Let's meet Nicolas Carlier (aka CARLIERTI), the person behind the project which reached 10K votes, Night At The Museum! Based on the film series, Nicolas got some key details bang on and manages to create the model to be both a displayable model and something you could play in too.
Please do help us congratulate Nicolas in the comments down below!
About Yourself
- Who are you?
Nicolas Carlier.
- Where are you from?
I’m both Swiss and French, currently living in Zurich.
- How old are you?
I’m 22 years old.
- What do you do for a living?
I’m an architecture student, currently doing my master’s degree.
- What hobbies do you have?
My three passions are LEGO, architecture, and 3D art. I’m doing 3D animations in my spare time; you can watch them on my YouTube channel.
- Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
Yes, I have an Instagram page where I regularly post new builds, most of them are microscale builds. Also, I have a personal website/portfolio, where you can see all my builds/artworks.
- 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?
Yes, I have plenty, but I really loved building the model for the LEGO House contest. And I’m even prouder to be the runner up in this contest – (it will be displayed at the LEGO House).
- How and when did your interest for LEGO come about?
Since my early ages I was playing with LEGO! Of course I did a break for a few years, but thanks to LEGO Ideas I’m still building!
- 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.
As Bjarke Ingels would say: “if you can build it out of LEGO, it can't be that difficult to build in real life”. I conceive LEGO as a tool to create, to bring your dreams to life.
- What is your favourite LEGO theme (current or past)? Why? And has any theme inspired your building style or preference in any particular way?
My favorite themes are Architecture, LEGO Ideas and Harry Potter.
- What is your favourite official LEGO set? Why?
I would say the Old fishing store. I think it has something special that we don’t usually see in other LEGO sets: I love the overall atmosphere, the details, the playability and the color scheme of this model; this is a really good build to display as well. I really enjoyed building this set!
- What is your favourite LEGO element? Why?
11609: I know it’s not the most useful piece, but I really like this element and I use it quite a lot in my builds; it gives a nice magic touch and fantasy to the build.
- Is there a LEGO designer (official LEGO designer or fan designer) who you are inspired by and look up to? Who and why?
There are a lot! I really admire Chris Mcweigh; his creations are very clean and good looking; now that he is working as a LEGO designer, I’m very excited to see his upcoming sets. I also really admire Jeff Friesen, Markus Rollbühler and Jonas Kramm. They are all talented people.
- Is there one or more particular LEGO related websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by?
I usually take inspiration from various sources. I use Instagram quite a lot, but also Pinterest and Flickr!
About Your Project
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
I’m a big fan of the Night at the Museum saga. I remember the first time I watched the movies years ago, I was really fascinated by this magical world, where the creatures come to life at night. Five years ago, I submitted my first Night at the Museum project on Lego Ideas, but it only reached 700 supports. I was not really satisfied by this first version, as it seemed to me incomplete and the magical atmosphere of the movie was missing. Since then I’ve always been keeping this idea in my mind. A few months ago, I finally decided to create a new version, a bigger model and more accurate to the movie. I am proud of this model and I’m glad to see that people love it.
- 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?
It was quite a long process to build the model. I first watched all the movies again to get a clear idea on the interior of the museum. I searched for several pictures and screenshots on the internet, to get a good starting point. I decided to mainly work on the entrance room and to focus on the first movie. I started with the facade, which was quite easy, as it’s based on the Natural History Museum in New York. But for the inside, I had to select the elements and scenes to keep. My brother (@Brickproject, creator of the Ratatouille project😉) suggested me to add the big stairs on the back; I think this was a really good idea and that’s why I decided to add another level on the back of the model.
- What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
The biggest challenge was to select the scenes and elements I wanted to include in the model. There are so many Easter eggs and scenes from the movies I wanted to include in my project! In terms of building challenges, I think the most difficult part was to create the entrance arch, it took me a few hours to figure out how to proceed.
- 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?
I would say:”You know what? You will become a 10k Club member!”
- How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
It’s something really exciting of course! For many years, this was my biggest dream, and I’m now very proud to be part of the 10k Club group and to have a project in the review phase.
- Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
I used in total approximately 2,900 LEGO bricks to create my model.
- What is your favourite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
I’m especially proud of the entrance arch, I’ve found a technique that I had never used before in order to get the curvature of the inside arch. I also really like how the globe turned out.
- If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
I’ve used LDD (Lego Digital Designer) to build the model and rendered it on Blender, using Mecabricks. But you can also build and render your model directly on the Mecabricks website; it’s a really powerful render platform! Finally, I used Adobe Photoshop for the final touches!
- If you used custom stickers or prints for your design, how did you create them or where did you get them?
I’ve created the custom stickers on Adobe Illustrator (torsos and face illustrations), which I then applied into my blender file.
About LEGO Ideas
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas project?
If you are really motivated and confident in your project you can make it. Maybe you will not reach the 10k with your first project, but at least you will learn a lot; look at my first projects! Do what you really love and always try to push yourself to make a better build. And never forget this: keep dreaming, you will get there one day!
- What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support to your Product Idea?
I shared my project on Facebook groups, but also on my own social networks (Instagram and twitter😊). But honestly, I think most of the votes came from the Ideas platform!
- What is your favourite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own of course)? Are there any Product Ideas you think have been overlooked?
I’m a big fan of the Jurassic Park Microscale project by Senteosan, a few years ago. Senteosan is one of the first LEGO ideas fan designers that I admired.
- What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
The most interesting thing is that you can get an instant feedback from other LEGO fans. As I’m not really used to go to LEGO fan exhibitions, I never really got advices and comments on my builds. I think, LEGO Ideas is very helpful on this point for new creators. LEGO Ideas always pushed me to make a better project!
- 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?
Oh yes, I have plenty of upcoming ideas! But I never really make plans, I always decide in the moment, what I’m going to build! 😉
By
JacobM366