Village Beginnings

[Spud The Viking]

Hello Eurobricks!

I am starting a new project which will be a small town or a village. I have a desk which is partially covered by baseplates which I will build my village upon. I have quite a few light grey bricks due to castles and such but I am not sure where to start. I have hardly any funds for this project as it stands. Can anyone give me some advice?

Thanks.

[Kristel]

There's an lot of inspiration to be found in the amazing layouts that others have created. I think the Town board here has an index that includes layouts as well as individual buildings. There's also the image hosting sites, such as flickr, Brickshelf and MOCpages.

Something with small modular buildings might be a good start if you have a lot of grey because you can hide much of the greys in the side walls and then have some variation in colour on the front facades. Commercial buildings work in grey as well.

[Spud The Viking]

There's an lot of inspiration to be found in the amazing layouts that others have created. I think the Town board here has an index that includes layouts as well as individual buildings. There's also the image hosting sites, such as flickr, Brickshelf and MOCpages.

Something with small modular buildings might be a good start if you have a lot of grey because you can hide much of the greys in the side walls and then have some variation in colour on the front facades. Commercial buildings work in grey as well.

Thanks for the feedback, I am checking eBay and bricklink for good prices and looking at other builder's layouts for inspiration. I'll need more windows and doors for small shops and such.

[Teessider]

You could start by experimenting with building different kinds of architectural features, so that you can develop the overall feel of the place. Are you thinking of a specific type of town or village?

[Spud The Viking]

You could start by experimenting with building different kinds of architectural features, so that you can develop the overall feel of the place. Are you thinking of a specific type of town or village?

Not really, no. I want sort of a quiet but quite busy town. I am not expert in building and have limited bricks. Maybe a castle in the town would be nice too.

[Hobbythom]

My advise would be to just start. Build a small cottage on a smalle baseplate and take it from there. You get a feel for the ammont of bricks you'll need, the number of buildings, the style etc. If it is a village you want to build I'd wait with the castle.. They eat up a lot of bricks. Maybe just a watchtower of some sort?

[Spud The Viking]

My advise would be to just start. Build a small cottage on a smalle baseplate and take it from there. You get a feel for the ammont of bricks you'll need, the number of buildings, the style etc. If it is a village you want to build I'd wait with the castle.. They eat up a lot of bricks. Maybe just a watchtower of some sort?

Yeah, maybe a tower would do on the raised baseplate. Thanks for the advice.

[LAKAbricks]

Hi Spud and welcome to Eurobricks!

Depending on the amount of space and funds (the latter seems to be sparse at the time being), you should also consider if you want to build in a modular style or maybe the classic open-back style.

With the modular style, you get bigger buildings, maybe also more detailed. It might also take some more space, and under all circumstances it will take more bricks. Of course it does not have to be in the size of the official modulars. Take a look at SalvoBrick's Brickville. He found his own style of smaller modulars.

With a classic open-back style, you typically get smaller buildings, probably with less details. It will save your bricks, and you might be able to have more buildings in a smaller space. Greg3's Ballabreek is a good example of a developing village built in classic style.

Of course you can get inspired from both styles and find your own way.

Have fun, I look forward to see your village

[Spud The Viking]

I am planning to have opened-backed buildings to save some bricks. Thanks for the advice.

[lightningtiger]

I don't really want to toot my own horn so to speak but you could take some inspiration from my town layout.......http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=84131

Brick On 'Spud The Viking' !

[Spud The Viking]

I don't really want to toot my own horn so to speak but you could take some inspiration from my town layout.......http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=84131

Brick On 'Spud The Viking' !

I was admiring your town earlier. I've started construction on some small, two storey houses. My problem is I've ran out of doors, I only have prison ones left.

[fhomess]

One thing I've done in the past when wanting to start a town but not sure how to start is to let the town grow organically. I would build a few buildings, then set up some extra minifigs with their own open air shops containing useful bricks. Maybe one minifig specializes in selling windows, while another sells doors or steering wheels or tires. In order to build anything, the construction workers would have to buy or barter for bricks from the other minifigs, and those minifigs could then use what they got to start building more. This is a fun way to create stories in your little town and watch it grow organically. As you buy more lego, it can easily be added in. Maybe your town has a castle as a centerpiece that provides tourists who can take advantage of the various vendors.