New Builder

[kk634]

I've loved Lego forever, but just recently got interested in Castle...
I'm dying to build my first real Castle MOC.
Any tips?

[RichardAM]

Get some bricks and put them together.

No, really.

[puddleglum]

One place to start is by building an official LEGO castle, then thinking about how you could make it better. See if there are any ways you could add onto it, or give it more detail. It might be less intimidating than trying to build your own castle from scratch as your first MOC.

[kk634]

Okay, both those are great!

[Bruce N H]

Back in the day they used to have pictures of alternate models on the back of the box. I started making MOCs by trying to reproduce those. Since there were no directions, you'd inevitably make small changes and end up with your interpretation. While they no longer put alternate model pics on the packaging (shakes fist at the genius behind that decision), we have something better--the Internet. Find a small MOC you like on Brickshelf and try to reproduce it. If you can't exactly because they used a part you don't have, or because it is not clear from the photos how they made it, all the better, because the ultimate goal is to modify the original and make something of your own.

Bruce

[architect]

While they no longer put alternate model pics on the packaging (shakes fist at the genius behind that decision), we have something better--the Internet.

We can blame stupid parents and kids who complained. They did not understand the concept of being able to build multiple models out of a small number of bricks without having instructions. TLG probably became annoyed after years of parents asking for these instructions.

I agree with Bruce that creating alternates is a fun and challenging way to build. You can check out a few alternates that I duplicated here:

http://www.classic-castle.com/sets/archives/6041.html
http://www.classic-castle.com/sets/archives/6038.html

Ben

[plucky]

Alternate models on packaging and Idea Books were (fill in appropriate word here... examples - the greatest, the $%^!, the bomb, whatever floats your boat). I still wish I had (one of my) Kings Castle boxes around for the alternates on it!

But at the same time, the internet really has alleviated most of the usefulness of those. The only bonus they had was the fact you could make the alternate models from that ONE SET (or in the case of the idea books, one or two sets usually), whereas on the internet, you don't know what pieces the other people have. And on that note, what Bruce said is even better - try to make it, but who knows if you have the same pieces or not, you'll end up making it your own in the end!

[kk634]

These are great tips!
When the forum is being updated, I plan to build something.
Also, I loved the alternate model pics...though I never really used them, I would now.

[JPinoy]

The best way to learn about a job/hobby or any field that is new to you, is to simply watch and observe what the people who have been working in such a field have done. So I would suggest that simply browsing through the Castle section of BrickShelf is one of the best ways of learning. You'll see building techniques, design, styles, and even customization.

Before I discovered the LEGO community of BrickLink, BrickShelf, and LUGnet, I just Googled for pics of LEGO castle and came up with some pretty nice looking independent websites of MOCs. I even found, Robert Carney's work through online searches.

But its important that even if you see a style of building you like, you should always develop your own style or "flavor" of Castle building.