How to build a modular house MOC?

[LukeWarmTea]

Try to make an outline of the floor using just 1xX or 2xX bricks, and then lay large plates on top. Making plate layout can be tricky, so try to use different size plates, including the smallest one. That's how I do it.

Thanks! I had a decent plate layout, but it has failed the 'Can withstand use by a child' test, and my second attempt failed the 'Let's enough light/hand room into the lower floor' test (as the upper floor will hopefully not have to be removed for play. Like The Simpson's House) so I'm back to the drawing board!

[Colossus]

elleana, I may not have as many bricks as some of the "professional" Lego collectors, but I still have all my Lego from my youth plus the Lego from my kids and some sets I bought in recent years.

If I would build a prototype of a MOC with bricks, I would use all colors and when it's finished I would order the missing bricks in the desired color through Lego.

I came out of my dark years a couple years ago, but I've collected some LEGO sets along the way that have caught my eye. I have a hodgepodge of bricks like you for MOC's, and I also employ this method for what I'm building. I make what I want with what I have, then replace with proper parts acquired through Bricklink. I'm not yet comfortable with LDD, and it's more frustrating to me than anything else. Plus, I enjoy using my own two hands when making something.

[LegoSjaak]

I've been MOC-cing for a few hours again and made the building a bit higher...i also did something with the roof....It could be an Austrian building....in Vienna... ofcourse some of the bows need to be replaced by tan ones....

Edited January 24, 2014 by LegoSjaak

[sin]

Nice work LegoSjaak! Is that an 'L' shape? Any chance for a view of the back and of the roof?

[LegoSjaak]

Nice work LegoSjaak! Is that an 'L' shape? Any chance for a view of the back and of the roof?

Yes, it is an L=shape....

[Redhead1982]

LegoSjaak, your building looks great. Is there an overhang of the roof on the sides ''attaching'' to other buildings?

[LegoSjaak]

LegoSjaak, your building looks great. Is there an overhang of the roof on the sides ''attaching'' to other buildings?

Thanks, Redhead, no, there is no overhang.... i chose for this solution, so the building would fit nicely to other modulars... I'm not satisfied with the build, there has to be done a lot, but i leave it for a few days now.......Greetz, LegoSjaak

[eurotrash]

If I would build a prototype of a MOC with bricks, I would use all colors and when it's finished I would order the missing bricks in the desired color through Lego.

I have a hodgepodge of bricks like you for MOC's, and I also employ this method for what I'm building. I make what I want with what I have, then replace with proper parts acquired through Bricklink.

There's an acronym for everything and what you're doing is EPIC - Existing Pieces Ignore Color. It's the one I'm most comfortable with as well. I rather get the shape and proportions right and then sort out the color issues - my workshop looks a bit technicolor sometimes, but it all works out in the end.

Yes, it is an L=shape....

Looking good LegoSjaak!

[elleana]

elleana, I may not have as many bricks as some of the "professional" Lego collectors, but I still have all my Lego from my youth plus the Lego from my kids and some sets I bought in recent years.

If I would build a prototype of a MOC with bricks, I would use all colors and when it's finished I would order the missing bricks in the desired color through Lego.

I came out of my dark years a couple years ago, but I've collected some LEGO sets along the way that have caught my eye. I have a hodgepodge of bricks like you for MOC's, and I also employ this method for what I'm building. I make what I want with what I have, then replace with proper parts acquired through Bricklink. I'm not yet comfortable with LDD, and it's more frustrating to me than anything else. Plus, I enjoy using my own two hands when making something.

Just to update on what I've done to get myself set up to MOC modular buildings.

In the past week or so I've placed a large number of BL orders. What I've done is ordered large quantities (in the 100s) of pieces I think are most commonly used in MOCS (bricks, tiles, plates, headlights, some slope pieces, windows, doors) as well as some other pieces I've seen used in the Lego modulars in the most common colors (white, black, light and dark bluish grey, tan). Once everything gets here I think I'll have a pretty good starting point. If I have an idea for some other color scheme I guess I can use the bricks I have first and then sub out accordingly once I manage to order what I want from BL.

I much prefer digging through a large pile of Lego (I find that sound therapeutic!) so will just do that instead of using LDD.

Edited February 5, 2014 by elleana

[coghilla]

I plan my buildings with either freebuilding or if I'm trying to recreate something using lego grid paper to draw it up and get the proportions i want.

Following the Barnes & Nobel store http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=80215&hl=barnes

I have followed wooootles lead and raised the street up by a couple of plates.

[Qro]

I have just started designing my first MOC, a modular one. Due to a serious lack of bricks (very expensive here in China, the average modular is at least 40-50 euro more expensive than the European retail price, and there are NO discounts, ever) I'm using LDD. That works great for me. It's very easy and fast to tinker with it and make changes. Though I cannot use the hands-on method for above reason I'm pretty sure for me LDD is the preferred way to design. I downloaded LDD last weekend and got used to it pretty fast. The ground floor of my MOC is nearly done (have to do some work on the facade still). I plan to start a separate file/design for each floor so I have full accessibility and won't be covering up anything. Of course I'II try to use bricks that are readily available, to keep prices as low as possible.

[kvasir]

Here are the modular house version of three well-known sets, can you guess which?

Only the Simpsons Townhouse is fully furnished and fully modular. The other two are just façades with no side walls. The "Tower House" has no floors in between. I call these "semi-modular".

Edited January 14, 2015 by kvasir

[truebricklove]

This topic is awesome, just followed it. Everyone's input is very helpful. I definitely agree that building the modular sets gives you a feel for making a MOC. Although I am no where near the level of expertise of photos in this thread, I have done a few trial and errors. I think it's fun that way, to learn and build based on your own findings and growing it into better ideas.

[Lankygit]

I have just found this thread too. Great tips, especially the one about using what you have and worrying about colours later. Thought never even crossed my mind.

I have some available funds to top up my parts, however I am pondering so many options I am not sure what is the 'right thing to do'. I am thinking buy Tower Bridge to use as parts - the set doesn't interest me. Or do I purchase some current modulars (Petshop and Palace Theatre) and put them by to resell at a later date, when are discontinued. I am also considering the Bike Shop & Cafe 30126 set as a project to make modular - will buy two. I have a couple of bricklink projects on the go - Green Grocer and a left hand version of the town house from the pet shop set. There are so many options when you have LEGO cash too spend. What would you do?

[ficbot]

What I have been doing for mine is laying rough walls, say one or two levels high, then doing the interior, then finishing it off. I sometimes need those ones with the extra stud on the front of it, to hang fixtures, so I don't want to build up the whole wall until I know where those are going. I have also been going with whatever bricks I have the most colours of and not designing from scratch. So for my most recent one here is what I did:

1) Put down the bottom layer of half-thickness brown. Then made the window boxes, put in the windows and doors, and enough white wall around them so they would not fall down

2) Interior. The hardest part was the wall with all the shelves for the pets. In every one I have made so far, there has been o e tricky feature which took the most time. This took a lot of trial and error, and the finished product was far from my first go. I learned for example not to build it flush with the wall as the pets tails needed a little room, and I had to use the half-thickness little plates to add a touch more height without going over the top of the wall. I also made the window awning plate extend inward by one depth. So on the side window, that gave me room inside to mount the clock, and on the back window I was able to anchor the shelf so it would not fall down.

3) Then I built up the wall, making the top row brown to match the base colour, and the final row of smooth plates.

4) I roughed out the easy parts of the interior, then did the finishing plates on the floor and added the last bits and pieces. And here it is:

Lego Pet Shop! by ficbot, on Flickr

Lego Pet Shop! by ficbot, on Flickr

I have a second floor ready to go but have not decided what to put in it yet...

[MusicaRibelle]

@Kvasir: I want to see more of the modular Simpsons house, please! :)

A few months ago, somebody else built an awesome 32x32 modular with a store at the bottom called Matt's Masks. Very nice.

Inspired by that, I decided to rebuild the Simpsons house as modular, with less flair and by using as much as possible only the existing pieces.

I didn't like the result at all: it looked too "plain" and yet too "big" next to other modulars.

I'd really like to see what you've done...

I can really echo the posts about diving directly into the building without LDD and rebuilding a few times. It's fun -- although at times it can be frustrating -- and I already spend most of my waking hours at a computer anyways.

I am still pretty bad at capturing the right level of details for the facades and interiors -- it's hard to get to the quality of recent official sets.

Interestingly, Café Corner provides a good way to learn techniques for the exterior, but the interior is pretty bare.

Anyhow, this is a great thread, keep your thoughts coming, I enjoyed very much reading all the posts so far..

[Legogal]

Great posts full of lots of ideas. Thanks for so much info. EPIC sounds like a great solution to the lack of bricks in a specific color.

I tried enlarging Cafe Corner a few years ago and ran out of steam. Maybe it is time to dig it out and give it another try. Interior was just too small to be usable.

Buying a set is a great way to get a wide variety of parts, and you can always order extras off BL. I've done this a lot with Creator houses.

[ReplicaOfLife]

I'm currently building (in real bricks) my second modular MOC.

The first one (my Hat Shop, posted on here early last spring) was freebuilt entirely using vintage bricks from my collection.

The second one uses modern pieces & colors. I pulled inspiration from a design that was posted on here that I really admire (I asked the builders permission wether I could use it) and first designed the entire building in LDD, retro-engineering the parts of the original MOC that I wanted to replicate in my own. Then I placed a total of 7 BL orders to accumulate the ~2650 bricks I was missing. The overall building uses pretty much exactly 3500 bricks. During building it in LDD, I made sure to check availabilty of any kind of brick/color combination that I wasn't sure existed.

I'm halfway through the second floor now, and it's a LOT of fun to build this. I discovered two minor blunders with the BL orders (didn't order enough of two types of bricks), but both are used in detailing only and could be replaced by others. With one of them, I think I know what happened, but how the other came to be too small, I don't quite get. But what the hell .

Result will be posted here once it's done

I already have several ideas for my next project and I'll definately choose the LDD road again. I'd hate being stuck during the build because I really wanted to build something but was missing the right amount of some bricks.