There’s still time to build for TBB’s Ninjago City collaboration for BrickCon 2018 [News]

With only a few weeks until BrickCon 2018, we here at The Brothers Brick are super excited by the tremendous positive response to our collaborative public display! With over 30 contributors signed up to participate, it is shaping up to be one of our larger projects! For more information about the project, check out our original announcement feature. Also, be sure to check out our recent feature on building the lower level of Ninjago City. There is still time to join the fun if you are registered to attend the private convention from October 4-7 in Seattle. Check out the Flickr group to join the project, or to see more photos by contributors.

Just be sure to register your creation by Sept. 30th so we can be sure to have enough space allocated for the display.

The “look”

The visual style of Ninjago City, as portrayed in the official sets and the movie, is of a vertically stacked city that’s an eclectic blend of traditional and modern architecture. The lower levels of the city are a bit run-down, or simply older, wood construction. Earth tones and simple, de-saturated colors, worn sidewalks, and plenty of vegetation set the scene. As we work our way up to the second level (there are generally two floors or stories for each level) the city is cleaner and newer, with brighter colors and plenty of shops and advertising. The third level, which not every block needs to have, can continue the aesthetic of the second level, or start to shift towards a more futuristic vibe.

We have standards for three basic block types, a straight city block, an outside corner, and an inside corner.

As well as a standard for the height of the upper level sidewalk.

If you need any more inspiration, here are just a few of the blocks from some of the project contributors:

Straight block by Eric Law:
Ninjago City block

Outside corner by Brick Ninja:
Expanding Ninjago City

Straight block by Brick Ninja:
Ninjago City Shops

Inside corner by Steve Peterson:
Ninjago City Block, with 2 story condo and LEGO Store All populated by incognito Star Wars characters.

Straight half block by B Mauro:
Ninjago City Expansion WIP

Straight block by Daniel Fortine:

Outside corner by Daniel Fortine:

We also have a very special block designed by one of our readers, Rollon Smith, who is unable to attend the convention, but reached out to us after we featured his lovely tribute model built in memory of a relative who passed away recently. I am honored to have built a version of Rollon’s model that fits into our standard for the project and will be included in the display.