big the Tantive is?
This community is incredible with how they made full blueprints out of a ship only seen from a few angles in the opening and closing movies. 300 meters sounds about right for this behemoth. Also cool to learn that LEGO built 1:1 models of parts of the ship themselves- can anything be gleamed from those about the ship's facilities and/or functions? Does the 1:1 model have much detail on its interior, or is it mostly a hollow brick?
I have no idea how Arthuriel was able to do it all *on his own*! Boggles the mind... I don't think there are many interior details though. Some folks have theorized that there would likely be large cargo holds onboard though as it is a mining ship - I like it! 😊
@@RRSlugger I guess getting the outer shape right was challenge enough. I enjoy forming headcanons about just what the Explorer can do. Has there been any guessing in the fandom as to what all those green domes on top (I'm guessing shield generators) or those things sticking out of the bottom front are?
@@JohnSmith-of2gu & @R.R. Slugger Thanks! Patience is quite important for a project like this to get it done (it helped that the original was made out of digital LEGO bricks to begin with), but it's still annoying since I had to correct mistakes from the 2011 model in the 2016 update which luckily went way quicker. There are still some mistakes in it and currently I can't really be bothered to do yet another attempt^^. Roomwise there is only the bridge, the hangar bay, the teleport room and the reactor room when it comes to the original L.M.S. Explorer model (ignoring other models like the one from the book High Adventure, Deep Underground). Of those I built the first three, but only the files for the bridge are public I think since the other two are almost complete models for Baraklava to use in the remake Manic Miners after adding pipes and different decals. I also attempted to build the reactor room, but nothing is in scale in that room compared to the other ones (bricks have different sizes) and so I gave up. I am aware of the images of the real life ship parts, but inside it just looked like flat and empty halls with some beams to hold up the structure. That can help with guessing how high and where the different floors are, but that's it. I don't recall seeing explanations for what the top domes could be (I once wondered, if they are part of the radar system, but that's about it). My explanation for the bottom part is that it is either part of the teleportation system (since it looks similar to the teleport room dishes) or a scanner. PS Is it possible to tag more than one person in a comment? Only the first tag works.
@@arthurielaurillion Don't think it's possible to tag more than one person unfortunately. But thank you for the comment, so cool to hear from the original creator! Is the "reactor room" the one from the ending videos where they're putting the energy crystals in? Cool to hear that some of your models are being used for Manic Miners- are there plans to make those public in the future? Anyways, cool to read your interpretations of the design. Lately I've entertained the thought that the stuff on the front might be part of a gigantic mining laser because that'd be cool, but I admit I have little basis for that.
@@JohnSmith-of2gu No problem! Yeah, it's the crystal scene. All the models (except the hangar bay, teleport room and my attempt of building the reactor room) should be available via the 1:1 L.M.S. Explorer thread on RRU (Rock Raiders United). Maybe I will upload the room models as well one day. I just never did it, because they aren't completely finished. Speculation can be nice and personally I thought that the front was a bunch of antennas and whatnot, but in the end it's just guesswork^^.
I have a custom built mobile base for RR that's basically a small version of the ship. Is there any way to send pics of custom builds to appear in future videos? It would be cool if you did a contest or something for different mocs
I'd love to see that, for sure! While I doubt I will be doing any contests or the like, I'm more than happy to show off builds by other creators in relevant situations in upcoming videos! I don't really have a public email set up just yet, but you can easily find me on Instagram or in the Manic Miners/RRU Discord servers. (My name there is "Rama"). :)
I hardly know how to use Studio as is, so instructions from me aren’t likely going to happen, sorry. However, if someone does make instructions for it, I will link them in the description of the video!
Thanks for checking out the video everyone! I tried to cover a lot of topics with this one and I feel it *mostly* worked. Let me know your feedback in the comments below.
I just wanted to point out a couple of errors or issues I ran into making this: firstly, the LMS Explorer is actually closer to 120 metres longer than the Seattle Space Needle is tall, not 80 metres. Whoops!
Normally I would go back in and change that before publishing, but there was something about this video that proved harder than normal for my computer to edit. This is my 8 or 9th render attempt, so what you see is what you get. For some reason, Davinci Resolve had a hard time with this one, so there are a few more visual errors than I would like. Hopefully next episode will go more smoothly!
Hiho!
I think that only the picture around 6:50 might not fit since that's the 1.0 version and not the 1.2 version you based your real life version on, but other than that I didn't find an issue in the video. In other words: it's very good : ).
So far that's probably the only video that's specifically about the L.M.S. Explorer I can think of, which is quite astonishing when you consider when LEGO Rock Raiders as a series was released (over 20 years ago). I guess it has to do with the sheer scale of the project since even building a smaller version can be a challenge like you mentioned in the video.
PS The difference between version 1.0 (and 1.1) and version 1.2 is that 1.2 is non-modular (I probably made this due to stability reasons). I also started a 1.3 version, which was going be to non-modular as well, but I never finished that one.
@@arthurielaurillion That makes sense - it didn’t seem quite right compared to what I had built, haha.
Thanks for your hard work on all of this! Making this video and talking with you has really given me a new appreciation for your efforts with the LMS Explorer. 🙂
I can relate to that! I made a 7 minute long video using Davinci Resolve and when it finished rendering, I checked my video and for some reason, the audio is silent for like 5 seconds in the beginning. I rendered it 3 times.
I think your video turned out great! Even if there are a few errors made. (We all make mistakes)
As a Geologist I find it funny that on their planetary diagram at 0:20 it says granite, energy crystals, then volcanic rock. Granite is a volcanic rock technically 😂. Nonetheless love your channel just stumbled on it last night.
It's great to hear from someone who knows their geology! (I kinda don't, haha)
Thanks for checking out the channel!
And you missed the most important part: the core of the planet was LEGO ore!!!!
Love seeing the quality content and love Rock Raiders is still getting after all these years
You sound and speak like the professor from tolarian academy, the mtg channel. Not a bad thing he’s a legend and has a very calm and understandable voice.
Cool!
Based off the idea that a Lego minifig is about 5 studs long, and is equivalent to 7 feet high in our real world, and assuming a meter is about 3 feet, I’ve got a ship that’s about 30 meters in length built in minifig scale, at around, erm, I want to say about maybe 3/4 the height of 7905 Tower Crane…. Maybe? Maybe 2/3? I dunno. Point is she’s just shy of 30 meters in Lego terms last time I measured.
So, in other words, my Nexus-Class Cruiser, Nexus-1, is about a tenth the size of the LMS Explorer, which is pretty cool. Kinda gives it that Tantive IV inside an ISD vibes, doesn’t it?
Rockatoa, Brickticks out!
the LMS explorer has a really cool design. Something about its angular design with lots of blocky simple shapes reminds me of the ships from Babylon 5 (particularly the Omega class) and the ships from SAAB.
One of the devs verified it was "lego mining ship" in a forum q&a somewhere as well..
Really? I'd love to know more about this! Do you have any other details that you remember?
Some German guys in the comments who are up for the challenge? Let's meet, fund, and build this thing.
Great video. Can you say which music did you use in the background? Is it from the Playstation game? I only played the PC version which has different music.
Thanks! I create all the music used in these videos, but you can find them all for free on my Bandcamp page. I don’t recall if it’s in this video description, but if you go to one of my more recent videos you’ll be able to find it no problem. 😊
Hey R.R. Slugger is it possible for me to get an MP3 of your song that plays at the end? It’s really groovy!
Absolutely! All of my music is available for free on my Bandcamp page:
rrslugger.bandcamp.com/album/r-r-sluggers-rock-raiders-mix-tape
The track you’re looking for is called “Oresome!”
@@RRSlugger Thank you so much!
1:34 Dwarf Fortress in 2010? Hello fellow nerd! :)
the LEGO ship LMS Explorer is another great science fiction spacecraft , up there with USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and C&C Tiberian Sun Kodiak .
I agree completely! From what I know, Data Design Interactive (the folks who made the PC game) designed the whole ship and even had a section of it constructed at a 1:1 scale - they were doing near Industrial Light & Magic level stuff on the LMS Explorer and it really shows in the final product!
The quality of your videos is insane. I can't wait to see what else you come out with!
Thank you! Lots of stuff in the works right now, including the last of the Rock Raiders retail sets!
@@RRSlugger then Building the 1:1 version ;)
I wonder how many hundreds of dollars would be needed for the 1:8 version. Would love to have that one
I still drool over that one from time to time... 😅
Since it’s twice the length of the 1 : 16, it would have eight times the volume. A reasonable estimate would be 8x the price of the model slugger showed, or about a thousand dollars if you use the 200$ bricklink benchmark slugger gave.
I wonder if LEGO ever would have made an official LMS Explorer set if Rock Raiders received any further waves? Of course it wouldn't have been as massive as the actual thing in the game, but still it would have been neat to see what they would have done with it. (Now that I think about it though...imagine an alternate universe where Rock Raiders was a huge hit and we got a UCS LMS Explorer set.)
Kudos to Arthuriel for painstakingly bringing this behemoth to life in multiple forms and thank you for making another fantastic video showcasing it! I wish I could bring the 1:8 version to life, but that's way outside of my budget.
Yeah, I'm still drooling over the thought of building the 1:8 someday, but after the amount of time it took to do the 1:16, I doubt I will ever muster the courage to do it. And the money thing, like you pointed out, haha.
Would be a really cool 25th anniversary homage this year
Great set and a phenomenal review! Thank you, R.R.Slugger! Because of your cozy videos, I have ordered a few of the Rock Raiders sets. My childhood favourite theme was Power Miners, and it will be most interesting to own the predecessor ;)
That’s awesome! Which sets did you order?
I have 3 of the Power Miners sets from wave 1 from when I was younger - I can definitely appreciate the lineage there, even if the colours and story of that theme never jived with me.
@@RRSlugger I ordered 4950 and 4970 from one seller in one lot on ebay. Only for 70 dollars with instructions and comics :)
@@DominatoSpace Those are some great sets - I hope you enjoy them!
Now you just need to snag 4930 (or 4990!) to get the rest of the crew!
@@RRSlugger I will in the future! Thank you! Please keep making such cozy reviews ;D
I grew up on Rock Raiders but didn't have all the sets. Unfortunately I missed out on Power Miners sets due to my finances at the time. Hoping to collect them all someday!
I’m so excited about this! I’ve been thinking for a long time that I’d love to make a small little build based on the ship, but now I can just use this amazing design
It really is fantastic! If you do take the plunge, let me know how I can help!
As mentioned in the video, there is also a 1:32 version too, if you’re looking for something smaller/cheaper.
I was around in RRU when Arthriel first started this. So great to see people still having so much fun with this series. I still have my collection, but I may need to dust it all off after watching your videos.
Well if i was milioner i would on 100% build the 1:1 version 😄
Unfortunutly i am not a milioner 😞
I would love it if Lego came out with this ship as a one-off, like the new Venator or Star Destroyer.
It would be so cool!
Great presentation. Your video is the top result after a quick google of LMS Explorer, which I just came across on RRU. I usually turn to Rebrickable for an idea of what the community has done with a given subject matter (in terms of MOCs with instructions), but the explorer hasn't been submitted there in any form :(
Like you say, here's to this video serving as some inspiration to see this behemoth in real bricks from even more builders.
Thanks for the subscription guys! I go back and watch your excellent video presentation on rare bricks you did a year ago every now and then - it's a great video!
I'll mention it to Arthuriel - he's currently looking into posting the LMS in more places, so I imagine that site must be on his list.
6:18 I know this video was posted a year ago, but I believe in Studio 2.0 you can automatically generate instructions from a design. At least that was the case for me when I last used it about a year and a half ago! Excellent video!
For the 1x1 round tile in trans-neon green: These pieces do exist, however in very low quantities. Somehow one of them found their way into my collection, so I can verify it's existence. However following my failed attempts to acquire a 1x1 round in trans-neon yellow, getting four of them could be a frustrating adventure…
Whoa! That’s really cool! 😮
Has anyone thought of 3d printing the LMS Explorer? Sacrilegious maybe, but it could be a more affordable option for any scale. Even if it were a PLA base hull that the port holes, radar dishes, and other details could be applied to, to still give it the LEGO feel
So the official name is actually "LEGO Mining Ship"... that's disappointing. I mean, it's pretty much what was to be expected, but it makes it nearly impossible to take it seriously in any semi-realistic setting (And I personally prefer the themes that are less lego, more human, if that makes sense)
Anyways, I think Arthuriel mentioned at some point that the model would be around 7 meters or something like that, if you were to build the entire thing in real life (which is obviously impossible because of all the parts that don't exist in the right colors)
Eh, maybe we're lucky and Monkie Kid or ninjago give us the teal peaces we need so that we're only stuck with the large UFO pieces.
I hear ya. I think using the word "confirm" in my script was maybe a little too absolute - "imply" would have maybe been better.
To my knowledge there is no document that states LMS = Lego Mining Ship, but the one document that we do have definitely implies that connection. Make of that what you will. :)
@@RRSlugger well, it is the only official document we have, as far as I can tell. still, I think it would make for a more interesting story if "L" was the first letter of some big interstellar company.
Lexcorp, maybe xD - although that may have problems with licensing. but something like that.
Eh, for my personal headcanon, I'll still keep something like that, I doubt we'll get anything official out of Lego any time soon
@@Vomarsk Indeed! I wouldn't hold our breath on *ever* getting anything official from Lego on the matter, haha.
Makes me think of the sub from atlantis the lost empire
Totally! There are a lot of similarities in the design.
that's really good
❌ some Star Wars UCS ship
✔ UCS LMS Explorer
Yup. Totally a space theme. Space mining. Another great watch. Thank you Slugger !
The proliferation of home FDM 3D printing makes the nonexistent pieces much less of an issue. Someone with a well tuned printer could make them themselves.
the Shaping reminds me a lot of the Halo: Fleet Battles UNSC Epoch or Punic Class Carriers
amazing lines
I'm playing dwarf fortress as I'm watching this video!! They are fantasy Rock Raiders. I bet if you asked bet someone could make a Rock Raiders conversion mod for DF that's lots of fun.
dwarf fortress has always given me that same Rock Raiders feeling more than any similar RTS games tbh. at least in fortress mode, adventure mode just gives me feelings of beating up crabs and falling out of trees.
personally I'd love to see the opposite, a rock raiders game with more underground features and depth like DF has
People tend to underestimate just how much crew ships have especially ones that carrie parasite craft.
Aircraft carriers have crews of up to 6000 if remember correctly a crew of only a couple hundred for the size of craft LMS explorer would be miniscule
They should built a life size / minifigs scale of the last which I would like to buy for a reasonable price 😀 😉 👍 ❤🎉😊😮❤ instead of just the microscale of the last now that would be be incredible 👏 😀 🙌 😉 👌 👍 👏 😀 ❤!!!!
*It still bothers me that Lego never released a small version of the LMS Explorer or even just small sections like the bridge or something, I guess the closest thing we have to an official LMS Explorer set is the 4980 Tunnel Transport.*
I didn't hear the final number for the 1:1 mentioned, but had it been released, it would have been the largest set ever by part count. The current largest is the World Map at 11,600. Arthurial said the Explorer had over 18,000 before it was even finished.
jesus... what a beaut.
How big is the actual 1 to 16 model
I think it’s about 30 centimetres, perhaps slightly more. 😊
So the LMS explorer is only a little bigger than the Hindenburg, interesting!
Rock Raiders has been a huge inspiration for many of the builds I've done over the years, but the LMS explorer was the inspiration for the Obelisk, perhaps my greatest. ruclips.net/video/jcqxRd5Xy2s/видео.html I'm glad I found this channel, and that this old theme is getting some of the respect it deserves.
That's incredible! What a great MOC - thanks for sharing!
The 1:1 Moc is mindbending. I downloaded it 2 years ago. Over 50000 Lego pieces. I think i will build 1:16 version. I had some sets from Rock Raiders at the time. (1 year before my dark ages began) i plan building some modernized minifigs. Especially Jet. There are some really cool white hairpieces around... really love your videos. ❤ Can i ask how old you are? I'm 39 myself. Greetings from Germany
Thank you! It looks like you almost have a full decade on me there! 😉
F+ck, now I want to build something 😅👍
I could be wrong, but I think Studio now has an instruction maker, so as long as one is made you shouldn't have to worry about blindly putting things together anymore.
It does, though as far as I know, it's far from perfect and requires a lot of human oversight to make something functional with a model this complex. 😕
I’ve found 3 studs to equal a meter personally.
I would love to see a version of this model that uses 90s Lego design sensibilities at a minifig scale
Out of curiosity. Why do Lego building programs allow you to use bricks that don't exist.
That’s a good question! I don’t use these programs personally, but I’d venture a guess that the reason has to do with not limiting creative potential.
Pretty cool! I'll put it on my maybe someday list. You remember how many pieces in the 1:8 scale?
Off hand, I do not. Something to the tune of “thousands” though…
The 1:8 *looks* amazing, but after building the 1:16, I couldn’t imagine doing the 1:8 - that would definitely be biting off more than I can chew.
@@RRSlugger haha, k thanks!
BLOCK AND STONE!!! ⛏
I can agree with you on the likely loading capacity for the LMS Explorer for Mining Machinery and Resources, though I doubt a crew of Six would suffice. Like how big would Crew Quarters be?
Indeed! There would have to be a bigger crew - potentially made up of the generic miners we see in the PC game? 🤔
@@RRSlugger Exactly! I could clearly recall noticing some in the Cutscene of Sparks drilling into the rock wall.
Wait a minute.... Rock Riders is literally Deep Rock Galactic!
And vice versa! 😉
I will build the 1:32 model soon one day I may build the 1:16 but I don't think I ever will
I would love to see pictures when you’re done!
your work is very impressive, im happy to see rock raiders contents even in 2022!
And there's still more on the way! Haha
@@RRSlugger Cool! I'll be waiting for it :)
This is cool, great video!
this is honestly quite a nice ship
i want to see the 1to1 xD
Wow! I hope someone does manage to build it 1:1 IRL someday - I reckon it'll happen, even if they need to commission some custom bricks for ones LEGO's never made.
Regarding the lack of instructions problem you had, LEGO Digital Designer did have an instructions generator, so you could maybe have exported the model back into LDD for that!
Might see if I can go for one of the smaller builds, I'm starting a collection and want it to include things from the games.
When it comes to using the Studio program without instructions, it might help to learn how to use the instructions feature, as you can get into a rhythm of creating instruction steps one piece at a time, essentially disassembling the model in the process. And as a bonus, you've created instructions lol
Hey, which ship are you showing at 0:46?
Hey, sorry for the late reply! I had to do some digging, but I found it again!
www.brothers-brick.com/2019/09/13/hunt-for-pirates-on-the-hms-white-card/
I will add this to the video description too. 👍
@@RRSlugger thank you!
I might try to make the 1:8 version, that one looks amazing
I thought the 1:8 would be near impossible, but someone recently made some significant strides on it - it can be done!
@@RRSlugger yeah, well me and my brother might start this project this summer, money is the problem at the moment xD.
does anyone know the songs used in the video?
Yup! I make them all and they're available on my Bandcamp page for free:
rrslugger.bandcamp.com/album/r-r-sluggers-rock-raiders-mix-tape
Some sick part of me wants to build the 1:1 model
You’ll run into a lot of nonexistent parts I’m afraid! 😅
Then I guess we just have to make them exist
I am currently working on a similar sized ship for the UFO (97) aliens.
I’d love to see it when it’s done! 👀
@@RRSlugger I have sent you a few old pictures on Instagram.
@@RRSlugger Have you seen them?
Thanks for the upload and insight :)
I already put down an oath to build a model of the Explorer if ever a new pandemic occurred. Maybe not this 1:1 version, but definitely one with interior as you described it. Luckily I have a job by now and don't rely on my mom and grandma to buy sets anymore 😅
Really liked Rock Raiders. Think they look much cooler than that similar newer mining theme.
I only had the tractor and the drill though. And unfortunately could never try the game as it didn't work on our PC.
so we know it'd be about 300 Meters long, how tall would it roughly be?
I’m not sure! My ballpark guess would be around 40-50 metres, given the proportions. 🤔
@@RRSlugger One of my friends took a picture of the ship and did some pixel measurements and got it to around 45 Meters. So seems my two reliable sources are pretty much agreeing there haha.
Wow, so it's basically only a little bigger than the Hindenburg
That is definitely really cool. I hope that the guy, or the community design the interior as well. That would definitely be awesome to see. If he/they doe do that it should have sections with different purposes, and have little bits of environmental storytelling. This would be stuff like a section that has a bunch of vehicles, and buildings (some would be partially unassembled with workers on them as a way to show they’re getting repaired). There could be a cargo hold with a bunch of ore ready to be melted down, and spare parts laying around for maintenance. A mess hall with all the sandwiches and a band with the cut saxophones from the game. Maybe a section with captured creatures from Planet U (Rock Monsters, those spiders, and the different creatures added in the awful PlayStation game). An engine room where they’re either feeding crystals into some sort of bug furnace, or they just hook them up to a machine that drains them. And finally crew quarters. There’s just so much untapped potential with this ship.
I unfortunately haven’t played the game or owned any of the sets because they were before my time (born 1999). I just learned about them recently, and thought they were really cool. I can definitely feel for you and the other fans who wanted this line to continue a bit longer (I’m that way with Bionicle and Mars Mission). It’s definitely really good that there’s a community who’ve been keeping this alive for as long as they have (and that cool looking Manic Miners game). If only Lego would rerelease/remaster their old games in a bundle that you could buy on Steam or somewhere else. That would definitely be really good.
In a way this mining ship reminds me of the Spirit of Fire from Halo Wars because in lore that was a colony ship that was converted into a Warship by attaching a bunch of weapons all over it, and filling the storage with vehicles and supplies for repairs. Another connection is the fact that these two massive ships that sends troops and supplies down to the planet, but for two very different reasons.
It’s truly impressive how this guy made that. I’m sure the crazy amount of pieces really lagged his computer.
I loved reading your comment! I share your vivid imagination for what could be going on inside the LMS Explorer. I think it would be neat to see everyone's different takes on what certain rooms could look like - it's a cool "puzzle" I'd love to see solutions to, even if it is just a single room at a time.
I did build a small facade of a "radio room" that can be seen in my Race For Survival episode, but it would be awesome to see what other creators could come up with too.
Hi, I am glad you liked the model!
I remember that I made most of the rooms (except for the reactor room, because the brick dimensions are all over the place) or at least large parts of them for Baraklava to use in the Rock Raiders remake Manic Miners, but I didn't upload pictures outside of chat rooms if I recall correctly.
I don't know, if I will remake the spaceship again (since it's basically the same stuff, but all over again), but considering the size of the Manic Miners community I wouldn't be surprised, if someone else would make it again. Personally I would go with a ton of submodels in a program like Studio 2.0. That way it should be easier to add and remove rooms, but the model would contain even more bricks than it already has (around 58k).
@Arthuriel Aurillion Thanks for making the thing. Honestly didn’t think the guy who made the thing would see my comment.
It’s really cool how you pieced it together using different official prototypes and sections as a base. It definitely came together really well.
I hope that you one day post the different interior sections, and maybe even the new version (assuming you actually do that). Good luck with any other things you make. I can tell based on this they will be really good.
@R.R. Slugger Sorry for the atrociously late response. I would have responded a lot sooner, but I’m terrible with procrastination.
I really hope that different people collaborate to make the interior of the ship. It would definitely be really cool to see different approaches to making the interior, and how well they’d match up. There’s plenty of potential. It all just depends on if people are willing to work together, and if the thing is actually big enough to have a bunch of interior rooms (I’m sure it is, but you never know until it’s tried).
@@shreksnow1918 No worries! There is no time limit to responding to strangers on the internet - your real life matters! :)
Hey this is incredible, thank you. I couldn't find a way of importing your PDF parts list to BL, so I pulled it from Authuriel's model file. What sort of tweaks did you make to the 1:16 model?
Oh no! Sharing Wishlists appears to be a "Coming Soon" feature of Bricklink, whatever that means...
My tweaks were incredibly minor, but I go through them in the video - I had to swap out a few pieces because they don't exist in the right colour and I also chose to swap out a few colours for cost reasons.
I also added some details to the engine in the rear - minor things like that. Hopefully this video is helpful for you!
I loved the Rock Raiders, PC games, and PS1 game. That ship was so sick.
My question is how it compares to the standard Imperial Star Destroyer and the Tantive IV. I would assume somewhere in between.
That would be my guess. I believe the LMS Explorer is about 300 meters long (if it were a real spaceship) so I guess it would depend how big the Tantive is?
Tantive IV is supposedly about 120m, ISD is supposed to be 1600m. Funny enough the LMS Explorer is about real battleship size at 300.
@@youmukonpaku3168 So, closer to the Tantive. I would assume it'd be more maneouverable than a Star Destroyer.
@@youmukonpaku3168 Wow! The Tantive IV is massive! The LMS Explorer seems far more realistically achievable at 300 metres. 😅
a few hundred years in the future, lego will have surpassed all building materials, and this ship will be built
This community is incredible with how they made full blueprints out of a ship only seen from a few angles in the opening and closing movies. 300 meters sounds about right for this behemoth. Also cool to learn that LEGO built 1:1 models of parts of the ship themselves- can anything be gleamed from those about the ship's facilities and/or functions?
Does the 1:1 model have much detail on its interior, or is it mostly a hollow brick?
I have no idea how Arthuriel was able to do it all *on his own*! Boggles the mind...
I don't think there are many interior details though. Some folks have theorized that there would likely be large cargo holds onboard though as it is a mining ship - I like it! 😊
@@RRSlugger I guess getting the outer shape right was challenge enough. I enjoy forming headcanons about just what the Explorer can do. Has there been any guessing in the fandom as to what all those green domes on top (I'm guessing shield generators) or those things sticking out of the bottom front are?
@@JohnSmith-of2gu & @R.R. Slugger Thanks! Patience is quite important for a project like this to get it done (it helped that the original was made out of digital LEGO bricks to begin with), but it's still annoying since I had to correct mistakes from the 2011 model in the 2016 update which luckily went way quicker. There are still some mistakes in it and currently I can't really be bothered to do yet another attempt^^.
Roomwise there is only the bridge, the hangar bay, the teleport room and the reactor room when it comes to the original L.M.S. Explorer model (ignoring other models like the one from the book High Adventure, Deep Underground). Of those I built the first three, but only the files for the bridge are public I think since the other two are almost complete models for Baraklava to use in the remake Manic Miners after adding pipes and different decals. I also attempted to build the reactor room, but nothing is in scale in that room compared to the other ones (bricks have different sizes) and so I gave up.
I am aware of the images of the real life ship parts, but inside it just looked like flat and empty halls with some beams to hold up the structure. That can help with guessing how high and where the different floors are, but that's it.
I don't recall seeing explanations for what the top domes could be (I once wondered, if they are part of the radar system, but that's about it). My explanation for the bottom part is that it is either part of the teleportation system (since it looks similar to the teleport room dishes) or a scanner.
PS Is it possible to tag more than one person in a comment? Only the first tag works.
@@arthurielaurillion Don't think it's possible to tag more than one person unfortunately. But thank you for the comment, so cool to hear from the original creator!
Is the "reactor room" the one from the ending videos where they're putting the energy crystals in? Cool to hear that some of your models are being used for Manic Miners- are there plans to make those public in the future? Anyways, cool to read your interpretations of the design. Lately I've entertained the thought that the stuff on the front might be part of a gigantic mining laser because that'd be cool, but I admit I have little basis for that.
@@JohnSmith-of2gu No problem! Yeah, it's the crystal scene. All the models (except the hangar bay, teleport room and my attempt of building the reactor room) should be available via the 1:1 L.M.S. Explorer thread on RRU (Rock Raiders United). Maybe I will upload the room models as well one day. I just never did it, because they aren't completely finished.
Speculation can be nice and personally I thought that the front was a bunch of antennas and whatnot, but in the end it's just guesswork^^.
Lugs you have been called upon time to make the 1:1 scale a reality
I have a custom built mobile base for RR that's basically a small version of the ship. Is there any way to send pics of custom builds to appear in future videos? It would be cool if you did a contest or something for different mocs
I'd love to see that, for sure! While I doubt I will be doing any contests or the like, I'm more than happy to show off builds by other creators in relevant situations in upcoming videos!
I don't really have a public email set up just yet, but you can easily find me on Instagram or in the Manic Miners/RRU Discord servers. (My name there is "Rama"). :)
@@RRSlugger I'll check it out and post pics when I can :3
God I would love to try and make the 1/8th scale version. Looks beautiful
Right? I can’t imagine how many pieces it would take though… the 1:16 model was challenging enough. 😅
Oh damn, I nearly forgot about this ship.
Also can you make instructions for the 1:16 scale?
I hardly know how to use Studio as is, so instructions from me aren’t likely going to happen, sorry. However, if someone does make instructions for it, I will link them in the description of the video!
@@RRSlugger It's alright. If someone does I'll save it for when I have the parts :D
i love old theme not never really got a chance like time cruisers, i have been loveing your videos on a grand old theme, keep up the good work.
Thank you! Glad you’re enjoying the back catalogue too! 😊
Maybe one day I try to make one
Thats a cool ship