I got started on a new pirate/imperial MOC yesterday evening and thought I’d make a little tutorial as I went about how to make a SNOT (Studs Not On Top) base. This is how far I got in about 90 minutes, will post again when I make more progress. First off, credits to @Ayrlego for showing me how to make this sort of base originally with his Watermill WIP thread. ------------------- STEPS:
1. Make the shape of the base with plates. You want to end up with a 2-layer thick shape made of plates. I think it looks most natural if you only ever shift the edge border by 1 stud at a time -------------------
2. Once you have a 2-layer plate, add a layer of bricks on top, but leave a 1 stud empty space around the edge. That’s where SNOT bricks are going to go -------------------
3. Place SNOT bricks around the outside. On the corners, use SNOT bricks with 2 studs on adjacent sides. If you need to buy SNOT bricks in bulk, yellow ones are pretty cheap on BrickLink. When done, you’ll have a base that is 5 plates tall (2 plates + 1 brick). That 5-plate height is important, because 5 plate height is exactly the height of a 2x plate on its side -------------------
4. Attach 1x and 2x plates to the SNOT sides. You’ll need to build up the sides with more plates to make the border transitions smoother. -------------------
5. Place plates on top of the base, covering the SNOT bricks. This will start the visible part of your building base and also make the SNOT bricks secure. -------------------
That’s as far as I got in one 90-min sitting! I love that this SNOT base is super sturdy, which comes in handy when I'm moving it back and forth from my building area to a kid-proof storage area. I also love that imagination is the only limit when it comes to shape! Hopefully this little tutorial helps others get started with it.