finnbricker

This is wonderful news! I was dreaming of a ferris wheel. I wonder if it folds onto a truck like the mixer did. Together with the WV carousel that's enough to create a fun fair. Bumper cars would make it perfect. Maybe 2016?

From the Czech site that had a name for it. Check out the quote in this post: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=97734&st=375#entry2085239 For some reason, the poster removed this line from his original post. Perhaps a hint that it's not a town square after all? In any case, I sure hope it's not a remake of the 2013 set, as was the case with the City Corner set.

Thanks for your comments! I actually agree with you, but I left it there because I wanted to stay true to the original design. If and when I build this in real bricks, I'll definitely try it both with and without the dark blue "hat" and see what's better. Like this? My fear is that the 4-wide plain white wall in the middle makes the building a little too plain, that's why I went for the 1-2-1 design. It's easy enough to change, though.

Still disappointed with 31036 Toy & Grocery, but I'm not giving up. And after playing around with LDD for a few hours, I'm a little less disappointed. There is, after all, potential to modularize this as a 16-wide. The two-floor version (612 pc) only needs one set plus basic bricks. The three floor version (780 pc) obviously needs extra windows, an extra staircase etc. Since the shop is too small for a grocery, I'm thinking of making it a bag & purse shop. A place to put all those Friends handbags... Another alternative would be to make it a toy store, but I have the TRU and at some point, I want to make a Lego store, too, so I think the toys of 31036 will be placed in the GE toys department. Which one do you think looks better? Any additions or details? All feedback is welcome!

Thanks for the comments! Yes, the colours are bright, but perhaps suitable for a beachside building. I'm also working on a similar project where I'm combining two pet salons 41007 and using cool yellow for the upper floors. Should sit nicely next to this one.

There are examples here at Eurobricks of the modularization of each of the police stations. It might be a good idea to look them up and then make up your mind.

Here comes the moccest part of the MOC, the number one night spot in town, Club Tuxu. Those of you who speak Finnish might guess where the name comes from... Here's an overview. The stairs are on the left, so that's where a cashier's desk is located (for paying the cover charge, obviously). The white and black tiled area is the foyer. There's a unisex toilet and some seats just opposite the toilet. The dark red tiled part is the actual nightclub, and the tiling represents a plush dark red carpet. On the right lies the dance floor and behind that is where the DJ is standing. The bouncer doesn't look very friendly, as is often the case here in Finland. The torso is from Minifigforlife and I think it suits a nightclub worker perfectly. So this is where you pay your cover charge before entering the club. The toilet. There's a red tap for hot water and a blue one for cold. The floor is tiled medium blue and white. A small vent above the door should take care of ventilation in the small cubicle. The bar. The bartender wears the same uniform as his colleague by the entrance. I've misplaced my custom cocktail glasses and all the bottles are the same colours. This is something I will have to fix at some point so the shelves don't look so boring. Overview of the main area. It's a quiet night, maybe in the middle of the week. The seating is raised by one plate to give better views to sitting guests. Minifigs seem a very reckless people – there are mobile phones lying recklessly around empty tables. Perhaps police presence in the city is so heavy that they don't need to be afraid of someone snatching them, who knows. I'm still missing two dark red 2x2 jumper plates, so that's why the light grey plate is showing under the left side tables. The dance floor and DJ booth. The dance floor consists of reddish brown 1x4 tiles and dark brown tiles on the sides. Only two guys dancing at this time. The loudspeakers and the dj table are from Heartlake Shopping Mall 41058, as you might recognize. I hope you liked Club Tuxu and the whole building! I'd be grateful for all your comments.

Thanks Xavier! This building is of course decidedly more modern than the official modulars, thus the facade is also a lot less detailed. Here's the second floor. It's less interesting than the first floor – basically just a tiled hallway and two Friends sets crammed into their own rooms/offices. The interior walls are not attached to the exterior walls so they are easily removable if I decide to alter the interior. A view of the plain hallway and the staircase. At the end of the hallway you'll find Olivia's Invention Workshop. No alterations here, everything is from set 3933. No minidoll, though, since my City is for minifigs only. Actually the chemist from Research Institute would work well as an inventor here, I think. Another view. Love the tools, even though the colour is somewhat strange. And here's the fashion design studio. I'd like to think of it more as a simple tailor shop, though. You know, one of these places with a big "Alterations" sign in the window. Again, the interior is straight from set 3936, unaltered, save for a croissant that should go well with the coffee mug. Not the healthiest lunch, though.

Thanks for your comments! Here comes the first floor of the building. It houses the juice bar, of course, and a perfumery (to the right of the juice bar). In the upper left corner is the staircase and bottom left you'll find the small ice cream shop. The juice bar and perfumery both have back doors, the perfumery door leads straight outside whereas the juice bar back door leads to the small hall where also the main and back entrance to the upper floor is located. This hall is tiled with brown 1xX tiles, representing a wooden floor. The stairs are tiled white. The juice bar stays pretty true to the original model as far as the counter and the minibuilds are concerned. It has been minifigurized, though, so there's now a long table with plenty of chairs so one can enjoy a glass of juice or a sandwich inside. The fruit has been moved closer to the counter. The floor is tiled lime green, appropriate for the colour scheme. A nice row of four pineapples there! A good overview of the seating area. Moving on to the perfumery. The floor is tiled with sand yellow and white tiles save for the area behind the counter, where I've used 1xX white tiles. There are shelves with different kind of perfume bottles and lotions as well as some Belville sinks used as holders for some hair accessories etc. The counter consists of black grooved 1x2s and transparent 1x2s. The small loose table in the upper left corner below the shelves is intended as a movable table that a beautician can use when there's a spraying campaign or sales event going on. Some nice window displays, lipstick and some hair accessories on the wall. This is the interior of the ice cream shop. You will recognize the freezers from Olivia's ice cream bike and the floor tiling from the original juice bar set. I think the colour of the floor fits in nicely with the ice cream theme. There's a service counter for those who want a cone and a self-service freezer for popsicles. Grandma has just bough little Teddy both an ice cream and a popsicle. What a day! The small hallway which serves as an entrance to the upper floors. I will show you the second floor tomorrow. Only two juice bar sets to make the ground floor sort of symmetric. The extra awning pieces are bricklinked.

I have been working on this project for a long time, on and off. Now it's finally completed, save for two dark red 2x2 jumper plates. I started with combining two 41035 Heartlake Juice Bars to make the first floor. An added width of 8 studs gave room for a staircase to the upper floors and made the building the perfect size for two 32x32 baseplates. The staircase also left place for a small hole-in-the-wall style shop. The whole building has around 3000 bricks. For the upper floors, I chose medium blue as the main colour and added some bright blue and white for details. The architecture is relatively modern, so this does not necessarily belong in the same part of town as the town hall or the Grand Emporium. In my layout-to-be, this building will be opposite the beach so the sun seekers will have easy access to ice cream and a refreshing glass of juice. I'm going to present the exterior now and continue later with the interiors. All floors have full interiors and the floors are fully tiled. As you can see, the ground floor is very true to the original design. Next to the juice bar, I placed a perfumery. It's called La Rose Amie and I have to apologize to all French speakers – I know the name is incorrect language. La Rose is fine – named after the roses in the shop sign. I don't speak French myself and would actually want a suitable adjective – with four letters in its feminine form, a positive meaning, suitable for describing a rose and not containing the letter U (since I've run out of those why does the business card set come with only one U?). So I'd be grateful for any suggestions! The roof is very plain, with some airconditioning units. The back is also very plain. There's a back entrance to the perfumery and a back entrance to the small hall where the staircase to the upper floors are. Looks like the sales assistant from the perfumery came to work by bike today. A Minifigforlife banana crate stands outside the juice bar – apparently a shipment just arrived. The corner left room for a small shop, and Olivia's ice cream bike 41030 was released at just the right time – the corner is now occupied by an ice cream stand. The 41030 fountain stands in the street corner and the mailbox fits nicely between the juice bar and perfumery entrances. The benches outside the ice cream shop are modifications of the 41030 benches. I hope you like it! My aim is to give you a tour of the first floor shops tomorrow.

Looks a lot better and balanced with an extra floor! Maybe I could place my meth lab right above the detective's office.

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

Love the penguins! Instantly recognizable and not too big/high. Could you snap a pic of a half-assembled penguin or of the parts? I'd live to try and put one together myself.

I'm glad I've been a source of inspiration! And I agree, the Friends colour scheme can be a bit overwhelming especially if you place them next to the GE or TH, for instance. But don't be put off! There's still loads of potential in the sets. May I suggest that you reconsider? You could start with the corner bakery. Two sets easily make a good 32x32 corner modular and the colour scheme is pretty down to earth with tan and reddish brown as the main colours. Only the awnings are a tad too bright, but then again, awnings can be bright in real life, too. However, if you dislike them, keep the design but change the colours. A combination of dark green and white, perhaps? The juice bar has a lot of potential, too. The main colour is white, a little boring perhaps, but realistic nevertheless. You could easily change the orange and yellow bricks to medium or dark stone grey and/or white. In this case, I find the lime awnings very realistic. Think of all the modern and trendy juice bars and frozen youghurt joints! However, instead of lime you could use tan or dark red (are there awning pieces in dark red?). The city park café is also an easy one, just gt rid of the pink and that's it! My next big project is now almost completed. I will take pictures soon. It's a 64x32 three-storey building that includes two juice bars (one of which now houses a perfumery), a small ice cream shop (2 x Olivia's ice cream bike), Olivia's invention workshop and Emma's fashion design studio on the second floor and a nightclub on the top floor. While the ground floor is little more than two juice bars combined, the upper floors feature a medium blue colour scheme with some white and bright blue accents.

I find it a little strange that it's sold out in the US but in Europe you can order up to five pieces.

I was planning to combine two DOs, the second one as a mirror image, to make a 16-wide detective's office, a 32-wide barbershop and a 16-wide something. Last night it occured to me what this something will have to be; a meth lab! That will give me the place where to put my Research Institute chemist vignette and I think it goes well with the shady feel of the DO as a whole. Something for the private eye to keep that eye on

Elleana, I'm into modularizing City and Friends buildings, too, and for the same reasons that you are. I love to moc, but I'm not very good at it. In Creator, the 31026 bike shop and café is an obvious choice and there are several threads here that you can view for inspiration. I've even looked at the very small 31036 and thought about at least trying to moc it into a 16-wide. In City, there isn't much to moc. This is what I did with the 7498 Police Station: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=97296 The fire stations aren't that interesting partly because they use bright red, unsuitable for a modular, I think, and partly of course because there already is a modular FB. Town square 60026 is modularizable (what a word ) if you get two of them and perhaps place the white building on top of the lime green one. My 60026 mod is in the works. Friends is something you will want to take a look at. The numerous small shops make nice ground floors and you can add your own designs above or make combinations. I'm about to finish my juice bar MOC/MOD which has two juice bars and two medium blue/white floors above it. Two WIPs are the corner bakery + karate studio + Olivia's house and two pet salons with cool yellow upper floors. Next year, I will try to combine the new hair salon and Emma's house into an art deco inspired MOC/MOD. I would love to see your creations Elleana! The bank looks great and would be even more impressive with a third floor added.

It's up on US S@H. Price $160. Available from 1st Jan. No European prices yet.

I have now completed the Bank. I got inspired by the Lego Neighborhood book and specifically page 63, which presents some examples of interior elements for a bank, so I started working on it. The facade. I have added an extra floor, as was my original plan (though I only used bricks that I had + PAB & Bricklink, no new set) and also finished the sidewalk, where some tiles were missing earlier. The backside. You can see the added floor with three windows instead of two + door, and also some added greenery. The baseplate is light royal blue, so I needed to cover the whole backside area to make it look more realistic. There is no interior on the 2nd and 3rd floors, nor will there be. I am just not interested in furnishing yet another apartment. While there is an outdoor staircase reaching the 2nd floor, there is no access to the 3rd floor or the roof. Outdoor access would mean the stupid solution of the PR, where you need to enter the 2nd floor apartment in order to proceed to the 3rd floor. Out of the question, in my opinion. Indoor access would have used up a substantial amount of room on the 2nd floor. Since the upper floors are for show only, and not to be used, I didn't bother. However, the bank is fully furnished and the floor tiled. I didn't want to make yet another 2x2 check pattern for the floor, so I ended up with this design, used by many others before me. I think the colours give the floor a certain decorum. Perhaps it's a stone floor? This is only a small branch office, so it's lacking some features. There's no manager's office and no safe or vault. The 40110 Coin Bank set would make a nice vault and could be placed on the 2nd floor, but at least right now I don't feel like modding it. Looks like Mr Brickster has come to the bank to deposit some money. He wouldn't be in here for a withdrawal since there's an ATM outside for that purpose. There are two positions, but only one manned. Have you ever been to a bank where they actually keep all the positions manned? The teller windows are designed by Brian and Jason Lyles, I have just shortened the section a bit. Someone is waiting for his turn next to the water dispenser. The dispenser is also a Lyles design, albeit with one small modification (the inverted roof tile). I definitely want to see how my Bank fits in with the official modulars, but right now they're at another location. Here the bank is positioned next to a current WIP MOC of mine. Stay tuned to see this building finished some time this winter. The building includes a juice bar (of course!), an ice cream stand, a perfumery, a nightclub and some 2nd floor offices. Thanks for taking a look! I'd be grateful for any comments.

Very beautiful work, as always, Kristel. I am a true admirer of your work and I would employ you instantly as a designer at TLG. I think you have the skills to create buildings that are very realistic, have a fair amount of interesting building techniques but don't go over the edge with details. Truly something TLG should appreciate. Would you have an approximation of the number of pieces used for the Beloved Belle? I especially like the residential floor window designs (might have to copy those one day...) and the ground floor facade as a whole. The number of half-stud offsets adds to the reality. The only con I can think of are the streetlights. I prefer the TLG design better – the lamp looks too blocky in my opinion. I can't wait to see your next modular!

My guess is that the new mirror piece will also be included in the new Friends hair salon set. To those of you who have seen the DO live: is the light blue the same colour as the "light royal blue" that's used in Friends for big plates, eg in Heartlake mall?

It's not your opinion that's annoying me, it's the endless repetition of it. Actually, as I've said before, I share your opinion on this one, even though I do understand why TLG is moving the modular series in the direction they are.

New 1x2 bricks in light blue. What colour does this refer to? The light royal blue used for 16x16 plates in eg. City Park Café? The window frames of the barbershop also seem to be of this colour, right? Don't worry about it. It's just his opinion, which he of course is entitled to. The only annoying thing here is that he keeps repeating it like a parrot over and over again.

I always appreciate a work where someone takes one set and limits himself only to the pieces in that set to create something new. Must be really challenging! I like the use of the snot 2x3 windows, both as windows and as a shelter/canopy on the sidewalk. For a sort of reference, here's what I did with two 31026s and some extra bricks: http://www.eurobrick...?showtopic=9715 and here's what Sonicstarlight did: http://www.eurobrick...howtopic=100970 His work is awesome (as usual).

Or, they've started to let money talk so they want to entice both kids and adults; a big, versatile building for AFOLs, to be modded and enlarged at will, but also something that will keep kids interested and happy plus something their parents will hopefully find an attractive birthday or Christmas present for their kids. If one compares this to TH, for instance, it offers kids nothing. A nice big building with a play value close to zero. TLG surely makes more money with DO; bought by the same AFOLs that got the TH, but also by numerous KFOLs Personally, I like the bigger buildings. But nothing prevents me from from modding this one. Like I said earlier, the DO part is 16-wide, the central section + the barbershop likewise. To combine two sets allows for a 32-wide barbershop plus two separate 16-wide office buildings. For one of those, it's easy enough to change the colours to get some more variation. Right now, I have two PS sets. One of the pet shops is sand blue, but the other one I changed to white with reddish brown windows. Looks neat enough and brings some variation. The brownstones remain as they are, and connected. I should get a third one to complete the rowhouse effect.