We're back again with another 10K Club Interview! Meet our newest, and certainly one of our youngest members, Nathan Manning (a.k.a. Hooded-Blaze), and his brilliant PORTAL 2 QUANTUM TUNNELLING DEVICE. THE "PORTAL GUN" project. If you're a fan of the Portal games, this project will be sure to impress! Leave a like to show your support.
ABOUT YOURSELF
- Who are you?
Nathan Manning.
- Where are you from?
Dublin.
- How old are you?
I am 16 years old.
- What do you study or do for a living?
I am still in school.
- What hobbies do you have?
I love LEGO building, art and video games.
- Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
Not at the moment.
- 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 created a LEGO Dalek from Doctor Who. I am proud of it because of how close it looks to the real thing. There are certain parts of it I didn’t think I would be able to recreate but it turned out really well.
- How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
I have always played with LEGO bricks since I was 3 or 4, I went to an awesome LEGO camp when I was 5 and my mind was blown. I love building with it, there are endless possibilities.
- 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.
All of the above, after school, homework and chores are done. “Do what you have to do, so you can do what you want to do” (my mum).
- 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 favourite theme is Star Wars. I love the franchise and science fiction, I have most of the LEGO helmets and Grogu which I saved up for. Space and Heroes VS Villains inspired me to create the LEGO Portal Gun
- What is your favourite official LEGO set ever? Why?
My favourite official LEGO set is the Millennium Falcon 75192. I love everything about Star Wars but the Falcon is the best ship in the series.
- What is your favourite LEGO element? Why?
My Favorite LEGO element at the moment is the LEGO Wedge (part 6172509) in the Darth Vader helmet. I just thought it was really different and interesting and it had an imprint of Vader's muzzle.
- Is there a LEGO designer (official LEGO designer or fan designer) who you are inspired by and look up to? Who and why?
Andrew Clark is a LEGO fan designer who created the Doctor Who LEGO Emperor Dalek. I was impressed by the very specific detail in the build and wanted to do something similar myself.
- Is there one or more particular LEGO-related websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by?
LEGO brick lounge on Discord, and Bricklink.
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
I love playing Portal 1 and 2 and I had an idea to make the Portal Gun in Lego. I had a look on google images and Lego Ideas and I did not see any of the portal guns that were in my mind so I decided to create my own.
- 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?
It took me 2 full days to build it. I searched for images/blueprints of the game and real-life images of the portal gun. I started designing it on bricklink studio and was very pleased with the result.
- What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
The challenge was the curve on the back of the gun and the operating end of the device and making sure all the parts fit together. The most difficult part to recreate was the glass tube inside the dome and to get it to look like the actual portal gun.
- 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?
I would tell myself to draw it out first.
- 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 2 full days to create the Portal Gun but I spent 3 months promoting and sharing the idea on Discord, Reddit and other portal fan servers.
- How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
It took 3 months to reach 10k and I was absolutely delighted when I heard the news.
- Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
I used 867 LEGO pieces.
- What is your favourite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
The curve on the back of the gun is my favourite part that I created. It is particularly difficult to make a curve in LEGO form and I was really happy with how it turned out.
- If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
I used Bricklink Studio to build and render my images.
- If you used custom stickers or prints for your design, how did you create them or where did you get them?
I created the stickers using Medibang and brought the images into bricklink part designer.
ABOUT LEGO IDEAS
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas project?
No.
- What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support to your Product Idea?
I went to Portal and LEGO-related servers and asked people to vote. I also had help from friends and family who passed it on to others.
- What is your favourite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own of course)? Are there any Product Ideas you think have been overlooked?
My favourite LEGO Ideas set is the Iron Giant, I loved the movie. I think 'Thunderbirds Are Go 2017" by Andrew Clark was overlooked; it had playability and it looked just like the original vehicles.
- What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
The coming together of many to vote for a project that they like, 10 thousand in fact. I took a chance hoping people would like my idea but I can't believe that so many people voted. I also thought the #Buildtogive was a fantastic idea. I would say go for it, plan it out and upload it.
- 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 plan on submitting more ideas in the future, and the hint is: “Of course I want a latte! I love the way you make them!”
