Hey guys.

Here is my miniature scale MOC of Thrawn's Office as seen in Star Wars Rebels. I only had a limited number of pieces available to me hence it's small size but I think it looks pretty cool as a small model. My first ever MOC, even if it is just a hollow box. Let me know what you think, even if it is just so simple. :)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/150527770@N07/with/36309233335/

IMG_1306-min by Spongebob 456, on Flickr

IMG_1300-min by Spongebob 456, on Flickr

Edited August 2, 20177 yr by BEAVeR
Embedded pictures

Hi Spongebob456, and congratulations on starting on your MOCcing journey here on Eurobricks  !

First of all, I love it that what you lack in amount of bricks, you make up by a nice concept. It's fun to have an interesting looking box that almost looks like a vault, that you can't wait to open to see what's inside. It gives an extra twist to what otherwise would just be an interior on a plate, but now makes you feel like you're peaking into the lives of some minifigs, so well done. Also, nice door: the door rails (I'm surprised they can hold the door in place!) offer some nice texture to the wall and make the transition between the wall and the door not too jarring. Maybe it would even be better if you would also have some relief next to the door to make an entire door frame around it to achieve that effect even more. Inside, I like the simple way you constructed the desk, although it might benefit from tiling and maybe a small slope to depict a monitor so that it really looks like an executive desk. The piece behind Thrawn looks interesting as well, although I can't quite tell because it's not very visible in the pictures. Finally, what impresses me is how you arranged the bricks in the walls by stacking them straight on top of each other instead of staggering them. That way, you're wall doesn't look like it's made of actual clay bricks, but of metal panels because you have those bigger surfaces that are separated by subtle seams. That effect is really nice!

As for building advice, I'd try some sideways building (SNOT) on the floor (just build a wall and lay it flat on its side and find a way to attach it to the rest) to give it a smooth look, which will begin to make it look more professional. I'd make it another (preferably darker, so black would do) color for a bit of contrast to the walls, because otherwise everything will just blend together: it's important that the viewer immediately understands the general shape of what he's looking at. Talking about the viewer, let's talk photography. All in all, everything is nice and sharp which is already a good beginning, but next time try to get rid of the shadow you or your camera cast. Just try adding some other light sources at other angles or take your picture outside on a cloudy day for nice even lighting, even though you'd probably still need some light source in order to give it that artificial look. Also, try to adjust your exposure settings so that you don't have over exposed areas in your picture, like the clone helmet (actually, the reflections of that one look nicer) or Thrawn's outfit. Than there's nothing to distract people from enjoying your build.

Good luck with your further MOCcing career! I'm curious to see where it will go!

PS: It's always better to show pictures in your topic instead of linking to them, because it's easier to discuss them that way, and experience tells that people often simply don't take the trouble of clicking through. I see you're using Flick to host your pictures, which is a solid choice in the AFOL community. Embedding a picture of Flickr in your topic is really easy: just go to the photo you want, click on the curved arrow right next to the star you use to favorite pictures, select the "BBCode" tab, choose your size from the dropdown menu (never go above 1024px to stay conform the Site Guidelines, and for smaller builds it's generally better to pick something around 800px wide instead as I already did for you), copy the code from the box and simply paste it into your topic. Nothing will show up in the topic at first, but just hit the preview button to see how it will look. Try it by adding more pictures to your post above,and then you'll know everything you need to know to make your topics as good as possible!

Thanks for the advice! I very rarely build custom stuff (this was my first thing really other than when I modded the Carbon Freeze Chamber to make the octagon) so for me I was happy to make something that looks presentable. As I acquire more pieces I'm going to go for a more professional look as you said, going more detailed as well. I'm also paying much more attention when I buy Lego sets to the building techniques used to take into any custom projects. 

I'll look into Bricklink as well to buy some of the pieces I need for the specific custom build to again create that professional look. I was going to see if they did those large, brick-size door frame pieces but they haven't been released in dark-bluish grey as of yet so I'm keeping my eye out. Not sure how else to do the door frame in the mean time. 

Oh, and I'll also look into photography a bit better and take more care when presenting MOCs in future. Will make sure I post correctly here next time too! :)

Really excited to have got started and I can't want to make more.

Thanks again for the advice!

Very nice build with few bricks!