I completely rebuilt the JMBricklayer Coffee Shop

 

Hi brick fans!  I'm back with another MOC, this time I've rebuilt the JMBricklayer Coffee shop 21102.  I reviewed the original set here on my other blog Its-Not-Lego.

I placed the original completed Coffee Shop in my not Lego city just to see how it looks.  Um, yeah let's see what we can do.

Ok, here's the newly revised Coffee Shop which I have basically rebuilt from the ground up.  The first thing you will notice is the raised baseplate on a standard 16x32 stud footprint.   This meant that I had to completely destroy the original folding baseplate that let you open the interior for display.

Next you will notice the large and colourful tree, which was originally located inside has been moved to the outside.  

The front door has been replaced and the height of the building has been significantly lowered to reflect the minifig scale.  Flanking the entrance door on either side are some potted plants that used to sit in the previous and now defunct plant stand.

Here's the side profile, where you can better see how the sloped roof has been reconfigured and relocated to the rear of the coffee shop.  I've used whitish bricks for the walls from a number of alt Lego brands, so unfortunately their colours don't always match.

The original masonry bricks have been salvaged and will be reused in a future building.

Yeah, the white bricks look really bad here, sorry.

Moving to the rear of the shop, it has been completely revamped with glass instead of brick.   You will notice that the slanted roof now has new window glass which was not in the original set.

Just another view of the back.

With the new windows, one can see the seating area.

I've reconfigured the roof and it is now comprised of three sections.  The white roof sits directly over the front of the coffee shop.  The new widened roof still features the original skylight, but now it has been centered into the roof and the previously exposed studs are now covered.

The black sloping roof was redesigned to come off, yet still hold the dark nougat roof panel securely in place.  The angle of the slope has not changed too much.

The dark nougat roof panel has been widened to 16 studs in width and sports glass panes in all the windows as previously mentioned.

Looking down into the seating area, with roof removed.

With all roof panels removed, here is the full view of the coffee shop interior.  I really had to scrounge through my spare parts to find all the dark nougat tiles that I used for the flooring.  I had to get a bit creative in laying out the tiles based on what was available, (mostly 2x2 and 1x2 tiles), but also I also had to judiciously use the tiles with the single stud to mount my tables and chairs.

The entire coffee station was preserved and moved into the new building layout.  The only thing that didn't make it was the upper shelf where the sign is currently sitting.

Betty the barista is back behind the counter.   I've added a lot more minifigures to the coffee shop to fill up the extra space.

The clock and the record player have found their way back into the coffee shop.  There's a new cabinet for baked goods that didn't exist before.

Here's another view of the coffee shop looking out the front.  I've offset the front door so that the traffic flow comes naturally into the aisle.

Looking towards the rear of the coffee shop.  The laddered element was a bit of architectural detail I wanted to preserve from the original shop.  Before it was on the exterior but I moved it inside to help define the seating area from the serving area.

I replaced the legacy long table with three smaller tables with accompanying chairs in the seating area.

I managed to save two of the three pieces of wall art in the new shop, but unfortunately couldn't find space for the OG air conditioner.

Oh, before I forget, I want to mention the Coffe Home shop sign.  As you know the spelling is incorrect and it would be naturally expected that I remove or replace the sign with the correct wording.  

But then it occurred to me that I would be placing the coffee shop with all of my other Japanese shops, and I thought what if the shopkeeper didn't have a proper command of the english language and inadvertently spelt the sign wrong.  

I've actually seen some gibberish English signage on some storefronts in my past trips to Japan and China.  So, instead of replacing the signage, I thought I would keep it exactly as it was, just to acknowledge that maybe there was some kind of language barrier.  I think that in the end, it kind of gives the shop some extra character that is unique and differentiates it from my other buildings.

I hope you've enjoyed the tour of the rebuilt JMBricklayer Coffee Shop.  Let me know what you think of the redesign.  Do you like the new version or prefer the original design?  Let me know in the comments below!

Last pic with the revamped Coffee shop nestled amidst my other Japanese themed buildings.

Don't forget you can get the JMBricklayer Coffee shop 21102 (in it's original form, of course) at the JMBricklayer shop or their Amazon store.  And don't forget to use my code ITSNOTLEGO15 to save an extra 15% off their online store purchases (non sale items only).

Thanks and have a great day!  Bye!

My Custom Not Lego Japanese Machiya House

 

Hello brick fans!  I recently made a Japanese style Machiya style house made from not Lego.  It's a continuation of my Japanese building series that I've been obsessed with lately.  

It started with the Japanese Crab/Seafood restaurant, followed by my custom Fujiwara Tofu shop.  Also in my collection are the trio of Cada brand Japanese shops designed by exesandbox.

You can find all my reviews for those buildings by the using the term "japanese style" in the search box of my blog.

The machiya house sits on a raised 16x32 stud baseplate and is two storeys tall.

In case you're not familiar with Japanese architecture, a machiya is a traditional townhouse with a narrow frontage, with earthen walls and baked tile roofs.

The front of the machiya traditionally served as a retail space with sliding or rolling shutters that could be opened to display goods and wares.  See the wikipedia entry for machiya if you'd like to learn more about this topic.

I looked at a lot of pictures of Japanese shops and machiyas so I tried to replicate some of the key design elements for my modular building.

I chose natural earth tones such as gray and brown for the machiya.  The black accents and highlights gives the building a modern vibe.  There is a takoyaki shop on the main floor.  I plan to add a kitchen and for the second floor, living quarters later on.  

I'll provide more details about the takoyaki shop a bit later.

Just like the inside, the rear of the building is still a work in progress.  I'm thinking about relocating the back door to the right hand side to put it under the stairs.

I might also refine the roof structure a bit, but it's sturdy enough and provides a decent looking slope, so I dunno, maybe, maybe not.

In modular form, the rooftop, second floor and first floor are easily accessible.  I have installed a staircase to the second floor but as mentioned earlier the interior is empty at the moment.

Here is the Takoyaki shop.  The front door has a very contemporary look with the wooden slats.  It provides access to the inside of the shop and also to the second floor via the stairs.  I put a small planter and a frog statue on either side of the doorway.  The fabric banner attaches to the underside of the awning.

In lieu of regular windows like in all of my other modular buildings, I used a rollup garage door for the front of the shop.

I bought the roll-up doors from Aliexpress.  They come with all the hinged door panels as well as the tracks on either side so that they can be opened or closed.

If I ever finish the interior, I'll put some minifigures behind the shop counter.   When the shop is closed the takoyaki would be moved inside.  There's room on the counter to  install a display case.

Most of the signage is stickers with the exception of the fabric banner and they all come from the small Sembo Takoyaki stall building set 601065 that I bought back in March 2020.  Even the takoyaki are stickers.

I took the set apart a couple of years ago, but luckily I still had the banner and stickers.  Here's my original Sembo Takoyaki set review.

I replicated the upper window design from the Fujiwara tofu shop but put blinds in the windows instead of glass.  The wooden slats on the right side of the second floor serve to protect the fan/ventilation unit.  I wanted to keep the sidewalk more open so I put the takoyaki sign on the wall of the second floor.

Here's the new machiya building next to the Fujiwara tofu shop on my ever growing Japanese street.

Let me know what you think of my latest creation, thanks for looking!  Bye!

Changes to my Custom 7-11/KFC modular building in 2023

Hello brick fans!  Let's take a look at another one of my MOCs, this one being a modular building consisting of a 7-11 convenience store with an upstairs after school learning centre, and an adjoining KFC fried chicken pop up shop.

The last time I made changes to this building was way back in 2019 and then later I  integrated the 7-11 and KFC shops onto a single base plate.  Both of these shops have gone through a number of modifications from their humble beginnings.

In this latest change, I've put the buildings on raised base plates and changed the sidewalk colour from dark gray to light gray.  

In order to include a bike share, I placed the KFC as far back as possible and raised it up for visibility.

There is a mailbox, an ATM, a garbage bin, a vending machine, a map of the city, and a bike-sharing station equipped with three bike slots.

The overhead signage for the 7-11 and KFC are from stickers that I bought .

The second floor over the 7-11 is an after school space for kids to do extra activities.

The staircase is used to reach the second floor.

Service door to the 7-11 is located in the back.  Kids can park their bikes and scooters under the staircase.

Here's some pics of the 7-11 interior.

Now, a few pics of the KFC ...

The colonel is outside promoting his famous fried chicken.

Inside is a small fryer, a service counter and condiments dispenser.

Some buckets and boxes are within easy reach of the cashier.  A glass partition protects customers from the cooking area.

Isn't it coincidental that Colonel Sanders looked like Stan Lee when he was younger? Maybe his real name was Colonel Standers!

Kiddies can practice their academic and artistic skills here.

Physical activity and socialization is also encouraged.

That concludes our tour of the 7-11/KFC/Kidscamp modular building.  

It has become increasingly difficult to find the original Hsanhe sets on Aliexpress, which served as the foundation for my customised buildings.  

You might find some similar buildings using the search term "Street View" on Aliexpress.

Thanks for looking!  Bye!