10K Club Interview: Camping Trip by terauma

Explorers will enjoy telling stories and toasting marshmallows round a cozy campfire with terauma’s Camping Trip creation. Send your congratulations on this scenic set quickly reaching 10,000 supporters!

ABOUT YOURSELF

1. What is your name?
   Fuma Terai.
    
2. Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
   My Instagram profile is: @terauma_lego.
    
3. How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
   When I was about three years old, my parents bought a bunch of LEGO bricks at a flea market, and my brother and I played with it enthusiastically.
    
4. What does the LEGO hobby mean to you?
   It satisfies my imagination and improves my understanding of color and my creative ability. I also like to display collections.
    
5. What is your favorite LEGO theme (current or past)?
   My favorite movies are the Star Wars™ series. I also like the Castle series and Space series from the ‘80s and ‘90s. They make me feel the excitement of my childhood again, and I love the colors.
    
6. What is your favorite official LEGO set ever? Why?
   The Old Fishing Store (21310). Realistic shapes, colors and detailed objects. Those are what got me interested in LEGO Ideas.
    
7. Is there a LEGO designer (official LEGO designer or fan designer) who you are inspired by and look up to? Who and why?
   Niels M. Frederiksen. He came to Japan for a lecture and heard about how SET is created. I was very impressed.

ABOUT YOUR PROJECT

1. Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
   I've been going camping with my family since I was a little kid. I still love camping and go with my family and friends on my days off. There hasn't been a large-scale camping set released up to now, so I wanted to make it a reality.
    
2. How long did the process of making the project take and what did you have to research?
   About two weeks. In order to choose the main icon tent shape, I researched tents from various eras and manufacturers. I also looked into the scenery of various campsites, including those overseas.
    
3. What special challenges or frustrations did you face creating the model?
   Recreating a campsite with LEGO bricks could end up looking flat, so we made the floor two-tiered to add a three-dimensional feel. Creating the rock base to support the raised land was difficult!
    
4. How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
   It seemed like a lot of people wanted an outdoor-themed set, and it only took a month for it to get over 50,000 likes on Instagram and 10,000 votes, which is pretty quick!
    
5. Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
   About 1,500 parts.
    
6. What is your favorite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
   A tent that uses a windscreen. If I’d used plates to build a tent, it would be too thick, so this part was perfect.
7. If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
   Stud.io from BrickLink.

ABOUT LEGO IDEAS

1. Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas Product Idea?
   I would like to know that, too! But I think it's important to just try.
    
2. What is your favorite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own of course)?
   ​​​​​​​Post Café by Baron von Barron. His products are always unique and beautiful.