MOC WIP: Starting a small city layout, photo diary

[Bingo Little]

I've mostly built castle (or other historical) sets since I was a child (we're talking pre-dark age, even). But about a month ago, I got a whim to try the Fun in the Park set, and, combined with far too many hours playing Cities: Skylines, it got me wondering what sort of scale city display I would be able to make. My collection and display space are both somewhat on the small side (for on here, at least), so it's only going to be four buildings and a park.

I thought it might be interesting to upload regular rough progress pictures before just doing a showcase at the end - it'll be good to get feedback as I go, and will keep me motivated to keep building!

Here's where I am now, right at the start: a street layout, some of the sidewalks built up, and the outlines of the park and one of the buildings. Ignore the blue on the baseplate making it look like a pool, I'm just out of neutrally coloured baseplates: it'll eventually be a restaurant with a rooftop terrace.

http://i.imgur.com/CvNPA8V.jpg

I also, when ordering some road plates for this, accidentally ordered them in two different widths. I was initially resigned to just covering over the wider parts with plates, until I eventually decided that it might look better to try something to go with that 'bus stop' sign from fun in the park.

http://i.imgur.com/jTimqIu.jpg

Next stop, building my first vehicle for about fifteen years in the form of a bus...

Edited August 25, 2016 by Rick
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[Venunder]

Always have to start somewhere.

The Park Wall and railings look like they are going to be quite good when you finish them.

Bus stops are always useful in a city.

The Restaurant looks like it will be a double Modular sized building?

Keep working on it and I look forward to the next update.

[BrickJagger]

Looks good so far. I would cover the dark gray plates with tiles, it make it look like a more realistic sidewalk. Keep it up.

[Romanos]

nice start ;) love the wall .

[mikaelsol]

Looking forward to see the progress!

[Bingo Little]

Looks good so far. I would cover the dark gray plates with tiles, it make it look like a more realistic sidewalk. Keep it up.

Lovely idea in theory, but I'd rather spend the budget I'd need for that on increasing piece count elsewhere!

Always have to start somewhere.

The Park Wall and railings look like they are going to be quite good when you finish them.

Bus stops are always useful in a city.

The Restaurant looks like it will be a double Modular sized building?

Keep working on it and I look forward to the next update.

I've still not got my hands on a modular (although the detective's office/bank continue to tempt my wallet...), so while I'm broadly aware of them, I'm not super hot on the exact dimensions. It's going to take up a full 32 x 32 baseplate, but be quite a bit shorter than the modulars (the roof will pretty much go on top as it is, with a terrace etc. on top of that). The building next door, which will be another shop under renovation, or a building under construction (depending on how soon I run out of parts), will be the same 32 x 32 footprint, but an extra storey or so taller.

I've outlined the rest of the buildings, and photos will follow on Sunday (about to go away for the weekend). There's a museum that's little more than a first outline of bricks and an indication of where the mezzanine floor will go - oh, and a couple of dinosaurs slapped down, because it's never too early to start. I'm also about 70% done with the outside of the church/chapel, which, I'll admit, is leaning a bit closer towards a medieval/gothic build than I'd intended for this. Lots of stained glass and a very pointy roof, lots of statuery.

The bus is... a challenge. I used the instructions for the lego bus from 2010 in the set with the pizzeria for a base, though i've changed colours out, and have been improvising from there. Hoping to have a little more to show come Sunday on that front.

[BrickJagger]

Lovely idea in theory, but I'd rather spend the budget I'd need for that on increasing piece count elsewhere!

Fair enough. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

[Bingo Little]

Progress is here! I've failed to make much headway on a bus: what I have managed, rather surprisingly, is to entirely complete one building (from the outside. It currently has absolutely zero interior.) Apologies for potato quality, by the way: while I can get my hands on a camera for finished showcases, the one on my phone is not great, even for rough in progress pics.

So, first of all, without any further ado: the gothic chapel!

Bonus spiderman catching mysterio, small graveyard, and glimpses of where the exhibits will go in the museum.. The roof is surprisingly sturdy for something of that weight: thanks, ratcheted hinges. I've always loved the idea of using prefab boat hulls for roofing, and this is the first time I've had enough to 100% pull it off.

I've also decided that I'm going to make a two storey building in the spot I was wondering about doing as a lot-under-construction: a pet store with a gym on top. Here's hoping I haven't bitten off more than I can chew, and that I don't end up completely out of pieces.

The restaurant is coming along well, too - walls for the ground floor are complete, and I've decided to have an island kitchen in the middle (might regret this later) to maximise seating space and take as much advantage of the windows as possible.

[The Plastic Archer]

Good work, that use of the boat hull

The museum setup is already looking right.

Is there currently interior builds in the chapel or not?

Edited August 30, 2016 by The Plastic Archer

[Bingo Little]

Good work, that use of the boat hull

The museum setup is already looking right.

Is there currently interior builds in the chapel or not?

Not yet! Going to put a wedding in there, I think. Does anyone know which of the lego pirate ships came with an organ? I want to have a look through their instructions.

[Bingo Little]

Another update! I think these are going to be about weekly.

Mostly been working on the museum this week. Dinosaurs, fossils and bones on the ground floor, human things on the mezzanine, although come my next bricklink haul there'll be a pterodactyl hanging from the ceiling...

Trying my best not to make it look too much like a big white box (save the side that'll be against the wall/the adjoining building if i were able to expand the city, as that really doesn't matter), but also not to go too intensive with parts, as I need it to get quite tall. As I'm not allowing windows, save the office at the back (natural light doesn't go together well with sensitive museum objects), i've decided to go with built in column details and worn down brickwork in the alleyway (the scaffold will have painters on trying to fix this).

Here's the curator's office! Needs a filing cabinet and some bookshelves.

The other thing I've been working on is figures! The curator is in her office, as seen above, and the tourguide (finally a use for that jurassic world torso!) is in the museum - here's a couple of bartenders and chefs in the restaurant...

And an assortment of other figures in the park, lined up for ease of photography. Apologies to the lighting leading to the odd glow around them - when the city's finished or nearer to, I'll shoot it with an actual decent camera.