I Did It All Wrong (but I'm fixing it)

It's time for me to get very, very candid about some thoughts that have guided my actions, how I made some very serious mistakes in planning New Jang City, and how I've permanently turned a major corner in the course of my involvement in the LEGO hobby on the whole.  Grab a snack or beverage, and let me fully break the situation down for you.

In my LEGO City, the sky is rising

When I first set foot in the second living/family room of this house, I immediately knew this is where I would put the LEGO city, if I got so lucky as to win the bidding war in the cut-throat near-coastal California real estate market.  I thought about how I'd arrange the tables and started to consider options for smoothing out the very uneven background image so viewers could focus on the LEGO, not the fireplace, the wet bar, goings-on in the next room over, etc.  Four years after winning the bidding war, I've taken the next major step in implementing my vision.

Cyberpunk conversion of the LEGO Death Star (progress)

Back in March I dedicated the Mellemby District section of New Jang City to the viewers and asked for your suggestions for an overall theme or direction. Over 1,700 comments poured in and though the responses were quite varied, easily the most common request was for a cyberpunk scene (Blade Runner, Akira, lower Coruscant, Altered Carbon, etc.).  Just last month, I thought of finally putting my idle Death Star to use by converting it to work in this space, and viewers approved.  Thusly I build!

Videos:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

Probably one or two more updates should bring this project to a close "for now" and then I'll switch over to something else.

Beyond the Brick week

Brothers John & Joshua Hanlon of the highly-recommended Beyond the Brick on YouTube savagely invaded my home and alas, I was unable to scare them off with the combined counter-attack of an alien monster and a vicious attack dog.  Thus I cannot stop them from releasing I believe four videos this week on their channel, two of which are already up:

• JANGBRiCKS LEGO City Walkthrough 2018
• JANGBRiCKS LEGO Parts Collection Tour

Since you're surely going to go watch at least one of those, you might as well subscribe while you're there to see some much more interesting content once the annoying stuff with me in it finally passes.

😊

Second elevated rail station build kick-off

Hooray for New Jang City work!  I'm taking a short bit of time off from the mountain corner while waiting for Bricklink orders to arrive.  This leaves some space in the schedule to work on an essentially untouched block in the downtown area.

• Video - New LEGO city elevated rail station: Project begins

LEGO room videos of the past week or so

Circumstances straddling the edges of what I can control have made it extraordinarily difficult over the past couple of months for me to get LEGO work done, especially in my city.  I've done what I can, though, and am clawing my way back slowly in the direction of normalcy.

Videos:

• All 400+ LEGO Collectible Minifigures (CMF) display update!
• Very small LEGO city update -- I added a cargo port fence
• Slow work on the LEGO city's "mountain"

Full tour of my updated LEGO deep sea diorama

I've been happy with my underwater display(s) since I first tried such a setup in 2015, but that doesn't mean I'm just leaving it alone!  Most of the space has been and still is quick & easy, temporary filler, but I keep adding more detail in small batches.  This weekend I caught a burning desire to add a noticeable amount of new life to both halves of the setup, including establishing the start of some reef-like elements.

• Video: LEGO deep sea exploration scene tour! 🐠 New 2018 update 🦈

Mellemby viewer suggestion recap & LEGO dinosaurs

Two more New Jang City sub-layout updates went up over the past day or so, the first summarizing major takeaways from the initial idea-gathering phase for the Mellemby District.  This will likely end up being one of my most part-intensive projects ever! I have a fairly clear general direction to follow, and now I need to start to strategize a high-level plan of attack.  Similarly, I've reached the point where I'm ready to start on my fantasy prehistoric animal display.

Videos:

• Update on Your ideas for my LEGO city's Mellemby District!
• Preparing for my LEGO dinosaur / prehistoric display!

More progress on the train yard

This time around I slowed down a little and got the shed/shop buttoned up more correctly so I could be happier with it long-term.  I also threw down some quick desiccated foliage outside, but that'll be improved once I get some of the inner rail loop ballasted and then topographically texture the space between tracks a bit.

• Video: LEGO train yard & locomotive maintenance shop improvements

New Jang City freight train yard upgrades

Over the past couple of days I tore up my fingertips some more carefully putting down more faux ballast in a way that supports the track on a completely flat (tiled) surface while providing studded texture all around. It also helps keep everything from sliding around much whilst still allowing a bit of flexibility to account for table edges being bumped & such.

Then I added this diesel shed/motive power depot/maintenance shop/whatever it's called in your local region or on the specific train-related sites you frequent :)  I realized while filming this that I had wanted this specific type of model building since I was quite young and first learned about HO scale trains.  Life goal achieved!

• Video: Custom LEGO train engine shed / shop / depot in the city!

[New] Mellemby opens for business, or at least suggestions

I'm taking a big risk here, but I'm hopeful that with some thoughtful & caring guidance, as opposed to an unregulated popular democracy (i.e. certain catastrophe), the collective will of the viewers can be translated into something really fun!

• Video - Mellemby District kickoff: YOUR part of my LEGO city!

A current look at New Jang City

Not a lot has happened since the last update video, aside from the addition of 16 MOCs I've covered in other videos.  There's been a little bit of work on terrain, both the big laccolith and the very flat freight train yard, but that's mostly it.

• Video: LEGO city status check-in / update Mar. 17, 2018

Summary for the week Feb. 12 - 18

Well that was a productive week!  At times I felt like I was really having to push myself to work ever faster, but taking a look back at the before & after, the progress isn't half bad.  I received & unboxed quite a lot of loose pieces, but better than that is the fact that I used a lot of pieces!  In New Jang City, the port area has really come together and just needs a couple more ships and some custom vehicles to finish it up for the foreseeable future.  The big terrain feature has started to get its final layer of detail in some areas, though other parts need more foundation work.  The mine display that I just started last week is already approaching "done for now" status.

Last but not least, I snuck a few reviews into the mix to maintain variety, including the second of the two biggest Power Miners sets.

New Jang City:

• LEGO city update: Hillside foliage, mine backdrop, & more Feb. 18, 2018
• LEGO city update: Port tiled, mountain smoothed, mine sprinkled Feb. 16, 2018

Hauls:

• LEGO parts, that I bought, from Bricklink 📦 #221 (delayed publishing)
• LEGO parts 📦 #220
• More LEGO parts from Bricklink that'll be mostly used up by the time you read this long title 📦 #219

Custom builds:

• LEGO Container Handler AGV custom MOC!
• New custom LEGO container ship MOC!

Reviews:

• LEGO Star Wars Kylo Ren's Shuttle polybag review 30380
• LEGO Power Miners Underground Mining Station from 2009! set 8709
• LEGO car polybags: City Police Car 30352 & Juniors Fire Car 30338!

Summary for the week Feb. 5 - 11

This week has been all about 1) using up parts, 2) getting more parts, and 3) returning to 1.  The land side of the cargo harbor area went from a field of plain baseplates to a 3/4ths tiled-in yard with a "done for now" warehouse and an admin/operations building.  The terrain to house my Planetary Defense Force base has very nearly reached its final height and the second (of four) layer of parts has been painted across its entire outer surface.  Oh, and I used up still more pieces setting up the major terrain features for my underground mine.

Videos:

• Mining scene Under the LEGO City begins! Feb. 11, 2018
• LEGO city update: New harbor building, taller hill, moved warehouse Feb. 9, 2018
• More LEGO parts from Bricklink! 📦 #218
• LEGO city update: Harbor warehouse, rail crossing, more tiling Feb. 7, 2018
• Four LEGO part lots from Bricklink opened 📦 #217

LEGO city layout plan & queue (updated May 21, 2019)

The basic plan for my LEGO layout was formulated when I began in 2013.  When I moved to a new house in 2015, I gained some space and added a handful of items to the list.  Any empty space you see in any photo or video is already reserved for future build. Anything that looks incomplete is incomplete, and will eventually be completed to my specs over time.  Any official LEGO-designed structures or vehicles are only stand-ins and will ultimately be replaced by my own custom builds.

With the exception of the isolated underground "Mellemby District" section, this is not a crowd-sourced project.  While I appreciate that many viewers have ideas for how they would do things if New JANG City belonged to them, this is my own personal project, being designed & built by me, in my own home. I do not use viewer suggestions for changes or additions at this time*. The number one, key, core reason for any of this to exist is for me to freely express my own personal creative interests & desires. I do not add, remove, or change anything on request.

Here's how the build queue looks as of the date in the title of the post...

I will include:

• Metro area (with at least 4 very tall office buildings)
• Industrial area with factories, etc.
• Residential neighborhood with custom houses
• Planetary Defense Force base (above and below ground)
• Small city maintenance crew yard
• Pet store
• Chinese restaurant
• Dance club
• Cars, Trucks (passenger and commercial), other normal vehicles you'll find in any city
• People
• Trees & plants
• There will be much more that's not on this list!
• I do not add to this list on request -- as explained above, this city is all about my own inspiration & creativity.

Already added:

• One skyscraper (the first of at least 4)
• Police station (currently awaiting full rebuild)
• Fire station
• Shopping mall
• Small boat marina
• Zoo (to be rebuilt larger some day)
• Gas station with car wash and adjacent car repair/service garage
• Arcade + Ice cream shoppe + Bike shop
• Musical instrument store + Laser tag arena
• Rail systems:
• Two 9V standard-gauge rail loops
• Two standard-gauge rail yards
• One locomotive maintenance shop
• Elevated narrow-gauge rail loop
• Large passenger train station with elevated rail connector
• Second mainline passenger train station
• Second elevated narrow-gauge passenger train stop
• Underground mining scene with some official sets
• Stand-ins for residential area
• Custom small high-end apartment building
• Cargo harbor including:
• 2x piers
• Multiple cargo ships
• STS container gantry crane
• 2x rail sidings
• Level luffer crane (awaiting completion)
• Small warehousing building
• Harbor ops/admin building
• Various vehicles
• Work in progress, incomplete terrain to house Planetary Defense Force (military base) 
• Start of a small underground dinosaur/prehistoric zone (work in progress)
• Underground Minecraft overworld & Nether displays
• Temporary Nexo Knights battle diorama
• Start of an underground "Mellemby District" area driven by viewer suggestions (the sole section of the room where suggestions are strongly encouraged and acted upon)

I will not include:

• Airport.  NO AIRPORT, PERIOD!  An airport would ruin the plan for the entire city by taking up an absolutely enormous amount of space (if done to my satisfaction, and everything in my city must be done to my satisfaction).
• Heliport.  Same as above, just smaller (but equally undesirable)
• Above-ground parking garage.  Again, tremendous waste of incredibly valuable space (would need the area of at least 4 modular buildings to be even halfway decent).  Maybe an underground one some day, way off in the future?
• Big ol' bland, basic parking lot. Same as for the parking garage, except even worse since a parking lot is only one level and thus an even worse waste of valuable space that could be used for an entire multi-level commercial building, residence, or at least a park.
• Super Heroes area
• Ninjago area
• Chinatown or Japantown
• Star Wars area
• Race track
• Minecraft End City
• Sports stadium
• Certainly countless other things will not be built in my layout.  Stay tuned to this blog and my YouTube channel to see what I do build!

*These unfortunate disclaimers have had to be added in response to increasingly large numbers of increasingly rude viewer demands for additions to & removals from my layout, at worst numbering in the hundreds per day when major updates are posted.  The enthusiasm behind normal, casual suggestions is appreciated, but demands for changes are simply unacceptable.

Summary for the week Jan. 29 - Feb. 4

This week I got to mix a few reviews with some substantive work on New Jang City, in addition to finishing that new small passenger train (pictured above).  With countless pieces added onto and beneath my little corner mountain buildup, I find myself in that ever familiar state of needing parts to proceed.  With relevant Bricklink orders at various states of fulfillment & shipping, I've begun to divert attention towards other works in progress.  Gotta keep the momentum going!

Reviews:

• LEGO Ninjago (Juniors) Zane's Ninja Boat Pursuit review! 10755
• 60 Years of the LEGO Brick set reviewed! 40290
• LEGO Ideas Ship in a Bottle review ⚓ 21313

Customs & layout related:

• Work In Progress: Custom LEGO passenger train MOC update 2
• Farewell LEGO NEXO Knights! Final year 3 display & retrospective
• A better LEGO city update! Terrain, train, mess, etc. Feb. 1, 2018
• LEGO city update: Harbor tiling, terrain rises Feb. 4, 2018

Other:

• LEGO 60th Anniv. Black Seas Barracuda in the Ideas bottle

New Jang City: New terrain, new train

Hey!  More work in progress!  My last update was pretty boring & pedestrian, covering a lot of little grunt work, cleanup & basic chores that had a subtle, but important effect on the overall appearance of the layout.  Now I've undone some a bunch of that tidiness, but mostly in the corner where the Planetary Defense Force base is going.  I've put up a lot of Big Ugly Rock Pieces with Duplo supports and completed most of the first sweep of smoothing & randomizing, with at least two more such passes to go.

• Video: A better LEGO city update! Terrain, train, mess, etc. Feb. 1, 2018

In this video I also show the "done for now" form of my latest passenger DMU train, which thankfully runs smoothly the first time out.

Summary for the week

This was a slowish week on the video side with "just" 10 videos released in 7 days.  With the transition away from release season I completed one MOC (for now), made good progress on a new one, and did all manner of cleanup & important foundational chores around New Jang City. 

Videos:

• LEGO City Off-Road Chase review! 60170
• Custom LEGO intermodal container gantry crane (STS) MOC complete! (also previous WIP update)
• One unexciting LEGO city update after hours of work! Jan. 23 2018
• Work In Progress: New custom LEGO passenger train MOC
• Mega Construx Halo Fireteam Castle set review
• LEGO parts order unboxing from Bricklink.com 📦 #216
• LEGO Technic 1:10 scale Rally Car review! 42077
• LEGO Build My City Accessory Set review 🚦 40170
• LEGO Star Wars The Last Jedi DJ polybag review! 40298

With those couple boxes of parts received from Bricklink, I've since finished paneling off my elevated rail track and dove back into the terrain work for the Planetary Defense Force corner. I hope to have more to show on that in a few days.

Something new, something blue: Animated backdrop for real LEGO

Take a peek back, if you will, at my original undersea display that I put together in 2015.  It brought great personal joy to me, satisfying my love of underwater scenes that previously surfaced in my first LEGO city in the year 2000 and my zoo's aquarium in 2014.  Once I dedicated a whole table to this theme, though, I just couldn't stop thinking about it.  I doubled its size in 2016 and added a shipwreck in 2017. Behind the scenes, though, I was desperate for more.  I've given very serious consideration (and dedicated plenty of research) to all manner of techniques to add more depth & "life" to these displays, but it wasn't until today that I realized I should just add... a display.

My very first flat screen TV, now over a decade old, hasn't gotten much use in the past couple of years though it still works fine, making it a nearly perfect candidate for conversion to looping video backdrop duty.  I say "nearly" because it's a fraction of an inch too tall to fit under my tables upright, thus requiring me to angle it back very slightly.  It's a small price to pay, for not having to pay for a whole different TV.

• Video - Undersea LEGO update: TV backdrop & sound! Jan. 15, 2018 

I've wrapped my existing backdrop drapery around the back to preserve a clean backdrop for the adjacent Nexo Knights display, and I've started using some thick weatherstripping to create baffles to eliminate reflections from my colored light strips.  I've also angled the LEGO table towards us slightly to improve visibility.  The video looping on the screen, meanwhile, is a quick merge of a few stock clips with some real underwater sounds, playing from an outdated Android tablet that at least has a micro HDMI port.  

Some further tuning is warranted, but this is a big step forward for one of my favorite LEGO things in the world, simple as it is.  I'll definitely apply this technique to the other seafloor display (since it's split in two these days) in due time, but hopefully I'll be able to resist going deeply into debt adding all the TVs to all the things.

A bit of LEGO room work

Over the past couple of days I've been tearing apart, putting back together, and shifting around large areas of New Jang City and its adjunct displays.  Table tops have been reoriented & legs removed.  Fresh ground has been prepared for new building.  In all, I have over 350 sq. ft. of easily-accessible tables dedicated to LEGO displays, with space to add still more in the future!  For the sake of context, the last time I measured the surface area it was under 250 sq. ft.

• Video: Crouching City, Hidden Update (Jan. 8, 2018)

Time to order up some more under-table lighting and some bulk terrain parts to kickstart some of the new displays!