Sustainability is such an important subject, along with renewable energy. Tech-heads, as well as eco-warriors, will enjoy this HYDROELECTRIC_POWER_PLANT build from Baron_von_Barron. Leave a comment to show your support for this eco-friendly set!
ABOUT YOURSELF
What is your name?
Baron von Barron.
Where are you from?
Munich.
How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
As a child I was given DUPLO, and then LEGO sets later on. I’ve continued building and playing with LEGO bricks ever since.
What does the LEGO hobby mean to you?
For me, it’s just a fascinating hobby that allows me to create something completely new every single day. It’s both exciting and stress-relieving at the same time, to come home from work and build, even if it’s just a teeny-tiny build or a small detail from a bigger build.
What is your favorite LEGO theme (current or past)?
It’s the first Adventures series from 1998. The design and storytelling of these sets was just outstanding. My younger self even wanted to become an Egyptologist because of that awesome theme!
What is your favorite official LEGO set ever?
It is without any doubt the Freight and Crane Railway (4565) from 1996. This set is just perfect in terms of design, functionality, and playability, especially if you consider the limited parts and color palette of those days!
What is your favorite LEGO element?
It’s definitely the Minifigure. LEGO builds just wouldn’t be the same to me without it, and I’m pretty sure that you won’t ever see a build of mine without Minifigures. For me, they add heart and soul to the little worlds we all love to build so much.
Is there one or more particular LEGO websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by?
I regularly visit https://www.stonewars.de/, https://www.promobricks.de/, and https://zusammengebaut.com/, mostly because of their awesome set reviews. So, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank them, these guys do a great job!
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
In the summer of 2022, I took a long quad ride through the Alpine Foreland, south of Munich, and I ended up at the parking lot of the so-called Walchenseekraftwerk (the power plant at the lake Walchensee). It was a very hot day, and I wanted to cool down for a while, so I explored a bit about this fascinating metamorphose of nature and technic. I thought how nice it would be to have something like this in LEGO City, and that’s the story behind this Idea.
How long did the process of making the project take and what did you have to research?
When I came home that day, I did some research on hydroelectric power plants all over the globe. I didn’t want to do a replica of the one at lake Walchensee, but instead create a generic one. Then I started building the first draft. Altogether, it took about three months, from the first draft to the final upload.
What special challenges did you face creating the model?
The most difficult part was definitely getting the pipes smooth into the building, and I’m still not quite convinced by the solution I found back then. I probably would realize it with some other techniques today, but that’s the neat thing about building – you live and learn more and more with every build you create!
If you could talk to yourself before you started on this project, what would you tell him/her? What do you know now that you wish you knew then?
As already mentioned, there are surely a couple of things I would have done differently today. But as far as I can remember, this was the last build I created while always directly applying the respective colors to the bricks, which can get messy. Nowadays, I build everything in monochrome first, then color all the bricks at the very end. This makes building a lot smoother, as you don’t have to concentrate on form and color simultaneously, and that saves quite some time, for me at least.
How long did it take to complete the model and for your Product Idea to reach 10,000 supporters?
It took about three months to create the Idea in total, which is definitely not comparable to the promotion time, because I’ve only told some friends about it and uploaded it to Reddit.
How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes?
If I’m not mistaken, it took 606 days. So, it was quite a close call! I felt joy when it eventually hit 10K after all that time, that’s for sure.
Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
3,000.
What is your favorite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
I think the two turbines inside the machine hall turned out nicely, but that’s for others to decide.
ABOUT LEGO IDEAS
Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas Product Idea?
I’m not that good at anticipating which Ideas have success and which won’t, and this goes for both my own Ideas and the Ideas of others. But I guess a good main image is one of the keys, and if you do have social media, I suspect that it’s wise to use those platforms for promotion too. Apart from that, the subject of the Idea itself is a crucial factor, because I guess to be interesting it mustn’t be too simple or common, but also not too complex or niche. Quite a fine line!
What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support to your Product Idea?
I’ve just told my friends and family about it, and I only uploaded it to Reddit, as I don’t use any other social media platforms.
What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
Besides the unparalleled variety of LEGO creations and the really lovely community, it’s foremost the basic principle that anybody has the chance to propose their Ideas, no matter their financial or social background. That’s just wonderful!
Do you have plans to submit any other Product Ideas in the future? If yes, can you give us a hint what that might be?
Yes, of course. I don’t know when this interview will be published, but at the time of writing I’m working a new Idea. As always, it will be in minifigure scale and deal with a rather technical topic.
