The Police Station consist of the main building in tan and a 8 brick wide donught shop to the left with a small apartment on top. To the right is a small 6 brick wide news paper shop. Behind it is the prison which is connected to the Police Station. On top of the prison is a small room with photo equipment for taking pictures of suspects.
The first overall impression of this set is that it looks great and is a nice, tall and big building with lot of details.

Box

The first thing I noticed when I got the set was the new design of the box. It’s a complete black box with a picture of the Police Station. On the back is the normal things like the set shown connected to other Modular Buildings, an exploded view of the building and close up details. It doesn’t show the usual Creator logo on the front. I was a big fan of the design of the box from the previous Modular Building #10270 Book Shop with all the nice colors, so this box seems a little disappointing to me.

Instruction manual

The instruction manual is one big book around 1 cm thick. In the beginning of the Modular Building series the instruction was divided into multiple smaller parts for each part of the building but this has recently changed into one single book. I like that is just a single book now which looks more professional, but through the building process I think it was easier to have the smaller ones. The thickness makes it hard to open it enough up to see all the details which meant that I actually missed a brick through a step.
There are two things that I don’t like about the instruction manual. The first thing is just a small detail but still annoying. I can’t find the LEGO set number anywhere on it. I’m not sure if its a mistake or on purpose. The other problem was really a big frustration for me. All the pages has a black background (like the box) which I really don’t get. First of all it’s a waste of ink but it also makes it really hard to see the dark brown bricks in the small box showing which bricks are needed for the following step. So a lot of light is needed if you, like me, often builds in the evening.

The build process

Inside the box is a lot of small plastic bags numbered 1 to 14. As I recall earlier Modular Buildings was not divided into that many different bags. What this means is that the number of bricks you have to sort through to find the bricks you need is way more manageable and it’s easier to build. I spent a couple of hours through three evenings to assemble the set.
It’s always a pleasure to build Modular Buildings because there are always new great building techniques to learn and not that many repetitions. Some of the last sets I assembled was set #21321 International Space Station and #10277 Crocodile Locomotive which I both like but they have a lot of repetitions and becomes a little boring to assemble.

Details

Positive

• The sides of the building are nice and clear with matching colors without different strange colors caused by the interior.
• I like the green creeper on the front it gives life to the facade and connects them together.
• It gives more details to the building that the facade has different depths for the different parts of the buildings.
• The double door entrance to the Police Station looks great instead of just a single door like on #10224 Town Hall which I didn’t like. And now with real door handles.
• The Modular Buildings have always used some nice architectural details. Even though it was not that fun to build I like the look of the corner details of the tan colored building with the dark tan bricks.
• The internal stairs up through the building is build in a new way using bricks mounted sideways and connected to the wall. This solution is simple but looks great.
• Hidden details is always fun, and the hidden escape tunnel under the prison cell is really nice. Even with a small spoon for digging and a tiny crack that can be seen outside on the building plinth.
• Another hidden detail is in the apartment above the donut shop. Beneath the bed is a small hole so the thief can use his fishing pole to steal some cakes from the shop.
• The interior is full of details. The first floor of the Police Station has an office with desks including a stationary phone and a type writer.
• A great detail that has been consistent throughout the Modular House series is the design of the sidewalk dimensions. It also include the usual details like the street light, plants and a bench.
• The usual round 2×2 tile clock has been updated with a red second hand and shows another time.
• A funny detail is that the theme with the donut shop continues throughout the building. Four different places I found a “hidden” donut.

Negative

• I’m not a fan of the new design of the box and especially not the black background of the instruction manual.
• I have several hundreds of the black Technic pins with friction, but still I think it is a big annoyance that the set does not include the two pins for connecting the set to a neighbor building. The set actual list two of those in the parts list but they are used for the bed in the apartment. Usually these are included so I don’t understand why this has changed?
• I like that the front has plants on the sidewalk but I dislike the bricks used for the two small green bushes. They remind me about part 3470 trees.
• The back of the building is a little boring and it seems like something is missing. It’s just the big empty baseplate without details. The tan colored part of the building is also a little boring. The 1st and 2nd floor looks almost the same almost without any details.
• Even though I like the different depths of the buildings seen from the front I think the green part with the prison will almost be hidden in darkness if a tall building is connected to the right side of the Police Station. (I tried by connecting the Book Store on the right side).

Final thoughts

The build process was a great experience with a lot of entertainment. I really liked that the bricks was sorted in that many bags so it was easier to manage the amount of bricks. There was a lot of positive things to mention about this set, but please go back to the design of the earlier boxes and instruction manual. I think this set is great value for the money and still I get surprised by all the great details and creative building techniques.
The worst thing is that we have to wait another year for the next Modular Building to arrive? What will come next? Now there is a fire and a police station, maybe a hospital? Actually I don’t hope so. But the speculations has already started.

As usual the Modular Buildings looks even better when connected together.

Indlægget Review: LEGO 10278 Police Station blev først udgivet på Daths Garage.

Disclaimer: This review is not sponsored or paid by the supplier or anyone else. The product is payed by myself and I wanted to share my personal experience with you.

The problem

I’m not really a fan of specialized tools that can only be used for one single purpose and solves one specific problem. Neither in the household nor in my workshop. Nevertheless I found myself in need of buying a tool for solving a very specific problem. For different future ideas and projects like my Giant Vacuum Tube Model and a LED chandelier. I have been looking at using 4 mm copper tubing. The only problem is that it’s almost only sold in rolls that need to be straightened before it can be used – Unless you want to buy overpriced pieces of 1 m sections. First I didn’t know the name of a tool for solving this task, but found out it is called a handheld tube straightening tool or tube straightener. By searching around for ways to straighten copper tubes I came across many not very useful tips and tools. One YouTube video suggested to fix the tube in a clamp and then use a hammer to stretch it straight by hammering. 
The first dedicated tool I found was a pair of pliers that just clamped around a 5-10 cm piece of the tube and then had to be repeated for the total length of the tube. Unfortunately the end result was not looking very convincing and my guess is that it would be a very time consuming job. Another way to straighten a tube, either large or small diameter is to force it through several ball bearings with a fitting for the specific tube diameter. This principle is often used when the tube is fed directly into a tube cutting or bending machine often with a dual tube straightening mechanism, one in the horizontal axis and one turned 90 degrees to the vertical axis. Another more compact version of this mechanism is to mount the horizontal and vertical parts together forming a cross like structure around the tube. 

The only tool for the Job

Only one product repeated to show up through my searching; the Tube Straightening Tool from Kwix UK. After not being able to find a Danish distributor and with the, in my opinion, relatively high price I thought it would be rather simple just to 3d print the four pieces that holds the ball bearings together with the screws. First I tried to build a simple mock up with 6 cheap ball bearings mounted on a plate, but it couldn’t take the force from the straightening process and after a short testing the ball bearings all broke apart. After my first very bad prototype I quickly abandoned the idea of doing it myself and threw my money after the real product instead of wasting my time and money on the design process and materials. My hypnosis was that if a company can exist by producing one single product its better be good. And hopefully the price would reflect the quality of the product.  Sometimes you need to focus on what you want to use your energy on, for me it wasn’t to design the deep plate over again. 

The strange thing was that I wasn’t able to find any similar products for straightening a copper tube in my regular goto hardware stores. Not even though some of them actually sold copper tubes rolled on a spool. 
Another challenge is to cut the copper tube in the right length or bend it at a specific angle, but this is not a problem since a tube cutter or tube bender are tools that can easily be found around in hardware stores. 

A short introduction video from Kwix UK

My experience

Now lets get to the actual review of this product. My experience with this product is that it does a good job on 4 mm copper tubes. I haven’t tried with other materials, and only used the 4 mm version. The end result varies depending on if the tube comes fresh from the spool or if it has been slightly bend by hand in different directions. Then it is harder to get a good end result with a complete straight tube without small curves. But in my opinion this product does a pretty descent job. And it definitely feels sturdy and strong enough to withstand the force of the straightening process. THe hardest part is to get started on the tube, it helps to hand straight the first 10 cm. Then it is easier to get in inside between the wheels.
My only regret about the product is that I don’t feel like working with tubes in other diameters than 4 mm since I don’t want to invest in multiple tools to be able to handle different tube diameters. But for the professional user I definitely think it is worth it’s price even if you have to buy multiple sizes. I look forward to be using my tube straightener more for future projects.

Indlægget Review: Kwix UK 4 mm Tube Straightening Tool blev først udgivet på Daths Garage.