Transforming the FunWhole Graffiti Bus Stop F9066 into a custom Transit Hub

Hey brick fans!

I recently had the pleasure of building this new set called the Graffiti Bus Stop F9066. It's part of the FunWhole Street Fusion series and features three separate components that can be displayed in a number of variations.  My quickie review of the original set can be found here if you want to see what's included.

While it's a cool little set, I needed it to fit into the format of my not Lego city.  So, I set about integrating  it into my typical layout.

I've customised my set by placing it onto a 32x32 stud raised baseplate, some of you might know this better as a MILS plate.  The original set came as three separate components which you could link together, and move around, but in my setup I have created a transit hub.   The transit hub serves as a connection point between the bus terminal and train line.

The transit hub consists of the bus terminal shelter, the grafitti laden mezzanine and a train line in behind.  The small flea market is no more.   With the raised baseplate, I have included a studded sidewalk on which to attach my minifigures.  FunWhole typically only uses smooth tiles in the majority of their sets so I always end up replacing them with studded plates so that minifigures can be more easily affixed.

Here is the mezzanine which serves as the entrance to the local rapid transit train line. The recycling center and sign post from the original set was retained, but is now supplemented by a vending machine.  I've added a few extra minifigures and another bike.  I've also added a few of my own minifigures to give it a little more hustle and bustle to this upgraded transit hub.  

The silver bench from the OG bus stop has now been replaced by a turquoise bench that spans the length of the bus shelter.  I've hidden the wire connection hub for the lighting under the bench.   Lighting for the bus shelter has been retained.  The payphone stays pretty much in it's original location, but the extra trash can is a new addition.  I incorporated  the smaller grafitti wall from the flea market directly into the bus shelter.

The majority of glass panels from the bus shelter have been repurposed into the train platform which is located behind the bus shelter.

It's hard to see the train platform when viewing the transit hub from the front, so here's an overhead shot.  Stair access to the train platform is via the large mezzanine next to the bus shelter.  The accent light from the grafitti wall has been repurposed as lighting for the train platform.  

This is the view from the train tracks with a better view of the reused grafitti glass wall.

In this view, we can better see the new vending machine and the light green bike from the OG set.  In the FunWhole Newsstand set, there was a printed ad for fresh farm produce and I've placed the ad on the fence as an easter egg.

The mezzanine area is a bit underlit so a future project may be to include some extra lighting in that space.  

Thanks for looking at my modified Grafitti Transit Hub, see you next time, Bye!

Splitting up my Lego Compatible Assembly Square Modular building

 

Hey brick fans!

In my quest to transition all of my modular buildings onto raised baseplates (MILS), the Assembly Square was the next set to get the treatment.  I only have another five or six modular buildings left to convert. Anytime you switch to a raised baseplate, you have to move the first floor of the modular building, brick by brick from the old baseplate to a new one.

Since I had to somewhat disassemble it anyways, I was curious as to how challenging it would be to split off the Coffee shop onto it's own 16x32 stud baseplate. 

So here  is what it looked like after putting the separated Coffee shop building onto the raised baseplate.   

Other than some minor sidewalk changes in front of and on the side of the Bakery, this wasn't so difficult to do.  The interior spaces of the bakery, the music shop and the dance studio remain unchanged.  More pics below.

I started to think that I could also sever the Flower Shop from the Bakery building.  And I knew I'd have to create an entirely new wall section where the Flower shop and Bakery joined.  I checked my spare brick pieces and it looked do-able.

So the Flower shop got rebuilt it onto it's own 16x32 raised baseplate, moving the shop to the center of the baseplate as originally it was offset by two studs.  Most of the changes involved building the new wall and redesigning the rear part of the Flower shop and the second floor.

The above two pics were preliminary shots with updated pics later below in this post.

With the completed severance of the Flower Shop,  the Bakery/Dentist building was left with  a huge gaping hole and probably the most challenging part of the modifications was figuring out how to fill it in.  No minifigures were actually harmed in the making of this picture!

I transferred the Bakery brick by brick to it's own 16x32 baseplate knowing that I needed to rebuild each of the floors with new portions of walls, windows and floors to be added where there were none before.   We will see the final result later on in this post.

The Coffee Shop

As mentioned earlier, the only changes made to the front and side elevation of the Coffee shop was the sidewalk.

The arches and covered trellis joining the coffee shop and flower shop were removed, and any holes in the walls were filled in by bricks.

I've seen others who have split off the Coffee shop from the Assembly Square and it's a relatively painless process for the most builders.  No interior changes necessary for any of the floors.  Level of difficulty: Easy.

The Flower Shop

While managing to retain the fountain, the intricate tiled design needed to be sacrificed due to lack of space at the front of the Flower Shop.  This is due to the fact that the building needed to be moved forward to accommodate a rear staircase for the second storey.

If you are attempting to make the Flower Shop a standalone modular building, you will need to brick in the right side of all three floors.  Some of the bricks in my spare brick stash aren't quite the same shade unfortunately.

The original Flower shop had a side entrance, but I have relocated that doorway to the rear of the building. So the left wall needs to be enhanced as well.

The service entrance for the Flower shop is relocated to the rear.  An additional doorway was added to the second floor to what used to be the Photography Studio.  I've since repurposed that space to be the Flower Shop owners apartment, but will need to furnish it at a later date.  The Photography studio will be moving into my Camera store modular building. Also, the rear staircase is still a work in progress.  

Lastly, the third floor terrace receives a covered roof.  That covers off all the changes to the Flower Shop. Level of difficulty: Medium.

The Bakery

Last but not least, here's the final result of the Bakery modifications.  Also set on a raised 16x32 stud baseplate. 

New sets of windows were added to the second and third floors.  The roof detailing was extended.

The doorway that was actually at the rear of the building has now been moved to the side and the awning details above the window were replicated over the doorway as well.

I didn't replace the special tiling on the sidewalk at the front of the Bakery, so it's kind of bland looking.

Here's a closer look at the rear of the Bakery and Dentist office.  Side entrance of the bakery is also the entrance to the Dentist Office.  A window was added to the back just to break up the gray wall under the staircase. It's not the most pleasing to look at though. I might make some more changes in future. The second and third floor interiors stay the same.   Level of Difficulty:  Hard!

After my modifications, the Assembly Square can no longer be placed and displayed in it's original configuration,  mostly due to the realignment of the Flower Shop.  

This is what the sections of the Assembly Square buildings look like next to the Town Hall.

What do you think? Was the final result worth the effort?  Let me know in the comments below!

In my next blog post, I'll be integrating the Briksmax lighting kit into my revamped Assembly Square, but will it work?!

Anyways, thanks for looking, Bye for now!