Freddie

Very nice buildings, Snaillad! You've certainly got the art-deco style down (no surprise there, given your previous MOCs), and the interiors are very nicely done as well. Just one question: You don't happen to have a pictures of all your buildings lined up, do you?

I can just agree with everyone else. The facade is fantastic, and gives of the impression of an old, but restored and perhaps repurposed, building. Great work!

I'm with everybody above on this. It is a fantastic piece of work. I really like how you've used grey elements, mixed in with a few others, avoiding monotony and creating textures - it could after all easily have become a grey box with windows, but you've avoided it beautifully!

Amazing interior as always, but what really cought my eye were the canisters used for the edges of the facade. Never thought of using them like that before. Gotta love the stairs too, even if isn't your idea!

I'll repeat what I said on Flickr: This is a stunning piece of work. What I didn't mention was how I love the color combinations on this - it's a fantastic blend of earthly colors and with a mix of orange that doesn't seem to stand out as much as one would think. Altough for some reason, I can't help to think of this as a some sort of tea house. But then again, maybe that's the point, with how you envision it.

Oooh. That is very nice - the interior very much so. There's a lot of little details there, and excellent (and recognisable) furniture design as well - the sofa-bed being an IKEA product, for example (a Bäddinge sofa-bed). Very nice craftmanship on this one.

Very, very nice. The only thing that I don't really like are the second floor corner windows, with the arch behind the windows, but that's it. The exterior is otherwise boutiful, the interior the same, and the emerald "figurine" hanging above the main entry is a nice touch.

...or it could be the less than optimal photography conditions the pictures were taken in. And that is probably the only main critique I have here; the buildings themselves are fantastic. There's diversity, each building it's own, with distinctive features, but they work together as well. Also, gotta love the pallace, if only because of the four towers! But my favourite of these is probably the reimagined Café Corner - can't really beat a classic!

It is, in my eyes, a nothing less than a stunning piece of craftmanship. It's difficult to point out what I like about it, because there's just so much to like. It's not just a huge MOC, it's detailed, it's immersive and probably a few other positives too that I can't remember right now. This is absolutely an excellent build, and nothing less than that.

It's a clever and neat idea - cities often have these blank spaces between buildings for some sort of community utility, why shouldn't LEGO-cities have them? On that note; Would you mind if I borrowed your idea?

It's a fascinating building - that's for sure. I've been trying to build it myself, and find the columns to be somewhat frustrating - it's an unusual technique that's been used, and the placement is whacky, to say the least. But I bet it's a satisfying build, once it's done!

People should also notice the new attraction opening at LEGOLAND Billund in May next year - hopefully it'll be open when we visit. Judging by the pictures, it looks like a fun coaster.

Scale-wise - the harvester is actually pretty tiny compared to the real deal! It's not a city-vehicle, I'll grant you that, but it's still small for a harvester. Actually, scale-wise many of those sets are either down-scaled or just right. Right, on topic: Apart from 2005 being the year that brought me out of my dark ages, 7236 being that very set, it was essentially a reboot of a theme that since '96 had dwindled into obscurity. Despite the oversized wheelarches and wheels, lack of doors and such, that particular set had more in common with classic town cars than more recent offerings, and it sparked my interest again. The overall design was one that I recognized from my childhood, and while it might not be as good as today's designs, it did form a base that newer designs could be evolved from. It's the same with 7239, that gave a basic design for trucks (not to mention that it has outlasted many of them, still going strong in 2011!), and 7245, which gave a foundation for vans. The buildings have evolved as well, from using raised baseplates to flat ones instead, and using roller-doors for garages instead of open ones, returning the design to the play-feature-heavy designs of the 80's. Essentially, 2005 formed the foundation for what City is today, and while the designs might be bad compared to what is available today, they were excellent and deliciously "retro" for the time.

Well, first of all it was a "limited" set, meant to only be sold for roughly half a year, and priced aggressively to promote sales. Secondly, most of the bricks, with the possible exception being the girders (which are of a different type of plastic), were possibly in a low-price bracket internally at LEGO. I bought the set when it was released, and it was neither a complicated build, nor very exciting parts-wise. Besides, take away the bridge, and you end up with a tractor unit and a tiny six-wheeled trailer. Most of the set's size is in the bridge, itself built of relatively few parts.

And in Denmark it is with Toyota.

I'm making room in my calendar for this event - I'm very much geared for another event after Skærbæk this year. Might also bring along a friend, if you guys don't mind.

That should do it - the distance from the wheels to the pivoting point also seems to be short, so I don't think it should have a hard time going through switches either.

If the trolley uses a rigid frame (no pivoting bogies underneath), then the coupling between the cars will need to have at least two points of rotation - the universal joint you're using only gives one. Take a look at how the magnetic coupling used for the buffers work, for an example.

I am a proud owner of a 6921 expansion set, plus a few extra rails such as switches and ramps. Also have a type 2 motor and a pair of chassis' to go with it. I am also working on a brick-built monorail, such as F0nix', which initally was similar, but have recently moved on to two studs wide rail for improved stability.

Thank you for posting these videos here on the forum, DLuders - and a big thank you to MasaoHidaka for making them! I've been trying to make a monorail with brick-built track, but single-stud wide track results in stability problems, and I've had no idea how to make two-studs wide track while keeping the curves smooth - figures that it would be such a simple solution as that!

Being the lucky owner of them all, my vote goes for the Maersk. The prime reason being the level of detail it has, compared to the others - it is an unfair advantage it has yes, the others being far older and showing their age. That, and better proportions.

The build itself will be a test of patience for her, but once it's finished I think she'll enjoy it. These buildings are essentially doll houses, afterall - I'd go with your suggestion, and ask what she thinks of it. But, are you sure you're not buying those sets for yourself?

I agree with all of the above. This is a very nice building, and the interior is nothing less than impressive, with a lot of unique solutions that could be expected in a flat of such size. I've tried to design one of similar size, and know how difficult it can be to fit in a believable interior, not to mention the stairs! Now, if you don't mind, I'm off to build one of my own now that you've inspired me.

I, along with others who attended the EB-event last year, got to meet him as he had a presentation of the process of designing these buildings. A lot of the tricks and techniques he uses are a result of his ideas simply not being "legal", and so he asks for advice from others who are more familiar with what is allowed and what isn't. So he is to a point dependant on others, hence the "we". It could also simply be "corporate-talk", which is more likely. Anyway, I'm looking forward to this set. The 2x 32x16 format this time around even aids me in storing them in my display-shelf, so that's welcome bonus for me. Not to mention the sand blue parts!