lightningtiger Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 About 12 months ago I came up with an idea......a street scape which was set back in the 1950's......in any Australian city. Since my Canadian inspired designs need parts I chose to redo my 1950's street scape.....one building removed and one shifted.....now I think it looks even better and more realistic than it did before. The milk bar with PK gum on the counter and headache power display on the wall. A garage with an old Wayne fuel pump, plus Dunlop batteries and tyres on display in the windows. Shave and a hair cut eh ? (sorry, the mirror is not Lego......but you work with what you can right ?) What those in the USA called 5 & Dime stores......we just called them either Coles or Woolworths (no not F.W.) And the first building I built in this series of MOC's......actually inspired by a real 1950's hardware store in Perth, Western Australia. Yeah, I know some of you might have seen some of these last year.......but Railshow calls and this will join my Aussie town and Canadian village in my display. Brick On Everyone ! Quote
coffeeandcake Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 lovely moc you got here... makes me miss australia so much! Quote
Bamos Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 (edited) Lightning tiger It definitely looks more like a 50’s town with the buildings together like that back when people still lived in the towns instead of outside them. Of all your towns you have done I this one is my favorite great work . Bill Edited February 22, 2013 by Bamos Quote
Locomotive Annie Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Wow, I hadn't seen this one before LT. Talk about being filled with atmosphere of a time gone by. Keep bricking on, your streetscapes are wonderful. Quote
gazumpty Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Beautiful work as always Lightning ... would love to see it populated and bustling with 1950's figs! Quote
lightningtiger Posted February 22, 2013 Author Posted February 22, 2013 Thanks everyone who commented so far, now population....yeah, I have nicked them and sent them to my Canadian village......guess this tiger needs more minifigs eh ? You may have also noticed I haven't finished tiling the roadway.......next week also.....so keep watching as usual ! Quote
Captain Settle Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Wow! That looks so good and retro. Fantastic build and as a wise man once said "Brick on!" Quote
lightningtiger Posted February 22, 2013 Author Posted February 22, 2013 Wow! That looks so good and retro. Fantastic build and as a wise man once said "Brick on!" Thanks 'Captain Settle' for your kind words.......and I wonder who this wise person is ? Quote
Captain Settle Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Oh, met him whilst visiting a mental institute. Quote
SalvoBrick Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 I like the stickers and the general feeling of the road. Very good! Quote
Andy D Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Great street! It reminds me of a small town street in the USA in the '50's, just different names on the stores. Great work! Andy D Quote
lightningtiger Posted February 22, 2013 Author Posted February 22, 2013 Thanks everyone again for kind words and feedback, I just have that little bit of tiling and add some figures to it.....then this display piece is done. Ah, and it's fits perfectly on three 32x16 base plates......lucky I'll have hopefully 15 metres total for the display in April. Brick On ! Quote
greg3 Posted February 23, 2013 Posted February 23, 2013 Very nice!! I really like the variety of building designs but I think it's the signage that really brings it to life..... Looking forward to seeing it with some minifigs (and maybe a vehicle or several?) Quote
TheLegoDr Posted February 23, 2013 Posted February 23, 2013 That is a nice little street scape. It seems very 1950s, even though I'm not from Australia. I can picture it anywhere. Keep up the good work! Quote
Hinckley Posted February 23, 2013 Posted February 23, 2013 Great job, lightningtiger. I really like the classic feel of this street. It has a unique signature to it, yet it stays true to the "classic" Town style. I especially love how you accomplished the garage door. I wonder how these would turn out if you relied less on the custom decals and tried to make signs out of LEGO elements or mosaics. For example, a mechanic sign could just be a wrench. Great work! Quote
lightningtiger Posted February 23, 2013 Author Posted February 23, 2013 Thanks everyone for your wonderful feedback , now like I said these were done almost 12 months ago and in recent times you may have noticed I use only a few stickers to gain the effect I required. Though in the 1950's setting and with no TV until 1956 in the eastern states and 1959 in South Australia.....building signage became the call of the day to advertise your product even more so than today. (of course there was radio, but that required you to have a radio turned on to hear the ad's right ?) I might try a brick built/mosaic style sign for my Aussie town, the challenge will be finding the type of sign to do that is based on a real one......I have a few books on Australian advertising history at home so time to read them again. So I'll fix up the road section and add those minifigs.......then pack it away some how safely till Railshow.....man, I'm going to be busy. Brick On everyone ! Quote
Luke_likes_Lego Posted February 23, 2013 Posted February 23, 2013 Nice work once again LT! Andy D's comment - says a lot: Great street! It reminds me of a small town street in the USA in the '50's, just different names on the stores. Great work! Andy D ...ie you've captured the 50's - beyond the decals/signs.......Well done Cheers, LLL Quote
lightningtiger Posted February 23, 2013 Author Posted February 23, 2013 Thanks 'Luke_likes_Lego', I did a lot of research into every building and hunting down signs to create....some were actually made from old newspaper ads like the paint advertisements on the hardware store. The 1950's saw the Australian retail landscape go from very British style to very USA style with supermarkets, diners and discount department store chains (well that last one was in the 1960's really ) hence the reason why some have commented on it looking a little like downtown USA 1950's. Quote
Redhead1982 Posted February 24, 2013 Posted February 24, 2013 You really add a story to your MOCs with custom signs. I like the white garage doors the most, they're can be folded, right? Quote
lightningtiger Posted February 24, 2013 Author Posted February 24, 2013 Thanks 'Redhead1982' for your kind words and yes, those doors can be folded. I use the same design on my Holden dealer for my Aussie town, again though for this one old photographs I found online came in real handy. Keep watching as I always say.... Quote
lightningtiger Posted February 25, 2013 Author Posted February 25, 2013 Roadway section fixed......added some minifigs too ! Local girl made good in Hollywood returns home to see her dad on a surprise visit to his garage. Her manager and butler joined her......look out she just saw her ex-boyfriend in the distance. Comments still welcome......Brick On everyone ! Quote
LEGO Historian Posted February 25, 2013 Posted February 25, 2013 Very nice Streetscape!!! I love it... the signage really makes it very realistic. Where did you get those signs? I've always felt that the coolest actual1950s LEGO design was in the Town Plan scale.... 1956-65 Esso Service Station... it was the set that was the inspiration for the macaroni brick, and looked really awesome with the streamlined curves.... Here's a box image of a Danish, German and Swedish box type with basically the same set (from my 2800 page LEGO Collectors Guide on DVD/download)... Quote
lightningtiger Posted February 25, 2013 Author Posted February 25, 2013 Thanks for the great feedback 'LEGO Historian', those signs were either simply created in MS Paint or actual images of signs then touched up in Paint or convert old 50's newspaper ads also touched up in Paint. Brick On everyone......back to Canada now ! Quote
LEGO Historian Posted February 25, 2013 Posted February 25, 2013 Thanks lighingtiger.... boy I'm going to really have to brush up on my MS Paint... use it all the time, but never with such results!!! Also "Lubritorium" caught my eye... and I actually had to Google it... apparently it's a word that has fallen from common usage here in the USA... must still be in common use in Australia. Here we now call them "Oil Change & Lube".... Quote
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