Ralph_S Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Since two years I've been steadily expanding my British High Street. One thing that was still missing was a typical London Routemaster bus. Time to make amends. I am very fussy when it comes to the scale of my modes and I tried to make this as close to 1/45 as I could. This means it ended up being seven studs wide. Obviously this complicates some things of the build, but it also means that I have seating for two rows of figures side-by-side without too much trouble. Most of the construction is straightforward studs-up, although there are some bits of pretty fancy SNOT work here and there (if I say so myself). It was a fun build and I am happy with the result. I hope you'll agree. The presentation was inspired by a picture by Firas Abu-Jaber (best known for his models of supercars). Cheers, Ralph Quote
Big Cam Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Looks brilliant, from what I've ever seen of doubledecker buses, it looks spot on. Your road is really nice too, I love seeing all those tiles. Yours is great because it actually holds minifigs, I love how it's the perfect size for that. Quote
LegoLyons Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 That is superb, the bus is spot on, and the pillarbox is brilliant. Great job. Quote
Rick Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Nice! It looks really accurate. Can a minifig (in the top half) fully sit in the bus or doesn't the arm on the outside of the bus fit then? I.e., is the side of the bus (behind the sticker) built with bricks and plates or maybe SNOT panels? Quote
Ralph_S Posted November 17, 2009 Author Posted November 17, 2009 (edited) Looks brilliant, from what I've ever seen of doubledecker buses, it looks spot on.Your road is really nice too, I love seeing all those tiles. Yours is great because it actually holds minifigs, I love how it's the perfect size for that. Thanks you. The road is built with brick on its side, so not too many tiles. That is superb, the bus is spot on, and the pillarbox is brilliant. Great job. Cheers. Perhaps I'm overdoing the London theme a bit, but the pillarbox seemed too obvious an idea not to add. Nice! It looks really accurate. Can a minifig (in the top half) fully sit in the bus or doesn't the arm on the outside of the bus fit then? I.e., is the side of the bus (behind the sticker) built with bricks and plates or maybe SNOT panels? The figures fit very nicely on both decks, because the upper red row below the windows on both decks is largely built using panels, so there is plenty of room for their arms. You can see some of it here. Cheers, Ralph Edited November 17, 2009 by Ralph_S Quote
WesternOutlaw Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Excellent Ralph! Love the design and the banner on the side. The road, bus stop, and taxi are equally impressive. I think this beautiful bus is deserving of a front-page blog. Great job! Quote
Yakop Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Perfect size, Perfect build, Perfect color. I just think that it's perfect Great job Quote
the Inventor Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Great bus, I really like your design of a mini figure scale bus. Its nice to see that your bus is only seven wide, but fits to mini figures next to each other. the Inventor Quote
Rick Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 The figures fit very nicely on both decks, because the upper red row below the windows on both decks is largely built using panels, so there is plenty of room for their arms. You can see some of it here. Thanks, that's even simpler, I thought you were maybe using 2 x 2 or 2 x 3 panels on their side like you did for the windows. Quote
Cardinal Brick Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Excellent work I really love it the one problem is that I can't buy it as a set! Quote
Commander_Rob Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Excellent, spot on. The shape is good, the color, the interior. I especially like the windows around the front of the upper deck (which is also the best spot for sitting in a real double-decker). Quote
BlueBard Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Simply gorgeous! I was also missing a typical london bus in your high street display and now I can say it's perfect for it. As always, BRAVO, RalphS Quote
MadAboutLego Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 thats brilliant nice love it and the scene Quote
MetroiD Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Wow, that really looks wonderful - great job, Ralph! What's next, the London eye? Btw, I really love how this MOC oozes your instantly recognizable "mad physicist" style, that's what really sets it apart! I say this because I was almost sure I'd seen that line-up of Routemaster bus+ cab before and indeed, Firas Abu-Jaber had posted this about half a year ago on MOCPages. Funny how such similar objects can indeed look totally different when done by different MOCcers :) Quote
Zorro Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 I love the bus, the taxi, the bus stop,...I love this entire MOC since it really gives me the "old London feeling"! A job well done, thanks for sharing . Quote
wooootles Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 It's brilliant... everything is brilliant. Even the bus stop is simple yet quite something. Quote
lightningtiger Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Alright ! A double decker minifig scale bus - beautiful ! I really like the use of the parts to define its curves, it shows you put a lot of thought in to its design. Maybe Lego should bring out a Creator set of a London double decker bus ? Quote
Commodore Hornbricker Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 That is a great bus! This whole MOC is stunning. The Taxi is spot on as well. I look forward to seeing more of your London. Quote
NicksBricks Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 That's awesome!! Everything is to scale and perfectly constructed. I love the adds on the side, the bus stop and the whole bus in general. Perfect! Quote
CommanderFox Posted November 18, 2009 Posted November 18, 2009 (edited) Fantastic MOC Ralph S It looks Perfectly Spot on to me. I really like the SNOT road! Beautiful!! Great job! And I love your street so far! CommanderFox Edited November 18, 2009 by CommanderFox Quote
Piranha Posted November 18, 2009 Posted November 18, 2009 Amazing! Excellent job! Very nice Double Decker bus, and easily the best version I have seen! I thought about this after building the City Corner Bus and was thinking a Double Decker would be cool Quote
Ralph_S Posted November 18, 2009 Author Posted November 18, 2009 Thanks for all the comments. I hope you guys don't mind if I don't reply to each of you individually. Minifig scale is always a compromise, but I really like 7-wide for this sort of vehicle. The construction takes some getting used to, but once you've got the hang of it it's not really all that hard. LEGO had a set of a London bus many years ago: http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=760-1 I'd probably buy it if they were to still sell something similar. My bus wouldn't be suited as a set. It may look nice, but is much too flimsy to be sold to eight-year olds. It would make for a nice parts pack though One of the reasons I built the model now and the reason for presenting it in this fashion was a build challenge on LUGNuts, a group for LEGO car builders on flickr. We have a new challenge every month and this month's challenge involved building something in the style of another builder or building a car that you know they'd like. For a long time wanted to build a Routemaster too. A few days ago I came across some pictures of a Routemaster in a magazine and was instantly reminded of Firas' picture. It seemed like a good idea for the challenge. I already had the taxi -it was built two years ago- so all I had to do was build the bus. Firas' Routemaster is very nice, but I wanted my model to be a bit smaller than his to fit with my other minifig scale models. I could also use some of the ideas I came up with for other vehicles in the construction. For instance, the upper front windows were built in very much the same fashion as the windows on my American rescue pumper. The model came together quite quickly in around ten hours. Fortunately I had all the parts I needed. Cheers, Ralph Quote
Milan Posted November 18, 2009 Posted November 18, 2009 Another masterpiece, Ralph! I think that on your models I like the rounded shape the best! It is amazing how good you are with ordinary brick on Brick building style! :thumbup: Quote
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