Back once again in the 10K Club, let's give a warm welcome to Roberto Ceruti and Jody Padulano, a.k.a. FACEBRICKUP, and their project, THE OLD WESTERN TRAIN STATION. They have collaborated and created a concept which is sure to be a fan favourite. Let us know if you love this Idea as much as we do!
ABOUT YOURSELF
- Who are you?
Roberto Ceruti BRICKUP (R).
Jody Padulano FACEBRICK (J).
- Where are you from?
R: Born in Bergamo, but I live in Varese, on Lake Maggiore.
J: Roma.
- How old are you?
R: 42.
J: 43.
- What do you study or do for a living?
R: I am a plumber, specialising in boilers.
J: I am an informatics engineer, mainly a programmer.
- What hobbies do you have?
R: I love everything that is about creativity, like composing music, editing videos, photography and manual work. But in first place, I’d say my passion for LEGO building.
J: I love creating and playing games, both video games to table-top games. I wrote 3 books about the LEGO hobby and of course, that’s my biggest passion as well.
- Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
R: Yes, www.brickup.net; here’s a lot of what I do, and my Facebook page.
J: I have a Facebook page, on which I put my things.
- 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?
R: My latest creation was NEVERLAND, which kept me busy for 3 years. A huge satisfaction now, which I can finally enjoy at events with lots of friends.
J: I've been around the AFOL community since the late 2000s. I've made several MOCs but I also like to showcase classic LEGO settings, honouring the sets I had as a kid.
- How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
R: I think, like many, as a child, when I was getting LEGO sets for my birthday or Christmas.
J: I have always played with LEGO bricks as far back as I can remember. I must thank my mother for this. One day I had a little tear in my eye because turning the pages of the 1984 catalogue, I discovered that she bought me nearly all the city sets that were depicted there!
- 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.
R: LEGO building for me is passion, creativity, entertainment, and challenge; it fills all my free time and my extra-family thoughts, and sometimes it goes even further! I have to behave! I love spending days at LEGO events with friends, talking about everything, not just LEGO talk, and having a good time.
J: It’s very difficult to shrink what it means to me into a simple answer. I’d say it slowly became a lifestyle. People know me as “that LEGO guy” and sometimes it feels even a bit odd. But when I come home and I realize I am literally surrounded by LEGO bricks, I must admit they’re right.
- What is your favourite LEGO theme (current or past)? Why? And has any theme inspired your building style or preference in any particular way?
R: I love Pirates and Castle, they are the basis of my passion. My style has no particular inspiration: it is the mirror of me in normal life, that is, the search for details, or the element of surprise. I don't consider myself a great builder, but step-by-step, I often find myself satisfied and happy with the work done, and very proud!
J: I’ve grown up with Pirates. Really, I didn’t know I was that fond of pirates, ships, fortresses and the like until I got my first ship. Now, as an adult, I love castles the most. But I believe it’s just a reflection of what I found interesting growing up.
- What is your favourite official LEGO set ever? Why?
R: If I have to think to past sets, my heart forbids me to say a specific set, but if I had to that would be my first set: the City Monorail. If I have to think of an actual set, no doubt it’s 10305, Lion Knights' Castle!
J- I have a deep bond with the Black Seas Barracuda because I was old enough to understand that my mother was giving me an expensive present. It may have been my overall childhood favourite toy!
- What is your favourite LEGO element? Why?
R- I like a bracket and every part that allow me to build with a new perspective and new results. I like to find new uses for the parts.
J: I am fond of minifigures. If it has to be a non-minifigure part, it’s part 4085 because I always placed them in my builds in order to provide my mini figures with useful tools.
- Is there a LEGO designer (official LEGO designer or fan designer) who you are inspired by and look up to? Who and why?
R: I would have to deeply thank an Italian fan designer who, alas, is not among us anymore. If I didn’t meet him, I wouldn’t have started building my MOCs and I would just be a set builder.
- Is there one or more particular LEGO-related websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by?
J: I can’t name one. I could list a lot of names, like Brickset or Eurobricks.
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
R: Enlightenment, as often, happens in an instant. It was not thought of or studied - simply when I thought of it, I decided to make it happen immediately by involving Jody in this new journey.
J: That was Roberto. When he showed me his idea, I dived in, with no second thoughts.
- 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?
R: It took about 20 days to bring what I had in mind to Studio. I looked at some photographs of film sets to better study the style, but the final project was already clear in my mind.
J: It took a couple of weeks, I was in charge of finding aesthetic elements that were available in order to avoid anachronisms
- What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
R: Surely the part of the station that comes out at 45 ° took several difficult hours. I had no problems building it, but when I tried it on Studio I couldn't get the studs to fit. In the end, I discovered some secret compromises!
J: I wanted it to have a special and unique style, that could remind people of the Old Wild West and at the same time, look new.
- 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?
R: As always, I would like to have a good trip. The 10K arrived really fast, but unexpectedly, so I wouldn't say anything else to not ruin this fantastic emotion!
J: I would tell myself to really believe in it.
- 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?
R: About 1 month passed from the idea to the proposal on IDEAS, while it took only 2 months to get to 10K - incredible! Every day we talked about how absurd this thing was!
J: As Roberto said.
- How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
R: The Station is our fourth project that has reached 10K, and perhaps someone may think that we no longer feel eexcited about it. Wrong! It is always an adrenaline-pumping moment of celebration, especially with AFOL friends and the whole community that follows us.
- Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
R: With the station, we are about 3000 pieces, without calculating the tracks and the furnishing sand.
J: As Roberto said.
- What is your favourite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
R: Surely the balcony at 45 ° and the porch satisfy me a lot, but also the broken and old wooden planks on the walls are a detail that I care about a lot.
J: I agree. That is indeed nice.
- If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
R: Studio.
- If you used custom stickers or prints for your design, how did you create them or where did you get them?
R: Some graphics are made with Illustrator and Photoshop and inserted in post-production. Other LEGO elements were customised with PartDesigner.
ABOUT LEGO IDEAS
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas project?
R: I am convinced that the right idea must be the basis of everything, but also that alone is not enough; you also need a bit of luck!
J: If you can think it, you can build it. I spend a lot of time building models in my mind before starting with the actual build!
- What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support for your Product Idea?
R: Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and our YouTube Channel.
J: Yes. We tried also 9gag this time!
- What is your favourite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own of course)? Are there any Product Ideas you think have been overlooked?
R: The Pirate Bay is sublime, awesome work has been done by the LEGO designers! The rejected ideas that I would have liked have been many over the years, but only for personal taste. We cannot all think equally. At each review there is happiness and disappointment, it is normal.
J: My favourite set is of course the Pirates of Barracuda Bay but I have many of them. My first one was the DeLorean Time Machine. So beautiful!
- What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
R: The dream of seeing your own creation become a real LEGO set, is something priceless and unparalleled, so this possibility is wonderful! The advice I can give to those who want to try this experience is simply to live it as a fantastic adventure!
J: This is like a game. I love playing games. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t - just like in life. And, since this time I won, celebrations began.
- Do you have plans to submit any other Product Ideas in the future? If yes, can you give us a hint of what that might be?
R: We always have new ideas in mind, every day! And every now and then some of them come true and are featured on LEGO Ideas, so I can tell you that you will continue to see us play very often!
J: Yes, but no spoilers!
