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In lugnet.loc.us.ks, Gerhard R. Istok wrote:
> My whole take on this is that it is NOT Lego driven, but developer driven. If
> it goes thru, then the taxpayers of Kansas will be paying for this.
I agree with you, but as long as Legoland is not owned by Lego, it is an
amusement park like any other, and developers are going to use it as the draw
for retail, hotels, other tourism, etc. and since it will increace the tax base
enormously, the developers will expect taxpayers to pick up the tab.This should
not come as a surprise, since any Legoland not located in one of the major USA
metropolis (something that would cost exponentially more than the KS deal) is
going to have to come as a package deal with the above mentioned types of
entities to make it a success.
I applaud Legoland parks for using creative financing to bring parks where the
might not otherwise be located.
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My whole take on this is that it is NOT Lego driven, but developer driven. If
it goes thru, then the taxpayers of Kansas will be paying for this. But if it
fails in the end, it could affect the reputation of Lego... the product.
I am leary about this.
Just my opinion.
Gary Istok
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Legoland KC is supposed to be presented to the Olathe City council tonight. It
looks good except the current plan has tax payers paying 2/3 the cost. I don't
think people will be real excited about putting up this amount.
This has been discussed on local talk radio today ad nauseum. And their general
consensus is against the government financing.
From the article:
Two-thirds of the estimated cost of the proposed project would come from state
and city tax incentives and direct subsidies from Olathe. The breakdown of the
public financing:
•tax-increment financing bonds, $5.9 million.
•transportation development district bonds, $47 million.
•city-issued bonds, $64.3 million.
•STAR bonds, $556 million.
The article in Kansas City Star:
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/15275009.htm
The Olathe mayor has released a statement that the city will not put up any
money.
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Any AFOLs in the Kansas City area, we have a chance to display at this year's
Greater Kansas City Model Railroad Expo at Union Station on Septmber 23rd and
24th. Set up is Friday the 22nd. I have reserved a layout area of 12 ft by 20.
Currently I only have one other participant, but if anyone is in interested we
have room on our layout. Our layout consists of 3 loops, one which will support
8 wide trains.
Please let me know as soon as possible if you are interrested in joining us or
have any questions.
Layout:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/missourilego/Layouts/GKCMRE/union_station_-_sept_24.gif
Thanks,
Matthew Rausch
-Remove .diespamdie. to email
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In lugnet.loc.us.ks, Mark Chan wrote:
> In lugnet.loc.us.ks, Mark Papenfuss wrote:
> > I think on their (LLCA's) best day more people are standing in line for
> > Space Mountain at Disneyland than for all the rides at LLCA combined.
> >
> >
> > But hey - if they have a promobrick program then it can't be all that bad ;)
> >
> > Mark
> > http://www.promobricks.com
>
> I'd rather go to an amusement park where I wasn't standing in line for hours.
> Standing in line is not my idea of a fun vacation - especially with short
> attention span 4-12 year olds.
The glory of fast-passes fix that for the more popular rides such as SM ;)
But the rides at LLCA move slowwwwwwwwww. They have very low per-hour capacity
that brings everything to a very slow crawl. And it is only worse when LLCA cuts
down on the number of workers staffing the rides and/or not even running all the
already-slow cars (think the new dragon ride that only has half of it open even
at most of the "busy" times)
> If Legoland purposely cuts off attendance each day to insure small lines, charge
> a high gate fee, and can still make a profit,
But they do not cut off attendance and I (would hope) the high ticket cost is
because of the expense of the area - but I have no idea why it is so highly
priced.
> I heard once that LLCA was struggling financially, so
> maybe the model needs some fine tuning - and maybe the new operators have
> already tuned it enough where they have confidence in opening a new LL in Kansas
> City.
They said the talks were on before the buyout with TLC. But yes, they would have
to have confidence to open a new park wherever it may be.
> Don't worry though - I'll make sure to get you some promobricks when it opens :)
> (nice website btw)
Thanks :)
Mark
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In lugnet.loc.us.ks, Mark Papenfuss wrote:
> I think on their (LLCA's) best day more people are standing in line for
> Space Mountain at Disneyland than for all the rides at LLCA combined.
>
>
> But hey - if they have a promobrick program then it can't be all that bad ;)
>
> Mark
> http://www.promobricks.com
I'd rather go to an amusement park where I wasn't standing in line for hours.
Standing in line is not my idea of a fun vacation - especially with short
attention span 4-12 year olds.
If Legoland purposely cuts off attendance each day to insure small lines, charge
a high gate fee, and can still make a profit, I think that's a viable and
successful business model. I heard once that LLCA was struggling financially, so
maybe the model needs some fine tuning - and maybe the new operators have
already tuned it enough where they have confidence in opening a new LL in Kansas
City.
Don't worry though - I'll make sure to get you some promobricks when it opens :)
(nice website btw)
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I think that a better spot in the midwest would be near the major population
centers. That would be near the Great Lakes. I think an ideal location would
be near Cedar Pointe Amusement Park near Sandusky Ohio on Lake Erie. It would
be within a few hours drive of the major population centers of Illinois,
Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Ontario (over 50 million
people within a 4-5 hour drive). And it would be near Sea World of Ohio, as
well as Cedar Pointe Amusement Park (which has the most roller coasters in the
world).
And best of all, for me it would only be a 2 hour drive from Detroit! ;-)
Gary Istok
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>
> I would really hate to see a LL park fail, but if they build it in any other
> location than the theme-park area in Florida or somewhere in New York it will
> fall flat on its face - and do so very quickly. Heck, I think even a NY one
> would fail because the park would have to be closed for a good part of the year
> because of snow.
I think there is a good chance for it to succeed in the Kansas City area. If
your target attendance is 1.4M a year (which the other 4 Legoland parks
average), that is well within the realm of reason if you include everything
within a day's drive of Kansas City.
Some comparisons:
The KC theme park "Worlds of Fun" (which nobody has probably heard of if you
don't live in the region) draws 800,000 a year with only a summertime schedule.
The Kansas City Royals, who have had 100 losses in three of the last four
seasons, and is arguably the worst team in Major League Baseball, still draws
1.5M per year from a large regional (one day drive) area. It's a family friendly
venue (they'll kick you out for foul language/swearing), unlike other MLB or pro
sports stadium environments. It also has the most affordable tickets &
concessions according to the most recent study of the MLB teams.
Besides the two above, there are enough other "Family friendly" synergistic
activities in the immediate, 15 min area that a Legoland can feed off of and add
to.
*A NASCAR track (and possibly the NASCAR Hall of Fame, insiders tap KC as the
lead candidate)
*a huge shopping area near the racetrack (the aforementioned "Legends" in the
article) that is currently the #1 tourist destination in the state,
*an indoor waterpark,
*a new outdoor waterpark,
*a proposed new regional soccer complex for youth tournements which will also
include the Kansas City Wizards home field,
*a minor league baseball team (very inexpensive - even compared to the already
low cost Royals, family friendly fun, draws 250K a year)
Kansas City is not California or Florida or New York, but I think that is what
will give Legoland a great chance to succeed there. It's counter-intuitive
genius in my opinion. If you draw a ring 500 miles around Kansas City (which
represents an easy day's drive with stops) you don't see too many Family
destination alternatives. No mountains, no oceans, no Disneyland.
If you live within this ring (which 54 Million do according to the article), and
want a family vacation, your alternatives are to spend a lot of money to fly
somewhere else, or spend a lot of time and energy driving somewhere else with
kids in the car.
With Legoland and the other family attractions nearby, you could hop in the car,
be in Kansas City that day, and the next morning be off and running to different
activities - including Legoland. People in that region "do" drive to Kansas City
from within a one day radius, it's not just some "tourist experts" rosy
assumption - see NAIA and Big 12 basketball tournaments, and the KC
Royals/Chiefs as examples.
The county where the proposed Legoland would be built also has a strong
reputation for being one of the best places in America to raise a family. This
is the ideal Legoland target customer. With 450,000 just in that county (I typed
in the wrong number in my original post), the local attendance, support and
excitement could also be a very positive factor.
Sure, any project can fail, and none of us want to see a Legoland fail. But I
wouldn't write off Kansas City as a bad bet so quickly.
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(crossposting to .legoland)
In lugnet.announce, Mark Chan wrote:
> Tourism experts say a Legoland theme park would have the name recognition and
> reputation to bring visitors to the Kansas City area from as far as Minneapolis,
> Denver, Dallas and Chicago.
To re-state what I posted on BL:
I think these "tourism experts" need to find new jobs lol. LLCA has trouble
getting people from as close as LA and SD to go to the park. The only reason out
of towners go there is because it makes for a nice side trip between their visit
to Disneyland and Sea World. It is bad enough that in the middle of the summer,
when theme parks are supposed to be packed LLCA is a ghost town for the most
part. I think on their (LLCA's) best day more people are standing in line for
Space Mountain at Disneyland than for all the rides at LLCA combined.
I would really hate to see a LL park fail, but if they build it in any other
location than the theme-park area in Florida or somewhere in New York it will
fall flat on its face - and do so very quickly. Heck, I think even a NY one
would fail because the park would have to be closed for a good part of the year
because of snow.
But hey - if they have a promobrick program then it can't be all that bad ;)
Mark
http://www.promobricks.com
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Exciting news for residents of the midwest United States! I read this in the
4/28/2006 Kansas City Star. "Joco" is the local shorthand for Johnson County KS:
a very well-to-do, family oriented suburb on the western side of Kansas City,MO
with population ~350,000.
Legoland is very close to reality here - the local politicians are very savvy in
getting projects like this to Kansas, and getting STAR bond approval (the last
thing needed before construction, according to the article below) should not be
any problem if past history is any guide.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/14447062.htm
Legoland ponders Joco sites for amusement park
By KEVIN COLLISON
The Kansas City Star
“If you end up with a Legoland park, it will be the best attraction you’ve ever
had.”
Ted Owen, Carlsbad, Calif.
Legoland is scouting sites in Johnson County for its only Midwest theme park — a
colorful fantasy world of plastic bricks drawing families from a huge region.
RED Development, the developer behind The Legends retail project at Kansas
Speedway, has an agreement with the London-based firm that operates Legoland to
build a $200 million amusement and educational park. If built, it would be only
the fifth Legoland in the world.
Tourism experts say a Legoland theme park would have the name recognition and
reputation to bring visitors to the Kansas City area from as far as Minneapolis,
Denver, Dallas and Chicago.
“It’s considered a very well-branded and well-run operation with high levels of
customer satisfaction,” said Robert Routh, an analyst on the amusement park
industry with Jefferies & Co. of New York.
“It should draw a high level of traffic from an expanded radius you wouldn’t get
from a normal operation.”
The mesmerizing Legoland attractions are based on the interlocking plastic
blocks that have delighted children worldwide since their invention in Denmark
50 years ago.
Visitors describe the experience of visiting a Legoland park as a journey
through a magical land.
The 128-acre Legoland California near San Diego — the only one in the country —
drew 1.5 million people last year to more than 50 rides, shows and interactive
features. The park has thousands of scale models that include such landmarks as
the Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower and a New York skyline featuring a Statue of Liberty
built from 12,200 Lego bricks.
“If you end up with a Legoland park, it will be the best attraction you’ve ever
had,” said Ted Owen, president of the Carlsbad, Calif., Chamber of Commerce.
“It’s built for kids and for kids to take their parents to.”
Two potential sites, both in Johnson County — one in the southwest, the other
the west-central portion — have been identified by RED.
The project, however, is dependent on obtaining state approval for STAR bonds
necessary to finance what would be a 400-acre development.
Legoland would anchor a broader development that would include a resort hotel
and up to 500,000 square feet of retail space, said Dan Lowe, a partner at RED.
He estimated the total investment at about $500 million. No more than half would
be subsidized by the public through tax incentives and other economic
development programs, he said.
If the necessary approvals are won, construction on the Legoland would begin
next spring with an anticipated opening in early 2009.
“It’s a perfect fit for STAR bonds because the goal of the program is to draw
visitors from out of state,” Lowe said. “This project would do the same things
as the Kansas Speedway.”
The Lego Group opened its first theme park in 1968 outside what was then its
company headquarters and manufacturing plant in Billund, Denmark. It expanded to
England in 1996, and then California in 1999. The last Legoland to open was in
Germany in 2002.
John Ussher, the development executive for Legoland, said the main audience is
children ages 2 to 13, and their parents. The parks feature an assortment of
interactive attractions where kids can immerse themselves playing with Legos,
enjoying gentle Lego-inspired rides and walking through cities and familiar
landmarks built with Lego bricks.
“Legoland is a clubhouse of Lego; it’s Lego comes alive for fans and guests,”
Ussher said. “Both parents and children interact and explore together. It’s not
just getting on a ride, but actively participating in the vehicle.
“We’re not thrill rides. We like to say we’re not white knuckle, but pink
knuckle.”
Admission is not cheap. A one-day general admission at Legoland California is
$53 for adults, and $43 for children ages 3 to 12 and seniors 60 and older.
Season passes are available for $89 for adults and $69 for children and seniors.
The park only allows 15,000 people in the gate each day.
Talks between Legoland and RED began about two years ago, but were put on hold
when the Danish owners of the theme parks sold a majority stake in them last
year to Merlin Entertainments Group, a London-based company owned by the
Blackstone Group of New York.
In January, Nick Varney, the CEO of Merlin Entertainments, said Legoland was in
a growth mode and interested in the Midwest and East Coast as potential sites,
according to reports.
Kansas rose to the top of the Midwest list because of the powerful economic
development tool it could offer through the STAR bond program. It allows
municipalities to issue bonds to finance major entertainment and tourism
projects and use the sales tax revenues generated to repay the bonds.
STAR bonds have been the major tool used to build Kansas Speedway and the
accompanying retail development, including The Legends at Village West, a $248
million project just opened by RED.
“We went to the Legends and couldn’t believe what’s happened,” Ussher said.
“STAR bonds are a fantastic vehicle to help economic development.”
Legoland executives also have had preliminary meetings with Kansas economic
development officials, including Secretary of Commerce Howard Fricke.
“He was supportive of the idea of a project like this coming to the Kansas City
area,” said Caleb Asher, spokesman for the Kansas Department of Commerce.
Lowe said Legoland would be the anchor for a development that would include a
300- to 500-room resort hotel, themed shopping area and potentially other
visitor attractions as well. His company believes the market for Legoland
includes 54 million people living within a day’s drive of Kansas City.
A Legoland in the Kansas City area would likely employ about 800 seasonal
workers and 110 full-time staff.
Routh, the analyst, described a Legoland park as being a “continental” draw but
not quite on the scale of an international attraction such as Disney World.
“This type of development would pull in a number of families in the Midwest who
aren’t able to go to theme parks in California or Florida,” Ussher said. “It
would be good for the local economy.”
All four of the Legoland parks average about the same attendance — roughly 1.4
million a year — both the sunny weather California location and those in
Britain, Germany and Denmark.
A Legoland park would not be expected to compete with Worlds of Fun because of
its younger audience. Stacy Frole, a spokeswoman for Worlds of Fun, said young
people in the 12-to-24 range, as well as families, are its target market.
“We always welcome anything that could bring additional tourism to the area,”
she said. “We are very proud of the product we have and feel people will still
come to our parks.”
Lowe said RED decided to pursue a location in Johnson County because it believed
it would be difficult to attract additional retail to the Kansas Speedway area.
Between Village West, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Cabela’s and other stores, there
is more than 2 million square feet of retail either built or planned.
Another major amusement park planned for the Kansas Speedway area, Schlitterbahn
Waterparks, also is proposing to build more than 400,000 square feet of retail.
“It would be difficult to get the massive retail necessary to pay off the STAR
bond in Wyandotte County,” Lowe said. “We know Johnson County is probably more
ripe for unsubsidized retail.”
PIECE BY PIECE
We’d make number five
Legoland has four theme parks: Denmark, England, Germany and California.
Yes, it’s a word…kind of
The name Lego comes from the Danish words “Leg Godt,” meaning “play well.”
What’s inside?
Legoland California has more than 50 rides, shows and interactive exhibits —
largely built of Legos.
How many Legos does it take to make small-scale versions of these sights?
380,792: The U.S. Capitol
150,000: The Eiffel Tower
50,000: Mount Rushmore
12,200: The Statue of Liberty
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To reach Kevin Collison, development reporter, call (816) 234-4289 or send
e-mail to kcollison@kcstar.com.
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The Colorado Lego User's Group will meet at the Boulder Public Library Main
Branch (1000 Canyon Blvd., email me for further directions), 1:00-5:30, on
Saturday, April 17th. Out-of-state AFOLs are welcome. We'll be in the kid's
section.
Soren
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In lugnet.town, Brendan Powell Smith writes:
> I have another question about technique you used. It's one I remember
> seeing on the sides of some of the houses in the Carlsbad minland,
> particularly the San Francisco section. It gives the look of having
> horizontal panelling. Your Union Station MOC uses this technique on the
> bottom grey part of the front enterance, and on the white sides of the
> entrance among other places.
>
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=138569
>
> Could you (or anyone else) explain how this is done, and what pieces are
> involved? Thanks!
I'm guessing it's done by using technic 1x2 twin-hole bricks with half-pegs
in, then fitting tiles to the side. If you look at the base, there could be
one facing out to each side with a 1x2 tile on, then one at the front with a
1x4 tile across it, nicely covering the ends of the side ones. So long as
the twin-hole brick is the same colour as the wall, you won't notice.
For longer sections, you can get away with regular technic bricks, and just
push the center pins of 1x4, 1x6 or 1x8 tiles into the half-pegs. You only
need twin-hole bricks if you're short of space.
You could do it with headlight bricks for a subtler half-plate protrusion,
but then you couldn't go around corners like this. I've seen the headlight
brick version on a lot of train wagons, both for horizontal planking and
vertical (SNOT) ribbing. With plates instead of tiles, you can even get a
chunky rivetted look.
Jason J Railton
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In lugnet.town, Mark Chan writes:
> Among the toughest "compression yet MF
> accessible" challenges was the awning over the two front entrances. In
> scale, they should be about half as high as they are (and in solid black),
> but then a minifig couldn't fit under it. On the other hand, a solid piece
> at MF height just distracted too much from the overall effect. I compromised
> with a "glass" awning at MF height to minimize the distraction.
An elegant compromise! The SNOT glass awning is one of my favorite details
of this all-around beautiful MOC.
Forgive me for saying so, but I was relieved to see that your decorative and
highly innovative roof at least has an ugly underneath. @8^) If it looked
as good on the hidden side, it would have gone from jaw dropping to just
permanently mind boggling.
I have another question about technique you used. It's one I remember
seeing on the sides of some of the houses in the Carlsbad minland,
particularly the San Francisco section. It gives the look of having
horizontal panelling. Your Union Station MOC uses this technique on the
bottom grey part of the front enterance, and on the white sides of the
entrance among other places.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=138569
Could you (or anyone else) explain how this is done, and what pieces are
involved? Thanks!
-The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith
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In lugnet.loc.us.mo.kan, Mark Chan writes:
> It's the virtuous cycle of building, getting/sending comments and then
> building some more that really makes this community go, and I appreciate
> your adding to this cycle with your kind comments.
What an apt use of the term! LUGNET (or a club that gets together) at its
best is just this, a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement.
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In lugnet.town, Ace Kim writes:
> i don't respond to hardly any MOC posts, maybe 1 or 2 in all the time i've
> been lurking on lugnet. but this...... this is probably one of the most
> beautifully designed buildings made out of LEGO i have ever seen. even
> though it is modeled after the real union station, it transcends all ideas
> of scale and translation into a gorgeous piece architectural piece.
>
> congratulations on your accomplishment. i could only hope to build something
> as beautiful and as detailed as your union station creation.
>
> ace
Thank you. Those are very high words of praise, and I am flattered by your
"de-lurking" to let me know your thoughts.
Around 4 years back, I was just starting out with my own MOC's, and was
inspired (probably even intimidated?) by all the models I saw posted by many
of the people who are still with LUGNET. I don't know how many times I said
(and still say) "how did they do that?" which combined aspects of
fascination, admiration, mental reverse-engineering, and the excitement of
discovering something new.
My skill gradually rose over time, and it was/is attributable to such a
supportive community of Lego fans sharing their ideas and creations with
others. I learned about the 6:5 aspect ratio of the brick on LUGNET (which
was critical to the construction of Union Station), as well as many other
techniques.
It's fun to build MOC's, and maybe equally as fun to hear the comments of
others (and I need to make a mental note to increase how often I publicly
make comments on other's models - there are so many good ones out there. I
must have over 100 different people's models on my hard drive because they
caught my eye with some aspect of creativity or beauty).
It's the virtuous cycle of building, getting/sending comments and then
building some more that really makes this community go, and I appreciate
your adding to this cycle with your kind comments.
Mark Chan
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In lugnet.town, William R. Ward writes:
> "Mark Chan" <markhchan@home.com> writes:
> > [...] Union Station sits across the street from
> > Crown Center and the Liberty Memorial and hill (the only WWI memorial in
> > America).[...]
>
> Your definition of "memorial" must be a lot more restricted than mine,
> because lots of towns and cities have memorials to the local men and
> boys who died in the "Great War"...
>
> --Bill.
Oops. No offense meant to any of the other memorials, or to the people that
are memorialized therein. I misquoted, and I believe a more accurate
statement would be that Liberty Memorial is the only "national monument" for WWI
http://www.libertymemorialmuseum.org/Monument.htm
The dedication of Liberty Memorial in KC in 1926 was attended by the
President and many high ranking officials from countries all over the world.
Too bad the Great War didn't turn out to be the "war to end all wars" as
they thought at the time....
Mark
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i don't respond to hardly any MOC posts, maybe 1 or 2 in all the time i've
been lurking on lugnet. but this...... this is probably one of the most
beautifully designed buildings made out of LEGO i have ever seen. even
though it is modeled after the real union station, it transcends all ideas
of scale and translation into a gorgeous piece architectural piece.
congratulations on your accomplishment. i could only hope to build something
as beautiful and as detailed as your union station creation.
ace
In lugnet.town, Mark Chan writes:
> After 3 years of planning and 6 months of building, I am pleased to announce
> the completion of the main section of Union Station, modeled after the real
> building in Kansas City, MO.
>
> This is also my entry for the 2002 Town Building Contest
>
> C Super-size Buildings
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=13740 Union Station. Mark Chan
> Union Station was built in 1914 in Kansas City, MO. It is the second largest
> train station in North America.
>
> This model uses selective compression, and is 130 studs long. It features
> many different construction techniques including: SNOT (Studs Not On Top),
> OHSO (One-Half Stud Offset), OFSO (One-Fifth Stud Offset) and SNAND (Studs
> Not At Ninety Degrees)
>
> I will cheerfully try and answer any questions about how this model was
> constructed. It used every technique I could think of so far to try and
> maximize detail per cubic inch of space. The roof tops alone required over
> 2700 pieces to construct (around 1400 of them consisting of 2x2 red tiles)
>
> Many thanks to all the Brickbay/Bricklink stores who provided me with the
> parts necessary to construct Union Station in Lego.
>
> Special and greatest thanks also go to my very supportive wife Laural, who
> allowed me to take over the coffee table (and great room) to house and build
> this project, and made many creative suggestions that were incorporated
> along the way. I am one of the lucky adult fans of Lego that has a spouse
> who shares and encourages my joy in this hobby.
>
> Stage II of this project includes plans to elevate the existing model 14
> bricks, adding the North End Waiting Room, placing tracks underneath the
> North End, and putting a Super Chief in service.
>
> Please let me know what you think!
>
> Mark Chan
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"Mark Chan" <markhchan@home.com> writes:
> [...] Union Station sits across the street from
> Crown Center and the Liberty Memorial and hill (the only WWI memorial in
> America).[...]
Your definition of "memorial" must be a lot more restricted than mine,
because lots of towns and cities have memorials to the local men and
boys who died in the "Great War"...
--Bill.
--
William R Ward bill@wards.net http://www.wards.net/~bill/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
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Wow! What an amazing model. At first I didn't believe my eyes when I opened
the little thumbnail at brickshelf.
I wish I had that many tiles. But the downpart is, that using this many
tiles you don't see a lot of studs anymore, which should be characteristic
for every Lego model ... nah! ... just joking! Your model looks really
great, almost real because of the lack of visible studs.
It's amazing how you created such an amount of detail building at this
rather small scale.
Of course I was puzzled too about the roof construction technique, but then
I saw your construction pictures and everything cleared up a bit (In
contrary to you text description, which left me puzzled even more ... just
like someone said here before: In this case a picture says more than a
thousand words)
Great piece of work and a milestone in Lego architecture.
Good luck in the contest (But I think you didn't need it, a success seems to
be a sure thing)
Andreas Engel aka "El Caracho"
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In lugnet.town, John Neal writes:
>
>
> Mark Chan wrote:
>
> > After 3 years of planning and 6 months of building, I am pleased to announce
> > the completion of the main section of Union Station, modeled after the real
> > building in Kansas City, MO.
>
> Congratulations, Mark! You have created a very pleasing and innovative MOC
> here! Well done! Among your original techniques I noticed and enjoyed the most
> is your method of compression.
Compression was one of the more challenging constraints. One of the most
endearing traits of TLC official sets (to me) is their ability to suggest an
actual structure without actually needing to model all of it in scale.
(Their old passenger airplanes being a great example)
My brother thought the side doors on Union Station were hilarious. The
building wings on the side are supposed to be a three story structure, but
here is this massive door that doesn't look too out of place - and it has
this cute look when you put a minifigure next to it.
> I know that when constructing large buildings in the minilands, TLC will start
> off with 1:20 on the ground level, but switch to MF scale on successive floors.
I noticed that too in the Carlsbad miniland. What was impressive was how TLC
pulled this off without anyone really noticing unless you looked at it
closely for a long time. It's a good illusion - which is what selective
compression is mostly about.
> You appear to have completely compressed the station to HO scale (about 1/2 MF
> scale), and yet make it work for MF scale! So, at the same time the model can
> appear compressed or uncompressed, depending upon the presence of MFs. Very
> creative:-)
Yes, it is about 1/2 MF scale. Among the toughest "compression yet MF
accessible" challenges was the awning over the two front entrances. In
scale, they should be about half as high as they are (and in solid black),
but then a minifig couldn't fit under it. On the other hand, a solid piece
at MF height just distracted too much from the overall effect. I compromised
with a "glass" awning at MF height to minimize the distraction.
Thanks for taking the time to write!
Mark
> -John
>
> >
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