Modular Police Station

June 3rd, 2014

Progress update:

I don't know why I am not more prolific with writing for this blog? If I don't update it who will read it?

I completed my two modular projects earlier this year and have been designing various things since then. In my last post I created a modular police station to go with my existing modular buildings. It turned out quite nicely in LDD. Creating it in brick has proven thorny with a few parts. Normally I check out beforehand when I use certain parts to make sure that I can acquire them from Lego. Last year I did a lot of Bricklink orders. I have discovered that the postage cost and other fees makes using them unrealistic for my needs. A few major parts in my design I had to renegotiate with myself for a slightly different look.

I removed the black tripartite window frames for regular ones. Black is a discontinued part from 2005-07. The white arches I have also had to amend (brick w.bow 1x4x5) as TLG isn't producing those either. The trans blue windows in 1x2x3 also were discontinued as they appeared in only one set from 2010. They used only one window in the polybag set! With these thoughts in mind I adjusted the design. My hope is that when I do finish this project it will look just as grand as my original design.

As you can see from the images how I have altered things. I had to re-tile the main lobby as well since 2x2 do not come in dark orange and the 1x2s that do are pricey. My redesigned floor costs less but retains the look I wanted. 

To date I have done three orders for this project. This project is expensive as I do not have a Lego shop near my city. Ordering 1x1 tiles at 10 cents a piece really adds up the costs. In any case, I'm committed to this project. 

Feb 10, 2015 - Update: I completed my project a few months ago and have since then posted photos on my flickr account and even submitted it onto Lego Ideas. Still need many supporters to make it to 10,000 so by all means please support it.

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/90855

https://www.flickr.com/photos/94341490@N02/

Other projects

The other thing I have also started to invest in was to build from scratch the Combine Harvester 7636 from 2009. I really liked the set when I saw it on Brickset and had planned on finding a copy but building it will be much more enjoyable. Of course this is in addition to keeping pace with newer sets being released. I would love to get as much as I can but I am limited right now.  

I started to revisit my design for an art nouveau house but decided to scrap the initial design and start over. I am also thinking about making my own bank and having thoughts on making a rail deport for the new cargo train sets. The latter idea is what I will work on I think. I have to stay focused on the tasks at hand and one project at a time. Otherwise I will start several and not complete any!

One final note, I stopped collecting Star Wars sets last year but having bought a few now and then. I realized just how much fun it is to own and build them. :) Sigh, more to collect...

2014 Lego thoughts

January 11th, 2014

So it is the start of a new year and Lego fever has been gripping me. I've been really eager to learn what the new summer wave of 2014 Lego sets will look like. Right now I have been trying to keep pace with my collecting but without work it makes things awfully difficult. Normally I collect Star Wars, City, CMFs, Creator, Modular buildings and anything else I fancy (the Lego Movie!). Right now though I have had to cut out most of the Star Wars sets. This is difficult as I will miss out on the SW sets I didn't get the first time back in 2007. For now I have been trying to focus on City. I really do love the Great Vehicles line. My ambition is to acquire the Parisian Restaurant soon and to definitely see the Lego Movie.

Over the Christmas holidays I finally got my copy of Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry by David Robertson. Honestly once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. I learned a great deal about the Lego Group from 1990-2012. The book takes one through the successes and failures of the Lego Group and the brush with bankruptcy in 2003 to new heights after 2012 where Lego is now second largest toy company behind Hasbro. After reading the book I now understand how and why certain decisions were made and how these decisions are reflected in the Lego Groups current portfolios. For example Lego tried to digitize bricks with a project called Darwin. The project was a colossal failure but from it birthed Lego Digital Designer. Similarly the failure with Lego Universe MMO resulted in a renewed commitment of breaking into the video game market with a variety of Lego titles. I'm over simplifying but I would recommend reading the book as their are lots of details in the inner workings of the Lego Group and how they addressed their failures (Galidor and Sliders) and successes (Bionicle, Lego 'board' Games, Star Wars, Ninjago and the revamped lines such as City). Question is: will the Lego Group keeps its momentum? I surely hope so. They have been quadrupling their earnings for the past 8 years.


My Cafe Corner and Green Grocer project is almost finished. I have one more order to do for 1x1 tiles and 1x1 plates to complete the two of them. Once that is done I can finally build them! This has been a long wait as I started this project last August.   

To pass the time when not looking for work I busy myself with design projects. For the past month I have been creating a modular police station. It is taking shape and so far so good. I would prefer actual building instead of digital building to make my projects but as I am not rich ce la vie.

This past week I also created an interior for the Cafe Corner. However I think that I will have to wait until other things are purchased first before I can start buying the parts. I look for inspiration and tend to mod things a lot from other designs I see. It is part of my learning process to de-construct what others have done and then improve upon it with my own modifications. It is a Ancient Roman trait. :)