“The Conversation Piece” is a monthly BrickNerd series about creativity and building with LEGO authored by our friends over at the Builder Improvement Initiative (BII), a Discord-based community that helps LEGO builders of all levels get better at their craft through knowledge-sharing and constructive feedback.
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How to Detail a MOC
Maltrug asks: “Is more detail always better? And where is the balance?”
Over the last few years, we’ve seen plenty of standout creative endeavors within the pop culture industry. How have video games such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Baldur’s Gate 3 solidified themselves as games worthy of a Top 100 All-Time list? What sets shows like Severance, Arcane, and Andor apart from the norm? While there are ample reasons for their rightful praise, these works all feature intricate storytelling, intentional set or level design, and multidimensional characters, as well as deep lore, hidden meanings, and intricate mechanics. Each of these aspects shares a common thread; they reveal the creators’ exceptional attention to detail.
In the same way, great MOCs often separate themselves from good MOCs through an attention to detail (although this isn’t necessarily the only distinguisher). Sometimes, this manifests itself through careful texturing of castle walls and trodden paths. At other times, the deliberate use of repeating shapes and patterns subconsciously creates a sense of cohesion. It can even be seen in a creator’s ability to tell a story through minifigures and set pieces! While applying even one of these concepts can help improve a MOC, often the best builders leverage an understanding of several of these to make their builds shine.
However, it is possible to go too far with detailing, which can negatively affect a build instead of improving it. To quote Alan Watts, “Like everything else, it’s useful in moderation.” While it’s hard to deny the objective importance of detailing in MOCs, it’s even harder to create a standard for what that means; nor should we seek out such a rule! So, without further ado, let’s get into the details on detailing!
Types of Details
There are several different aspects of a MOC that builders may refer to as “details” in a MOC. Comments like “Wow, that stonework is so detailed!” “Love the railing detail,” or “That mouse hiding behind the crate is a fun detail,” all refer to details, but in different applications. For the remainder of this article, we will divide the details into three categories: textures, patterns, and set pieces.
Texture
In our daily lives, we use texture as a way to describe how something looks or feels, often through adjectives like rough, smooth, cloth-like, rope-like, and rubbery. However, within the context of LEGO, it could also refer to what a section looks like as a material. These material types can include organic, mechanical, brick, dirt, or water. At its crux, texture focuses on creating a sense of depth using insets or complex-shaped parts.
César Soares’s “Café Shop” uses a variety of parts to create textures, from briefcase and tile/bar brick patterns to air tank and ingot roofs!
Ido’s “Medieval Slice of Life” explores texturing at a much smaller scale.
Textures can be created in a variety of ways. The vast LEGO catalog includes a multitude of basic textured pieces within the “Modified Bricks” and “Modified Tiles” families, including masonry bricks, grille tiles/slopes, and ingots. There are also numerous parts that, although not specifically designed for texture, can be used to recreate the appearance of materials. Sifting through BrickLink’s Container listings alone within its Reference Catalog provides dozens of parts with various textures, whether it be the inset walls of Wand Boxes or the handle knob of a Cupboard Drawer. And that’s only one category; plenty more textured pieces can be found within “Plants,” “Hoses,” and even “Technic Gears!”
Ralf Langer’s “BrokenHome” is a masterclass of texture, making use of mundane bricks, plates and tiles to great effect.
Patterns
Patterns are defined as “any regularly repeated arrangement, especially a design made from repeated lines, shapes, or colours on a surface” (Cambridge Dictionary). Conceptually, they are not all too dissimilar to textures, as both utilize shapes and repetition. Patterns, however, rely more on shapes as a way to create artistically pleasing designs and less on creating the sense of depth and feel that textures do. These often show up in MOCs as windows, clothing details, or patterned floors (such as carpets or tiles).
Lårs Kumpfert uses a variety of clever “parts usage” to create gorgeous patterns in “Red Dimension 01.
Forlorn Empire’s “Deeper” is chock-full of patterns, utilizing everything from bucket handles to Unikitty tails!
By repetitively arranging parts, virtually any piece in the LEGO catalog can be used to create a pattern. Sometimes, this is achieved with a single piece used several times. Other times, patterns consist of a myriad of parts. Below are a couple of examples of how patterns might be used in a build.
Lårs Kumpfert also has posted smaller pattern studies, such as “Toothy Facade Ornament.”
Set Pieces
Our final category acts as a sort of catch-all for miscellaneous details. Set Pieces are miscellaneous items that can appear in a build, ranging from simple minifigures and animals to small crates or AC units. These add context to a build and can help bring some sense of life story to otherwise lifeless builds.
BrickReady’s “Offshore Slum Island” is brought to life through its minifigures and decorations.
A great example of their impact can be seen in BrickReady’s “New Hashima- Sektor 22- Offshore Slum Island.” While the build on its own sports a fantastic color palette, a strong layout, and good use of texturing, it would feel hollow and lifeless without its assortment of minifigures, crates, and decorations. Heck, it even has a cool motorbike!
Detail with Purpose (Eann)
Adding details without rhyme or reason to a build is a common pitfall new builders may fall into. This isn’t to say that every detail needs to be thoroughly planned; sometimes, a crate is just a crate and a tree is just a tree (or maybe an ent—who’s to judge?). However, a poorly placed window, an unnatural patch of rockwork, or an unrealistic hairstyle can quickly decrease the perceived quality of a build. Our brains are great at recognizing patterns; they’re also great at noticing when a pattern feels wrong. Problematic details can negatively clutter a build, adding complexity to a composition without adding substance.
Purposefully selecting pieces when texturing is a deeply rewarding skill. A common mistake budding builders tend to make, especially when constructing stone walls, is to use parts they’ve seen other builders use without understanding why they’re used. A clear example of this can be seen in writer Miscellanabuilds’s “Life of Rolli: Part the First.” Masonry bricks, jumpers, curved tiles, rail plates, ingots, and SNOT tiles are haphazardly used simply for the sake of adding texture without understanding why and how skilled builders use them.
Miscellanabuilds’ “Life of Rolli: Part the First” is a good example of how not to detail a MOC.
Textures aren’t the only detail that can lack purpose in a build, either; set pieces can also seem nonsensical and detract from the overall appearance of a build. The bookcase in the example above would have made more sense as shelves, given the lack of sides and the inset into the wall. Its height is also questionable, as the books don’t begin until well above a minifigure’s head; though perhaps the wizard just uses a levitation spell to bring them right to him! Thoughtfully choosing which set pieces to include and where to place them can make your build feel more alive and realistic, even if that build is about a wizard turning a man into a small rodent.
Blake Foster’s Builder Advice: One good clue about whether you are adding the right kind of detail is when in the building process, if you added it or planned it. Not every little detail can possibly be conceived of from the beginning, but the details also should not be left as an afterthought that you get to at the end. You should feel free to tweak the details any time you want, just don’t put off even thinking about them until the end. Going about it that way will often make the details look tacked on, rather than like integral parts of the MOC. That is what can often—but not always—hurt your composition.
Blake Foster’s Medina al Musawrah – Market and Hostel
Detail with Balance
Texture adds richness, but too much of it—or too much in the wrong places—can overwhelm a build. Any form of detail causes visual weight in a LEGO composition, drawing the viewer’s eye to it. Excessively texturing areas of a MOC can cause it to feel too heavy, dominating a build if not properly contrasted with low-texture areas. Kit, one of this article’s writers, admits that the cobblestone in his 2023 Summer Joust MOC distracts from the build and makes for an uncomfortable experience with the details in the building and stalls.
Kit Nugent’s “Wandering Sideways” highlights the impact visual weight can have on a MOC.
To achieve balance, it’s important to consider what textures are present and how they interact with the surrounding elements. Having moments for the eye to rest can create a more harmonious experience. Textures should be used purposefully to guide the eye through a visual path and to support visual hierarchy. A textured focal area, for instance, should be offset with simpler regions (“negative space”) to preserve clarity and emphasis. This composition technique encourages you to place negative space deliberately, knowing these moments land with more impact. Below are examples where the placement of texture appears intentional and stands out.
Jonah Schultz’s “The Sound of Silence” balances plain textures to place emphasis on the subject.
Oscar FA’s “Winter Showdown” demonstrates conscious use of negative space to convey a story.
Detail with Scale
While some texturing techniques can work beautifully on a large MOC, those same techniques can feel cramped, cluttered, or even unreadable when used in small builds. Our brains perceive detail through spatial organisation, including factors such as scale and context. Using large 2×2 and 2×4 tiles may work to represent brickwork on a large castle wall, but will look out of scale on a 12×12 vignette.
Good textures should be representative of a build’s size. On small builds, if texturing is too complex, it can obscure the dominant shapes, making the model appear muddy. Less is often more in smaller builds; clean surfaces with carefully chosen highlights of texture can achieve a vibe better than a completely textured wall. On the other hand, larger MOCs require more texture to keep the build from feeling flat or underdeveloped. Repeating patterns, weathering effects, and varied part use can help bring scale to life.
Olle Mosquist’s “West Gate” is a perfect example of good texturing on a large scale.
Putting It All Together: Detailing with Style (Eann)
Up until this point, it may seem like we’ve been telling you precisely how to detail correctly. Good artists might feel obligated to follow the rules of design to the letter. A great artist, however, separates themselves by knowing when and where to break these rules.
Thinking about the setting or story behind a build can introduce an opportunity to twist the rules. Little John’s “Orc Hideout” is rather textured and densely packed with set pieces, providing the eye little respite. However, this sells the fact that this hideout is controlled by a band of rough and brutish orcs; smooth walls and sprawling courtyards would do little to convince anyone that the space was truly occupied by orcs.
Little John’s “Orc Hideout” is a tightly-packed build that reflects the brutish nature of it’s inhabitants.
While some builders have established their style through their mastery of these rules, others have done so by bending, if not all-out ignoring, these rules. Markus Rollbühler’s Trophy Series signature is achieved mostly through standard bricks, plates, tiles, and slopes. Texturing in these builds is minimal, save for the stray stud or two. Hairstyles are mostly achieved through the use of tiles and slopes. Minifigure accessories are used sparingly and are mostly used to represent folded cloth and ribbons.
Where the style may “lack” in texture and patterns—a quite purposeful decision, mind you—it excels in storytelling through Set Pieces. Each build comes with a wonderfully built base and oftentimes an accessory, easily conveying story and purpose in an otherwise non-descript build, whether it’s an enchanting fortune teller, a crowd-pleasing bard, or a drunken (or maybe just merry) duo.
Markus Rollbühler’s trophy series, such as “The Bard,” has an iconic low-texture look achieved mostly through slopes and tiles.
Sprucing Up Your Builds with Details
Typically, details come naturally during the brainstorming and build process. Most intermediate builders have a general understanding that incorporating textures, patterns, and set pieces is a surefire way to enhance a build. However, understanding how to strike a balance with details can bring your builds to a whole other level. Intentionally detailing your build with regards to balance and scale will go a long way in improving a MOC. Heck, you may even start to develop a style of your own by purposefully prioritizing a specific type of detail in your builds!
The concepts surrounding textures, patterns, and set pieces are complex and numerous. Unfortunately, it would be a fool’s errand to attempt to write a single, all-encompassing article… which is why we will be focusing more on tips for each of these categories in our next article!
Written by Eann McCurdy, Kit Nugent, and Bartu Elci-Ozsoy in collaboration with Uncharted Fabrications and Blake Foster.
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