Assembling Bricksburg

[Xon67]

Here's the large crawler crane.

[Actor Builder]

That's super trippy. I like it.

[Romanos]

nice and big

[Xon67]

Something a little smaller--and they've been known to dance:

Edited June 16, 2016 by Xon67

[Tijn]

Hi, First of all, awesome work you're doing.

I notices in the first page that you made some LDD files available. Is there any chance the movie green grocer you built will become available as well ? I would like to do a mod on this so it becomes an angled 48 x 48 corner modular building, not copy the entire building, but you figured out a lot of angles that would save me several hours.

Regards,

Martijn

[Xon67]

Hi Tijn--Thanks for the comment! Getting angles in LDD can be difficult, can't it? If it helps, here is the frame that I put together when building the jumbo Green Grocer. Instead of calculating the angles on paper, I let the bricks do the work for me. Using the hinge tool and a little trial and error, I built this frame and then moved the various walls onto it. It was still a bit tricky at times, but I think it worked better than trying to hinge entire walls of the building. This should provide the angles you're looking for:

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Xon67/Movie/movie_green_grocer_frame.lxf

I originally talked about this on page 4 of this topic. There's an image there showing some of the wall pieces in progress. Let me know if this helps. I'd be interested in seeing your build when it's done!

[Borex]

It's amazing all the work you are doing here Xon67. Not only entertaining, but also inspirational. Thanks!

[Tijn]

Thisshould provide the angles you're looking for:

http://www.brickshel...rocer_frame.lxf

I originally talked about this on page 4 of this topic. There's an image there showing some of the wall pieces in progress. Let me know if this helps. I'd be interested in seeing your build when it's done!

Thank you, that helps a lot. I'll probably end up changing a lot, but I'll show you the end result.

[Tijn]

Building a frame on the ground first was a good idea, It helps to define a shape without a lot of hassle and snap the components to that frame. LDD is a bit naggy about snapping to certain angles, particularly when rotating bricks placed at an angle...

Here's my WIP

Green Grocer extensive MOD WIP by Martijn van der Linden, on Flickr

[Xon67]

Hi Borex--Thanks for the comment! There's more to come...

Tijn--I like what you're doing, dividing up parts of the Green Grocer like that. I like that you're using the back of the Fire Brigade. The shop on the corner looks like an ice cream shop. Is it?

[Xon67]

Except for some Octan logos that were added to it, this one was used in the movie without any modifications to the original set.

Edited June 29, 2016 by Xon67

[Xon67]

This one I really enjoyed doing and especially liked how it turned out.

[Xon67]

Here's another building that we don't see close up in its entirety in the movie. The tower can be seen in the distance in at least three locations from Emmet's neighborhood and the construction site. The building itself can be seen in a demolished state in several locations on the construction site (there's two of them right next to the instruction holder).

I had to do some major guesswork on the tower. This is the first time I intentionally left some details off a build--there are some criss-crossing supports on the tower where I just couldn't tell what parts were used. However, I feel the building itself is accurate.

[Xon67]

Jersey Brick Guy--It's time for some more skyscrapers, starting with how they're built:

Edited July 17, 2016 by Xon67

[LegoManTroy]

How long did it take to make this again? I am blown away!

[Withacee]

Brilliant!

This thread never ceases to amaze me.

Keep 'em coming.

[Xon67]

LegoManTroy--Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it! I worked on this over the course of about a month and a half. I usually have several builds going at once at various stages. If I get stuck on one, I can work on another. Some go faster than others.

With this one, the main part of the build went very quickly--less than an hour to create the main part of the building structure. Using LDD, it's very easy to place some plates, create one column, and copy it 11 times to finish a floor, then copy the floor vertically to complete the building. Also, having previously-existing builds like the crane, the tipper truck, and the cement mixer mean it's easy to add them into the build for detail. Need a crane over here? Cut. Paste. Need another tipper truck on that floor? Cut. Paste. Need some cement mixers? Cutpastecutpastecutpastecutpaste... Over the course of several sittings, I added more detail to the scene.

What took the largest chunks of time with this were two things: First was the billboard. I had to cut and paste the billboard together from multiple frames of the movie (I cheated--I didn't re-create it. I just pulled it straight from the movie.) I worked a while to paste it together without having it look like it was pasted together. Then I had to Photoshop it into the image. And when I say, "Photoshop," I really mean Microsoft Paint, 'cause I don't have access to an actual copy of Photoshop. So, I had to fiddle with that for a while to get it to look respectable. Second, it took a large amount of time (probably the largest chunk of time) to position all of the minifigures. The main reason I don't show a lot of minifigures in my images is that I find it tedious to set up minifigures in LDD. It's challenging to find the correct decals for the face and torso, as well as to locate the appropriate hair/hat. Fortunately, these construction workers all wear hard hats. :-) Positioning all these figures is also slow going. Each one needs to be placed, posed, rotated through one or more axes, and given different colored "clothing" for variation. Ultimately, this scene required all of these workers, so I took the time over several sittings to place them throughout the build.

In the end, there's a great deal more I could do with this scene (more minifigures? a city skyline in the background?), but I also want to move on to others. So, I called it "done" and continued with the next one.

Withacee--Thank you very much! I appreciate you taking the time to post your comment.

I have to say, I get as much enjoyment from interacting with folks in this topic as I do completing the builds themselves. Translation: Have something to say? Don't be shy! Go ahead and post it! :-)

Next post: Scaffolding! Windows! More posed and strategically varied worker minifigures!

[Xon67]

Here's a skyscraper a bit further along in the construction process. The scaffolding is up and the windows are going on.

Next up will be the finished skyscrapers from downtown Bricksburg.

[Xon67]

I identified seven different skyscraper designs in downtown Bricksburg. A few of them use multiple color schemes and rooflines, while others come in only one color scheme and one roofline. Every downtown aerial shot used these same seven buildings in different combinations. I posted the first one on this page:

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=114104&st=375#entry2565318

This is the second design.

Next up: Skyscraper #3!

Edited August 2, 2016 by Xon67

[Xon67]

Here's skyscraper #3:

[The Jersey Brick Guy]

Jersey Brick Guy--It's time for some more skyscrapers, starting with how they're built:

Haha. Nice!

I was hopping to use one for my city but they are so large (baseplate) to everything else.

[Actor Builder]

Wow! I've been away from this thread for a while...

The Radio Station is great! The skyscrapers are very impressive, but in my opinion, very ugly. Just like real skyscrapers.

That's not your fault though.

[BrickCurve]

That construction site is looking excellent, as are the other skyscrapers!

[Xon67]

Jersey Brick Guy -- Thanks! These are big builds. If you want to use them, one thought would be to scale them down to fit the space you have available. Here are some examples:

Actor Builder -- I'm glad it's not my fault. :-)

BrickCurve -- Thanks for the comment!

More skyscrapers to follow!

[Xon67]

#4!