We’re now in our second month of interviews by Keith Goldman. For our fifth installment, we delve into the cabal of mysterious builders known only as LUGPOL. Take it away, Keith!

LUGPOL… You’ve heard the name whispered in every corner of the internet, sometimes in fear, sometimes in awe, always with respect. Until now, this group of expert builders has been content to remain quietly in the shadows, hatching byzantine schemes to control your LEGO. This week’s builder is willing to break the iron-clad code of silence and give us a rare glimpse into Poland’s LEGO scene.

In the real world he goes by the name of Maciej Koszyka, but Flickr-users may know him better as “PigletCiamek”. I sat down with Maciej in the Wieliczka Salt Mine amidst various religious icons sculpted from salt. We drank Okocim beer and talked about Disco polo, Stanislaw Lem vs. George Orwell and why Polish people marry the youngest within the European Union.

The Build

Keith Goldman: You build in many genres, do you have a favorite, and do you find any particular genre more difficult than the others? Also, you have built several models inspired by Polish history, is there a particular period that you find interesting?

Maciej Koszyka: The three themes that I most often exploit are Castle, Pirates and Military (If I can call the last one a theme, as there were never official sets). The Castle and Pirate sets from the 80’s and early 90’s were the most beautiful designs in my childhood. I loved to look at them in my LEGO catalogs and I was a happy owner of the 6276 Eldorado Fortress. It must have had an impact on my AFOL interests. I make military MOCs because I was always interested in modern military aircraft. Later I got into WW2 era planes and armor.

I definitely find it more difficult to build a model of an existing vehicle or aircraft. I try to be as accurate as possible, while simultaneously being happy with the functionality of the model. It sometimes takes over a dozen tries to build a particular section of a model and often requires Briclink / PaB ordering. Generally it takes anywhere from one (PZL P.11c) to six (Sherman) months to finish a model.

For Castle or Pirates models I’m not so precise. Although I sometimes use reference material or a general knowledge of how something should look like, it’s mainly a work of my imagination. It takes me far less time to complete such a model. A good example is the Neptunine which took me about two weeks to finish.

I rarely buy bricks specifically for a Castle or Pirates MOC and I always disassemble them, which is very uncommon for the military models. Well, I still keep some of my helicopters in a cartoon box, even though by today’s standard they are not great models (you know – the bunches of studs sticking out everywhere).

I’m not a historian, but I’m interested in World War Two.

The Polish historical dioramas you mentioned were made for a local (LUGPOL) contest about the September Campaign. It was great motivation for me, as I always wanted to build something from the Polish 1939 arsenal, but was always afraid to start.

The Invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union is a very important and tragic event in our history that took away our independence for 50 years.

I was worried about the result, building a model of a Polish plane should be thorough and with great attention to detail. It is very important that the final product doesn’t make us (Poles) feel embarrassed, even if it is only in front of the small world of AFOLs. I may sound a little pathetic but I feel an inner duty to depict my country’s history and military equipment as “professionally” as possible. It might serve as a kind of tribute. PZL P.11c is a symbol of Polish defense in IX 1939 and I think my model fulfilled my requirements for a proud commemoration.

More of Keith’s interview with Maciej after the jump: Continue reading →

The Living Brick, that sage site of salacious scuttlebutt, has landed the most important interview in the history of the blogosphere. He actually nailed down the Man behind the Curtain. Heck, I’m friends with the guy and I can hardly ever find him. So check it out, while you still can.

Photo by repoort

Our fourth installment of interviews by Keith Goldman feels a bit like Stephen Hawking interviewing Albert Einstein, with the added danger that a pair of dice somewhere may come up snake eyes and the universe will implode. Take it away, Keith!

This week I bring you perhaps the quintessential LEGO-nerd who is famous around the world and has been interviewed more often than any other AFOL.

I’m talking about the hobby’s one true rock star, who is all at once: builder, author, musician, actor, artist, raconteur, scoundrel, low-guy, philistine and the unofficial spiritual leader of our mannkinder flock: The Reverend Brendan Powell Smith.

I hung out with the critically acclaimed author of The Brick Testament series on Mount Golgotha, a rock cliff west of Herod’s Gate and just beyond the Old City of Jerusalem’s northern wall, overlooking the Garden Tomb. We drank Al-Sharq beer and talked about the Papal bull of 1493 (and the Treaty of Torsedillas), transubstantiation vs. consubstantiation, and the revelation that there were two “Roys” in “Seigfried and Roy.”

We also talked about LEGO.

The Bible

 
KG: You have mentioned in other articles that you have been flooded with requests to use your images by religious groups around the world.  Give me three groups or places that you found the most interesting.

BPS: Over the past three years now, I’ve been getting requests at the rate of one or two per day from churches and other religious organizations around the world to use material from The Brick Testament in sermons, Sunday Schools, church retreats, etc.  The requests are so frequent nowadays that I don’t have time to read and reply to them all in person, and have set up an automated system to handle these sorts of permissions.

I find it interesting, but not all that surprising to receive such interest from religious groups.  I am well aware that it’s possible for people to read the Bible and not end up an atheist, so it makes sense that religious folks would enjoy a creative and humorous but also faithful-to-the-text retelling of the Bible’s stories in LEGO.

I’m not sure I can pick out three particular groups that I found most interesting since I know very little about the religious groups that write to me.  But I can share a three anecdotes.

There was one teacher from a religious education class who found The Brick Testament very useful in class and found that the students really responded to it.  But when some of the other faculty discovered that some of the Bible’s sexual content was illustrated in LEGO, the teacher got fired from his job!  He wrote not to express any bitterness, but rather to express his admiration for the website, and hoped the higher-ups at his next job would see things differently.

A handful of times I’ve had secular college professors let me know they’ve used The Brick Testament in their religious studies classes, and that’s been pretty gratifying.

And about a year ago I unexpectedly got a $16,000 check from an agency that collects usage fees for copyrighted materials in Australia.  I am not even particularly clear on the details of who was paying these fees.  There was a note about Educational Institutions and photocopying or something like that, but um… thanks, Australia!

The Community

KG: I met you at Bricks West 2 (2003).  It was my first convention and you were the person on the roster I was most fired up to meet.  I was disappointed because I was hoping for a Garey Busey looking character with salt-and-pepper hair, a white suit, black cowboy boots and a Texas string tie.  Can you fathom my disappointment when I finally laid eyes on you, and have you had a similar experience meeting LEGO fans?

BPS: I could fathom anybody’s disappointment upon meeting me in person.  It’s been the low point of many people’s lives.

The closest experience I can think of to yours is this: After seeing the name “Leonard Hoffman” for years on LUGNET and, based on nothing more than the sound of his name, I had this image in my mind of Leonard Hoffman as an uppercrusty, high society, monocle-wearing, prudish British minor royalty.  I’m not sure I can say I was disappointed upon meeting the actually Leonard Hoffman, but there was a real sense of cognitive dissonance when I had to now associate that name instead with the image of an easy-going stoner-college-roommate type who friends called “Lenny”.
 
KG: Do you pay attention to what’s going on with the great unwashed masses of builders, through flickr or any of the older means?  If you do, is there a type of MOC that catches your eye?

BPS: I usually check in here at The Brothers Brick once or twice a day, and that’s become my main way of keeping up with the best of what’s being built these days.  I find it a little sad that there’s no longer one single place where AFOLs can both see and have substantial discussions about what’s being built.  Flickr and blog sites are great for seeing great MOCs, but simple comment boards just don’t allow for in-depth discussion.  Message board sites like Eurobricks allow for better discussion, but have never mastered a way for the best MOCs to be spotlighted.  And The Brick Testament never really fit in at the niche sites like Classic-Castle or Classic-Space.

Anyhow, the MOCs that catch my eye are the ones that are innovative, clever, and/or humorous.  

My favorite stuff is probably going to be close to the same sorts of things I build, so I look for a new way to pose minifigs, an unorthodox combination of parts, or just something deeply and darkly funny.  I’m too focussed a builder to deviate into participation in fads, but that’s not to say I don’t appreciate them or try to give them a shout-out in my own work.  

For other well-established building genres, I tire of the same old same old, so they tend to only catch my eye when they really stand out from the crowd, put a new spin on things, subvert the genre, or take it to new levels.

But with so many great builders out there now and so many ways to share photos, I’m pretty much guaranteed to see something I like or am impressed by everyday.

KG: Has anyone inside or outside the community ever tried to glom-on to the success of your publishing career?  Also, do you get groupies like other famous authors? 

BPS: Every so often I get e-mails from other builders looking for advice on getting published and/or how not to get sued by LEGO.  I’m afraid I don’t have much helpful advice to pass on.  When I actively tried to find a publisher, I failed, so I just went back to creating, and eventually the offers came to me.

I haven’t really had any troubles with people glomming on to me personally.  I get a lot of nice comments via e-mail, but The Brick Testament has no comment section or message board, and maybe this has prevented potentially rabid fans from combining forces or whipping themselves into a frenzy, constructing effigies of me and burning them or having sex with them or both.

The Future

KG: Say you burn through the bible and you look for the next great project involving LEGO, would it feature some other sacred text, or would you leave the literary genre completely?

BPS: I have some interest in illustrating other holy books, but I’m not sure that would be at the top of my list.  And considering the Bible has kept me occupied for over eight years now, I’m not sure I could work up the same devotion for the Qu’ran, Book of Mormon, or Rig Vedas.  Maybe if I had more lifetimes.

I won’t know for sure what project I’ll feel like doing until I actually finish the Bible, which could conceivably happen two or three years from now.  But already I am embarrassed by the poor quality of my construction and photography from eight years ago, so maybe I’ll be caught in a vicious cycle where I’m always re-illustrating the crappy work I did eight years before and I’ll be stuck illustrating the Bible for life.  That wouldn’t be so bad.

But as of right now, the non-Biblical material that interests me the most for a future illustration project would be the various Christian gospels, acts, and apocalypses that didn’t make it into the New Testaent, or the works of the historian Josephus who recounts in great detail the events during and leading up to the First Jewish-Roman War of 66-70 CE.  Fascinating, humorous, and tragic stuff, much in the vein of the Bible itself.
 
KG: Will we ever see a sequel to your groundbreaking independent debut in Vendetta: A Christmas Story?  Has Hollywood come slouching to your door?  What about Bollywood?  Have you considered directing a brick-flim?

BPS: Vendetta was a blast to make, and I’m quite proud of it, but like any video project it was very labor intensive.  I’m not particularly drawn to doing a brick film since I feel like still photography storytelling is a genre I’ve become quite good at and appeals to me much more.  From adolescent experimentation I know a little about what goes into making a stop-motion film, and unless I had a paid and motivated crew assisting me, I think I’d always rather spend my time adding more still-image illustration stories to The Brick Testament.

I get requests from Bollywood at the rate of one or two per day.  But they are all for me to  stop singing, stop dancing, and stay out of India.
 
KG: Since the hobby keeps growing I’m sure you’ll agree that it is only a matter of time before some C or D list celebrity will become an AFOL.  Give me three celebrities from any field that would make great AFOLs.  I know you’re a Patrick Swayze apologist, but I’d appreciate if you’d limit your answer to the living.

BPS: Sam Elliott, Peter Scolari, and George Peppard.

5 Boilerplate Questions

KG: If you had to pick only one of your MOCs to go in the great FOL time-capsule, which would it be?

BPS: For The Brick Testament I really consider the photos to be the finished artwork rather than the MOCs themselves, so if it’s a valid answer, I’ll say a printout of the Book of Revelation.  If that’s invalid, just take The Last Supper which I still actually have around as a MOC.

KG: If you had to pick only one of my MOCs to go into the great FOL time-capsule, which would it be?

BPS: Now THAT is Black Fantasy, no doubt.

KG: If time, money and proximity were not an issue, give me 2 builders besides me that you’d like to collaborate with on a project?

BPS: I’d love to have Michael Jasper work on character and prop design for The Brick Testament, and Sir_Nadroj for vehicles, architecture, and scenery.
 
KG: What’ is your favorite comment or review you’ve ever received on a model?

BPS: I really enjoyed watching random residents of Bratislava, Slovakia come across my “Accept Communism or Die” story that the SPACE gallery had displayed across the length of their building.  Their stony silence spoke volumes.
 
KG: And finally, good sir, who controls the action?

BPS: Yahweh controls the action.

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.

TBB: How do you go about designing and building a model? And how is it different from a fan or personal creation?
GM: When we start, we have to think about the location: sun exposure, guests, and whether it’s indoor or outdoor. Then we have to consider how it’ll be mounted to the ground. What we’re doing is fundamentally different from fan creations or sets because it’s an installation. We have to think about the surfaces, steel braces, and access panels for animation. We also have to get input from other people, I can’t just do whatever I want. It usually starts with a specific model request, then I design from there. I consult image resources. It’s important to keep in mind that what we think something looks like is different from what it actually looks like in real life. There are little details that may not be in our heads, but are what make it. At the same time, caricature is necessary to some extent. Models have to be recognizable, but can suffer from reality. Everyone has to keep in mind that it’s a version of the real thing. It has to look right, but is a model DESIGN, not an absolute replica.

TBB: What’s that on your desk?
GM: Those are a pair of transparent red jewels that are going to go on either end of the Dune Raiders sign in Land of Adventure. They wanted something to fill out the sign, so we worked out this design and after a few sketches, I’m building it (pictured on right with red mock-up interior). The interior is just white, and the last couple outer layers are trans red, so the sun will shine through them a little. They also have a yellow base and clasps to represent the gold.

TBB: What’s up with that Shaq model that has “34” tagged up on his chest?
GM: That’s an example of a mock-up; we’ll usually do that when we need to take into consideration a complicated combination of color and shapes. We’ll do the shape then draw on the areas where there will have to be different colors. Then we’ll rebuild the model knowing where we have to put the appropriate color. Usually the mock-ups are recycled or reused, but that one stayed.

TBB: What kind of tools do you use?
GM: Pliers, cutters, chisel, brick separator, mallet, and a power drill, but I have to build some of my tools, like a Jedi. (laughs) I had to modify a set of needle-nose pliers so they bend in to grab and dig into a glued brick that I’m tearing out (pictured below). I also use a special version of wire cutters to cut studs off. They’re called stud cutters.

TBB: Why do you have to cut studs off?
GM: Some of the models have access panels to allow repairs for the animation inside. Those panels have to slide in an out, and the simplest way is to cut the studs off (example pictured at right). The reason we use regular bricks and plates and remove the studs instead of using tile, is because tile pieces have the little lip at the bottom so they can be taken off plates by little kid fingers. That little tile lip is pretty noticeable on models. The access panel thing brings me back to one of the other things about these installations, we really have to take into consideration the hollows and angles inside a model in order to allow the movement of the animation inside.

TBB: You glue your models right? Why and how do you do that?
GM: Yeah, the models are all glued. A layer of glue is put down, then a whole layer of bricks is applied, until we’re done with the model. The glue is pretty strong, so usually when we have to refurbish or repair, the brick will break before the seal from the glue. I’ve torn apart a lot of bricks. When it’s finished, we also spray on a UV protective clear coat on the exterior that prevents some fading.

TBB: How exactly does the refurbishment process work?
GM: First, we uninstall the model and take it to the model shop by hand, cart or sometimes even with a forklift. The largest models we have to either repair in-place or take directly to our nice brand new blasting facility, which has a little more room. Once we get it in the shop, we clean it to see what we have to work on, then actually do the repairs, which can be rebuilding chunks of worn brick, reinserting glue into cracks between layers then pressing it back together with clamps or replacing extrusions that have broken off. After making the repairs, we sandblast the exterior of the model with crushed walnut shell, which takes off the clear coat and a tiny layer of the outer plastic, which makes the whole exterior a kind of matte finish. Then we spray on a new layer of clear coat on the exterior, which brings the original glossiness of the original bricks right back out. The reason we do the repairs before the sandblasting is because it makes it look more uniform. We can usually do that kind of refurbishment about two or three times to a model before it’s out of commission for good. One fun tidbit is that after about the second blasting, you can’t read the LEGO logo on the tops of studs. After all that is done, we reinstall the model.

TBB: When you’re doing a repair or refurbishment, what other things do you have to take into consideration?
GM: Quite a few things. We try to keep some age and color consistency, so like on a building model I’m replacing right now, since I’m having to replace most of the gray bottom strip of a white building, I’ll go ahead and take off the rest of the gray, so when it’s put back on display, the grays will all match and since the white is in good shape and consistent, it’ll stay the same (Above: Gary removing the gray layer). On other models, some redesign might be necessary because of extrusions or other types of things that I know won’t survive a lot of guest contact. A design for a model can be really great, but sometimes I can tell right away when it’s installed that I’ll need to redesign it during the first refurbishment, because of a feature that will make it more vulnerable to damage. Anything flimsy combined with months or years of guest contact are going to get damaged. Witches noses, tea spouts and monkey fingers are pretty common examples where I’ll need to restructure it or put in some reinforcement when I replace the broken parts.

TBB: What do you do with dropped and damaged brick?
GM: Damaged and glued bricks are recycled (pictured below). Clean bricks from mock-ups–or that got dropped on the floor–we put in another bucket which is sent to the building and play areas, where it’ll be reused.

TBB: What kinds of considerations for the cars and other electronic models?
GM: I work with the animation guys in the next room who do the electronic and mechanical things. They bring me vehicles that need to be refurbished to keep them running correctly, and I have to check with them to make sure the inside space of a car has enough space for the batteries and mechanics.

I’ll post a story soon reflecting on a few of my impressions and additional info we didn’t get to during the formal interview that some of you might be interested in hearing about.

I was recently fortunate enough to be allowed into the LEGOLAND California Model Shop, and wandered around with Master Model Designer Gary McIntire for over an hour of total LEGO geeking out. I hope you folks will find it as interesting as I did, though be forewarned: it may be the nerdiest interview you’ve ever read.

The Brothers Brick: So Gary, what do you do here?
Gary McIntire: I make magic happen. (laughs) I do repairs around LEGOLAND, give VIP tours, media events, Make-A-Wish Foundation tours, park events, ambassador classes, and judge junior master model builder events. When I’m not doing those things, I redesign, reconstruct and replace models around the park. I also do the design and building of smaller models, though larger design projects go to an off-site design shop. It all used to be done in one shop, but we split into separate maintenance and design shops over a year ago.

TBB: What makes maintenance here at LEGOLAND California different from the other LEGOLAND parks?
GM: The other parks in Europe are closed during the winter and can cover and completely refurbish their models during the off-season when they’re closed, which also serves to protect the models from the elements. Here we’re open year round, except Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the winter, so repairs are intermittent and the models are exposed to sun and guests throughout the year.

TBB: What’s the life cycle of a typical model in the park?
GM: It depends on the location, which will affect how much sun exposure and guest contact it has. It can be as long as 10 years without problems if they’re inside buildings or in the shade. But if it’s in the sun and people can climb on it, it may need to be refurbished within 2 years, with a complete replacement in another 2 years. If you want to see something that’s about at the stage where it needs to be refurbished after 2 years, take a look at the camel in Land of Adventure (pictured on right). The feet and neck get stepped on so kids can climb it to have their picture taken. On other models, major extrusions are likely to get knocked off, so that makes the need for refurbishment more frequent.

TBB: What about in Miniland?
GM: The District of Columbia section (pictured below) has already been refurbished twice and is due for a complete overhaul soon. But San Francisco, because it’s north-facing, has never been refurbished.

TBB: About how much of your time do you spend on Miniland and how much on the other larger models in the park?
GM: About fifty-fifty.

TBB: How many other people work here in the Model Shop with you?
GM: My boss, me, and a half time person, Ed Dowling, who is called a “Miniland Resetter” who just comes in on weekday mornings to make minor repairs to Miniland. Miniland figures near the edge of exhibits that get knocked over, that sort of thing. We also work with Mike Dibble and Denis Wauchope (pictured below) who are in charge of Miniland animation. They’re in the room next door making sure the cars, boats and trains keep moving.

TBB: Where do you get all your LEGO and what do you use the most?
GM: We use a lot of different pieces, though mostly basic brick and plate. In addition to what we already have in the shop, we have overflow brick and plate in storage. We reorder basic elements as we need it or when we run out because of larger projects. When we reorder, it’s straight from Billund, though for some rush orders, we’ll get in touch with the Model Shops at the other LEGOLAND parks. In fact, we just made a request from Windsor. In addition to the basic brick and plate, a very few minifig elements, some DUPLO, no BIONICLE, and a little bit of TECHNIC. We avoid using super-specialized elements. As a LEGO fan before I started working here, I kind of know the available pieces, so if we don’t have something, but I know it’s out there, I know to order it.

TBB: Do you have access to any elements that the general public doesn’t?
GM: Officially, no. The closest thing is a 1×1 round brick that has different sized holes at the top and bottom, that is the exception. We use it for lampposts, with a metal rod on the inside. We also have a catalog of “Q” elements that aren’t in current production, but are available for LEGOLAND, like the 1×1 round plate in green, and some basic elements that come and go from sets. We especially use slopes, basic specialty pieces, rounds and clips in a variety of colors. There are a lot of things that we have in stock, but we use so rarely that we don’t have to reorder. Some of those are out of production and if we run out, it’s done.

TBB: What about colors?
GM: The only colors that we have that aren’t generally available are “skin” and “peach,” which we use for Miniland figure faces, hands, and legs as well as a very few busts of real people or other similar projects. There’s another color that was specially made for a large project at Windsor, which is a sort of glittery milky color for the exterior of a major new sports complex. Maybe Wimbledon? Usually the only time there will be a totally new color is for high profile builds that require a nonexistent color.

In part 2 of the interview, we discuss installation design and tools of the trade.