Help needed with a Scooby Doo MOC

[LB2341]

Hi everyone I've built this MOC of the Mystery Machine from the second live action Scooby Doo movie and I was wondering if I could get some help to refine the design a bit. Mainly to make it less blocky.

Some things that I would like to be kept. The eight stud width, the opening back doors, be able to fit minifigs and be able to be built in real life.

name for baby whale

Here's my purist mystery inc that I also made.

memento plot

If you could help me out I will really appreciate it! If you would like any other info or images don't be afraid to ask.

[Nick Wolfe]

It looks pretty dang good already! especially since it's made mostly with rectangular bricks and plates. If you want to make it less blocky and more movie accurate I would suggest bringing the cheese slopes on the front down by two plates so they lead up to the window instead of overlapping it. Maybe consider dropping the whole front bumper a few studs because right now it sits high, the protruding lip should sit even with the tires and since it's lego i would exaggerate that further and bring it as low as possible while still keeping room for the lights under it. I would also consider extending the nose of the van by another stud or using snot pieces to round it off.

Also, it would be relatively simple to fix the bit of the hinge on the back door that sticks out by building it into the side of the van so that it would be in the l position when the door is closed and the 1x4 position when it is opened. It's hard to explain with words.

I would also suggest bringing the surfboard racks on the top down by a plate so there is no gap between them and the roof. As is they distract from the shape of the van making it look blockier and since the gap serves no functional purpose you might be better off letting it be suggested. It might also be worth considering using the mystery machine decal from the official set for the "Mystery Machine" sign itself, as that would be incredibly difficult to represent at this scale.

But all of those suggestions really are just detailing, the model looks excellent, you've done a great job of capturing the look of the van and you've clearly been incorporating the functionality too. It's instantly recognizable, excellent work!

[Oky]

I agree with Nick's suggestion of lowering the surfboard racks and the cheese slopes in the front. You can remove the 1x4 plates under the rack tiles to make them thinner and keep the gap between the roof and the racks as seen below.

However, I think the main thing that needs work is the back of the van. As you said yourself, it's too blocky, and the hinges sticking out the sides don't look good either. Also, I think the windows need to be higher. I'd suggest completely redesigning the back using SNOT to make the windows more slanted. This will also allow you to use different kind of hinges. Something like this perhaps:

[LB2341]

Wow! Thanks for all the great suggestions guys! I really appreciate it!

Here's the new reworked Mystery Machine.

For the back I ended up using the design from this A-team van MOC I found on Google images. which allowed me to round it off and add more accurate detailing.

[Oky]

Nice! I was actually going to suggest that design for the back, but decided against it since it makes the doors so thick and causes the side walls next to the doors to split open along with the doors, but if you're ok with that, it's probably the easiest solution.