Topic: The Ultimate LEGO City Project
I am currently working on building a large LEGO city, which will be based on the LEGO modular range. The city will consist of 20 modular sized buildings, some LEGO design and others custom design. There will also be a canal running down the centre of the city with three bridges over it, as well as a subway station in the foundations on one half.
I originally estimated about 200,000 pieces would be needed for this project, however since starting construction, I now realize there will be a lot more that that. The project itself currently uses a lot of time planning and designing smaller versions of what I will eventually build in order to minimize cost of parts needed, whilst still having a great design.
Unless I come across a large amount of money, or win lotto, I expect this project to take a few more years still. Whilst I do not ask or expect any donations, if you are that desperate in helping out with the project, please private message me with any donation offers. They are of course greatly appreciated, and I will work out a way to credit those who choose to donate, as well as give them an opportunity to experience the completed city for themselves.
I plan to use the completed city as a permanent set for future animations, which will possibly be a part of a series of videos and films based around the same characters and stories occurring within the city. Beyond this, the city being modular design may have the ability to travel to various conventions. There may also be the opportunity in the future to allow other animators to use the city in their projects, but I will see.
I will continue to post updates to this thread as there is anything worth updating on. If you see anything in the updates you would like to see more detail on, please let me know and I will make extra updates. Otherwise, enjoy this first update, and please leave any comments and feedback
Update One
The first part of construction is well underway. I chose to start the foundation by building the subway station. This will give me a good indication for how to continue building the foundation after this.
The ground level entrance will be in a plaza/mall section of the city, with commercial buildings surrounding it. To one side, there will be a double grand emporium, which will have a custom interior worth seeing (teaser for a future update). There will be other commercial stores to the other side. The plaza area itself will take up the space of a modular building, and I consider this to be one of the 20 buildings in total. You can also see in the image the ramp which leads to the first floor of the subway station. This floor will have ticket booths, and anything else I feel my subway station needs such as possible snack bars, and waiting areas, or subway station staff offices.
This second level contains a platform serving two train lines. A major feature of the subway station is the cutaway wall, as seen here. This will allow the ability to see and even use the subway station even with the city on top. It also allows the are to be flooded with natural lighting.
Here you can see the two full height columns and the support beams running off of them. The columns were based off of the design of the water barrel seen in the recent Creative Expert Detective's Office set. Alone they were relatively weak, but as I built them up with the support beams, they were a lot stronger. The larger round plate at the base of the column acts as seating for the platform. The station, or at least the platform, will probably consist of a total of four of these columns, however the other two won't be full height as there won't be a gap between the levels where they will be.
Here you can see a slightly better view of the intended gap in the first floor. This gap will allow a modern aesthetic to the subway station. The gap will stretch from the built side to the exposed 1x2 plate between the tiles on the other side of the beam.
The new KB Videos coming soon.