Sidewalk modification tutorial for the Lumibricks/FunWhole Gelato Store F9078

 

Hey brick fans!

I just recently built and reviewed the Lumibricks/FunWhole Gelato Store set and it was definitely unique and interesting in it's construction.  It has all the similarities of a traditional modular building but it can also be unfolded so that the entire exterior and interior can be displayed dollhouse fashion.

As you can see from the above picture, the Gelato store is comprised of three different levels, all of which can be separated.  The ground floor is the gelato store, the second floor provides seating for the patrons and the rooftop is a garden/artist retreat.   The sidewalk is an extra piece that clips into the building while it's in it's modular form.

Alternatively, the gelato store is hinged such that it can be opened to maximize the visibility of it's exterior and interior spaces.  This method allows easier access to the rich interior details and facilitates play.

There is one drawback though.  When it's time to open up the Gelato store for interior access, sidewalk removal is not so straightforward.  In fact, it's a bit of a struggle to switch between modular building mode and dollhouse mode because of said sidewalk piece.

The Issue

Herein lies the problem.  Above I've taken some screenshots of the instruction manual that shows you the sidewalk attachment process.  From the first picture (ie pg 202), there are a total of four connection points  as depicted by the dark gray studs at the front of the building.  The sidewalk is then slid into place and tiles are then placed on top of those connection points to secure it as shown in the bottom pic (ie pg 204).

To switch to dollhouse mode, you have to remove four or more tiles to disengage the sidewalk piece, so that the building can be unhinged.  A further complication is that the leftmost connecting tile is placed immediately under the doorstep, meaning that piece has to be removed as well.  All of this limits the immediacy and excitement of play.

The Fix

I wanted to retain the ability of sidewalk attachment but make it quicker and easier to remove it or add it back.   I decided that the four connection points was excessive and the same thing could be accomplished using only two connection points.  Also I didn't want to remove the doorstep each time.

My solution involves reworking some of the tile placement on the sidewalk and at the front of the building.  Specifically, I wanted to eliminate the connection points at the far right and far left of the sidewalk, ie the 2x3 tiles near the front door and the nearest the bench.

While I was figuring out how to arrange the sidewalk tiles, I realized I should also place some studs to allow the set's four minifigures to be displayed as well.

To make the fixes, I used a handful of extra spare tiles consisting of some:

1x1 tiles, 1x2 tiles, 1x3 tiles, 1x4 tiles, 2x2 tiles and some studded plates including a modified 4x4 plate.

I recognize that not everyone will have the exact tiles I have so hopefully you can use whatever you have on hand to redo the sidewalk.  The objective is to keep as much of the original sidewalk design intact but just alter it enough to provide the two connection points and the mounting studs for the display of the minifigures.

Step One

The first objective is to eliminate the two connection points previously occupied by the 2x3 tiles on both sides of the building  by two 1x3 pieces.

Here's the door side.  Notice the grill piece under the black column details.  I've repositioned it from it's original location.  The two studs below it will be one of the new connection points.

Similarly, we have replaced the 2x3 tile with a 1x3 tile at the edge of the baseplate.  And the grill piece moved under the black column defining the other connection point below it.

After a bit of tile rearrangement, here is the look of my modified sidewalk.  As you can see from the picture above, the mount points for the railing, table and two chairs, as well as the balcony theatre signpost have been retained.  The mount point for the ice cream structure has been shifted a bit.   Additionally I have relocated and added some studded plates for minifigure display.  Of course, you can adjust the stud placement to your own liking.   The most important detail to note is the two gray studded connection points that will line up between the sidewalk and the building.  

After you are happy with the tile arrangement of your sidewalk, slide it back towards the gelato store.

Place two 2x2 tiles on top of the connection points (located next to the grill pieces).

Return the accessory pieces back to the sidewalk, ie. the doorstep, railing, table and chairs.

And the ice cream fixture and sign post.

Attach the minifigures as desired!

Now to switch into dollhouse mode, simply lift up on the sidewalk and it should come right off.  To return to modular building mode, again just slide the sidewalk up against the building and snap the two 2x2 tiles back into place.

Hopefully this fix to the sidewalk makes it more convenient and enjoyable to play with and display the Lumibricks/FunWhole Gelato store!

👉. Don't forget to check out my other Lego compatible building set reviews at bricktoyreviews.blogspot.com. Thanks for looking, bye for now!

#lumibricks #gelatostore #lumibricksmoc

How to make a Raised Baseplate (MILS) for the Lumibricks/FunWhole Record Store

Hi brick fans,

After I posted my review of the new FunWhole Record store, I've had a number of requests across my different social media platforms, inquiring on how to construct the record store on a raised baseplate (some refer to this as a MILS baseplate).  

I'm assuming you are here because you already know what MILS baseplates are and how to make them.  If not here's a link that describes the MILS system: https://www.abellon.net/MILS/.

The foundation baseplate I'm using is not technically MILS, which is why I refer to mine as simply a raised baseplate.  Too see how I make my specific type of baseplate, see my blog post here: https://bricksandfigs.blogspot.com/2024/08/how-i-make-raised-baseplates-for-my.html

Caveats

Before we begin, the techniques used here are of easy to medium difficulty, but you need to have the right parts in your extra brick stash to effect the necessary changes.  You cannot make the desired changes with only the parts that come with the FunWhole set.

Next, make sure that you carefully review the instruction manual book 1 , pages 10 through 29 to understand how your raised baseplate changes affect the main structure.   Review pages 29 thru 38 to understand how the raised baseplate changes impact the swing away portion of the record store.  The remainder  of the FunWhole instructions should be followed as normal after page 37.

Lastly, I want to point out that my customisations to the Record Shop are not endorsed nor authorised by FunWhole, so please don't reach out to them if you run into difficulties regarding the raised baseplate and resulting impacts to the structures.  Just hit me up on my social media, and I'll try my best to help you.   

Alright, let's get started!

Step 1

You will need to provide a combination of studded and smooth plates to place the FunWhole Record store onto.

I will be placing the Record store on a standard 32x32 baseplate. In this first picture, I'm laying out the studded plates and smooth plates into the required configuration.  Know that the smooth plate area encompasses 10 studs wide by 23 studs long.  You can choose whatever sizes of studded plates and smooth plates you have and the colour of the plates doesn't matter either.   Just make sure that whatever you use, the plates are fully supported underneath by the center layer of bricks.

In picture #2, this is how the baseplate area should look like. Again you can use whatever size plates you have but make sure you have covered the smooth and studded areas precisely as I have done in the picture.

Before we move on to picture #3, I need to explain what we are doing.  We are raising the record shop higher by the height of 1 plate.  This is because the swing away part of the building needs to placed on it's own baseplate, so it will be one plate higher.  We are adjusting  the static part of the building just to make sure both parts of the building (swinging and non-swinging) are level.

In picture #3, I'm laying out the perimeter of where the main part of the record store will sit.  I'm planning on having more sidewalk area in front of the shop, hence, the store will only sit 2 studs from the back edge of the baseplate.  The length of the individual pieces you use doesn't matter as long as you match the layout shown in the picture.  Use whatever colour pieces you have on hand.   There should be 5 studs width of sidewalk on the righthand side of the record store, which is as per the original instructions.

The front of the Record store has two protrusions, one is for the window display and the other is for the supporting pillar.  Picture #4 shows the extra pieces you need to accommodate for the protrusions.  I'm deliberately using contrasting colours of plates to make it easier for you to get an idea of the layout.  

Now that we have laid the perimeter of the main building, picture #5 shows you the size of the plates needed to support the swing-away part of the building.  This portion should measure 8 studs wide by 23 studs long.  It's best if you have larger plates to use to provide better structural integrity and stability.  If you can find pieces of the same colour, it would be best as this part will be exposed when it is swung away from the main building.

In picture #6, I'm demonstrating how the swing portion will come away from the main structure, once you follow the normal steps to build the Record shop.

In picture #7, I've placed some smooth tiles down just to demarcate where the front sidewalk will be placed.  Recall I have offset the building backwards by two studs, so you will need additional smooth tiles to fill in the empty sidewalk space that results from the shift.

Other key items to note as a result of the changes:

1. the height of the front steps may need to be adjusted if desired (page 26).

2. I relocated the DJ turntables from the back of the building to the front, you may want to do same.

At this point you should be able to resume building the FunWhole Record store as per the instructions.  I hope you have found this small tutorial useful in constructing the Record store onto a raised baseplate.

Enjoy and have fun!   Bye for now!

My Custom Lumibricks/FunWhole Chili Dog Stand

 

Hey brick fans!

I posted my custom FunWhole Chili Dog stand on the FunWhole Facebook group page and it got a great response, thank you!  Some of the members asked if I had instructions for the Chili Dog stand, but unfortunately I have no skill in using the software that makes the instructions.  

Instead, I'll just try to post as many pictures as needed so that people can get a detailed look at the setup and hopefully can copy some of the techniques and ideas I used to create the Chili Dog stand from the original FunWhole Chili Dog trailer set.  Here's the review of the original set: https://its-not-lego.blogspot.com/2024/11/the-funwhole-free-gift-chili-dog.html in case you missed it.

So let's get right into it!

After building the Chili Dog Trailer, I knew that it wouldn't quite fit into my city layout.  All of the other modular buildings in my city  sit on a baseplate, either 16x32 studs or 32x32 studs in size.

It occurred to me that the trailer could be converted into a building and would fit nicely onto a 16x32 baseplate. It's original width is about 12 studs wide, so I had plenty of room to play with.  

Depth was not an issue as it's only 9 studs deep (8 plus the 1 stud ledge protruding from the front window).

There were of a number of issues that I wanted to address with the original set. The first was that I didn't really like the umbrella and chain that were clipped to the front.  I discarded the chain and thought that the umbrella would look better stand-alone.

In fact, the umbrella looks much better installed onto the condiment table that comes with the set, so I stuck it there.

The other issue I had with the Chili Dog trailer is that the window is way too high for the minifigure height.  To scale, the counter or ledge of the trailer would be about 4 to 5 feet high.  I wanted to bring the window down to at least waist level height for the minifigures.

So the first thing I did was to remove the base and wheels of the trailer.  Converting the trailer to stand/building meant that it needed a foundation, so first I needed to put it on a baseplate, opting for a 16x32 footprint.  In order to display minifigures with the stand, I wanted enough space in the front to accommodate not only them but also for the condiment table.  

I set the stand back approximately 11 studs from the front edge.  Oh BTW, my standard for any new modular buildings that go into my not Lego city means they must all sit on a raised baseplate.  If you want to know more about how I make them, here's the link to that little tutorial: https://bricksandfigs.blogspot.com/2024/08/how-i-make-raised-baseplates-for-my.html

After placing the stand I decided to make it 14 studs wide, allowing for 1 stud for spacing on either side.

I decided that the optimal height for a counter would be about 2 bricks high, so this is where I used dark gray masonary bricks.  The original set has a white counter protrusion, so I figured I would just continue with a white strip all the way around the building.  

As you can see the original window design has been retained, as well as the signage.  I reversed the location of the two signboards, putting the smaller one on the right side.  The larger sign originally hung off the side of the trailer, but I wanted to incorporate it onto the building to balance out the signs.  It's attached using a snot (studs not on top) brick.  

Since the original colour of the trailer was burgundy red, I decided to retain the colour scheme, however my selection of extra burgundy bricks was limited, so I knew I couldn't make the chili dog stand extra deep nor put another level on top.   What I did have was a lot of sloped bricks, so that's how the roof design came about.   If you want to create your own, you could simply just do a square and flat roof and that would do nicely as well.  If I didn't have the burgundy bricks, I might have used light gray or white bricks for the building walls instead.

Here's the profile of the Chili Dog stand.  I created an overhang just to give it some detail in the front.  I've incorporated the A/C unit from the trailer set and placed it into the roofline.  The white windows were reused on both sides of the building, but only one has glazing in it.

I used a 1 brick height band of white around the top just to break up all of the burgundy red.

The trailer door and the big printed sign that says Sizzle On! Breads was also transferred from the Chili Dog trailer to the stand.  Note that the spotlight, which was originally located on the front of the trailer has now moved to the back of the stand, to light up the rear entrance.

One could probably use all of the spare white tiles that come with the trailer to cover the roof.  I opted to go with burgundy tiles, while using the printed 4x4 piece from the set for the roof.  Vent details were also kept, except for the small skylight.  The ladder has been mounted on the rear of the building to provide roof access.

The roof comes off as one unit to provide access to the interior.  I tried to keep most of the trailer's interior details as well, such as the sink, counter, grill and cooktop hood.  I might add some extra stuff later like a cooler for drinks, which I could place by the unoccupied space of one of the windows.

You'll notice I placed some skateboard ramps to the back.  I wanted to carry over some of the details from the FunWhole Skate shop which is the second set in the Street Fusion series (the Chili Dog trailer being the first).  I hope to have a review of the FunWhole Skate shop out soon!

Now that we've examined the structure, let's talk about the lighting.

The Chili Dog trailer set comes with three key lighting elements.  The street lamp, the spotlight and the interior light.  As per my review of the Chili Dog trailer set, the street lamp is a separate display accessory that includes a signboard, a trashcan and a rat.  One of the lighting components used is a wireless light adapter.  

Initially I had the adapter at ground level just like the original display, but I found the wiring distracting, so I later moved it and incorporated it into the building structure instead.  The streetlamp is now part of the baseplate, as well as the little signboard that reads "Original Favor".  The trashcan as shown earlier is now placed at the back of the building.

The streetlamp wire feeds into the building.  Interior lighting stays pretty much the same, and you can see the wiring for the spotlight.  There's just enough length that I can reach the back, but not enough that I could run it against the interior wall.  As mentioned previously, the wireless adapter is fitted into the building.  The USB plug leads runs back out the side.

Here's that side view again paying particular attention to the wiring.

This picture shows the underside of the roof.

The Chili Dog sign is attached via a snot brick replacing the silver pipe attachment from the trailer (but you could still incorporate it back into your own building).

What I discarded from the original trailer set:  The propane tank, the ghetto blaster, the wheels, the chain, trailer hitch and the HotDog and lightning bolt wording.

I hope the pictures will help you and inspire you to create your very own Chili Dog stand if that's what your goal is.  Was there anything I missed?  Let me know in the comments!  Enjoy the build!

And in case you weren't aware, the new version of the FunWhole Chili Dog Trailer has been released:

https://www.funwhole.com/products/chili-dog-trailer-515pcs-1?ref=tN9EBQmQ

Thanks for looking, bye for now!

The Lumibricks/Funwhole Medieval Apothecary Shop F9024 Review

Welcome!

Hey brick fans!  I hope you like Medieval themed sets because today I'll be reviewing the Medieval themed Lumibricks/Funwhole Apothecary building block set.  This will nicely complement my other Lumibricks/FunWhole set called the Medieval Pier Inn.  I reviewed that impressive set during the summer and you can find that review here.

The Apothecary Shop presents a Lego-compatible building block set boasting an impressive 1420 pieces. This three-story architectural marvel features a ground-floor store, a second-floor laboratory where intricate potions and concoctions take shape, and a cozy third-floor bedroom loft. The set also comes complete with two minifigures—the skilled Apothecarist and their diligent Apprentice. For those unfamiliar with the term, an Apothecary in medieval times served as the equivalent of today's pharmacy, crafting and dispensing medicines to those in need. In the absence of modern hospitals, the Apothecary held a crucial role in the village.

The Apothecary shop will be my fifth medieval themed set in my growing collection. I want to make an entire medieval village with a big castle overlooking the village.   I hope to be able to showcase that in the near future.

is now

A huge thanks go out to Lumibricks for providing this set to me for my review!   Funwhole is the leader in Lego compatible building block sets.   the sets are very unique and cool to build, and best of all, Funwhole sets come packaged with LED lighting kits included with each set.

The Details

Brand: Funwhole

Set Name and Number: Medieval Apothecary Shop F9024

Number of Pieces: 1470

Numbered bags: Yes

Minifigures: yes, 2 + 1 cat and 1 owl

Missing or deformed pieces: No

Extra pieces: Yes

Stickers or Printed parts: Stickers

Lighting Kit: Yes

Age Rating: 12+

Where to get the Apothecary Set

The Apothecary set can be found via the Funwhole stores on Amazon and also through the Funwhole website.  If you shop on the website, you can use my discount code itsnotlego to save an extra 10% off your purchases.

Here's a complete list of the FunWhole Amazon stores:

Amazon US: https://amz.run/7IIP

Amazon DE: https://amz.run/7IIT

Amazon UK: https://amz.run/7IIY

Amazon CA: https://amz.run/7IIS

Amazon FR: https://amz.run/7IIV

Amazon IT: https://amz.run/7IIW

Amazon ES: https://amz.run/7IIX

Unboxing

I made a separate blog post about the unboxing which you can find here.

Set Build and Progression

The Funwhole Apothecary set is broken down into 10 stages and there are numbered parts bags that correspond to each stage.  Follow along as we progress through each stag of the build!

First, let's take a look at the minifigures included with the set.  The old Apothecarist has a beard and hooded cape.  His apprentice has a medieval themed tunic.  Just so you know, Funwhole minifigures are not compatible with Lego minifigures, they have a unique design.

Stage 1

Here's what the apothecary shop look likes after stage 1.  We've build the base and added some of the lights that are part of the kit.

Stage 2

The shop entrance is constructed and some lighting is added to the alcove.

Stage 3

We've now constructed the first floor and we can see the nice glow from the interior lights.

The shop itself is quite small and there's lots of strange potion bottles and vessels for sale.  To get to the next floor you have to climb up the ladder.

The battery pack is conveniently and sturdily mounted to the back wall of the shop.

Stage 4

The garden is now populated with an assortment of plants and herbs that will be used to concoct the potions and medicines.  I'm not sure why there is a small thatched hut in the yard.  It's not a dog house.  There is a small black cat though, so maybe it lives there?

Stage 5

Now we move onto building the second floor.  Here are the tools that the apothecarist uses to make his medicines.  There's a mortar and pestle, a pot heating on a fire and a set of bellows to fan the flames.

Stage 6

With the second floor interior complete, we can now add the walls and windows to the upstairs.

A noteworthy feature is the cool swing-away wall on the second floor.  From here you can peek inside to see the apothecarist's workspace.

Stage 7

Here's a cozy little bedroom on the top floor of the shop. Again, you have to climb up another ladder to get to the top.  The room is sparsely furnished with only a bed, a small desk and stool and a roaring fireplace.  The ceiling lighting makes the room feel more comfortable.

Stage 8

Now we add the exterior third floor timber frames and beams to give the apothecary shop that rustic medieval look.

Stage 9 and Stage 10

And finally we add the roof panels to the structure.  They kind of clip into place loosely, but don't fall off.

The completed apothecary shop looks amazing!  There's even an owl to keep a watchful eye on everything.

The next time you visit the medieval village, do stop by and visit the Apothecary shop!  He will fix you up with the medicines you need!

And he's even open late as you can see from the lighting!

Final thoughts

The Medieval Apothecary shop proved to be an enjoyable build. I appreciated the captivating lighting effects, which, fortunately, were a breeze to install. Having minifigures to showcase alongside the building added a nice touch, and the size is just perfect for my upcoming village display! The accessibility of the front door and the opening second-floor wall allows for a detailed view of the interiors.

However, my only gripe was the use of stickers instead of printed parts. Despite this, the overall appearance of the set left me quite satisfied. I'd rate it a solid 4.9 out of 5! For fellow collectors of medieval Lego buildings, this set is definitely a must-have.

Thanks for checking out my review, bye for now!