The latest 10K Club Interview visits the coast towns of the Cinque Terre.! Meet Alex, a.k.a. Galaxy333, and their The Italian Riviera project. Inspired by their love for the region! Show your support, and find out more below.
ABOUT YOURSELF
- Who are you?
My name is Alex Sahli.
- Where are you from?
I’m from Portland, Oregon, but I’m currently living in California for college.
- How old are you?
I’m 18 years old, though I submitted this project when I was 17.
- What do you study or do for a living?
I’m currently in school working towards a degree in computer science!
- What hobbies do you have?
Besides LEGO, I like photography, soccer, and traveling (or anything at all geography related)! I’ve been a big geography nerd my whole life, and love to sharpen my knowledge through games like Geoguessr. I will never pass up the opportunity to travel either, and hope to do a semester abroad through my school next year.
- Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
I share most of my stuff over on my Instagram, which you can find linked in my LEGO Ideas profile.
- 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 try to put a lot of effort and time into each of my MOCs, so I’d say that I’m proud of them all. I’m especially happy with my Italian Riviera though, which I expanded on quite a bit after publishing it to LEGO Ideas. This is my biggest physical MOC to date at around 7,700 pieces in its final form—complete with four buildings, a two-car train, a castle tower, a beachfront, a square, and some terraced hills. Another MOC I’m proud of is my Log Cabin, which was my first project to hit 10k supporters on this site. It went through multiple redesigns afterwards, and is now at a place where I’m really happy with it. This is one of my favorite MOCs that I’ve created and reminds me a lot of where I grew up.
- How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
When I was a little kid, I was given a hand-me-down box of Lego pieces that included some old broken down Insectoids and Space Police sets. I got my first set (#6187 Road Construction Set) soon after, and I was hooked, never looking back! My grandparents had also saved an old 1980s set (#566) that I always played with when I got to visit. I’d always wake them up first thing in the morning so we could “play with LEGO brick together”. The box is now gone but all the pieces are still there today, still being put to good use.
- 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.
LEGO means a lot to me. It’s a huge creative outlet, and a way for me to feel like I’m putting something out into the world. It’s also helped me grow my interests in STEM, architecture, and a number of other fields. LEGO also connects me to an awesome community and has helped me meet some amazing people. I was able to attend the Bricks Cascade LEGO fan convention last year and display some of my MOCs, which was a blast. That is definitely something I want to do again in the future, and highly recommend it to anyone who is able to go to a similar event. I think it’s one of the best ways to show off your work and connect with the broader LEGO community.
- What is your favourite LEGO theme (current or past)? Why? And has any theme inspired your building style or preference in any particular way?
There are so many great themes out there, but LEGO Ideas has to take the cake. Not only do you have a wide, diverse range of sets that come out of it, but fans also have a direct say in what gets made. My two favorite sets both came from this theme! I also love the Creator Expert themes and the recent rise in 18+ sets that are being released, especially the large-scale cars.
- What is your favourite official LEGO set ever? Why?
For a long time, the NASA Apollo Saturn V rocket was undoubtedly my number one pick. Everything about it—its visual appeal, functionality, building process, building techniques, stability, and size—is hard to beat. However, despite its simplicity, the Tales of the Space Age set is now a new contender for my all-time favorite. Rivendell, Ecto-1, the DeLorean Time Machine, and the Upside Down are all respectable runners-up though.
- What is your favourite LEGO element? Why?
I dont think I’d make it very far without jumpers, cheese slopes, or headlight bricks. But I think it’s less about the piece itself, and more how it’s used that matters.
- Is there a LEGO designer (official LEGO designer or fan designer) who you are inspired by and look up to? Who and why?
Yes, there are a number of fan designers whose work definitely inspires me to keep building! @ekownimako, @rjbuttliere, @steinmanzachary, @ranghaal, and @jeff_works on Instagram to name a few.
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
As I mentioned earlier, I love to travel, and Italy (tied with Turkey) is my favorite country that I’ve been to. Italy has so much natural and architectural beauty that I really think LEGO is missing out on with their current lineup of sets. This model is based primarily on the villages of the Cinque Terre, but also draws some inspiration from the Amalfi Coast. I actually designed this model a few weeks before I visited Italy, but in hindsight, I think it still turned out pretty accurate.
- 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 don’t remember exactly how long it took, but I think I finished the initial design in a week or two. I used a ton of reference images of the real towns in my design, and went through a number of color schemes before settling on one. It actually got expanded upon twice in the future, although neither of these updates made it onto LEGO Ideas as they would exceed the piece limit. The first update added another house on the rocks, a terraced hillside, and expanded the beach by a few studs in each direction. The second update was mainly to add a train and tunnel, but also ended up including more hillside as well as a castle tower. Both of these updates were added after my trip to Italy as I wanted to make this MOC more accurate to the real place.
- What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
One of the main structural challenges was implementing buildings at different angles while still maintaining stability. I don’t think this ended up being too difficult in the end, but I definitely spent a good chunk of time working on it. Another issue I faced happened when I was creating instructions. I had just finished the 1000+ page booklet after hours of work, when I made a minor adjustment to the build that caused all of my instruction progress to be completely erased. I spent the rest of the day redoing everything, and now I am very careful when using Stud.io’s instruction maker
- How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
It was a great feeling, because there were definitely times where I didn’t think it was gonna make it. The best feeling was actually a couple months before it hit 10k, when I saw a huge spike in the votes and realized that it was actually going to happen. This has always been a dream of mine, and I’m extremely lucky to have gotten four projects to this milestone during my few years on LEGO Ideas.
- Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
The model you can see on LEGO Ideas (my original design) is just a handful of bricks shy of the 3000 piece limit. The updated design, however, is around 7,700 pieces! I wanted to keep adding onto this build without a piece count restraint holding me back.
- What is your favourite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
Personally, I love the vibrant colors and texture variation throughout the build—especially in the water, the houses, and the stonework. I’m also happy with the tile roofing, which is a really simple design that still does its job well.
- If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
It was built digitally using Bricklink’s Stud.io program, which I highly recommend. However, it is completely buildable in real life, something which I ended up doing later
- If you used custom stickers or prints for your design, how did you create them or where did you get them?
The only custom sticker in the build is the one on the gelato sign, which I created on a basic Photoshop-like website, and then added it to a sign piece with Bricklink’s PartDesigner App.
ABOUT LEGO IDEAS
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas project?
My advice would be to build something you’re passionate about, or something you think you’ll have fun building. Don’t cut corners, and don’t stop until you’re completely satisfied with it. Unfortunately, promoting it is also an important part of gaining support, so put your idea out there so it doesn’t go entirely unseen.
- What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
There are a number of reasons Lego Ideas is appealing to me. Obviously, the possibility of getting your project produced as a real set is a big one. Besides that though, it is fun to see what other people are creating, and it also serves as a major source of motivation to keep building. I would recommend that anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea should try to make something unique from what has been done before so they can truly stand out.
- 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, I do! Unfortunately, I haven’t had as much time for building now that I’ve started college, and I’m also tied up in a very large MOC right now that is unrelated to LEGO Ideas. However, I will definitely stay active on Ideas and hopefully I can put out a new project sometime this year!
By
BrickSon