The Gem Store, my latest Modular Building MOC

Hello and welcome back to Its Not Lego! My blog about not Lego building sets, minifigures and my own customs (MOCs).

The Gem Store and Studio Apartment

I just added the final pieces to my latest two storey modular building made from Not Lego bricks that I sourced from my old stash of bricks and Aliexpress.  It's a precious gem store on the main floor and a studio apartment on the second floor built on a standard 16 stud wide baseplate and then widened by 6 studs to accommodate the stairs going up to the apartment.

Quick Tour of the Outside

The front facade of the modular is clad with tan coloured masonry bricks and a small enclosure covers the front door, which is flanked by two lights.    A unique feature on this modular building is the security camera keeping a watchful eye on the everyone who passes by.

Here's another picture of the staircase that leads up to the second floor landing.  The tan and black colour scheme matches the building too.

Instead of a security camera out back, there's plenty of lighting, even under the stairwell.

One more glance at the outside before we head indoors.

Gem Store Interior on the main floor

It wasn't easy trying to take picture of the gem store's interior as this and the preceding pic will attest. 

Pulling the camera back a bit kind of helps with the view but I think I'm going to have to take out a wall to get a better look inside.

That bullet proof glass wall that separates the foyer and the security camera was obstructing our view, so now that those have been removed, let's take a closer look.

 There are three staff working in the gem store.  There's also a security guard for extra precaution.  The store isn't quite open for business yet, so the staff are busy setting things up.

There's a lot of precious stones up for sale.  Final inspection and placement is key to a good sale.   According to the clock it is about 8:30 am, got another hour or so before the shop opens.  Those metal bars on the window will stop all intruders.

 More gems on display around the store.  The security guard spends most days stationed by the front door.  Here's some more pics of the inside.

Let's hope all the precious gem stones are all accounted for.  Did you happen to notice how many security cameras were inside the store (including the ones on the removed wall)?

Studio Apartment interior on the second floor

We will once again take out some exterior walls to get a better look at  the inside of the apartment.

With the room divider removed, we can see the entire apartment.  The kitchen is the first room upon entering the apartment.  It includes a sink, stove, oven, fanhood and cabinets.

 The studio apartment is rented out to a university student.  Her classes don't start until later this morning, so she has time to do some quick vacuuming and eat breakfast, before heading out.

 It's not a luxurious apartment but it has all the essentials including a sofa, a comfy bed and three piece washroom.

Here's the view of the apartment with the other wall removed.

The student really takes pride in keeping her apartment neat and tidy. Hmm, something's missing in the bathroom though.

There, that's better.  Sometimes you don't notice what's missing until you take the pictures.

Gosh, my modular buildings all kind of look the same, don't you think?  Anyways, thanks for checking out my modular building.  Thumbs up or thumbs down?  Feel free to let me know what you think.    Thanks for looking and see you next time!

 For anyone looking for Lego style parts for your own MOCs, I've had great success with this Aliexpress store.
 

Custom modular building using the Hsanhe Starbucks and Lepin Sanctum Santorum

Hey, what's up?  Welcome back to BricksandFigs.blogspot.com!  Just wanted to show you what I've been working on since my last post.  I finally finished my latest modular building MOC which is made up of two parts:  the lower part of the building is the modified Hsanhe Starbucks shop set 6410-1, and the upper two floors is a derivative of the Peter Parker's apartment in the Lepin Sanctum Sanctorum set 07107.  My last update to the Hsanhe Starbucks shop back in August 2019 which you can read about here.

In case you're not familiar with the original Hsanhe and Lepin sets here's what we started with:

Hsanhe 6410-1 Corner Coffee aka Starbucks

Lepin 07107 Sanctum Sanctorum (Lego 76108)

Let's proceed with a closer look at the modular.

As mentioned previously, the first floor is a Starbucks shop, and the second and third floors make up Peter Parker's apartment.  The building sits on a 16x32 stud baseplate and has the obligatory sidewalk in front.  I've used mostly tan coloured bricks paired with the darker tan masonry bricks on the front of the upper floors.

If you exit the back of the Starbucks, there's a convenient patio with seating and umbrellas to enjoy your coffee.  This is also where Peter Parker/Spiderman enters his apartment using the lower and upper fire escape which is preserved from the Sanctum Sanctorum set.

Here's a closer look at the back patio that has seating for three.

Before we look at the interior, I want to point out that the Starbucks can be displayed by itself with the optional roof I made or as the three storey building which has a slight setback from the signage.

So I've got a fully furnished interior, but it's hard to see with the walls in place, so let's tear down one of the walls for a better view.

The green and tan floor tiles match the overall decor of the Starbucks.  You can see the baristas hard at work.  Spidey's just ordered his favorite brew.

Coffee maker with filter and pot occupies the back counter.

Just another view of the main floor.

Now let's inspect Peter Parker's apartment.

The second floor is accessed by the folding ladder.  I wonder if the spiderwebs will give it away that Spiderman lives here.

Removing the front wall exposes Spidey's kitchen and living room.

The kitchen has a fridge, stove and sink with upper and lower cabinets.

Spidey's settles into his comfy recliner after a hectic day of crime fighting. Time for his pizza dinner in front of his TV that sits on his wall to wall entertainment unit.

The exterior of the third floor looks the same as the second floor, except for the giant Starbucks logo plastered on the side of the building, making it visible from miles away.

Third floor fire escape and more spiderwebs.

Combined second and third floors.

Peter Parker's third floor is amply furnished with bed, desk, chair, computer, table lamp and bookshelf.

A better view of the third floor furnishings.

It took me awhile to figure out how to squeeze a three piece bath into this small apartment.

So this bathroom is similar to those found in Asia, where the toilet is located right in the shower area.  The sink is actually on top of the toilet where the water runoff is used to fill the toilet tank for flushing.  The shower consists of hot and cold taps and showerhead.  On the floor is the drain and a bottle of shampoo.

Here's some of my modified Hsanhe modulars all lined up side by side.  If you are looking to add the Hsanhe shops or the Lepin Sanctum Sanctorum to your collection, just follow the links below.

Thanks for visiting bricksandfigs.blogspot.com and see you next time!

Making Changes to the Sembo 107006 Wandering Earth Cargo Truck

Hey there brick fans!  This is my bonus post about the Wandering Earth cargo truck set that Sembo put out recently.  I finished building it last week and this week I deconstructed it a bit and made some minor changes.   If you haven't checked out my initial build of the cargo truck, you can read it about it here.

So I really like this truck, but one of my big gripes about the design was how the doors only open downwards and would be hard for minifigs to get inside.  I modified the door so that it is hinged at the top as well as the bottom.   Here's how the door looks now.  I also added a two sided 2x2 tile, so that the minifigures can stand on the lower door without falling off.

The access door seals tightly against the body when fully closed.   No loss of air pressure.  I managed to retain most of the shape of the door minimizing the impacts to the overall design.

With the door assembly removed you can see that the orignal cabinet has been removed.  I decided to make this area into an airlock.  There's enough room in the airlock for multiple crew members to enter or exit the truck at the same time.

I moved the tank to where the toilet used to be situated.  There's room for an extra tank.

The airlock door separates the main cabin area where suits don't need to be worn.

There's storage units inside the airlock, represented by the contoured yellow 1x2 tiles.  In the main cabin, there's room to store the space suits against the back wall that used to be where the bed was located.

I'm no longer using the right side door so it has been converted into helmet storage.

The right side access door is no more.

Overhead view of modified cargo truck cabin.

 Finally, I imagined what the minifigures might be wearing when not in their space suits.   The unused furniture will come into good use as parts fodder for my modular city.

Let me know if you liked the enhancements to the Sembo Wandering Earth cargo truck or not.   Bye and see you next time!