ShopGreebling: A closer look
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| on Wednesday 28 June 2006 by Bohman  in Articles |
Greebling: A closer look
By Linus Bohman
-------------------------------------------------
1. Introduction
Greeble, greeb or greebling is a word not recognized by most dictionaries. As written in the greeble design commentary on Lugnet, “‘Greeble’ (also ‘greeblie’ or ‘greeb’) is the popular term to describe groupings of mechanical-looking detail elements on MOCs”. A good and wide definition, but what does it mean for a space builder?
Essentially, greebling is detailing that helps give a model a believable and interesting appearance, working together with the colour scheme and shape of the MOC. This includes all sorts of things – from clusters of mechanical looking elements on the side of a ship, brick-built* guns and engine areas, to brick-built cockpits and controls. Due to all of this there are a lot of things to have in mind when greebling (and it is furthermore, as we will see, based on very loose conventions), and this document is intended to provide an introduction to that world. Happy reading!
* Brick-built in this context: consisting of more than one piece.
(Do note that I am not an expert on the subject, but merely wish to contribute with a few of my observations. In essence, this document strives to be descriptive rather than prescriptive. What I say here are not steadfast rules, but things to think about. Above all I’d like to encourage experimentation – both in general Lego-building as well as greebling in particular.)
-------------------------------------------------
2. Greebling
2.1 Where to greeble?
As mentioned, greebling is a subject with very few set conventions. That includes the places where to put the detailing – as long as it looks good in context, feel free to do the greeble-dance. But what does it take for a greebled area to “look good in context”?
Basically, the greebles should look like they are functional, and sit in a logical place for that function. As an obvious and slightly far-fetched example, consider Lego mosaics: are they usually greebled? Most often, no. Why not? Because that would look odd – the detailing would have no real purpose beside looking cool, and they would appear out of place. The same goes for putting greebles on other MOCs – without purpose, they are just cool detailing that probably appear odd to the functional minded human eye.
That said, where do we in the space community usually put our greeblie-bits? Here’s a sample of what I consider greebling. Some are the traditional kind, others not – but they all have in common that they are brick-built detailing.
We greeble to break up boring areas. This is probably the kind of greebling most people think about when they hear the word.
We greeble the bottom of ships to avoid the plate bottom-look:
We greeble areas where the craft changes shape in order to get smooth(er) transitions:
We detail cockpits in order to make them look more interesting and appear to have more realistic controls (instead of pre-made chairs and printed tiles):
In order to make thruster areas interesting, we also detail them carefully:
In the same vein as cockpit detailing, we seem to dislike one mold-guns (mainly Star Wars-shooters) and build our own:
We furthermore greeble areas around landing gears to make them look technical:
And we also tend to build our own equipment to use as detailing:
-------------------------------------------------
2.2 Greeble-layout
So, how can one generally layout ones greebles? That would most often be dictated by model’s form and function, but generally one can see several tendencies. Many of them are scale decisions – plenty or less of a certain factor? For example:
Density. How intense should the greeble-cluster be? A lot of greebles, or fewer? Both can look good, and what one want is dependant on the situation. (Left = lot, right = less.)
Furthermore, do one want them to be symmetrical (left) or asymmetrical (middle)? Or perhaps a little bit of both (right)?
In order to make them look organized, one can also use bigger eye-catching pieces combined with smaller ones for support:
One can also have them interact with the context they are in. For example, they can be recessed (left) – having the same height as the surrounding area – or they can be partially hidden (right).
And last but certainly not least, one can design the greebled area to have flow. I personally find this very important, as the greebled areas tend to look like a cluster of small individual pieces (instead of a working, mechanical whole) if they do not interact properly:
-------------------------------------------------
2.3 In what colour?
When it comes to greeble-colour, grey and dark grey is definitely the most dominant colour. Nothing strange about that – those colours easily helps us imagine mechanical elements made of steel. There is nothing that prevents greebling in other colours though! It has been done before with interesting results. The important thing is that the greeble colour works well with the general colour scheme of the MOC.
One can also achieve great effects with highlights in another colour:
-------------------------------------------------
2.4 With what pieces?
So what does one use when greebling? This is an area that really seems to bring out the creativity in people – basically, anything goes! There does, however, seem to be a pull towards smaller pieces. In general, a bunch of smaller pieces seem to give a more mechanical look than fewer large ones. Below are a few examples of piece-categories that can be used as greebling.
As mentioned, smaller pieces usually make up for most greebling. When repeated, they can also create interesting patterns (look at the sides of the engine pods on the second example):
Round elements are also popular. This is probably due to the fact that they contrast with the generally square bricks we build with (which is also a reason as to why many seem to gravitate towards non-square designs in general):
Another area that is useful when greebling is the minifig domain – both the tools and the severed limbs have great potential. (Look for minifig crotches near the bottom on the second example):
Technic pieces have also become quite common when greebling. Especially gears are used, but they are not the only ones:
Plates, both regular and modified, can also be used as greebling – but it often requires repeating or an interesting context, since they usually are common elements in a MOC. While it is difficult to do well, it can be done with great effect so don’t forget about them!
And lastly, an area that I personally find highly interesting: tiles. They have been used quite often as regular detailing, for example grilles on the left and regular tiles to create textural differences on the right:
But regular tiles have also begun to appear as greebles in a different way. Here the general shapes are used to give the impression of structures, achieved with layers. This has been explored on a MOC by Daniel Rubin, and also in two greeble studies by Luke Becker. I find this a very interesting form of greebling that deserves attention – especially the two studies hints at untapped potential.
-------------------------------------------------
2.5 A last bit of advice, or greeble no-no’s
Despite being such an amazingly free area where ones creativity really can run wild, there are a few things to should avoid when greebling. Most of them have been mentioned before, but let us do a run-through again.
Avoid tacked on greebling. This can be due to the details not fitting well into context or the bits looking like separate pieces. To avoid this, check the colour scheme, greeble density and greeble flow. Having grey greebles on a grey background makes them look more intense compared to grey greebles on another colour. Also remember not to make greebling a purpose in itself – just greeble enough. Not more, not less.
Also remember that greebles are not necessary to make a great MOC, as these three excellent models show:
Greebles are essentially fantasy-elements – in the real world, spaceships would be unlikely to place mechanical elements exposed to radiation, weapon fire and whatnot. Instead of looking at this as an obstacle, use it to your advantage: you really can make the details look any way you wish! And, finally, remember that you can disregard anything said in this document. These are merely observations – experimentation is king.
Happy greebling!
Linus
-------------------------------------------------
3. References
3.1 Greeble reading
Space design commentary on Lugnet
Non-Lego tutorial on greebling
Greeble study: In CS flickr group – on CS forums – short summary
Quick examples of what to do with turntable tops
Quick examples of what to do with hoses
Examples of wall-greebling
Various engine inspiration
Various gun inspiration
Various Cockpit inspiration
All of the pictures used in this article
-------------------------------------------------
3.2 Referenced MOCs
(In alphabetical order. CS nickname in parenthesis if applicable.)
Becker, Luke (Bekr)
Greeble study 1
Greeble study 2
Blocksidge, Kevin (Kevoh)
Union J.A.C
Bohman, Linus (Bohman)
Greeble study
Gun idea
S.I.E.G.E tank
Swamp Thing
Verner Veinbaum’s vickedly vonderful vheel-machine
Bugge, Niels (SirBugge)
Bubblecraft 2
Greeble study
Longship
Z-fighter
(Catsy)
Avery AAF 212 Hornet Starfighter
Citrin, Charlie (lego2000)
Space trailer
Crowley, Mike
Jetpack
(Cybris)
Autonomous strike drone
Dean, Nick (Kcaster)
42nd club
Hovering light post
The Sofia
Giddens, Chris (Admiral Giddens)
Denarius
PCS Hop-B.A.T
Goldman, Keith
The Ghoul
Gould, Timothy (PCBCarlos)
Taipan
Ute
Hafner, Tony (Hafhead)
Nebula III
Hofman, Leonard (Blastov)
Rocketship Awesome
Hofman, Dean (TheRoaminCandle)
Mercenary gunboat
James (Turkguy19)
White eagle orbital hotel and casino
Jarek (Jerac)
Beholder engineering droid
Flying Machine
Monostomper
Jassim, Daniel (Daniel Jassim)
Nasal Avenger 3
Keppler, Kyle (Kepplah)
Engine detail from a SHIP-WIP
Lambrecht, Bram (bram)
F-38 Impulse
Lamborghini Renazzo
Larsson, Joel (Professor Larsson)
Ceasar container shuttle craft
Greeble study
Matt (Jastermereel)
WIP AT-AT
McGrath, Chris (Ranger Snow)
Greeble study
Mike (Neonbug)
Lamestar 2
Moko
Space fighter
Morris, Jared (jmlizard)
Ice Planet defense fighter
Proudlove, Nathan (Nathan Proudlove)
Moderne
Pruden, Trevor (ALC_HeadCheez)
Vaygr class minelayer corvette
Rice, Danny (Big X)
Bridge from WIP-SHIP
Rignault, Jean-Pascal
Small, red and fast
Roberts, Soren (Soren)
Various bits from other-folder
Rubin, Daniel (Inquisitor General)
Enola Gray
Sandlin, Mark (Grand Admiral)
Taurus
The Whitestar
Stafford, Mark (Mark J Stafford)
Crysilon Louise
Vaughn, Justin (Mainman)
Crater express
Garbage disposal endcap
Greeble study
Walker, Jon
XB-202a stealth revision
Whittenburg, Jason (Jaydubya)
December
Wood, Ryan (Ry)
Greeble study mk2
By Linus Bohman
-------------------------------------------------
1. Introduction
Greeble, greeb or greebling is a word not recognized by most dictionaries. As written in the greeble design commentary on Lugnet, “‘Greeble’ (also ‘greeblie’ or ‘greeb’) is the popular term to describe groupings of mechanical-looking detail elements on MOCs”. A good and wide definition, but what does it mean for a space builder?
Essentially, greebling is detailing that helps give a model a believable and interesting appearance, working together with the colour scheme and shape of the MOC. This includes all sorts of things – from clusters of mechanical looking elements on the side of a ship, brick-built* guns and engine areas, to brick-built cockpits and controls. Due to all of this there are a lot of things to have in mind when greebling (and it is furthermore, as we will see, based on very loose conventions), and this document is intended to provide an introduction to that world. Happy reading!
* Brick-built in this context: consisting of more than one piece.
(Do note that I am not an expert on the subject, but merely wish to contribute with a few of my observations. In essence, this document strives to be descriptive rather than prescriptive. What I say here are not steadfast rules, but things to think about. Above all I’d like to encourage experimentation – both in general Lego-building as well as greebling in particular.)
-------------------------------------------------
2. Greebling
2.1 Where to greeble?
As mentioned, greebling is a subject with very few set conventions. That includes the places where to put the detailing – as long as it looks good in context, feel free to do the greeble-dance. But what does it take for a greebled area to “look good in context”?
Basically, the greebles should look like they are functional, and sit in a logical place for that function. As an obvious and slightly far-fetched example, consider Lego mosaics: are they usually greebled? Most often, no. Why not? Because that would look odd – the detailing would have no real purpose beside looking cool, and they would appear out of place. The same goes for putting greebles on other MOCs – without purpose, they are just cool detailing that probably appear odd to the functional minded human eye.
That said, where do we in the space community usually put our greeblie-bits? Here’s a sample of what I consider greebling. Some are the traditional kind, others not – but they all have in common that they are brick-built detailing.
We greeble to break up boring areas. This is probably the kind of greebling most people think about when they hear the word.
We greeble the bottom of ships to avoid the plate bottom-look:
We greeble areas where the craft changes shape in order to get smooth(er) transitions:
We detail cockpits in order to make them look more interesting and appear to have more realistic controls (instead of pre-made chairs and printed tiles):
In order to make thruster areas interesting, we also detail them carefully:
In the same vein as cockpit detailing, we seem to dislike one mold-guns (mainly Star Wars-shooters) and build our own:
We furthermore greeble areas around landing gears to make them look technical:
And we also tend to build our own equipment to use as detailing:
-------------------------------------------------
2.2 Greeble-layout
So, how can one generally layout ones greebles? That would most often be dictated by model’s form and function, but generally one can see several tendencies. Many of them are scale decisions – plenty or less of a certain factor? For example:
Density. How intense should the greeble-cluster be? A lot of greebles, or fewer? Both can look good, and what one want is dependant on the situation. (Left = lot, right = less.)
Furthermore, do one want them to be symmetrical (left) or asymmetrical (middle)? Or perhaps a little bit of both (right)?
In order to make them look organized, one can also use bigger eye-catching pieces combined with smaller ones for support:
One can also have them interact with the context they are in. For example, they can be recessed (left) – having the same height as the surrounding area – or they can be partially hidden (right).
And last but certainly not least, one can design the greebled area to have flow. I personally find this very important, as the greebled areas tend to look like a cluster of small individual pieces (instead of a working, mechanical whole) if they do not interact properly:
-------------------------------------------------
2.3 In what colour?
When it comes to greeble-colour, grey and dark grey is definitely the most dominant colour. Nothing strange about that – those colours easily helps us imagine mechanical elements made of steel. There is nothing that prevents greebling in other colours though! It has been done before with interesting results. The important thing is that the greeble colour works well with the general colour scheme of the MOC.
One can also achieve great effects with highlights in another colour:
-------------------------------------------------
2.4 With what pieces?
So what does one use when greebling? This is an area that really seems to bring out the creativity in people – basically, anything goes! There does, however, seem to be a pull towards smaller pieces. In general, a bunch of smaller pieces seem to give a more mechanical look than fewer large ones. Below are a few examples of piece-categories that can be used as greebling.
As mentioned, smaller pieces usually make up for most greebling. When repeated, they can also create interesting patterns (look at the sides of the engine pods on the second example):
Round elements are also popular. This is probably due to the fact that they contrast with the generally square bricks we build with (which is also a reason as to why many seem to gravitate towards non-square designs in general):
Another area that is useful when greebling is the minifig domain – both the tools and the severed limbs have great potential. (Look for minifig crotches near the bottom on the second example):
Technic pieces have also become quite common when greebling. Especially gears are used, but they are not the only ones:
Plates, both regular and modified, can also be used as greebling – but it often requires repeating or an interesting context, since they usually are common elements in a MOC. While it is difficult to do well, it can be done with great effect so don’t forget about them!
And lastly, an area that I personally find highly interesting: tiles. They have been used quite often as regular detailing, for example grilles on the left and regular tiles to create textural differences on the right:
But regular tiles have also begun to appear as greebles in a different way. Here the general shapes are used to give the impression of structures, achieved with layers. This has been explored on a MOC by Daniel Rubin, and also in two greeble studies by Luke Becker. I find this a very interesting form of greebling that deserves attention – especially the two studies hints at untapped potential.
-------------------------------------------------
2.5 A last bit of advice, or greeble no-no’s
Despite being such an amazingly free area where ones creativity really can run wild, there are a few things to should avoid when greebling. Most of them have been mentioned before, but let us do a run-through again.
Avoid tacked on greebling. This can be due to the details not fitting well into context or the bits looking like separate pieces. To avoid this, check the colour scheme, greeble density and greeble flow. Having grey greebles on a grey background makes them look more intense compared to grey greebles on another colour. Also remember not to make greebling a purpose in itself – just greeble enough. Not more, not less.
Also remember that greebles are not necessary to make a great MOC, as these three excellent models show:
Greebles are essentially fantasy-elements – in the real world, spaceships would be unlikely to place mechanical elements exposed to radiation, weapon fire and whatnot. Instead of looking at this as an obstacle, use it to your advantage: you really can make the details look any way you wish! And, finally, remember that you can disregard anything said in this document. These are merely observations – experimentation is king.
Happy greebling!
Linus
-------------------------------------------------
3. References
3.1 Greeble reading
Space design commentary on Lugnet
Non-Lego tutorial on greebling
Greeble study: In CS flickr group – on CS forums – short summary
Quick examples of what to do with turntable tops
Quick examples of what to do with hoses
Examples of wall-greebling
Various engine inspiration
Various gun inspiration
Various Cockpit inspiration
All of the pictures used in this article
-------------------------------------------------
3.2 Referenced MOCs
(In alphabetical order. CS nickname in parenthesis if applicable.)
Becker, Luke (Bekr)
Greeble study 1
Greeble study 2
Blocksidge, Kevin (Kevoh)
Union J.A.C
Bohman, Linus (Bohman)
Greeble study
Gun idea
S.I.E.G.E tank
Swamp Thing
Verner Veinbaum’s vickedly vonderful vheel-machine
Bugge, Niels (SirBugge)
Bubblecraft 2
Greeble study
Longship
Z-fighter
(Catsy)
Avery AAF 212 Hornet Starfighter
Citrin, Charlie (lego2000)
Space trailer
Crowley, Mike
Jetpack
(Cybris)
Autonomous strike drone
Dean, Nick (Kcaster)
42nd club
Hovering light post
The Sofia
Giddens, Chris (Admiral Giddens)
Denarius
PCS Hop-B.A.T
Goldman, Keith
The Ghoul
Gould, Timothy (PCBCarlos)
Taipan
Ute
Hafner, Tony (Hafhead)
Nebula III
Hofman, Leonard (Blastov)
Rocketship Awesome
Hofman, Dean (TheRoaminCandle)
Mercenary gunboat
James (Turkguy19)
White eagle orbital hotel and casino
Jarek (Jerac)
Beholder engineering droid
Flying Machine
Monostomper
Jassim, Daniel (Daniel Jassim)
Nasal Avenger 3
Keppler, Kyle (Kepplah)
Engine detail from a SHIP-WIP
Lambrecht, Bram (bram)
F-38 Impulse
Lamborghini Renazzo
Larsson, Joel (Professor Larsson)
Ceasar container shuttle craft
Greeble study
Matt (Jastermereel)
WIP AT-AT
McGrath, Chris (Ranger Snow)
Greeble study
Mike (Neonbug)
Lamestar 2
Moko
Space fighter
Morris, Jared (jmlizard)
Ice Planet defense fighter
Proudlove, Nathan (Nathan Proudlove)
Moderne
Pruden, Trevor (ALC_HeadCheez)
Vaygr class minelayer corvette
Rice, Danny (Big X)
Bridge from WIP-SHIP
Rignault, Jean-Pascal
Small, red and fast
Roberts, Soren (Soren)
Various bits from other-folder
Rubin, Daniel (Inquisitor General)
Enola Gray
Sandlin, Mark (Grand Admiral)
Taurus
The Whitestar
Stafford, Mark (Mark J Stafford)
Crysilon Louise
Vaughn, Justin (Mainman)
Crater express
Garbage disposal endcap
Greeble study
Walker, Jon
XB-202a stealth revision
Whittenburg, Jason (Jaydubya)
December
Wood, Ryan (Ry)
Greeble study mk2
