My city layout: Dark Brick City

[antp]

Hi,

Mid-July I moved to a new place, partially to have more space for Lego so I could make a large city layout and use all the trail stuff that I had waiting in boxes.

While moving, the future Lego room was shortly used to store other things while organizing everything. In September I finally had time for that Lego room: once the room cleaned from the non-Lego stuff, I started with the tables for the layout:

I made a plan using my inventory of road baseplates and rails, and also trying to have as much as possible place for modular buildings. I have five years before running out of space, if Lego does not release too many other things and if I don't make too many things on my own either - I'm not sure how I'll handle that afterwards. I already had to modify the original layout idea when they released the Old Fishing Store and Ninjago City...

This is the state a few weeks ago :

On the first photo on the right, along the Horizon Express I'll make a small train station. On the second photo I have to include the Ninjago City and Temple properly, with some scenery around them. Camping vehicles and medieval buildings do not have a place yet either.

Cables for the 12V commands are now better hidden (new photos to come).

Detail of the double bridge with the Horizon Express, using a PFS motor :

The Maersk is running in 12V; photo on the other bridge:

I didn't really had an idea for the city name, so a reference to the movie Dark City where buildings change between nights is fine for a Lego city Especially since it is most of the time in the dark (blinds avoiding direct sun).

And there is Shell Beach:

Updated version, with better shoreline :

And of course the reference to the movie:

Some old sets:

I plan to make the Octan station bigger by merging it with the set 60132 released last year. And make a "mountain" area near it (where there is a slope road in the background), so the higher part could continue behind these modulars:

Or maybe I could put the Ninjago City in that corner...

Still a lot of work, that will keep me busy some time

Edited November 25, 2017 by antp

[NewTown]

Looks like you are off to a good start. I like the way you have set up the Old Fishing Store. I am about to get a larger space so all photos of people laying out large towns is helpful. I have no interest in trains but am debating whether to include one from the start as it would be a real difficult task to incorporate one later without moving everything around.

[gabrielerava]

Great start!!! Keep building your city bigger and bigger!!!

[antp]

Now that I mostly finished my other big MOC, my apartment, I'll continue working for time to time on my city layout.

I replaced the holiday home 6388 built in mirror by a slightly modified version of the beach house 4996, which is then well named.
Main change is that I reduced the depth by 2 studs. I kept the bbq from the previous house.

I liked that set back then (was hesitating when I dismantled it to my parts stock), now that I have a place to use it, it looks less out of place between the fishing store and the Ghostbusters HQ than the old 80s tiny house.

[Romanos]

as one who started big city ,looking forward to see more ;)

[antp]

 

 

[weeble1688]

I too used to call my feline friend "Catzilla" for traipsing through my town setup in a former apartment, toppling traffic lights and trampling trucks.  Hang on to that video though ... I wish I had more than memories of my cat romping through my Lego MOCs.  Eventually I'll get another cat (possibly to be named Catzilla) depending on her/his propensity for wandering through Lego builds!  - weeble

[antp]

Long time without update, but there weren't so many changes actually

An updated view from my other thread (my Lego apartment)

A few months ago I started to fill the area between modular buildings (behind the Fire Brigade), mostly with the set "fun in the park":

Next step will be adding small custom corner modulars 16x32 and 32x16 (at the side of the AS and FB), leaving a 32x32 area along the train tracks to be filled by a future official modular (which will then be along a pedestal alley rather than a street)

There was also the arrival of the Diner:

The "corner but not really corner" style fitted well with that place of my layout, but I'll have to fill the void behind (and on the left of there, on the left of the platform seen there will be some day a train station)

In the meantime I got the Ninjago Docks set, but as it was too big to fit in the Ninjago corner of the layout (where there is already the City and the Temple) last month I "cut" it (no worry, no part was harmed  )

I've put its left third on the right of the City and its right third on the left of the City:

That makes the city bigger, and in the end I find it better looking like that, it is more impressive in 48x48:

There was the middle third left:

These parts were used to fill the 16x16 corner behind the City and make the link with the Temple:

Two days ago I re-did that link better, with plants and reeds, to hide the difference between the two water styles:

The remaining building was then put on the far right, in a corner still to be filled. I'll probably move it a little to the front so it will be more visible.

Edited August 17, 2018 by antp

[mikaelsol]

I like this progress!

[Romanos]

+ for progess and idea ;)

 

Edited August 19, 2018 by Romanos

[antp]

Again a small update, using the set 70607 and moving the remaining Docks building to make it more visible:

(wood pier to be improved)

[tmctiger]

Hi @antp,

what a nice city! I like the layout! It is also interesting to see a 12V train running through the city.

I also like you "china town" district. I have also the Ninjago City in my layout and also plan to purchase the Docks, but I have no real clue how to combine the two in my city and the limited space availiable ...

BR, Guenther

[greg3]

Excellent layout!! (wish I had that much space!!) I really like the way you've combined builds from Ninjago, the modern modulars as well as some sets from the "good old days"!! Think the beach is my favourite part!!

Nice work.

[antp]

Back to the City/Modular part; following the purchase of hospital 60204 that I wanted to modify to integrate it along the modulars, I moved the Corner Café so it would be a little more visible and the "Hotel" sign also seen from the better angle. For that I also had to move a little the Assembly Square. All that was fun and my nails (though they resist well to tiles) still remember it

I realize that I don't really have a "before" photo except with the background of this photo posted previously:

And here is the view "after":

In that block I still have space for a 32x32 modular, most likely the next one released by TLG will go there. I'll make a corner building around 32x16 by increasing a lot the little yellow bank at the side of the fire brigade. If they release a corner modular, I'll put it there instead and make the bank differently.

And after some thinking, I may also move (again!) the Corner Café to put it there at the side of the brigade, allowing a wider pedestrian street along the rails (as said on another forum, the Café is a little close to the tracks ) but I'll decide that when I'll know what TLG will release.

So all that was to free space for the hospital 60204, by modifying it a little, so it has roughly the size of a corner 32x16 modular :

The less visible side is not the best one, that's a good thing :

View from the park, which had to be a little reorganized:

The original contents of each floor is similar to what was in the set, I didn't detail it more since that's not much visible:

Edited September 11, 2018 by antp

[Gneird]

Thanks for sharing, love the addition of the hospital!  I think it looks great in your city and you did well adapting it to the modular style.  Keep the updates coming!

[Nightfall]

Nice modification. I'm planning to do something similar.

[Fenghuang0296]

This is brilliant. I'm impressed. ^^ I particularly like what you're doing over on the Ninjago corner. Nice work splitting the Docks apart. I can't believe I didn't think of that! I might just do something similar in mine. ^^

[antp]

Thanks for the comments :)

Here is an updated recent view of the whole layout :

(click for bigger image)

[advice]

I gonna start to build my own town but always feel giving it up. I think you are on great way that will never stop

[Fenghuang0296]

Looking good!

Minor suggestion; have you considered rotating the top portion of the Market Street house next to the Brick Bank? With the two sloped roof sections lined up, it would look nice and continuous, and since there's nothing on the other side it'll still fit. 

[antp]

It would look strange to have at the side what is supposed to be on the front; it is a common style of roof in some places, probably mostly in Amsterdam/Netherlands, e.g. https://c8.alamy.com/comp/AJ3N32/architecture-of-amsterdam-house-with-stepped-gable-netherlands-AJ3N32.jpg ; but there are also a few like that here in Brussels.

The slope wouldn't be so lined up, since the market street is nearly one floor higher.

And in this case, I liked the fact that the fig on its patio was watching the thief breaking in the bank via the roof :D

Edited September 17, 2018 by antp

[antp]

Two weeks ago I took https://brickset.com/sets/60132-1/Service-Station out of my pile of waiting sets, it was time since it is there since long now. As planned, I combined it with the good old https://brickset.com/sets/6397-1/Gas-N-Wash-Express that was already in the layout :

It may change again later, I'm not fully satisfied with the result but it is good enough for the moment.

More news, in the last few days I finished the Ninjago area, expanding the scenery under the train track passing in front of the city; and I also linked it to a plate (currently empty) near the truck/train loading area:

(click pictures for bigger version)

With a small pedestrian level crossing so the Ninjago area and the City area are really linked:

A low bridge across water and a better support for the turn across the void:

I'm happy with that part now, but I'm afraid that Lego may release a third "Ninjago Modular" : what woud I do ? I don't have space left around there...

Edited October 7, 2018 by antp

[DeanLearner]

Looks good, I think it would be well worth adding trans clear tiles to the area of water in front of the the temple. It would really tie the bay together.

[antp]

I still have some trans-blue 1x2 (as I didn't use that much to expand the scenery of the Ninjago City), but I'm not sure I have enough to tile all the blue baseplates. I should count these. Maybe I'll rather use the remaining ones to lengthen a little the river along the rail track (where there is no baseplate yet).

In a way I like the old-style studded blue water :)

Edited October 7, 2018 by antp

[antp]

I added a new floor to the hospital:

Four years ago I bought the set https://brickset.com/sets/21110-1/Research-Institute which I still hadn't opened yet, so I used to to fill that new empty floor:

Don't ask me why there is a dinosaur skeleton in an hospital ; I'll probably move that later to another building I have to build near the Ghostbusters HQ.