Decisions Decisions

[PogsKlinc]

Hello fellow Eurobricks members. I've been browsing these forums over the past few days. I've recently taken my buckets of bricks and sorted them by color, rebuilding many of my old Lego sets. I thought how much fun it might be to create a Lego city, as those were some of my favorite to rebuild. As I've been collecting primarily SW Lego over the past 10 years, I have very few city sets. I'm only 17 and have never really made a MOC before, but I have a question for anybody who is willing to help me how to decide to start my city. Do any of you use official Lego buildings in your own personal cities? I've looked through many pics, and see that this is extremely rare. Being that I only own a <insert that tiresome argument> bank, police station, and McDonalds, I don't know if I should consider MOCing, or if mine were generally considered acceptable. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Still Raindrop]

Hello fellow Eurobricks members. I've been browsing these forums over the past few days. I've recently taken my buckets of bricks and sorted them by color, rebuilding many of my old Lego sets. I thought how much fun it might be to create a Lego city, as those were some of my favorite to rebuild. As I've been collecting primarily SW Lego over the past 10 years, I have very few city sets. I'm only 17 and have never really made a MOC before, but I have a question for anybody who is willing to help me how to decide to start my city. Do any of you use official Lego buildings in your own personal cities? I've looked through many pics, and see that this is extremely rare. Being that I only own a <insert that tiresome argument> bank, police station, and McDonalds, I don't know if I should consider MOCing, or if mine were generally considered acceptable. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Welcome! I think it really depends, actually. I don't personally use any official LEGO buildings, but I do use lots of techniques that I see in those buildings. I don't use official ones for two reasons:

1. The ones that I can afford aren't the same style of building (my town is on the modular scale)

2. I'm a married college student, so buying the actual modular buildings aren't really an option for me

However, it's really your decision what to do with your town. You can mix official sets and MOCs, or modify official sets, or use the pieces from the sets to make entirely new buildings. That's the beauty of LEGO, really.

[lifeinplastic]

I'd create your own, that way all buildings will be made in 'your own style' rather than the Lego design team's. Also you don't necessarily need to have lots of city sets, just use parts from the Star Wars sets you have. However, modular sets are useful in terms of getting decent parts.

Good luck whatever you decide!

Edited July 30, 2011 by lifeinplastic

[lightningtiger]

I'll join the chorus - MOC build your buildings ! Choose your era you wish to build, also region of the world too.....start designing and building.....it's fun and you'll be surprised too....you'll learn many different things from the experience !

Though if you wish to collect city or classic town to display that's fine as well, but MOCing stamps your personality on Lego !

Brick On 'PogsKlinc' !

[Section8]

I do a mix of official sets, mods, and MOCs. For instance, I took several of the old official house sets that came with 16 x 16 or 16 x 32 baseplates, and put them all in a row in between two sets of road plates with 8 studs on each plate. Then I put a white fence in front of all of them. My town is System scale, so modding sets like this is easier than with the Modular scale buildings. I also took the terminal building from 10159 City Airport and made it into a TV studio, as I have two other airport buildings. I do have some MOCs too, also in System scale. It all depends on what you want your town to look like and what official sets you have that fit that vision. Lego has made essentially no official sets of office buildings, hotels, or various shops, so I make those myself.

[PogsKlinc]

Thank you all for such quick response. I see that MOCing is the way to go.

My biggest problems are the following. I have very little money. I'm only 17 remember. I cannot even dream of owning the modular sets. Like, at all. I own very few baseplates, and almost all of mine are small and green. I've never made a city MOC in my life and have no idea where to start. It's an intimidating world for me LEGO-wise. Especially when I come to places like this forum and see such amazing work. How are some easy ways to start such a project? I have no idea what I could do about regions of the world or time periods. Could building at random really produce results? I'm almost too intimidated to start, but we all need to start somewhere. Any advice for a starting point? Cities are huge.

Also, what are your opinions on vehicles in your town? Do you hesitate to use official Lego vehicles in your town?

[sonicstarlight]

I've never made a city MOC in my life and have no idea where to start. It's an intimidating world for me LEGO-wise. Especially when I come to places like this forum and see such amazing work. How are some easy ways to start such a project? I have no idea what I could do about regions of the world or time periods. Could building at random really produce results? I'm almost too intimidated to start, but we all need to start somewhere. Any advice for a starting point? Cities are huge.

Also, what are your opinions on vehicles in your town? Do you hesitate to use official Lego vehicles in your town?

My advise is to start small - rather than trying to tackle an entire city, why not just start with one type of building you really want to make and focus just on that. As you learn what your own personal style is and as you slowly amass more bricks, you'll find that what once started as that single project has grown into something much bigger. Also, don't be intimidated, and don't go in with the mindset that you need to compete with anything you see on the boards - just have fun with it.

As for vehicles, I actually struggle with this a lot and don't use any vehicles in my town at the moment. If you are going for more of a classic look, the 4-wides Lego puts out are probably fine, but I think they are too small to be used with the modulars. It's really your preference - some people swear by 5-wides or 6-wides, but so long as you are happy with the end result, there are no right or wrong answers.

Edited July 31, 2011 by sonicstarlight

[PogsKlinc]

My advise is to start small - rather than trying to tackle an entire city, why not just start with one type of building you really want to make and focus just on that. As you learn what your own personal style is and as you slowly amass more bricks, you'll find that once started as that single project has grown into something much bigger. Also, don't be intimidated, and don't go in with the mindset that you need to compete with anything you see on the boards - just have fun with it.

As for vehicles, I actually struggle with this a lot and don't use any vehicles in my town at the moment. If you are going for more of a classic look, the 4-wides Lego puts out are probably fine, but I think they are too small to be used with the modulars. It's really your preference - some people swear by 5-wides or 6-wides, but so long as you are happy with the end result, there are no right or wrong answers.

I'm not going for any look in particular. I'm just... going for a city. One thing I struggle with is when I have a set together, I don't like to mix its pieces with any others, making MOCing difficult. Like, I own 6332: Command Post Central. It's my only police station. Though I always hesitate to mix its pieces with others, making a MOC with such <insert that tiresome argument> pieces can be difficult. I made a small town type police station a couple days ago out of boredom, but I don't know. I'm just rambling now. I do apologize. I'm still learning how to talk LEGO. I've been into it for years, yet I know so little from an aspiring AFOL point of view.

Most of the vehicles I already own are 4 studs wide. Though I didn't get many buildings when I was younger, I acquired a great many vehicles. Recycling trucks, helicopters, street sweepers and the like. I might have to end up making some very basic MOCs and posting them on here. I'm kind of intimidated about that though as I've realized how simple MOCs seem to be more heavily criticized on this board, and don't want to be discouraged before I've even begun.

[Still Raindrop]

I often feel the same sort of intimidation; it's important to realize that everyone has different building style, and that comparing yourself to others really doesn't do any good--you can be inspired by others, but comparison just makes you feel bad (I'm still learning that)

[ACCURATEin]

Just think of one of your favorite places to eat. Google image some pictures of it. And try to build what you see in the picture. Take a picture of it, and post it here. And then think of your second most favorite place to eat, or visit, or what not.

[PogsKlinc]

I often feel the same sort of intimidation; it's important to realize that everyone has different building style, and that comparing yourself to others really doesn't do any good--you can be inspired by others, but comparison just makes you feel bad (I'm still learning that)

I'm sure it's something I'll learn to do. Over the next week or so, I might attempt some minor MOCS that involve mixing just a couple of sets to ease me into this stuff. I'll be sure to post what I make.

I'm still interested in what anybody else has to say about cars. MOC or not?

Also, with very few baseplates, mainly green ones, how would I go about building roads?

[slovakiasteph]

We need to start our own forum/thread for newbie MOCs. I feel intimidated, too... the only reason I posted one was because I used only the pieces from one set... limiting enough that it still looked okay.

As for your city, you could play around in LDD (Lego Digital Designer) first to see what types of buildings you might want-- without taking your sets apart-- and then find those pieces on Bricklink.

I like the previous idea about taking pictures of buildings you like and going from there. You could start with your hometown-- is there a building you admire? Or, browse through images of a certain type of building on Google.

[PogsKlinc]

We need to start our own forum/thread for newbie MOCs. I feel intimidated, too... the only reason I posted one was because I used only the pieces from one set... limiting enough that it still looked okay.

As for your city, you could play around in LDD (Lego Digital Designer) first to see what types of buildings you might want-- without taking your sets apart-- and then find those pieces on Bricklink.

I like the previous idea about taking pictures of buildings you like and going from there. You could start with your hometown-- is there a building you admire? Or, browse through images of a certain type of building on Google.

Glad to know I'm not alone.

LDD confuses me. I'm not extremely great with new programs. I don't quite know why. My only problem with buying bricks off of Bricklink or LEGO.com is the fact that I have no way to order them without my parent's credit card number and neither of them find my Lego habit a good one. Like, they don't like me buying any Lego anymore. Apparently it's unsuitable for a 17 year old to want to design with bricks.... :/ So what I'm going to be able to do is extremely limited.

There is a great coffee shop in town that has a particularly inspired design to it. I live in a tiny town. There aren't many buildings to admire. :P I do plan on eventually making that once I can order bricks without my parents knowledge, but currently, my creations won't be very smooth. They'll probably be loaded with studs and not the best design, but this is the pain of being a young Lego fan.

[AllanSmith]

I'm still interested in what anybody else has to say about cars. MOC or not?

I MOC vehicles and use them with LEGO designed ones. Look here for Brickshelf photos of my designs.

In my town layout I use LEGO designed buildings with the above mentioned vehicles.Recent topic on my town layout.

[Ralph_S]

I'm for MOCs all the way. A big part of the fun of this hobby for me is building my own stuff and I get very little satisfaction out of building a set and then looking at it, no matter how nicely designed it may be. Sets to me are parts packs.

As for cars, I'm one of those people who swear by 5-wides, but I reckon they're not particularly suitable for builders with small collections or a tight budget. They eat small parts like crazy. Upwards of 100 parts for a single car is no exception.

Many of the cars that LEGO put out in sets are quite good and I think they're a good starting point. As the pictures by AlanSmith show, it's also very well possible to build your own in a similar style. You could start with sets, build a few of your own in a similar style and gradually go towards all MOCs

Cheers,

Ralph

[PogsKlinc]

Thank you both for posting pictures. Those vehicles are exceptional. :)

I'll probably go mainly with 4 wide considering most of what I already have is 4 wide anyway, though I'd eventually aspire to 6.

Does anybody have any idea about road building? I have no road base plates and really can't afford to buy any.

[bootz]

I always liked to have a mix. This is an older town I had built for my younger brother and sister.

[wooootles]

MOCs 95% of the time for me, from now on, if we're talking about buildings only. It's an addictive trend; you first start to experiment building your own until you get it just right, then you figure you can do better on the next MOC, so you build another.... then you find some cool tricks in here or flickr that you think you can apply to your next MOC.... it's a viciously awesome cycle!

I still keep the vehicles around (modded a bit)

[PogsKlinc]

MOCs 95% of the time for me, from now on, if we're talking about buildings only. It's an addictive trend; you first start to experiment building your own until you get it just right, then you figure you can do better on the next MOC, so you build another.... then you find some cool tricks in here or flickr that you think you can apply to your next MOC.... it's a viciously awesome cycle!

I still keep the vehicles around (modded a bit)

I'm working on trying to design a police station currently. I'll post when I am finished. I'm hoping it's addictive, but my limited collection is frustrating. I keep getting discouraged before I even start.... I'm looking avidly at many MOCs trying to get ideas, yet I am getting nowhere.

[Toadtorrent]

I'm working on trying to design a police station currently. I'll post when I am finished. I'm hoping it's addictive, but my limited collection is frustrating.

I'm quite new at this as well...and have focussed more on kits at the moment...amassing parts from Bricklink to build the kits I'm interested in, but in incorrect colours, or non-matching parts. Technically I'm able to create the models, but aesthetically they are off because of colour...and the colour can often be what can drive the price of a project up immensely.

If you're starting out like me, you have to make the decision on what you are inspired by the most - the shape of a model, or the detailed look of a model. If just the shape (or in my case, I was inspired by a lot of the function of the Power Miners kits, or the construction technique of a lot of the bigger construction sets like the Tower Crane or Vestas wind turbine), it can be a much cheaper enterprise. For the most part, I have opted for making sure I just have a required element regardless of colour, to build a model in question and have made the compromise that mixed colours are less of a big deal for the most part. Whe doing buildings though however, it can be the difference in a satisfying build, to make sure you have matching or appropriate colours.

If you want the look, things like Dark Red Slope 75 2 x 1 x 3 can cost $3/brick and make projects prohibitively expensive to all but the most ardent and determined builder.

I would suggest micro-builds as a challenge to start with...smaller scale, requiring less bricks and a different kind of thinking and challenge while being lighter on the pocket book and just as fun.

When finances allow, start buying kits on sale (if you live in the US or have decent access to good kit pricing) to get lots of matching colour elements at a better price than Bricklink prices...and when you have a solid base of parts, build kits based on colour themes of the kits in your collection.

I went from 200 pieces to about 25,000+ pieces in a few months...it can get addictive...but I'm also not using my parents money...I'm spending my children's college fund. ;)

[Tazmaniac]

As others have said, start small, build a house or a small diner. Once you have your basic shape try adding details and features to it, you may find you mod and rebuild this one creation a dozen times before your happy with it or before it resembles your vision. Just build the facade to start with not the whole building ( whole buildings are brick heavy and can easily become too much early in the design process).

Try something cool like this,

Don't limit yourself to the town forum for inspiration and building techniques, you'll find all sorts of nifty techs in castle, sci fi, and the pirate MOC forums, that will come in handy when tackling fine detail.

Once you start MOCing you won't be so worried about mixing your sets as they're all just bricks at the end of the day.

Most importantly don't be afraid to post your progress, while some may run you down for your efforts, (those comments are not in the spirit of EB, and are frowned upon by most of us) most will give you feedback to help you improve your builds and encourage you to keep going.

We all started somewhere and people learn at their own pace and have their own style, if everybody built the same we'd get tired of looking at each others creations.

Good luck and stick with it.

[PogsKlinc]

Thanks to both of you for replying. I thought this topic wasn't going to get any more responses.

I've tried a little bit of Micro building before and my stuff wasn't terrible, yet the micro scale really didn't do too much for me overall. I prefer minifig scale stuff. Modular intimidates me though, and that's really all I see on these forums. It's like, if my interior and exterior isn't tiled over, my MOCs won't be accepted. Studs don't seem to be a think that most seem to like anymore...

I never thought about making just the fronts of buildings. I like that idea a lot. :) I definitely will try that with smaller shops and such. Thanks so much for the idea.

[dodo]

hello... another newbie trying to contribute...

i'm in the same boat, i like lego city sets but most of the time i build them just to get some inspiration and techniques. so in the end i scratch build my buildings (mostly on modular scale) but most of it are still in LDD form because the lack of parts :p .i wish one day i can have enough parts (and space) to showcase it.

cheers!

[streifen]

i would think that MOCs do not have to come from any one source. it can be from some buildings you have seen on your travels/commute/books/neighbourhood.

if there are parts you are lacking, use substitutes (if the parts are expensive).

not enough parts? Bricklink is the world's lego market. alternatively get Creator sets. normally 2 sets (+ maybe a trip to Bricklink for a few small bits) can do a good MOC Modular house.

studs or no studs? is up to you. tiling the whole building can use up a lot of tiles (i.e. $$) though it looks "cleaner"

[foolio93]

This topic has helped me so much. I, too, am a new AFOL. (I turned 18 this year.) I also hate mixing sets, mostly because I share my lego with my siblings. Money's also an issue for me and I hate having to use my parents as middlemen for buying online. I'm glad I've stumbled upon this topic. Maybe we should start a newbie support group haha