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10K Club Interview: Donghoon Kwak, creator of the Caribbean Clipper

Let's meet Donghoon Kwak, aka Babyteeth on LEGO Ideas, the creator of Caribbean Clipper and our 10K Club member in focus today. 

Please do help us congratulate Donghoon in the comments down below!

About Yourself

  1. Where are you from?
    Donghoon Kwak.




     
  2. Where are you from?
    Seoul, Republic of Korea.
     
  3. How old are you?
    34.
     
  4. What do you do for a living?
    Game effect designer!
     
  5. What hobbies do you have?
    LEGO, driving, parenting.
     
  6. Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
    In my Instagram.
     
  7. Have you created any LEGO MOCs (my own creations) that you’re particularly proud of? What is it, why are you proud it and do you have a photo of it?
    ‘4th rate Ship of the line’ and ‘Queen Anne’s Revenge’. Those two creations are the most successful. The number of pieces is large, and the most satisfactory in terms of appearance and internal details. Pictures of both works can be found on my Instagram.
     
  8. How and when did your interest for LEGO come about?
    I loved LEGO through 6286 'Skull's Eye Schooner', which my mother bought as a gift for me in 1992. I can't forget the excitement and sense of accomplishment when 6286 was assembled and completed!
     
  9. What is LEGO for you? What does it mean for you? How does it fit in your life? E.g. build, display, meetups, play the games.. or 'just' watch the cartoons.
    I love the pirate theme. I just loved pirate ships from my childhood and it is still the same. I like LEGO 10210, a product that has helped my creativity a lot.
     
  10. What is your favourite official LEGO set? Why?
    21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay. I love pirate ships.

     

About Your Project

  1. Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
    As mentioned earlier, as a child I had LEGO 6286. But there was no 6274 Caribbean clipper. Now it's so expensive that I decided to make my own ‘Caribbean Clipper’.
     
  2. How long was the process of making the project did, 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 first had to acquire knowledge of the sailing ships of the Age of Exploration. And for a long time I studied how to make it modular to design it with LEGO bricks. LDD helped me a lot.
     
  3. What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
    The sailing ship has a curved shape. It was the most difficult to design so that it could be modularly separated while maintaining the curve.




     
  4. 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 about a month to complete the design. Until 10K supporters, 'Staff Pick' seems to have been the most helpful.
     
  5. How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
    It took about a year and a half. I couldn't believe it. I was so happy that my work seemed to be loved a lot. I'm so lucky!
     
  6. Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
    Originally, about 1,800 bricks were used, but now they have been slightly modified to increase to over 2,000 bricks.
     
  7. If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
    LEGO Digital Designer.

 

About LEGO Ideas

  1. What is your favourite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own of course)? Are there any Product Ideas you think have been overlooked?
    Of course, it is 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay. It's a great design. And above all, it is my favourite pirate theme.
     
  2. 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'm not sure if I will submit any other product ideas, but I will continue to build ships with LEGO.
  • 10k club
  • 10k club interview
  • caribbean clipper
  • babyteeth
  • donghoon kwak
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