Where to start?

[Fraden]

Hi,

Long time lego fan, recently getting back into collecting (especially the DC sets) but I am thinking I want to start a town to put them in.

The main thing is, where to start? Should I just go an make my own buildings (well, try to, I'm not that great a builder)

Thanks

[Hrafnblod]

The obvious (but expensive) option would be the modular buildings. They have plenty of big rooftops (and minor alley details in the back) for Superheroes to run around on. Unfortunately, the main town theme doesn't have a whole lot of actual buildings other than police stations. The Creator house line is nice for fleshing out a town, though.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

I'd have to agree, modulars and creator houses are your best bet for buildings for MOCs or just regular models. Although, City does offer a couple small buildings in the Town Square set and Helicopter Arrest. The rest are either Police or Fire stations

[Hrafnblod]

I'd have to agree, modulars and creator houses are your best bet for buildings for MOCs or just regular models. Although, City does offer a couple small buildings in the Town Square set and Helicopter Arrest. The rest are either Police or Fire stations

Museum Break-in is still floating around some retailers too, I forgot to mention. It has a pretty respectable little museum build, I really wanna grab one before they're all gone and try and do a modular using the museum facade more or less as-designed-- I really like it.

[Only Sinner]

Load up on some Creator sets. You get enough pieces to start making small buildings, or at least larger facades. There are quite a few custom instructions available on ebay and Bricklink, too. You can make your town however you like, but remember the Modulars are pretty big, so make sure you have lots of room.

[Fraden]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'm going to start with my own designs as I can't afford the modulars yet. What kinda size are they roughly so I can gauge it?

[HomerJSimpson]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'm going to start with my own designs as I can't afford the modulars yet. What kinda size are they roughly so I can gauge it?

If you have a 32x32 baseplate, you know. Or, if you have 2 16x32 base plates, 4 16x16 plates,etc. that equal 32, you will know. If you don't have any of those, you can just go to your Toys R Us and see the base plates they sell, not the HUMUNGO gray one, the smaller green or blue one.

[elleana]

The humungo grey one is 48 x 48 i think.

[sin]

I would say that the smaller Creator buildings would be a good place to start for a nice supply of bricks, doors and windows that can would be very useful in building MOCs. There a few between $25 and $50 USD that can still be found on store shelves - Beach House, Small Cottage and Log Cabin. The current available sets look useful as well - The modern looking family house, Mountain Hut and the Treehouse.

Edited February 17, 2014 by sin

[Dorayaki]

I suppose Modular buildings are still too far for a starter. It seems like Creator small houses are good choices. Then, if you're interested in other medium sets from City or Friends, you may choose one before challenging large Modular houses.

Town Square and Town Plan are also very different choices from Modular houses. Depends on what scale of city you want to build and how much you can afford in total.

[greg3]

Hi

For my town/village of "Ballabreek" I stick to using the classic open backed building style and use as many official building sets as I can. One thing you can do is look online for instructions for older sets and then simply modify them slightly. Old Lego ideas books are also a great inspiration (and can come with useful stickers!).

Whatever you do, have fun and share the results!!

[Fraden]

I plan to once I start building properly haha. Only thing is I have hardly any room in my apartment, so it will only be a small layout to begin with. Going to look for one of the creator houses tonight/tomorrow and then go from there. I do have a couple of vehicles I bought this weekend that I can use, and found my collection of old minifigs I had.

[TheBear]

The best way to learn is to buy some sets and build, and take a look at some of the amazing MOCs on this site and learn from them. If you want to learn from the official modulars without buying them then you can download all the instructions from the Lego website and see how they are put together.

[Fraden]

Been on a bit of a spending spree and bought some vehicles for my town. (Well, for when I start building it.) Also dug out some of my minifigs I had lying about, now just need buildings. Do you want me to post a pic of what I have already?

[sin]

Been on a bit of a spending spree and bought some vehicles for my town. (Well, for when I start building it.) Also dug out some of my minifigs I had lying about, now just need buildings. Do you want me to post a pic of what I have already?

Of course!

[Fraden]

I'll take some pictures this weekend, though it's not much I have it's definitely a start.

Already starting to plan some buildings, like a Mexican place, a coffee shop and an ice cream parlour :) (I have some Lego Movie minifigs to put to use)

[Colossus]

When I emerged from my Dark Ages, I lurked on eBay and found used sets and the occasional lot of bricks for auction on the cheap, relatively speaking. Depending on what you're building, there's also the Pick a Brick self service that's offered at The Lego Stores.

[Laphroag]

I'm in the same position as the topic starter. Just getting into Lego again after 20+ years and I want to build a city. Personally I am going for the modulars, even though the price means it will take some time to get them all (not counting the discontinued ones). I got two reasons for that: First, they are awesome. Second, I think they are a good way of "learning" lego again. A lot has happened in the last 20+ years. Lots of new pieces that make way for new and interesting building techniques, and as far as I know the modulars are full of these techniques.

As I go along with the modulars I might add in some smaller sets (like vehicles) and minifigs. And I'm on the constant look-out for bargains.

[elleana]

Couldn't have put it better myself. Also, other people's MOCs are another good way to learn building techniques.

[trippybrowneyes]

Are you going for a modern town or a vintage one?

[Fraden]

I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking a mixture. I do want the modular buildings, but I'm not sure if I can justify the price of them at the minute. I mainly have vehicles at the minute.

[Fraden]

So, so far in my collection I have:

60017 - Flatbed Truck

60000 - Fire Motorcycle

4200 - Mining 4x4

60054 - Light Repair Truck

60001 - Fire Chiefs Car

60016 - Tanker Truck

60018 - Cement Truck

70811 - Flying Flusher (as the plumbers van)

Got a couple of minifigs I can put in as townspeople

I'm probably going to get 60002 (Fire Truck) tomorrow, and I'm going to get 70804 (Ice Cream Machine) next month. Might get the 60057 (Camper Van) and another set (maybe something like a garbage truck or something). I'm definately waiting until next month to spend £50 or more to get the Martian Manhunter fig :)

[Maiday]

I would suggest some modulars, you can also use smaller sets on the street and alleyway, i would get the fire brigade first if you can find it cheap, if not get the grand emporium.

[Fraden]

Bought my first modular set today, gone for the pet shop.

Going to build it tonight after work and then take some pictures :)

[Fraden]

So I now have a couple of modulars (pet shop and grand emporium) and I want to have a go at building my own..... I have an idea (well, a few) of what I want it to be, but I don't know where to start. Any tips?