http://lj.alyska.net/images/2010StohlmannMicropolis-WaterTower.jpg

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?

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!

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.