Hospital

When you design a Lego building with many rooms, there are lots of things to take into account to ensure you're using all the space as efficiently as possible.  A hospital is a perfect example of how we can try to overcome that obstacle.

The Hospital from various angles

My requirements for a Hospital were pretty basic.  Things I felt basic to a medical facility.  A reception/waiting room, a couple of doctor's examination rooms, a nurses' station for tracking patients in the facility, a storage room for medical equipment, a doctors' lounge for the staff to relax in, a couple of patient recovery rooms, and an emergency room for the ambulance to deliver patients to.

Reception (left) and a patient in the doctor's office (right)

Nurses' station (left) and storage closet (right)

Doctors' lounge (left) and patient rooms (right)

The ambulance bay

I also needed an operating room, but I struggled with how to configure it.  I also had some spare rooms for which I needed a purpose.  In the first iteration below, I was going to have a more advanced exam room and a second equipment storage room, but I was unable to figure out what I wanted in them.  An X-ray machine?  A treadmill?  An MRI?  I had nothing.

I then got the idea to use the storage room as a staging area for the OR.  Here, the surgeons would prepare the patient to go under the knife.  One important requirement was ensuring that a stretcher could turn the corners to get in there.  But I still had one extra room that needed a purpose no ideas to go with it.

As I was preparing this post, I realized I could move OR prep room to the extra space, and use the previous prep room to an observation area.  I already had a small window for viewing the surgery, but it was only big enough for one person to view the procedure.  With a bigger room and bigger window, several people could watch.  Perhaps the patient's family, or maybe some med students.

Evolution of the Operating Room

I still need a number of pieces to complete the building.  As you can see above, I have orange and red pieces in place, to help me keep track of which pieces are missing and still needed.  I'm preparing some more orders online for bricks to finish this off. from both Lego and vendors on BrickLink.  I need another one of those big doors as well, since I robbed from Peter to pay Paul to get the OR doors in place.

Current state of the operating room's construction

This is one building that'll be under construction for quite a while.  I'm just glad I've finally figured out where to put everything, so I'm not wasting any space here.

Sets used: 6666, 7890, 8827,

Lego Haul - 10/22/16

My wife I got Lego Dimensions working on the Wii U the other night, and I was poking around the Lego website Friday afternoon.  Some older Lego Dimension sets are on sale on their website.  I was hoping that would carry over to the Lego store at the Mall of America, but sadly, this was not the case.  All the sets they had on the shelves were for the latest releases; A-Team, new Ghostbusters flick, Harry Potter.

We did, however, find a couple of the holiday sets.  There was 40203 Vampire and Bat for Halloween, and 40204 Pilgrim's Feast.

40203 Vampire and Bat (left) and 40204 Pilgrim's Feast (right)

As with most of the holiday sets I own, they're holiday decorations.  I've got the Vampire and Bat sitting out with all the other Halloween type things on the shelf.  Once Thanksgiving comes around, I'll bring out the pilgrim and those sets.

The contents of 40203 Vampire and Bat (left) and 40204 Pilgrim's Feast (right)

There is also a Christmas with a couple of elves to accompany this year's series of holiday sets.  I'll have to head to the Lego store next month to get them.

Pilgrim's Feast and Vampire and Bat fully assembled

Pony Farm

I'm supposed to have a Pony Farm here, but I got nothing.  I had an idea for a design, but then gave up on it because the building housing the horses was too small and cramped to hold two horses comfortably.  I needed to tear it down and replace it with something a bit larger.

Current state of the Pony Farm: under major renovation

What I've currently have in the picture above is a reconfiguration of the Pony Farm layout, but since I don't have all the pieces to put the buildings together, I think I'll abandon this idea as well.  What I should do is expand the Pony Farm to two baseplates, one for the buildings to stand on, and one for the field to go riding on.

This new layout would allow me to place larger RECTANGULAR buildings on one plate. Yes, I don't have the bricks for it now, but it will give me an idea of what I will need, so I can make a run at the Pick-A-Brick wall.  The second place can be a wide open field, with the yellowish green plates, and obstacles for the horses to jump over them.

Pieces waiting to be utilized at the Pony Farm

I'll probably come back to this building a few times as I build it anew.  In fact, I think I'll get started on it right now...

Sets used: 10764

Lego Haul - 10/3/16

I used some more of my PayPal money I got from mailing a guitar for my friends to buy a few more Lego pieces from April's Paradise of Bricks.

Bricks I got from April's Paradise

Quick tip if you decide to sell you bricks individually on BrickLink: Start your store name with the letter A.  Or better yet, a number, even if your name is Zack.  Searches for bricks will list the stores in alphabetical order, and if someone has to scroll through the list of stores to find yours, they probably won't buy from you.

Of course, this would be easier if they had more effective search filters, like by country or by new or used.  But I'm getting off topic here.  Back to the Lego bricks themselves...

Here's what I got and how I'll use them:

• 3 Dark Blue Grey 4x8 plates - These will help me complete the floors in my Watch Tower.
• 2 Black window 1x4x3 - I put these windows on the top floor of the barracks, where the marines chill out and rest when they are not on duty.  The windows allowed me complete the building, which is nice.
• 2 Blue panel 1x2x2 - I was able to finish off one of the two port-a-potties at the Construction Site.  I just need two more to complete the other one, and this building will also be complete.
• 1 White Panel 2x2x1 Corner - I just needed one more to complete the fried chicken display portion in the grocery store's meat department.  Jay only had the one, but April had my back.
• 1 Blue round 1x1 brick - OK, this is not for any of my buildings in my Lego city.  The Gamer Kid in the Midway Arcade Level Pack came with a red round 1x1 brick.  He drinks Coke.  I drink Pepsi, which is a far superior cola.  I swapped out the pieces, so now he's more like me.
• 1 Dark Gray 6x8 plate - I was going to use this in my Watch Tower as well, but like a doof, I missed the part where it didn't say "dark BLUE gray".  Whoops.  I'm sure I can find a use for this piece somewhere.

 I still have about $15 in my PayPal account to use for brick purchases on BrickLink.  I'm also sitting on $10 in Lego store credit, and I'm thinking about using that before I go to BrickLink again.  Once I get pieces from Lego, I'll go back to BrickLink for those harder to find pieces.

Lego Haul - 9/28/16

A few weeks ago, I helped a friend mail a guitar to some dude in Indiana.  My friend paid me back by sending me money over PayPal, so I thought the best way to put that money to use was to go on BrickLink and order some Lego bricks.

The Lego haul from 9/28

I ordered them from Jay and ADOPT-A-BRICK.  Jay is a good guy with excellent prices.  Among the bricks I got from him (and their uses):

• Black 2x4 plate - This is the base for a flat screen television to sit in the doctor's lounge at the Hospital
• 2 Blue 2x8 plates - These were used for finishing up the walls at the Hospital
• 6 Dark Blue Grey 4x8 plates and 2 Dark Blue Grey 6x8 plates - Used to build the floors inside the Watch Tower
• Dark Blue Grey 8x8 plate - I put this outside the Marina Office to build the dock outside the building
• 2 Light Blue Grey 2x2 corner tiles - They completed the meat department display area in the Grocery Store
• Trans-Clear Door 1x4x6 and White Door Frame 1x4x6 - I needed these to finish putting the dairy case display in the Grocery Store
• White Panel 2x2x2 Corner - This went into the meat department display.  I forget what's going to be held in there.  I think it's for the fried chicken...
• 2 Yellow Cone 1x1 - These are a part of the entryway to the Pyramid nightclub
• 2 Yellow 1x1 plate with a clip - I put these inside the Firehouse at the Forest Police and Fire Stations 

I didn't get much this time around, and definitely not enough to finish of any buildings, but every little bit helps.