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Thank you very much. I think we can have more realistic City vehicles by just changing a few aspects. Thanks all for commenting and viewing. More PYTR vehicles to come.

Thank you. Well, it's there to symbolize a typical "oldtimer car" or "vintage car" which I build in a 6w+ scheme. Those are among the very few vehicles where the usual "Town mudguards" are looking quite nice in my opinion.

Thanks a lot LT, glad you like it - in spite of its chrome ... ;-) Thank you very much. Yes, from time to time I like to modify an already existing design - you may learn much from that. Didn't think of a contest - but yeah, I guess we could have a lot of fun with that.

You're from Australia, right? You know what an Australian "road train" looks like? No chrome, huh? If you take a look at the original model (http://brickset.com/...056-1/Tow-Truck) you may recognize from the shape of the hood and from the typical exhaust pipes that it's meant as an American truck. That's why I opt for as much (Lego, not third party) chrome as possible on this model - it simply meets the style. But there's no reason why it shouldn't be omitted if you don't like it - I guess the only reason it was omitted on the set is cost. Well, that's what it is. But here it's only a part of the width range, it stands for sports cars in a 6w+ scheme.

Models in this thread: #1: Wrecker (60056 MOD) #2: Container Truck (60027 MOD) #3: Ice Cream Truck (70804 MOD) #4: Joe the Plumber's Badass Step Van (70811 MOD) #5: Sunshine Surfer Van/Volkswagen T2 "Bay Window" Camper Van (Creator 31079 MOD) Hi all, while everybody seems to be freaking out about "alternate models a 7-10 year old could build" I have a different suggestion to make: alternate models for grown-ups - we're AFOLs after all, aren't we? Of course what I'm thinking of are no real alternates - you will have to add quite a few parts. But what you - hopefully - get are more elaborate City vehicles that are supposed to go well with the modulars. As we all know Town vehicles are primarily designed for Children, they lack the complexity of the CC buildings. On the other hand they often have attractive colour designs plus great functional elements that are worth preserving. Thus what I'll try to do is to modify some vehicles according to the following rules: using the typical design elements of Town vehicles (windscreens, mudguards etc.) omitting most of the studs fixing holes where possible keeping all that’s nice and replacing all that’s too simple using not too fancy building techniques, models must be easy to reproduce use of stickers from the set allowed keeping or even enhancing the playability functions must be functions, devices shouldn’t be movable just by hand seating at least one fig - but under no circumstances in the center of the cockpit ;-) 100% Lego, no third party stuff allowed By saying no fancy techniques there is one - very important - exception: the wheels (but more on that subject later). This is the actual range of widths I'm building all my vehicles in: #1: 60056 Custom Wrecker The original model of this wrecker (see http://brickset.com/sets/60056-1/Tow-Truck) is one of my favourite town sets of the actual range. I really love its nice colour scheme plus there are some great design elements which I've tried to preserve as you may see. As said, wheels are very important in my opinion, that's why I try to avoid the usual City wheel/mudguard combination which leads to a certain monotony in town layouts, especially due to the fact that the same combination is being used on passenger cars and on trucks which makes no sense to me. Thus I try to use as many combinations as possible. Another advantage of this is that you get different types of wheels with many different diameters suitable for quite a few purposes. Another important aspect of this model is functionality - a tow truck should be usable for towing purposes. The original set is already quite functional, however, I wanted to have separate functions for the boom and for the lifting cradle. Plus both should be functions in the above mentioned sense, that means, not just movable by hand. That's why some technical stuff is built in - which is much easier with a 7w than a 6w form factor, as you may recognize. That's the way it works: Thanks for looking, some more pics on my Flickr. More vehicles to come.

This is really good news for the car mocists - we seem to get much more decent mudguards (which is quite a sensation since this will enhance our possibilities very much), nice rims and some other great stuff. As for the cars themselves they look quite nice, you find some interesting design features and techniques, especially regarding the small form factor. On the other hand stickered headlights are clearly a no-go - and 4 wide cockpits on 6w+ vehicles (with a fig placed in the center which isn't realistic at all) have never worked and will never work. Maybe they could be used to build some nice Group C or GTP race cars in a 7w scheme. Anyhow I'm looking forward to these sets.

Looks quite nice though I'm wondering if it's a good idea to copy that many elements from an already existing Cuusoo/Ideas project and upload it there, too. Even if they refuse Sergio512's HQ (which is in the review stage) I don't think there is any chance to be successful with a similar building. (Btw. your link to Sergio512's project doesn't seem to work: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/60632). Concerning the proportions I completely agree with what the LegoDr says, especially regarding the fact that the GBHQ is a corner building. On the other hand there are rather narrow firehouses in a row of buildings (I've seen something like that in Brooklyn, I guess). Your last pic shows that it works quite well. But then there shouldn't be a gap between buildings in my opinion, plus you could omit the windows. Anyhow looking forward to the future development of your town which indeed looks very nice.

The main issue with this type of 4w+ (4-wide plus mudguards) vehicles are the tires that are sticking out which doesn't look realistic. I'd opt for some more decent wheels (e. g. http://www.bricklink...tem.asp?P=51011 plus http://www.bricklink...tem.asp?P=93594). The design of the car as such is quite nice. Same for the police station, looking forward to see how this will turn out.

Very nice, there are quite a few good ideas and building techniques in there. Especially the front is done very well. Two aspects are striking me, though: In my opinion a contrast colour would look good on the car - something like a black hood which is rather typical of a Camaro. If possible the rims should be more inside the tires to get a sportier, more aggressive look. Anyhow great build. Looking forward to your next Muscle or Pony car.

Thanks for the information. Btw. the idea of separating buildings, pavements, and roads plus omitting baseplates and roadplates came up some time before the LCS - the fact that SNOT roads allow openings in the road surface lead to the slot car idea. Yeah, I agree that it's more flexible, you can even have buildings with an odd width. Sinking the drain into the pavement is a great idea, I haven't thought of that so far. Elevation changes sound interesting, too. We can get much livelier surfaces with such building styles, I guess. Looking forward to the further development of this. And congrats on the blogpost, of course.

That's funny because I'm fiddling around with the exact same vehicle which I like very much btw., the design is much better than most of the actual City vehicles in my opinion. But I like your version (now 2 of them) very much, too, it's quite a unique design, the front of the 6w being my favourite.

Great work, the building is anything but simple, the result is worth the effort that went into this. I especially love the brickwork, the old windows and the roof design. That offset technique is brillant. Furthermore I'm interested in the way you designed the founding and sidewalk since this is something I'm struggling with, too. Obviously both elements are separated (or can be separated easily) plus there is no regular baseplate which is exactly my idea on that subject. Could you please provide some more details regarding this aspect?

Nice vehicles! The cars in the middle aren't MOCs, though, but recreations of the Ford Anglia (from a Harry Potter set) on the left side. The model (of a car which is rather small in reality) is nice but unfortunately much too big and especially much too tall within the usual Town scale, I doubt that you will be able to combine it with the other vehicles on a ferry. The "Rover" on the right is quite nice, though the nose seems a bit long, the front should be recessed a little which seems to be possible. But what I really love are your trucks which have a very original design. Colour is great, too. Always nice to see some Town vehicles that look a little unusual.

Nice ambulance, I especially like the fact that it fits 3 figs. Anyhow the design may be improved in some ways, I'd like to draw your attention to a very known model of a UK ambulance designed by Andy L which is also interesting due to the switch between a 6-wide cab and a 7-wide body. Maybe it serves as an inspiration, you may learn a lot from Andy. Link: London Ambulance by Andy L

Nice MOD of an amazing model! You've probably just forgotten to provide a link to gribra's original model (which should be common courtesy among mocists in my opinion, so that everybody can compare the original design and the modified model). Even gribra's picture with the tan DS isn't linked to gribra, but to your own Brickshelf. Anyhow providing a link is most important here since you'll want to feature gribra's project on Cuusoo/Ideas. Link to gribra's Cuusoo/Ideas project page: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/55753 Sorry if I've overlooked something in your post.

Sorry, I've missed this, thanks for posting it LT! Amazing, I've never seen it before. Now this is very interesting, not only because of those stylish buildings but also because there obviously were plans for a new oldtimer car base, elegant fenders included. The text on the Flickr page says that it was shown at Comic-Con 2009 - concerning the buildings we have something even better with the modulars nowadays, regarding the cars, well ...

The vehicle as such is cute, but it couldn't be understood as the recreation of a Land Rover even three years ago (see Ralph's comment), when the topic was published (take a look at the date). Today such a vehicle rather indicates how strongly Lego car building has changed within the past few years.

Very nice ARFF. There aren't that many Rosenbauer Panthers at this scale, and you've done a great job. Especially the cabin is nicely done - not so easy to capture the characteristic shape. I also love the amount of details you've put into this. In my opinion 8w is exactly the right width for an oversized vehicle like this. Looking forward to more vehicles from you! And welcome to EB, of course. Btw. my suggestion would be to get a Flickr account to upload your photos. You'll get much more attention from the Lego community than with Photobucket.

I really like the design of your plane, especially the wings. Looks much better than the usual wing part. Also the size is much more realistic.

Great Shell station! Would be glad to have it in the Flickr LEGO Gas Stations Group. I especially like the lighting features - you don't see that very often. Nice idea to use the recycling station for the battery. I agree with the others regarding the access for the cars, though, but I'd rather enlarge the whole thing so that there's more room between the building and the pumps.

Very nice scene, I especially love the building, but also the figs look great. The broken glass is very well done. The Ferrari is very nice, too, though I think the wheelbase should be one stud longer to get the proportions right. And I guess you had to omit the legs of the figs to fit them in. But what I really like are those slightly tilted tiles to get a smooth slope above the front wheels - you don't see that very often. It's not so easy to get a good looking vehicle at this scale, but you've done a great job.

There's a lot of great stuff in there, especially the MOCs. On the other hand the city looks a bit crowded and too colourful for my taste, perhaps a little more room between the buildings would help. On the corner between PC and your (very nice) police station there's a large gap (you can hardly see the fire station), some tall buildings are required there. But well, you have enough stuff to build a city twice as large, it won't take too much effort to change some details. Looking forward to the further development of your town!

Very tasteful and stylish, I especially love the neoclassical gable. The copper details will look even better "in the brick".

After 3 years of car building and lots of trial and error this is my solution for that problem: Of course, this can't be called an exact scale. But you get a working progression of the sizes of your Town vehicles. Usual trucks and buses aren't 8w (which is too large for City layouts in my opinion) but 7w, like the full size cars. Then there are smaller 6w cars which partially even fit 2 figs side by side. Within this range a small car like a Mini or 2 CV would be 5 studs wide (plus mudguards), not 6. Anyhow there is no law that says that Lego vehicles have to be 4, 6, or 8 studs wide. It's obvious that such a pattern doesn't work when aiming at a more realistic City layout.

The excellent price per piece ratio and the great parts as such you get for your money. As a mocist you know that you'll use them all sooner or later. Whenever there's a special offer of one of the modulars (which seems to be rare lately) I try to get one.