Great, I finally have an answer to my questions: it's all ACPins's fault ;-)

I haven't done much Star Wars building lately, but that's mostly due to focusing on competitive building. Also, I dislike building Star Wars things if I don't have minifigs to go with it, and since I'm a purist KOTOR and Republic Commando MOCs are limited to me. However, I have quite a few Star Wars MOCs planned, some quite ambitious. ;)

As a recently born Star Wars MOC builder, I am surprised by this topic because I do not have this feeling. However, what I note is that there are more and more builders (not only Star Wars builders) that do not necessarily show their MOCs to the community.

Wait a minute, now it's my fault for you not building SW MOCs anymore? You know that you can build a lot more than what has already been done. It doesn't have to be massive all the time unless you're thinking of the battles/bases/buildings. There's certainly a lot of iconic scenes that haven't been done yet which I'm planning to do and they would certainly just fit in a large baseplate like this one.

If you're planning to do an MOC that was already done by someone else, put your own spin on it and make it better. The whole key to do better MOCs is being able to learn from others the designs/techniques and making them your own. If you want to solicit opinion on the progress of your MOC, then do what I do and post WIP pics of it. Be prepared though for C&C that may or may not be favorable. In the end, it's what your insights on when you started the MOC that counts, no matter what other say. Build for your own satisfaction and if others appreciate it, consider it as icing on the cake!

AC

I agree with ACPin : there are a lot of remaining things to do, not necessarily in a "better" way that what has been done but in a different one.

Come on, there's so much more to be done. If I had the luxury of space and brick inventory like you have, I'd definitely would be able to build them bigger and better.

Wait a minute, now it's my fault for you not building SW MOCs anymore? You know that you can build a lot more than what has already been done. It doesn't have to be massive all the time unless you're thinking of the battles/bases/buildings. There's certainly a lot of iconic scenes that haven't been done yet which I'm planning to do and they would certainly just fit in a large baseplate like this one.

If you're planning to do an MOC that was already done by someone else, put your own spin on it and make it better. The whole key to do better MOCs is being able to learn from others the designs/techniques and making them your own. If you want to solicit opinion on the progress of your MOC, then do what I do and post WIP pics of it. Be prepared though for C&C that may or may not be favorable. In the end, it's what your insights on when you started the MOC that counts, no matter what other say. Build for your own satisfaction and if others appreciate it, consider it as icing on the cake!

AC

Yep totally your fault! No I'm kidding of course but I do tend to try to build "new" ideas not just rehash old ones unless the old ones were done far less better than I could do. I think my Lady Luck was a good example of this. I had seen a lot of people do it just not to the level of scale and detail that I knew I could. I am the same way with some your MOCs. You've done them so nicely that for now I can't even come close. So I'd rather build something that will get noticed. Rather than doing a smaller version of what you just did, unless I feel I can make it more detailed or with some nice NPUs then I'll go for it. :)

Edited April 18, 201311 yr by Rook

Yep totally your fault! No I'm kidding of course but I do tend to try to build "new" ideas not just rehash old ones unless the old ones were done far less better than I could do. I think my Lady Luck was a good example of this. I had seen a lot of people do it just not to the level of scale and detail that I knew I could. I am the same way with some your MOCs. You've done them so nicely that for now I can't even come close. So I'd rather build something that will get noticed. Rather than doing a smaller version of what you just did, unless I feel I can make it more detailed or with some nice NPUs then I'll go for it. :)

I guess we're even as I won't dare do a spaceship that you've done for the same reasons you've pointed out about my MOCs!

AC

I guess we're even as I won't dare do a spaceship that you've done for the same reasons you've pointed out about my MOCs!

AC

I got it now! It is all of Rook and AC's fault! They are the ones who build everything awesome while we sit at home and get depress because we're never going to be that good. Thanks guys!

Interestingly, the presently frontpaged MOC is a Star Wars MOC "Luke and Yoda on Dagobah" by Bayou .

Question : which Star Wars MOC was previously frontpaged ?

Answer : surprise , it is my "Tribute to R2-D2" at the 21-th november (so long).

The real interesting point is that both MOCs have been done for a SeTechnic Star Wars contest. It is clearly a good point for this forum but is this just a coincidence or not ?

From the beginning, these two MOCs are planned to be judged by a jury and the presentation on forums is particularly well prepared.

I got it now! It is all of Rook and AC's fault! They are the ones who build everything awesome while we sit at home and get depress because we're never going to be that good. Thanks guys!

Well there you have we killed the internet. Thanks ACPin, I'm looking forward to my next SHIP. But don't know when I'm going to start it. Still trying to finish my TOWER in time for Brickworld.

Great, I finally have an answer to my questions: it's all ACPins's fault ;-)

I won't take all the blame, add Rook to that!

I got it now! It is all of Rook and AC's fault! They are the ones who build everything awesome while we sit at home and get depress because we're never going to be that good. Thanks guys!

Guilty, guilty, guilty!

Interestingly, the presently frontpaged MOC is a Star Wars MOC "Luke and Yoda on Dagobah" by Bayou .

Question : which Star Wars MOC was previously frontpaged ?

Answer : surprise , it is my "Tribute to R2-D2" at the 21-th november (so long).

The real interesting point is that both MOCs have been done for a SeTechnic Star Wars contest. It is clearly a good point for this forum but is this just a coincidence or not ?

From the beginning, these two MOCs are planned to be judged by a jury and the presentation on forums is particularly well prepared.

Don't get your hopes up too much about getting FP all the time as it doesn't work that way. Also don't build MOCs expecting them to be FPed or TBB or blogged in SW sites as you'll be setting yourself for a big disappointment. Build what you like and if the praises come along, consider them icing on the cake!

Well there you have we killed the internet. Thanks ACPin, I'm looking forward to my next SHIP. But don't know when I'm going to start it. Still trying to finish my TOWER in time for Brickworld.

At least I'm not alone taking the blame, who knows I'll probably whip up a spaceship when I get bored doing dioramas.

AC

I haven't posted any MOCs yet, for a variety of reasons. First of all, I admit, I'm just not building as much as I'd like; my collection is too disorganized and I'm working on the "fun room" (the room I intend to use for building, displaying and playing with my creations), and until I get it all sorted out I'm just not able to do as much as I'd like.

More importantly, though, I think I don't regard my MOCs in quite the same way others here do. I'm frankly not particularly looking forward to subjecting my creations to criticism - not so much because I "can't handle it," but mainly because in my case I want to build to different aesthetic standards than others here, and in particular I want to make things that are very "Star Wars-y" without necessarily being screen accurate in the way some of the builders here strive for. Part of me does love absolute accuracy, but part of me finds it often somewhat off-putting when applied to LEGO (as opposed to, say, traditional model-making or prop-making, fine arts, etc.). In LEGO, large expanses of grey, say, can often look, well... boring. I also want my creations to strike a balance between the aesthetics of Star Wars and those of LEGO. Sometimes that may mean intentionally playing with the proportions of a craft, or being a little adventurous with the color scheme. I frankly don't know whether others here would always appreciate or even understand what I'm trying to achieve. I don't mean that as an insult or anything like that; it's just that I get the impression my goals may be so different from those of others here as to seem completely alien.

(Beyond this, there's also a part of me that just doesn't want other people telling me how to play with my toys, which at the end of the day is how I really view what I'm doing, even if it can also be seen as artistic endeavor.)

Edited May 8, 201311 yr by Blondie-Wan

I've built a lot of Star Wars MOCs over the last year. Mostly posted on Flickr and all EU stuff or stuff I've made up. I guess there are some who wouldn't consider them Star Wars, because they aren't vehicles from the movies. That doesn't bother me at all. It is fun for me to try to build something original, but still distinctly Star Wars. I like to build the official sets too, but they get torn down pretty quickly, to use my imagination to build something else. That is what makes LEGO so enjoyable to me.

I can't believe there are so many people saying they aren't building because other people have done it better or bigger or with more picture editing. I always find well done MOCs with good presentation to be inspiring, not intimidating. It isn't a contest (well, not always). Have fun and build.

Also, I feel that there are more MOCers posting elsewhere, Flickr and MOCpages than here.

...but mainly because in my case I want to build to different aesthetic standards than others here, and in particular I want to make things that are very "Star Wars-y" without necessarily being screen accurate in the way some of the builders here strive for. Part of me does love absolute accuracy, but part of me finds it often somewhat off-putting when applied to LEGO (as opposed to, say, traditional model-making or prop-making, fine arts, etc.). In LEGO, large expanses of grey, say, can often look, well... boring. I also want my creations to strike a balance between the aesthetics of Star Wars and those of LEGO. Sometimes that may mean intentionally playing with the proportions of a craft, or being a little adventurous with the color scheme. I frankly don't know whether others here would always appreciate or even understand what I'm trying to achieve. I don't mean that as an insult or anything like that; it's just that I get the impression my goals may be so different from those of others here as to seem completely alien.

I've built a lot of Star Wars MOCs over the last year. Mostly posted on Flickr and all EU stuff or stuff I've made up. I guess there are some who wouldn't consider them Star Wars, because they aren't vehicles from the movies. That doesn't bother me at all. It is fun for me to try to build something original, but still distinctly Star Wars. I like to build the official sets too, but they get torn down pretty quickly, to use my imagination to build something else. That is what makes LEGO so enjoyable to me.

I can't believe there are so many people saying they aren't building because other people have done it better or bigger or with more picture editing. I always find well done MOCs with good presentation to be inspiring, not intimidating. It isn't a contest (well, not always). Have fun and build.

This. This is what every fan of LEGO Star Wars should be thinking. One of the great things about a LEGO community is that we can all share building techniques. When you see someone else's MOC that's better than yours, look for the specific ways that it's better, compliment the other builder, and look to see how you can improve yours so that it's no longer obsolete.

And yes, I think that a lot of members tend to shy away from the fanon MOCs, regarding them as plain old sci-fi, which they shouldn't. It's not easy to make a model that fits in with the 'Star Wars aesthetic'.

Star Wars is like my favorite thing but i see no reason to make Star Wars mocs very often. Most of the stuff I'd want to make are already sets. X-Wing and stuff. Anything like a unique ship I make would simply be imitation and not truly fit IN Star Wars. There's no room for interpretation when it comes to creativity here. It's just either Star Wars, or it's not. And they've covered most of the stuff in Star Wars already.

Star Wars is like my favorite thing but i see no reason to make Star Wars mocs very often. Most of the stuff I'd want to make are already sets. X-Wing and stuff. Anything like a unique ship I make would simply be imitation and not truly fit IN Star Wars. There's no room for interpretation when it comes to creativity here. It's just either Star Wars, or it's not. And they've covered most of the stuff in Star Wars already.

And that, I think is one of the reasons for the MOC drought: The belief that the sets are already good enough. I realize that there are the fans who just want to play with the sets, and that's fine, I understand that. It's where we all started. But I think more fans need to move past that and challenge themselves to build MOCs that are more accurate and just as fun to play with as the sets*. LEGO is, after all, a building toy, and it should be a goal of any Fan of LEGO to be continually learning to build better things with it.

*For example, look at Anio's creations. He forces himself to build within the same rules as TLG's designers, avoiding illegal connections, sticking to parts that have been recently released, optimizing the number of parts used, and keeping the entire model up to a certain level of toughness and strength. He still makes jaw-dropping UCS models.

I am working on my next project, but only information I am disclosing at this time it is a ship. Unfortunetly due to my current job location the project is on hold for the next 10 months.

To caveat off some of the other comments, having builders such as Rook, AC Pin, Cavegod, Anio, and etc create such awesome renditions of the Star Wars Universe does not need to limit from building the same creation. Perhaps a builder could find a way to build it in a bigger or even better fashion. Me personally, I prefer to look at their work as an inspiration, versus a hinderance. Creating and building a MOC involves passion, build what you are passionate about, who cares if it has been done before.

Star Wars is like my favorite thing but i see no reason to make Star Wars mocs very often. Most of the stuff I'd want to make are already sets. X-Wing and stuff. Anything like a unique ship I make would simply be imitation and not truly fit IN Star Wars. There's no room for interpretation when it comes to creativity here. It's just either Star Wars, or it's not. And they've covered most of the stuff in Star Wars already.

So you don't think there is a Star Wars aesthetic? There is no doubt in my mind that there is. Just like there is a Star Trek aesthetic or a TRON aesthetic, etc. I think it is a lot of fun to see people use their imagination to build something that would fit snugly into the Star Wars universe. That was what I liked so much about the FBTB bounty hunter contests. You could tell which entries were trying to fit into Star Wars and which weren't. It was fun. Sure there might be someone who comes along and says something is a Star Wars ship that looks nothing like Star Wars, but when someone nails it, it is really cool.

Even the Collectible Minifig Podracer contest were Star Wars MOCs even though they were silly. Any custom Podracer is a Star Wars MOC, because podracers only exist in the Star Wars universe.