Brainbox's house

[Brainbox]

B-RV-9A

Okay, so like I just said, this is my entry for the Neighbourhood Contest, and while all the pictures are present in the BS gallery, there isn't really enough explantation for some all the stuff in ther, especially some of the 'hidden' items.

So, here we go. There are likely to be quite a few pictures (and links) here on in, so be warned :-D .

The house from the front (obviously). It's quite big actually, bigger than it perhaps looks here.

Back view. Here you can clearly see all the rooms bar the hall (not much to see there though) and the bedroom, which is behind the bathroom.

Also, from the side to give a sense of depth: 1 and 2

Brainbox will give the tour

In we go, throught the front door: 1 and 2. Notice the step detail, which took a surprisingly long to do, seeing as how I couldn't figure out how best to do them. Pay attention to the Viking shield on the wall, we'll come back to that later. There's also a bin under the steps.

Directly through the front door is the hall, strictly utilitarian and rather small and plain. The upstairs has been removed here, btw.

The entire downstairs, with the hall, dining room and kitchen, along with that mysterious hidden area...

Both of the two downstairs rooms are removable, and to do so this piece has to be removed. It holds the two rooms together, and fills out the entrance. That, and every AFOL needs to have their hand in a photograph ometime, so here's my contribution :-D .

Kitchen

Okay, this I'm particularly pleased with. Brainbox won't be going in here though, as there are no studs on the floor ;-) . Anyway, the kitchen:

Complete with fridge/freezer, sink, cupboards, hob, oven (sort of) and notice board.

Sink are, complete with draining board. The hob can also be seen. I quite like the choice of tile for the hob, actually.

Fridge/freezer: 1 and 2

And the notice board. I tried to pack as many little details in as I could, as that's what I like to see in larger MOCs. This is just one, and I think it worked out pretty well. It's emptier than mine though.

Dining Room

No the dining room doesn't bend, that's just the angle of the photograph. Those dark grey studs also shouldn't be there. They should instead be on the underside of the living room (on the floor above), but never mind.

A shot through the doorway. The table is quite clear here. Other details include the phone and flowers (directly under the phone *wacko* ) and the lights.

For some reason, Brainbox didn't come into this room either.

Hmm, I think Brainbox needs some help here. It's a rather big house and it's taken quite some time to show just two rooms. After a quick phone call...

*knock knock*

I wonder who that is?

Oh, it's my friend Kelsey (who I now realise was a stupid choice seeing as how you don't know her. Yes, I could've used someone from EB, but I didn't think of that).

Rigth then, lets go and look upstairs:

Upstairs overview:

All the rooms are relatively easy to remove for playability, etc.

Living Room

With a sofa, a TV, a plant and a (very) small table, the living room is fairly simple, but I quite like it. Yes, the plant and the TV are quite unsafe in their positioning next to the stairs, but who cares? This is Lego, right.

I quite like my sofa, and look, my legs blend into the cushions ;-) . And here's a pic of the sofa empty, along with the TV (I wanted to build it in grey, but I couldn't find any :-| *wacko* ) and the plant.

The Bedroom

Right then, moving across the upstairs floor, we have the two other main rooms, the first of which is the bedroom. So let's show Kelsey the bedroom (stop sniggering, that's not what I meant).

Only really big enough for one person at a time (standing, that is), but there's still enough room for a bed, a clock and a table. The bed is actually nicely accurate, as my bedcovers are blue-patterend in real life.

A shot through the window shows the clock on the wall (oh look, the camera's reflected in the window, another staple of AFOL photography):

While a shot through the doorway is just quite cool:

Bathroom

The bathroom door actually opens and closes.

There's a sink, a toilet and a shower area. I think this is probably the weakest room as far as content is concerned.

The Loft

Now, in the birds-eye-view of the bedroom, you may have noticed a grey pole-thing stood up in the corner. If not, have a look. So, what's that for?

It's for the loft trap door. This is also where my photography goes a bit downhill as it was a bit darker due to the roof being on.

Removing the grey pin allows the trpa door to swing open. The ladder then slides out. I didn't notice till I was taking the photos, but the TV stops the door swinging open enough to allow for the ladder to pull out and down. Never mind.

And the loft. The top of the roof actually comes off, again to allow for greater playability:

Viking shield, breathing apparatus (no mask or helmet though, which I forgot), katana, binoculars...

... knife, lightsaber (blue, of course), revolver (not sure why) and batarang.

The jetpack seen earlier: 1, 2 and 3.

But what were these instruments for?

OR

Okay then, that's it, the end of the-- no, wait, we've forgotten something. Something deep in the bowels of the house (use your imagination), hidden from view, containing all the secrets that are me...

Back downstairs we go...

...and into the hall.

Remember that Viking shield? Well, turn it. This doesn't actually work mind, it's merely for show.

Hmm, a hidden lift...

My hand again...

The single stud here serves to keep the lift in place at the top of the shaft.

The Lair

Yes, okay, I forgot to take an overall picture of the lair, but it can be seen on a later picture reasonably well.

Compass, map of Lego City/EB Neighbourhood, experiment board-thing and a slideways teleporter (a la Justice League) allowing travel to the Batbrick Cave, and several other strategic points around the neighbourhood.

On the other side of the lair is my desk (with Lego) and a lamp:

Next to that is a small table:

Interesting package, I wonder where it came from... ;-)

Behind Kelsey is a strange container:

It's Kryptonite!

There's also a bookcase, and all the books are interesting printed or stickered tiles, like this DNA one. The bookcase is under the hallway, which isn't supposed to be removable, but can be taken off anyway if necessary.

Teleporter power unit, and lair control system, including the lift and the teleporter.

Okay, that's it. Thanks to our participants, Brainbox and Kelsey (who doesn't yet know about this :-$ ).

Thanks for looking, and hopefully lots of you will vote in the competition. There are loads of really good entries there, so it should be a close competition.

Comments, questions and constructive criticisms welcome.

Oh, and don't forget to check out the BS Gallery for more pictures. Notice though, that there are 3 pages.

[FreeBee]

Nice house with a lot of details. Well done.

Only one thing i don't get. Why is the toilet behind the shower.

That way you get wet feet when using the toilet. :-$

[Asuka]

Very nice with a beautiful interior, and the secret lift and lair

[Lord Of Pies]

Their goes ANY chance of me winning the competition! :-D

I really love your house, their are so many details in a small space and yet non of it looks crowded at all! I really like the secret lift, teleporter bedroom and especially the kitchen the sink is perfect... *wub*

Great job, Brainbox!

Edited January 29, 2008 by Lord Of Pies

[Batbrick]

Wow! I may well have to vote for this! Its beautiful. So many great details and features packed into this gorgeous house. The overall look of it is great, with the grey and white colour scheme working surprisingly well. The garbage can under the stairs is a nice touch too. The kitchen is excellent, though I can see you've slipped over the studless floor in that pic :-D . The notice board is something that just makes the whole room so much better (though I'm scared to ask how you managed to get a pic of that dinosaur). The whole kitchen just looks great.

The dining room is also nice, not as nice as the kitchen, but little details like the phone on the wall, flowers (under the phone of all places *wacko* ), lights and drinks elevate it.

The living room is well made too, especially the way it fits onto the bottom floor. The TV is great, and i love the way you've made that sofa, I may have to steal that design X-D . Once agin your eye for details totally improves it, with the plant, light and drink adding a good, homely feel to it.

You've done a good job with the bedroom too, I thing the bed takes up too much room, but you've done well with the limited space you have. I like the addition of the clock, and pole-thing.

The bathroom, as you say, is probably the weakest room. It could benefit from more details maybe, like some wall details seeing as it looks a bit plain. Also, I love the choice of printed peice for the toilet, it looks like it will eat you if you sit on it :-D

Now for the loft, a great idea too. The entrance is very smart and well-concealed, and the fact that the roof opens up is brilliant, if a little wacky. I think the construction in here is not as good as the rest though, the part the katana sits in seems a bit thrown together. Maybe I'm just jealous I don't have a jetpack though. And of course the great items like the batarang, which you no doubt stole from me. The actual roof itself is a very nice construction, you've given it great playability.

And now lastly, the LAIR! I love the entrance, just plain fantastic. Sure the shield turning makes no difference, but I'm all for theatricality. The lift is excellent too. I love all the details in your lair, I knew you wouldn't resist putting in something like this! :-D The Justice league transporter made me laugh, and that Batbrick Cave reference, I thought that was you, so thats how you took that batarang :-D

That experiment board is creepy, and i like that you've included a map. The best bit though? What else but:

Kryponite!

Overall this is one of my favourites, if not my absolute favourite, of the entries. You've certainly sent my Batbrick Cave into the abyss, and the perfect combination of detail, playability and construction is amazing to say the very least.

Brilliant work, this is a great competition.

Batbrick Something! *wacko*

[diablorouge]

Dude! that is briliant. I love the detail.

From the outside it looks crisp and modern and on the inside you have packed in so many features - it is just like a real house. Well done. *y*

[maiq the liar]

Brilliant! Simple but detailed at the same time! and it even inspired me to build a house, which uses a similar exterior design if you don't mind. (even if the house's walls are a mess of grey, red, tan and white because i'm improving it as i go...And it has my first dabble into SNOTing in the main hall and kitchen floor)

Edited January 30, 2008 by maiq the liar

[Brainbox]

Thanks everyone. I'm feeling a bit tired today, so you've really cheered me up.

Only one thing i don't get. Why is the toilet behind the shower.

That way you get wet feet when using the toilet. :-$

Yeah, well, I couldn't get it in otherwise. I'd rather it was arranged better as well, but this was the best way I had of getting the necessaries in.

8-

[xzanfr]

Thats great, Brainbox... your attention to detail is only surpassed by your comedy comments!!! (apparently people work full time as hand models, ever thought of a career change, if you're not already one!!)

I love the loft ladder and the hook device, as well as the notice board. Perhaps you could use a life ring / bog seat for the toilet (as featured in this years advent calendar, if you have it).

I'm looking forward to voting on these as they're all looking really good.

[Brainbox]

Thats great, Brainbox... your attention to detail is only surpassed by your comedy comments!!!

Why thank you. It's always nice to be complimented on my comedic ability.

(apparently people work full time as hand models, ever thought of a career change, if you're not already one!!)

Hmm... :-D

Perhaps you could use a life ring / bog seat for the toilet (as featured in this years advent calendar, if you have it).

Oh, of course. I didn't think of that. It's only the design TLC used once, and everyone else copied :-| . Thanks for reminding me of it.

[Batbrick]

8-

[Brainbox]

The snot design helps too, so minifigs can be positioned without constraints.

I think a minifig can lie on it as well, but I forgot to photograph (and indeed check properly) that.

If you ever wanted to add details to the bathroom, you could always use those 1x1 peices with a stud on its side, maybe to add some art or appliance to the wall.

Yeah perhaps, but I'd have to mirror anything in the bedroom as well, seeing as how they use the same wall.

Though I can't say I want to see your real one 8-|

I don't want to see my real loft!

Puns are comedic nowadays? When did this happen? X-D

:'-( Oh you are cruel.