Hrw-Amen

So is this instead of just putting in the link in the link box and getting the slideshow showing up? I assume this is if we just want to put in one or two photos like before, but that if we want the slideshow then we can use the old fashioned way? Or do you not want us to post slideshows any more?

A nice little row of shops there with good details inside.They make it look like any number of space but interesting towns one passes on a daily basis and makes a mental note to go back to one day when not so busy.

I can recall when you could go and buy a box of just blue, or black, or red or whatever color. That must have been around 1992/3 when I used to visit the store in Bristol. That was quite useful, but it did not seem to last very long. Nowadays other than the PAB wall it is just windows/doors or wheels or roof/slope bricks. I know they do those boxes of different color bricks, but to be honest I don't think I have ever seen one in an actual real shop, just on the website.

I have thought about this myself. As well as being into LEGO I also collect, make and paint Warhammer 40K stuff, although I do not actually game as I find it tedious, I enjoy collectin and painting the models. When i was younger (And we are talking 30 years ago.) we had rules sets that were very fast to play and simple. These were often ones we had made up ourselves or converted from commercial ones to be fast and easy. It has not escaped my attention that LEGO Mini-figure scale is pretty much the same as that of 25mm - 28mm models of various designs and manufacturers and that as such a LEGO City scape would be a very interesting place to hold a battle. It has pretty much everything you need, wide open streets, building most of which have interior and opening doors, windows, roof spaces etc. I guess that the 25mm - 28mm figures could easily be replaced with mini-figures representing the same armies. Especially with the release of Custom Mini-figures which could easily substitute armored aliens or humans of various types if you wanted to keep it all LEGO. So would I be interested? Well, yes sort of although probably more on the settings, collecting armies and vehicles rather than actually being bothered to game with it myself. But i would like to see what others get up to in this respect? Just think, Ultramarines versus Blacktron! World Eaters versus Space Police! I'd like to see that!

It is certainly very interesting but at the moment I do not think the quality or price is there yet. That is not to say that in ten, twenty years or so it will not be as everyday as a normal 2d printer is now, but it is not at that point yet. Like many others part of the fun of LEGO is making what we can with what is available and just churning out your own bricks will spoil the special'ness of it in a way, at least for me. It is the same with music and books, films etc. I am all for electronic copies, but I still like to have a physical hard copy that I own and purchased. It is a real tangible thing that you bought. For example if I buy a CD now, I have that CD, I have paid for a real thing. That does not mean I do not want an electronic copy to put on my PC server or other mobile devices to carry around, but I still like to have that hard back up. I note nowadays that many movies also include codes with the DVDs that allow access to a cloud based copy you can stream or download if you prefer as well as having a real thing in your hand. I could perhaps see in the future that TLG may include special codes in certain sets or games that enable people to go online and print say a special tool for a mini-figure or even a special mini-figure itself, but i cannot see it happening for whole sets, it would just be too expensive over what they could produce it in bulk themselves. How about a good idea! Buy all of series 'X' Custom Mini-figures and get part of a code in each one that when you have the complete set you can go online and print off a special mini-figure; a bit like Mr Gold but more available to the masses! I do see this technology though being used in model making in general. As well as LEGO, i build model tanks, figures, planes etc. Already people are making custom parts for these and some companies are using the technology to produce prototypes that way to see how it comes together or looks. But mostly it seems they are at least for now, then using these prototypes to make a mold to mass produce the bit rather than actually printing each bit. It is just too expensive and too slow at the moment. Still time will tell, we will have to wait and see?

I will try and get some close ups of the interior but i am working with quite an old camera. I have to admit that my photography skills are not the best in the world although since posting on here they have improved a lot. I usually post in the 'Train' forum and recently have been setting up light boxes with white card and paper which is fine for a railway engine or coach, but some thing on this scale is a totally different prospect. I thought about the background, but had nothing even approaching large enough in white, not to mention that I felt the structure maybe lost on a white background as after all it is mainly white with some blue highlights. The only thing I had black and big enough was an old bed sheet. (Well not actually so old but I'd better not let the wife know I used it for that or there will be hell to pay and she will insist on it being washed again, probably by me!!) Maybe I could get some close ups on a white background though as it will only be one floor at a time? The lime green floor was a chance thing really. My wife and I take an annual vacation for a few days after the New Year in Cardiff and of course I hit the PAB wall at the LEGO store there. I got hundreds of those little lime green tiles. It was just before I started to build this and it was a good thing really. I think I mentioned previously that I'm a cripple(?) so i get to see the interior of our local hospital quite often and the floor covering there at least in the corridors is more or less this color green. Maybe a bit faded, but close enough. It may be a while until I get a shot of it in the City altogether. As I said I do not have room for the layout to be up all the time. Most of the buildings are sat on the top of our sideboard at home but other baseplates, roads, level crossings, are stored away in boxes with most of the railway stuff. Once or twice a year I set them all up and run the trains around. Usually when we plan for this when we have no laundry or other stuff that will clog up the living room and I can leave it out for a couple of days. I will of course take photos when this happens, but it will be a while. There are some pictures on my Flikr pages of some of the other buildings, so each one is planned into the layout where it will go. What I need is a bigger house, or a big basement or shed or something! Maybe one day? Anyway, thanks for the feedback. If I get a chance over the next few days I'll take some close ups if I can. It is hard to get a shallow angle on the rooms though as many are not that big. But I'll give it a go.

I can just about lift it, but as the floors are not actually joined and resting on tiles with a one plate negative indent from the floor above to prevent slippage It is not really that good an idea as I would drop it if I tried to move it. Not to mention that being a cripple I use a walking stick/frame. So I tend to move it one level at a time. I imagine though an able bodied person could safely move it in two halves. I plan to make an ambulance and helicopter to go with it. I have the existing City ambulance but it is a little big, I am waiting to see what the new one in the City starter set is like when it is released. Also what will the coastguard helicopter be like. My gut feeling is that the little City starter ambulance will be fine but the coastguard helicopter will be too big. If this proves to be the case I am planning on adapting the existing police helicopter which I know fits the pad as I have one on the police station pad already. Anyway, I am pleased that people like it. Doing all the interior detail is what I like most, otherwise it could be any old large building, apart from the EMT stickers I guess!

Flickr Link:- Over the last few months since Christmas 2012 and New Year 2013 I have been working on this MOC. I wanted to make a hospital for my town of Dootsville. To start with a I though about buying the official set and converting it to my needs, but thinking about this it soon became vary apparent that what I would need is not served in anyway by the official set. Having said that I did not intend for this build to get quite this big. (It is probably the biggest MOC I have ever made?) The trouble with hospitals is that they have all sorts of bits attached to them which may not be apparent when you start your build. I had just planned three floors, Ground floor with reception / waiting area and a couple of consultation rooms, an ambulance bay. Well there you have it apart from the doors to a Heli-Pad that is what we got. Then the first floor for the Men's ward and second floor for the women's ward. That was the initial plan, but my wife thought otherwise. "What about the Maternity Ward, The Operating theater?" She asks and so there goes another floor, all well and good. The we get "What about the Children's Ward and the Kitchen and Restaurant?" Well by the time we have added all that and had the thought that they really would need their own lab and offices and before you know it there is this huge skyscraper! Initially I'd planned for the helicopter to land on the roof, but it was getting more cluttered with stuff. More to the point there were double doors down on the ground floor. So I made a separate Heli-pad for the helicopter to land next to the hospital. With this included it makes the total footprint 32 studs by 80 studs. Anyway. Here are some photographs from flikr. The main building colors are white, blue and medium blue. With regards to this I have tried to photograph it on a black background. I hope that is OK. In the City of Dootsville, the building will sit opposite the police station over which it will tower. When I next set up the buildings I'll get some pictures, but it will have to be when I have time as I have no room for a layout and have to use the living room floor when the wife is out! Anyhow, I hope people like it?

If it was me and I had to fit in a building space for other creations and also an office, I think the main thing to consider is how much space do you need for your office as this is going to be the space you use for work. (Assuming this is to support your family etc?) That will be the main priority. Following this what you suggest sounds reasonable. Also there will be a door somewhere so the width will be confined by that in some respects. I think a town layout will need a certain amount of space for roads and buildings to look convincing and also I would not be too keen to fill it up straight away. You may as time goes on think of things to add or change so room to grow is always good. Having a long thin stretch along one edge with maybe a couple of tracks going in a circuit to allow long trains and possibly a road running alongside will be good as it will give the impression of your trains going somewhere. Have you considered incorporating your Technic/ other building area adjacent to this long thin stage. That way if you want to build a small countryside halt part way along you will be bale to use the same table to fit in a little country station if it needs slightly more room? I would also consider building a mountain / hillside with a tunnel that your trains go into and out of (Maybe have the Technic building are in between the sides?) part of the way along the thin side. It will mean having a blank area in the middle of the narrow run, but that is not always a bad thing especially as I indicated you want a building area, than can get messy at times. Also it will break up the run and look as though your trains are actually going somewhere rather than just round and round. If you plan to automate bits you could arrange for them to sit for a while in the blank bit before having them reappear the other side or back into the town, again giving the impression of a longer journey. You will also have access to this area with your building table adjacent so if you want to switch coaches / trucks in between you can do so without spoiling the illusion. Whatever you do though, it is important to get the right priority and ensure that you have enough work space to carry out your job first as if you don't have a job and money coming in you will not have any funds to create your layout! Also whatever you decide to do, you need to ensure that you remember to post pictures for us to look at!

Those wagons look pretty damn good to me! The engine is nice and all, but the goods trucks are spot on really nice.

Very interesting. Twenty studs wide you say? I think that is quite big for what we usually get in our train forum, but it is long as well so that kind of balances it out a bit. Looking at the one shot where the wheels can be seen and the track underneath, they do look very tiny and small and I wonder of they would not get broken under such a monster of a coach? Maybe they need more wheels / axles to distribute the mass of the coach? It is quite hard to tell from the image how many wheels are at each end? It is certainly different though and although I understand what you say about getting the bricks to build it, maybe one day you will have enough to at least build the locomotive and tender? Any bits that you do get around to building though I think we would be very interested in seeing the results of your steam punk engine and coaches. We may have to make some adjustments to our stations though to be able to accomodate such a beast!!

This looks good with lots of detail. Not to sure about the detailing on the tender's wheels though, maybe a little over the top as it does seem from the photos you were working on that the wheels are at least visible? Maybe it is just the angle of the photo though. Still not for me to comment really as I tend to go overboard with tender wheel detailing as well, on top of that I am not sure I could match your level of detail on the engine, it looks superb.

LGB? Light Greyish Blue? I was not aware that TLG made track in that color? I assume though that if they do they would be made to fit the same wheels that all the other track fits?

This is a nice shop. After a while it gets hard to think of different shops to build. i know there are so many. but the mind goes to mush. It is good to see inspiration from a MOC like this, neat, clean and tidy whilst being obvious what it is at first glance. Very good.

That is a pretty good looking modern shop, squeezed into an old building! A good looking apartment on top as well but my favorite has to be the attic.

Another great example of the class 8 shunter. We seem to be getting quite a lot of them now and all are good. Shunter building seems to be getting quite an art! I guess lots of us like these little engines as well as the great big ones, they certainly have as much character.

Looks OK so far. I have also found that powering the tender is a lot more satisfactory than powering the engine regardless of which motor you use.

A nice and bright little shunting engine.

Very nice ans close to the original train as well.

Looks like some good wagons there, they are very realistic looking.

That is a great PAB from Cardiff, may have to try and get there myself, especially for those 1X1 tiles and the 1X4 tiles.

I have thought about this myself wanting to run wire and the like underneath but the base-plates making this hard. For me I think the main problem would be getting them to sit there without sliding, as the base-plates have no connective points on the bottom. I guess a lip could do the trick, but I am not sure I'd like the visual effect that would give. Also for moving bits like train tracks I wondered how the weight of a train moving across them say at the station would work? I assume those plates would need a lot more support than a static one.

The 4X4 round bricks would provide a solution, the same as we (Or at least I.) used to sometimes use the old fashioned turntables if I ran out of the old macaroni ones when I was younger. But it seems like having two bricks when one would have done. I understand about having offsets that were not exactly lined up with the other bricks, but that was one of the benefits of them in my opinion and not a disadvantage in any way, it gave more possibilities. You could also build them in such a way that the tower could be scrunched producing a very odd shape that can in no way describe but those of us who have done it will no what I mean. I guess that would also be considered an illegal build and to be honest although I have done it I cannot think of a good reason to do it on purpose right now. I have to say that I never thought about making houses with hinges where the chimney hinges in half, but I guess that would be a good use for the newer type of bricks. Maybe one day I will try that? The clutch power argument would stand up I think, several times with the older style ones I have found that it became a requirement to bury a slack brick into tighter ones just to use it and not have the structure collapse so yes I can understand that. I have never had one actually break, though I assume it is possible. Some good ideas coming from this discussion though, I had not expected such a response. I wonder though with the redesign when they did it would it not have been possible to do it in such a way to still allow an offset build, if only they had considered it?

I had not realised this prior to today. I used to use them a lot but recently not so much. What am I on about, those curved 2X2 macaroni bricks (Bricklink 3063.) of the type used to make round tubes that were essentially 4X4 round. I had a few of these from my old LEGO collection that I used to use for making rockets and other stuff of that nature. It was quite easy to just overlap each consecutive layer by a stud so that they fitted together to form a tube of however many long you wanted. However I have not yet recovered all of my old LEGO from my parent’s house and the few I had were not enough for what I wanted to build. Therefore I ordered a few from Bricklink thinking that it would be fine to use these again. But no, what di I find, they are no longer stackable in offset mode making it impossible to build a tube of them longer than just one brick in height as they will no longer build other than by directly on top of each other, this being apparently due to a change in the internal structure that is not backwards compatible with the old style of bricks. I just wonder why they have made this apparent backwards step which had reduced the usableness of the curved bricks, making them well, pretty useless really to those who want to make tubes with them. When did this change occur, obviously at some point in my dark age between say 1995 and 2006’ish? I also wonder when they name changed to become Macaroni Bricks and if this was at a similar time as the design change as the older style were never referred to as 'Macaroni bricks' that I am aware of, we always called them just plain and simple 'round corner bricks.' I am wondering if the renaming has anything to do with the peculiar unconnectability of the new design?

I would try to figure out something with the wheels myself as others have said. It is a good start mind you. I think I would also look at the buffers, at the moment they look a bit 'bricky' which is odd considering it is LEGO after all. But I think I would try changing the 2x2 round plate the other way around and then using those round inverted tile plates on them, the type you get on the underneath of the boats so that they skim better if you know what I mean? They would give a much better buffer shape.