Take a flight on Dodo Airlines with 10K Club Member Simon Dudley (aka Micro_Model_Maker), to visit his Animal Crossing New Horizons: Nook's Cranny! Read all about the project, the process Simon took and of course about Simon himself!
Please do help us congratulate Simon in the comments down below!
About Yourself
- Who are you?
Simon Dudley
- Where are you from?
United Kingdom
- How old are you?
24.
- What do you do for a living?
Studying - 3D Artsit (Games Industry).
- What hobbies do you have?
Lego Building
Drawing/Painting
Fencing
Airsofting
Gaming
- 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?
Most of the ones im proud of are the ones i have posted onto Ideas, i think it is the Autumn Retreat project on Ideas.
- How and when did your interest for LEGO come about?
I think it started around 2000 with the Lego star wars sets, my first on one was podracer from 1999, then it stopped a little until the lego PC games came around such as lego racer 2 and lego island 2, after that I'd get sets every now and again until I was old enough to buy my own, thats when things started properly, although i have been building sets for a long time doing Mocs is somewhat, it was once I started university and leaning 3D Modeling it all just clicked and then using both 3D and Lego i was able to create a lot of Mocs.
- 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.
To me Lego is a bit of all of it really, I do love to display sets, and i love seeing the set or Moc come together during the building process and seeing the final thing is very rewarding, i also enjoy the games although in recent years ive only played the star wars and marvel ones.
- 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 think it has to be star wars, i dont think ive missed a single set, the why is simple really i love the franchise, that being said it hasnt influenced my buildings much, i think the Modualr buildings are my biggest influence for most of my Mocs just the great details and techniques used to make things like a flat wall intresting is just great.
- What is your favourite official LEGO set? Why?
Thats a hard one, i'll have to go for top 3 I think:-
1989 Batmobile - loved the movie, the batmobile and the build was amazing so much detail and care put into it
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UCS Slave 1 - great and imposing display model, looks perfect from every angle
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20th anniversay Pod racer (nostalgia mainly)
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- What is your favourite LEGO element? Why?
Plate with bow 1x2x2/3 - i've been able to use it to get so many new and intresting shapes in 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?
Hans Burkhard Schlömer i love most of his work on the lego sets such as slave 1.
- Is there one or more particular LEGO related websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by?
Eurobricks, I mostly post my project there to get feedback before i submit it to Ideas, there is a lot of great builders on there, i think one of them was recently hired at Lego as well.
About Your Project
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
The intrest came from playing the game, I felt like the models used in Animal Crossing are perfect for Lego, then i saw how the games popularity took off and thought i should just go for 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 wasnt as bad as some of my other projects this time, the ingame model was actually pretty close to 1:1 with lego parts, it was mostly just a collection of images and some rough builds to plan it out.
- What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
I went through a lot of changes as the game works like a TARDIS so I had to take the most iconic parts from the insides and try to cram them into a smaller space, i think this was the hardest part really.
- If you could talk to yourself before you started on this project, what would you tell yourself? What do you know now that you wish you knew then?
I'd probably say dont get too focused on the roof angle as it doesnt need to be the perfect degree.
- 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 maybe a month however I think the current virus helped as I had no other jobs to focus on, I actually didnt promote this project, someone shared this to Reddit the day I uploaded it before i could even promote it myself and it reached the front page with over 60k upvotes and from there the votes poured in.
- How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
It felt really good and quite shocking, my last project took almost 2 years to hit 10k so getting there in a few weeks was overwhemling really.
- Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
I think the final edited version is just over 1000.
- What is your favourite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
I think it is the roof section, I really like how the flat part of it where the sign is worked out I think it really helps capture the building.
- If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
I used LDD for the main build as I prefer the controls there, I then went into Stud.io to do the detailing as that software has all the brandnew fancy parts, I also rendered it using Stud.io as it has a photoreal style render engine.
- If you used custom stickers or prints for your design, how did you create them or where did you get them?
I created them in Photoshop, I just based them on the game model as close as I could really.
About LEGO Ideas
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas project?
Build something you love, if you show your passion other will see it and take note.
- What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support to your Product Idea?
I personally got lucky with this being shared to Reddit, however I was planning to post in various fan channels: discord, facebook groups and forums and reddit if the project you are working on has a reddit page.
- What is your favourite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own of course)? Are there any Product Ideas you think have been overlooked?
I think my favourite was the Saturn V it was just breathtaking, I’m not too sure really I think the Ideas that have been chosen have been pretty spot on (at least within my taste) i did really like the thunderbird 2 model though.
- What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
It is the creativity that I love about Ideas seeing so many good projects is always great, my advice would be, build something special, if a project hits 10k dont make a project to try and cash in on that success, it doesnt work, think outside of the box and make something truly great.
- 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 have plans, I just have no idea what yet I just know this isnt the last you will see of me!
By
JacobM366