Lego City Layout: August Update

I have taken a bit of a break from the layout while I get caught up on some of the new August Lego releases.  I purchased most of the new batch of Minecraft sets along with the Heavy-Haul train and some other misc city sets.  I am also waiting for a modest pick-a-brick order to come in to keep working on the layout.  I have found that most of the time, if I am not dealing in rare parts, pick-a-brick is cheaper then Ebay for specific parts.  The only down side is it takes a lot longer to get the order.

I decided to go nuts and just build all of the remaining bench work at once and get the whole layout set up as far as the foundation.  I have gotten to the point were its hard to go forward piecemeal as I will start running into issues with track lining up.  So later this week and am going to buy the lumber to build modules C and D and at least get the train track laid out and start figuring out where the rest of the buildings are going to go.  From there it will be quite some time to collect up the baseplates I need and start filling in details, but at least I will be able to run my trains!

31038 Changing Seasons

31038 is the latest Creator series house, having just been released in the US in the last month.  I always like the creator buildings and was intrigued by the 3 in 1 construction options representing three different seasons.  I am used to the 3 in 1 designs having the primary (advanced) model being by far and away the nicest build with the other two models being at best awkward so I figured this set might actually give me a reason to build the other sets.

The main model is the "Advanced" build and is meant to represent Spring/Summer.  It includes a house with dark red roof, a raised white patio with sunken pool area complete with pool basketball hoop and a diving board.  There is also a nicely built up outdoor grill that utilizes the red light brick that is included to represent the fire in the grill.

Rounding out the outside is a small table with glass mug, mail box, garden, lawn chair, mower, tree and a brick built bird.  Inside, the detail is pretty sparse with a single non-rotating chair and table with lamp.  Most of the windows have flower boxes adding a nice detail.  The building splits in half on hinges all the way down to and including the base plate.  There is also a very small car that is included that is in the same vein as the ones in a number of other recent Creator sets.  The car is way too small and the mini-figure looks ridiculous sitting in the vehicle.  The build starts off with the pool area which is a very odd build as you are constructing the foundation out of white slopes that mostly end up getting hidden from view.

The down side to the three seasons focus is that there are some sacrifices made to the overall function and feel of the model so as to use bricks that serve completely different roles in the other builds.  This leaves the whole set feeling a bit off, but overall I still like the novelty and flexibility of the three seasons options and the design is different enough from previous ones to feel fresh and unique.  The set includes two mini-figures, a kid and an adult and the different builds have the minifigures put together in different combinations to make new figures.  The set feels a bit over priced at $49.99 for 536 pieces, especially compared to other recent creator sets like 31025 Mountain Hut and doesn't have quite the level of polish that I like in my creator sets.

Lego City Layout: Street Life

I received more parts in the mail today to help move along the sidewalk and floors of some of the creator buildings, mainly 31026 Bike Shop Cafe.  I was able to finish tiling the public square area next to the 7937 Train Station, which hosts a hot dog stand and the 40140 Flower Cart while leading to a back alley running behind 31026 Bike Shop Cafe.  I also finished most of the work in front of the buildings.

I wanted to be able to still access the interior of the buildings, but some of the Creator houses/stores swing open on hinges instead of having the removable upper floors like the Modular buildings.  I tried making the swinging function work with the front of the building fixed, but it was too difficult and limited my options on what I could do behind the structures (to give clearance for them to open).  So I decided to try a similar technique to the buildings with lift off floors, and instead have the entire building lift off the foundation/ground floor.  The building still hinges open, so you can lift it off and open it up to get inside.  This also allowed me to put floors in and improve the fixtures on the ground floor.  I removed the clip systems and the bases from the buildings, rebuilt the bottom row of bricks to make it sturdier and fill in for the removed clips and then laid down the smooth finishing tiles around the edge as the foundation the building would sit on.  I put a sub-floor down and then covered it with a layer of 2x2 finishing tiles in checkerboard patterns.  Ultimately it works reasonable well, in addition to making things more accessible by being able to easily remove the buildings.  It also improves the interior considerably.  

Lego City Layout: Module B

I whipped up the table for the second module for my layout last week.  I also completely rearranged my garage and finished tearing down all the bench work for the old HO train set and boxed up and organized most of my Legos.  The legs on the new modular tables was a bit on the wobbly side so I made 45 degree wooden braces that made everything alot more solid.  I positioned the two current modules and bolted them together and everything seems to be working fine.

Module B is meant to house the rest of the Creator modular buildings including the 10232 Palace Cinema, 10224 Town Hall and 10218 Pet Shop, along with a spur of track to house some sort of industry (current place holder is just a freight transfer station), 60050 Train Station and some other miscellaneous structures.

The last of the Modular buildings have been re-based onto the road plates and about half the side walk has been done.  I am suffering from a shortage of materials for light posts and sidewalks and am stuck waiting for stuff to come in from E-bay.  All in all I am pretty happy with how its coming!

60097 City Square: Small Buildings Vehicles and Accessories

The Coffee stand is pretty basic with a bike rack on one side and a picnic table with umbrella on the other. Inside there are a couple different types of coffee machines behind the front counter, which has a couple of red coffee cups and a creamer container. This building is supplied with a nice sign that reads "The Coffee Chain" and a detailed barista to work the counter. The building itself is fairly boring, and there is a 1x4 space behind the sign that should have a finishing tile on it to match the rest of the finished roof. Otherwise a nice little addition.

The Tram station is a glass roofed structure with a couple chairs with side racks to hold newspapers or suitcases. It also includes an electronic ticket dispenser, some nice signage and a grass area with tree to round it out. I like this building, but the tree seems just a bit off.

The news helicopter is a nice open sided vehicle with some decent detailing and a camera hanging off one side, its a bit of an upgrade above some of the awful smaller helicopters that have shown up in some other recent City sets. It also includes a helmeted pilot.

The tow truck is pretty standard fare with a winch to pull the stranded car up onto the tilting bed. It is done up in the same green and white "Auto Service" colors that the current 60081 Pickup Tow Truck has. Its a nice model that adds some playability to the service station. There are a total of three cars included in this set for the tow truck to tow, a red couple, a black sedan and a yellow pickup truck. All are pretty basic and are of the much maligned 4 stud wide design, but its still a nice bonus and lets you fill up your city streets quick!

The Lego delivery truck is a simple design but does have opening cab doors and doors on the back, along with a driver wearing Lego Store regalia and a hand cart with two printed Lego boxes. Again, much like the tow truck does for the service station, the Lego truck adds some depth to the Lego store.

The last major item is the orange and black articulated tram. This is a fairly large vehicle with three sections, the two main end sections each have a driver seat and seats for four passengers and the middle section is labeled to hold bikes. You can comfortably fit 10 minifigs in the tram. It uses small disc wheels and the glass sides all open upwards to gain access to the interior. There is very little internal detail an no driver controls to speak of. My only real complaint is the green dot "digital" tram number display, its hard to see even under normal circumstances, but the instructions have you placing all four stickers towards the ends (which makes sense) but behind those particular glass panels are white door frames, and those white door frames lighten up the back ground enough that its almost impossible to see the numbering.

Last of all, you get a decent hot dog stand with cook, a child minifig eating a hot dog, a pizza delivery guy one a motorbike with boxes of pizzas flying off the back, a pedal bike, a newspaper rack, dog and a couple other minifigures.

Overall, I love this set, the diversity of buildings, mini-figures, details and accessories provides a ton of play AND display value while still having a fairy solid detail level. The components offer some interplay that gives depth to the whole set and there are lots ways this set can add to a larger city and/or train display!

60097 City Square: Large Buildings

I recently ordered 60097 City Square figuring it would be a nice addition to my City Layout, adding a wide variety of minifigs, vehicles, a couple decent buildings and some nice smaller structures.  At $189.99, it felt a bit pricey, but once I got it in the mail and opened it up, I was pleasantly surprised by just how much was in it  (the box art does not do it justice).  The set includes 16 numbered bags plus a bag of base-plates and another of windows for the tram.  The set includes two large buildings, a Lego store and an care dealership with service shop; two smaller buildings, a coffee stand and a tram station, three cars, a Lego truck, a tow truck, a news helicopter, an articulated tram, 14 mini-figures and a host of other minor accessories.  All of which would fit well in any City/Train themed layout.  This is a large set, so I am going to break this review up into a few parts, the first which will cover the Care Dealership and the Lego Store.  This set shares some tie ins/similarities to the 60026 Town Square and 8408 Public Transport Station.

First, a bit more information on the two larger buildings.  First off, there is the car dealership with attached service station which includes a working car lift, nice signage, and a two story show room.

The dealership also includes sliding pocket doors on the bottom floor of the show room, two tire displays, room for a car to be display on the second floor, a small tool rack in the service station along with a desk.  I love the blue curved sections around the second floor show room and the roof line of the service station.  My only complaints about this section are that the thee window/door frames on the show room area (two on top and one on the bottom opposite the service station) do not have any glass in them, which leaves the side views unfinished.  This seems to be a compromise to allow the tire displays to fit, but does not seem worth it.  The set comes with a black car, a red car a service attendant, a female driver and a tow truck with driver (all which will be reviewed in a later section).

Next we have a nice little Lego Store, smaller than the Car Dealership, but still manages to squeeze in a lot of fun internal details for a nice overall package.  This is a two story tall building with only one floor. The building is a nice fusion of an older traditional row store with a modern update using glass windows and Lego Store signage.  The traditional feel is given using the back side of masonry blocks along with nice detailing on the roof line and a building date (1932).   The store also includes a roof top vent/HVAC, some vent detailing on the building sides and a standard city light post with a bus stop sign.  

 Inside we see all sorts of fun details.  There is a large red 2x4 brick on display in the window, a demolition set box display in the other window, a service desk with computer and a slow to hold a brick built Lego bag and a mini-figure displaying (using a micro figure).  On the two walls we have a pick-a-brick display behind the service counter and on the other side are some glass shelves with various set boxes with printed faces.  There is also a ledge behind the second floor windows that holds classic Space and Castle minifigs, a really nice touch that makes this building shine!  The building also includes a child minifig and a Lego Store employee minifg.  There is also a Lego shipping truck with driver that will be reviewed in a later section.  All around I love this building and my only possible complaint is that the otherwise standard street light, lacks the grey vent piece on the 1x2 base that some of the other City sets have.

Lego City Layout: Sidewalk Improvements

I had a couple more packages of bricks from Ebay show up today and that allowed me to expand some of the sidewalks and add a few more details, mainly drains, more fire hydrants and some 2x2 finishing tiles with a single stud on top to make it easier to pose mini-figures.

I should have more bricks coming over the next few days to allow me to substantially expand the side walk down past the train station.  I also have been working on creating a hinged back for the train station office as its one of the few open back buildings that will have its back to the street, and I wanted the street view to look clean.