MOC: Octan Metro Park & Service Tower

[Cecilie]

I've had the Town Plan (10184) on display at home for some time now, and wanted to expand the gas station into something inspired by the old Metro Park & Service Tower (6394). After bying 7633 - Construction site, I got some inspiration for a car elevator. I initally wanted to combine the gas station from the Town Plan with 7642 - Garage, but I ended up scrapping most of the stuff from that set, except for some things inside the service station, and all those white pillars. The end result is the size of two modular houses, and can be used in a layout along side them (although i haven't tried this to see how it looks, as my display space is somewhat limited at the moment). The construction is modular in that it can be separated into two times 32x32 just like any modular house, and all the floors can easily be taken off. The only floors that are attached with some studs for stability are the roof above the gas station and the one above the car wash. But enough talk, on to some pictures:

More photos can be seen in my flickr account. Hope you like it

[prateek]

Wow! This surely dwarfs the rest of the Town Plan buildings! This is awesome. The spiral stair case is great, as is the mini shop. I think you should move the staircase somewhere else so it doesn't interfere with the garage and the car wash entrances.

[MetroiD]

Ah, brings back memories of days gone by, this one surely does. I appreciate the modern twist to it, and I an certain that it would look nice next to a Modular due to its size measurements. I am not so sure about the external staircase though, even though I must admit that it certainly adds more character to the whole building.

Forgive me, I am off to sip my tea now.

Keep it Relative.

[The Yellow Brick]

This is really nice cecilie, I've allways wanted to do somthing similar but I never got around to doing it (how many times have you heard that before) The spiral staircase is just magnificent along with the rest of the building

[Duelpear]

Love it! Octan Metro Park and Service tower was one of my favorite sets when I was a kid. A big reason why is it was one of the first "big" set my parents had bought me. I still managed to hang on to it mostly complete for about 20 years. I was lucky enough to find someone on brick link selling the set incomplete for pretty cheap. Between the 2 sets I was more or less able to recreate it. Still one of my favorites though.

[The Soup Nazi]

This looks awesome! And it's even in "modular building" standards!

[lightningtiger]

I'm impressed, excellent servo shop and repair workshop....though the staircase is good I am worried about it being stable, also the operation of the car ramp.....how does it work ?

It's the little things that are AWESOME too, such as the fridge in the servo and the pay phone !

Great work 'Cecilie' and really keep on .......the usual !

[the Inventor]

Really great building that reminds me of a great set, Cecilie.

I really like that you incorporated those buildings in a parking garage. And it is also nice that you've made it modular.

And now some points to improve the building, the staircase looks nice although the placement is a bit odd on the front between the garage and the car-wash. I think it would look even better if you tiled the ground by the octan gas pump.

the Inventor

[Mrlegoninja]

Looks really great! I would hate to have to park on the top two floors.

I agree with Prateek, the stairs look like they interfere with the garages.

[Fede78]

The spiral staircase is just magnificent along with the rest of the building

I agree with him.

Very nic3e idea and very nice MOC but I don't like so much the spiral staircase.

[Rapseflaps]

Pretty cool. The staircase is a very nice touch.

Big fan of the original too, btw.

[Drexlore]

This is a great MOC. It is all kinds of awesome! Love the staircase. The service station and repair shop is great. Hope you make more stuff like this in the future.

[Cecilie]

Thanks for all the nice comments everyone

I think you should move the staircase somewhere else so it doesn't interfere with the garage and the car wash entrances.

I am not so sure about the external staircase though, even though I must admit that it certainly adds more character to the whole building.

I agree with Prateek, the stairs look like they interfere with the garages.

Yes, I agree about the staircase. I wanted the garage to have some stairs, so my minifigs wouldn't have to jump down . I thought a spiral staircase would take up the least space, but after building it, I had trouble finding a good place to put it. I tried to make it fit behind the car wash, but it just blocked the exit of the car wash. The current placement is actually the best I could do, although it does look sort of out of place. Any ideas about a better placement for it, or a more suitable type of staircase are welcome.

though the staircase is good I am worried about it being stable, also the operation of the car ramp.....how does it work ?

The staircase is actually quite stable once it's put in place, but it was a bit of a pain to work on it.

The car ramp just works by pushing it upwards, making the wheels roll along the technic axles. If you've build the 7633 - Construction site, you'll know how it works. In this set however, the ramp is light enough to be able to stop anywhere an the axles (one of the wheels has a tyre on it, creating enough friction to hold it in place), but mine is so heavy that I have to support it with my hand or it will drop down pretty fast...

It's the little things that are AWESOME too, such as the fridge in the servo and the pay phone !

Great work 'Cecilie' and really keep on .......the usual !

Thanks, and I will!

I think it would look even better if you tiled the ground by the octan gas pump.

Yes, I thought about that. I also thought about tiling the parking floors, but I would have had to buy way more tiles on bricklink for that, so I decided that tiling was for paving the sidewalk, and driving areas would not be tiled. But I agree that it might look better tiled...

[sens1992]

Wow Cecilie! What a great 2010 version of the Metro Park & Service Tower!!! Fantastic work here! I love what you have built.

[Cecilie]

Pretty cool. The staircase is a very nice touch.

This is a great MOC. It is all kinds of awesome! Love the staircase. The service station and repair shop is great. Hope you make more stuff like this in the future.

Didn't see these comments earlier, guess the staircase is kind of divisive, either you like it, or you don't Thanks for the comments

Big fan of the original too, btw.

Yeah, I've seen your review of the old one, and it was actually what made me remember seeing that set in a catalog as a child, which again sparked the idea of making this one

Wow Cecilie! What a great 2010 version of the Metro Park & Service Tower!!! Fantastic work here! I love what you have built.

Thanks

[antp]

Wow Cecilie! What a great 2010 version of the Metro Park & Service Tower!!! Fantastic work here! I love what you have built.

ditto, it is well done :)

[Davey]

I love the use of the Octan color scheme and this is a great take on a classic LEGO Town set. Like others have mentioned, I really like to staircase, but agree that perhaps it could be relocated. Another option would be to replace it with an elevator...but then your Minifigs don't get as much exercise.

I also like the little convenience store selling a variety of goods that any Minifig would want.

Well done!

-Davey