Hop on board for another 10K Interview! Today we meet Lil Billy and their fantastic ode to the Parisian Metro: THE METROPOLITAN: DON’T MISS YOUR TRAIN! A beautiful monument to the historic metro system. You can leave your congratulations in the comments!
ABOUT YOURSELF
- Where are you from?
France.
- How old are you?
39.
- What do you study or do for a living?
I work in digital web and mobile development
- What hobbies do you have?
Music, motorcycles and the LEGO hobby. I really like the field in which I work, which sometimes also becomes a hobby.
- Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
I only created a Flickr account to share images of my project, but apart from that I'm not really present on social networks.
- Have you created any LEGO MOCs (my own creations) that you’re particularly proud of? What is it, why are you proud of it and do you have a photo of it?
The Metropolitan is my first real LEGO MOC. But I really like the little Christmas scene we did this year (with my girlfriend). It was a whole different challenge to work on the lights and the perspective for the view from the window.
- How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
It comes from my childhood. I feel like I've always played with LEGO bricks. I don't remember my first set, because in my first memories, I'm already looking in boxes mixing Duplo bricks, some Fabuland, and Basic bricks. It was by far my favourite pastime, it allowed you to create without limit, to imagine a whole bunch of stories.
- What is the LEGO hobby to you? What does it mean to you? How does it fit in your life? E.g. build, display, meetups, play the games or 'just' watch the cartoons.
Today for me it's a hobby that I like to share, with my little nieces or building sets for adults with my girlfriend. It was also during the period of confinement that to occupy myself I plunged back into my childhood collection.
The MOC part is very recent for me but has reactivated this passion even more strongly. With more hindsight, I can say that my childhood passion for LEGO bricks played a huge role in the engineer I became.
- What is your favourite LEGO theme (current or past)? Why? And has any theme inspired your building style or preference in any particular way?
I was fascinated by the Space theme and more particularly the first Blacktrons. I only owned the 6894 Invader cruiser, but this iconography, its black & yellow colour mix, more obviously its spaceship side, fulfilled at the time everything I could expect from a toy at this age. Then I really liked the Pirates theme, beyond the time spent building, I loved looking at the annual catalogues (which I still have) with these reconstructed scenes containing all the sets of the same theme. Even if we didn't have everything, we had a little piece of this world at home.
- What is your favourite official LEGO set ever? Why?
Very difficult question, but I loved building the Back To The Future set recently. This brings together a complex part worthy of a Technics set, the license of a film that I love, a car, a spaceship, and multiple variants. Could it be any better?! Its construction was really cool and the finished product is great.
- What is your favourite LEGO element? Why?
Trans-Yellow Panel 1x2x1. It comes from the Invader. At that time, tile bricks or panels were new and rare pieces. The transparent parts were too. This piece has long been the jewel of my collection, and this emotion is present each time I find it in a bag of a new set.
- Is there a LEGO designer (official LEGO designer or fan designer) who you are inspired by and look up to? Who and why?
I really like what Yama Jason offers. It's very cinematic. These scenes are so lively that at first glance you almost forget that they are LEGO builds.
- Is there one or more particular LEGO-related websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by?
I regularly follow BrothersBrick and, in French, Brickonaute.
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
Living in Paris for several years, I have always been a little fascinated by the metro. It is more than a century old, and still today has one of the densest networks in the world. It is an integral part of the life of every Parisian. Its art-deco side is also something that I love. When I discovered the LEGO Ideas platform, I immediately thought of recreating a station, with this slice view, from its entrance to the platform.
- How long was the process of making the project, and what did you have to research as well? What kind of prep, research and design phases did you go through to produce your creation?
First of all, I had to learn the 3D Stud.io software. Then I looked for a lot of old postcards on the construction of the metro, I had already seen plenty of these images, showing the trenches made at the time in the grand boulevards of Paris.I wanted it to be as realistic as possible, so I studied the rolling stock and the stations in detail. I then drew the architecture of the MOC on paper to help me in its construction. I added all the little details that I knew well; I wanted people to say to themselves "But I've already been to this station"!
- What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
The first challenge was to find the assembly that would allow me to reconstruct the tiled vault typical of the Parisian metro. I did a lot of testing before finding the right solution. Then, I built everything around that; it was a lot of research to get everything into my block. The most frustrating part was meeting the 3000 bricks limit, because with my tiling made of 1x2 tiles, it was already taking 400, and I had nothing else yet! I didn't want to compromise on that because it was the heart of my idea.
- If you could talk to yourself before you started on this project, what would you tell them? What do you know now that you wish you knew then?
Start by learning all the keyboard shortcuts!
- How long did it take to complete the model? Did you finish it fairly quickly, or did it take a long time? And how did the build time compare to the time you spent promoting your Product Idea to reach 10,000 supporters?
It took me a long time, almost 10 months. I was working on it mostly on weekends, and I wanted to get to the end of my idea, and there was already a lot to do!
I did very little promotion myself, I don't use social networks it's not really my thing, except in the LEGO Ideas community. I was lucky that others took care of it for me, after being chosen "staff pick" by LEGO Ideas, my project buzzed on twitter and facebook in France, and many people liked the idea and relayed to call to vote. Newspapers even interviewed me! Thanks again to them.
- How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
It took 4 months! I was really really very happy, I think the smile didn't leave me for a good week!I hadn't said to myself that it would happen for fear of being disappointed, but once the 9000 was exceeded, I really started to believe it.
- Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
The maximum that was allowed.
- What is your favourite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
The entire part of the quay with its vaulted ceiling. I also love the surface entry and all the little easter eggs we left on the stickers.
- If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
I used stud.io and part.designer from Bricklink.
- If you used custom stickers or prints for your design, how did you create them or where did you get them?
The stickers and decorations were a very important point in this project; it gives it its soul. It is thanks to my wonderful girlfriend and her creative talents that we were able to develop all the iconography specific to the metro, and the decorative visual elements in which we wanted to place lots of small references. It was really one of the coolest parts to implement.
ABOUT LEGO IDEAS
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas project?
If it's a set that you would like to have at home, placed on a shelf, it's because it's a good idea!! And you will definitely enjoy sharing it with everyone.
- What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support to your Product Idea?
I think I managed to do a project that really touched some people in view of the reactions and some touching messages that I received. This made people want to share it with the wider world.
- What is your favourite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own of course)? Are there any Product Ideas you think have been overlooked?
Recently I loved building The Lighthouse, but also the Starry Night. In the last review, I found that The Motorized Steampunk Skyship by Castor-Troy really had everything to make a superb official set. Last year my favourite was Fishing in Muddy Water by Ralf Ranghaal.
- What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
Stop thinking and do it! The platform is really cool, what I appreciate the most, is the encouragement and support from all the members.
I am very interested in my job in the product development method which puts the user at the center of concerns and which gives him an active role, and trusts him/her. I think that this LEGO Ideas platform is one of the rare examples of a large company that has managed to really integrate this kind of participative program into its production. I think it comes above all from the sincerity of the approach!
- 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?
I have lots of ideas but nothing really committed yet. I am experimenting, for example, I have started to reproduce the Bir-Hakeim viaduct bridge in Paris, but I believe that the limit of the maximum number of bricks may make this unfeasible.
