The Lego hotel

Lego has come up with numerous hotel buildings for the town plan, but I decided to build one from the suggestions illustrated on the Samsonite town plan for the US market, 1961. The fabulous Brick Fetish has nicely cleaned up scans of the front and back covers (click images on that page to enlarge); that particular plan having the same layout as my Continental one. 

The building was largely constructed on top of my MacBook keyboard so I could follow the illustration. In 1961 it would have been built from cellulose acetate bricks, but I built it out of new ABS parts with the exception of the vintage base plate and printed brick on the roof. Cellulose acetate bricks don't hold together very well (if at all) so this building would have been extremely unstable if built from them. The nice thing is that transparent 1x2 bricks are available again without anything inside, so those again look as their cellulose acetate predecessors do.

The rear of the building isn't shown in any illustrations afaik so I just made that up myself, roughly in line with the front.

Lego Karmann Ghia repairs

The VW Karmann Ghia sports coupé is constructed as illustrated in the first Lego patent (see earlier post), having slots in the inside lower body that grip the sides of the chassis. It can be opened up by inserting a thumbnail in a wheel well and pulling the sides away from the chassis.

My black version had a broken axle mount that was repaired with my standard method (see details in earlier post).

It's also received a pair of reproduction headlights, which aren't perfect but far better than nothing. These were obtained from a fellow-collector who told me he had once received a number of them from another collector in Denmark. I've stuck a sticker underneath the car to mention this fact should it ever get sold.

My white version had three broken axle mounts when I got it. But they were at least still present, having not completely broken away. The rust on the axles was removed with steel wool.

The axle mounts were stuck back in place with acetone. One didn't hold very well anymore, so was joined by one of my standard repairs as a reinforcement. This car still needs to have one rear bumper restored.

My red Karmann Ghia with original headlights needed one axle mount repaired. Apart from that and one scratch it survived wonderfully well from having been covered in a thick crust of poster paint (see later post).

The Lego VW garage

The VW garage was another early building kit to accompany the range of H0 scale cars. Featuring the same colour scheme as the VW dealer pavilion, it makes a nice companion to that building as well.

My example is built from contemporary cellulose acetate parts, with the exception of the small white plates underneath. These aren't part of the original design, but were added to have the garage match the height of the dealer pavilion.

The garage came in a boxed set with a pair of VW Beetles (long version) and a pair of traffic signs as shown above - a stop sign and a parking sign. I don't know if the cars came in specific colours or not. The box lid shows a parked silver one plus another of indistinct colour inside.

The sides of the garage have the same small windows as the dealer pavilion has; the rear has a pair of transparent bricks. 

Below is the garage as illustrated in the 1958 folder, Belgian edition. 90 francs would buy a dozen loaves of bread back then. Building instructions for the garage are easily found on the internet.

Lego VW Beetle repairs

 The VW Beetle (longer version) is the oldest passenger car in the Lego H0 range of cars. Amongst other differences, it can easily be distinguished from the later shorter version in not having a name underneath, being marked with just the Lego trademark.

Its construction is essentially a scaled-down version of the larger (1/38 scale) toy Beetles Lego had already been producing for a while, though those had a metal diecast chassis riveted to the body and rubber tyres on spun metal wheels.

Its construction also predates the innovations Lego would be granted patents for, in that the body doesn't clip to the chassis but is glued. Which is unfortunate because this means these cars can't be taken apart without risking damage.

The most common damage to Lego Beetles is broken bumpers, which are often missing an end if not having disappeared altogether. I have replaced three of them, one each on the black Beetle above and my example in silver, both with genuine rear bumpers cut from a donor chassis supplied by a friendly fellow-collector (note traces of glue and plastic on edges of donor chassis). 

A pale blue Beetle received a replacement bumper end at the front, cut from the same donor chassis. The remaining centre part at the front of the donor chassis was added to a very damaged Beetle so it can be towed again by a tow truck.

The trick in getting a replacement bumper end sitting straight is to apply superglue to both surfaces and have that dry for a few seconds before fitting them together. This should keep the replacement part attached and hanging down without falling off while the car is held on its side. Next twist the bumper end to correctly match the rest of the bumper from left to right. It can then be gently tapped right next to the join to have it line up from from front to back (or the other way round). Once it's evenly matched, lay the car down on a surface which can be tilted, so gravity will keep the replacement part pointing the way it should sit while the superglue dries completely (incl an extra drop if need be). A secondary support (visible just behind the bumper above) can help if need be.

Beetles were moulded in transparent plastic and then painted in realistic VW paint colours. Which can chip and get scratched and often were in play. I tend to leave most paint damage as is, but the example above had had a scratch touched in rather crudely by a previous owner. Despite taking care and using very fine 2800 grit wet/dry sandpaper, I did sand through the rather thin layer of paint while flattening the touch-up.

Like on a real car, it's easiest to treat the entire panel. So a lightly sanded roof received a few coats of ancient Humbrol enamel, properly thinned down to obtain a smooth even finish. Mixing paint should be done in daylight, preferably a bit cloudy, to get as accurate a match as possible. 

Another Beetle had a broken axle mount. Which means the axle needs to be removed so the mount can be repaired. Much like on the VW pickups (see earlier post), a bent forked electrical connector was inserted between wheel and chassis to avoid damage to the latter while jimmying the wheel off the axle with a flat screwdriver. The car was resting on a (clean) dust rag to avoid damage to the paint. 

As with the VW pickups, the wheel should come off the axle without -too- much effort. The wheels on the donor chassis were an exception, requiring two pairs of pliers and quite a bit of force to be removed. If that chassis had still been on a car, those would have been impossible to take off.

An axle mount was cut off the donor chassis, as straight as possible. It was superglued in place on the receiving chassis, which took a few tries to get right. Once in place, more superglue was added, drop by drop to avoid runs. The hole under the mount was restored by gently turning a drill bit (as lower down).

The wheels were put back and pressed in place with plumber's pliers, with bits of plastic taped on to avoid scratches to the wheels (as shown in detail for the VW pickups in an earlier post). The repaired Beetle now stands straight again.

The first time an axle had to be removed from a Beetle was after a cracked wing was properly reattached with superglue on a beige example. Superglue has a tendency to run where you don't want it and in this case had managed to reach an axle mount and stick the axle in place. Thankfully not too firmly so twisting the wheels managed to get it loose. But firm enough that it wouldn't turn very freely anymore. So off came a wheel and out came the axle, so the superglue under the axle mount could be bored out by gently inserting and twisting a 1.5 mm drill bit through. This is also the Beetle at right in the image below.

Other common damage to these Beetles is a caved in roof with bent or cracked window pillars, probably from having been stepped on. I doubt this can be much rectified, if the car could be taken apart for a start. Even worse is a roof with a crack starting at the windscreen or rear window, where I think that's from the roof warping with age and changes in temperature. Again I don't think much can be done about that. As you can see; I have one of each, obtained in lots, where that damage wasn't very visible in the images. The crack isn't that bad yet, I hope it stays that way. The caved-in roof I've decided to try and fix (I'll add another post later).

The Lego VW dealer pavilion

This little building is another of the earliest sets available to complement the town plan. With a coloured row of bricks at the base and a rounded corner at the rear, it has the same deco feel as the larger Esso service station.

It came supplied with two lamp posts and two Volkswagen Beetles (long version). Such boxed versions as I've seen online usually have the cars in the colours shown above.

At the rear of the building is a car-sized entry next to the back door. This allows a car to be put on display in the window, though getting it in and out tends to involve some jiggling and rattling around.

My building has been assembled entirely from period-correct cellulose acetate parts, including the old plates with the waffle pattern underneath. Because it's relatively small, the building doesn't fall apart as easily as larger structures, but should still be handled with some care.

The sign above the special display window was localised for each market and therefore exists in a number of language versions. To keep things neutral, it was illustrated without text in folders, idea book and the rear of the town plan.

The display window and printed brick were available separately with a single Beetle (held together with a printed strip of paper around them), next to the pavilion as a whole in a boxed set. The lamp posts were also available separately in a box of four.

Images from a Belgian version of the 1958 folder, from which I took over the nice 'pavilion' description. A single Beetle on its own cost 15 Belgian Francs at the time (compared to a plain loaf of bread at 7 - 7.50 francs). On the internet it's easy to find building instructions for this garage, either by name or set number.

Lego Fiat 1800 repairs

 This blue Fiat 1800 showed signs of having lived quite an active life before arriving on my work table.

It also had two broken bumpers, where I'd only spotted the damage to the front in the seller's pictures when I obtained it (the broken rear bumper is somewhat hidden in the shadows). A friendly fellow-collector had been approached for the broken front part at top left in the photo. But he kindly sent me the rest of the chassis as well, including the loose front axle.

Normally I like to keep these cars as closely as I can to how they left the factory, but in this case I decided to repair and use the replacement chassis instead of cutting off two bumpers and adding those to the original chassis (which is still there should I change my mind). 

The Fiat 1800 is a later addition to the series, and is constructed in the way described in the later Lego patent (see earlier post). Pressing down the rear bumper and inserting a thumbnail will open it up, after which you need to press on the rear window while pulling the body to the rear to get it past the bottom edge of the rear window that holds it in place. 

The two halves of the broken replacement chassis were superglued together, and fitted to the body to hold them steady while drying. The front half came loose at the first attempt, but lifting the rear of the car helped to keep it sitting in place.

The particular shape of the chassis required two L-shaped pieces as replacement axle mounts. 

The playworn body was only very slightly sanded down with 1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper on the larger surfaces. Rubbing compound took out the vast majority of scratches, and copper polish made the car shine again. It still shows a few traces from previous play, but all in all looks quite a bit better.

One of my red Fiats is in lovely condition, but came in with a broken axle mount. This received the standard repair as shown above.

Another red Fiat shows glue damage underneath, because it was stuck to the same model train layout as my grey Citroën (see older post). But a previous owner had already done a nice job of cleaning it up, so there was nothing left for me to do on it.

The Lego taxi company

The fates decreed that I should have four grey Mercedes sedans. The first I had bought on purpose to have that colour variation next to the sole white example already present. And then three more turned up in quick succession, in two lots with other goodies including a few of the little garages these cars were also sold in way back when. Four luxury cars in the same colour make a nice fleet, so I decided this would be my taxi company.

As it happens, Lego had come up with a building for this very purpose. Although it doesn't say so on the illustration above, this design is often seen with the word Taxi in some language or other above the central door. The illustration is from the 1960 Idea Book. 

Since I had a number of the little garages, I decided to incorporate two of them in the building. Where their side walls could be imagined not to exist, allowing free passage inside. To keep them attached, the base plates were arranged differently from the drawing. 

In the original design the two wings on the sides aren't actually attached to the central block, so I added an extra edge around the top of the roof to keep these wings in place to at least some degree.

The base plates under the garages make for a steep threshold. But this way all the elements of the building are at the same level which looks a lot better than if the garages had been sitting at ground level. And the Great Hand From The Sky is always there to get the cars safely in and out!

Lego Mercedes 220S repairs

One of my grey Mercedes sedans came in looking like a low rider, belly hugging the ground.

These cars are constructed like the drawings in the first Lego patent (see earlier post). The body has slots at each side below door level that clamp to the chassis edges (better visible in white version below). Inserting a thumbnail in a wheel well can pull the lower edges of the body off the chassis.

The lowrider turned out to have a completely loose front axle, and also a broken axle mount at the rear where a previous owner had taped a piece of paper as a makeshift repair.

The axle mounts were quickly repaired with my standard method (also explained in an earlier post).

After a bit of a struggle to get the chassis sides back into their slots, the reassembled car stands proud once again. Still could use a bit of a polish though, judging by this photo.

The first 220S I got was this white one, which was rather playworn with two small cracks and both axles loose from their moorings. These were repaired the same way as shown above. The detail pic shows one of the slots that hold the chassis edges on each side.

My single red 220S is in lovely condition except for a broken axle mount. When open it turned out the front mount on the same side had also cracked but was still hanging on at one end. That one was stuck back in place with acetone and seems to hold well; the other got the standard treatment.

The dark blue Mercedes looks very nice overall but did arrive with three broken axle mounts. The two at the front received the standard repair. The one at right-rear still had the broken part attached so that was stuck back in place with acetone and seems to hold well. The body's had a polish and now has a brilliant shine.

This black 220S came from a seller in Bavaria, who had bought it new with his pocket money. The front axle was fastened back in place and the body polished. A few scratches on the nose were left as-is because sanding them out would be visible on the rounded bonnet.

The body of this black Mercedes was made from plastic with not enough pigment in the mix; it's almost transparent in places.

While on the subject of the Mercedes sedan, I read somewhere there are two versions to the casting which differ in the placement of the details on the boot lid. And indeed, the one in the middle has a star and lock that sit quite a bit higher-up than those on the other two cars.

The abstract Lego tower block

Next to the Esso service station, this tower block is my other favourite Lego building. It also represents the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of style. If the Esso station is a realistic representation of such a building, the tower block is very much an abstract, imaginative impression (very much in keeping with other things from ideas books of the time, where ships, cars, trains and animals were still pretty abstract indeed).

Lego saw no problem in mixing the styles, or indeed the difference in scale, as is illustrated in their Idea Book of 1960. Normally I'm a nitpicker about such things, but in this case I'm just enjoying the nostalgia.

As far as I know, there are no step-by-step instructions for this tower block, only an illustration of the completed building in the same Idea Book.

However, I once had a glued-together display model of it in my hands, which is also about as official as one can get. It sat on a table at a swapmeet with a good dozen or so other display models, including the Esso service station. I could only afford one, so I bought the Esso station, also for its special parts. 

This was in pre-smartphone days, so no chance of taking a picture. I did however sketch out the construction of the tower block, so I could build one one day. And that allows me to present a step by step here.

The first three steps are for the ground floor:

Floors on higher levels consist of these two layers (repeat as often as you like):

And then top it off with these two layers for the roof:

These photographs should also help in counting the bricks for a parts list or shopping list. As you can see, I've added number bricks at ground level.