LEGO®Technic Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit 42179 Building Set, 526 Pieces
Product details
Web ID: 17797164Accuracy
I wish they would have thought about the moon phases when printing the 4 stickers. 3 & 4 are identical so you don’t have an accurate moon phase with this build. I am a nerd and printed my own sticker and it’s close enough
Recommends this product
Customer review from LEGO
Really cool working model
Love the model!! I wish it was more realistic in terms of the number of times things rotate compared to how they orbit each other, but much much larger gears would be required to do it properly, so I understand the design choice. It is a great model - and representative - even if it's not astronomically accurate 🙂 I would definitely bring it to school to show my students - it illustrates the concept well - though I bought for home use: for myself and for my boys. 🙂 Really fun build, challenging enough, but my son still only needed help with mounting the earth and moon so that the correct month showed according to the earth's tilt. 🙂 Good job, Lego! Great set!
Recommends this product
Customer review from LEGO
Best Technic Set EverQ
This is a fun and interesting build that really showcases what Technic can do when it thinks outside of the box. I built it with my young kids helping/watching and it was an interesting set both to build and to explain the seasons when it was done. Well done Lego!
Recommends this product
Customer review from LEGO
Visualize a solar eclipse!
Put a flashlight on the sun, and you can see the Moon’s shadow cast on the Earth as it orbits! I am in love with this kit. Every few days I’ll turn the crank. It’s a little joy, watching the seasons change.
Recommends this product
Customer review from LEGO
Out of this world
Bought this to show granddaughter about motion of earth, moon around our star. Really enjoyed the build and it all works very well. Very educational and fun.
Recommends this product
Customer review from LEGO
Really enjoyed this one....
My second Technics and a much different experience to the first one. Firstly, it works - ignore what anyone else says, if you follow the instructions everything rotates. Secondly, it's very stable - admittedly i was a little uncomfortable as I connected the earth section, but the extra struts afterwards keep it solid. The instructions aren't always the best because they don't show from multiple angles which can be needed in odd cases when connecting sections. I admit that I put one section on upside down and it was only 10 pages later that I realised something was wrong, luckily i didn't need to undo too much. The size of the bags was better than Mars Rover, so was able to much more easily find the pieces I needed. My only gripe is that the sun and earth do look a little 'tacky'; but i was half expecting that from feedback i'd seen before purchasing. Other than that I think it looks good. Didn't take me too long to build, built across and afternoon and the following morning - i don't time things but i'd be surprised if it were more than 3 hours (4 max).
Recommends this product
Customer review from LEGO
Easy to get wrong, tough to troubleshoot.
Lots of opportunity when building this to make a mistake and press on, not unusual with Lego to have to correct as I go, but this came apart and went back together more times than any set I have made. The sun and earth are of disappointing quality. The idea is ace…. Be cool if it expanded into a solar system with an add on. This feels like a rushed idea, which is sad given the high level of engineering inside. There is not much play here, turn the handle and it moves…… Possible my least favourite and most disappointing set
Customer review from LEGO
Response from LEGO
Thank you for your feedback on this set. We're really sorry to hear how disappointing the build has been. That’s definitely not the experience we want you to have. We’ll share your comments with our design teams to help with future sets.
Horrible experience
I’ve never had a worse experience in my life with Lego than trying to build this, most infuriating thing I’ve ever done
Customer review from LEGO
Response from LEGO
It’s never fun when things don’t work the way they should. You might want to try the LEGO Builder app for the 3D version of the instructions to catch smaller details. You'll want to make sure that each part is positioned exactly as shown in the instructions and that everything is pressed together firmly (except the gears, which need a bit of space to turn). If you’d like a hand troubleshooting the build, feel free to reach out at LEGO.build/Service‑BV, we’re happy to help!