It's Monday, and we're back with another slick idea. Let's give a big LEGO Ideas welcome to Jiwoo, a.k.a. legoceo and their fantastic AUTO REPAIR GARAGE 1930s. Those of you who appreciate a timeless, classic look in your builds will be sure to love this one. Show some support for Jiwoo down below!
ABOUT YOURSELF
- Who are you?
Jiwoo Kang.
- Where are you from?
Seoul, South Korea.
- How old are you?
I'm 19 years-old.
- What do you study or do for a living?
I’m a college student majoring in mechanical engineering.
- What hobbies do you have?
I like reading books, building with LEGO bricks, and CAD designing.
- Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
Unfortunately, I don’t have any personal LEGO portfolio website, but you can visit this link. I made this with my twin brother and I did all the interior parts.
- 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?
These two are the MOCs that I’m particularly proud of besides the Auto Repair Garage 1930s. I used more than 30,000 pieces for the building and the robot has about 3500 pieces with a lot of interesting details and functions.
- How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
I started playing with blocks when I was born, but my interest in LEGO products came about when I was five years old. My first LEGO set was 7945 - Fire Station, and ever since I’ve been enjoying creating LEGO products.
- 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.
Creating with LEGO bricks always allows me to think creatively and it provides me with a very good platform through which I can express my ideas in shapes. I always find it very enjoyable when I come up with an interesting way of using bricks to make something from my mind, and LEGO building is absolutely one of my favourite hobbies.
- What is your favourite LEGO theme (current or past)? Why? And has any theme inspired your building style or preference in any particular way?
The Creator Experts is my favourite theme, but recently I’ve been also enjoying the Technic theme. The use of large Technic bricks on the bottom of the Experts cars inspired my car platform.
- What is your favourite official LEGO set ever? Why?
Although it’s very difficult to choose one, I would say my favourite is 10295. Porsche 911 is my favourite car and it is so great to have it in a LEGO set. And I like the fact that I can also get a minifig-scale version of this set from Speed Champions.
- What is your favourite LEGO element? Why?
My favourite part is the 1x2 jumper plate. It allows me to make very detailed structures in a lot of different ways and I think it is one of the most used parts in all of my MOCs.
- 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 so many great LEGO designers, but my favourite is Jamie Berard. I loved all the Experts modulars made by him, and was inspired a lot by his efficient use of bricks on a minifig-scale.
- Is there one or more particular LEGO-related websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by?
I often visit Pinterest where I find a lot of amazing LEGO creations. I can find many related ideas quite easily there and it has been a really good source of inspiration for my projects.
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
I really enjoyed making Experts cars and I always wanted to have a vintage car of a scale bigger than the minifig. I thought that vintage cars have a clear shape, and since their designs are not particularly determined by the shape of their headlamps or that of their grill - like modern cars, I thought that it would be a very good to make them in LEGO bricks.
- 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?
I think it took around two weeks to finish it during the summer vacation. I did some research about the vintage garages, and I put many iconic features in them, such as the gas pumps and classic equipment. The colours were mostly inspired by the Great Gatsby, and the colour of the garage is from Gatsby’s iconic yellow Duesenberg.
- What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
I think the license problem was the most frustrating part. I wanted to put more interesting features that reflect the vintage garage, such as the Shell logo on the gas pumps and Coca-Cola crates for the mechanics, but I couldn’t due to the license issue.
- 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 like to tell myself that I should spread my ideas on social media or come up with a more efficient way of advertising my product ideas. Since I do not use social media a lot, I think I have many difficulties advertising the product ideas.
- How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
I felt absolutely amazing! I’m happy to have this opportunity and am thankful for all the people who supported my projects.
- Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
I used just around 3000 pieces - about 1000 pieces on the car and 2000 pieces on the building and the equipment.
- What is your favourite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
My favourite building technique is to make a sliding door using panel tiles. The width of the panel tiles is equal to the width of a plate and a tile, so I could make thin slide doors with some details on them.
- 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 project. For the background, I used Photoshop to blur the classic artwork and incorporated it with the photo of my LEGO project.
- If you used custom stickers or prints for your design, how did you create them or where did you get them?
I made the custom stickers from a logo design website and I put them on the bricks using the custom part-making software from Bricklink.
ABOUT LEGO IDEAS
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas project?
I think the details of the creations are the most interesting parts to look at, but in order to make the product idea eye-catching, the colour combinations and the background are very important for a better overview of the product idea.
- What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support to your Product Idea?
I shared my product idea through Pinterest and with my friends and family.
- What is your favourite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own of course)? Are there any Product Ideas you think have been overlooked?
Although there are so many product ideas that I like, my favourite of them so far is The Wright Flyer.
- What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
I like the fact that I can get comments from my supporters. I received a lot of good comments and it was a very good way to learn about what parts of my ideas the supporters liked.
- 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?
I don’t have a plan to submit a new product idea yet, but maybe I will do in the near future. I want to make something with a movie theme if make a new one.
