The Working Telescope

I've decided to build the updated version with actual bricks, and here's the result next to the first two stages of the awesome Saturn V set :

The tripod uses some pretty new pieces, namely the 1x1 brick with axle hole, and 1x5 plate :

I decided to make the tripod more realistic and more functional by giving it extending legs.

But there was a problem... the new tripod was now bigger than the complete telescope itself. So I had to redo the tube as well. Here's the update next to the original version (in dark blue) :

The new version is made of 1560 pieces, so more than three times as much as the original design, and is considerably taller. Here's a blueprint of the new version :

The tube is still easily detachable, thanks to Technic pins and a solid structure made of Techic frames.

The mount works with Technic gears (the ratio between the input and the output is 1:7), and balljoints provide friction to the mechanism, like 21311 Voltron's shoulders or the T-rex's hips in 75936 Jurassic Park: T. rex Rampage.

The eyepiece can now be rotated. The switch to turn on the light is now placed at the base of the eyepiece, and the eyepiece itself now contains the picture of the sky.

That new design allows to switch pictures more easily : you simply have to remove the end of the eyepiece and slide the picture you want in place.

Additional views :