Version 1.1 – May 14, 2010
A standard to allow individual builders to build modules to add to a micro scale city in a group build.
A 16 x 16 stud Module equals 1/4 of a city block. Four Modules create a short block in a city. Each four module block is ringed with a two stud road. Blocks connected together create a 4 stud wide road. Cars are 2 studs, buses or trucks 4 studs.
Scale: 1 brick is 9 feet, 1 plate is 3 feet and one stud is 7.5 feet. These are for reference only. The blocks are smaller than the blocks in a real city. Scale your buildings accordingly.
Base Module
A sandwich of plates and bricks create the base of the module. One plate layer for the bottom, one brick layer on top of that, one plate layer on top of the bricks. 1 x 2 Technic bricks with one hole are in the stud 8-9 positions on each side. There are 4 technics bricks used. This allows the modules to be connected with Technic pins.
Roads, Alleys and Sidewalks: The two outer rows of studs on two sides are the roads, the opposite two sides contain the optional alleys, and the sidewalks parallel the roads. Use two rows of black tiles for roads. Crosswalks are a 1 x 2 white tile at the 4th stud position from each corner. Use 1 row of dark gray tiles for alleys and parking lots. Use light gray tiles for sidewalks, although alternate colors can be used to tie the sidewalk to the building.
Micropolis Base module.
Download a Model File!
We have put together a generic model of the base module in LEGO Digital Designer so anyone can get started building their own Micropolis right away.
Micropolis Module Base (LXF)
Bluff and Waterfront Modules
The version 1.1 specification has been extended to include modules Bluff modules which allow for vertical expansion and Waterfront modules which allow for adding water in a standardized way to a Micropolis layout. These extensions have their own pages of specifications.
You can view the Micropolis Bluff specifications here!
You can view the Micropolis Waterfront specifications here!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can I see some pictures of a Micropolis layout?
A. Absolutely. Over the past year many group members and other AFoLs around the world have built quite a large variety of different modules and images of many of them can be found in the TwinLUG Flickr Group as well as the more recent Micropolis Flickr Pool. If you have built a module please let us know! We always love to see what people are doing with the spec!
Q. Why 16×16 modules?
A. We wanted to make the smallest discrete module something that anyone with even a very modest collection of LEGO bricks could fairly easily put together.
Q. Where can I get enough parts to build a module?
A. The hardest part for people with smaller collections will probably be the tiles used for the roads and sidewalks but those can be fairly easily sourced from LEGO Sets, Pick-A-Brick, BrickLink, or other builders.
Q. Why not use baseplates instead of plates for the bottom of the modules?
A. While some builders have many 16×16 baseplates available in their collections others don’t have any and currently 16×16 baseplates are not available for sale new from The LEGO Group.
Q. What if I wanted to build a bigger module?
A. Go for it! Some ideas just won’t fit on a single 16×16 module. In our own layout we have a combination of 16×16, 16×32, 32×32, and several much larger modules and some members have talked about ideas that are even larger than that! However in order for the module to be compatible with a group build it should be “self-contained” and include the Technic bricks at appropriate locations and have the standard road and sidewalk borders so that when it is included with other modules the roads and sidewalks are contiguous.
Q. Why 32×32 city blocks?
The basic answer is simplicity. If you are going to invite 100 people to come up with a module to bring to an event the only way that goes really smoothly with very little coordination is if the spec is simple.
The problem with rectangular blocks or oversized blocks is that you need at least two different kinds of modules to fill the shape properly. For example, our basic 16×16 module has streets and sidewalks on two sides. Let’s call that Module A. A standard 32×32 Micropolis city block then can be assembled with four of these types of modules:
AA AA
A small rectangular block that is 32×48 and contains up to six 16×16 modules has to have a second module type that only has streets and sidewalks on one side to fill between the ends of the block. We’ll call that Module B. Rectangular blocks then get assembled in just about any length by filling between the ‘A’ modules with ‘B’ modules like so:
ABA ABA
Or if you’re into late 70’s pop music:
ABBA ABBA
Or if you like badly designed suburbs with no cross streets:
ABBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBA ABBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBA
Larger square blocks are even more complicated because you need to fill in the middle of the block with modules that have no streets and sidewalks. Let’s call that Module C. Larger square blocks then get assembled in just about any size by filling in the middle of the ‘A’ and ‘B’ modules like so:
ABA BCB ABA
ABBBA BCCCB BCCCB ABBBA
Things get really weird when you start talking about non regular blocks with cutouts and cul-de-sacs. At that point we should probably start talking about counting points of shared infrastructure and their configuration which honestly sounds like a whole bunch of fun in about five years but is a bit much for the early versions of the spec. We are not saying that it’s impossible to manage such a thing just that for a simple spec that it’s a bad idea and that keeping things to very simple 32×32 blocks with exceptions for oversized modules that are normally bordered with streets and sidewalks keeps things simple and very easy to assemble from hugely disparate builders.
Q. In the pictures of your layout what part did you use for the crosswalks?
A. During the build of our first layout someone had a black tile with some printed striping from the old LEGO Studios sets. A generous member went out to BrickLink and bought a pile of them and so far we’ve been using them in or own layout. Due to the relative scarcity of this part a really large group build should probably stick with the standard white 1×2 tile unless someone involved is similarly motivated to source the printed tiles.
Q. Why are the Technic bricks in different places in pictures of early layouts?
A. An early “beta” version of the spec had two Technic bricks on each side at studs 3-4 and 13-14. As we worked on the layout we noticed that the extra pin holes were unnecessary and in some cases were actually making it harder to assemble the layout so for our first published spec we changed to one Technic brick per side and are working on converting our existing modules.
Q. Does it matter if I fill the base of a module with bricks or leave it open under the top plate?
A. It depends on what you have on top of the module but in most cases you can save on part count by leaving most of the interior of the module base open though a brick or two in the middle tends to help when building on top. Some builders fill their bases completely while others leave them very open. Some modules even use the space creatively for basements or other below ground level features.
Q. Can I put X on my module?
A. It depends a bit on the exact details of “X”, but for the most part the answer is yes. The entire purpose of this specification is to allow for the simple conglomeration of modules from highly disparate sources without having to worry about if a particular module will fit with the rest of the layout too much. If you build something that has the required roads, sidewalks, technic pin holes, and height that is all that matters. Technically you could take a base module and cover the rest of the available space with green tiles and call it a lawn. I don’t think that makes for a very interesting module, but it would absolutely work within the context of a larger Micropolis layout because the roads, sidewalks, technic pin holes, and height all matched up.
October 22nd, 2008 - 8:43 am
[...] have finally published our “Micropolis” Micro City standard. We are interested in hearing comments from the rest of the AFoL community about the spec and would [...]
November 24th, 2008 - 2:49 pm
[...] From Twinlug.com: “Micropolis” Micro City Standard [...]
March 13th, 2010 - 5:25 pm
[...] latest addition to his Micro city (Micropolis) is a thing of sheer beauty. Built to TwinLug’s Micro City Standard, the whole build seems [...]
May 14th, 2010 - 11:13 pm
[...] After several months of work and discussion by members of TwinLUG we have finalized the next version of the Micropolis micro city building standard. [...]
June 7th, 2010 - 6:26 am
It still says 2008
June 7th, 2010 - 7:20 am
Garth – Good catch! Taken care of.
July 11th, 2010 - 10:53 pm
[...] was my first attempt at following the Micropolis Micro City Standard and gives me an opportunity to enter Reasonably Clever’s 2nd Micropolis Building Challenge [...]
July 12th, 2010 - 5:57 am
[...] was my first attempt at following the Micropolis Micro City Standard and gives me an opportunity to enter Reasonably Clever’s 2nd Micropolis Building Challenge [...]
July 12th, 2010 - 10:38 am
[...] here we have a microscale zoo I built for TWINLUG’s Micropolis group [...]
July 19th, 2010 - 8:15 pm
[...] This is the first of (hopefully) many Monday afternoon posts summing up some of the best LEGO creations built in the last week. Use them for inspiration, motivation, or just something neat to look at. First up we’ve got an awesome Space Shuttle model by TWINLUG member Tom Anderson. It’s scaled to be half the size of the new official LEGO 10213 Shuttle Adventure set. The whole model is bang-on accurate, and might make a great addition to Micropolis. [...]
July 20th, 2010 - 1:05 pm
I got a question, can i put my own stickers in the model to make some details to buildings and streets?
July 20th, 2010 - 1:38 pm
Thanks for the question!
There is nothing specifically in the spec about using or not using stickers just as there is nothing in the spec about modifying or even not modifying parts, or only using LEGO branded parts. So: Technically no. Have fun.
As an example, the current version of my own Micropolis Watertower uses a sticker to put “Micropolis” on the side of the tank since doing so with any of the official parts would be effectively impossible at this scale. (Updated images with the sticker are waiting on my HDD at home to get uploaded.) We also have at least one building that makes use of the custom printed 1×8 bricks with the TwinLUG logo on them.
If you are submitting your module to a group layout or contest then the organizer may have other ideas about what they want to include or not and if you ever have any intention of doing something like that you probably want to keep the serious customizations to a minimum. If you are just building for your own enjoyment I don’t really think taking other people’s views on what you should or shouldn’t do with your own stuff is always a good idea.
July 20th, 2010 - 2:16 pm
Thanks for the answer, i got other question, if i wanna make an airport, what size need to be a plane or an helicopter?
July 20th, 2010 - 3:06 pm
It mostly depends on the size of the plane or helicopter that you are building. As you can read near the very beginning of the spec, the scale is 1 plate is 3 feet and one stud is 7.5 feet. So a standard 1×1 brick is 9 feet high and 7.5 feet wide and deep.
According to Wikipedia a relatively small plane like the Cessna 150 is 24.75ft long with a 33.33ft wingspan and is 8.5ft high. Done very simply studs up that would be about 3 studs long with a 1×4 plate for a wing. That’s obviously fairly small and so the aircraft that have been built for Micropolis so far have been slightly larger and slightly more detailed then that. Matt Holland in particular has done a few though I could not quickly find any images of them. There have also been a couple of small helicopters built that seem to be about the right scale. Just as a comparison, the iconic Boeing 747 is 231 ft 10in long with a wingspan of 195ft 8in and has a tail height of 63ft 5in. That roughly translates to 31 x 26 studs and 7 bricks high.
The biggest problem with building an airport for Micropolis is that a scaled runway is a HUGE expanse of tile. Checking around the net it appears that a small municipal runway tends to be 800ft at the very smallest to 18,000 ft for commercial international airports and even up to 39,098 ft at Edwards Airforce Base. So to build a to scale runway of a very small airport would be about 107 studs long. You would probably get away with making it a bit shorter and relying on the sheer quantity of tile to make it look long enough, but the couple of times we’ve talked about it in the group we’ve been looking at something like 150-300 studs long to even approximate a single runway for a medium sized city. If you wanted to replicate London Heathrow to scale (which has relatively short runways) you would need two runways averaging 1653 studs long each, which is obviously insane but you would still probably need in the range of 300-500 studs to make it look right.
The scale is there as a guideline and I’m not saying not to do it, but I am saying that you should think through what sort of scale of project that you are going for and what makes sense for your resources. A really good way to get a feel for if your design looks right is to make a few of the Micropolis cars (1 jumper plate with 1 1×1 tile on top) and put them down next to a really rough version of what you are looking to accomplish. If you think of those cars as a typical mid-sized sedan you can get a pretty good idea of how the design works with the spec scale.
Better yet, think of it this way: An airport fuel truck at a typical large US international airport might look something like a 1×3 plate with a cheese wedge on the front and a 1×2 plate and a 1×2 tile on the back. Now take a look at this image of a fuel truck next to a small private jet and you’ll get a pretty good idea of the sort of scale that you should probably be thinking about building in.
In any case, good luck with your project. I hope it comes how you want it!
July 20th, 2010 - 3:54 pm
Thanks, And i got other more simple question, in a normal Micropolis block, can i put a bridge like the shown in this photo?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52229125@N05/4813602426/
July 20th, 2010 - 5:02 pm
It depends largely on the context of the bridge. From the limited context of the photo it looks like it’s some sort of footbridge over a pond/stream/smallish body of water? If so: wonderful. My partner J used a similar technique to cross a maintenance road over a pair of pipelines in her Oil Refinery module (which I also need to post pictures of very soon).
Just to iterate something that appears to not be stated explicitly above: there isn’t anything specific that the specification requires for the contents of a module other than what is already stipulated. You could put a bridge, a building, a hole in the ground, or really pretty much whatever you want in all of the parts of the module not explicitly specified. Where things get picky is where your module connects with other modules.
The entire purpose of this specification is to allow for the simple conglomeration of modules from highly disparate sources without having to worry about if a particular module will fit with the rest of the layout too much. If you build something that has the required roads, sidewalks, technic pin holes, and height that is all that matters. Technically you could take a base module and cover the rest of the available space with green tiles and call it a lawn. I don’t think that makes for a very interesting module, but it would absolutely work within the context of a larger Micropolis layout because the roads, sidewalks, technic pin holes, and height all matched up.
If you build a module that has that nice little footbridge over a small body of water that is contained within the region of a standard base module of whatever size or that conforms to one of the waterfront module types, that’s the important part. If it is also built so that it looks appropriate to the scale of the rest of the city, that’s also probably a good idea. Does that answer your question?
July 20th, 2010 - 5:12 pm
Yes! Thanks for answering my questions, prepare for a awesome model!
July 21st, 2010 - 12:21 pm
Until Cavorter can post the rest of his photos, here’s an updated photo of his water tower module with the Micropolis sticker on it:
http://lj.alyska.net/images/2010StohlmannMicropolis-WaterTower.jpg