77 replies to this topic

[slovakiasteph]

B-RM-10A

I've been working on building a LEGO Slovak town.  It's meant to be a small town, perhaps on the edge of the mountains (lower Tatras?) because I have plans/am working on several country buildings as well.  It's a combination of buildings that are typical in Slovak towns I've seen and pictures I've found that have inspired me.

Keep in mind, this is not your typical American town.  Many of the buildings are simple (and older!) with a few architectural details; in the downtown area you may find some more unusual or architecturally interesting buildings.

Of course, what town would be complete without a panelak (apartment building from the Commuunist era).  Yes, I used panels to build it.  


The front of the apartment.  Had I more white bricks, I would have gone up another level as it's common to see these 7+ stories/floors high (my friends live on the 6th story).


Open from the back.


Ground floor living room with a TV, couch, and potted plant.  Nicely tiled floors as well.


The ground floor kitchen with a refrigerator, stovetop (hidden back in the shadows), sink, counter space, and table with two chairs.


Second floor, another kitchen/dining room with a small table and stools, oven, and small sink.  Also the computer desk.  


A "master bedroom" (sorry it's a bit blurry) with a bed, table with lamp, and wardrobe.  I was trying to make the wardrobe doors open but the hinges are all so large...


Top floor bedroom: two beds and a table with lamp.  Many Slovaks have flowers on their balcony railings.  They also hang their clothes to dry on the balconies.


And, another living area.  I need to build one of those large shelving units that I've seen in every Slovak living room: it usually holds a TV, books, and their crystal.  Not sure if I have enough room for that in a LEGO house.  

Planned yet for the town: a school, church, campground, chalet, cottage or two, farmhouse, and a few town houses.  Stay tuned!

[dr_spock]

Very nice.  I like your open back play concept.  

[Badsneaker]

I love your interior decorations. The furniture looks great!

[slovakiasteph]

dr_spock, on 09 September 2011 - 07:07 PM, said:

Very nice.  I like your open back play concept.  

Thanks!  I'm a bit of an 80s traditionalist   ... no modulars for me!  (yet).  They use too many bricks!  

[Section8]

I really like this building, it does resemble the unadorned housing common of the communist era.  The interiors are well done and highly playable, especially with the classic open-back.  I do have one question: is each floor an apartment, or each half of the building one apartment?  I could see it going either way.

slovakiasteph, on 09 September 2011 - 06:40 PM, said:

Yes, I used panels to build it.  

Hey, don't feel bad about that.  I like using large panels too, and Lego has been doing it since the mid-1980s as well.  For large, simple design buildings like skyscrapers or your apartment building, they let you build larger buildings faster.  I'd rather have a 10-story office building made of panels than a 3 story office building made of bricks.

[lightningtiger]

Wonderful classic town inspired design 'slovakiasteph', great frontage.....you going to build more buildings in your Slovak town ?
Anyway, again wonderful work and Brick On 'slovakiasteph' !

[slovakiasteph]

Section8, on 09 September 2011 - 09:17 PM, said:

I do have one question: is each floor an apartment, or each half of the building one apartment?  I could see it going either way.

Yes, it could go either way.  I didn't want to limit each apartment to being one room, as it should be, but for playability, each apartment could be a column or row.

lightningtiger, on 09 September 2011 - 10:16 PM, said:

Wonderful classic town inspired design 'slovakiasteph', great frontage.....you going to build more buildings in your Slovak town ?

Yes, I've been working on my town houses today!  I also built a church last week, a chalet, and have a school in the works...

[lightningtiger]

slovakiasteph, on 09 September 2011 - 11:26 PM, said:

Yes, I've been working on my town houses today!  I also built a church last week, a chalet, and have a school in the works...

Don't forget the shops and/or market place.
I look forward to seeing your town come to shape.....I wonder if anyone else will do the same for where they live !

[Ardelon]

Nice and pretty accurate, with the differently toned ground floor. But it’s missing the usual jumble of TV antennas and satellite dishes!

I’m curious, have you based your buildings on any real locations?

Nech to frčí!

[slovakiasteph]

Ardelon, on 10 September 2011 - 02:27 AM, said:

Nice and pretty accurate, with the differently toned ground floor. But it’s missing the usual jumble of TV antennas and satellite dishes!

I’m curious, have you based your buildings on any real locations?

Nech to frčí!

Dakujem!  You're up early... or late.     I hadn't noticed the antennas and satellites!

When I'm in Slovakia, I spend two weeks in Lucenec, but that's a larger town than I want to represent... and too far south.  I prefer a more country-based setting.  

Here's the apartment building I was using as inspiration:

Edited by slovakiasteph, 10 September 2011 - 04:59 AM.

[slovakiasteph]

B-RV-10B

Two town houses in a row. These are not inspired by anything specific, just a general memory.  They also fit with my classic 80s sensibility.


This was the second thing I built after I returned from my Dark Ages.  My first was the farmhouse I'm still working on...

From the back...



Living area of the green house.  Dad is making Saturday breakfast; the rest of the house is pretty quiet.


Mom is having a lie-in while the younger son just woke up (older son is in the garden on his skateboard).  I think I need to fix those cracks in the roof.  


People are more active in the red home.  Mom is cooking breakfast.  I made a corner bench around the table in the dining area.  As both these homes have four people living in them, they need seating for four people!     Dad and son are having a chat in the living room before he leaves for work.


Bedrooms... master bedroom in the middle, daughter's nook under the eaves, son's bedroom up in the loft, and a bathtub in the tiny bathroom.  Just don't try to stand up!

I would say the gardens and fences are the most Slovak part of this build... I like walking along the streets and looking at the gardens.  

My Brickshelf gallery...

Edited by Phred, 26 March 2012 - 09:00 PM.

[lightningtiger]

Very nice 'slovakiasteph', your town is starting to take shape !
Keep going and Brick On !

[slovakiasteph]

B-RV-10C

Time for an update!

My little grey country house.  I built this one because I wanted to find a use for that baseplate.  



Whoops... there's some old grey bricks mixed in there.  I should probably separate those from the rest of my mostly-newer bricks!


The upper interior, as the lower level just has a carport and entry-way.  You can't see the kitchen very well, but there's a sink and stove.  A little table with chair for eating, and a comfy lounge chair.

The bedroom upstairs has a bed and a little table with a lamp.

I liked this house so much that my sigfig now resides here.  She finds it comfy and likes the lounger on the porch as well.

I don't know that this house is specifically Slovak, but I built it to become part of the town.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Very nice MOC and wonderful furniture!  
Incredible work!

[lightningtiger]

Another lovely house 'slovakiasteph', I feel like I'm visiting your country seeing these homes.
Keep going and Brick On !

[Phred]

Slovakiasteph, I like these buildings so far.
There is a lot of detail and minifig accessories in each house.

Are the you building you posted so far complete?  I was checking to see if I should add these MOCs to the Building Index.

[slovakiasteph]

Thank you, everyone!  I'm trying to make the furniture for each house at least a little different.

Phred, on 21 September 2011 - 09:47 PM, said:

Are the you building you posted so far complete?  I was checking to see if I should add these MOCs to the Building Index.

Yes, they're complete (at least mostly  ) -- thanks!

[slovakiasteph]

B-PV-1E

My police station:


It's probably a bit large for the size of the town I have in mind... but it just kept growing.     I didn't like any of the police stations I had (6386 and 7744) very much, so I decided to make my own.

From the back:


The only things I know about police stations is from watching Cagney and Lacey... and that's American, so I'm not at all sure this is authentic.  I just used some of the pieces from my various police stations to fill the interior: a reception desk and water cooler, kitchenette, interrogation area (Cagney sitting at the desk  ), control area with computers.  Downstairs is the garage/carport.



Upstairs... a little apartment that a few bachelor officers share.  We'll say that the police department rents out the space.     There's a bunkbed, couch, and chair.

[lightningtiger]

Very nice classic town inspired police station 'slovakiasteph'.....keep going and Brick On !

[slovakiasteph]

B-RV-10D

My tan house!  I love this color combination... with the dark red roof.


This was one of the first buildings I designed, and I was trying to add a little variety to the house rather than just a flat front.  My favorite part of this house are the three sets of triple windows and the pop-out on the first floor.




Living room... the black shelf is the unit found in so many Slovak living rooms.  It houses the family's crystal and the TV, with a few drawers for storage (there's a grey screen, but it's hard to see).  Upstairs, the son's bedroom with double beds.


Kitchen, with a small hob.  I've decided that the two red cabinets stacked on top of each other are the refrigerator and freezer on the bottom.  :)  Upstairs, the master bedroom.  You can see the wardrobe.


Bathtub with hand-held showerhead (very common in SK)... toilet, and "sink."
Son: "We have to climb two flights of stairs to get to the bathroom?"  Dad: "You can be grateful you even have a bathroom since you live in a LEGO City!  Back when I was a kid, we just had LEGO outhouses behind the house."  

Enjoy!  Flower shop coming up next, I think!

[lightningtiger]

Another fantastic build you have there 'slovakiasteph', a lovely house too it is !
Bet you can't wait for the Friends set to be released next year for more house parts and accessories ?
I look forward to your flower shop next.
Brick On 'slovakiasteph' !

[slovakiasteph]

lightningtiger, on 27 September 2011 - 09:15 AM, said:

Another fantastic build you have there 'slovakiasteph', a lovely house too it is !
Bet you can't wait for the Friends set to be released next year for more house parts and accessories ?
I look forward to your flower shop next.
Brick On 'slovakiasteph' !

Thank you!

Yes, I'm excited about the Friends theme!  At least the buildings, anyway.  And the tree house...  

[ACCURATEin]

I love the black/red chair in your first batch of photos. Great work.  

[slovakiasteph]

ACCURATEin, on 28 September 2011 - 07:53 AM, said:

I love the black/red chair in your first batch of photos. Great work.  

Thanks, but unfortunately, I can't take credit for that one... it's basically an upside-down version of the lounge chair in 8403.

This update is rather outside the typical "town" range, but still belongs in a Slovak town!



All over Slovakia, it's common to see castle ruins on hilltops.  There are still many castles as well (I hope to include one of those in my Slovak town as well), but even more ruins.  I was trying to create the look of one that still had most of a tower standing, but the rest had crumbled.



This is my first time trying to create a MOC using castle pieces, BURPS, or even grey slopes as rocks, so if anyone has any suggestions to improve the piece, feel free to speak up!  I don't have many castle parts-- just those two walls from 7948 and many grey arches and slopes.  I did run out of grey cheese slopes, though.  



The couple on holiday decides to explore the castle; Vlado wants to climb up to the ruins, but Jana decides to captures its beauty through photography.  Plus, her feet just can't make it up there!      (I'm wondering if I found her legs along the road or something as they're rather, um "distressed"?)

[lightningtiger]

Fantastic ruin castle 'slovakiasteph', interesting creation to add to your village.....very original idea.
Keep them coming 'slovakiasteph' and of course, Brick On !