Tuesday, February 14, 2023

I completely rebuilt the Cada C66007 Japanese Summer Breeze Coffee Shop (not Lego MOC)

 

Hey guys, I'm back to show you another set of mods I made to my Lego compatible Cada Japanese shops.  Today, we will be looking at my major revision to the Summer Breeze Coffee Shop C66007 building block set.  

I have been updating my Cada Japanese shops to conform to the standard baseplate dimensions of 16x32 studs, and the summer breeze coffee shop is the last building to get the treatment.  I use the MILS system to strengthen the baseplate for easy handling and rigidity.


In case you are new here, or are unfamiliar with the Cada Summer Breeze Coffee Shop, here are a few pictures I took earlier this year.  It's a smallish building with an even smaller baseplate.

It's a very unique design from designer exesandbox, however I found it too small to display with my minifigures.

And it was really cramped behind the counter!


For this modification, I plan to enlarge the building to make the inside roomier.  Here was my initial idea after disassembling the coffee shop.  I pretty much deconstructed the entire building and rebuilt it from the ground up.  

Here's a complete list of the modifications I made:

  • convert to standard size baseplate
  • convert to MILS system
  • widen front sidewalk
  • add rear patio
  • increase the interior space
  • change the floor tiles
  • reduce the height, and shorten the serving counter
  • improve distance between counter and back wall
  • add separate counter for seating and relocate stools
  • add a clock
  • move the service entrance from the side to rear of building
  • move the shelf to the side wall
  • add a shelf and coffee cups
  • add a standard door for service entrance
  • change the front window glass to turquoise
  • add an extra chair and table
  • add two removable glass panel walls to side of the shop
  • remove two display cases
  • remove the side awning
  • retain as much roof detail as possible
  • modify the rear wall exterior detail
  • add barista and customer minifigures


Now, just enjoy the picture tour and see if you can find all of the modifications I listed above.





















Of all of the Cada shop mods I have done, this one was the most challenging, because I had to pretty much reconstruct everything including the floor and the  walls.  But I still wanted to retain the essence of the exesandbox design as much as possible.  The only major item I had to discard from the original design was the slide-out awning on the side of the building.

With the expanded interior and the removable side wall, coffee shop patrons can truly take advantage of those summer breezes.

Here's my other Cada shop modification posts:



And here are my reviews of the original sets, designed by exesandbox:





Want this set?  Get it from Afobrick.com, and don't forget to get an extra 5% off using code itsnotlego.



My project to completely convert every Cada modular building is now complete!
Thanks for looking, bye for now!

Friday, February 10, 2023

Modifications to my Cada Japanese Steamed Bun Shop C66006 (not Lego MOC)

 

Welcome back to Bricks and Figs!  Having recently modified/modularised the Cada Japanese Tea Shop, I decided to do the same to my Cada Japanese Steamed Bun shop.  Let's see what changes we had to make.

So the first thing you will notice is that the Steamed Bun shop now sits on a standard 16x32 stud baseplate, allowing for more space both at the front and rear of the shop. Passer bys can move freely on the sidewalk without bumping into patrons seated at the shop counter.  Other than that, cosmetically nothing has changed much in relation to the building exterior.  Oh, forgot to mention that the new MILS base strengthens the set enormously, making it easier to handle.

At the rear of the shop, the full depth base plate let's me make a patio, with some accessories of recycling containers I borrowed from my Sluban Recycling Truck set.

If you will recall, the downspout of the OG set served as a hinge in which the rear wall was connected, and you could swing it back to reveal the interior.

With my modifications, the downspout is purely aesthetic and serves no functional purpose anymore.  The rear wall of the shop can be removed entirely, as well as the roof.  The rear wall is secured to the building by simply pressing it into the two studs on the left side. Surprisingly, the clutch makes it hold in place pretty well.

I'd previously removed the furniture from the interior and now I'm afraid those pieces have been assimilated into my larger brick parts stash.  I was able to recover the small cot though.  I'll create some new furniture pieces in future.  Other than the missing furnishings, the interior remains pretty much the same.

The big change is that now the second floor can be separated from the first floor, in true modular fashion.

I removed the load bearing vertical beam next to the staircase and have added an inverted angle brick to help support the second floor, allowing the first floor interior to become more accessible.

One could display the first floor bun shop on it's own without the second floor apartment if desired.  Just needs a new roof.

If you have a few smooth tile pieces, it's not too difficult to make the changes to modularise your own Steamed bun shop.

Here's the Steamed Bun shop broken down into its component parts.  The utility pole is still attached to the second floor via the rubber hoses, and easily lifts off the baseplate for second floor removal.


I have removed the lighting wire that was provided with the set with intentions of putting in new lighting later.


Want this set?  Get it from Afobrick.com, and don't forget to get an extra 5% off using code itsnotlego.


Well, that's it.  Let me know what you think of the changes!  Bye for now!

Monday, February 6, 2023

Modifications to my Cada C66010 Japanese Tea Shop Building Set (not Lego MOC)

Hey brick fans!  Here's a bonus post about my latest updates to the Cada C66010 Japanese Tea Shop.  You won't see this anywhere else on the web, so you are in for a treat!

In my previous review post of the Cada Japanese Tea Shop, I lamented that the set was not designed on a full baseplate. It's 16 studs wide but not the full 32 studs deep.  In the above picture you can see the original base plate configuration.  In order to fit in with rest of my not Lego city, I decided to make some improvements.


I found that with just a bit of effort, I could incorporate the existing structure onto a standard base plate and make it a MILS system to boot.


And while we're at it, let's make the tea shop a true Lego compatible modular building, so that the second floor can be easily removed from the first floor.


Here's a unique view of the tea shop's first floor interior.  You'll notice that I've removed the LED light string from the inside.  I have a goal of adding Briksmax style lighting in the future.


For both 1st and 2nd floors, I added some studded tiles to allow minifigures to be placed inside.

I didn't have to alter the structure of the second floor at all.

With the second floor removed, the first floor can be seen more clearly.  The sliding back wall still gets held in place.

Functionally nothing has been impacted by modularising the tea shop.  Here's the back wall in the open position.

And here is the back wall in the closed position.  With the expanded baseplate there's room out back to place more stuff.  Here I've just parked a bicycle next to the plants.

Here's the side view.  Oops, I forget to reattach the power line!

I might remove the legs from the A/C unit because they look like they are just hanging there.  Oh and I removed the vending machine because I felt that it detracted from the look of the building.  Why would you need a bottled or canned drink when you can have fresh brewed tea instead?

And while we're at it, why not stick that old sakura tree onto a MILS base plate as well.




Want this set?  Get it from Afobrick.com, and don't forget to get an extra 5% off using code itsnotlego.