[MOC]: Fire Station

[Werlu Ulcur]

This was a first. Well, not exactly, since I've done this before, but it was many many years ago. Nowadays MOCing (for me, at least) usually means sitting in front of the computer and shaping my ideas through LDD, then making a parts list through LDD Manager, then going over BL for the parts and then sitting around for a few weeks waiting for the parts to arrive. And only then actually bricking. When I was a kid, things were different: I spread my bricks on the floor and started building. That method usually yielded quite less accurate models but boy things were fun and simple! So for this MOC I went back to my origins: I sat at my desk with brick tubs around me and went to work .

The modular Fire Brigade is an awesome model, but you can't actually use it as a modern and effective fire house, so I needed something more, let's say, "efficient" for Legoville. Last year I had bought Lego's 7208 that I put together, but frankly, as a fire station, it sucks . I also stumbled upon an opened but new 7945 that I bought with the intention of using as a parts bin for my future Legoville fire station. When I started out I wasn't exactly sure of what i wanted, except for one thing: I had to try to incorporate a helipad . Initially I was just going to put it beside the station, but that seemed awfully uninspired, so I started to think about elevating the helipad. I wouldn't have enough plates to make one as big as I wanted, so I decided to use a road plate, as long as figured out how to connect and secure it to the building. I also wanted the fire station to house my big new 8-wide fire tender/pumper, so it would have to have wide and tall garages.

Since I was creating on the fly, having the necessary parts was an issue, so I was constricted to what I had in my tubs. Frankly I would have used some better parts if I had them in a few sections, but in the end I think it came out ok .

I still have one garage vacant, that will be used for my future rescue unit, and with the wide helipad I can park some of the big helos there, like the 4439 and 60010 or 7738. Empty real estate is a very rare commodity in Legoville, so with this design I killed two birds with one stone. And now I can start building my whirlybirds that are still boxed waiting for a helipad . This afternoon I also ordered some parts, so I can correct a few issues (like trading that road plate in the garage for something better) therefor there will be some improvements in the future. But nothing major - I'm happy with the overall design.

[lightningtiger]

Excellent fire station 'Werlu Ulcur', perfect scaling to take in both size fire trucks - I can't wait to see what's next......keep going and Brick On !

[BrickRally217]

This is what fire stations should look like in the City theme. Great job!

[Werlu Ulcur]

I'm glad you liked it!

I understand Lego has to balance production costs × features × target audience, but the regular City fire stations (and, for that matter, hospitals and police stations ) for us AFOLs they're all quite lacking. Guess it's the way Lego nudges us to MOC .

I couldn't wait any longer and just finished assembling one of the big choppers (yep, it looks f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c up there!) but my next move will either be a (very simple) train station or more probably the Haunted House, that my boy is bugging the heck out of me to build it for the last two weeks.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Werlu Ulcur

[Xyver]

That is a very nice City Fire Station. I really like how you've used the baseplate on the roof for the helipad, that is a great idea.

I also like how you've done the stair railing, but my favourite part is skylight/roof section of the office block, the roller door pieces on an angle look really good. I just hope it doesn't rain in Legoville.

[timmyc1983]

What a great fire station! I too love the idea of the road plate as the helipad, it works really well! And the overall look of the station is fantastic too.

Great work and happy building

[Werlu Ulcur]

Thanks guys!

I also like how you've done the stair railing, but my favourite part is skylight/roof section of the office block, the roller door pieces on an angle look really good. I just hope it doesn't rain in Legoville.

I wanted some sort of skylight on the office building, and I had all those roller door pieces from the stock fire stations, so I started messing around to see what could be done with them. I liked the look of them when they were angled so I first tried cramming them in the rail bricks. It did look good, but I needed some white to frame the whole window. To my surprise, you can fit a tile between the brick and the angled door piece, it just was some work to fit all the pieces with the roller door parts in place. The best part is that it's very solid, you can remove the whole window without much care and it won't come apart.

What a great fire station! I too love the idea of the road plate as the helipad, it works really well! And the overall look of the station is fantastic too.

We have a saying here in Brazil that says "When you don't have a dog, you hunt with a cat" - necessity (in other words, lack of parts) is the mother of all MOC solutions .

[Jody Meyer]

yup, looks good, color scheme.

[Werlu Ulcur]

Thank you Jody! You just can't beat red & white for firemen . Though I would have gone with a gray helipad if it was available.

[Xyver]

I wanted some sort of skylight on the office building, and I had all those roller door pieces from the stock fire stations, so I started messing around to see what could be done with them. I liked the look of them when they were angled so I first tried cramming them in the rail bricks. It did look good, but I needed some white to frame the whole window. To my surprise, you can fit a tile between the brick and the angled door piece, it just was some work to fit all the pieces with the roller door parts in place. The best part is that it's very solid, you can remove the whole window without much care and it won't come apart.

I've been thinking for a while now on ways to use the roller door pieces as a roof, mainly for a curved roof, but haven't worked anything out as yet. I've used the black and white ones as an external window blind on my recent Police HQ modular using the Plate, Modified 1x1 with Clip Light to hold them. They move a bit though and come out fairly easily so it's not ideal, it does look pretty good though.

[bp10030]

This is what fire stations should look like in the City theme. Great job!

Confirm!

[Werlu Ulcur]

I've been thinking for a while now on ways to use the roller door pieces as a roof, mainly for a curved roof, but haven't worked anything out as yet. I've used the black and white ones as an external window blind on my recent Police HQ modular using the Plate, Modified 1x1 with Clip Light to hold them. They move a bit though and come out fairly easily so it's not ideal, it does look pretty good though.

What got me thinking was the Town Hall, that has a curved skylight made of these pieces:

The only problem with that arrangement is that the the roof gets pretty high, so for what I wanted it didn't work, but if you want a skylight per se it's perfect.

Confirm!

Thanks bp!

[scottwb2010]

Great use of the parts from 2 former Lego Fire Stations Werlu Ulcur to create your MOC. I like the use of the garage doors to create the flat skylight on the roof. And at least youve made a decent sized Helipad for those big helicopters lego produce. Can't wait to see your rescue unit for the vacant bay.

[Werlu Ulcur]

scottwb2010!

Right now I have my 60010 on the helipad and it looks like it was made for that !