MOCs ... what happens next?

[Vee]

I am new to MOC, I mean, to the whole thing, to the acronym, to all the marvelous creations that people do and have being doing for decades, it seems. So I have been seen these marvelous creations, they are endless in the internet, 80k pieces, 200k pieces, 400k pieces and beyond, and I have been wondering, what happens next? I mean, these creative people build these eye-catching models and then what happens to them, the models?

Some answers I know. Some models are apparently created so that the builder can then take tons of pics and sell the instructions. Makes sense! But what about those mega builds with hundreds of thousands of pieces? No one is going to make instructions for them and no sane person is going to try to recreate them.

What about many MOC's that I find and that the builder is not selling any instruction? So, they build them, they photograph them, they are proud of their creation, they do not sell instructions, and then they just destroy them? Is it just for the fun of building some temporary wonder, getting recognition from the peers and then going for the next one?

[mechamike]

You create,it perhaps you document it, you display it in public / for friends / online and share it. In the process of building it You learnt something to make a even better MOC next time or You get feedback from others sharing it.

You save your MOC for years/months/weeks/days/hours and then you recycle the parts for something even better..

Nothing man creates lasts forever , one day even the mighty pyramids will be sand in a desert, for me a MOC is a journey were the trip (building it) is the fun part and the end station (when its finished) is just a quick moment of contemplation until the next trip.

Edited December 13, 2013 by mechamike

[gazumpty]

I have also just wandered into the world of MOC...after a too long a time away from the Lego :D

I have found that regardless of the size or ambition of a build....I build for myself and to test my creativity and design imagination.

I like to hear critique from like minded AFOL's, as the process allows me to improve with every build. I like to critique and study other MOC creations, to learn from what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong.

As to what happens next with any of my MOC's...Big or Small...its photos for prosperity and then disassembled back into their allocated tubs :D

At it's purist level, Lego for me must always develop organically and is no build is ever complete.....it can always be changed and improved!

[Hrw-Amen]

For me I like to build MOCS a lot. Most of mine are CITY buildings I have designed as a back drop to railway stuff that I make a lot of. Most of these take months to build as I like to add lots of internal details and several floors. They take a long time to build and have cost a lot of money. One day I hope to have a house big enough to have a railway set up all the time. Then I can use them. For now they are either put away carefully wrapped or on display along the top of the cupboards in my house. (Like a whole street of buildings.) I do think very carefully with these how I want to put them together. As such once they are built they are built.

Smaller models can take a long time. I have just been building some Western themed calvary stuff which I got from the Lone Ranger sets. No interest in the Lone Ranger but I like the army theme. I have created all sorts of things, steam tanks, steam punk style small cars etc. When they are done I will also probably keep them made up as they are a theme. Some things are transient but only stuff like the Christmas snow display etc. Those bits will get recycled but most other stuff that I have spent ages on I tend to keep built. I may make the occasional adjustment or alteration if I think of something that works better, but mostly that is it, made, displayed, boxed, and put away for later play.

[Mikuri]

I destroy them all the time to make something else. That's when you run on a budget. Else you buy new parts I suppose.

[Vee]

Based on some beautiful, eye-catching MOC's that I can't stop finding and seeing in the internet, I was thinking. These people have so much creativity that buying an official set would make no sense. Many of the MOC's I see are more beautiful than most of the official sets that I know. Of course Lego limits the size of their sets, it is rare to find sets with more than 3k pieces, and many gorgeous MOC's seem to me way beyond the 3k pieces, but there are also an infinite number of great MOC's that use much less pieces.

On a side note, I was thinking, and don't get mad at me because I know that many in this board are expert builder of MOC's, but I was thinking. IF many bulders of MOC's build their models for fun, for learning, to increase knowledge and as a step for the next better model, and it is usual to take tons of pics to show (off) their models so other can appreciate and recognize them and him/her, the question that pops up in my mind is: why not take pictures of the MOC while disassembling it so we, mere mortals like me that lack creativity, can really learn and maybe even try to mimic/copy the model for ourselves?

I would say that documenting (= taking pictures) of a model while developing it, while building it, is not practical because building takes time and you may change things along the way BUT disassembling a model is very straight forward, and documenting it would teach us how you made it. Why not, why keep the secret of how you did it only to yourself? I am assuming again that you (the expert builder) built it not for profit, to sell instructions or something similar, because if it is for profit, it makes perfect sense to keep secret the inner workings of your build but if it was for non-profit reasons, why not spread the word?

I know there are tons of page that teach techniques and tips on how to build a MOC but there is nothing better to learn than by example.

Why not?

Edited December 13, 2013 by Vee

[Paul B Technic]

In the past I have built them, taken photos / notes and then destroyed them. With my latest MOD/MOC I am going to keep it and just buy new parts to keep building other MOC's :)

[Vee]

Being attached as I am to the things I create, I would probably never destroy a MOC, if I liked it. If someone builds them for profit, then it is just business and destroying is part of it. But that is me and I don't have creativity, so maybe that is why I think this way. Maybe people with high level of creativity just can't stop making new things and the price of keeping what they have done is too high.

[Cara]

I break most of the MOC down after building or if my kids play with it, after it's survived few weeks. Sometimes I keep a part, I've kept a stagecoach from my western MOC and part if a dragon from another but mostly the piece get recycled.

I do take a lot of photos during construction. Mostly because accidents happen. Twice I've had things knocked off the table! Or I change something and decide I don't like it as much as it was an hour before.

I'll post odd pictures in my Flickr feed if someone asks hey how did you do this or that part. But generally those construction photos gather dust.

[Peppermint_M]

It is mixed for me.

I have a drawer full of racing car MOCs that I do not plan to take apart and a selection of others I have no plans on destroying. Then there are some that don't even get as far as the photograph because I can think of improvements. Often times it takes a massive accidental break or an "upgrade" for me to take down the build. I have varying levels of attatchement to a MOC and this rules how I treat it.

[CP5670]

My MOCs basically stay built up forever. I build very slowly and usually put a lot of time into each model, so I always get any new pieces I need from some official set or Bricklink. I do make frequent, minor changes to them over time though.

[UrbanErwin]

I like the building part the most so when a layout is finished and has been shown at a convention or the like, It will be taken apart. (this usually happens at the packing up, saves a lot of time )

But I don't keep MOC's Buildt forever (some very long but none has a permanent place)

[dr_spock]

Depends on the MOC. Some I keep together for displays like at our LUG events. Others, I take a few pictures and disassemble. A couple I regret taking apart because I could have used them at a public event. I have one MOC I kept together for 30 years. It is interesting to see what happens to LEGO bricks on long term display and exposure to sunlight.

[Vee]

... Others, I take a few pictures and disassemble. A couple I regret taking apart because I could have used them at a public event...

But if you took pictures, couldn't you build them again rather quickly?

[Hrw-Amen]

Based on some beautiful, eye-catching MOC's that I can't stop finding and seeing in the internet, I was thinking. These people have so much creativity that buying an official set would make no sense. Many of the MOC's I see are more beautiful than most of the official sets that I know. Of course Lego limits the size of their sets, it is rare to find sets with more than 3k pieces, and many gorgeous MOC's seem to me way beyond the 3k pieces, but there are also an infinite number of great MOC's that use much less pieces.

On a side note, I was thinking, and don't get mad at me because I know that many in this board are expert builder of MOC's, but I was thinking. IF many bulders of MOC's build their models for fun, for learning, to increase knowledge and as a step for the next better model, and it is usual to take tons of pics to show (off) their models so other can appreciate and recognize them and him/her, the question that pops up in my mind is: why not take pictures of the MOC while disassembling it so we, mere mortals like me that lack creativity, can really learn and maybe even try to mimic/copy the model for ourselves?

I would say that documenting (= taking pictures) of a model while developing it, while building it, is not practical because building takes time and you may change things along the way BUT disassembling a model is very straight forward, and documenting it would teach us how you made it. Why not, why keep the secret of how you did it only to yourself? I am assuming again that you (the expert builder) built it not for profit, to sell instructions or something similar, because if it is for profit, it makes perfect sense to keep secret the inner workings of your build but if it was for non-profit reasons, why not spread the word?

I know there are tons of page that teach techniques and tips on how to build a MOC but there is nothing better to learn than by example.

Why not?

I have done that this year for a friend of mine. His son is really into trains and so I have been gathering bits all year to give them an oval of track, two freight cars (The same.) and a small shunting engine with the PF bits. I made up one of the freight cars and left it made then made the other and took photos as I took it apart to make instructions. I did the same for the engine, it is a small simple shunter, nothing fancy but it was easier to do it backwards. Hopefully they will have fun building it and the freight car having instructions and one built model to work from?

[Faefrost]

But if you took pictures, couldn't you build them again rather quickly?

I think it comes down to taking those pictures is almost as complicated as building the MOC itself. You pretty much have to set out to plan and document every step. It requires a lot of time and effort. Whereas simply free form MOC building is what a lot do for recreation and relaxation. Besides most of the builders do it once they can either do it again or do it better without resorting to their photos or notes.

Photo documenting something once finished is easy. But during the build or breakdown is hard.

[Vee]

If I built nice MOC's I would document them via LDD. I like LDD. Even if it cannot do all that you can in real life, it is still a nice, although time-consuming, tool to document MOC's. No pictures, no pen, no paper, just a file.

[Kivi]

Except for some modulars and vehicles that I built in last year and which are part of permanent installations at our LUG events, I recycle all my MOCs. That means, I built, photograph, present online and/or at events, take everything apart and start building something new. Until I started building for our events, every MOC that stayed assembled together for more than three months seemed to me to be eternal.

[Vee]

I feel like a dumb for buying expensive sets, assembling them and wanting to keep them assembled forever. After I assemble a set (actually, my daughter does it most of the time), I feel bad about disassembling it because I find them pretty, after all, if I didn't, why would I have bought them! On the other side, once you keep them assembled forever, you can't use those thousands of bricks for anything else, they are there and you can't play with them anymore, sounds like a waste of opportunities to have fun, you can't try and create some MOC. The solution would be to buy sets just for parts and not assemble them but this sounds so weird to me and a financial exorbitance... Or buy individual parts via PAB or BL which can be expensive too.

I told my daughter that now that we are going to soon have 6 or 7 houses (the 32x32 modern Lego house sets), I am thinking about having all of them disassembled and, with their parts, try to build a model based on our real house, with basement, all the rooms, back and front yard, elevation of the terrain, etc. Too bad our lot is anything but an easy rectangle and the terrain is not plain at all. A good challenge for a 1st timer!

I will also soon have some modular buildings but they are meant to be permanent. My daughter yesterday just started assembling Pet Shop. Pretty stuff. Can't think of having it disassembled.