Rock Problems

[halstud]

I'm working on a 96x64 moc and I've built up the foundation of the castle itself 5 bricks high. I'm now working on the rocks surrounding the castle and it's killing me! Have you guys or girls ever had an idea you just can't seem to get to work outside of your head? I see some phenomenal rock work and tutorials here but I'm just coming up short here.

Maybe I'll mix some bley and dark bley and see what I get?

[friskywhiskers]

I Recommend that if you are a beginner at rock-scaping, you should use a combination of burps and slopes, instead of opting for a 100% slope based cliff. As to mixing colors, absolutely. Real rocks aren't all one color. If you do want to use all slopes, just simply build and rebuild until you get a look that you like. Don't expect it to be prefect on your first try, that takes lots of practice. If you get frustrated, take a break and come back to it later.

Can't wait to see the results!

[halstud]

I messed around a bit more and got what I wanted. I'm going to need more slopes though!

[friskywhiskers]

Good to hear that it worked! If you want to buy parts in bulk, try Bricklink. You can easily buy the parts you need for extremely cheap, just make sure to buy them all from one seller to avoid multiple shipping costs.

[halstud]

Oh, I've been pretty active on BL lately. Trying to amass a huge amount of some particular pieces to build my wall. I guess I'll have to get some more dark bley slopes and a couple of BURPs to finish the bit of rock left over.

Thanks for the encouragement!

[DARKspawn]

Seems like you have an idea on how to continue, but I just wanted to add that I had a similar problem when I first started rockscaping. The best way to learn is to study the attempts of others.

Slopes is best in my opinion to create a rocky affect but you can achieve a similar result just using bricks. Check out this mountain I built using this idea.

When using slopes try to use a variety to achieve a natural affect. I'm a big fan of using 1x2, 1x3, 2x2x2, and 2x2x3 slopes to create non uniformity throughout your landscaping. Cheese slopes work great too for covering stray studs. Check out this micro castle or this shrine as examples.

I personally try to steer away from burps as they tend to have the same rock pattern, which looks a little odd and uniformed when grouped together. Burps work great for internal structural support though. This is my personal opinion though, and I have seen many burp landscapes that look great in their own right.

Hope that helps, but check out more creations from different builders, everyone has a slightly different approach.

[halstud]

Ah, very cool mountain. As much as a lot of the LEGO community gets caught up in a near studless MOC, there really is something to be said about a MOC not totally covered in tiles. Looks awesome!

I'm not that new to rock scaping but I don't have a hugely extensive collection of dark bley (my usual rock color) slopes and bricks. I've got nearly enough to surround my current WIP about 5 bricks high but not quite enough to finish it off so I'll add some green slopes and leave some studs free for a grassy effect. I think it'll turn out nicely.

I definitely agree with the comment about BURPs and LURPs. I've got a handful of them and use them in my 32x32 or 64x64 MOCs. I can't say I've ever used them in anything bigger because I don't generally venture outside of the 64x64 range because of a general lack of bulk parts. They've saved me a bit over the last few days just because of my slope shortage.

And that micro is killer! Love micro! Thanks for the links.