[MOC] Mini Tower Bridge

[BEAVeR]

I have just finished building 10214, the huge Tower Bridge . That reminded me of a MOC I made some time ago. Maybe I wanted a more manageable version of the tower bridge, or maybe I wanted to give the Architecture Big Ben a companion. In other words: I wanted to build a mini Tower Bridge

Since my collection of bricks is pretty limited and outdated, I decided to make it in LDD. It didn't take too long and I was quite satisfied with the result. Satisfied enough to render it using LDD2POV-RAY (thanks, hrontos! ). After about two hours, this picture came out:

So there you have it: an Architecture-style Tower Bridge that uses similar techniques to the Big Ben, but offers a play feature as well ! Yes, the bridge opens, hurrah!

I hope you liked it, and here is the link to my Flickr, although there's not much to see there... yet.

http://www.flickr.co...s/98281410@N07/

UPDATE: Find the LDD file here

PS: now I'm possessed with the reversed feeling: I'm building a Big Ben in scale to the giant Tower Bridge. Still a WIP though...

Edited July 7, 2013 by BEAVeR

[Sid Sidious]

I like the details on this. The opening part is a nice touch, and the roofs are a good solution. Good job.

[ManInATopHat]

Very cool! I like the detail. The towers remind me of the "Big Ben" set.

[Kivi]

This is amazing! You captured it really perfectly with all the features, especially the opening part. This one certainly deserves to be made of real bricks too.

Very well done!

[MikroMan]

Love it, but I'd do the blue/white cables with hinge finger plates (the old hinges), which would allow for a nice curve.

[TheLegoDr]

Looking good! I love the official set and have been wanting to do my own small version sometime. This fits it perfectly.

Keep up the good work!

[Spencer_R]

Well done!

[BEAVeR]

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback!

Love it, but I'd do the blue/white cables with hinge finger plates (the old hinges), which would allow for a nice curve.

I have just tried it, but using those flat hinges is not feasible. Making a gentle curve is hard, as the "cable" that is so formed, is either too short or too long. Besides, with only room for 4 hinge-modules that curve wouldn't be really smooth

[jimmynick]

You could try flex tubing for that, perhaps?

The model is lovely, by the way.

[Holodoc]

This is wonderful!

And would fit perfectly to my Brandenburg gate and the Big Ben.

Thx for sharing.

[Dat Lego]

Nice MOC you got there. I love how you managed to incorporate a play feature despite the size. Keep up the good work 'BEAVeR'!

[t-brick]

Looks very good and even the bridge opens. Nice!

[Kristel]

Awesome! i think I like this better than the official set.

[Legogal]

I definitely like your mini version better than the larger Architecture set....yours is much cuter and fits in small spaces. And the drawbridge opens, too! Wow! It is so adorable that I may need to build one to go with my other minis. Will you be selling the plans anywhere after you build it with real bricks and after you know that it is doable for real? Congratulations on a fine build!!!

[Gryphon Ink]

Very beautiful design there. The towers are gorgeous! I wonder if I have all those parts.

[Holodoc]

Awesome! i think I like this better than the official set.

I definitely like your mini version better than the larger Architecture set....yours is much cuter and fits in small spaces.

I think both of you mean the set 10214. Published under "Advanced models", it wasn't an architecture set.

And I have to disagree , the larger set is still my favourite.

[Esurient]

Wow great work there! Keep up the good job!

[BEAVeR]

I can do no harm repeating that I'm everyone most grateful for the kind response.

I definitely like your mini version better than the larger Architecture set....yours is much cuter and fits in small spaces. And the drawbridge opens, too! Wow! It is so adorable that I may need to build one to go with my other minis. Will you be selling the plans anywhere after you build it with real bricks and after you know that it is doable for real? Congratulations on a fine build!!!

That's quite a compliment you give me there! The 10240 is awesome!

If you want to build it yourself, I won't sell any instructions: come on, it's only 442 parts!

Instead, I have shared the LDD-file (see first post). I've adapted the colors in the model (now it looks horrible in LDD but should look OK in real), so now it's built out of bricks that are available in real life (for the occasion, I downloaded LDD Manager). I looked through the (pointless ) building instructions LDD generated as well, and spotted no impossible situations.

All in all, I'm now convinced it is buildable in real life (although I haven't built it myself so far, because I lack money ).

If someone does, please enjoy your build and let me know something (gimme pictures! )

[OpusMcN]

I spent a few hours recreating this in LDD thinking I might build it myself. It took ages to work out how you did the bases :) I wonder how right I got them? Thanks for sharing that, I'm definitely thinking of building one and I'll post pics here if I do.

[weltall1028]

Very nice! I may have to try building this too.

[LewisGilbert]

A beautifully executed piece! I really enjoy the clever techniques used in architecture MOCs!

[emilstorm]

That's a very nice little bridge :) you have some nice stuff on your flickr, I really like the 2 different types of large columns, and those baby ton tons are pretty sweet :)