[MOC] The Diamond Theatre

[Dufflefan]

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been a member here for a while, but this is my first post. I thought I would share my first MOC modular building: The Diamond Theatre.

I’ve always loved the modular buildings, and I started to create one when I discovered Lego Digital Designer a while back (this project has taken quite a few years!). I wanted to try to build something a little different, but which also kept the nature and character of the modular buildings, so I decided on three rules to try to follow.

First, I’ve seen loads of amazing MOC modular buildings here on the forum with great colour schemes, but that skill level is rather beyond my capabilities, so I decided to try a building with a colour scheme similar to real life structures. I remember visiting Legoland (Billund) as a kid and seeing the London section, so I wanted my modular building to loosely replicate the Legoland large-scale “landmark” replica buildings.

Second, I wanted to use a 48x48 baseplate as I felt it would provide more space and scope for details to capture the architectural features of a typical old London theatre; grandiose exteriors, cramped staff spaces, (very!) outdated toilets, and a dimensionally (vertically) imposing auditorium. Having a larger footprint also meant a better chance to avoid some of the building experience criticisms of some modular buildings (such as the first and second floors of the Grand Emporium being very similar/repetitive).

Third, I wanted to find a way to include all the Lego themes I loved in my childhood. I came up with the idea of a “modular insert” section inside the modular building which could be used to recreate any past (or current!) Lego theme which interested any potential builder. In part, this led me towards building a theatre as the stage would be the ideal modular section to achieve this. I designed a classic castle stage set, a classic pirates stage set, and a stage where The Beatles are performing (as a nod to the Yellow Submarine set, although I understand this is artistic license given the live performance history of The Beatles!). Of course, other modular stage sets such as classic space, or perhaps a set replicating a famous real-life musical could also be designed as the “modular insert”. A sort of model-within-a-model.

I really have no idea whether I made the most of these three ideas, but it was really fun to try (albeit completely digitally). I’ve put some captions about each of the images below, but any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks for looking, and thanks very much to all those who build, maintain, and develop Bricklink Studio – it’s a great free program and given this project started in the old Lego Digital Designer, I’m grateful I was able to continue it after support for Lego Digital Designer was ended.

Anyway, enough talking!...

(Please click for larger photos)

THE COMPLETE BUILDING:

The design is loosely based on London’s Piccadilly Theatre, which I focused on as I wanted to see if I could create a curved façade. I also used the building’s colours as a reference.

Also, I tried to make the street furniture as “Londonesque” as possible – the bollards, signpost, postbox, and bicycle: 

THE GROUND FLOOR:

The gap behind the stage area is for the “modular insert” section(s).

I’m not experienced enough with Bricklink Studio to know how to show the inside details, so I simply hid some of the bricks and rendered the model again to show areas of the inside. Above is the ticket desk/booths, the stall to purchase programmes, entrance to the auditorium, and the stairs. Below is a close up of the ticket desk/booths.

The above image is the dressing room and the rear access to the ticket desk/booths. Below is the view of the auditorium and the stage (with the rear wall “blank” installed, rather than a “modular insert” stage set).

THE FIRST FLOOR:

The first floor features a brick-built advertisement, the upper circle (though not really a "circle"!), box seats, the patron’s bar, toilet, catwalk/bridge, spotlight platform, some old promotional posters (a nod to the Palace Cinema), a chandelier (a nod to the Grand Emporium), and an award display.

The above view shows the walkway, upper “circle”, spotlight platform, box seats, and patron’s bar. Below is a view of the catwalk/bridge from underneath also showing the stage lights.

The above view is from the front just above the stairs on the ground floor showing the entrance to the upper "circle", the bar tables, and the award display. Below is the area in front of the bar showing the old promotional posters (the nod to the Palace Cinema).

Another image below of the patron’s bar, this time from the side above the stairs, showing the position of the chandelier (a nod to the Grand Emporium) and the entrance to the box seats.

The two below images show the details of the patron’s bar and the chandelier:

Below is the old-fashioned toilet in the front corner of the first floor:

THE ROOF:

The access doors on the left in the above image don’t lead anywhere, it just seemed to be a feature on the rooves of a lot of older London buildings, so I included them as an additional detail to make the roof a little more interesting to look at and build. There is also space for a 2x6 counterweight brick to be added should it be required if I ever do build the model in real bricks.

THE “MODULAR INSERTS”:

The first image below shows the ground and first floors stacked together, the gap in the rear wall into which the “modular inserts” can be switched in and out, and some exposed detail of the catwalk/bridge of the first floor. The second image is of the very basic wall “blank” which can be installed to create an empty stage.

Each of the modular inserts is built upon a 10x16 stud base. First is the classic pirates insert/stage:

I also made a classic castle modular insert/stage (my apologies if I have a mix of shields here!):

There is also a Beatles modular insert (a nod to the Yellow Submarine set). I took a little bit of artistic license here of course as obviously The Beatles hardly performed live in their later years, and I also had to swap George’s hair as I couldn’t find the 18858 part used in the Yellow Submarine set:

Below is the detail of the piano. Again, there’s some artistic license here as this piano design is from more recent shows Paul has done, but I liked the art design on the piano, so I thought including it would make for a nice detail:

THE MINIFIGURES:

Below are the minifigures which I would include if this were a real set. The first image is of the theatre staff. Two ticket sales/bar managers and a stage technician:

Next are the patrons (these aren’t chosen specifically for any reason):

Then the actors from each of the sets; classic castle and classic pirates:

And, of course, Ringo George, Paul, and John (sorry for the render not being the best):

CUSTOM PRINTED PARTS:

At first, I didn’t want to create a modular building which would need any custom parts – be it shape, colour, or printing. I planned this as I believed it would be best should I ever get the chance to actually make the building from real bricks. However, as I developed it, I thought some custom printed tiles would actually add a lot to the character of the whole project, so I changed my rule. I did however make sure I would only use tiles and only the known colours in which those tiles have been produced (I guess these could be stickers if needed, but I figured printings would be better). I used Adobe Illustrator and the Part Designer in Bricklink Studio to create the custom prints/tiles. Below is the complete set of custom printed tiles that would be required:

Finally, an image of the whole building from above:

I guess the only other things to mention are that all the bricks and parts are available in the colours used (with the only exceptions being the custom printed tiles mentioned above), and that all connections are “legal” Lego building techniques. All moving parts are completely functional, and I ran a stability check in Bricklink Studio which showed it was very solid. Excluding the minifigures, the total parts count is 5227.

There are of course a few details which I’m sure better and more experienced builders could improve, and there are a few untidy areas here and there. Anyway, any comments would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[Lira_Bricks]

17 hours ago, Dufflefan said:

 

[...]

I guess the only other things to mention are that all the bricks and parts are available in the colours used (with the only exceptions being the custom printed tiles mentioned above)

Awh, the 1x2 rounded plate does not exist in transparent white :( https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=35480&idColor=2#T=C&C=2

Very nice build tho! I like the custom prints you made.

Are you planning on making more modular inserts?

[Dufflefan]

6 hours ago, Lira_Bricks said:

Awh, the 1x2 rounded plate does not exist in transparent white :( https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=35480&idColor=2#T=C&C=2

Very nice build tho! I like the custom prints you made.

Are you planning on making more modular inserts?

Thanks for the reply and compliment; I appreciate it.

The pieces in the chandelier are not actually the rounded 1x2 plates (35480), but are minifigure neck brackets (Part 18986 / 28656) - https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=18986#T=A.

I used the right-angle shape to create the join to the central technic axle which is the core element of the chandelier. I hope that explanation made sense!

Regarding the modular inserts, I would very much like to design more. Maybe a classic space set and some famous musical sets or something similar (Disney perhaps? Lots of options!).

Thanks again!

Edited April 5, 2021 by Dufflefan

[Lira_Bricks]

Ah yes, that makes a lot of sense... the pieces are too thin to be 1x2 rounded plates... xD