Some tips on MOCs?

[Peter Johnson]

Im pretty new to MOCs and I was wondering if anybody could give me some tips.

 

(Btw, I didn't know whether I should post this under Bionicle Discussion or Bionicle Based Creations)

[Cwog]

I'm pretty new to MOCs as well, but I think it's safe to say that you should take inspiration from really good parts of actual sets. Like, you like the armor placement of Tahu? In your MOC, emulate that while putting your own spin on it. MOCs are just another art form, so yeah, take inspiration from things you like, put add your own flair.

[Ford]

It depends. What are you looking to make? A:

Toa?

Makuta?

Humanoid?

Half-humanoid, half-animal? 

Animal?

[Aanchir]

A good thing to remember is to try to have stylistic consistency in your MOCs. Often that means trying to use parts that have the same motifs and textures in several places throughout the model. As an example, this leg beam goes great with this torso shell because they both have segmented bands and the same pattern of circular dots arranged in triangles or hexagons. Likewise, this leg beam goes great with this foot because they have similar pistons and trapezoid-shaped pockets or cavities. Using parts that have matching textures and motifs like this can create a sense of visual harmony where all the parts feel like they belong together.

Stylistic consistency is easy to achieve with CCBS (Character and Creature Building System, meaning the building system used for BIONICLE 2015 and other post-2010 constraction sets), because most of those parts, especially basic shells and beams, have very similar textures. It's still useful to keep in mind, though. If one part of a model uses very rounded armor and another part of the model uses very angular armor, they might not flow together very well (although this can sometimes be useful if you WANT different parts of the model to be at odds with each other, like Splitface from Hero Factory).

Two other useful skills to remember are color layering and color blocking. Color layering means having different colors to represent different layers of the design. The Toa Metru are a good example of simple color layering — their Dark Stone Grey parts represent their inner layer, while their elementally-colored armor represents their outer layer. Color blocking, on the other hand, means using different colors for different sections of the model. The Toa Mata are a good example of simple color blocking — their shoulders and hips are all black, their masks, torsos, and feet are all in their primary elemental colors, and their legs and arms are all in their secondary elemental colors. None of these parts are strictly an "inner layer" or an "outer layer", but they make the different sections of the build stand out from each other.

Both these techniques help color schemes feel more thought-out and deliberate, rather than chaotic and random. You can use both together, use one or the other, or even use neither (but this last option generally only works if you WANT a chaotic look, and can be harder to pull off without the MOC looking sloppy and thrown together).

Edited April 6, 2015 by Aanchir

[Peter Johnson]

It depends. What are you looking to make? A:

Toa?

Makuta?

Humanoid?

Half-humanoid, half-animal? 

Animal?

Toa and Matoran mostly.

 

 

A good thing to remember is to try to have stylistic consistency in your MOCs. Often that means trying to use parts that have the same motifs and textures in several places throughout the model. As an example, this leg beam goes great with this torso shell because they both have segmented bands and the same pattern of circular dots arranged in triangles or hexagons. Likewise, this leg beam goes great with this foot because they have similar pistons and trapezoid-shaped pockets or cavities. Using parts that have matching textures and motifs like this can create a sense of visual harmony where all the parts feel like they belong together.

 

Stylistic consistency is easy to achieve with CCBS (Character and Creature Building System, meaning the building system used for BIONICLE 2015 and other post-2010 constraction sets), because most of those parts, especially basic shells and beams, have very similar textures. It's still useful to keep in mind, though. If one part of a model uses very rounded armor and another part of the model uses very angular armor, they might not flow together very well (although this can sometimes be useful if you WANT different parts of the model to be at odds with each other, like Splitface from Hero Factory).

 

Two other useful skills to remember are color layering and color blocking. Color layering means having different colors to represent different layers of the design. The Toa Metru are a good example of simple color layering — their Dark Stone Grey parts represent their inner layer, while their elementally-colored armor represents their outer layer. Color blocking, on the other hand, means using different colors for different sections of the model. The Toa Mata are a good example of simple color blocking — their shoulders and hips are all black, their masks, torsos, and feet are all in their primary elemental colors, and their legs and arms are all in their secondary elemental colors. None of these parts are strictly an "inner layer" or an "outer layer", but they make the different sections of the build stand out from each other.

 

Both these techniques help color schemes feel more thought-out and deliberate, rather than chaotic and random. You can use both together, use one or the other, or even use neither (but this last option generally only works if you WANT a chaotic look, and can be harder to pull off without the MOC looking sloppy and thrown together).

Thanks a bunch for the help.

[Ford]

If you need some examples, feel free to send me a PM. I'd be happy to help!

[LegoSWfan]

what building system are you using?

[Peter Johnson]

CCBS

[LegoSWfan]

Then I wouln't be much of a help, sorry.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Decepticonwarrior