Base Plate Organizer Tool, Does one exist?

[TheBeeze]

I'm currently working on a very large scale diorama and and am running into some trouble in my planning phase. I am using 48x48, 32x32, 48x 32, size base plates. Is there any sort of tool out there to organize these things on screen in a display and move them around as I play with ideas? Trying to organize where I want certain plates and sections of the build. Or is there a way to print out a blank template divided up into the squared regions so I can draw on it and plan? I messed around in Microsoft Word with Shapes and so on but it was a big pain in the megablocks.

Appreciate any help!

[rodiziorobs]

Honestly, I think a non-technical way would be simpler if you want to be able to move things around freely and easily.

For example, grab some plates from your collection and use 6x6s to represent the 48x48s, and 4x4s for the 32x32s. Even planning a very large diorama shouldn't take up much table space when scaled down to 1/8.

Then connect the plates and save it or just snap a picture for reference later on.

Edited July 6, 2016 by rodiziorobs

[badbob001]

Doesn't LEGO Digital Designer have baseplates?

[BrickCurve]

I believe the there is a tool which people use when planning train layouts that lets you design a layout like that. I haven't used it personally but I have heard it works quite well.

Edited July 6, 2016 by BrickCurve

[Vorkosigan]

I think the idea to use smaller plates at 1/8 scale is great, but if you really want to use a computer another simple idea is to use powerpoint and just make shapes with an arbitrary scale that will fit on your screen. If you expect the diorama to be 320 studs long, you could use a scale of 0.03" per stud and make up your plates and label them, then move around to your heart's content.