Meet a member: Benbuildslego
Posted by Huw,
Since posting our action plan to keep you all entertained while we are in lock down we've been inundated with featured set suggestions and with members who are willing to be interviewed. Thank you to everyone who's responded so far.
So, meet our first interviewee, Ben, aka benbuildslego, from Chicago:
What is your first LEGO memory?
My first memory with LEGO is the original Star Wars sets from 1999, when I was just 8 years old. It simply doesn't get better than the classic Landspeeder (7110-1). Sadly, not a lot of my sets survived my childhood intact!
Did you have a dark age and if so what caused you to emerge from it?
Like a lot of AFOLs, my dark age was college - there is just not enough space in a dorm room for LEGO! After graduating and getting a full-time job, what got me back into LEGO was building a MOC of the Berlin Reichstag (officially Deutscher Bundestag – Plenarbereich Reichstagsgebäude).
The Reichstag is my favorite building in all of Europe and I love its unique blend of the neoclassical and modern styles. I bought some excellent instructions by Thilo Schön and used Bricklink to acquire the necessary pieces. This build introduced me to a lot of cool building techniques, and it began my journey back to building LEGO regularly!
Do you build MOCs? If, so what?
I love micro style builds since they force you to work within the limitations of the LEGO bricks. If you have enough bricks and space, you can build LEGO to look like anything; however, with micro-builds you need to be especially careful with your choices to achieve a desired result. It's a fun and frustrating process!
Nearly all of my MOCs of the last couple years are built in the style of Architecture and Skyline style sets. Rather than depicting famous cities, my skylines mostly depict fictional locations, including settings from Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter. Earlier this year, I was ecstatic that my "Indiana Jones Trilogy" MOC achieved the required 10k supporters on LEGO Ideas.
I prefer to design in the Bricklink Stud.io program since I think it's mostly easier / quicker than real life, and the photo-realistic renders are awesome! I currently do not have an big, organized Lego storage system, and Stud.io provides me with nearly every piece I could ever want! (It's also a little easier to separate bricks with a computer mouse).
The Achilles heel of building using a computer is when you are working with more complicated angles. In real life, it's super simple to rotate the bricks as needed, but it can become tedious and a real headache. Another pitfall that has to be avoided is the weightlessness that exists. In real life your build will fall apart if it is not sturdy, but when using CAD you have to be more mindful as to whether the connection you are making between pieces would hold up in the real world.
Do you have a favourite part?
There are so many that I love, but I would have to choose the jumper plate (15573). When building at a tiny scale, the build may naturally start to look like a grid. Jumper pieces are especially handy for adding half-stud offsets to break up the grid pattern and make the scene more dynamic.
What set/theme/part (take your pick) would you like LEGO to produce?
I am fortunate that my Jango Fett's Slave I (7153-1) has survived (mostly) intact, but I think LEGO is overdue an updated version after giving us a surplus of Boba Fett versions! I would also love to see a Chrysler Building to accompany the Empire State Building (21046-1).
What is your favourite official LEGO Set?
Anyone who knows me knows that I am the biggest fan of "Star Wars: Rogue One." I may have been crying/sobbing of happiness after seeing the movie for the first time...So naturally, I am a huge fan of the Krennic's Shuttle (75156-1).
I actually modified the original set to make the wings longer so it is more accurate to how the ship looks in the movie. My girlfriend still occasionally catches me flying that ship around our apartment while I make spaceship noises.
How long have you been visiting Brickset?
I first came to know Brickset through constantly coming across CapnRex101's excellent reviews in my Google searches. Once I started building LEGO regularly again, I find myself here pretty much every day to catch up on all the latest news and reviews! While I've been a visitor for many years, I just recently became a member in August 2019.
What's your favourite/most used feature of the site?
I love the ability to easily track which sets I own and want. And I especially love the site's ability to perform a Collection Analysis of your owned sets. It fun to see your own collection displayed quantitatively with a variety of bar graphs (e.g. # of sets from each theme, # of pieces you acquired each year). As a close friend once said, "Graphs for your LEGO sets is the most Ben thing ever."
Do you have any interests or hobbies other than LEGO?
I am a big fan of travelling and photography. I am not someone who takes leisurely vacations - I am on the move from dawn until after dusk, and my camera is rarely off! Later this year, I am looking to visit some close family friends in Svendborg, Denmark and pay a long visit to the LEGO House!
Do you have a presence on Instagram, YouTube or elsewhere?
You can find all of my nerdy MOCs on Instagram @BenBuildsLego.
I am also the moderator of the /r/DigitalLego subreddit page where everyone is encouraged to share and discuss LEGO builds made in the computer!
Thank you, Ben. Fancy being interviewed? Get in touch!
111 likes
24 comments on this article
The interviewing idea is pretty awesome! I'm down, although I'm not that interesting :P
That was really interesting. I've admired many of BenBuildsLego microbuilds the last few years, so it's good to know a little bit more about him. Great questions, too. Thank you!
@Rowia said:
"I'm not that interesting :P"
I’m sure that’s not true.
Nice to meet you Ben!
Those micro-scale models are incredible! Wish I had that sense of creativity. Especially liking the Star Wars one! Thanks @Benbuildslego!
Love the idea of interviewing members, always nice to know more about other fellows who share our passion for Lego :)
Interesting that Ben would choose such a common (but useful) piece as his favourite.
Now, how do I apply?
Here are the questions we are asking. Anyone who'd like to answer them is welcome to! Just send us your responses via the contact form so we can keep track of them more easily.
Name: (if you want to provide it)
Location: (province, country)
Occupation: (if you want to provide it)
Photo: if you can, it will add a lot to the article.
What is your first LEGO memory?
Did you have a dark age and if so what caused you to emerge from it?
Which set or theme has been most influential upon you, as a LEGO fan?
What are you building right now?
How do you store your LEGO?
Do you build MOCs? If, so what?
What is your favourite part?
What set/theme/part (take your pick) would you like LEGO to produce?
Do you have a presence on Instagram, YouTube or elsewhere?
What is the availability of LEGO like where you live? (mainly for those not in the US/Europe/other markets well served by LEGO)
Do you have any interests or hobbies other than LEGO?
How long have you been visiting Brickset? Been a member?
What's your favourite/most used feature of the site?
Are you a member of a LUG? Which ones?
Have you been to a LEGO event? Which one(s)? Do you have a favourite?
Feel free to answer as many or few as you like, and if you think of anything I should have asked, answer that too!
Great to be able to get to know the person behind the social media handle - a very talented one.
Therefore, liking Rogue One is an acceptable trait :D
My favorite Star Wars movie (and one of my favorite movies of all time) is also Rogue One! So great to be reminded every now and then that I'm not the only one.
I am definitely a fan of the new articles, Brickset! Keep it up!
This was a fun read, and some great micro MOC's. Looking forward to more of these articles, and thanks to Brickset for continuing to be here supporting us in these uncertain times.
This "getting to know" other members is fantastic. Makes me feel a bit more normal, knowing other professionals enjoy this hobby and that I'm NOT the only one that really loves Rogue One. All my friends give me a hard time about collecting toys and building Lego. It doesn't bother me at all, but I do wish they knew there were millions of people just like me. I'll fill out an interview questionnaire and submit it in the future.
What a great start to meeting other Brickset members. This has gotta be a permanent fixture!
When I first saw Ben's micro MOCs on Flickr, I was immediately hooked. They were clean, elegant and really evocative of what he was modelling. And his work constantly inspires me to try a little harder to do the same. I appreciate getting to know a little bit more about him.
Nice interview, Ben's micro MOC's are great.
These strange times lead also to good and new ideas! I hope that will be true in our every days life too, when we will be allowed to go out again and restart our lives. I have hopes of new behaviours, new consciousness maybe with this virus that enforces us to be closed... with ourselves. Hope that people will be more focused on each other and on maybe less futility. Thank you Brickset! Thank you Brickset members too.
Great to put a face to a name. I really hope Brickset keeps this feature up once the world returns to normal, even if it's only one a month.
Very nice to meet you. I actually supported the Indiana Jones Trilogy on Lego Ideas, so it’s nice to meet the builder. I wish you all the best- we really need more Indy sets.
I love Rogue One as well, so it’s good to be reminded I’m not the only one. It’s probably my second favourite Star Wars film (after ESB)
I’m really looking forward to his Star Wars sequel trilogy skylines.
Pretty cool interview! I would love to participate! :D
But the most important question wasn't asked; is he single? :]
@The_Green_Brick_Giant said:
"But the most important question wasn't asked; is he single? :] "
Pay attention, he mentioned living with his girlfriend in the interview ;)
@Jena said:
Pay attention, he mentioned living with his girlfriend in the interview ;)"
I saw a Star Wars ship and must have blocked that part of the interview out of my mind. :]
Great interview! I've been an admirer of Ben's microscale MOC's for a while now, so it's nice to put a face to the name.
@Huw said:
"Here are the questions we are asking. Anyone who'd like to answer them is welcome to! Just send us your responses via the contact form so we can keep track of them more easily.
Name: (if you want to provide it)
Location: (province, country)
Occupation: (if you want to provide it)
Photo: if you can, it will add a lot to the article.
What is your first LEGO memory?
Did you have a dark age and if so what caused you to emerge from it?
Which set or theme has been most influential upon you, as a LEGO fan?
What are you building right now?
How do you store your LEGO?
Do you build MOCs? If, so what?
What is your favourite part?
What set/theme/part (take your pick) would you like LEGO to produce?
Do you have a presence on Instagram, YouTube or elsewhere?
What is the availability of LEGO like where you live? (mainly for those not in the US/Europe/other markets well served by LEGO)
Do you have any interests or hobbies other than LEGO?
How long have you been visiting Brickset? Been a member?
What's your favourite/most used feature of the site?
Are you a member of a LUG? Which ones?
Have you been to a LEGO event? Which one(s)? Do you have a favourite?
Feel free to answer as many or few as you like, and if you think of anything I should have asked, answer that too!"
Huw, May I ask if TFOLs can do the interview or is it only for AFOLs?