Our first ever MOC- Police Station Modular

Swisstony · April 2017

**** THIS IS OUR FIRST EVER MOC SO PLEASE BE GENTLE WITH US ! *****

I know that many people have created police station modulars but we felt that we could do our own from start to finish. Now as this was our first ever MOC, we wanted to keep it simple but as always as it was being created, it kind of expanded ! But all along we wanted to do the following :

1. Create a modular that would fit into the street and not look out of place

2. Be a certain height but no higher than Town Hall

3. Be architecturally interesting

4. Be fully furnished.

5. Learn different building techniques and LDD. Never used it before !

So with that in mind and armed with a copy of LDD, a load of bricks and some imagination we started. My wife is great at the interiors so I was tasked with the build of the exterior and with her input we developed it over the last month or so. Did level by level , got our build list, ordered all the bricks that we didn't have and then started to construct. It has been immensely fun as along the way, we have discovered that LDD creates crazy instructions, it allows bricks that you sometimes can't get and some parts looked great on the computer but rubbish in real life so had to be changed ! And that was even before we got to the interior which proved another challenge as sometimes furniture didn't fit so it was back to the drawing board.

Hopefully it has turned out ok, we both hope that people like the design and although we are novices, we think we have created something a little unique.

For those of you who know your modulars, you will notice that we have given a 'nod' to many existing modulars, both official and other MOC's. The eagle eyed amongst you will notice a little homage or design cues from Town Hall, Krystel buildings , Fire Station etc.

https://flic.kr/s/aHskXbFy2r

The part list is around 3600 pieces including the interior /fit out.

AllBrick · April 2017

TechnicNick · April 2017

^ What he said.

Astrobricks · April 2017

Very impressive! It fits right in to your street. But I'd move that antenna further from the helipad :)

GeordiePaul · April 2017

It's... BRILLIANT!

Swisstony · April 2017

Thanks for all the comments. It means a lot as we are still novices getting to grip with using LDD and also trying out stuff. We have made a ton of lego sets and a few designer MOC, but never done one ourselves. As we are husband and wife, you can imagine we had a few artistic differences and domestics over it but like all good marriages, we argued and then I did what she thought was best :)

We haven't finished as I would like to change the guns over the cap to more modern ones , maybe tweak the 1x2 bricks in MSG on the first floor to either white or sand blue and also a few other tweaks.

Then onto the next project :)

GeordiePaul · April 2017

@Swisstony Would love to see the interior too, if that's possible? If it's half as good as the outside then it should be worth seeing!

snowhitie · April 2017

@GeordiePaul it's all in the Flickr link.

@Swisstony and wife, very nicely done! Looks very life-like and fits into the modular street very well... Not totally sure about the guns at the top, but love the hat in between :) and the detailing is really great. Very impressive and I'd never thought it was your first!

GeordiePaul · April 2017

@snowhitie Oops! Totally missed the link there. I'll head off and take a look. Thanks

Recce · April 2017

I think it's an excellent effort for a first MOC! Looks as good as those official modulars that were created by expert designers with years of experience.

Swisstony · April 2017

Recce said:

I think it's an excellent effort for a first MOC! Looks as good as those official modulars that were created by expert designers with years of experience.

ah that is praise indeed ! we did fuss over the details for many weeks and spent ages wondering as we did stuff "whether TLG would do it like this ". Our aim was always to create something that wouldn't look out of place next to the other modulars but also bring a little humour and personal touch to a building that we feel is missing from the street.

BooTheMightyHamster · April 2017

Very nice job indeed Mr & Mrs Tony! Looks like it belongs in your street line up and only Modular aficionado's would be able to pick it out as the MOC among official sets.

Swisstony · April 2017

BooTheMightyHamster said:

Very nice job indeed Mr & Mrs Tony! Looks like it belongs in your street line up and only Modular aficionado's would be able to pick it out as the MOC among official sets.

Very good :) there are a few things that maybe modulars wouldn't do like place a ruddy big helipad on the roof ( more city I think ) but it serves a purpose we feel .. we also needed to have a police station because those mini figures are currently running amok on the street , no law and order and they are just getting away it at this time !!

So now they will feel the long arm of the law if they misbehave but also a place to go if you have lost your pet , ah bless :)

Swisstony · April 2017

We have not rested as it needed some changes. A lot of people said that the overall flow did not work, the middle floor looked odd compared to the other two, the top floor looked out of place and the mixture of windows styles were wrong. So I have tweaked quite a bit !

1. The middle floor did not flow with the other two floors especially the windows.

2. The building did not sit flush with the other modulars in terms of technic bricks and pins

3. Top floor needed to include sand blue on the tiles

4. Mixture of brick and window styles

So here is middle floor BEFORE and AFTER ( saves having to flick backwards and forwards)

BEFORE

https://flic.kr/p/TfjAQf

AFTER

https://flic.kr/p/TjsqQy

Top floor

BEFORE

https://flic.kr/p/ThFYzH

AFTER

https://flic.kr/p/TjsrjE

Ground floor has been moved back two studs to align with other modulars and sand blue added

BEFORE

https://flic.kr/p/Tu8Hxz

AFTER

https://flic.kr/p/TEAK1N

And finally all three floors together.

BEFORE

https://flic.kr/p/TqveLd

And AFTER

https://flic.kr/p/TEAv6y

https://flic.kr/p/TjsoLy

Hope you enjoy the changes :)

The_Mad_Vulcan · April 2017

I prefer the before, oddly enough. Their both quite good, of course. But the before looks like an old building that has been updated a few times across the decades and the new looks like it was built yesterday.

Swisstony · April 2017

The_Mad_Vulcan said:

I prefer the before, oddly enough. Their both quite good, of course. But the before looks like an old building that has been updated a few times across the decades and the new looks like it was built yesterday.

ha ha, theres always one :) fair enough but we felt the first build was a bit clumsy in parts and could do with some alterations. I see your point though but please don't make me change it again :)

Recce · April 2017

The_Mad_Vulcan said:

I prefer the before, oddly enough. Their both quite good, of course. But the before looks like an old building that has been updated a few times across the decades and the new looks like it was built yesterday.

Me too. The original had a unique style to it whereas the updated design seems more generic in appearance, at least to me.

Boardshorts85 · April 2017

*puts on nerdy architect glasses*

I think either way, before or after, you have the nice bones of the project, but what's missing is the clarity of the hierarchy. The scale of elements changes from level to level and the organizing elements aren't consistent. Try adjusting the module of your windows on the second level to align with the major vertical elements of the base and third level. The primary vertical organization is the columns on either side of the entry, which align nicely with the feature element at the top. Your secondary organization is the 2-stud wide solid between the narrow windows on the base. This should align with the sand blue verticals above, but doesn't neccessarily have to continue to the 3rd level.

*takes off nerdy architect glasses....whole world now blurry*

Great work! I may borrow this design for my own city!

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5015319/uploads/editor/ct/zzbzid0c1gc5.png

Boardshorts85 · April 2017

Also it occurs to me that my "whole world blurry" / "great job" comment could be interpreted as rude. Not my intent at all. A truly nice job for a first MOC modular.

Swisstony · April 2017

Boardshorts85 said:

*puts on nerdy architect glasses*

I think either way, before or after, you have the nice bones of the project, but what's missing is the clarity of the hierarchy. The scale of elements changes from level to level and the organizing elements aren't consistent. Try adjusting the module of your windows on the second level to align with the major vertical elements of the base and third level. The primary vertical organization is the columns on either side of the entry, which align nicely with the feature element at the top. Your secondary organization is the 2-stud wide solid between the narrow windows on the base. This should align with the sand blue verticals above, but doesn't neccessarily have to continue to the 3rd level.

*takes off nerdy architect glasses....whole world now blurry*

Great work! I may borrow this design for my own city!

Thanks for the comments. I completely understand where you are coming from but when I came to redesign the outside from the original one, I realised that what you see above is the max changes I could do as ultimately the inside dictates some of the position of windows etc. I know in an ideal world I would redesign the inside as well but man that would take ages and at some point you have to step back and think , enough is enough. so nerdy glasses aside, I attempted to marry up some of the common elements on each floor. Was gutted to lose the nice windows on the first floor but needs must !

Our first ever MOC- Police Station Modular

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