LEGO Skylines

[DecoJim]

Originally Posted by [SP]Neo

first his model is way bigger than the lego set from the top of this page.
and seond i think he only fixed these crosses with clue. because the side of his facade is flat and i don't know any nrocks with two "nippled" sides.

Spencer does not use glue (if that is what you are saying). I never use glue either. There are 1x1 bricks with studs on 3 sides and even 1x1 bricks with studs on 5 sides! There are so many different Lego elements that there are probably several ways that Spencer could have built his JHC.

and you can make a change to it as you go if you don't like somthing

Yes.
In fact I have more or less rebuilt all three of my Lego skyscrapers to improve them (although the reasons for rebuilding are tied in with the limitations of Lego or at least part availability as well).

[jsr]

Originally Posted by [SP]Neo

first his model is way bigger than the lego set from the top of this page.
and seond i think he only fixed these crosses with clue. because the side of his facade is flat and i don't know any nrocks with two "nippled" sides.

Nope. No glue, guys. No cutting of elements either (except for the occasional flex tube). All my models are 100% pure Lego product.

Those are the rules that I work within... at least for now.

[AuxTown]

Wicked thread! Great job Lego geeks.

[ATLskyline]

Originally Posted by jsr

Nope. No glue, guys. No cutting of elements either (except for the occasional flex tube). All my models are 100% pure Lego product.

Those are the rules that I work within... at least for now.

How long does it take you to complete one of your mircoscale lego buildings from start to finish?

[DecoJim]

This is a follow up post to one concerning the possibility of a JHC Lego model smaller than Spencer's nearly 2 foot high version.

My incomplete version which was only done as an exercise, would be about 10-12 inches high or so. I have partially finished the top half which is enough to show the principle.

Inside is a 2x4 column of bricks with 1 level where the a set of 8 headlight bricks with 2 for each direction allow for the attachment of a hinge brick.


The outside of the wing plates would be covered by 1x1 plates, 1x1 tiles, 1x2 grill plates and 1x2 jumper plates as necessary to provide "windows" and attachment points for the external "X" bracing.


I used gray 3x12 wing plates because I did not have any in black (I would purchase them from Bricklink if I was serious about completing this model).

While people would probably recognize this as a JHC model, I think it does prove that Spencer picked a very good scale to build his version.

[[SP]Neo]

Originally Posted by DecoJim

Spencer does not use glue (if that is what you are saying). I never use glue either. There are 1x1 bricks with studs on 3 sides and even 1x1 bricks with studs on 5 sides! There are so many different Lego elements that there are probably several ways that Spencer could have built his JHC.


Yes.
In fact I have more or less rebuilt all three of my Lego skyscrapers to improve them (although the reasons for rebuilding are tied in with the limitations of Lego or at least part availability as well).

ok sry i never saw a stone like that in my live yet...i only know/use stones with studs on one side and wholes on another.

your test model of the JHC is fine so far but for me the top looks too fat. and the antennas are of course also too thick but i don't know any smaller ones.

[jsr]

Originally Posted by ATLskyline

How long does it take you to complete one of your mircoscale lego buildings from start to finish?

Generally 3-4 months, but I'll spend a lot of time surfing the internet for images of the building before I build anything. I tend to look for rare or uncommon views since I try to also model the building's surrounding grounds/plaza/service infrastructure, etc. Google's Streetview is really helping out these days.

I'll start with a basic idea of which techniques I want to use to model the main structure and run some back-of-the-envelope calculations for overall size and scale (and cost!). I then will mock up small sections to see if I get the visual effects I want. I'll also look at color and reflective qualilities - especially with the windows. For example, for my Citigroup tower, I built 5 or 6 small sections consisting of a couple of floors just to see which color of brick worked best behind the transparent blue window elements in order to make the sky-blue reflecting window bands of the building visually 'pop'. (It turned out white looked best)

Although 3-4 months sounds like a great deal of time, it really isn't. Large chunks of that time can be go by just waiting for elements to arrive by mail. I don't really have an idea of how many hours within the 3-4 timeframe are actually spent building. When I built the shopping mall for Taipei 101 - I do recall that was a solid 4-5 days of building over the Christmas hollday. However that one was a unusually tough design to hammer out.

[jsr]

Originally Posted by DecoJim

This is a follow up post to one concerning the possibility of a JHC Lego model smaller than Spencer's nearly 2 foot high version.

The technique behind my JHC relies on these bracket elements (highlighted in red) to connect the faces of the frame at the corners. Here is a small example.



The rest of the building nests inside the corners and the gaps resulting from stepping the facade, as it tapers, are pretty much hidden from view behind the brackets. There are still some gaps, but building in black visually helps to hide them.

At the small scale of this example frame, it would be tough to fill in a frame, but it probably could be done to some degree.

However, don't take this as being a better solution for the commercial kits being offered by Lego anyway. Many building techniques I use in my models involve illegal construction methods according to the rules and standards used internally by The Lego Company when they design their sets. Either these stress the parts in an unacceptable (to Lego) way, or are too difficult for the particular age groups that the sets are intended for.

Just the simple inclusion of a single instance of a particular type of element can radically change the recommended building age listed on the box - and change the whole market equation for a set. Lego set designers need to take all these things into account, and a whole bunch more...

I don't.

[DecoJim]

Originally Posted by [SP]Neo

your test model of the JHC is fine so far but for me the top looks too fat. and the antennas are of course also too thick but i don't know any smaller ones.

As said earlier I am not actually planning on completing this JHC model. The top looks fat because I did not make the entire building - only the top portion. Also, the slope is not steep enough. Spencer's wider sides have a flare of 1 in 12 as you descend from the top while the wing plates I used have 1 in 6 ratio. My building even if completed would be more like a "bobble-head" caricature of the JHC whereas Spencer's is more of an accurate model.

The whole point was to show that you could create a smaller JHC that, while mediocre, could not be mistaken for the Sears Tower as appeared to happen to some extent with the LEGO Architecture JHC.

By the way Spencer, I am surprised that you are giving away your construction secrets!

[Brickstructures]

Chimming in here-

Again, the models are to scale w/each other. The JH is a mere 6 inches tall, clearly shorter than ST. As spencer has pointed out there are many considerations one has to take into account when designing a set for eventual production. That said I was also concerned with keeping it in the design context with the other 18 buildings that we have slated. I Basically, the style was a consideration to make the "line" seem cohesive. Again, with the JH at perspective the alternating 1/2 stepbacks create the illusion of a complex-sloping form.

Without sounding bias, one really needs to have both sets side by side in order to appreciate that the JH really does not in any way look or can possibly be mistaken for the ST. Also, please keep in mind these are very simple models only trying to capture the essence of the structures form, at this scale, we are looking into more advanced/challenging sets which showcase more detail.

Just my 2 cents, sorry to sound defensive, if I did. Not my intention at all. I will attempt to share some photos of the other prototypes coming out.

Bringing two worlds together -Adam

[Brickstructures]

http://www.architecture.org/shop/sho...sp?itemid=1023
http://www.architecture.org/shop/sho...sp?itemid=1024

[DecoJim]

Originally Posted by Brickstructures

Just my 2 cents, sorry to sound defensive, if I did.

No need to be defensive, Adam.
I was not quite able to come up with an accurate alternative to your commercial JHC set and as far as I can tell no one else here even suggested anything practical (Spencer's scale is about 4 times larger). I have some understand of the problem with a Lego skyscraper set in that you can quickly price yourself out of a market by increasing the scale too much. Besides you and a few others, how many AFOLs have actually built a large LEGO skyscraper model? It is something that takes considerable time and resources. I imagine that some of the supertalls that you are doing in the Lego Architecture series would work better in different scales than others but I personally would rather have all buildings in one scale for comparison even if that means that a few of them are perhaps not as ideal as others. If you do decide to do a second series in a larger scale that would be cool if that second series could also be the same scale.

By the way your larger structures are very impressive. Are they about 1:180 scale?

[Austin55]

I have Emailed Lego several times asking for more marketing on a larger scale for "older kids, teens, adults and hobbyists" I also emailer gem extensivly about architecture sets (dunno, but I may have influenced the Eiffel tower), specifficllyhighrises. I even linked em this page and JSRs page, I'll email email again and see if they respond.

I was in the ""lego kids inner circle" but they kicked me out when I turned 14, so they probably don't care anymore

[jsr]

Originally Posted by Austin55

I have Emailed Lego several times asking for more marketing on a larger scale for "older kids, teens, adults and hobbyists" I also emailer gem extensivly about architecture sets (dunno, but I may have influenced the Eiffel tower), specifficllyhighrises. I even linked em this page and JSRs page, I'll email email again and see if they respond.

You're better off saving your typing fingers.

Lego, like most other companies, will not accept unsolicited ideas for designs & themes. They cannot even look at them. It's a form of legal protection that insures that a company wholly owns the legal rights to whatever it produces.

That's the bad news.

The good news is, that Lego is one of those companies that does a good job monitoring the online community of fans and their works. If there is something fan-produced that Lego wants to use they will contact that person and legally purchase the rights to it. This has occurred before in the case of the Blacksmith Shop, Santa Fe cars, etc.

Bottom line from Lego: Keep building and creating, but don't come to us. We'll come to you.

[Austin55]

ahh, but as I mentionend I was in that stupid club,and they actually asked for recommendations. Interesting

But thanks,I never new that.( I never new that? WTF? summer)

[DecoJim]

Originally Posted by jsr

If there is something fan-produced that Lego wants to use they will contact that person and legally purchase the rights to it. This has occurred before in the case of the Blacksmith Shop, Santa Fe cars, etc.

I am still waiting for Lego to contact me about producing a line of minifig scale models of obscure pre-depression Detroit skyscrapers

[Brickstructures]

D-J

That gave me a smile, =)

-Adam

[vasiliymeshko]

Now here's a tower that could make for a very interesting lego project. Anyone up for a challenge?

[1ajs]

[vid]

Be careful, Adrian! An interior like that might make people think you're from Thunder Bay!

I took out my Lego last night but only got as far as sorting them to get an idea of what I could build.. not much, but I'll try something maybe?