18 replies to this topic

[Eilif]

B-OV-8E

All right, here's the promised update to Brickington Island. If you just want to see the pics, you can skip the story below.

Bjorn Johansen Comes Home

Having recently added an airport and ferry service, and having begun to develop the higher elevations of the Island, the Brickington Island Town Board finds it'self with new residents who would like to set up businesses on the Island.  One such Resident is Bjorn Johansnen.  

Bjorn Johansen grew up on Brickington Island, and his family has long maintained the Historic Coast Guard Boathouse in downtown Brickington as a family vacation spot.  A boatbuilder by trade, Bjorn has had built boats on the mainland for the past 20 years.  Now that he has built a solid reputation, and Brickington has become a more accesible locale, he has applied for a permit to relocate his business to Brickington Island and expand the size of the Historic Coast Guard Boathouse.  

After a series of negotiations, Bjorn agrees to use to modernize and double the size of the boathouse while maintaining the same traditional style of the building's exterior.  Johansen Watercraft has now officially relocated to Brickington.  Bjorn and his apprentice/daughter Esther build top quality wooden boats in a variety of styles for the discerning boat owner.  The Johansen family lives in the newly renovated/expanded loft above the workshop.

Special thanks to Erasuremode who took these pics for me when my camera ran out of batteries.

Here's the view from the street. No sign yet, as adding anything to an historic facade requires a whole separate set of permits that are still in progress.


The view from the north east side of the building.  The walkway allong the side was added as a way to move materials into the building without using the front door.  Mrs. Alina Johansen is on the balcony watering her flowers, and in the shadows, you can just see Esther working on the hull of the first ship constructed by Johansen Watercraft on Brickington Island. Note the weather vane atop the "widows perch".


An upper view from roughly the same side.


Here's the view from the south side. Addition of the external stairway was at the insistence of Alina who wanted to separate the living quarters completely from the workshop.


Internal view of the workshop from the west end.  You can see Bjorn working from inside the hull.  Esther is again visible between the tool chest and the hull.


Internal view of the southwest corner of the workshop.  A small wash station and set of cabinets holding all manner of varnishes and stains.


Internal view of the northwest corner of the workshop.  Workbench, tool rack, saw, and lumber stacked on shelves.


Thanks for stopping by.  

A few comments about it's construction. Like nearly all the buildings in "Brickington" this one is built of modular 16x16 stud sections. I mixed new and old brown in an attempt to make the building look old, and because there are certain parts that I only have in one color or the other. I'm considering replacing all the white with faded yellowed white pieces to make it look even older.  Comments and suggestions welcome.

[Ricecracker]

Beautiful! Just beautiful. I really love the story, and the colours look wonderful too. I personally would keep the white as is, because I think it looks nice like that. Will you be taking parts of Brickington to Brickworld? I would love to see this in person.

[crabboy329]

perfect   excelent inside if it was me i would have concentrated on only the outside. well done
cb

Edited by crabboy329, 13 February 2009 - 06:53 PM.

[Eilif]

ricecracker, on Feb 13 2009, 12:42 PM, said:

Will you be taking parts of Brickington to Brickworld? I would love to see this in person.

Yep,  barring any unforseen barriers,  all 120"x40" of Brickington will be at Brickworld, including everything I've posted so far and hopefully including a few small yet-to-be revealed additions.  It'll be part of the Northern Illinois Train Club ( www.niltc.org ) layout.

crabboy329, on Feb 13 2009, 12:52 PM, said:

perfect   excelent inside if it was me i would have concentrated on only the outside. well done
cb

Thanks. It's kind of a shame about the inside in that no one at shows can see the far interior, and 90% of folks don't even see the end of the boat through the open doors.

[BlueBard]

Wow, love the design, really, specially the WIP boat!  

[Skinny Boy]

Thank you Eilif for sharing this wonderful creation! I am going to have to steal the designs for the building and make a warehouse though  
Really fantastic work!  

[Loganwan]

I get gitty when I see there is an update to Brickington.  The boathouse does not disappoint.  The workshop is very well made.   It looks funny with the big doors going out into the water, with the exception that it is several feet off the water.  Do they just kick the boats off the edge?  It seems that there should be a ramp that can be extended, or a crane of some sort.  Your buildings are so solid and well designed.  Really something to strive for.  Thanks for sharing.

[Eilif]

BlueBard, on Feb 13 2009, 02:05 PM, said:

Wow, love the design, really, specially the WIP boat!  

Thanks! It was the boat that made me expand the building. Originally I was just going to add a boat to the interior, but once I had a WIP boat that I liked, I realized it was to small for the original building which was half the size of the current one.

Skinny Boy, on Feb 13 2009, 02:09 PM, said:

...I am going to have to steal the designs for the building and make a warehouse though   ...

Steal away!  When it comes to MOC designs, thievery is often the sincerest form of flattery.

Loganwan, on Feb 13 2009, 03:06 PM, said:

I get gitty when I see there is an update to Brickington.  The boathouse does not disappoint.  The workshop is very well made.   It looks funny with the big doors going out into the water, with the exception that it is several feet off the water.  Do they just kick the boats off the edge?  It seems that there should be a ramp that can be extended, or a crane of some sort.  Your buildings are so solid and well designed.  Really something to strive for.  Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the high praise.  You make a good point about removing the boats. I just figured they'd slide it out on lumber.  Unlike the lifesave boathouse that this building is loosely based on, there would be no need to have a permenant ramp, and the lumber/ramp would probably be stored away when not in use.

Originally, I was considering building a sliding ceiling hoist that would run the lenght of the boathouse.  It was the kind of thing that would be used in construction, and also in lifting the bow so the stern could be slid into the water.  However, in the interest of keeping it all modular, and not interfering with the roof sections, I decided to leave it off.

Edited by Eilif, 13 February 2009 - 10:58 PM.

[Asuka]

A wonderful work, very charming in appearance indeed with great attention to detail for the exterior as well as for the interior.
One of my favorite aspects of this MOC´s its very nifty roof structure. Well done!  

[Ricecracker]

Yes, can't wait to see it!

I too was wondering how the boats would get out, but I think if you just were to put 2 1x8 tile at the end, it would do fine.

[Cale]

Awesome. Really awesome.

Cale

[Eilif]

Asuka, on Feb 13 2009, 04:54 PM, said:

A wonderful work, very charming in appearance indeed with great attention to detail for the exterior as well as for the interior.
One of my favorite aspects of this MOC´s its very nifty roof structure. Well done!  

Thanks, I have LEGO Store Pick-A-Brick to thank for most of the roof pieces. In fact, most of the brown (including almost all the 1x2, 3x4 arches, 1x1), the arch window frames, trans 1x2 and alot of the grey all came from PAB that I've been acquiring over the past couple years.

I've become something of a PAB addict.

ricecracker, on Feb 13 2009, 04:54 PM, said:

Yes, can't wait to see it!

Great, I'll see you at Brickworld. Have you registered yet?

Cale, on Feb 15 2009, 12:19 AM, said:

Awesome. Really awesome.

Thanks!

[Bob]

Lucky you, you have a pick a brick store near you...Mines at least an hour and a half away, plus traffic because it's New York City. If I wanted to go elsewhere, its alittle longer...

Anyway, that looks great! I like that boat alot.

[Eilif]

Bob the Construction Man, on Feb 16 2009, 01:08 PM, said:

Lucky you, you have a pick a brick store near you...Mines at least an hour and a half away, plus traffic because it's New York City. If I wanted to go elsewhere, its alittle longer...

Anyway, that looks great! I like that boat alot.

Bob, I think it's time for you to move to Chicago.   We have LEGO stores (with PAB) at 15, 40, and 50 minutes away...  

[Ricecracker]

Eilif, on Feb 16 2009, 12:57 PM, said:

Great, I'll see you at Brickworld. Have you registered yet?

Not yet, I just need to work out a few small things first.

[Er!k]

Beautiful MOC, I like the details    Are these all new bricks?

[SeaKing61]

That's a beautiful building, I like the style. That half built boat is great too. You've really captured the look of its frame. Great job

Laurie

[Basiliscus]

Lovely external architecture there, I like the mixture of brown and white. The interior is very realistic (for what I imagine the interior of a boat-builder should look like). If it was my own MOC though, I'd have put a black border around the 1x2 clear bricks used as windows so it looks like a frame, but the MOC is great anyway!

Edited by Basiliscus, 20 February 2009 - 12:57 PM.

[Eilif]

Er!k, on Feb 20 2009, 03:24 AM, said:

Are these all new bricks?

I didn't buy any of them specifically for the project, but nearly all the 2x2x3 slopes and alot of the brown 1x4 and 1x2 were a fairly recent purchases at the LEGO store PAB. I've gotten the point where if I see a usefull piece at the PAB, I'll buy a half a cup or more, even if I don't have a specific use for it.  Inevitably it comes in handy later for a building like this that uses alot of bricks that are not uncommon, but are not found in great numbers in current sets.  

Between shopping this way, and my resale excursions (see the link in my sig) I've done very little purchasing on bricklink which is a great resource, but often more expensive.

SeaKing61, on Feb 20 2009, 04:38 AM, said:

That's a beautiful building, I like the style. That half built boat is great too. You've really captured the look of its frame. Great job Laurie

Thanks,  I'm really glade it's recognizable.

Basiliscus, on Feb 20 2009, 06:57 AM, said:

Lovely external architecture there, I like the mixture of brown and white. The interior is very realistic (for what I imagine the interior of a boat-builder should look like). If it was my own MOC though, I'd have put a black border around the 1x2 clear bricks used as windows so it looks like a frame, but the MOC is great anyway!

Thanks, I'm glad you like it.

As for the windows, the reason there is no frame is that I imagined them as being block glass, as is found on alot of industrial buildings.  I probably could have made it better with 1x1 trans clear, but I only own 3 of those.  I considered also turning the 1x2 sideways, but then it would have not have looked as good from the inside.  It probably didn't help that my storyline refers to it as a historic boathouse, which would have definately had real windows instead of block glass.