(MOC)-Modular City Mansion - A step by step building description.

[kevin8]

Good morning to everyone.

Today I am starting with a new idea (for me). I will relate the construction of my last modular building.

This new building has been designed for the last LDD/LDraw Eurobricks contest in the Freebuild category, earning the fourth placing, that is like the wooden medal :D .

While building it I will update my Flickr gallery.

I also take this opportunity to illustrate the techniques used and the reasons that led me to certain choices, as well as any changes in the course of work .

Anyway, I tell you that I do not have all the parts yet, something is still on the run, but I hope that everything will be ready by the week.

Let's start.

As you could see from the images of the LDD renderings, I tend to use unusual colors for hidden parts. It's the "sign" to identify every parts I can "fish" in my "old and ugly" bag of used parts, when collecting the pieces from my collection.

What you can see right now is that the base that holds the floor is in fact multicolored... it's not a problem since it will be completely covered.

On the back of the building I have already placed the final part of the downpipes. The problem in this case is that the 1x1 lbg cone does not stick well on the green baseplate so I have to add a 1x1 lbg plate between them.

Let's go back to the base of the floor.

When designing with LDD I incredibly found a lot of attack points in common between the straight underside base and the 45 degrees structure of the floor. I found it amazing, but in the end I decided not to investigate. Ldd is not quite accurate, in fact in some cases does not allow things that work in real life (try to attach a 2x1 plate with the two holes on the side of a technic brick ... ) and allows others that are not feasible ...

During the construction I have placed all the 1x1 round plates as in the picture, only to discover that there was no way to hook the floor. I finally decided to put one of them centered and put another in the corner to lock the eventual rotation of the floor, as you can see in the second photo.

The slanted floor has already been seen in several Moc, the technique is nice, but leads to some considerations:

the first is that it forces to have a rather raised floor,

the second is that the walls must be at least 2 bricks thick to hide the teeth resulting by the disposition of the tiles.

As we will see later, you can hide everything well with some basic tricks.

For the first time in my modulars (and especially because attending a contest, and well, with diagonal floor, studs didn't fit well), I decided to use tiles instead of plates... I still prefer the second choice to grant more gameplay, but in fact it results more pleasing.

Cad design allows to position all the attachment points of table and chairs without having to undo the work of construction. In any case, I added some 1x1 dbg plates where I could place the minifigs .

At the entrance I placed two little pinetrees pot.

The streetlights have been attached to a 2x2 plate in order to have the foot outside of the pavement, as occurred in the Parisienne #10243.

As soon as possible, the following...

https://www.flickr.c...57643933765153/

Here the second part

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=96063entry1903268

And the last part

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=96063entry1912380

Enjoy it.

Edited June 10, 2014 by kevin8

[gazumpty]

Excellent work kevin8. Im going to look forward to following this thread!

[kevin8]

Thank you!

[emilstorm]

That is a great start, i am excited to see how the entrance will look, it looks very promising so far

[lightningtiger]

Looks interesting so far 'kevin8', I do like the flooring very clever work indeed......keep going and Brick On !

[Bookworm]

This looks fantastic! I love the technique you are using for the floor. It is creative and has a very attractive result. I am looking forward to seeing this build come together.

[Wodanis]

I was admiring the floor technique and checking out your canal design on Flickr. I am impressed with the ideas! Have you thought about combining them?

[kevin8]

Thank you all!

I've received the last bunch of parts yesterday, so now I can go on building.

@Wodanis: actually the canal project has been almost completed some months ago but I put it apart. I have to build all the rock walls to finish it and some modulars with dungeon. It's my own diorama project, but now I have no place to put it together, I have to wait my new house to be completed. I hope to take some photos in the next weeks and then I will show this project on Eurobricks.

[Zeon]

I always enjoy to read the background story/building reasoning behind a MOC, so I can't wait to see the follow up :) Thanks for sharing!

[Kristel]

Looking forward to watching this one develop!

[Wodanis]

Thank you all!

I've received the last bunch of parts yesterday, so now I can go on building.

@Wodanis: actually the canal project has been almost completed some months ago but I put it apart. I have to build all the rock walls to finish it and some modulars with dungeon. It's my own diorama project, but now I have no place to put it together, I have to wait my new house to be completed. I hope to take some photos in the next weeks and then I will show this project on Eurobricks.

Sounds like quite the project. Can't wait to see more and read your updates. :) I may have to try my hand with your floor technique.

[kevin8]

Thank you Zeon! Thank you Kristel!

Wodanis, at last its not so difficult.

Kristel has built a modular house with this kind of floor too. It was a very great one.

[dvsntt]

Yea, that looks really good, I like the diagonal floor tile, and pretty clever way to make it work. Can't wait to see more of it.

[kevin8]

Thanks!

[3BrickFriends]

cool.

[kevin8]

Thank you! tomorrow I should be able to post part 2...

[emilstorm]

We shall be watching

[kevin8]

Let's go on with construction .

Just last night I managed to complete the ground floor. Due to the limited capacity of LDD while outputting decent instructions I usually divide the model into several steps when I think there are too many parts to manage.

The walls are pretty standard. Let me point out the walls on the perimeters constructed to hide the holes left in the floor and the numerous side studs to attach pieces of furniture.

I take advantage of the wall thickness to add details, already used in my medieval tower, to the windows. Attaching slopes on the side of windows I get in fact an effect of oblique wall to facilitate the lighting of the room.

On the left side I have provided an opening that gives access to the garage. The door will be on the additional module. The whole house is built basically to allow the exposure as a 32x32, 32x48 or 32x64 module (if will finish the garden). Initially, however, it had to be a 32x32 modular, but I would not be able to get all the rooms that I wanted, so I decided to expand the building.

For the facade I was inspired by a building in Lisbon. I had seen the photo of this building in a magazine about travel and it struck me to the point of deciding to implement it immediately with LDD. The inspiration, however, stops at the ground floor, as the rest of the building was my best idea in that moment. On the other hand I did not have a full picture and the first floor had mullioned windows that I was not able to accomplish in a satisfactory manner.

In particular, I am satisfied with the success of the base of the columns, even if their size did not allow me to place windows in a centered position in the facade.

I still have some doubts to the front door and I would like to make a new one with plates and tiles, I cannot deny that I'm still trying to find a different solution, but I did not want a door that is too thick. In addition, the current door is attached just above and it's a little "dancing" ...

I'm not completely satisfied by external lamps, but with a so full of details facade, adding a more elaborate lamp, could grow stout it even more I fear.

The back is fairly anonymous, as often happens in these buildings, we give full attention to the front and forget about the back. With the idea of expanding the garden I could make a trellis or put climbings, but it's a so abused way to fill the back of the buildings, by pushing me to try something else.

The columns are clearly coming form the Parisienne #10243. Even having thought about this kind of decoration before the release of the set, I can not think of another way to achieve this result.

But let's talk about furnitures .

I wanted a snotted staircase in my building, because it solved railing problems and because I liked the idea of the red carpet and the rounded foot. So why not putting it here, where a tiled floor can ease several things? I am very satisfied with this achievement, although it was quite a puzzle to put it together with the rest and I could not make it fitting perfectly on the first floor .

I have some room hidden under the stairs, I'd like to open the back wall and create there the boiler room, we'll see if I can.

The fireplace has a snotted base and a plate hanging on the hood. Putting a plate with clips in the wall I managed to stick a piece of wood for the fire.

The heater is the same I usually put in all my modular. It's a very compact one and I can place it anywhere.

For the furnitures I tried to keep a classic style to follow a bit the kind of house that I built, so a lot of wood and white marble for the kitchen, and classic showcases.

Even the curtains are due to the Parisienne. Needless to say, it is a set that I love and never, as in this case, the work of Jamie Berard inspired me.

I am also pleased with the success of the buffalo head hanging as a trophy. I assure you no bison was killed for its realization ... XD

https://www.flickr.c...57643933765153/

Edited May 30, 2014 by kevin8

[Poisso3]

Wow! I am loving the techniques you are using for this build!

[emilstorm]

I think it was worth the wait The facade has a great look, loving the windows, and the interior is great too. The curtains are a nice touch, and the banister seems to work cery well. And very nice fire place

[LAKAbricks]

Kevin8, are you fraternizing the enemy? Putting tiles on the floor!?! Just joking, it's justified in some cases. And especially in a case like this. And it's looking good. What really caught my eye was the living room with the fireplace. It's so cozy, and the fireplace with the plate is really beautiful. It ought to be in a great hall of a castle.

Thank you for sharing the process with us.

[kevin8]

LOL. This is the last time, I promise!

Thank you all, it's nice you like this house.

[JohZan]

Extraordinary look, it certainly gives an authentic look to any buildings, thanks for sharing! And lovely interior by the way.

Edited June 9, 2014 by JohZan

[kevin8]

Today we finally conclude the construction of the modular as I will go to the seaside next Friday.

The third step involved the construction of a garage. As I said, I initially thought about making a 32x32 house. Too bad that in this way I could not handle all the rooms I wanted to, unless I had to manage microscopic environments. So, why not add a 16x32 part and put a garage on the ground floor?

In this case, among other things, the style is reminiscent of the main building without being identical, I took this decision to suggest that it is a part added by the owners to expand the house.

The not centered position of the doorway is intentional. Differently I could not place the steps that connect the kitchen. The door is on the wall of the garage to let me show this house as a 32x32 module.

The doorway is made with plates and tiles. Until the end, however, I tried to use the Lego doors, but with no good result.

As you can see the garage contains a workbench with a chuck and a set of tools hanging on the wall between which a vacuum cleaner.

The rear shelter is engaged tilted down and I managed to close the resulting slots quite well.

Starting from the LDD project I changed the supports because the white hinged bars I bought were yellowed. I must say that I like the new one most.

The fourth step concerns the first floor.

In this part, I managed to put the living room, the rest of the stairs, the bathroom and part of a corridor that leads to the master bedroom.

On the facade there's a glass window with a balcony. I wanted to make a double swing door that can be opened, so I added, not without some problems, hinge plates, but during construction I discovered that, of course, there's no way to open and close them without dismantling everything.

The front glass is attached to the wall with clips and above door bows I positioned some lamps. Compared to the initial project I had to move the lamps to facilitate the opening of the doors. Even the arch that frames this element was added later, as it was initially simulated with inverted slope.

The facade has columns and rather elaborate capitals to emulate a neoclassical style.

I used the legs of skeletons to decorate the balcony, but I turn to get a different effect than the usual almost abused even by me.

On the back I placed the gutters with drains that connect to those on the ground floor.

Each window has its attachment for curtains and brown tile on the floor to simulate the parquet, I placed several plate to fix furnitures and eventual minifigs.

Even the walls are predisposed to attacks lamps, heaters, and more.

Speaking about the living room, I made a white sofa, a small glass table, a bar table with a few bottles and a low cabinet in a modern style with a TV. In this case, a piece of furniture in a classic style would not have found the right place with an LCD television, so I was inspired by the style of Ikea.

I'm really satisfied with the lamps. Basically I copied them from a friend's house and they rook like some wrought iron work, so they are perfectly in line with the overall style of the house.

The bathroom has a snotted tub, the usual Pet Shop toilet and a vanity with sink. By taking advantage of the cover of a 1x1 brick Tecnic I've been able to make a more elegant holder than those you can see around.

In the corridor I put a wardrobe in a classic style.

The stairs style changes, they become covered in wood and continue towards the attic. Of course, after the test of the snotted stairs, I wanted something easier, even the handrail becomes of easier realization.

Fifth step: the master bedroom above the garage.

As mentioned, the part of the garage had to be in style with the rest of the house but not identical. As we will see later, the master bedroom has windows with decorations similar and in line with the rest of the house, but finally different for some details.

This room is basically derived from an attic and most of the walls are made of a sandwich made out of plates on headlights. With a certain amount of patience I was able to match the parts to avoid slots.

The room, although is on a 16x18 base, at the end is small. This is due to the thick 2 bricks-built walls in order to contain the roof made of plates and slopes. It was a long time since I wanted to make a roof of this kind, after having admired this technic in castles and whatnot. The resulting slate tiles effect is excellent.

Again I made the mistake of creating a double swing door with hinges. Here I decided to leave it closed. To break the monotony of the back of the house I added a balcony using the same element of the parapet of the front.

Even in this case I wanted wooden furniture, but without decoration. A kind of rustic hardwood and devoid of frills.

The bed is really impressive. At its feet I placed a trunk.

The corner wardrobe and a niche in the wall allowed me to create the inside with a couple of shelves and folded clothes on.

Even the chandelier is reminiscent of a classic style. I've used something similar in the furnitures of the Cafe Corner.

Above the bed I placed a picture.

The result is quite elegant.

Last step: the attic.

In the attic I placed the children bedroom and in a kind of open space, a room with a diorama and a mobile computer.

Even in this case, apart from the central area, the walls were built in sandwich. Here, however, I managed to insert the supports of the tents. I realize the curtains exactly like in the Modular Bookshop, with flags. I wanted them colorful initially, but because of the cost that had already risen quite a bit, I decided to use the black ones I had in my storage.

During this steps I noticed how neither the white parts produced by Lego have uniform colors ... I found 5-6 variations of white between the parts that make up the walls.

By building this part, I found myself changing the walls several times. A widespread error that happens while making CAD Mocs is that sometimes you don't bind bricks together. But here I was amazed at how many pieces were separated from each other. I proceeded to make the structure more solid, where I could.

The central part continues with the style started below, so here's another balcony with another window, this time fixed, but always enclosed by an arch.

The summit culminates with a dish inside an oval and a decoration created with snotted parts.

I placed two chimneys on the roof, one massive and at the fireplace on the ground floor and the other smaller at the kitchen.

The antenna is the same of the Bookshop ... I'm copying myself.

The furnitures of the open space are still in classic style, with a library and a desk for a PC.

The children bedroom follows a bit more modern style, with two beds, a bedside table and a wardrobe.

Finally I placed a support with a guitar.

For the pictures around the house I applied a bricky filter to two photos from an event of a couple of years ago.

If I have to make some final thoughts, I must admit that about 6000 pieces can be actually seen. I am very satisfied with this MOC, even if I start repeating myself and it gives me a bit of boredom.

You can see the pictures of the completed building here.

[emilstorm]

Great final result! The garage looks really good, I love the overhang over the door, and the rest of your furniture is awesome.