The topic of renewable energy popped up recently with the kids at home so we decided to do a little show and tell on what we do around the world to create clean energy. Mix that with my desire to build the tallest MOC we could muster from our parts and we eventually ended up with this beautiful and majestic structure; the LEGO Wind Turbine MOC.
Released in 2008, the 4999 featured a nice little diorama of an land based Wind Turbine set next to a cafe and restaurant, it included 3 Minifigures, 2 of which were Vestas maintenance crew who were equipped with a nice build of a Vestas maintenance van with tools and equipment.
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| Original LEGO Vestas Wind Turbine 4999 (Source: Brickset) |
Being a rather rare and elusive set, not much images can be found detailing the original 4999 set but our friends at Brickset have some pretty good details about the set. In addition Brickipedia has a summary of it's history and background; which indicates the Danish roots and relation of both companies and the fact that the Wind Turbine found in 4999 is based on a specific model distributed by Vestas; the V90-3.0 MW.
One can still find the 4999 on eBay but obviously not wanting to pay the price we decided to rebuild and revisit the 4999 based on what we had in inventory with a little help from Bricklink for harder-to-find parts.
We didn't change too much of the original Wind Turbine structure from the 4999 instructions. The only thing we added to the turbine was a little dome piece for the hub and a little light by the maintenance door at the bottom.
Through our process what probably was the hardest to find were the parts that form the main tower.
You'd need about nine of each of the parts pictured below, most of what we found were used and seemed to come from the LEGO 7897 Passenger Train set from 2006. We knew this because ours came with old stickers from the 7897.
LEGO Part images #45410 & #45411(Source Brickset)
Our twist to the Wind Turbine MOC is the change of environment in which the Wind Turbine is placed. We decided to bring the Wind Turbine close to the sea which gave us an opportunity to introduce something modern.
Set upon a 32x32 Blue baseplate #620 (which LEGO Discontinued! Why? I really don't know) with multiple mountain bottom pieces #6082 gave us chance to create an over-the-water dwelling that was level to the height of the mountain pieces.
A little pier was placed by the water that would allow dwellers to access via kayak and into the front door.
Interior wise we kept in minimal but what what most interesting (especially for the kids) were working interior lights that was channelled to both the exterior (by the main door) and interior (bedside lamp).
A little bench was placed by the landed area for Minifigures to enjoy the view and sea breeze.
A bench was placed by the landed area for Minifigures to enjoy the view and sea breeze.
Understandably this show-and-tell exercise was really about the concept of renewable energy and by right the Wind Turbine should be powering the beach house, currently we have a AAA Battery Box 88000 powering everything.
I do have a wild 'what if'.
Hope you enjoyed our post and here's the video of our LEGO® Wind Turbine MOC again!.
Understandably this show-and-tell exercise was really about the concept of renewable energy and by right the Wind Turbine should be powering the beach house, currently we have a AAA Battery Box 88000 powering everything.
I do have a wild 'what if'.
Could the wind turbine be powered by the LEGO Education Solar Panel 9667 from set 9688 Renewable Energy Add-on Set and could the included E-Meter & E-Motor power the lights?
Off the top of my head I would think there's not enough power but maybe I'll let the kids figure that one out.
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