Another day, another new member of the 10K Club! Today we meet Daniel Bradley, a.k.a. danielbradleyy, and his brilliant SHREK'S SWAMP. This intricate recreation of Shrek's home would surely be favourite of any fan of the movies! Let Daniel know how much you love it down in the comments!
ABOUT YOURSELF
- Who are you?
Daniel Bradley.
- Where are you from?
I am from Greenwich, London.
- How old are you?
I am 24 years old.
- What do you study or do for a living?
I work in finance as a trainee accountant.
- What hobbies do you have?
The LEGO hobby has become my biggest hobby for sure, but I enjoy drawing and travelling too.
- Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
I post mainly on my Instagram @ronaldmocdonald, where I share my MOCs and LEGO builds.
- 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 am really proud of my Tiny-Tokyo set currently active on LEGO Ideas, it was my first modular design, and I was able to experiment with different pieces to create texture on the buildings. My build inspired by New Orleans is also a personal favourite as I was able to play with colours and include lots of small details.
- How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
I grew up playing with LEGO sets as a child, building the LEGO CITY sets with my brother. My passion for LEGO building was reignited upon meeting my partner who is also an AFOL. This led to me creating a LEGO Instagram and becoming part of the community too.
- 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.
I have made some great friends through Instagram and Reddit, discussing each other’s builds and opinions on new sets. It’s become part of my day-to-day life as I wind down in the evening working on my latest MOC on bricklink stud.io. I also play the LEGO games on my Switch which are all great.
- What is your favourite LEGO theme (current or past)? Why? And has any theme inspired your building style or preference in any particular way?
I am a big fan of the LEGO Creator Expert modular series. Each set incorporates such unique styles and building techniques to create distinct details. A personal favourite of mine is the LEGO Diner (10260) as the use of the round bricks really captures the retro look and was an all-round enjoyable build. I definitely incorporate and adapt to building techniques used in these sets, this will definitely be visible to fellow fans of these builds in the next MOC I’m working on.
- What is your favourite official LEGO set ever? Why?
The Ghostbusters ECTO-1 (10274) is without a doubt my favourite set. The attention to detail resulted in such a faithful adaptation of their car that you can’t help but feel nostalgic building it.
- What is your favourite LEGO element? Why?
The plant plate, 1x1 with 3 leaves. This is a piece I use within multiple MOCS because of how versatile it is. I used it in my New Orleans-inspired MOC to create a bossed keystone in the arch above the entrance to the alley. I also used this, amongst many other pieces, to create the foliage on Shrek’s Swamp.
- Is there a LEGO designer (official LEGO designer or fan designer) who you are inspired by and look up to? Who and why?
I’ve become great friends with (@total_brick_head) on Instagram who is building an awesome LEGO City. He has made a tunnel entrance that covers a platform’s legs within the city using 2x1 brings to allow a wrap-around effect. He’s been incredibly supportive of my LEGO Ideas journey and inspired me to want my own LEGO room to display my builds too.
- Is there one or more particular LEGO-related websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by?
I scroll through r/lego and r/legoideas on Reddit during my free time and regularly visit bricklink.com
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
I am a huge Shrek fan. I grew up with the franchise and Shrek videogames on GameCube and PS2 which were great fun. The fondness for these movies has stuck with me and so many others, it’s been 13 years since the last movie came out and the fanbase feels like it’s still growing. So, it only felt natural that I would make this into LEGO form, which has also been a great way to challenge myself with unusual textures. My love for Shrek is evident within the build as I included small details to ensure we would all share the sense of nostalgia when building.
- 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?
The process of this build took me a few weeks as I get very immersed in my passions/hobbies, so I dedicated close to all my free time to building it. I rewatched all four of the Shrek movies (and I’d do it again!) to find small details that I could include within this build. For example, I included the earwax candles around his swamp, the chair by his window and the Polaroid from DULOC with Donkey. My phone is full of screenshots still from researching different clips and saving things I wanted to include.
- What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
The most difficult part was the foliage. I made sure to consider not just the appearance but also how it would be for another fan whilst building. I wanted to avoid it being a repetitive process, so I made sure to use vines, leaves, and other pieces in different shades of green to make it more interesting and visually appealing. There was a lot of back and forth during this phase as I would constantly think of new ways to improve it. Overall, I am very happy with how this turned out and think my skillset has improved when designing future MOCs.
- 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 that it’s better to render my images on the PC rather than my old laptop. For my first few submissions, I rendered the images on my laptop which took hours and made the fan sounds like I was running a plane turbine. Once I downloaded the software onto the PC it rendered images within minutes, what a time saver.
- 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 spent a few weeks designing the model as I build quite quickly due to my obsessive nature. I did, however, spend a lot of time promoting the product on facebook/reddit/Instagram. It took 81 days for it to hit 10K so I’m happy with how things went!
- How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
Amazing. I was speaking to my mother during the build-up to 10,000 votes as she’s gotten really into my journey on LEGO Ideas. Around the 9960 mark, she was texting me all morning that she’s been refreshing non-stop. When it hit 10,000 we were both feeling over the moon. I’ve put a lot of hard work into my submission and it’s not just hitting 10,000 that was magical but also the way the community has reacted to my build and the friends I’ve made in the process.
- Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
There are around 1,600 pieces in this build.
- What is your favourite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
The branches coming off the top of the swamp were a fun challenge. I needed the joints to allow for it to be visually appealing whilst on display but also able to lay flat when the roof is off for playability. I went through a few different builds for these before I reached the end result.
- If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
I used Bricklink Stud.io.
- If you used custom stickers or prints for your design, how did you create them or where did you get them?
I drew all my designs on my iPad, using ProCreate, and I then used Studio Part Designer to put them onto brick pieces.
ABOUT LEGO IDEAS
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas project?
Don’t rush. Take your time when designing, sometimes it’s best to come away from it for a couple of days to look at it with a fresh mind. Also, social media platforms such as reddit are great ways to get feedback before submitting the build. You must be passionate about your build too. You’re selling an idea to 10,000 people, so we need to see your love for it through both the build, description, and updates.
- What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support to your Product Idea?
I created an Instagram profile when I submitted my first LEGO Ideas submission and have since gained a small following. I promoted my Shrek’s Swamp build here, on reddit and through various Facebook groups.
- What is your favourite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own of course)? Are there any Product Ideas you think have been overlooked?
My current favourite in review (at the time of writing) is RATATOUILLE: LET’S OPEN THE DOORS by Brick Project and CARLIERTI. I particularly enjoy the rat restaurant in the middle tier this build does great justice to the movie. My favourite officially produced Ideas set must be the The Office by Jaijai.Lewis. I have a lot of Office merch and currently wrapping up my eleventh rewatch of the show, so this was a day 1 purchase for me.
- What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
I appreciate the involvement that LEGO fans can have with contributing ideas for production; it’s an opportunity that not a lot of companies offer. Previously I would visit the website to see what fans were coming up with, often getting inspiration for my own MOCs.
- 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 am working on my next MOC where I experiment even further with ways to add intricate details. The overall vibe I am going for is Parisian, but with a twist feature…
