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LEGO Old Style Diner with Arcade & more!

I recently ran across a really nice project on LEGO Ideas that I thought to share with you. The LEGO Old Diner with Arcade by LEGO fan Astronaut Avila already got over 2K supporters since it was uploaded to LEGO Ideas a month ago. Even if you don’t care for diners, there are so many interesting details and building techniques used here, that it’s worth checking out the project. And of course, if you do decide to support it with your vote, there is a chance it may become an official LEGO set. 🙂

What I found most striking on the outside of the Old Diner is the lettering done with the new type of curved tile pieces in translucent colors. We talked about lettering with these tiles just the other day (see: Lettering with LEGO Using New Tile Shapes), and this project is a perfect example of how useful these new tiles are.

The bonus 6-stud-wide old sports car that comes with the Old Diner also looks great, with a similar size and styling as the LEGO Speed Champions vehicles.

Going inside the diner, there is so much to see! There are milkshakes, hotdogs and candy machines for hungry customers. And there are plenty of games for entertainment, including air hockey, a dance game, a claw machine, and arcade machines. A jukebox provides music while everyone is having a good time.

I’m particularly impressed by the ingenious construction of the milkshake machine, taking advantage of some new LEGO elements. All the indoor and outdoor furniture pieces are really nicely done as well.

Speaking of furniture, also notice the tasteful color combinations. The dark-blue, sand-blue, and white checkered floor tiling, combined with the orange-holstered furniture, and light-nougat tables, countertops, and flooring in the arcade area. These are not common LEGO colors, especially all in one LEGO set, but here they come together beautifully.

If you are working on furnishing your own LEGO restaurant, arcade, or similar establishment, this diner is full of great examples that you can use for inspiration. If you would like to see more details and support the project, you can check it out on LEGO Ideas, and I also encourage you to take a look at Astronaut Avila’s other LEGO models both on LEGO Ideas and on flickr, because they are all really excellent. And you can also browse the currently available LEGO Ideas sets originally submitted by LEGO fans under the LEGO Ideas section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Old Diner with Arcade? Are there any specific details that you really like? Did you notice some unusual building techniques that you would like to use in your own LEGO models? Would you like this project to become an official LEGO set? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

{ 21 comments… add one }
  • rainey July 12, 2017, 1:19 PM

    Looks really fantastic and I wonder how its scale would fit in with the modular buildings.

    • admin July 12, 2017, 4:37 PM

      Well, it’s minifig scale, so it should fit as a nice diner down the street from the Modulars. 🙂

      • Håkan July 12, 2017, 5:43 PM

        Trying to count the studs, it seems the build is place on top of three 16×32 baseplates. (Although they haven’t come in white in a set since 2007.)

        • Håkan July 12, 2017, 5:44 PM

          That is, the whole build is 32×48 studs in size.

          • admin July 12, 2017, 6:56 PM

            That’s the exact footprint of the Assembly Square modular. LEGO used a 16×32 and a 32×32 stud baseplate for it. 🙂

      • rainey July 12, 2017, 7:26 PM

        How wonderful!

        Hope it makes it to selection and the store shelves!

        • admin July 12, 2017, 9:27 PM

          Yeah, I hope so too! I really like the interior! 😀

  • Håkan July 12, 2017, 1:26 PM

    Is it all digital? It looks a bit eerie with all these faceless minifigs.

    (Although I happen to own a few of the faceless minifigs produced from 1975-1978, myself.)

    • Ninjagofan July 12, 2017, 1:30 PM

      Or maybe they have the face hidden under the hair…that’s my guess.

      • admin July 12, 2017, 4:38 PM

        This build is fully digital. 😉

    • admin July 12, 2017, 4:38 PM

      Yes, this is a fully digital build. 🙂

      • James July 12, 2017, 6:48 PM

        Wow, I would not have guessed that this was a digital build. I guess I have not kept up at all with the current state of the art for making digital builds. What software do people use?

        • admin July 12, 2017, 7:09 PM

          James, people usually build in LDD, Stud.io or MecaBricks, then add the after-effects in a 3D rendering software like Blender. Some of them like Bluerender works specifically with LDD. I’m not sure which one was used for this model, but yeah, digital models are getting almost indistinguishable from real ones. 😀

        • Håkan July 12, 2017, 7:13 PM

          It’s just too slick too look… really real…

          You could emulate the grittiness and such to make things look more real and dirty, but it would mostly require more work.

          (Although I’m not an expert on those things. I have friends who work in similar areas, such as Digital Special Effects, but I haven’t really discussed their work with them…)

          • Håkan July 12, 2017, 7:15 PM

            Although, looking above, you can see I still had to ask… 😉

          • admin July 12, 2017, 7:25 PM

            And that’s exactly what they used in The LEGO Movie! The entire film is digitally designed, but the designers took the time to add imperfections, nicks, bitemarks, faded prints, etc., which made the movie so real that people used to argue if it was real LEGO or CGI. 😀

  • Rob July 13, 2017, 11:17 AM

    I don’t have room for the diner but I’d LOVE to have that car!

    • admin July 13, 2017, 1:43 PM

      Yeah, it’s sweet, isn’t it! 😀

  • Håkan July 13, 2017, 2:14 PM

    Looks like a pretty simple build with some SNOT techniques,. These silver rim dishes might be relatively rare, though.

    • admin July 13, 2017, 3:02 PM

      It seems very similar to the Speed Champions cars, so if someone is familiar with building those, then they should be able to figure out how it was build. I wish LEGO would include more old-style vehicles in the Speed Champions sets! The ones they did include are my favorites. 😀

  • PrashBricks III August 28, 2017, 12:32 PM

    I will Vote!

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