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Yesterday (4-2-00) I got to spend two hours with a model builder at Legoland
as part of my Ambassador pass. It was a lot of fun. I had just recently
upgraded from my annual pass, so I had almost no information about the event
execpt that it was two hours long and that it would include building a small
dragon I had seen in the model shop.
When I go there, the only people in the room (one of the sections of Maniac
Challenge) were Dan, the model builder host, and a five-year-old girl with her
mom. The session started with a brief description of a model builder's job.
He then went over what kind of training he received when he got hired. He
showed us a model of a half-sphere like the one in the new LEGO book. He also
brought along a model of the LEGO Maniac head that was used as the inspiration
for the Rose Parade float and told us how they took a picture, copied it onto
their LEGO graph paper, and then built it. After oohing and ahhing we jumped
into building the dragon.
The dragon model was about five inches high and there were two versions of
instructions provided. The first was a large gray baseplate that held the
dragon at various (about 15) stages of completion. There second was a printed
set of instructions that were made up of photos of each of the stages from the
baseplate with each new set of pieces slightly highlighted to help you know
which pieces had been added from the previous picture. There was an over-
sized souvenir 2x2x1 brick box (about 5" square) which contained all of the
pieces we'd need to build it.
After starting to build the dragon incorrectly (I got overzealous and started
on the wrong step) I borrowed Dan's LEGO separator (I'll have to bring my own
next time in case I get put in a larger group) and got underway again. The
little girl got most of Dan's attention since she needed a lot more help than
I did. About thirty minutes later we had finished our dragons.
By then most of the two hours had gone by but Dan said he'd take us over to
the Model Shop and show us -- from the visitors' side of the glass :( -- some
of the things that were going on inside and answer any other questions we
had. He showed us his desk and explained what he was working on. I asked
several questions but now I don't remember what they were (feel free to ask me
and jog my memory). After twenty minutes we were pretty much all done and the
littel girl went off to go to the bathroom. Dan just happened to linger long
enough for me to ask the question I'd been dying to ask since I found out
about this event...
"Is there any possibility you can take me inside and show me around?" I was
very prepared to hear him say "No" and offer a host of legal and other reasons
why he can't let anyone inside. But he said "YES!" Well, I don't think he
actually used an excalmation mark, but I knew there were about twelve of them
in my head. While the punctuation was dancing around, he took me to the side
entrance. "AUTHORIZED MC's (Model Citizens) ONLY" and now (for a few minutes
anyway) I was authorized.
Just inside the door was the animitronic workshop that I only got to see
briefly because there were people working. Then I went inside THE room. It
was incredible to be in a room where there are literally millions of LEGO
pieces all nicely sorted and stored, just waiting for someone to pick them up
and put them toghether. Each of the seven Model Builders has his own set of
bins with regular" bricks and plates and then off to the side is the mega-
shelving system for the specialty pieces and colors. I got a very brief tour
of this shelving system and got to drool over the bins of specialty items. It
was very ironic that Dan was nonchalantly leading me through all these pieces
as if it weren't the greatest thing in the world. (Of course, for him by now,
it's just part of his daily routine, but to me it was beyond belief and
description.)
I happened to sneak a peak at the label on one of the bins. It contained
5,000 white 1x1 light clip plates (LDraw part no. 4081). I noticed that it had
a part number (six digits, something like 250046, sorry I didn't memorize it),
the quantity (5,000), the color (white), and a description (something like 1x1
light holder plate). Nowhere was the number 4081. I imagine it probably is a
serial number for that part and that color, used by the Model Builders to get
more from the wherehouse (yes, they also have a wherehouse in addition to the
thousands of bins).
Just a few minutes in nirvana and then I thanked Dan profusely for the tour.
Then I slowly walked to my car trying to remember everything I could. I can't
remember it all now, but I'll try to answer any questions you might have about
my afternoon. Thanks for wading through my rambling. I can't wait to do this
again next year.
John Gramley
I'm also posting a DAT file of the dragon I made in lugnet.cad.dat.models.
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