How do you start?

[Slobey]

Just wondering how others go about building MOC's.

Do you plan it beforehand like Dr Carney for example or do you start putting bricks and seperate ideas together and see where it takes you?

Personally I'm more in the second catagory although seeing as I don't have as much time as I'd like to build, I'll often daydream about a castle or weapon of war I want to build. I guess you could call that planning to some degree

[The dark tide]

I do the same thing. I normally just go off of an idea I had in my head unless I am building a large MOC I normally draw a rough scetch of what it will be like.

[JPinoy]

I get a rough idea first, then try to refine it a bit, then start building. However, as I build along I tend to get new ideas and implement those new ideas into the design.

[eNiGMa]

I usually start with a vivid image in my head of what I want--what techniques I use, the placement of the figs, even the landscaping. I work along that, but usually end up with something a little different. Works great!

[DaveOhare01]

For me -- I like to start with a wild idea I have neither the money or space for...then go from there!

Actually, I do have some idea of generally what I'd like the project to end up like, but I don't do any planning on paper. I tend to build in sections and rooms, so I will start with an area I have an interest in and then build the next most appropriate section as I go. I will build one level of a creation across multiple baseplaes and then build the second level and so on. All in all -- the end product is usually quite different than the initial wild scheme, but is a lot of fun along the way!

Dave

[Tanotrooper]

I draw the design roughly, think about wich bricks I will use and then start searching for bricks!

I really need to sort them all...

yeah right

TT

[Jansen]

When I build an MOC, I have a rough idea in my head. Then I usually start by building a landscape and then build a structure on it with ideas that come to me as I build.

Bye,
Jansen

[Romas]

Some of my MOC's simply have to many pieces to be building as I go, so sometimes some careful planning is needed and I do need to know exactly how many pieces I have to buy. Since I never tear down my MOC's, I'm constantly running out of pieces. So MLCad can be veyr helpful in having an estimate of how many parts I will need.

[JoshWedin]

Great topic!

When I build an MOC, I have a rough idea in my head. Then I usually start by building a landscape and then build a structure on it with ideas that come to me as I build.

This is mostly what I do. But I tend to build the entire landscape first and see what fits best on that. I usually have a very rough idea in my head and terraform the land to meet that, but the terrain always comes first. After I have "finished" the MOC (usually a marathon build) then I set it off to the side for a day or two and let it "age". I think about it, come back to look, go away again, then I do another marathon build and fix what doesn't work. I used to post stuff right after the first build but things always came up that should have been better, hence the aging process.

Josh

[TheOrk]

I have hundreds of bricks, but not enough of the same colour or type to make a large castle Moc, so I just build what I think is missing in my collection.

I just think it up in my head and go build it and deal with every problem right then and there.

But when I think about it, some of my best Mocs ever were created by me, just me sitting down with some bricks and alot of spare time.

[SavaTheAggie]

I've gone both ways - planning ahead and unplanned freeform building. I can say that planned building works out to be much easier for me, and building goes a lot smoother. Freeform building is so much harder, but the results can be really worth it.

So... typically I get inspiration to build a MOC, from where ever I get it, and then deciede how I'm going to go about building it from there. If a MOC is going to be based off of something in particular, then I'm definately going to plan it out. If it's supposed to be natural or whimsical, I'll probably either just think of a rough idea of what I want, or just let the creativity flow.

--Anthony

[Lord Felix]

I just get an idea in my head and try to build. Most of the time I get cool ideas while I go and build the interiors as I build. This isn't a good meathod; It have to stop before putting a roof on each level, and most of the time I don't have ideas on how to place it. I have been asking myself this same question. Rough sketches eh?

[LegoAddict]

Well I tried to start a topic similar to this..but it failed miserably so I guess ill contribute to this stop instead.

I personally will just browse brickshelf and get a bunch of ideas in my head. I will start to devolop it out in my head; like the colours, size etc etc. Then Ill go into my closet can bring out the bins of the bricks im going to need. Then I throw on some good music and grab a baseblate and let the games begin! I ussally marathon build so 4 or 5 hours without taking a break is becoming oddly normal for me.

Kyle

[Sir Nelson]

As Josh said, great topic!

I usually build MOCs based on sketches of my ideas. Sometimes though, freeform building can lead to interesting MOCs.
This MOC turned out okay. But, this (IMHO) was a lot better (for not having any sketch/plan).

Generally, I would say that a good idea can usually be made better with some planning.

[Infyrana]

I once made very detailed plans before I started. I will never do that again though. It reduces the actual building process to just putting bricks together without having to think or be creative anymore. In particular I'll never built symmetrical structures again. Building the mirror structure is not all that exciting.

So start with a basic idea and work from that.