MOC - Japanese Garden

Here it is, my first MOC post.

I've designed heaps of MOCs using MLCad, but this is the first one i've bought the parts to, to actually make it in real life. Sometimes the clearances between parts can be hard to tell on screen, but i'm pleased to say it all worked out as planned! Feel free to ask any questions or to give me any criticisms or advice, as i'm kind of new to serious MOCing.











Thanks for looking.

Wow, that is gorgeous. A very beautiful MOC.

I especially love the spanners for the railings, the fountain and the way the pavilion is angled on the base. I think you also have a great rock and plant balance in the scene, very effective.

Thanks Anita! :D Everyone has said that about the spanners, even my non-Lego friends. LOL

It was hard to tell exactly what the end result would look like while designing it, because at the time, i didn't have the 'Round 1 x 1 with 3 Bamboo Leaves' (30176) part on MLCad.

Oh, now that is just AWESOME and beautiful at the same time !
Interesting to see spanner/screwdriver tools being used as hand rails !
Though I didn't see any parts from Ninjago sets among your creation !
Brick On 'haz' !

Thanks 'tiger' (can i call you that? :P )

I really wanted a 'Sensei Wu', but the Toy Corner didn't have him available separately at the time and i couldn't justify buying a whole set just to get him. I settled for the Series 3 'Samurai Warrior' instead, even though he's not in the pictures.

TC does have him now - saw it last week !

Thanks tiger. I might have to grab one this weekend. I still have some Japanese inspired MOCs floating around my head.

I can't wait to see your next Japanese inspired MOCs. I just recently bought a book on Japanese buildings to get some ideas for a Japanese fortress.

But I am having trouble with the roof... and considering for a lot of Japanese fortresses, the roof is such an important part of the overall look, (because often the outside walls can be quite minimal) not being able to do the roof means I can't do the whole building.

That is truly amazing, the spanners for railing pattern is just too clever. Between this and what Lightning Tiger creates, I think I'll just stick to vehicles and out of the box designs.

I'll add my OMG comment too. This is truly special. Love the spanners, I think I might try some ring spanner railings on a European balcony in the future.

I think this is particularly clever since, I could tell what type of garden it is based on, from the MOC (it's a paradise garden if I'm not mistaken, which tend to have a path which winds around a lake, often with vistas of Japan in miniature and/or Buddhist stories. I've got a bit of a thing for Japanese gardens

AnitaE for roof examples check out some of the guys from Hong Kong that post on Eurobricks. I think AndyBear and Benny would be names that might help in your searching. They've done some amazing temples, but they work better in larger buildings. There was also a very cool fold out (no kidding) Japanese temple model on YouTube, which was featured on The Brothers Brick with a cool roof.

Thanks everyone!

AnitaE wrote:But I am having trouble with the roof... and considering for a lot of Japanese fortresses, the roof is such an important part of the overall look, (because often the outside walls can be quite minimal) not being able to do the roof means I can't do the whole building.

I know what you mean. I spent a LONG time deciding on the final design for my roof. If i went with an even numbered square base, then the peak would be too hard to get to look how i wanted. So i ended up going with an 11x11 stud base to allow me to finish with a 3x3 (ish) cap. Even though this method ended up being a bit flimsy in real life, it all holds together in a 'proper', interconnecting Lego manner. I guess what i'm trying to say is keep at it. Maybe do lots of research into various styles or roofs and see what can be constructed with relative ease and/or realism. This is just my 2c, i'm no expert. :D

peterab wrote:I'll add my OMG comment too. This is truly special. Love the spanners, I think I might try some ring spanner railings on a European balcony in the future.

Hey peterab, feel free to use the open ended spanners too. I don't like to claim any idea as 'my own'.

peterab wrote:I think this is particularly clever since, I could tell what type of garden it is based on, from the MOC (it's a paradise garden if I'm not mistaken, which tend to have a path which winds around a lake, often with vistas of Japan in miniature and/or Buddhist stories. I've got a bit of a thing for Japanese gardens

You know more than me then! LOL I had the temple semi-designed (it was going to be a tea-house style, but i couldn't get any walls to look right) and i wanted to design a simple landscape for it. I did some research on things like waterfalls, Japanese stones/statues/water features, colours, rock patterns, steps, and footbridge designs. The more i learnt, the more i wanted to add to my MOC. So a 'simple' design blew out to a complex one rather quickly, especially when i got my hands on the 'Kimono Girl' minifig.

haz wrote:Hey peterab, feel free to use the open ended spanners too. I don't like to claim any idea as 'my own'.

I always find it amusing people who claim a technique is 'theirs'. If they've posted it in public without patent protection (if it were even possible since I'd argue most techniques are obvious in the sense LEGO is designed to interlock in many ways) they have already given the idea away. If I have used others MOCs as inspiration or wholesale lifted great chunks, I'll credit it, otherwise I wont.

I wanted to use the ring spanners because I think it will look more symmetrical and European.