How to build a modular house MOC?

[GCO]

Hi everybody,

Until now I just built modular houses out of the box but I really would like to build a MOC.

What's the best way to build one? Using my existing bricks and start building with the trial-and-error method? Build first with the LDD? The whole building including interior? Or exterior first?

I have something in my mind's eye for a modular house police station and I really would like to create that.

Any suggestions how to start?

GCO

[timmyc1983]

Hello GCO,

Welcome to the highly addictive past time of building modular MOCs!!

The best answer to your question is that it is an entirely personal preference type of thing.

Personally I prefer to use LDD to design both the exterior and interior and then use LDD Manager to figure out exactly which bricks I need to purchase/put aside.

Be sure to lay your basic foundations, no more than 2 bricks high in LDD, and then design your interior. I know from personal experience that it's almost impossible to design your interior when the walls are 8-12 bricks high!!!

But like I say, as to LDD or brick building first, it is preferential. I would suggest trying both for your first project and seeing which one you prefer, especially if you are confident that you have enough (and the correct) bricks to build a modular (between 1500-2500 for a 32 x 32 baseplate modular)

At the end of the day the aim is to enjoy yourself, so do just that!!! Happy building

[eliza]

I'm interested to hear how other people go about it. I build with bricks. I don't start with a plan. I kind of "sketch" a bit by combining pieces in different ways. Then I build a sort of rough mock-up. Then I rebuild, correcting problems as they come up. Then I fill out the interior details and continue to make modifications to the exterior if necessary. Then I put it on the shelf until I get the urge to modify it again. It might be two or three iterations before I'm satisfied.

Edited January 21, 2014 by eliza

[LegoSjaak]

...i will follow this topic!! I'm thinking of building one big MOC out of 4 sets 4954 Town House... and extra parts.. but do not yet know where to start.. A pain is that i have to take out the 4954 sets out of my layout.. it will leave empty gaps.... what to do with that... hmmmmpf... i do not know what to do... Maybe MOD one of my other modulars into a MOD-ular? I think i have to try it with the 4 sets 4954... else i will never create a MOC... There are so many great MOC's here.. it makes me insecure about my capabilitys of building one without copying a lot...

Well.. first find a nice building as an example.....!!

GCO, succes as well.. maybe we can advise eachother, as i also speak/write German pretty well, as i'm from Holland....

Greetz, LegoSjaak

[Ivan001]

I've nearly finished building my first MOC (previously I have just played around with modifying the Palace Cinema or bricklinking the Greengrocer). As it is quite a daunting task I decided to use a 16x32 baseplate so my MOC fits in with the Petshop set. I didn't go down the LDD route as I find that I am more experimental physically putting bricks together. I also find I can be more creative if I have a limited number of types of bricks unlike LDD where you have everything. Just like Eliza says above I tend to do a bit and then come back a day or 2 later and rebuild it. So the whole process take quite some time.

[elleana]

Unless you have been collecting sets for a long time, its quite likely you will not have sufficient quantity and variety of bricks (especially some specialty bricks very useful for modulars) to make a MOC modular from scratch. My plan for my first MOC is to take currently existing sets (one of Creator Houses, City, Friends - can't decide yet!) and modify them in the modular style. I read in another thread someone took 2 x 41006 (Friends bakery) and combined it with 3315 (Friends Olivia's House) and made it into a 3 storey modular. Since Friends sets seem to be generally available at a discount I may try that first.

[GCO]

elleana, I may not have as many bricks as some of the "professional" Lego collectors, but I still have all my Lego from my youth plus the Lego from my kids and some sets I bought in recent years.

If I would build a prototype of a MOC with bricks, I would use all colors and when it's finished I would order the missing bricks in the desired color through Lego.

[Faefrost]

I use LDD, at least for the core of things. Then go back as I am building and refine it in the brick. (As an example my LDD staircases never line up right so I mostly just free build them.) here are a few tricks I find help.

1. Create template files for the basic modular footprints. 32x32 corner, 32x32 straight, 16x32 straight etc. include basic sidewalks and the common connection points. These save a great deal of time and setup for future projects.

2. When working on a modular project I normally keep several active files of it. One for each floor, so they are each standalone. One of the full combined building, and one or two with critical sub builds such as furniture, details etc.

3. I highly recommend using LDD in a mode that validates part and color. It saves a ton of aggravating cleanup later.

4. Try not to just randomly use parts from LDD. Have some idea what you are using, otherwise you can get a huge surprise when you discover you have just based your model around an exceptionally rare and obscenely expensive part. Be flexible about part use unless you actually own the must use part already.

5. Don't forget to put glass in the windows.

[Hobbythom]

Start small would be my advise. Experiment. Just build. Adapt. For example: I started with modulars of varying sizes. I build two blocks of different sized houses before building my first proper modular. They all started with an idea of what I wanted. The resulting size was a result, not a preset boundary. I find the standards of 32x32 and 16x32 somewhat limiting.

[AFOLguy1970]

4. Try not to just randomly use parts from LDD. Have some idea what you are using, otherwise you can get a huge surprise when you discover you have just based your model around an exceptionally rare and obscenely expensive part. Be flexible about part use unless you actually own the must use part already.

When in LDD, I have Bricklink open to actually verify that some of the parts exist at a reasonable price or quantity. Several times, a design change has been done, because something either did not exist in that color, or it was really rare and expensive.

[sin]

When in LDD, I have Bricklink open to actually verify that some of the parts exist at a reasonable price or quantity. Several times, a design change has been done, because something either did not exist in that color, or it was really rare and expensive.

That's some good advice from Faefrost and yourself...

Is there a way to see the part number in LDD or do you need to search the bricklink catalog for it based on the description?

Edited January 21, 2014 by sin

[Wodanis]

After selecting the part in LDD look at the address bar near the bottom, it will display the element ID and what not. Then you can look up that part on Brickset or Bricklink and find out if its in the colour you want etc.

[sin]

After selecting the part in LDD look at the address bar near the bottom, it will display the element ID and what not. Then you can look up that part on Brickset or Bricklink and find out if its in the colour you want etc.

Awesome! I didn't notice that at all before, thanks for the info.

[Hrw-Amen]

I never use LDD, I find it better to just build as you go. Sometimes you have to rebuild, but that is OK. Generally I have a good idea of what I want to build, for example I am for my next MOC looking at making a small chapel to go with my modulars. I have not started it yet, but I know that I will need lots of stone type colours such as DBG, LBG, Tan and so on, therefore as I do not have a huge stock of these I have been stocking up when I visit Bricklink for other projects such as my railways. I just look at those colour bricks and buy what they have. I know that I will need a large number of those for the walls both interior and out.

My last MOC was a big hospital. I did this the same as any other. I knew what I wantewd to include, started on the ground floor, what does a hospital have? A p[lace for an ambulance to pull up, lifts, reception, consultation rooms, stairs? All of that. I start building the outside making sure I have put a place for each room. Once I have the exterior done I try to fill in the interior. Normally this will involve pulling down the exterior walls, as I need to build something into them, a good case for this is bricks with studs on the side for mounting pictures and clocks.

When one floor is finished, then repaet with the next. I always finish one floor before I start the next, both inside and out. You can always change it later if you want to! You have to obviously make sure the next floor sits neatly onto the first and so on!

Good luck with your build!

[fhomess]

I never use LDD, either. Probably one of the best things I've done is to start out by basing it off of something I've seen in real life. You have to know what you want it to look like in order to build it. That may seem obvious, but it's easy to wander aimlessly if you don't have a specific goal in mind. For example, if I want to build a balcony over a centrally located door that has steps leading up to it, I know that I have to start with a basement or crawl space to accommodate the steps.

[Redhead1982]

I made several modular buildings in the last few years, and I thought I'add my share to this thread.

Welcome to the highly addictive past time of building modular MOCs!!

Unfortunately, this is very true. But on the other hand, a modular building is finished, it feels great.

I started my first builds without any LDD planing. The only limit was my brick collection (very small at the time). However, with my last modular, I made the entire ground floor facade in LDD to see how it looks. If you plan to build your model with bricks, I strongly suggest to limit yourself to your existing collection, and don't let LDD's enormous collection of bricks and colours change your mind.

I'm interested to hear how other people go about it. I build with bricks. I don't start with a plan. I kind of "sketch" a bit by combining pieces in different ways. Then I build a sort of rough mock-up. Then I rebuild, correcting problems as they come up. Then I fill out the interior details and continue to make modifications to the exterior if necessary. Then I put it on the shelf until I get the urge to modify it again. It might be two or three iterations before I'm satisfied.

This sounds a lot like my working plan. Most of the time I get an idea of what a facade details should look like, or what kind of business should be in the ground floor. It helps if you know from the beginning that you're building a residental or a business building. Sometimes, I work on the interiors at the same time as building the floor, but most often, the interiors is done after the building is finished at least 90%.

Unless you have been collecting sets for a long time, its quite likely you will not have sufficient quantity and variety of bricks (especially some specialty bricks very useful for modulars) to make a MOC modular from scratch. My plan for my first MOC is to take currently existing sets (one of Creator Houses, City, Friends - can't decide yet!) and modify them in the modular style.

That's a great start, especially if your collection is somewhat limited in certain bricks. Creator houses and Friends sets offer a nice selection of parts, their prices are budget-friendly, and often building designs are a good models to start moding them into a modular building. My first modular was a MODed Market Street. I didn't have the original at the time, but I was fascinated with the stair design. So I chose a tan/white combination and followed a pdf instructions for Market Street. Whenever I had to use some bricks, I didn't have, a I worked around to use the ones I had. Another option is (if you have any of the official modular buildings) to make a MOD/MOC out of the bricks from the set. I did that for the Fire Brigade. I learned a lot just from building the official sets.

Start small would be my advise. Experiment. Just build. Adapt. For example: I started with modulars of varying sizes. I build two blocks of different sized houses before building my f I find the standards of 32x32 and 16x32 somewhat limiting.

All of my houses were either 32 or 16-wide, and I found that helpful for building a larger layout. Making buildings of various widths sound great, and would add more versatility to any layout. The only thing to keep in mind is that it has to fit in a 32-wide frame (e.g. a 12-wide and a 20-wide buildings).

Edited January 22, 2014 by Redhead1982

[alois]

I suggest you buy a 10214 Tower Bridge. It gives you insane amounts of tan bricks and windows for a reasonal price. I bought one myself two years ago and never built the set itself, but just used it for moccing modular houses.

[sin]

I suggest you buy a 10214 Tower Bridge. It gives you insane amounts of tan bricks and windows for a reasonal price. I bought one myself two years ago and never built the set itself, but just used it for moccing modular houses.

I have to say Alois, you have one my favorite layouts that I have ever seen on EB. Your builds are incredible and look like they belong in a Northern European city. Thanks for the tip on the Tower Bridge set, I hadn't really considered ever picking it up but you have made an excellent point about the quantity of useful bricks and windows... I may have to work it into the budget at some point.

[elleana]

I suggest you buy a 10214 Tower Bridge. It gives you insane amounts of tan bricks and windows for a reasonal price. I bought one myself two years ago and never built the set itself, but just used it for moccing modular houses.

I picked up a Tower Bridge for cheap without actually deciding what I was going to do with it - build it, sell it or break it up for parts. Am increasingly leaning towards the last option right now.

[Xyver]

I agree with the Tower Bridge set for parts, that's what I did too. I then went onto Bricklink and bought the bricks of another person who did the same thing (they'd just been on sale at the local retailers) and that's how I made my hospital.

My MOCing skills aren't up to the standard of many of the others on here, but I found building the official modulars first gave me a great basis of how to go about building one of my own. I also built my own Cafe Corner from spare parts to work out its techniques and the combination of using the instructions and replicating a similar look using different parts, is a great way to learn. So even if you can't afford to buy all the modulars, at least download the instructions and go through them.

And I would suggest sticking to the standard modular dimensions too, either 16 or 32 wide, with the 8 stud footpath, as this aids tremendously when putting together a layout. I built some of mine to fit into my city, but now that I am moving it around, they don't quite work, so I have to rebuild some of them. Alternatively, come up with your own standard, and stick to it, it makes life easier.

[finnbricker]

My plan for my first MOC is to take currently existing sets (one of Creator Houses, City, Friends - can't decide yet!) and modify them in the modular style. I read in another thread someone took 2 x 41006 (Friends bakery) and combined it with 3315 (Friends Olivia's House) and made it into a 3 storey modular. Since Friends sets seem to be generally available at a discount I may try that first.

That would be me. I'm currently working on a 48-stud wide Friends-based modular, where the ground floor consists of two 41007 Pet Salons and the two upper floors are light yellow with big white windows. The bricks come from two 41037 Stephanie's Beach Houses. It looks very art decoesque IMHO. I should make a Flickr account to be able to post some pics.

However, you will need more bricks than what you'll find in the sets themselves since the sets don't have any back walls and have only very limited side walls as well.

60026 Town Square also makes a really nice modular. I got two of those and built a three-storey building with a pizza place downstairs and two white-with-black-windows office floors. I didn't need too many extra bricks, mostly basic white and lime green bricks which are readily available at PAB walls.

[LukeWarmTea]

Following this thread - I'm in the same boat.

However, you will need more bricks than what you'll find in the sets themselves since the sets don't have any back walls and have only very limited side walls as well.

Totes magotes - I thought I could be clever and use 3185, the largest Friends set and a few smaller sets, but you run out of bricks pretty quick!

If I would build a prototype of a MOC with bricks, I would use all colors and when it's finished I would order the missing bricks in the desired color through Lego.

That was my plan too, but it's kind of a pain/tiresome breaking up a completed structure just to change the colour of one brick. And if you don't have a plan/LDD design, you're going to be breaking stuff down and rebuilding it a lot. A lot.

Finally, stick with a standard size! I've tried to be all clever and interesting and it's made for a neat ground floor see (http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=91027) but I can't for the life of me work out the plates layout for the second level!

[Redhead1982]

I've tried to be all clever and interesting and it's made for a neat ground floor see (http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=91027) but I can't for the life of me work out the plates layout for the second level!

Try to make an outline of the floor using just 1xX or 2xX bricks, and then lay large plates on top. Making plate layout can be tricky, so try to use different size plates, including the smallest one. That's how I do it.

[LegoSjaak]

I started on wednesday with the first modular MOC.. i have to say that it is a bit hard, but it is fun to do.. I just started building and looked how much space there should be for pavement. I decided it has to be a cornerbuilding, to have somewhat more challenge, although a 16 x 32 building would also be challenging enough.....I took a 32 x 32 baseplate in tan, a leftover from the second Town Hall set... then i took two dark bley baseplates and put them along the tan baseplate....Then i made a layout with plates and then started with two layers of crawling space, so i could make two small steps up to the front entrance... As i was eager how the front would look like, i started with the faced.. maybe not good, because then i have to do the 'rather boring' backside later....but, okay....

After some building, thinking, trying and building again, i ended up with an idea.. it is only a facade and partly a roof.. there is nothing inside... I have to say that the windows on the ground floor are somewhat boring...so i will work on that.. The first floor is for 70% okay for me.. but there well be added details and other thing..The flatted corner of the facade looks okay, i'm happy with that..only the roof is sticking out a lot.. but are there sloped bricks to flatten the roof as well?

I thought that it could be a school....two rooms on groudlevel and two large rooms upstairs.. I could only make one pretty bad picture... but maybe someone has some nice ideas or comments....

By the way...i use 4 sets of the 4954 Town House for this.. there are a lot of bricks left.. tan as well for the roof.. only the number of windows is limited.. When i'm ready, i'll decide what parts i have to order through bircklink..windows, tan bow-bricks and so on....The building measures 40 x 40 studs...its on the left side in this picture!

Greetz, LegoSjaak

Edited January 24, 2014 by LegoSjaak

[Doom2099]

Unless you have been collecting sets for a long time, its quite likely you will not have sufficient quantity and variety of bricks (especially some specialty bricks very useful for modulars) to make a MOC modular from scratch. My plan for my first MOC is to take currently existing sets (one of Creator Houses, City, Friends - can't decide yet!) and modify them in the modular style. I read in another thread someone took 2 x 41006 (Friends bakery) and combined it with 3315 (Friends Olivia's House) and made it into a 3 storey modular. Since Friends sets seem to be generally available at a discount I may try that first.

I really like this idea. Taking any existing (and preferably on sale) official set, and working with that really allows you to get the hands on feel of building for real. Then again, the things you can enjoy dreaming up in LDD is pretty awesome too!