The latest 10K Club Interview brings us a typical 1950s era tractors.! Meet Petrus, a.k.a. pezzz, and their Classic Tractor project. Show your support, and find out more below.
ABOUT YOURSELF
- Who are you?
My name is Petrus Gartler.
- Where are you from?
I’m from Graz, a city in Austria.
- How old are you?
I’m biologically 48 years old.
- What do you study or do for a living?
I am a product designer and lecturer on several universities. As a side job, I create Lego commission projects for a Canadian studio.
- What hobbies do you have?
I am practicing several types of sport and I wish I had more time playing music.
- 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?
I have a 6:1 goat, still running on Lego Ideas: I was a nice task to try to get the proportions right and the overall appearance unique.
- How, and when, did your interest in LEGO products come about?
I had the typical “Dark Ages”: I used to build a lot as a kid, and with my first kid I started again as an adult.
- 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.
I like to build physically together with the kids (that means: searching for parts for them) or I am working on a design for a commission (physically and digitally). I enjoy taking part in contests if I can find the time to build.
- What is your favorite LEGO theme (current or past)? Why? And has any theme inspired your building style or preference in any particular way?
As a kid I loved my yellow castle and my city, and later I liked the Technic models a lot. Nowadays, I don’t have a favorite theme, as I enjoy the building experience from various product lines. I like when function and style go together nicely.
- What is your favorite official LEGO set ever? Why?
I’d choose the 8110 Technic Unimog, but the 8480 Technic Space Shuttle and the Big Red are still waiting in their boxes to be built...
- What is your favorite LEGO element? Why?
I’d go for a Technic brick 1x4 or so. It’s sturdy, it combines many building techniques (conventional, SNOT and Technic and it has hollow studs) and can be used as a decorative piece too.
Alternatively I will choose a 4x4 dish since this piece doesn’t hurt if you step on it.
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
I liked tractors as a kid, and my own kids like them as well. So I started creating some for them in different scales. I had that specific model in my memory that my grandpa had, who took us on a ride with it. I got carried away with this one so much until I realized some other people may like it too!
(Later I found out that it wasn’t even my grandpa’s machine and the model was a total different one :-)
- 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?
I did some research about the typical 1950s tractors in Europe and the US and decided for one model to use a guide for proportions.
I didn’t count the hours, but all in all I am sure it is a 3-digit number :-)
I started building digitally until I had a concept that I thought would be feasible to build physically. From then, it was an iterative process of digital and physical building. During the campaign, some parts in new colors were introduced in official sets that I was hoping for in the first place.
- What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
I wanted the hood to look authentic and that took me some time. After I was finished the 10290 Pickup Truck came and I wished I had that as an inspiration :-)I thought a lot about the decision of making it “brand neutral”. Eventually, I decided to use the updates to show various options for a branded product.
- 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?
It was staff picked right in the beginning, so it had a really good start collecting supporters. After 5K the numbers went down drastically (from like 50 per day to 5) and at this point I wished I had a large community of followers in social media to be able to promote it.
- How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes, and how long did it take?
The whole campaign was a 2 years long roller coaster of emotions. As I mentioned above, it had an amazing start, but then it kinda went asleep, and it seemed like it wasn’t going to make it. What a relief it was that the 2 years of effort weren’t a waste of time just 6 days before expiration!
- Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
Around 600 for the tractor only and 1700 including all accessories.
- What is your favorite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
I like how the steering wheel transmits the motion via a chain to the wheels (although not exactly authentic) around the axle of the fan and how the secondary PTO for the cutter bar on the bottom provides motion for the blades.
- If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
I used Bricklink’s Studio.
ABOUT LEGO IDEAS
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas Product Idea?
Do some research before starting your creation. Try to find out everything about it and whether someone else has done it already.
- What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support to your Product Idea?
I tried to promote it on various social media.
- What is your favorite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own, of course)? Are there any Product Ideas you think have been overlooked?
There is this Fully Motorized Walking Penguin I like a lot!
LEGO IDEAS - Walking Penguin (Fully Motorized)
- What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
Try to build up a community before uploading an idea.
- 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?
No plans at the moment, sorry!
By
BrickSon