10251 Brick Bank

[geezerman402]

I think the size of the set is good as it is, but I cannot stand the lack of an upper wall between the bank and laundromat on the first floor.

[AFOLguy1970]

That video where the laundromat is placed on the other side is interesting. At the 6:00 mark where he is showing his whole town, I really noticed what an eyesore the back of the Detective's office is in his setting. It seems like starting with the DO, not only are the backs of the buildings without detail, but they are now not even realistic due to the attention now given to the interiors. To me, that means the DO and now the Bank are not really stand alone modulars for your town. You have to place something on one or two sides of them in order to cover up the uglier sides. The older modulars obviously had more plain back exteriors, but they were made with back doors, dumpsters, some windows, etc, and generally kept a uniform color scheme. Not so much with the newest ones.

[LegoSjaak]

That is true, AFOLguy1970... the backs of most building are pretty afwul.. it is neccesary to take care of the buildings in a town, not to show that side.. And the more modulars there are, the harder it gets...or you should ofcourse just MOD a bit here and there and add windows and a backyard...

[bjorn77]

The newer buildings are very English in that sense -- a nice facade to hide the crappy build quality of the rest of the building. Come to think of it all modulars only have single glass windows too, just like in Britain! ;)

[Edgarama]

I still can't get over the fact that the original set doesn't have a single cash machine. This would be a must for me if I were expanding the bank.

Was my thought as well and is in my plan for modification.

[TheLegoDr]

I knew this building was small, but seeing it in the video next to Cafe Corner and seeing how it is smaller than that even, I'm surprised. I always thought CC was too small for the layout and I haven't modded any buildings bigger like a few others here. Very interesting.

It being a mirror build is quite interesting too. It almost looks like a different building.

I do think I will have to mod mine to be at least a full scale corner building instead of also with the laundromat, but I don't think I'll modify it any taller. I don't want to just add an extra floor and I don't want to mess up the current design, but I'll have to tinker with it.

I originally thought this next Christmas I'd get it, but with the GBHQ and Batcave, I'm guessing something will have to not get bought.

[PeteM]

The problem is it's too small. LEGO is cheaping out. Oil Prices are at the lowest price in over a decade, I know it takes time to see it on their books, but it has been falling for a long time and they still raised the price on this smallest modular to date. They're going to keep doing it as long as people enthusiastically keep buying it and even buying more than one to enlarge it to proper size. We need an organizes resistance to get the larger modulars back and we should stop buying this one until they cut the price and get to work on a Grand Emporium or Fire House sized building. #BoycottTheBank

Think it of it more as a price correction - now we're all paying the same (roughly - Denmark and New Zealand excluded)! In the UK this is one of the cheaper Modulars...

[BrickFit26]

Too bad the bank didn't get a polybag to coincide and come with the brick bank like the Detective's office did.

[bjorn77]

I finished building my Brick Bank today and it is excellent. But like many others say, it is definitely on the small side. I have not made larger version of the other modulars, but this is the first on I feel really needs to be extended somehow. Has anyone tried adding an extra floor? I noticed LegoSjaak's photoshop example but I am not convinced. Just adding a floor might look weird proportionally (too high compared to width) and it's too much windows. That extra floor would need some customization, not just cloning. Has anyone tried this yet?

[temes]

I would just add additional row of windows to the upper floor.

[bjorn77]

I would just add additional row of windows to the upper floor.

The windows are already far bigger than on any other modular though, so I am not so sure. I think I'm gonna let the default design sink in a bit. Maybe I'll get used to the small size. I will also experiment a bit with the placing of the building, to see if the bank fits better with some of the other lower buildings.

[BrickFit26]

I finished building my Brick Bank today and it is excellent. But like many others say, it is definitely on the small side. I have not made larger version of the other modulars, but this is the first on I feel really needs to be extended somehow. Has anyone tried adding an extra floor? I noticed LegoSjaak's photoshop example but I am not convinced. Just adding a floor might look weird proportionally (too high compared to width) and it's too much windows. That extra floor would need some customization, not just cloning. Has anyone tried this yet?

I also want someone to experiment with the idea pf adding an extra floor. Have it contain a sitting area where accounts are opened.

[DrJosephMosch]

I will probably add another floor to it. It will be a tad smaller as the official second floor and without the railings in front of the window to add to the vertical theme of the building.

Inside will be the same as the original but with changed furniture.

Heightwise this floor is one brick smaller than the original. Here is roughly how it would fit in my layout:

As you see it will still be only a tad bigger than the GE and still fits in nicely beside the (modded) DO.

The roof of the laundromat however does not work if seen from the side, so I will have to mod a flat(er) roof on top of this part.

Now the only problem I face is how to build it in real bricks. I feel like it would be cheaper to buy an additional set and sell the two floors I don't need instead of bricklinking the parts. But then I had to open a bricklink shop...

I don't know if this is allowed on this forum, but if anyone buys this set in bulk and is willing to sell the whole second floor before parting the set out they can hit me up.

[PastVPresent]

DrJosephMosch, looking great! I didnt make mine taller but did mod the roof to make it flatter - just got it into the City (also along plaza):

http://Untitled by PastVPresent, on Flickr

[marvinblue]

I plan to build mine as a "reversed" model, so it fits better into my layout. Can't wait to get it! I've got a bit of a wait though; I get a modular for my birthday, but mine isn't until November. I love seeing all these builds and reading all the comments though.

[BrickFit26]

DrJosephMosch,

Wow, I really love how you planned. It looks way cool. And it fits perfectly with all your other modulars.

[LegoSjaak]

Well Mosch, that is looking prettu good actually, but like you said.. bricklinking parts is expensive... and i would need about 38 sand grey window (for my XL version)...and they are 1,50 euro each...hmmm... so 57 euros for the windows only....well...that is way to expensive for only windows..maybe later this year.... But it will look great in real bricks..!! Mine would look like this..

Edited January 23, 2016 by LegoSjaak

[TheLegoDr]

I'm (not) surprised at how the Town Hall dwarfs the Bank.

And the more I look at it, the more I'm uncertain about that Laundromat building. It is an interesting play feature, but it makes the bank so tiny on that baseplate..

[jaesroe]

Yes, i noticed that and went to count them just to see if he considers ms part of the theme. I still don't want it though.

Me neither, though Jamie said `eleventh` modular in the BB` designer video.

[Headofprops]

After seeing LegoSjaak's photo-shopped Brick Bank with the extra row of windows, I felt compelled to alter my already altered Bank

Here's the corner shot.

more windows by Shawn Rau, on Flickr

and it with the rest of the city.

the cityg by Shawn Rau, on Flickr

I will likely add a row or 2 of bricks to the bottom level as the bank really needs to be BIGGER! i have plans to make it bigger but its either the ghostbuster's firehouse or another bank....

[LegoSjaak]

That looks nice in real bricks, but some extra bricks for the bottom level will even make it more in proportion! Hmm.. there are a lot of people modding their BrickBank after i showed some pictures here.. i should have started a bricklink shop and sell sandgreen windows there...haha..!!

[TheLegoDr]

It definitely looks too tall there. That is the primary problem with modifying some of these sets, proportions can be tricky.

[Headofprops]

It definitely looks too tall there. That is the primary problem with modifying some of these sets, proportions can be tricky.

Really? too tall. I think it could be taller

Edited January 25, 2016 by Headofprops

[Jern92]

I think it's a little too tall too. Looks a bit weird.

[Boettner Builds]

Really? too tall. I think it could be taller

I think it could be taller too, but there needs to be a break between all of those windows. So you can see the differen stories from the outside.