I think building a Lego city is the ultimate goal of most fans. We’ve all seen those amazing layouts on Youtube, usually from Americans who seem to have basements twice the size of the average UK house, and we all hope to replicate even a small part of that. Ever since I moved home a year ago, I’ve been planning to get something set up, but time has always been against me. Finally at the start of July I was able to start laying something out, and this video is the result of that…
This was mostly a learning experience, see what worked, see what didn’t work, and give myself a sense of what was really going to be required to make this something special. I learned a lot…
- The whole endeavour is massively time consuming. Whether it’s putting down fence pieces or laying out a beach, those small details come at a cost – time. Hours just disappear.
- Straight train track pieces are in short supply. I have a few different train sets, and they all come with lots of curved track, and very little straight track. That makes coming up with satisfactory layouts a challenge.
- You can never have too much space. And most things take up way more space than you think they will.
- Pieces are expensive, whether through Pick a Brick in-store, online or through Bricklink. And they never turn up quickly enough, so you’re often sitting around waiting for the next order to arrive.
At first I thought this would just be a nicer way to display all the sets I’ve bought rather than just putting them on shelves. But the more I got into it, the more I realised what a combination of skills this requires, from the design and layout skills, to the art of making it look nice, it’s not as easy as just putting things down on a board and crossing your fingers. I think that’s why I like it so much, and why I hope you’ll enjoy seeing the progress.
