6560 Diving Expedition Explorer

6560 Diving Expedition Explorer is a Divers set released in 1997. It included a large research vessel, a mini submarine, a small boat, an underwater landscape, six minifigures, a skeleton and various forms of sealife, including sharks and manta rays. With 464 pieces, this is the largest set of the Divers line.
== Description ==
The exploration ship has a storage platform for the sub at its aft, as well as a sliding track that runs on the main deck from the rear platform to a hangar in the ship's superstructures at the front. On the upper level of these superstructures is the ship's main bridge, which contains a radar screen and a monitor on 2x2 slopes and the steering wheel, as well as a map on the rear wall. Behind the bridge is a telescope crane mounted on a 4x4 turntable between the two smoke stacks on port and starboard. The crane can be used to hoist the submarine or a shark cage. On a mast, the ship flies two diver down flags.
The mini sub has just enough room for one minifigure and is equipped with an external camera, two articulated robot arms and two headlights. There is also a rubber dinghy and a buoy with a blue diver down flag.
The underwater landscape is built onto two 16x32 baseplates connected with hingebricks to fold it open and consists of a rugged cavernous reef made up of BURPs and several arc pieces. Inside it lies a hidden treasure chest right beside a skeleton with a morion helmet. The chest contains four gold coins and a goblet. A small net that blocks one of the tunnels acts as obstacle for the divers.
Four of the six minifigures are equipped with diving gear, but the set includes optional basecaps for all of them. The additional equipment comprises four harpoon guns, two underwater scooters and a yellow camera. Among the sea creatures are a white shark, a sawfish, an octopus and a manta ray.
== Notes ==
* Out of all Divers sets, this contains the most pieces (464) and minifigures (6 + 1 skeleton).
* The blue diver down flag ("Alpha" flag) on the ship and the buoy indicates limited maneuverability due to ongoing diving operations, while the red flag indicates the presence of divers and notifies other boats to stay clear.
* The sub and the boat are both labeled with the registration number "560", which are the three last digits of this set's number (6560). All larger seagoing vessels featured in Divers set follow this numbering scheme, except the vehicles included in 1782 Discovery Station which are labeled with the numbers "XR1" to "XR3".
== Minifigures included ==
== External links ==
Category:6000 sets
Category:Divers
Category:1997 sets
Category:Town