A Lego city 18 x 9 roadplates in size....

[mawich]

Layouts

Pics of the city I built years ago. The aim was to see if I could construct a realistic city using only Classic Town sets plus a few promotional sets thrown in for good measure.

I used the following rules to guide the design.

- All buildings had to face the same way so that the exposed backs of buildings would not be visible if viewing the city front on.

- The city was divided into four zones; City Center, Industrial Area, Harbor

- Every inch of the city was used for a purpose i.e. there would be no empty spaces

I never intended the city to become as large as it did. I started with an original design of a city 6 x 5 roadplates in size but it grew as I began to purchase more and more sets. The city has long since been disassembled.

The full set of pics can be found at

Oversized Image 1

Oversized Image 2

Edited by moderator: your images have been replaced with links. Please review site guidelines regarding maximum image size. -TheBrickster

Edited January 19, 2012 by Phred
Added downsized image to post.

[Vindicare]

Wow, that is awesome. That thing is massive. If you had to guess, how many sets did you use in there? It's a very nice town, not too full or too empty, just the right amount of busy without being too cluttered. Easy to take it all in.

[Fugazi]

Amazing city! And you say it's all built from official sets? There are even some I don't recognise, like the red and white building in the first picture (in this thread, not on Brickshelf).

[Zorbas]

This is just beautiful! Well done mawich, you've created my dream layout, full of classic town sets! If you ask my opinion, these roadplates are my all time favorite and the most suitable for a classic town layout.

Thanks again for the pictures!

There are even some I don't recognise, like the red and white building in the first picture (in this thread, not on Brickshelf).

6390 or 10041 Main Street

EDIT:

Welcome to EB too. If you want, you can introduce yourself here.

Edited September 24, 2010 by Zorbas

[Fugazi]

6390 or 10041 Main Street

Oh I see, thanks Zorbas!

[ACCURATEin]

Awesome!

[Marckeyh]

That's an amazing town, I can't stop looking at it. Can you post more pictures pls?

Edit: nevermind about the pictures, just seen your link to brickshelf :)

Edited September 24, 2010 by Marckeyh

[dr_spock]

That is awesome. Great job.

[Galaxy Explorer]

Mmmm, Classic Town! It's great to see all those wonderful sets together. I wish I had the space to do that, but unfortunately right now I can only do a 6x4 baseplate layout. The freeway with the large traffic sign looks great! I also really like your expanded airport, something I've been wanting to do for a while. You've done a great job landscaping, too! Lots of trees really add to a layout. Some of your photos remind me of the old catalogs, which is nice to see. Thanks for sharing!

[Mrlegoninja]

Thats awesome!

And also, welcome to eurobricks!

[prateek]

Wow! I am impressed. It's a shame you took it apart though. I really like that football/soccer stadium BTW!

[mawich]

Pics of the city I built years ago....

Thanks for the comments...Here's answers to questions posted

- Number of individual sets: Approximately 200

- The red and white building is one of the few MOC's included (the stickers came from one of the Lego Idea books). Another MOC is a yellow flatbed truck plus "Dino" the dinosaur.

- I agree with Zorbas regarding the roadplates used being the most attractive. These were released in 1986, a year after the introduction of Lego cycles. The only downsides to this style was 1) less building space (7 studs border versus the older 9 stud border) 2) They aren't fully compatible with the unique roadplate from 6371 (Shell Station) from 1982 which could be used as part of a bus stop scene.

- The Main Street set is 6390 and not the Legends version.

- The Football stadium is a particular favorite of mine. I used the sets released in 1998 and with some customisation ended up with the design shown in the photos.

Other information

- I had no option but to do away with the standard Monorail track supports and used round 2 x 2 black bricks instead. The smaller footprint of each support provided greater flexibility in planning the route.

- The reason for the unusual dimension was that Lego Buildings are generally wide but shallow i.e. the 6362 Post Office being a perfect example. All buildings face the same way hence the city ended up with a 2 x 1 ratio of width to depth.

- I'm convinced that it's simply not possible to incorporate a Monorail layout into a city predominantly at ground level. I've seen it achieved in one or two layouts but for the most part I believe the track should stay above ground...and besides...I reckon it looks cooler that way.

- The two high rise buildings were an attempt to provide a bit more realism to the city centre given that Lego didn't release too many buildings more than two floors ...the Central Police Station 6398 being one of the few (but I didn't have this set at the time I constructed the city).

- The final design took 18 months from inital idea to construction. I started out with a 6 x 5 town idea but things got completely out of control...and 18 months down the track after spending a LOT of time and money feeding this idea...I finally decided to assemble the city. In a funny way, the design process was actually more fun than the final construction.

[LEGOMAN132]

Very cool it is displays like this that got me into Lego city.

Very cool it is displays like this that got me into Lego city.

[romdam]

Now THAT'S a city!! The way it should be and not any of those ungodly 6 wide cars and semis that are as long as a city block (road plate) or unclassic HUGE buildings. Classic town!

[lcs]

Wow, this is cool. Lot of classic town going on.

[Jeff Huntington]

You are living my dream right now... I'd love to have that much space. I also loved seeing your football stadium, since I am blessed to have those sets, too. Is that the English team playing?

[mawich]

...Is that the English team playing?

Yes it is...against a generic Lego Team. I purchased the English version of the starter set when it was released in 1998. Strangely though, the TV towers weren't released in the UK so I had to get these from Holland.

....The way it should be and not any of those ungodly 6 wide cars and semis that are as long as a city block (road plate) or unclassic HUGE buildings. ...

I totally agree...The great thing about the Classic Town range was the consistency of scale over the 20 years it was in existence...and the fact it was possible to build a layout with many features of a real city within a relatively small area...something not possible with the current City Range...After all, the latest Passenger Plane is almost as long as the runways of the original 3 Classic versions.

[lightningtiger]

Now that's one busy classic-town city !

Excellent job assembling this collection 'mawich' - I'm a conformist!.....really I'm a conformist! !

[LegoSjaak]

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=439833

http://www.flickr.com/photos/legosjaak/

Or copy the text above to your browser...

Nice city...like the city...but i like it a little more crowded, as you can see in my city......

Greetz, LegoSjaak, Holland

Edited September 27, 2010 by LegoSjaak

[Ferdik]

I LOVE IT!

The football staduim is massive.

Two qestions:

1. How du you manage to keep it all so dustfree? The pieces look brand new.

2. Don't you buy any new sets?

[mawich]

I LOVE IT!

The football staduim is massive.

Two qestions:

1. How du you manage to keep it all so dustfree? The pieces look brand new.

2. Don't you buy any new sets?

The stadium is about 2.5 baseplates wide and 4 baseplates long.

1) The layout was only assembled for a week...I had been planning the city for about 18 months then finally decided to assemble it. After the week was up the city were packed up again. Unfortunately the only way to keep sets dust free is to keep them packed away. I'd love to find a way to create a room which was a close to dust proof as possible with lighting that didn't turn the pieces yellow...or at least a way to keep the city covered when not in use.

2) I've purchased some of the smaller sets from the latest range including 7732 Mail Van and hope to purchase the Toy Store and Bakery sets as these also fit in with the classic town scale. However, since the photos were taken I've been more focused on purchasing the Classic Town sets I didn't have at the time the photos were taken. And besides...the newer sets are in a larger scale and vehicles like 3221 - Lego Truck would look completely out of proportion to the rest of the city (not that I've got anything against the new Lego Truck!)

[ACCURATEin]

You should build a separate city with all the new kits.

[mawich]

You should build a separate city with all the new kits.

Just wouldn't be possible...I don't have the creative horsepower to deal with a larger scale...larger scale = more detail = more scope for creativity. Your city is a beautiful example of the level of detail which is afforded by a larger scale...and is perfect for those creative designers who can represent the real world in Lego bricks.

BTW...I love the garden featured in photo 024...If I get the opportunity to build the next city I'm planning, one thing that will be included is a Botanic Gardens with paved walkways, ponds, rose gardens etc.

[romdam]

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=439833

http://www.flickr.com/photos/legosjaak/

Or copy the text above to your browser...

Nice city...like the city...but i like it a little more crowded, as you can see in my city......

Greetz, LegoSjaak, Holland

Ok, that's TOO busy.

[Marko]

Nice. I love your usage of the "official sets". This is the style I love the most. Really massive. Hope you are still able to do something as large and neat. Thanks for sharing.