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Project Edison

For several years, I've been slowly building up my 'Brickston High Street'. A collection of modular Lego constructions from their 'Creator Expert' range. 

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Whilst expanding the High Street, I also built other Lego sets, including the whopping Lego Hogwarts Castle (71043) that was so impressive I knew it needed to be lit. And that led me to discovering 'Light My Bricks'; a company that specialises in creating lighting elements specifically for Lego models. Using their components (available in the UK via their authorised distributor ElegantBricks the LightMyBricks website) I decided to power the High Street. This blog is intended to record that process.


The idea

Knowing what I wanted to do was all well and good, but the next step was working out how to do it, and so I sat down and created a town plan - a schematic - for how to illuminate each modular building;

Lighting_Plan_key

Key:

- yellow rectangles are 'strip lights' - small rectangular sticky strips with 2 LEDs fitted to them.

- yellow circles are 'bit lights' - incredibly small single LED lights that are designed to fit underneath and in between Lego pieces.

- pink rectangles are 'wireless connectors' - can be used between each floor in a modular building without being restricted to connecting cables.

- green squares are 'connecting port boards' - Expansion Boards allow you to connect multiple components to complete a circuit.

With the schematic created, I knew what I needed for each modular building, and so could begin working through the project one building at a time.


Fire Brigade

The first of the modular buildings in my project is the Fire Station (officially known as the Fire Brigade). This building consists of just two floors - both are wide open spaces. The ground floor houses the included fire engine, and stairs lead to the firefighters quarters on the second floor. At the front of the ground floor are two external lamps.

Continue reading "Fire Brigade" »


Pet Shop

The second modular in the project is the Pet Shop. This build is slightly different to the previous Fire Brigade - it is split into two parts (a shop and a house). I've separated these in the High Street, and only the Shop part is being lit today. This is a three storey build with the Pet Shop on the ground floor, and a two storey flat taking up the first and second floors.

Continue reading "Pet Shop" »


Detective's Office

Time for another modular build to be lit. This time, it is the Detective's Office set. This set contains four distinct areas over three floors.

The ground floor consists of two businesses - The Highlander 'sports bar' with darts and pool, and Al's barbers shop. The first floor is home to Ace Brickman, private detective, and the downstairs of an apartment. The second floor contains the upstairs of the apartment,

Continue reading "Detective's Office" »