Theme: Modular Buildings
Year: 2009
Pieces: 2231
Minifigs: 4
Price: £99.99 (RRP)
So, having recently taken the plunge into the world of Modular Buildings (a theme I've eyed up for a while), I present to you a review of the build for this set. No pics of the box or parts in bags as I forgot, but they're not that exciting anyway!
I should also add that with 2000+ pieces in the set, I spent quite a while sorting the parts out first, using empty advent calendar trays to help me out. From what I remember, there were numbered bags, but it was only 1 set for the ground floor and 1 set for the top floor & roof.
Anyway, on to the build ...
You start with the tiles for the kerbside, which includes some nice details for the road, including rain gutters and the like.
Then you basically build up ... note the use of jumper bricks to offset the windows and doors as a nice detail to add to the architectural accuracy of these type of buildings.
Whilst it's a simple technique, the offset tiles on the front of the building make a fine effect for the frontage, as if it's build of massive blocks, with mortar etc
As with most buildings in this series, even the back gets some nice treatment.
The ground floor nears completion ...
As does the back ...
Complete ... I'm liking the tree and street light, plus the helmet and axe insignia
And here we are with the fire vehicle and the minifigs (nothing special here ... just plain fire fighters, a random woman and a dog).
And this shows the function of the back doors ... i.e. when the fire truck returns, it just drives around the back and it's facing the right way when it needs to zoom off to it's next emergency.
Onto the 2nd floor ...
Quite a lot of the build here is focused on the interior details, including a kitchen, couch, table tennis table and the fireman's pole.
Again, we use SNOT bricks to enable a brick built, with corner and window frame detailing.
A nice use of upside down old style vehicle grilles here for window frame detail ... using an interesting technique to get this in place.
The back ... exciting eh?
The interior is complete ... nice fridge!
Now we start on the roof and the nifty piece combination for the year of building (1932) ... when i saw pics of this, I thought it was going to be a careful balance of 1 x 1 tiles to make this, but oh now, it's a complex system of modified 1 x 1s with ring, plates and tiles.
The roof is complete, with bell, water butt and roof access door.
The model is complete ... and it's a fine building indeed!
Value: 10/10 (compared to the £119.99 for the Pet Shop, this is a good deal
Build Quality: 10/10
Accuracy: 8/10
Swoosh Factor: N/A
Play Features: 9/10
Minifigs: 7/10
Final Score (Average): 9
Verdict: Buy It whilst you can ... looking at the prices of previous modular buildings, even opened sets fetch at least double their RRP!! So, a good investment, a great build and a stunning looking model. You just can't go wrong.
