The composition of modular buildings
Posted by Huw,
In the first building tutorial of the year, Pau Padrós discusses differences in the way the official modular buildings are composed and how he applies the techniques to his own models:
Modular buildings are one of the most highly anticipated releases of the year. This kind of depiction of a slice of town originally created by Jamie Berard is an incredibly versatile format for MOCcers to build upon. With sixteen official models, it’s unsurprising that fans have, over time, created custom designs.
With eleven custom modular under my belt, in a series of articles, I will try to uncover some secrets of how to make an amazing custom modular building. Hold on for the ride!
In this article we will dive into the composition of a modular. For composition, we understand the same concept that is traditionally used in fine arts: the arrangement into specific proportion or relation and especially into artistic form.
Composition of a modular is vital. It’s, alongside the colour scheme, what draws the eye to the model even in the smallest of images. There are two basic ways to go with composition: “hilly” composition or flat composition.
Hilly composition
Most of Lego’s modulars and most of the quality ones you’ll find online employ this kind of composition. A hilly composition has features that extend further to draw attention. It basically uses taller sections to give a sense of weight and personality and shorter sections to complete the model. Café Corner, Market Street, Green Grocer (to a lesser extent), Fire Brigade, Town Hall, Palace Cinema, Parisian Restaurant, Detective’s Office, Assembly Square, Downtown Diner, Bookshop and Police Station all use this device.
Over time, there has been a noticeable change in how this composition is achieved. In the older modulars, it’s usually done using towers, whereas in the more recent buildings, it’s usually done using smaller buildings or negative space.
Hilly compositions come in many shapes and forms. I would recommend reading this article by benbuildslego on designing skylines. He does a great job in giving terms to the subgenres of hilly compositions. Also, great builds to get inspiration! His whole series of articles is excellent, so go have a look!
Flat Composition
Pet Shop is the typical example of this kind of composition, where architectural details and different colour schemes make the difference rather than composition. What is rather surprising is that the other three examples of flat composition are corner modulars. Grand Emporium, Brick Bank and Corner Garage all use this composition. In all honesty, Brick Bank is almost not a corner modular, but still the lack of compositional features in official corner modulars is surprising.
Negative space
Technically all modulars have used negative space. In order to achieve any compositional effect, there must be negative space. Imagine it as a shadow puppet theatre; any model, when lit up from behind, casts its own particular shadow. Some modulars, though, use negative space not only to define their silhouette around the top of the model, but to frame it entirely.
Parisian Restaurant is an excellent example of beautiful composition and use of negative space. There have been many examples of MODs expanding it, but I have yet to find one that manages to keep the feel the original has. The personality of Parisian Restaurant is basically cemented on three pillars: the details on the roof, the colour scheme and the negative space on its right. Because it has no tower element, the whole building acts as the tower. Therefore, getting rid of the space on the right ruins the composition of the whole building. Downtown Diner uses negative space similarly, albeit on the left-hand side.
My personal favourite use of negative space within the modular line is Detective’s Office. Detective’s Office is a masterpiece in composition. In this case, it’s not only “space” itself being used, but a building itself doing that exact job. The brown building in the middle of Detective’s Office is just a spacer for the Medium Nougat and blue buildings to shine. Detective’s Office on top of that uses a taller building to add that extra drama to the composition.
One of the drawbacks of such tightly designed compositions is that they often get lost when expanded into larger models unless the modder is remarkably aware of their importance to maintain identity. Models such as Parisian Restaurant, Detective’s Office, Downtown Diner rely massively on the proportions (widths and heights) of their parts for identity, where models such as Green Grocer, Grand Emporium, Pet Shop or Bookshop can be used multiple times along a street with a couple modifications with almost a guarantee of success.
A few examples of my own
Magic Shop and Italian Villa are the first two modulars I designed. They are very dear to my heart. Despite these two buildings having countless techniques and choices that I definitely frown upon some years later, the composition and colour choices are impeccable.
Magic Shop in an exercise in modularising German half-timbered homes. Even to this day, Lego has not made a modular with a triangular roof when viewed from the front, which is a shame, as it can really work wonders as demonstrated here. In terms of composition, the triangular shape undeniably gives this model a large share of its identity. All the other elements do not interfere with this prominent feature but make other areas of the model more interesting.
This is especially true for the roof on the left: it slopes along the roofline, allowing for a dormer to fill up the space nicely. As proof that you don’t always need to know where you’re going with a design, the ground level was completed (including interiors!) without even the idea for the first nor the second floor conceived. At the time, the most recent modular was Brick Bank, which, in a way, almost seems like it could have come about in a similar way (although that is really unlikely). My point is: venture into the unknown even if there seems to be no concrete objective!
Italian Villa was a little different. I based this model on a scale model which gives you a head start. Because this was based on another model, most of the figuring out was already done and I only had to adapt it to the Lego format. As you can see, it’s not a piece-per-piece recreation, as it served more as a solid base for the model to be based upon more than anything else. Many of the compositional tricks are similar to Magic Shop, but this time, mirrored and without the pointed top.
The Iron Horse was the third modular I designed and my first corner. For this model, I chose a bit of hybrid between both previous approaches. I recreated a building in a theme park. Because theme parks choose very carefully what to include and what not to include, the reference was filtered like a scale model would be. In order not to feel creatively stale, a return to recreating real architecture was welcome. For this model, I very intentionally took Brick Bank’s colour scheme with Café Corner’s shaping. In fact, I started building my own modulars because I found Brick Bank such a let-down!
All the previous three modulars I’ve shown have a very noticeable pre-Parisian Restaurant feel. For my fifth, Sweets & Co., I used a flat composition for the first time and went off the beaten track, starting to push the envelope of what a modular could be. I based this model on the chamfered corners of the new part of Barcelona (the Eixample). As a building filling the whole baseplate might be a bit overpowering (especially considering the lack of features to keep the ball rolling), I chose to split it into two and make it interesting in that way. Funnily enough, this model was designed between January and March of 2017, but a modular with a similar design only came in 2019 with Corner Garage. Not sure if to call it a coincidence.
A Summer in Tuscany was the first of a new breed of modulars from me. With this modular, I took the format pioneered by Assembly Square and took it that bit further. To make the square feel airier, the orange building uses the same technique from Sweets & Co. The middle building disappears and becomes a patio behind a garden wall. This section was inspired by Velázquez’s Villa Medici Gardens series. Ideas come way easier if you have a backlog of knowledge always on the back of your mind!
Klee Corner is a really proud achievement in my modular collection. This was the first time I fitted three buildings in a single 32x32 baseplate (Lego has only done this with this year’s Police Station). On top of that, there’s a little alleyway to break up so much colour. This model is all about absurd amounts of colour strategically placed for them work. The tallest point in the build is on the right building, but due to the bright colours and the odd sweeping curve, there is no doubt for the viewer that the focal point of the build is the central building.
The blue building serves as support for the central building: it has less garish shapes and colours. Windows also open up the tiny 6-wide space much better than the 6-wide they’ve put in Police Office does. For the first time, I used a colour “box” on the ground floor. I had been struggling for a long time to get ground levels I was actually pleased with, and these turned out to be the solution.
Disco 2000 is a continuation of the ideas explored on Klee Corner on a corner modular. You can see I went all-out with the boxes on the ground floor (the red one is inspired by the London Underground entrances by Leslie Green!), with the curved façades (here in sand green) and with the funky cornices.
Baseplate Alley was again, a bit of a reinvention. For this model, I took the composition from Downtown Diner and incorporated façades pointing forward. The aggressive nature of the pointy triangle as a shape for a building is softened by protruding windows (which, extensively, withdraw attention from the pointiness of the buildings), sweeping cornices and a lack of continuation of the façades on either side. Windows are the eyes of a building, so it’s important to nail their look. For this model, I had a unique opportunity to make all the windows on the main façades “look away” from the camera, thus giving the whole model less the feeling that it’s staring into your soul and more the idea that it’s looking at the horizon and that you’re observing it at a vanishing moment when it’s distracted. Poetic nonsense (probably) that I like to think about when designing.
So, if you have made it here, hope you enjoyed reading through and got inspired to build! I would also like to say a big thank you to Brickset, not only for allowing me to write this article, but also for the amazing impact they have and will continue to have on the Lego community.
You can take a look at my modulars and various other MOCs both on Instagram (@paupadrosrios) (https://www.instagram.com/paupadrosrios/) and on Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/paupadros/albums).
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42 comments on this article
I always like seeing MOC modulars, but they always are missing this little extra touch that most of the originals have. Is it LEGO magic? Is it this little touch of playability aimed at kids? Who knows...
Nice look at official and custom modulars that goes down to elemental basics. Thanks for another dose of inspiration to do one of my own this year. I'll push back on one minor point that comes down to preference; Brick Bank is one of my favorite Modulars :)
Good article, thank you! Those of us that are not professional artists may appreciate things like negative space, but don't have the training or knowledge to use it consciously. This type of article helps us non-artists utilize more design tools to make better overall compositions. This is really useful!
I'm looking forward to more articles in this series!
As someone who is working to get into my own modular building construction I appreciate this, it would bw fun if I could get the needed pieces for my costume builds faster.
When I first looked at this article I thought that I would find the sort of cliché, not-very-practically-helpful tips that, well, wouldn't really help. I had already changed my mind by the time I had read the first point. Will definitely come back here if I need inspiration/tips. Thanks a lot!
@Phoenixio said:
"I always like seeing MOC modulars, but they always are missing this little extra touch that most of the originals have. Is it LEGO magic? Is it this little touch of playability aimed at kids? Who knows..."
I agree :)
theres just something about them that mocers cant quite replicate...
Pau Padrós might be the best Modular builder out there. I never really thought about composition like that before. You almost have to wonder when we can expect a Pau-approved version of these from a clone manufacturer.
Great article, thanks!
Just one comment: Palace Cinema is a corner building, so there are 3 corner one's with flat composition and one that is hilly. On the other hand, most of the non-corner's are hilly, with Pet Shop being the exception. So, why is the lack of compositional features (is it lack of, or is flat a compositional feature itself?) more surprising than the constant presence of the hilly composition in non-corners? I actually think the flat Pet Shop looks better than the hilly Bookshop, the two buildings on the latter just don't fit that well together...
Interesting read. Does make for an interesting comparison between the official modulars, and some of the techniques used by MOCers.
Personally, I find Pau Padros’ modulars not to my taste; they often feel a little too busy in terms of techniques and (especially) colours. I think the best modulars demonstrate a balance between clarity and restraint on the one hand, and an impression of “Is that really made out of lego?” on the other.
A very enjoyable article to read.
Regarding MOCs vs official sets, I would guess that it's some combination of a) the limitations of a budget that result in a kind of leanness that MOC builders don't need to consider in the same way, and b) multiple iterations of the building with input from several designers.
@Samdas said:
" @Phoenixio said:
"I always like seeing MOC modulars, but they always are missing this little extra touch that most of the originals have. Is it LEGO magic? Is it this little touch of playability aimed at kids? Who knows..."
I agree :)
theres just something about them that mocers cant quite replicate..."
I think bricked1980 on IDEAS has come closest to capturing the modular ‘x-factor’ for me, his police station has just made the 10,000 cut and I think its brilliant.
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/fa5635b2-3b10-42e7-b7cc-027744005b84
Shame its no chance based on 10278 just being released.
@Phoenixio This reminds me of another modular article I saw called 'The Essence of Modular Building'. It breaks down the Lego magic quite concisely. https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/150555-the-essence-of-modular-building/
@Slave2lego said:
" @Samdas said:
" @Phoenixio said:
"I always like seeing MOC modulars, but they always are missing this little extra touch that most of the originals have. Is it LEGO magic? Is it this little touch of playability aimed at kids? Who knows..."
I agree :)
theres just something about them that mocers cant quite replicate..."
I think bricked1980 on IDEAS has come closest to capturing the modular ‘x-factor’ for me, his police station has just made the 10,000 cut and I think its brilliant.
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/fa5635b2-3b10-42e7-b7cc-027744005b84
Shame its no chance based on 10278 just being released.
"
I've been a fan of his stuff for a while, and I would have agreed a few weeks ago even, but I noticed how high the piece count is, which then made me realized how detailed some parts are. I think there's a medium with lower details, but not quite as flat a presentation either. I would gladly build his stuff, but as others have mentioned, I would probably separate his builds to make a British town out of his modulars, while the original line is more international yet weirdly cohesive, a real LEGO city.
@Wasthereonce said:
" @Phoenixio This reminds me of another modular article I saw called 'The Essence of Modular Building'. It breaks down the Lego magic quite concisely. https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/150555-the-essence-of-modular-building/ "
There are quite a few good ones in there. The Bike Shop I had my eyes on for the longest time, but could never find the instructions (even their official website never got back to me), But yeah they do highlight a lot of the things that make some modulars pop up so much more than others!
@Phoenixio said:
"I always like seeing MOC modulars, but they always are missing this little extra touch that most of the originals have. Is it LEGO magic? Is it this little touch of playability aimed at kids? Who knows..."
I came here to say just this!
I think it's actually a little of what we saw with the hoo-hah around the blacksmith's shop. MOCs tend to have too much detail, while Lego is the master of showing just enough that your eye does the rest. It's why hobbyists love building a whole wall of masonry bricks because it looks "real" but in a set they're just scattered around to give the impression of bricks.
That said, this was an interesting post, thanks!
@Phoenixio said:
"There are quite a few good ones in there. The Bike Shop I had my eyes on for the longest time, but could never find the instructions (even their official website never got back to me), But yeah they do highlight a lot of the things that make some modulars pop up so much more than others!"
Because there is no free version of it. Just google the name of the creator: "Brickative". They have an online shop. I finished their moc "the old town pub" few weeks ago. That was by far one of my best lego experience ever.
@Phoenixio said:
"I always like seeing MOC modulars, but they always are missing this little extra touch that most of the originals have. Is it LEGO magic? Is it this little touch of playability aimed at kids? Who knows..."
Taller ground floor in a contrasting colour, texture and visual interest throughout, horizontal and vertical lines, stripes of colour and texture, colour blocking and accent colours, varying depth, unorthodox uses of elements (especially in rooflines), small playful details, extra items on the sidewalk, planters under the windows...
There are so many aspects, details, and patterns that go into a true modular building that most builders are bound some. The writeup Wasthereonce linked sums them up very well and demonstrates how much seemingly small differences can impact a model.
I’ve always been interested in custom modulars, so I found this a very good read.
Pau, this is an Amazing work you've been doing!!! I was going to name a favourite but alas, I can't. This is seriously gorgeous stuff and your background in architecture gives lots of insight! Your name is Catalunyan, where did you get the word "Farmàcia" from? Love the article too, moltes grazes! :)
I vote 10k for Summer in Tuscany. When it will released?
Lovin Disco 2000 and Tuscany.0
Thanks for very interesting article
@Slave2lego said:
"I think bricked1980 on IDEAS has come closest to capturing the modular ‘x-factor’ for me, his police station has just made the 10,000 cut and I think its brilliant.
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/fa5635b2-3b10-42e7-b7cc-027744005b84
Shame its no chance based on 10278 just being released.
"
His Queen Bricktoria is one of my favorite LEGO models. Like the Parisian Restaurant, it's a place I would like to visit if it were real.
Personally, I don't see a single informative thing in this artice, I can't even grasp how anybody would think that it's useful. This "article" could've been summed up in 3-4 sentences, max. There are sometimes variations in height. Except when aren't. There are sometimes variations in colours. Except when aren't. And then you say the same thing again, but with MOCs and saying "negative space". Utterly useless article from Huw, it just comes across as playing smart.
@Horesz1994 said:
"Personally, I don't see a single informative thing in this artice, I can't even grasp how anybody would think that it's useful. This "article" could've been summed up in 3-4 sentences, max. There are sometimes variations in height. Except when aren't. There are sometimes variations in colours. Except when aren't. And then you say the same thing again, but with MOCs and saying "negative space". Utterly useless article from Huw, it just comes across as playing smart."
Despite the fact that lots of above comments have called this article helpful?
All these looks so...Souless?
@Horesz1994 said:
"Personally, I don't see a single informative thing in this artice, I can't even grasp how anybody would think that it's useful. This "article" could've been summed up in 3-4 sentences, max. There are sometimes variations in height. Except when aren't. There are sometimes variations in colours. Except when aren't. And then you say the same thing again, but with MOCs and saying "negative space". Utterly useless article from Huw, it just comes across as playing smart."
I wouldn't dismiss the article though, as it's evidently clear that tons of us are looking for that special magic that makes the modulars what they are. But it's certainly a lot more than can be contained in a somewhat lengthy article already. It led to good discussions as well, and there's been good links shared that add to this a lot! Also, it's not from Huw, but from Pau.
The problem with Modular Buildings is that they are still very European style, with just the Diner as American / art deco style. We should do more modern types, not as radical that I would do https://www.flickr.com/photos/niteangel/ , but more modern and neat especially on the building facade.
@aztecwarrior said:
"If any of you build mocs, where do you start?"
Just talking with other builders I've come to realize that no two approaches are alike, but in general I start with a concept and fit parts to the idea based on what I have. This has gotten easier over the years as my collection has grown, but can be accomplished with a small collection as well. If you find yourself stalled out on projects for lack of parts I would take a stab at rebuilding with only the parts in a specific set, effectively creating alternate models as MOCs. For me this has helped develop my techniques because it forces you to work with what you have. Start small and set goals, perhaps completing one every month and working your way up to 500-piece sets by the end of the year. Good luck!
@Phoenixio said:
"I always like seeing MOC modulars, but they always are missing this little extra touch that most of the originals have. Is it LEGO magic? Is it this little touch of playability aimed at kids? Who knows..."
I think with the pro's vs the moc guys, the pro's are just better designers - they make better/interesting/innovative facades, have access to more parts, can have new colors for parts to give that extra touch needed, and other members of the design team to help. And of course they have a professional graphics guy for the final touches, prints, original design elements.
I'd recommend adding a "Basement & Sewerage" under any Modular - would look fantastic:
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/d5c2a435-8082-40f6-a76c-697b14ae7317
@Rob42 said:
" @Phoenixio said:
"I always like seeing MOC modulars, but they always are missing this little extra touch that most of the originals have. Is it LEGO magic? Is it this little touch of playability aimed at kids? Who knows..."
Taller ground floor in a contrasting colour, texture and visual interest throughout, horizontal and vertical lines, stripes of colour and texture, colour blocking and accent colours, varying depth, unorthodox uses of elements (especially in rooflines), small playful details, extra items on the sidewalk, planters under the windows...
There are so many aspects, details, and patterns that go into a true modular building that most builders are bound some. The writeup Wasthereonce linked sums them up very well and demonstrates how much seemingly small differences can impact a model."
I have also been trying to understand the art of designing and building modulars (bottom line - it is incredibly difficult!). There is some great work out there by MOCers and some buildings, including a couple here, get close to capturing that magic of a Lego-designed model. I think it requires many iterations of a building in order to try different colours, slight changes in depth, parts usage (and input from other excellent designers). I really commend all of the MOCers out there because I am not even close to that level but I think it takes time and practice.
For me, even the Police station that got 10 K votes in Lego Ideas is missing something. It looks very much like a creator 3in1 set. I think with articles like this and others, people will be able to get tips on how to capture that magic of an official model.
@Horesz1994 said:
"Personally, I don't see a single informative thing in this artice, I can't even grasp how anybody would think that it's useful. This "article" could've been summed up in 3-4 sentences, max. There are sometimes variations in height. Except when aren't. There are sometimes variations in colours. Except when aren't. And then you say the same thing again, but with MOCs and saying "negative space". Utterly useless article from Huw, it just comes across as playing smart."
I agree 100%. I dont even find his moc's very interesting when compared to other modular mocs you can find everywhere...
Negative space is in fact meaningless: it all comes down to proportion, form, funcionality, materials etc...
@Bricklestick said:
"Interesting read. Does make for an interesting comparison between the official modulars, and some of the techniques used by MOCers.
Personally, I find Pau Padros’ modulars not to my taste; they often feel a little too busy in terms of techniques and (especially) colours. I think the best modulars demonstrate a balance between clarity and restraint on the one hand, and an impression of “Is that really made out of lego?” on the other."
I have to agree. I like his compositions, his colors, his designs, but never all three together.
There's a wealth of detail up close, but from a distance many of his builds blend into monotone. Compare that to the official builds, where LEGO usually includes a single plate's-thickness of a stripe in a different color, or use patterned bricks.
His builds are still fantastic, they're just missing that editorial review of other people saying "tone it down a little" or "maybe add another color here?"
If he did that, I could see a design of his becoming official in the future.
@legoDad42 said:
" @Phoenixio said:
"I always like seeing MOC modulars, but they always are missing this little extra touch that most of the originals have. Is it LEGO magic? Is it this little touch of playability aimed at kids? Who knows..."
I think with the pro's vs the moc guys, the pro's are just better designers - they make better/interesting/innovative facades, have access to more parts, can have new colors for parts to give that extra touch needed, and other members of the design team to help. And of course they have a professional graphics guy for the final touches, prints, original design elements. "
Don't forget the biggest Ace in the hole:
If you work for LEGO, you can have Brand New, original pieces designed for your build.
I'm sure that can help.
@DigitalDevourer said:His builds are still fantastic, they're just missing that editorial review of other people saying "tone it down a little" or "maybe add another color here?"
If he did that, I could see a design of his becoming official in the future. ]]
The whole point of this series is that they are distinct from the official Lego modulars. The limits and constraints of the official modulars are artificial and imposed in the name of profit on creativity and aesthetics. The goal is not to extrude some ABS and stuff it in a box so your house can get even more cluttered than it was before, and everyone then uploads photos of the same official Modular village connected in slightly different ways to their social media.
I really love summer in Tuscany as all the min-figs appear to be full of energy and enjoying life. There is a great photo of the 3 Pau Padrós modulars at https://www.pinterest.com/pin/356699232981754872/
Despite some of the naysayers above I found this to be quite a good article. Well done on exploring how the use of basic composition can help to give your modulars a distinct visual identity.
Some of my favorite "official" modulars have been ones like the Detective's Office, Brick Bank, and Police Station that integrate multiple, overlapping building structures. By blending the footprints of buildings together and varying things like height and depth, they create a composition that feels more organic and "lived in" than full-width modulars arranged side-by-side. The composition ends up telling a story of buildings that have sat alongside each other for some time and grown almost symbiotically according to the complementary needs of their residents.
@awniteangel said:
"The problem with Modular Buildings is that they are still very European style, with just the Diner as American / art deco style. We should do more modern types, not as radical that I would do https://www.flickr.com/photos/niteangel/ , but more modern and neat especially on the building facade."
I like your police and fire stations. But my favorite of your builds are Hong Kong vernaculars.
If you count Ninjago buildings and Chinese festivals line as "modulars" then there is more diversity in what Lego designs, but the modular line itself is rather staid. I agree with you that it could use more contemporary buildings.
Lovely article! I suspect that being able to understand the individual strengths of the official Modular Building sets on such a detailed level has had a big impact on how you've been able to create such amazingly distinctive and appealing Modular Building designs of your own!
Regrettably, I have not yet been able to bring any modular building designs of my own to completion, and I think a big part of that is that even if I have a lot of separate ideas for architectural styles, compositions, or particular sorts of homes or businesses that I want to try designing modular buildings around, I often have a harder time synthesizing those design elements into one complete design that feels really unique and compelling on ALL of those levels.
Hopefully after reading this article I'll be at least a little better equipped to overcome some of those stumbling blocks. But I also hope you consider writing more "building tip" articles like this in the future, because you clearly have a lot of insights to share, and also a great talent for communicating those insights!
That said, I don't mean to take your time and effort for granted, so even if you don't plan on writing any other articles like this in the immediate future, I will try to set aside some time on my own to read some of the other articles you've written for sites and publications like Brickset and Hispabrick that I'd previously missed out on. I know I'll definitely have a lot to learn from them!
@Paperdaisy said:
"A very enjoyable article to read.
Regarding MOCs vs official sets, I would guess that it's some combination of a) the limitations of a budget that result in a kind of leanness that MOC builders don't need to consider in the same way, and b) multiple iterations of the building with input from several designers."
This second point is a big deal that I think a lot of people don't appreciate, and also something I should try to remind myself more often.
Even though it's been a lifelong dream of mine to have a creative job at a company like LEGO, I often feel down on myself about the quality of my MOCs, especially compared to the brilliance of a lot of my favorite official sets and themes.But I also know from my previous toy industry experience working as a Hasbro photo studio intern that even if I feel "out of my depth" compared to the experience and expertise of my coworkers, being part of a team like that made a huge difference in how much I could achieve with my time, efforts, and skills than I could independently.
So next time I see a job opening at LEGO I should try to keep in mind that I might have more to offer than I might expect from the frustrations I've had with my own solo projects. :) And I encourage other builders who struggle with a lack of confidence to keep that perspective in mind themselves!
@DigitalDevourer said:
" @legoDad42 said:
" @Phoenixio said:
"I always like seeing MOC modulars, but they always are missing this little extra touch that most of the originals have. Is it LEGO magic? Is it this little touch of playability aimed at kids? Who knows..."
I think with the pro's vs the moc guys, the pro's are just better designers - they make better/interesting/innovative facades, have access to more parts, can have new colors for parts to give that extra touch needed, and other members of the design team to help. And of course they have a professional graphics guy for the final touches, prints, original design elements. "
Don't forget the biggest Ace in the hole:
If you work for LEGO, you can have Brand New, original pieces designed for your build.
I'm sure that can help. "
Word up. Totally. Having the ability to fabricate new elements, recolor existing parts, big advantage.
We have Modular Buildings for Town/City
We have Ninjago City for Ninjago
I'd really like to see a line of modulars (or more one off modulars) for other LEGO themes. A Fantasy store with crenulations for Castle, and old-timey saloon for Western, Futuron could have it's own dedicated line of sci-fi structures. I know a lot of people like having the main Modulars heavily grounded in reality, but a more fantastical entry or two would be greatly appreciated.
@Frank_Brickowski said:
"I'd recommend adding a "Basement & Sewerage" under any Modular - would look fantastic:
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/d5c2a435-8082-40f6-a76c-697b14ae7317"
Throw in some Ninja Turtles and I'm sold!