MOC: Brickenridge

[Still Raindrop]

B-OV-13D to B-OV-14B

After going through some rather disconnected MOCs (see my earlier Brickenridge-related topic), I have begun to bring things together and put together my little town of Brickenridge. I was at the LEGO store last week, and my purchase of road plates helped greatly in allowing me to plan the town--no longer was I just making free-floating buildings that would one day be joined by road plates. Because of this, I had to scrap many of the buildings that were going to be in the town to make way for new ones, classic-town scaled. Here is an overall shot of the town so far:

And a shot of the original layout, just for fun:

I re-scaled the post office from the earlier thread, and was able to use the O'gel music store, but that's about it. I still haven't found a place for my fountain. But the main focus of this topic is going to be this block:

The buildings are modular in design, so I will show you a few pictures of each one individually.

First we have the butcher's store:

Inside is the butcher himself, hard at work. The top floor, which I did not photograph, simply has a few refrigerators with turkey and the like.

Next is the barbershop:

The first floor has chairs where patrons can wait, and the top floor is where the haircuts happen. On the back wall is a broom; the barber's desk holds a mirror and some hair product.

Now my favorite of the three buildings: the café

The barista on the ground floor:

The top floor has chairs, tables, and an outdoor area:

For some reason, I really like the way the tables turned out:

There is one more building that is not shown, because I cannot yet fit it into the town: the chapel.

The roofs above the pews and the altar are removable:

Gargoyle:

Any thoughts, constructive criticism, etc. are most welcome!

Edited October 7, 2011 by Phred

[samthelegoman1]

I like the layout. A lot of great Lego cities start out small! The only thing you should work on , though, is add staircases to the buildings. (We don't want the citizens of Brickenridge to climb up walls to the second floor, do we? )

[Still Raindrop]

Thanks for the feedback--I've been considering staircases, but they seem to take up so much room....

[samthelegoman1]

Yes, but it would look more realistic.

[djo]

nice MOC.

for the interior is awesome ideas.

but for the exterior looks like a little plain.

maybe some roofs can make them better look.

just my two cents.

[Still Raindrop]

Yeah, I'd been noticing that, myself. Though I don't think that sloped roofs would create the look I want, but I am messing around with different designs for the rooftops--posts and railings, slopes like on the butcher's roof, and simple designs.

[Still Raindrop]

I changed the layout a bit, did a little work on the roofs, expanded the café, and changed the color of the post office. Brickenridge currently looks like this:

[Klaus-Dieter]

That's a very nice City layout for the beginning, Mariko!

Sorry for the late comment, Mariko.

I really like the interiors you added to your MOC houses - very nice! What about the interior of the post office - do you have some pics of it, too?

The yellow house fits very well at this location. The police station, too (a police station has to be in every city - unindependent from how big the town is ).

I really like to see that you added your great fountain, some road plates and some street lanterns to your City - additional stuff makes the whole thing looking much more reaslistic and lovely!

Perhaps a tip: If you've got the money and the place to store it, then you should really buy the amazing Town Plan. It's really (I of course bought it immediately in january) and grades up your city immensly.

Klaus-Dieter

Edited December 16, 2008 by Klaus-Dieter

[andy16806]

Nice little town. I agree wiht those who commented on your interior. You have done som good work there. The exterior doesn't seem to have the same standard though. Keep building!

[Still Raindrop]

Thanks for the kind comments, Klaus-Dieter!

Unfortunately, I currently have neither the space nor the money for the Town Plan.

I will, however, take pictures of the interior of the post office; I have recently reworked my town again to make the exteriors more interesting, so I'll include those when I take pictures of that.

[Still Raindrop]

Here is the latest version:

The old barbershop

And the new

Hinged window on the café made from a fence piece:

And, at the request of K-D, the interior of the post office: the clerk, with stationery, envelopes, and boxes behind him

And the PO boxes

[Brickadier General]

That's a nice start to a town you have there. Continue expanding it, and keep up the great work!

[Still Raindrop]

Thanks! Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to find a bigger table before I can expand much more, so I'm currently working on re-designing the exteriors.

Out of curiosity, does anyone have any specific suggestions of places where I could make the buildings better? I'm working on expanding my building techniques; I know that a lot of that comes through experimentation, but I would love to hear any tips that would apply to particular areas of Brickenridge, if anyone has them

I really appreciate everyone's input--thanks very much! Samthelegoman1, I decided not to put staircases in at this point, in order to keep a roughly classic town scale (and also because of the limitations of both the space and the amount of bricks I have). I think I kind of share Klaus-Dieter's philosophy, as far as stairs go

[tedbeard]

Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the barber shop. I have never seen a cape used that way and it looks really good.

The only tip/suggestion I can offer is to try to keep working on avoiding the smooth walls. Look at real buildings up close and see where you can add "texture". You did great job of upgrading the barber shop. Keep making those sorts of improvements and you will have a fantastic town.

[Still Raindrop]

Thanks! Speaking of avoiding smooth walls, I just did an upgrade on another building: The O'gel Music Store. Here is the old version:

And the new:

EDIT:

I also upgraded the butcher shop. The old one:

And the new:

Here are all three of my upgraded buildings together:

Much improved, I think, from this:

Edited December 20, 2008 by Mariko

[djo]

this is great improvement on the walls.

great idea for the window frame and the hexagonal window wall.

i like it better now.

[Still Raindrop]

Thanks, djo!

I also made some improvements to the café and the post office.

The new café:

The new post office:

[Still Raindrop]

Well, that time has come. Brickenridge is no more. Since I'm getting married soon and moving into a new apartment, I had to take apart all my LEGO stuff so that it would be more easily transportable. I will build a new town in my new home (though the layout won't be as spacious, so I'll have to work on making the buildings more detailed. Maybe I'll try something in the modular CC-scale!), but that will have to have a new name, since it will be a completely new town. I'll start a topic for that one when I think it's good enough

In the meantime, thanks to everyone who commented! Your tips and constructive criticism really helped me to improve my LEGO building techniques; just look at the comparison between the original incarnation of Brickenridge and the last!