yanathin

How do you display your modular building collection?

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I got the IKEA Hemnes (inexpensive but made of solid pine so pretty sturdy) and then used mirror clips to attach an acrylic sheet (plexiglass) to the front for protection (main goal was baby-proofing). The back is open and the mirror clips are removable so its still easy enough to get inside to make changes. See pic below:

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where will you fit in the new Detective's Office... i guess you'll need another IKEA 'Hemnes' ....

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where will you fit in the new Detective's Office... i guess you'll need another IKEA 'Hemnes' ....

LegoSjaak - I had the same concern! Luckily the top is deep enough for 48 studs so I plan to put the PS halves around the corners (one half behind GE, the other behind PC) to make room for one more 32x32 along the front. That should "buy" me one more year before I need more storage...

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LegoSjaak - I had the same concern! Luckily the top is deep enough for 48 studs so I plan to put the PS halves around the corners (one half behind GE, the other behind PC) to make room for one more 32x32 along the front. That should "buy" me one more year before I need more storage...

That's a good idea, that i at least one year extra.....!!

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Is that the kitchen? Wow!

Yes...it is the kitchen...and hence the reason for sealing that area off in plexiglass. Gotta make space where I can find it :)

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My Modulars have pride of place in my Main St, where the kiddies can't get to them!! :classic: Having my City in a garage does mean a bit of dusting though...

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I'm going to reverse my PR, as I find the upper deck gets lost between the buildings.

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Lastly, on display for their photocalls!! :laugh:

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20141125_160916.jpg

It's too bad they don't make road baseplates without the 6-stud deep "set back". It would be much more convenient to be able to butt a road plate up directly against the sidewalk of the modular buildings.

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Why not simply tile the roadplates, making an extended sidewalk? There's ample room for seating etc that way.

Or just build modular buildings moved by 6 studs to the roadplates...

6 studs of modular on roadplate and rest on original plate from the set or some custom. It is Lego, you got 84357674398675874 possibilities :D

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This talk of streets brings up an interesting debate that I had in my own head recently of how to add roads, with each idea getting more and more expensive. :sceptic:

If you have the space and want it done quick and cheaply, simply put road plates next to the buildings. As for the space between the sidewalk and the road, I would use that for parking.

If you don't care about street parking and want the road right next to the sidewalk, you can push back the building baseplates by 6 studs and then slip the road baseplate under the sidewalk. If you have buildings on either side, things could get cramp, especially when everything is now harder to take apart.

If you don't like the road baseplates, you could build your own. Cheapest would be to use 16 x 32 baseplates and use black tiles for the road and white tiles for the markings (32x32 if you want parking). Only bad thing is that now the road is at the same height as the the sidewalk, which doesn't look that nice. The solution is to raise the buildings and sidewalk by one plate. If you want to add cheese-slope ramps at the corners (for bikes, baby carriages, etc), then you need to raise it by two plates.

If you want the roads to be modular and be able to connect with each other and with buildings using technic pins, then you need to raise everything up by at least a brick. At this height, now you can even use SNOT techniques for the roads, which are very nice for getting markings that are thin and detailed.

If you keep descending into this madness, pretty soon you will have fully realized basements, subways systems, sewers, and mole people.

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For roads I find the SNOT method very detailed and wonderful if you are a serious city builder but it can be very very expensive and can sometimes cost more than a basic Lego building. I myself am very happy just pushing the modular buildings back and slapping the road plates right next to them.

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My modular display table isn't the biggest, so using tiled roads instead of road plates allows me to save some space and squeeze in train tracks.

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The day has finally come: I have no more room to store to any more modular buildings and I have the Detective Office set unopened. So it's another visit to this thread to see if there are any new ideas of (affordably) displaying Modular Buildings.

I like to first look at what is available from ikea because their stuff is relatively cheap and easy to obtain. But I have to admit that ikea recently has been doing their darndest to discourage people from using their furniture for displays, such as discontinuing the glass doors for their expedite and besta shelves.

As always, I want my buildings to be placed side-by-side like a real city block, so a tall and narrow display case like the inexpensive Ikea Detolf, which only allows one modular per self, is out of the question.

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In a reviewof the Detective Office at brickset, the reviewer had his set in a Galant Wall Cabinet that seemed well suited for modulars:

From the review, this is showing half of the cabinet:

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The full cabinet:

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The cabinet is 63" wide, 15" deep, and 15 3/4 high. Each modular is 10" wide so it's possible to put 6 modulars into it. I have even seen the center wall removed so to give it an even wider feel:

Some negatives:

  • The sliding glass doors have large holes at the edges that would let dust in
  • The interior height is probably a little under 15", which only fit the taller modulars if you start removing some tower components and roof ornaments. The low ceiling also makes it seem a bit cramp.

Recently, Ikea introduced the NORNÄS glass cabinet and it's about the same price as the Galant.

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When I first saw it, I thought it would be perfect. It's not low to the ground like the Detolf and doesn't look cramp like the Galant. But my heart sunk when I saw the dimension: 65 3/8" tall, 15 3/4" deep, and 25 5/8" wide. At about 25" wide, it could only fit two modulars per shelf. If it were only 5" more wider, then one could fit 3 modulars per shelf, for a total 9 modulars into this baby. Oh well.

Stepping away from Ikea, I started searching for Glass Counters, which are usually for the retail market. I see nice items like this, but they can cost $600 - $900, and shipping would be also add a few hundred. Sheesh.

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It's too bad they don't make road baseplates without the 6-stud deep "set back". It would be much more convenient to be able to butt a road plate up directly against the sidewalk of the modular buildings.

I agree, although setting them up like this allows for maximum portability. If I attach the buildings to the road plates, they don't fit into the boxes I have for them when I transport them. I have seen some relly nice-looking brick built roads though.

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Another "me too!" for the Ikea Expedit series; I've got my sets atop two 4x2 units. I only have room for one more modular, so once full, I'll probably make due by retiring older modulars to the cubbies down below.

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Continuing my research into furniture (ikea) that can be used to display a modular building collection.

The Billy bookcase with glass doors looks interesting and glass shelves are an option:

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But it looks like the interior width is just a hair shy of being able to fit three modular:

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The Stockholm cabinet looks like a possibility. It's 35 3/8" wide, so it'll definitely fit three modulars per shelf, for a potential of twelve total. It includes the adjustable glass shelves. It is a bit pricey though. It is like a larger version of the Nornas cabinet, which is 5" shy of fitting three modulars per shelf. But the Nornas has all all-glass door, while the Stockholm has the frame of the doors obscuring the middle of the cabinet.

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On a side note, has anyone worried about UV damage to the point of adding UV-blocking film to their windows and/or their display cabinets?

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I have my Modulars displayed across the top of bookcases.

The main bulk of them sit atop 3 bookcases. Due to the style of bookcase had to elevate them and created a mini Lego wall to hide the support board:

17291779404_e093770e3d_z.jpgDisplay 1 by legoconductor, on Flickr

The remaining ones sit atop a fourth bookcase of a different style (sorry about the dust):

17914927591_c9726fcda8_z.jpgDisplay 2 by legoconductor, on Flickr

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16604665701_1c58fd4019_c.jpgDSC01071 by Scott Roys, on Flickr

Here's all of the my Modulars plus a few extra buildings on a train layout I had set up last February. I like extra levels for the CC and the GE and the Parisian Cafe is built mirror image so the deck is not next to a building.

Edited by ecmo47

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Here's my update modular city. There are no people or vehicles out as it's about to go into boxes for a show.

17982305661_9309b1388c_c.jpgIMG_1689 by Adrian, on Flickr

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I'm Bricklinking Cafe Corner, and ordered Detective's Office,

So would be 9 of em in 1 month.

16742360115_ae2e15bb40_b.jpgIMG_0028

Edited by ancestral

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+1 for the IKEA Expedit series

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What I love even more than building and admiring the modular buildings is bringing them to life. With lots of details and different action at every corner.

First thing that comes to mind is street parking. This is supposed to be a street in the heart of the City so empty paring lots are rare. And become even more so on Fridays, because that's when the farmers market is in town. Even the chef of the famous Le Chez comes here to buy fresh veggies, fruits and bread.

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Other details would be typical City street life, like a motocycle recklessly overtaking a cyclist or a woman trying to park out an insanely huge SUV. ;)

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Here a normally very busy intersection of one way streets. You see I used the cheapest method of building streets, with just a pencil and a 16x2 plate ;) To make up for that you can see very detailed street signs telling our LEGO people where to drive and where they can park. Today the traffic came to an halt because fireman and police officers are trying to save this little kitten from the tree(One of the busiest days for policeman in this City) Well next street detail is obviously trees, although on the smaller side they are a great addition to this street.

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On the right side you can see a little chrismas market in front of the Palace Cinema, where people can get drunk on hot wine and liquor. Under the trees you can barely see some Stormtroopers questioning an Astromech droid.

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You may have already noticed that my PR is mirrored. Well here's why. It is the last building in this street, on the left is only a small Park as the shoreline of the great Expedit river. This park is one of my first MOCs and I think it turned out great.

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Nothing lasts forever, and so the owner of the Petshop have to completely renovate their house, one of the oldest in the street.

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To counter the flood of parking vehicles the City authorities decided to try out a car sharing programme by plastering cars with self made stickers.

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And that's how I display my modular buildings.

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