finnbricker

A wonderful MOC, and huge! It looks like it could be straight out of NYC. All the details, such as the washing machines, are amazing. Great work! Must have taken you a very long time to complete.

I am anything but an expert, and instead of pure MOCs, most my creations are some sort of MODs of Lego-designed buildings, Creator, Friends or even City. Sometimes, I stay very true to the original, mostly adding back walls. Then again sometimes I just use the bricks and build something completely new. My advise would be that as a rookie, simply try to copy what professional Lego designers have done. For instance, look at this where I MODded two Park Street Townhouses to fit a 32x32 baseplate as a modular row of houses. Should fit reasonably well next to the Pet Shop. Then, whenever you feel like it, move on to true MOCcing. When I desing a MOC, I usually start with the second floor window design. I decide what colour and size the windows should be, how I will place them and what details I will build around them. This might give me an LDD element the size of eg. 1x6x5 and then I play around LDD, placing those elements next to each other, sometimes with gaps that I then fill with something else/plain bricks etc. Since the second floor is basically a row of windows, it's easily completed. Then I move on to the first=ground floor, using bigger window elements and trying to align them with the second floor. This is an example of how I start. Some days ago I realised that the spring yellowish green 1x2 bricks are available from PAB and the colour is really special, so I wanted to use it for something. I also have some spare earth green windows and many bright green 16x16 plates, so that was my starting point: use those bricks, build a house... So far, after one LDD session, I've come up with this: I'm testing several different alternatives, playing around with the grey columns to see if they look better with some white added (they don't!) etc. The roof is from another project and I haven't even started on the ground floor yet. I have done some MOCs without LDD, just by building, but they usually end up a lot bulkier and not that nice. Learning to use LDD is easy and you'll most likely benefit from it. Happy building!

That was not a designer, but one of the two AFOLs that they interviewed.

Here's a small street consisting of the BB, 31052 MOD, 31065 MOD and 31050 MOD. I think especially the Corner Deli MOD goes well together with the BB.

Very nice combination. Would look great next to the DO! Is the building on the left based on something existing, or is it completely MOCced? Looks great! Even in the back, the dark main colour doesn't make the building too dismal when you've used lots of white and red to balance. Thanks also for showing what it looks like to have three of those bay windows on top of each other. That was my initial plan, too, although I never tried it and decided to settle for only two. I actually think that two looks better than three, but on the other hand the floors remain a little too low to my taste with only two windows...

I just had to write it like that Officially: http://brickset.com/parts/6158469 Thanks! I do make MOCs as well, but my creativity is better suited towards modding existing Lego designs into modulars. This one turned out very nicely, I think, because it's almost modular from the start. Why don't you give it a go, too, and show us how it turns out? Yeah, I've made a couple of 12-deep modulars because the interior isn't my focus point. But here, you could easily widen this to 16 and use the additional area for stairs. When your project is ready, make sure to post it for us to see?

Thanks Phil B! I'd like to place this next to the Pet Shop brownstone to see how they fit together...

Did you do this? I just looked at the model at a Lego store last week and started thinking that it might make a great modular. What city wouldn't need a mental institution?

The new Creator set 31065 just screams "Modularize me!", doesn't it? ;) Nice architectural details, realistic colours, a cool fire escape. It's a little low, but hey, in no city are all buildings of the same height. My initial idea was to buy two and merge them into one modular building, but after I had built the first one according to the instructions – as a starting point for my MOD – I realized that only very little needs to be done to make it a 16-wide modular. Mostly just basic bricks for the back wall. At this stage, I was still thinking of adding another of those bay windows to each floor to add a little to the height, but in the end I actually like it the way it is. So I decided to simply make it narrower by remowing the window on the left side of the door. Since I needed the whole building to be of the same height, I added the window above the door – fits nicely, I think. When I had the first building ready, I simply built a second one next to it. Actually, three in a row might look nice... So this is what it looks like as a 32-wide double. It very much reminds me of the style of housing that the Gallagher family lives in in Chicago's South Side, so I just had to place a homeless drunk on the sidewalk :D I still need four of those dark stone grey shaft with balls to complete the roof. The sides are very plain, and also the fire escape had to be relocated – now it's in the back, which gives the backside a nice detail together with the window, tree and some seating. Usually, when I have the façade finished, and if it's a commercial building, the interior, then I just run out of ideas and inspiration so the backside remains very plain. In this case, however, the set came with enough details to furnish the backyard. The chairs and barbeque are borrowed from 31052 Vacation Getaways, the tree is a combination of two 31065 trees, the birds are 31065 originals. I also added an entrance to the basement. There's a modest interior, as well. This is the top floor with one apartment having a 31065 bed, the other one a 31052 bed. There are no stairs, that would eat up all the room inside. Gotta use that fire escape! The main floors both have identical kitchens. Again, the furniture is a combination of 31065 and 31052 to get some variation. As you can see in this picture, the buildings share a common basement. There's a pillar in the middle to add support for the upper floors. Two similar fireplaces, though. The main floor is so low that the door needs to be placed here, otherwise it doesn't fit. This works out relatively nicely altough the door does come off a little too easily when removing and placing the top floors back. Wouldn't work in a real set. The two floors are separate, though, but the roof is just one common piece. Don't you think the 31065 looks great as a modular? It's a very inexpensive way to build MOD modulars, too. You need one set per one 16-wide modular and then mostly just basic bricks in tan and dark red as well as dark stone grey tiles. That's about it – some plates for the floors/ceilings, too. Thanks for reaging, and as always, grateful for your comments!

Yeah, actually this was discounted and the regular price was about the same as Finland (which is more expensive than most of Europe). I think the main problem with Swiss prices is that 1 Sfr used to be worth about €0.70, now it's more or less 1:1. But this time I got lucky! I don't think I will work on this anymore. I designed the façade and I like it, I also liked making the stairs. The building is only 12x16, so there would be very little room for any shop on the ground floor since it would also require a staircase. I initially thought the ground floor would only house a staircase and a sort of lobby, but I think I will just leave it as it is and start on a new project... Yeah, it is a bit plain since I wanted to use the colours from the original. The upper floors turned out nice, the ground floor would probably require some work...

As a camper van, the 31052 Vacation Getaways set is far too big for my taste. But as an exception to the rule (the rule being that alternative 3in1 models are uninspiring and poorly made) the Hillside House style small building looked sort of nice in the pictures, and the sand blue windows and door frame were enticing. So in all the places of the world, I found this set for a good price in Switzerland, which otherwise must be the most expensive country in Europe... €41 for one set. I got one and built the house. It felt even smaller than I had thought, but with another set, it could be expanded... So I bought a second set, but didn't end up expanding the house. Instead, I started playing around with LDD. The result is a 16-wide three-storey modular building based on the idea of using the sand blue windows. The back side is very plain, as are the sides of the building. There is no interior, save for steps that take you from floor to floor, apart from the ground floor, which doesn't have any steps... I'm not too fond of creating interiors for residential buildings, since they are all more or less the same, so this will most likely remain empty. I hope you like it!

Emma's House and Heartlake Hair Salon Corner Deli Toy and Grocery Hertlake Juice Bar etc

Wonderful! The black lamp post is my favorite. All these details add so much to the sidewalks. Great job!

Lomis, thanks for the LDD version! This truly goes to show how minuscule the modulars have become. We all know how small the light royal blue tower of DO is in reality. And here we now have two buildings that are practically of the same size. :( The flower shop is 16-wide and looks big next to the other two buildings.

Yeah :( A good reason to enjoy London and visit the new Lego store on Leicester square. OT: I wonder if the Leicester square store will have a price mark-up like the Manhattan stores do. Hope not!

While I'm not too fond of yeat another collection of small buildings (like DO), I also see the possibility to mod two sets into three 32x32 buildings, two of which will look really nice. I'm thinking of turning the sand blue building to a corner one. And I definitely want to combine the two bakeries into one 32-wide building with two towers. The building is 14-wide now so combining two and adding an extra window in the middle would give 30. So it still needs some planning to reach 32 in a great looking way. But honestly, I've got no idea what to do with the 16-wide tractor scoop house. Maybe leave it at that, adding another floor? Or just doubling it to 32-wide. I don't really like the house. The ground floor looks like a Friends shop, the second floor looks like a very average MOC and the roof, well, basically it consists of two bulky pieces. Disappointing.

When I watched the video, I couldn't believe my eyes. I'd never have thought that such a great set could actually be produced. So, a very very positive surprise! I'll most definitely get my copy.

I like this! Very realistic façade, not too many details but doesn't look boring either. The interior is great, too, and not too crammed.

When comparing them like this, FB and BB actually look very similar sizewise. A high ground floor and a high upper floor. They would probably look really nice together. I just wish the next modular would have three proper floors.

Thanks! The gumball machine is not my own design, unfortunately. It comes from Toy & Grocery Shop 31036. You're right about the signs. They're easy to move, so I think I'll place on of them on the other side of the building. Thanks for the tip!

I started work as soon as the set was released and now it has been standing idle for months, with some 10 pieces still missing, plus the interior... Who knows if it's ever going to be 100 % complete, so I might as well show you what I've got. This post http://www.eurobrick...5 from mid-January is where I started – Klaus-Dieter's excellent review got me inspired and I spent some hours on LDD to see what I could come up with, staying true to the original but sizing it up to become a full-scale modular at the same time. So may I present to you the Modular Corner Deli, consisting of two 31050 sets plus extra bricks from BrickLink, PAB and my collection: The upper floors are more or less a copy-paste version of the original façade. As long as the building doesn't get any higher or wider than this, I don't think it looks too repetitive or unimaginative. To alter the colours of the flowers gives some small variation to it, too. (Note that on the top floor, some pieces are still missing by the window.) This side includes the entrance to the upper floors on the left. The soda (?) machine comes from Toy & Grocery Shop 31036 (I don't know about you but when I get multiples of some set in order to create something larger, as in this case the modular 31036, I tend to build the minibuilds and use them later for other creations to add details. I still have one ATM from Bike Shop & Café 31026 that waits for its placement...) and the rather generic postal box... wait, I don't even remember where it comes from! The fire hydrants are 31050 originals. The bubble gum machine comes from Toy & Grocery Shop 31036. I wanted to keep both the original hamburger signs, so I simply placed them next to each other. To place them, or one of them, in the corner didn't look as nice to me, but I think they fit in well here. The entrance to the deli is on the right. Clumsy guy stands where the lamppost should be – I've run out of them for now. The ground floor façade strongly derives from the upper floors with lots and lots of cheese bricks and a large amount of leftover dark orange bricks from my Town Hall 10224 enlargement project. The back side is very plain. All those medium blue 1x2s from the PAB walls finally came in handy here! The back door leads to nowhere for now – I haven't finished the staircase and hallway and don't know whether I'll make it a backdoor to the hallway or to the deli. The top floor. No real interior here – apart from the thanksgiving table from 40123 and the recliner from 40125. The middle floor is furnished, though, thanks to the Big Bang Theory set 21302. I'm not a fan of the series, but I liked the minifigs (lots of special torsos) and all the detailed furniture, so this is where it went. It's a strange apartment, really – a study corner, a living room corner but no kitchen and no bedroom. Perhaps on the top floor some day? The Deli isn't ready yet, either. The only part that has been completed, save for the floor tiling, is the kitchen. There will be a seating area for eat-in customers and maybe a toilet – depends on what I do with that backdoor. I'd love to hear what you think. I'm happy with the façade and I hope to get inspired enough to complete the Deli interior. For the top floor, I'm not really that sure. Just another apartment – they're kind of boring in my opinion.

Tack CopMike! Will go there this week.

Has anyone visited the store? Any comments? I'm mostly interested in their PAB wall (prices, anyone?) and the BAM, since the sets are so expensive in Sweden. If you have visited and can tel anything about any specials, any interesting pieces on the PAB wall etc, I'd be grateful. Also, how easy is it to reach the store from the Solna train station? Tack!

The parts list is now available online here: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=123632 There are 118 Technic pieces that are practically useless for Modular houses.

Tkatt, I'm afraid you could be right about the big number of useless Technic parts. Brickset just added a review of the Maze, http://brickset.com/article/19895/review-21305-maze, and indeed it does seem that the number of basic 1x bricks is smaller than I had hoped for. But I haven't given up hope just yet. And there are more black roof tiles than I thought, they will work nicely as façade details. The baseplate is not dark stone grey like I thought, but medium stone grey. Which is okay, too.