My first LDD MOC: Streamline Moderne Bus (or, something vaguely simila

[Thetford]

Presenting my first LDD MOC, as well as first thread on Eurobricks. It is my take on an American mid twentieth century streamline moderne (I think) city bus, which I shall dub the Peasant Wagon 1954, and I hope I have captured the look of the era well. It is not based on a particular model, and its design is based upon a composite of different Google images, guesswork and artistic license , hence why it looks like the love child of a city bus and a Greyhound. I found LDD very simple and easy to use, and hopefully, all, if not most, of the bricks are common and easily available on PaB if I ever decide to render this in to reality.

The bus features seating for 13 lucky passengers, as well as the driver, and additional standing room that can accommodate the full height of a standing minifigure, such as those whose stop is coming up, or have decided that since they are wearing a dress, they have forgotten how to sit. Beehives, traffic cone wizard hats and other headwear may have to be removed. Other features include two doors, one for entry, and one for exit and freeloaders, a compartment at the back to store luggage, an engine or freeloaders, or even a bomb that will arm itself once the bus reaches 50mph, (though considering the speed limit is 30mph and traffic making you lucky if you exceed 10mph, I doubt no one is in imminent danger), and that cashbox system Americans use (I don't understand that, how does the driver know you paid enough, and do you get change? I reminds me of Birmingham where you have to pay the exact fare, despite the rest of the country having buses that give change, even if you use a £10 note - except London, they have abandoned the use of cash completely, and now use a system of oysters).No doubt, this bus will be a hit among commuters, environmentalists, brides who have runaway with the men who slept with their mothers, new urbanists and police officers escorting criminals back to police headquarters due to the law prohibiting police vehicles except vans accommodating more than one person.

First, what I like about the design is the front, especially the grille and design, as well as the rounded corners, even if they don't fully go all the way to the top, the minimal, but selective, use of colour, and the retroish appearance the train door windows give when used as a windscreen. The grove blocks give a great impression of the styling that everything that was made out of metal that moved on land in the 50s had, it is what really makes it look of the era intended. Also, the dark blue plain jacket and the dark blue police cap, makes a much more identifiable bus driver then those men in black suits.

However, there are many faults. First of all, I wanted to do a concertina folding door, however, geometry rendered it an unsuitable option, so train doors had to be used. There is the aforementioned non round corners, which is much worse at the rear of the vehicle, with the slope pieces that give a tiered look, and a sudden switch from uniform smooth curves to a rough angled affair (though the sloping rear was necessary to make sure that it looked like something you would see on the streets of New York, not under it). There is also a question if I went a row too far with the groove bricks, and has possibly dwarfed the wheels. Also, I couldn't find the train windows with the small window detailing like the door windows have in LDD

Though the biggest (and I mean biggest) issue may arise from the actual scale of the thing. I absolutely detest four stud wide cars, they look like meagre little go karts, that rarely can accommodate a second person, even the aforementioned police cars, and look miserably small on one of the Millennial road plates, whose lanes were made two studs wider each, which I thought was to accommodate larger six stud vehicles that were popping up, yet four studs are still the norm. Anyway, this meant while cars have to be six studs, buses have to be even bigger, to be truly monarchs of the road, which has resulted in a behemoth of a vehicle that is 8 studs wide (10 if you count the wing mirrors and mudguards) by a massive 45 studs long, meaning that by the time Madam Commuter has got to the back of the bus and based on the scale of any given Lego city, she has to get back up again, missed her stop, and is now in all the poor neighbourhoods with their strip malls, chain restaurants and discount German supermarkets. This vehicle will struggle to turn sharp corners (so those white antique streetlamps everyone has on every street corner is at risk), so unless the bus route is a straight line from depot to terminus, this vehicle may be relegated to being a long distance non luxury no bathroom coach transporting tourists for days at a time, to some rock in the middle of nowhere that is thousands of miles away from the nearest place of interest, then transport them days at a time back. All with no bathroom. Or air conditioning, or even, mercy on their souls, any wifi.

All in all, it was an attempt to do a Great Vehicles take on the bus concept, for which is a goal I think I have failed, however, it does have redeemable features, this 540 piece vehicle at least hints to days past ... then the hipsters will love it too.

I reckon not bad for a first effort, eh?

[Dutchiedoughnut]

Not bad at all for a first attempt!

How does it look on the street itself? If Im not misstaken, it's 8 studs wide and the wheels stick out a bit. I'm rather worried that it's more than 1 lane wide?

There is something funny going on with the wheels - or with the scale. I think the wheels are a tad too small and I would say that the front wheel is a bit too much to the back?

I'm just looking up a few Greyhound bus pictures. The wheels seem to make up 1/3 the height of the bus.

Maybe you can play around with slightly bigger wheels?

[CityBuilder]

I like it, it looks like one of those really old streamlined american buses. Though that is what it was intended to be.

[lightningtiger]

Not bad attempt at a mid-20th century bus.......keep going and Brick On LDD On 'Thetford' !

[Off the wall]

Go streamline modern. Round off the front.

https://www.google.com/search?q=streamline+style+bus&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=aJbVU46mEcKcyASQqYG4BQ&ved=0CDIQ7Ak&biw=1024&bih=672

Edited July 28, 2014 by Off the wall

[Thetford]

Not bad at all for a first attempt!

How does it look on the street itself? If Im not misstaken, it's 8 studs wide and the wheels stick out a bit. I'm rather worried that it's more than 1 lane wide?

There is something funny going on with the wheels - or with the scale. I think the wheels are a tad too small and I would say that the front wheel is a bit too much to the back?

I'm just looking up a few Greyhound bus pictures. The wheels seem to make up 1/3 the height of the bus.

Maybe you can play around with slightly bigger wheels?

The front wheel has to be that far back, as six studs on the plate are needed, four for the door , one for the slope piece to fill the gap left by the mudguard, and one to hold up the front of the bus. I tried to experiment with the wheels, however, but in the end decided to stay with the normal sized wheels, as they fit best with the mudguards, which fit best to the overall look. I suppose I could get rid of a row of grooves, but then I would have to lower the floor, and get rid of the compartment. In the end, after further evaluation, the only thing that still bothers me is the roof at the back, it just doesn't seem smooth enough.

[Off the wall]

It can't truly be streamline style if the front looks like it was cut off with a meat cleaver. Even a modest curve on the front makes a big difference.

https://www.google.com/search?q=streamline+style+bus&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=aJbVU46mEcKcyASQqYG4BQ&ved=0CDIQ7Ak&biw=1024&bih=672

Edited July 28, 2014 by Off the wall

[VintageLegoEra]

berbeeechooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

AWESOME!

[Yzalirk]

This is really good for your first attempt!

[Thetford]

Some updates, I have given the rear of the bus a much more rounded look using a small curved restaurant window. It still gives a sudden curve to square look along the roof, but at least it looks less like a roof of a building at the back and more bus shaped. The new design allows for the curved corners to extend further up and allowed for rear lights to be added, even if it has the same round to square issue. The small train window was replaced by a larger one allowed by the redesign. The floorspace inside was increased, and a built in backseats instead of using actual chairs had to be used as it would either leave a huge gap behind the seats, or with consistent seat place, minifigures arms would be blocked by the window frames. The only seats that are restricted, is the second to last row, but only to minifigures with tall hats or hair, as above that row is the SNOT brick that holds up the back window, though it still can be used by minifigures with short hair or hats. The only remaining issue is the roof, namely the, which I can live with, and the round to square issue. I'm also considering replacing the row of white plates above the upper sand blue stripe with another row of sand blues so it matches the curved brick at the back, though I'm not sure if it will make it look odd to have the two stripes different thicknesses, I will have to try it out sometime later.

[Off the wall]

Nice improvements. Like the back, like the colors......still needs work on the front, especially the upper portion of it. Curves, roundness. Wouldn't be concerned about different stripe thickness. It should work out.

[Thetford]

Another update, this time I have rounded off the front of the front of the roof of the bus, even if it creates a slope to round transition, though less noticeable than the one at the back. Logic would dictate that I should replace the curved pieces then use a 2x2 inverted corner slope piece at the end to allow for a smooth unbroken line down the roof, but I like the look of the smooth curve, plus slope bricks have a rough surface. I think I am mostly content with the design now.

[Colossus]

Incredible work! I recognized it immediately, and would love to have one for my city.