Taking it to the Street: Building Modules in LEGO Digital Designer

Taking it to the Street: Building Modules in LEGO Digital Designer Article and Photography by Joe Meno

The Market Street set is a new set that follows in the footsteps of the Café Corner: it’s a large town-themed set that has a nice general appeal. In building it with another reviewer, I had a great time! The set has a large piece count, and is a full evening’s work to build it. The result is a set of building modules that can be arranged a number of ways to make different looks. The instructions are nicely done, and easy to follow. What’s fun about this set is that it has a set of models to build, so the builder doesn’t get too tired building without having something to show for his or her work.

For me and the other reviewer I worked with, it was basically building a model then handing off the instructions for the next one. The construction starts out a little delicate, but the models become surprisingly sturdy as more bricks are placed. The modules fit into each other, so it’s easy to arrange as desired. One very nice touch was the inclusion of a flat roof module – there’s a roofed penthouse as a module, and this roof makes it easy to change things around and have everything covered.

One question that did pop into my head as I built was, “why are the stairs centered?” It’s a unique way of doing things, but it limits the interior possibilities. There’s no room for a dining room table, for example. There is logic to this – the center hole and stairway allows each module to meet consistently from floor to floor. Seeing this work as I built made things a little clearer, and also impressed me the attention to detail that was placed in the set.

Another nice detail is the balconies that can be removed from the modules. I initially wondered about this feature when I saw the box art but again, building this made things much more clear. This also plants a seed of an idea for module building – parts that can be attached or removed depending on placement.

Like the Café Corner, I found myself slowing down to build – part of the fun in building both sets was seeing new ideas in the building instructions. Also, the complexity of this model in terms of detail work will definitely make this a common set on LEGO train layouts. I really like the color of the buildings broken by the corrugated bricks: things look very lived in. The top ledges of each module also are nicely done.

So what else can be done? I decided to find out. I was asked if I was interested in building some modules using LEGO Digital Designer (LDD), and I thought, “why not?” The only problem was that I didn’t have the set to work with – but I did get sent some pictures for reference. From there, I started my ‘secret project’!

Building with LDD takes a little getting used to. While it has an unlimited number of parts in its palette, it doesn’t have every part LEGO has available. Finding parts is a bit tricky too, especially if the part is a special piece, like a headlight brick. 

I was ready to start building. I began with the simple idea of building another apartment module with windows, and found that the colors with the widest selection of parts are white and red. This is important, because you will need a lot of a particular color to make a module. I decided to make a white module and use black accents. I chose black because the window sills were in black and red, and I wanted to try black first. Since the shutters were in green, I made some accents in green to match. This is Module 1 – seen at the middle left. Note: Since this article was written, the element palette from the Market Street set have been added to LEGO Factory. New parts and new colors have added more building options.

I also decided to add some interior items: a table, a chair and a painting on the wall. And just out of curiosity, I moved the stairs to the back. This was meant to open up room on the higher floors for larger furniture, like a dining room table. However, this would require another module set with the stairs in the back, which I built. But it’s not Market Street standard.

So I went another direction. Using the template, I went with an office building in a brownstone motif. Using red and dark red bricks, I was able to make a nice aged pattern on the walls. The corners were done using small tiles to create brownstone corners. Originally, this was done by using 1×1 Technic bricks with holes and pins to attach the tiles to, but they were loose, so the tiles settled in all sorts of directions – so I used red headlight bricks instead. I also got to do some architectural detailing on the top, which was fun to build. You can see Module 2 at the right.

The next idea was to do a module that had a broken surface. What I mean by that is to have a module that wasn’t a smooth box completely – the top and bottom of the modules are 16 by 16, but there’s no rule stating how big the module is between. However, expanding the size creates limitations on where the module could be placed, especially if modules are lined up in a row. The module is square so not only can modules be placed on top of each other, they can be rotated. The drawback is that for rotation, the square size has to be maintained. So I made an efficiency apartment, which is a one-room apartment.This module has a built-in balcony that is part of the standard 16 x 16 footprint, so it can be rotated. The top is set up so other modules can be placed on it, or another efficiency (I would like to see a row of these done on a layout!). You can see this on the right - Module 3! I also built a cap for the efficiency since it is a smaller size than the standard.

From there, I went to the ground level. My modules had been built with the thought that they would be above the basement level that is on the Market Street set. I wanted to see how the standard would work with making lower level shops. The windows have to be more open, so I went to using transparent bricks.

I’m still building modules, and you can see them on my LEGO Factory account, jmenomeno or here: http://factory.lego.com/gallery/?parameters=2||f9e93320-aef3-af58-bc12-6b2742ad0c04. If you want to build modules for yourself, download the template file and build whatever walls you wish. As I mentioned before, it will take a little trial and error, but building will become easy with experience.

Some building tips: Use two colors – one for the basic color, the other for accent, so you can outline the middle of the module with a color. For architectural details, use special plates, such as the 1 x 2 plate with rail. Also, use different shades of the came color to make things look older, like red and dark red, or gray and dark gray.  Slope bricks can be awnings or roofs of bay windows.

Also, to keep your model from falling apart, make sure your parts overlap each other by a stud. You can check this while building by clicking on a part and then seeing the parts around it that get outlined. If they all line up on an edge, the model will not be very stable.

For inspiration, take a look at the downtown area where you live and see what kind of buildings are there. Also, check out photos online for buildings and shops that can fit this standard. There are a lot of ideas just outside your doorstep!

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