LEGO MILS System? What is it? Should I Convert? 

your current solution is already perfect because you only need to pull up any modular building, even though you need to remove the connecting tiles.... you need to remove all MILS plates just to remove on in the middle. Just give it a try interlocking 9 pcs 16x16 base plate with pins and you will understand what I am trying to say.

I think the initial investment of time and parts up front will continue to pay dividends in the future for you and Mrs. Bricksie constantly making changes and moving things around. When you move stuff with MILS it takes a fraction of the time comparing with your current system.

I'm sold on MILS for the sturdier plates alone. Some of the bigger sets get scary to move just because they're on such a bendy foundation.

MILS seems like a good idea, but for a big area like this, the amount of MILS you would need to disconnect just to get to a MIL plate in the middle would be time consuming.

I like how you extended in new roads a little without having two roads side by side. MILS biggest problem is it’s too expensive for most people. You still use baseplates and the new roads are expensive, plus you need to buy a lot of square plates. The 2x2 bricks aren’t bad since you can use any color

I know it’s sacrilege but I have been putting my Modular’s on strictly briks baseplates. I know it isn’t official LEGO but it saves so much time and pieces for $15 on Amazon and they come in all different colors. I did it with the first modular I bought (daily bugle) to make it level with the new road system.

I am a huge supporter of modularity in general, so I'm surprised I didn't know about the MILS system before watching this video. Thanks for teaching me something that I can keep in mind while working on my own LEGO projects!

You can do modular landscaping without using the exact “Mils” system. You can also use “mils” without converting 100% of your city all at once. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. That’s the beauty of modular systems.just create modular transitions and move the modular transitions as you transition more sections.

MILS allows for the standardization of larger builds and cooperative builds. Also allows for added rigidity/stability for transportation as well as account to possible uneven surfaces (supplied tables at venues). And for those that do lighting and or trains or anything electrical, provides a means by which to hide the wires. For flat surfaces we tend not to use the friction pins and just used plate or tile on the top to lock together adjacent plates. Very parts-intensive but certainly worth it if possible.

I've stuggled to find out what MILS plates are- I'm still learning- and here is a simple explanation and it shows the insides of plates. Now I know. Marvellous.

Woohoo! Excited to see you and Josee take your city to the next level. It's going to take a loooong time and a huge amount of effort, but it will definitely be worth it. Fits right into your plans to work more on the city this year. Don't worry - we'll be patient. 😉

Awesome!! You're absolutely gonna love it! I've slowly converted my city to MILS over the last year or so; definitely worth it, but not an overnight change for sure.

There's something I've been wondering with this whole MILS thing: how do you actually connect a grid? Because if you use pins to connect a MILS plate on all 4 sides, isn't it making it virtually impossible to disconnect it? You'd then have to disconnect the corners MILS plates first, and then work you way to the actual MILS plate you wanted to originally disconnect... Or maybe I'm missing something?

Gonna be a Huge upgrade to the City! I'm Diggin it! Keep up the hard work Bricksie and Josee!

I needed this. Thanks for sharing and good luck with the changes!

Until you're done converting, there would be a new road system. Also the MILS system looks "dirtier" compared to the old one. Too many line breaks in the road. I prefer the old system.

So glad I started my city on MILS plates and another change I made was to all of the modular sidewalks. Changed all tiles over to light bluish gray since the new road plates are dark bluish gray. Looks pretty sharp, like your model road plate! As you mentioned about the depth ability of MILS, I’ve fallen in love with the ability to choose the colors of the 4x4 plates to match whatever would be showing underneath. Example is the red carpet under the theater or to make sure all ‘alley’ sections behind buildings is dark bluish gray like the roads. All good for though, and enjoy the MILS journey 👍

Recently converted my city to MILS - It's just 5.5 x 7.5 standard baseplates so maybe 8 x smaller than yours - I found it painful not just for the expense but mainly for the amount of work - I had buildings that extended across multiple baseplates (even multiple 48x48 ones) so I had to completely rebuild those buildings. Also made a mess of my Lego room for a good couple weeks. Ultimately I'm happy with the result, but it's always more work than you think!

Best lego youtube channel. Thank you for all you do. No one explains like you do. Brilliant!

Wow, sounds amazing. Can’t wait to see this come together

I love using the mils system for my tabletop builds. The mils system is amazing for campgrounds, and rural areas, im a big castle builder, so its perfect for my landscaping. Definitely parts intensive.

Definitely worth changing to the mils system, it’s the best thing I’ve done for my city. I don’t use the new roads though as I’ve brick built mine and this enables you to put road marking wherever you want and brick build words like bus stop in the road itself. From personal experience I would never hold modulars and roads together with technic pins as it is a real pain to change things around, I hold mine together when in tile the footpaths

Initially I thought the thumbnail said MILFS, I was way more excited than I normally am for LEGO.

As soon as I saw the title I thought: YES. Pleased to see you doing this at last! I’ve known about the system for years and was hoping you would one day. I agree that it’s more effective and faster than normal baseplates.

Its a great idea. I can't wait to see how it looks. Keep up the great work.

I had a feeling you were gonna do this! Excited to see how it goes.

MILs are great, not sure if it would be worth converting everything that would be a huge project! I will say I do not friction pin most my mills together because once you connect a good amount together it’s a real pain to get one section out

I love the MILS system, it would personally bankrupt me though! 😂😳Fabulous if you can go for this option! 😛

At early stage of my Lego city construction so will adopt the MILS method straight away, huge amount of bricks and plates to buy though! Agree with another comment about the issue with the technic pins making it impossible to remove plates that are within the grid though, otherwise it’s a great method. Love your collection, keep up the good work! 👍

Thanks for the video. I have a ton of extra parts and enough to make at last a few MILS baseplates. Will give it a go!

Cant wait for the content during the process good luck💯

Very useful. The more recent baseplates are super flimsy, I built the Boutique Hotel using MILS and the thing transports so easily.

Didn't know about the MILS System so far, very good explanation! At 5:47 it is visible that the combination of the new road system with MILS is cramped. It's a workaround for missing basic Lego parts to make the new road system complete: The side stripe you built out of a dozen sideways plates should be a two part per side moulded brick with printed white Line. The Lego Road Plate should have an additional "Standard Version" without middle of the road holes just with a printed middle Line pattern. So in Overview it would be 5 parts for the full width road itself and a few parts more for the elevated Sidewalk add on. I think that would sell like hotcakes. Plus: A curved road plate should be added as well. With moulded side bricks filling curve and elevated sidewalk.

MILS is a super system, especially for roads. I use it myself and you are so much more flexible. For example, curved roads are possible, traffic circles or roads with turning lanes...

Very interesting point of view. Thank you!

One advantage is that you can design your baseplates with the choice whether the sidewalk belongs to a building or the road. Having 16x32 road only base plates would save parts, and allow you to have space for more buildings, rather then more sidewalks.

I like the idea of MILS, especially the 3D effects and the landscaping of unique terrains. Its OK if you have the time and money to invest in it. I've only recently added the dark grey city plates, but I've a lot of the original 70s/80s ones. And the focus on my layout is modulars and filling the space I have lol 😆

Gooble gobble, one of us!! One of us!! Very cool!!! The time has come!! I can't wait to see this, your city will be even more phenomenal!!

1st Happy Birthday Mrs.Briskies. 2nd I love how it's -20f out. Meaning in Canada, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Mich and other Northern States time to put out Spring/Summer stuff and Swim suit. 3rd All Vidito is on clearance, no series 2.

this is a great idea, bricksie! good luck converting the city 😄

Great idea, gonna look even better!

Coming back to this video, the mills is so much better

When you are a City Builder and have such a beautiful city like yours, it's definetly a huge upgrade to convert the whole city to MILS. Beside the needed ressources, it definetly has only advantages and alows a much higher grade of detail. I would love to see you converting your city!

I’ve been switching over. It’s expensive but worth it for detail and stability. I recommend using 1x2 bricks on the edges, as it will save a good bit of money.

That's a neat idea I do like the Mills roads because it's a lot more stable and as a start off with a tiny city might consider getting the proper pieces to build at least a couple for builds that I have now and for the future as a only own two sets of the new system makes life easier when cleaning

Do the down town core to MILS but make sure you can ramp down to the old road plates. I see a great advantage when wanting to move or rearrange the roads in the downtown area.

I think the switching will be great. I love MILS but am so worry about the cost and time. Admire your determination. Will follow your progress step by step.

I really like/prefer MILS. Luckily for me, being relatively new to LEGO, I jumped right into MILS on my second modular set. My “city” is relatively small still (~20 baseplates) but having MILS makes changing things easy and even fun. The one piece I would give is be careful with adding technic pins…they are great for structure but if you have them gridded together it can make moving things around more difficult. It’s best to play around with you setup and really figure out your plan before adding the pins in at the end.

I totally agree with all you’ve commented on Bricksie! Yes, the MILS system is going to be pricy, as well as labor and time intensive … but all the pluses the system provides will be well worth the cost and effort in the long run! Nobody ever said this AFOL hobby would be cheap … or easy! We make the “hard” choices because we LOVE what we can create with LEGO!! 👏💯

Love your videos keep up the grind.

We have MILS throughout our city and love it, definitely recommend!

Hmm, mixing MILS with Lego's own new road plate system felt surprising. I thought one selling point of MILS was its flexibity.

thanks for another great video

I think the MILS system looks awesome, i'm gonna like you overtime convert all my modular builds to the MILS system.

I'm starting just a somewhat big lego castle moc and I quickly decided to switch to mils plates while I can because transporting is easier and its easy to attach baseplates together and take them apart

If you do switch to MILS, I will happily buy your old roadplates from you. If you do not want to sell, I will completely understand. Great work with the video!

I have all LEGO modular buildings but have never created a city. I do have plans to create a city just waiting on Ikea to get more Adils table legs in stock. I do like the MILS system & looking forward to your video on converting your city to MILS.

Very informative as I didn’t know

Would you consider using 2x2 thin instead of 2x2 bricks to create a thinner intermediary layer, or would two 2x2 bricks to get a thicker mils plate be better way of getting a contoured design? And would you stack them or try to build a custom scaffold for the mountain? How did you handle the castles/temple in your set?

MILS system is the best way. Can't imagine the work you were having doing changes in the city without MILS. When I build my own city, for sure I will use MILS, from the start. Good luck with this huge endeavor. I'll keep following to learn the news and see how it is going.

I stated converting some months ago :) Nice video thanks!

so cool i can' t wait it is going to be detailt

Lets face it - you love a challenge and the fact that this sounds exciting for you is your answer. Yes it is expensive and time consuming but as you said all part of your job also. I know I would run screaming but I certainly will be watching this project as it unfolds.

Next rabbit hole: illumination Otherwise a great idea as it allows a big deal of liberty on road design, train integration, rivers etc. infinite possibilities! Really looking forward to your many future postings!

awesome video jordan the mils system looks amazing it will look great in the lego city

It's a perfect idea now that you have filled a lot of the area that will create a lot of work to do with the customization possibilities and the ability to make quick changes.

It will probably make it more fun and easier to try out new things. Go for it! Maybe you could sell some stuff to pay for it. Like expensive sets like Colosseum that you already built and done videos about.

This is going to be a very nice upgrade to your city. It should also make things easier when you want to switch out parts of your city and change things up. I would still love to see you make a little Star Wars city since you already have so much of the stuff.

I like the new road plate design I just wish they would give more plates in the box. I feel they could've had the trees and signs that come with as accessories that you could buy and put more plates in the set.

Hmm.... The idea seems pretty good, but wouldn't it take a long time doing the conversion? The Lego city looks stellar now, but in the end it's your choice bricksie! Love the video!!!

@Bricksie, AS you get closer to implementing MiLS plates in BricKmonten, will you likely delay major Construction changes to the Downtown Core, Zoo, Farm, etc until the appropriate areas are MILS'ed

This would work perfect with a lot of the second market baseplates which are superior in a lot of ways.

I think you'll really dig this change - especially with every new update to the city.

I've gone MILS and its key if you plan to do any lighting as well

hi great city! really enjoy watching your clips. ive collected lego for years but im a beginner when it comes to building cities which im now starting to do is there anyway i could have a list of the bricks needed to build these plates other than the initial road plates that come boxed ,just so i can bulk buy were possible cheers.

I am building a lego space launch facility with runway and wide transit road and have decided to use the mils system. However since the roads are yo be used as runways, I plan on using the road plates straight onto the bricks much like a plaub plate which is then tiled over.

If you don't want to immediately go through the hassle of moving modular buildings onto MILS plates, you could leave the top plates off and just put the modular with its baseplate on top of the bricks

I am extremely tempted, especially after todays leak of the ‘new’ baseplates we’ve been waiting for which are the same base plates just re numbered.

I like that with MILS you could make all different sized roads and you could have ones with zebra crossings and ramps and things, unlike with the baseplate old versions

You would be crazy not to go to MILs plates especially considering how often you restructure your city. I started my city last year and I went MILs. I am so glad that I did and I have no regrets at all. There are 2 other significant benefits you didn't really touch on. 1. The ease for adding lighting down the road. (get it? lol) Having the space to run wires and keep them hidden is huge. I know lighting isn't for everyone, but at least the MILs system allows for much easier integration later on. 2. The other is just how much space you can save in your city by not having double sidewalks and being able to customize the width of your roads now. This can easily allow you to add at least one more street or two in each direction.

Being able to have little canals running through my city, coupled with easy wiring for lighting has sold me on this. The only headache would be connecting the wiring using connectors at each edge so that you can unplug a tile. The wiring would need to be standard as well as the friction pin standard.

Great video! As someone who just go their first modular, I am so happy that I found out about this system. I had already built the first two bags of Boutique hotel but took it all apart after learning about MILS. Currently waiting for my pieces to arrive from BrickLink so I can make my first MILS plate and get back to work :D

You will need a second mortgage to convert your city to MILs. It's about £35 GBP per large grey plate when I did it..the PAB walls will be your best friend.

The MILS plates are looking really good!

This is a great video and given me ideas. I am looking at adding lights to my Lego city - so using the MILS plates would help to run all the wiring. Can you use any size plates, just as long as you fill the 32x32 base plates?

I'm a pretty new newbie to this and wanted to know how I should get started building my city. What should I start investing in, the base or the city itself? Any tips would be apprecited.

If you are just starting building your city or your buildings are for more then just display mils is the way to go. My 5 year old can pick up 10270 and place ot where he want which would never happen on a normal base plate. Also you can use duplo parts when building them :)

It would be a very large project due to the size of your City. But the look of it would really make the city pop with the glossy look of the tiles for the roadway.

8 minutes in and I'm sold on the mils system.😮

So cool. I like it

It looks like your resigned to the inevitability of MILS. I don’t think it’s quite as easy to move / interchange a MILS base plate in a city of your size as it seems. Image a 3x3, trying to get the centre piece out when it’s connected on all four sides, which will be even harder on a larger scale with the weight of the buildings. That said, it will look awesome when it’s done and I can’t wait to see the transformation. I’ve seen a few variations of the MILS, such as bricknerd.

What bookcases do you use for your displays in the background

What about the size of the roads are going to be alot smaller ! I remember you talking about that quite along time ago ! That was one of your concerns ! You may want to check the mils plates road size against what you already use and see if that is a concern or not for you. Just something to check on, before you dive into it. Otherwise, sounds like an interesting idea.

Question for you or your followers...I am looking to start converting to MILS plates and I was wondering how you tackles Assembly Square for modulars. Did you make a 32X32 and a 16X16 or just 3 16X16?

What would you do around the perimeter edge of the MILS plates to not see the layers of them if you don't have a permanent edge/lip built around your layout tables? I know I wouldn't like seeing those edges/sides of the MILS plates, it wouldn't look right and be kind of ugly.

This would be massive in cost, bricks and time. It would probably take ages just to do one area but I think it is a great idea. If only you just started the MILS system at the beginning rather than now. 🤷‍♂️👍😊😉

Although it will take a lot of time to set up to MILS, they time savings of being able to work on one square at your desk and easy pop it into place will be worth it.

I’ve actually been thinking of starting to use mils for my city

I totally agree with Boody Railroad. I guess I'm not seeing how these will be easier to remove. The friction pins don't magically disappear for you to lift out your plate anyway. Outside row would be OK, but in order to make a clean removal you'll have to either A- Take ALL of your MILS plates out to get to one in the middle (because their all interlocked) or B- Tear apart the MILS plate to remove the technic piece and friction pin. When you add to that the surmounted cost of all those extra parts, I would stay far away from that!

How do you handle the train tracks and the MILs system?