Are Big pieces all so bad?

[dyntar]

Do the raised baseplates count as big pieces? I only have 2 raised plates and one is only used for the set it came with. I'm trying to do something with the other.. but its very restrictive.
Do people actually create MOCs with raised baseplates or are the basically useless outside of the set they came with?

[DraconisTerrena]

Do the raised baseplates count as big pieces? I only have 2 raised plates and one is only used for the set it came with. I'm trying to do something with the other.. but its very restrictive.
Do people actually create MOCs with raised baseplates or are the basically useless outside of the set they came with?

I used them a lot when I was younger, but now I do tend to find them to be restrictive and hard to work with. I've been able to put a few things on them, but the baseplate makes the results look too similar. I'm much happier making brick-built terrain.

[DarkTemplar]

I agree that while big pieces aren't ideal to work with, they definitely cut down costs. I think I've spent like 300 or so on the MOC I'm working on at the moment at that would have easily been double without the use of castle wall bricks. So they're nice starting out bricks.

[Count Blacktron]

Raised baseplates are one of my favorite challenging pieces to use for MOCing. Whether it is a Town or Castle creation it is a lot of fun to incorporate them into the design as a piece of hilly landscape or the foundation of a hill-fort. 75 degree inverse slopes are necessary if you intend to have your structure creep up the baseplate. I like them so much I have a couple of file cabinet drawers just for my wide assortment as they are a real draw and guilty pleasure for me.

[Lord Lego 436]

Raised baseplates are one of my favorite challenging pieces to use for MOCing. Whether it is a Town or Castle creation it is a lot of fun to incorporate them into the design as a piece of hilly landscape or the foundation of a hill-fort. 75 degree inverse slopes are necessary if you intend to have your structure creep up the baseplate. I like them so much I have a couple of file cabinet drawers just for my wide assortment as they are a real draw and guilty pleasure for me.

I also love making brick built terrain. I always make my hills from those flat green pieces. Brick built terrain can really make or break a MOC.

[Pale Dim]

Lots of interesting points in this thread. The two the stood out to me were, their usefulness is determined by project scale and by what use you find for them. From browsing through several dozen MOC folders since leaving the dark ages, I've found that nothing turns me off an MOC quite like a wall made of panels stacked several high and over a dozen long. However, in a single horizontal row of reasonable length, or as a small part of a large structure, panels can blend in well without taking away from the overall appearance, and they would work well as hidden structural support. That's my opinion, anywho.

For me, for now, panels, BURPs, and LURPs are going to be the foundation of whatever I build because I have an abundance of them. I just don't have enough bricks to build walls with or loose cash to purchase more. It's disappointing to know that I won't have the design freedom that comes from brick wall building (as is evident in all those spectacular MOCs), but I'm excited nonetheless to see what can be done with what I have. I'm looking forward to the challenge of creating something interesting with big pieces on a larger scale than storebought sets.

About the raised baseplates, I have three: two greens and one gray from an imperial guard base. I never found a good use for them.

[CodeGeorge]

I love wall panels. I could see why people wouldn't like them to be overused but I don't own enough to ever do that .



Now those rock pieces... Well, they're okay in moderation.

[Count Blacktron]

Ship hull pieces and airplane wing sections are also in that category of really big, nearly single purpose parts also. They have their place, but the most use comes from basic bricks. I've always tried to incorporate those large, shaped pieces in some unique creation of my own like a centerpiece for my imagination to try to chisel something out from. It can be challenging.

[ottoatm]

I don't mind the wall panels - circa King's Castle/Black Monarch, but pretty much everything else is really not something I think makes a MOC better. Smaller bricks really have a much nicer look to me, and when you look at the early castles as opposed to now, there is just no comparison.

Do I use BURPs and LURPs, heh heh heh... yes, I do, because often, I am just too lazy or too cheap. But there is no question in my mind, they are shortcuts, and you can tell.

They remind me of that fake brick that people put on their houses - it's supposed to look like a brick house when your done, but if you look closely, you can see that it's actually just a think layer that someone glued over the wood of the house.

Or that fake wood wallpaper they used to use so much.

BURPs and LURPs kind of do what small pieces did, but you can tell, and I feel that makes a difference when you get to a certain level of building~

[Funnyham]

I think we all understand the meaning of the phrase "guns don't kill people, people kill people". While not even close to the same thing, the message can also be applied to 'big pieces' of LEGO...it's not the pieces themselves, it's how a builder chooses to use them. Take from that, what you will.

Hear Hear

[Blue Moon Knight]

I've seen very good uses of burps and such. As was stated, it depends on usage.

[dyntar]

So.. its not the size of the piece that counts.. its how you use it?

[Blue Moon Knight]

So.. its not the size of the piece that counts.. its how you use it?

Exactly!

[quaraga]

I agree that burps/lurps are no good on their own, but I think the 5x2 wall pieces are great. as mentioned before they are an effective way to build a wall.
if legho made a 100% brick castle I'd buy it but when ever I do anythng like that it's either too chunkey or too brittle.

[Ye Olde Republic]

Personally, I take no issue whatsoever with burps and lurps but I read a discussion somewhere a long time ago where it was decided that covering up the hollow studs on them is one of the best ways to disguise them. I agree with that, and adding some bricks/slopes to break up the repetitive nature of them helps as well. The 5x6x2 castle walls are a separate entity to me. I like to use them for my CCC walls but the windows in my curtain wall drives me crazy. The windows can of course be covered up but then you can find some weird vertical seams due to the five wide piece. The five wide wall panels always seemed to be a bit strange to me but the more I think about them as an adult, they don't seem to fit 'system' very well at all.