A Lego city 18 x 9 roadplates in size....

[Lego Maniac 101]

Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...

[Faefrost]

That is fantastic! The scale is just mind blowing.

I showed the pictures to my wife... Her first words were "Divorce Court if you ever try it".

[LEGO Guy Bri]

It's nice to see this resurrected after a couple years. Very impressive setup indeed, to bad mawich hasn't been back in a while, I'd love to find out more about this layout. Ti was the reason I quit lurking and made a profile! I think I' read somewhere 'round here that he has since taken it down... too bad

[mawich]

I'm back...well actually just been lurking the last couple of years...admiring other people's great work.

The town was taken down many years ago now. As you can imagine, a layout that size takes a considerable amount of space...then there's the problem of dust and yellowing of pieces.

As much as I like the new Town sets, I still get a kick out of seeing the "old school" layouts featuring Classic Town sets that I grew up with. I'm currently planning an even larger Classic Lego city which will include every single Classic Town set released between 1978 and 1996 plus a few additional sets thrown in for good measure such as the Lego Stadium, Town Plan and others. It's been many years in the planning and will be some years yet before I'm ready to start assembling it.

Part of the reason why the planning is taking so long is TLG never released sets featuring skyscrapers, Botanical gardens, a Zoo, a Golf course, a farm and so on...things which I've had to design (to Classic Lego scale of course) from scratch. The other problem is I've raised the bar with respect to the level of design sophistication i.e. I'm no longer using the standard Lego pine trees but instead creating trees created from multiple pieces as seen in other forums (and trees and plant life "will not grow directly from concrete"). Another problem is restoring all the old sets I have to as new condition. Some such as the ones from 1978 had yellowed badly and the expectation is that every set has to be in as new condition, including stickers, printing on bricks (such as the smiley face) etc. The final problem is hitting the design targets I've set myself, such as utilising every baseplate building stud available, ensuring the backs of buildings are not visible when standing directly in front of the layout, incorporating every single town set released (finding space and reason for 6 fire stations, 6 police stations and 7 Gas stations has been challenging) and most importantly ensuring that the city is as "realistic" as possible i.e. it could exist as a real city complete with a Central Business District, industrial area, recreational area, suburb and would have a functioning economy (in this case it's the Information Technology sector, tourism, freight handling and heavy industry).

In simple terms I'm planning what I want to be "The greatest Classic Lego city ever built". I've been hugely inspired by so many talented people in these forums...so much so it's made me lift my design aspirations 1000 fold since I started planning this thing.

It's nice to see this resurrected after a couple years. Very impressive setup indeed, to bad mawich hasn't been back in a while, I'd love to find out more about this layout. Ti was the reason I quit lurking and made a profile! I think I' read somewhere 'round here that he has since taken it down... too bad

[LegoSjaak]

For those who would like to see my 8 square meters of Lego City... here is a YouTube link.. there are several HD Video's on my channel!

Greetz, LegoSjaak

[PsyKater]

Wow, that's my dream. A complete Classic Town. Thanks for sharing this, mawich, and thanks for finding this old thread, Marko.

[Ferrik]

This city looks amazing. It's great to see that you can make an excellent city using just Classic Town sets.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

I'm back...well actually just been lurking the last couple of years...admiring other people's great work.

The town was taken down many years ago now. As you can imagine, a layout that size takes a considerable amount of space...then there's the problem of dust and yellowing of pieces.

[snip]

I'm currently planning an even larger Classic Lego city which will include every single Classic Town set released between 1978 and 1996 plus a few additional sets

[snip]

In simple terms I'm planning what I want to be "The greatest Classic Lego city ever built".

It's great to know you're still around and into LEGO City mawich! That new city sounds like quite an undertaking, but am very interested to see it built. Best of luck!

As far as your previous city (wish there were more pics ), I loved looking at it, numerous times over, but where u able to reach all the parts or vehicles? Or where the central items "stranded"? I've had the same idea for a great, self-sustaining, city since 2009. I have since been growing my already large collection of City (modern and classic) and I'm in the process design a layout in which I can access all vehicles with relative ease for repositioning to keep things fresh. Like you, I need a lot of space, as well

Edited September 12, 2012 by LEGO Guy Bri

[mawich]

Q: As far as your previous city (wish there were more pics Posted Image), I loved looking at it, numerous times over,

A: There are many more pics available but these show the city during its construction...kind of like "behind the scenes". I didn't post these as it would have been akin to a magician explaining how they do their tricks. On second thoughts, I'll post these as well within the next week.

Q: but where u able to reach all the parts or vehicles? Or where the central items "stranded"?

A: The additional photos I post will explain how I reached the middle. The city was only assembled for a week then taken down.

Q: I've had the same idea for a great, self-sustaining, city since 2009. I have since been growing my already large collection of City (modern and classic) and I'm in the process design a layout in which I can access all vehicles with relative ease for repositioning to keep things fresh.

A: The next city will be 22 x 12 baseplates. I've designed it so that it will be on 4 tables measuring 11x6 plates to allow access to the middle.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

A: There are many more pics available but these show the city during its construction...kind of like "behind the scenes". On second thoughts, I'll post these as well within the next week.

A: The additional photos I post will explain how I reached the middle. The city was only assembled for a week then taken down.

A: The next city will be 22 x 12 baseplates. I've designed it so that it will be on 4 tables measuring 11x6 plates to allow access to the middle.

Thanks for answering mawich! All that work for a one week display?! I would have guessed it would take more than a week just to set up! 22x10 sounds like quite an undertaking, looking forward to seeing it built. I'll keep an eye out for new pics of your old layout

[lightningtiger]

Hmm, 22x12 baseplates.....which ones 32x16.....32x32....48x48 ?

I'm planning the longest street in my town currently a total of 288 studs (6 48x48 base plates in length) and still growing.

I wish you luck in your new work 'mawich' and Brick On !

[mawich]

Hmm, 22x12 baseplates.....which ones 32x16.....32x32....48x48 ?

I'm planning the longest street in my town currently a total of 288 studs (6 48x48 base plates in length) and still growing.

I wish you luck in your new work 'mawich' and Brick On !

Ah...good question. For me a baseplate = standard roadplate size = 32 x 32 studs. One of the requirements for me was incorporating into the new layout a main highway that linked the 4 areas of the city...there's something about a long stretch of road that always appealed to me. End result is a road that's about 640 studs in length.

[lightningtiger]

Ah...good question. For me a baseplate = standard roadplate size = 32 x 32 studs. One of the requirements for me was incorporating into the new layout a main highway that linked the 4 areas of the city...there's something about a long stretch of road that always appealed to me. End result is a road that's about 640 studs in length.

I might just close to that mark too in the end !

[LegoSjaak]

I might just close to that mark too in the end !

My city counts 133 baseplates (32 x 32) and the length is 416 studs, and the width on average 352 studs....But it will not grow anymore.. simply no room left..haha..

Greetz, LegoSjaak

[mawich]

"Behind the scenes" images loaded into http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=mawich

Enjoy!

[LEGO Guy Bri]

Looks great mawich! How long did it take you to set up and is this the same layout design?

I notice what looks like a printed overview in one of the photos

[Gauke]

It looks really wonderful. I love how the classic town sets blend together

[mawich]

Looks great mawich! How long did it take you to set up and is this the same layout design?

I notice what looks like a printed overview in one of the photos

It took 5 days to set up. I had expected no more than 3 since all the standard sets had been pre assembled before I started but it was a far more painstaking process. Getting things "just perfect" took time particularly the Monorail supports which had to be precisely positioned to ensure the entire track lined up once the city was complete.

There is a printed overview of the city in one of the photos. I'll see if I can find a copy of it and post it online. I used the excellent "Track Designer" program to design the layout.

Note: I only realised after the build that a monorail would never be able to run on the circuit. There has to be at least 16 studs length of straight track off each end of the station because a monorail train overhangs the track when negotiating a curve. In my design most of the stations have a curved track immediately to one or both sides.

[legomaniac1978]

I just found your pic of your city and its so awesome!!!!! I have the same desire to build such a city, but on a much, much, much grander scale. I already have the first phase drawn on paper.

[hush]

Excellent layout