Growing up, I was always fascinated by storage tanks. They seemed mysterious, their contents unfathomable. Most of that is probably because I was an impressionable kid who never noticed signage and just wanted them to have secret lairs inside ala Thunderball.

With that in mind, this week’s module is a storage tank. I had thought about making a small refinery, but that would require at least a full block and I just didn’t have the time for that. So instead, a lone storage tank, unattended and possibly derelict.

First, I laid down some medium stone gray plates for the lot. I went with plate over tile because I wanted to suggest uneven gravel, as opposed to the poured concrete look that I get from tile. Around the edges (where sidewalks would normally go) I’ve used sand yellow, like I did last week.

The tank itself is a simple structure. I used 4×4 white macaroni bricks (with a few other colors mixed in to make it less pristine). For the top, I would have liked to use an 8×8 dish, but the only one I had was printed (with an eye no less!) Luckily, the build was saved when I found this 8×8 modified round plate. The think I like the least is the slots in the bricks and when I make a large tank like this again, I’ll look to see if I can get some panels instead for a more seamless look.

Next came a high wall. I used 1×1 dark stone gray bricks, topped with tiles. I was thinking of the walls of an electrical substation at the edge of my neighborhood, constructed of what look like pre-cast concrete panels. I almost used profile brick, but I didn’t want to have different textures on either side of the wall. Of course, it would have been nice to have them be thinner, since no such wall would be 7.5 feet thick like mine, but I wanted to keep this one quick and simple.

Now that the wall is in place, you can see where the irregularity in the dirt median clearly marks out a driveway. The silver metallic grill makes a reasonable gate.

I did add some overgrowth to the back of the lot, using dark green plate and bright green flower plates. Since there is no other green in the model, this little bit stands out nicely. I was also able to swap out some of the 1×1 dark stone gray bricks for snot bricks and build sideways for a more organic chaos.

Seen from above, this module is so simple, but I can’t help but think about how nicely it sets the tone for an industrial neighborhood. The tank really dominates the space.

All finished this is a great little module. It won’t win awards, but it will provide contrast for nicer models and give a proper air of decay in the run down section of a Micropolis.

Keep building and enjoy!