Saturday, February 06, 2010
Behind the scenes at the LEGOLAND California Model Shop: an interview with Gary McIntire [part 2]
The Brothers Brick | LEGO Blog: "Interview with LEGOLAND California Master Model Designer Gary McIntire, continued from part 1. We talk a little bit more about design, repair and tools of the trade."
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5 comments:
What an interesting article. Although when looking at these creations one can assume that hours of work goes into making them, its something else to read about it. What an interesting art form, although it seems so simple in many ways, the thought process behind the work is quite intricate. Even the fact that they think about the lighting, the base, everything shows what kind of subtleties are involved.
It's incredible to see just how much effort goes into this. I like how they treat every model as a design of its own, and not merely just a representation of a real object. I wonder how much of the detail is really noticeable, such as the age wear of colors over time versus new bricks. I can really see how this relates to theatre. These models are meant to be viewed by people for entertainment purposes, and they have a lot of factors taken into consideration during building and refurbishing.
This is very interesting. I have all ways wanted to know information about how they made the large Lego models. It is interesting that they have to design for the visitor in mind that if they come in contact with it they have to make sure that pieces don't come off of the piece. I also did not know that they could refurbish them. I thought they had to rebuild once they started to get old. The process that they use of media blasting with walnut shells is quite cool. I would have thought that the Lego bricks could not hold up to that process.
It seems like anyone who ever played with Legos as a kid dreamed at one point or another to grow up to be one of the Lego Land model builders. I really do wonder if as many kids would still want the job if they knew that what the model makers do and what they have grown up doing are actually quite different processes. the model makers almost sound more like assembly line workers then kids playing with an endless supply of Legos. It's no longer about finding that one piece you need to make something stronger, but finding out how you can make something out of the almost infinite options of different Lego blocks. Do not get me wrong, I still think that every person who grew up playing with Legos still wants the job of Lego Land model maker, I just think that it's a dream job that comes with a very different reality.
I've always been quite into lego, and think that a lot of the stuff these folks do is pretty incredible. I wish they said more about how the metal reinforcement works, especially how they join it with the lego bricks (metal epoxy? UV glue?) It is interesting that they have to refurbish them so often, but I suppose that that's the cost of allowing park visitors to actually touch the models, and making them out of genuine lego pieces. I'd also be curious how much CAD goes into these, and how much they are just structurally designed by the fabricators. When I used to do a lot of lego mechanical stuff, I remember learning about all of the formats that fans had come up with for doing primitive lego-specific CAD.
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