Tips for MOCing?

[TheLegoPerson9]

I've been really getting into taking things apart and building new things recently. However, I have to follow some instructions as I'm not skilled at this at all. I was wondering if anyone has any helpful MOCing tips as I have quite a few ideas planned.

For instance, since I made a police flatbed(with help from instructions from set 60017), I was thinking about making a police impound lot. Not right now, as I do not have the bricks, but it is something I do want to attempt. How would I go about something like this? It'll obviously be much smaller(thinking about using a 32x32 baseplate as the base) than a real one, but still.

Any advice? Thanks in advance?

[HawkLord]

I would say build lots of sets to start, as the process of building is the best way to learn techniques. These could be official Lego sets or just ideas that you have, so long as it gets you in the process and mindset of connecting bricks in new ways. Eventually, you'll be able to look at other completed sets or MOCs and be able to decipher how the designers accomplished what they did.

It also helps me a lot to break down the MOC into easier to digest sections. For example, you could consider the base of the police lot - will it have a trim around the base, will it be SNOT, etc. Then look at other areas like the height and width and how the walls will look. Then consider the inside and potentially cosmetic areas on the outside. One building could be six or seven different main components.

Lastly, work with ideas and designs that you like. Some people love certain techniques, so it's important to find you niche. And brick on!

[Werlu Ulcur]

I would say build lots of sets to start, as the process of building is the best way to learn techniques.

This!

Unless you're some sort of savant, if you never MOCed before, you have to learn how one kind of piece can relate to other types, so building factory sets following the official instructions is the best way for you to learn the basics. After you amassed a decent amount of basic knowledge (ie, how you can connect one part to another) you'll naturally start thinking about new ways to do the same kind of build or how to implement your idea in brick form..

[legoman19892]

Get hammered before building.

[LAKAbricks]

I would say build lots of sets to start, as the process of building is the best way to learn techniques.

I definately agree on this. When you build different sets, you see and feel the different techniques. Not long ago, I finally built the modular Town Hall. When making the decoration along the roof edge, it was like Eureka! - I would never had thought of building in that way.

I am not MOC'ing a lot (though I know it is what I want to do, as it is even more fun than building sets), but I have tried the process with my Department Store. When I started on this years ago, I had not been MOC'ing bigger structures for years. As I just knew the classic way to build (as in the 80s/90s), the result was a building with quite a classic feeling to it. And I was happy for it, maybe even a little proud but slowly, ideas began to rumble in my head, and I realized that the building was not what I aimed for. Ideas evolved, I looked at how other Eurobrickers had perfomed the things I wanted to do - and I began to change the building, getting a bit closer to my new ideas. It was still not right (actually I was not thrilled about a new detail I had made on the building), and I got even more ideas. I now have the third version of the Department Store which looks (almost) as I want it to. Even though the building is basically the same, its facade has changed a lot, and it looks quite different from where I started. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures right now to show the third version, but if you follow the link in my signature, you can see the first two versions.

- And the point of this? When you have your idea ready - and at least a part of the bricks, even if they are not the right colour - start building. You might not get your wanted result the first time, but maybe it will come in the second or third try. And some MOCs are just never finished, they evole all the time.

Enjoy MOC'ing!

[notaromantic]

Know your medium.

An idea will only take you so far, as Plato might say, and the rest, form, requires action and material. So many people forget that, regardless our genius intentions, we still have to 1) Encounter our own fallibility, becasue we are not inherently perfect or good at much of anything, until we have prepared for it, and have some practice at it; and 2) We still have to get our hands dirty in becoming familiar with whatever it is we are using to see this vision through. It seems the most impressive builders have a good sense for both - design and medium.

Learning about parts. Period. And I agree, building sets, or in your case, perhaps sticking to modifying existing sets, which is what works well for me - because it'll keep both your thirst for knowledge, again, parts, and instructions = technique(s), as well as your need to be creative in what you do, satiated. I'd say, Bricklink a few sets. Find some favorites and get busy. There are many instructions for existing sets available online. Build 'em, stare at 'em, tweak 'em...

Bricklinking sets will quickly pay off in several ways. Having to find parts - that will be extremely useful in becoming acquainted with their availability, and with their identity, and with their function, and of course, with the monster that is any Lego database.

It's like arriving in a new city - at first, completely overwhelming, until you began to wander around, block by block by block, by area, becoming lost, finding your way back, connecting points, the ins and outs of it all - and suddenly, in time, you'll find it much less imposing, and it'll began to reveal its secrets and niches. It's at that point that you can actually begin to work with it.

Have a blast, knowing full well that nothing will work as you intend it to right away. But, that's the initial phase of discomfort that any endeavor of substance requires. Work through it, and over that last, most formidable peak, you'll find the sweet arms of LegoLand await you.

Welcome home. And be sure to have a credit card, or you're f^%$#_(*&ed.

Edited July 2, 2015 by notaromantic

[Anio]

Here are the advices I could give :

1) Build official sets, and analyse them. Often, a complexe situation is solved in a very simple way.

2) Use real bricks (no 3D software) first, to feel the bricks, to understand how they react. What is possible, what is not possible, the limits, the stability of the build, etc.

3) Do not pay too much attention with pure technique at the beginning. Learning techniques for the sake of learning techniques is not necessary. Building techniques will come naturally with practice. On the contrary, something very useful is to know the existing parts : brackets, Technic connectors, hinges, clips, etc. LDD is convenient for that as parts are sorted, so it is easy to have a good overview.

4) Start with something simple.

5) Read 4) again.

[TheLegoPerson9]

Thanks for all the tips!

Here are the advices I could give :

1) Build official sets, and analyse them. Often, a complexe situation is solved in a very simple way.

2) Use real bricks (no 3D software) first, to feel the bricks, to understand how they react. What is possible, what is not possible, the limits, the stability of the build, etc.

3) Do not pay too much attention with pure technique at the beginning. Learning techniques for the sake of learning techniques is not necessary. Building techniques will come naturally with practice. On the contrary, something very useful is to know the existing parts : brackets, Technic connectors, hinges, clips, etc. LDD is convenient for that as parts are sorted, so it is easy to have a good overview.

4) Start with something simple.

5) Read 4) again.

In regards to 4, I actually am planning to stick with City stuff. All the ideas I have now are stuff that you'd find or see in a city.