Cumulonimbus

About time I introduce myself

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Hi, I have never properly introduced myself here, so it's about time it did.

I’m a 30 year old industrial designer and currently live in the Netherlands. I followed this and other fora for many years, but finally decided to participate more actively.

As a child my main toy was always Lego : I built many cities with harbours, aeroports, trains, etc. Through Model Team sets (the 5580 truck was my favorite) I evolved into technic sets. The red line through all my creations was to mimic stuff I saw in the world around me (trucks, cars, tractors, …). My goal was (and still is) to reach a satisfying balance between realism (proportions, functions, aesthetics) and the mechanism I could build. It was always a tool for me to learn and understand how these machine work. This curiosity is the basis for my professional career as well.

As so many of you somewhere in the 90’s I lost interest in the models Lego launched and eventually stopped playing completely. The set which brought me back from my dark ages is the 8288 crawler crane. I was fascinated by the compact studless design, the manual actuation via cables, the colour combination and size of the model in relation to its scale. Since then, I found new inspiration and bought many sets including most flagship models.

As I mentioned before in another post, I prefer manual control of a model, because I like to figure out the necessary mechanisms, can build models more compact (no battery box space claim) and I like the feedback a model gives me through the mechanism. This is the reason I converted many of my sets with PF or RC to be manually operated.

Each year I get inspired by the official sets, but over the year with growing skills and parts, I find the official sets not quite to my taste. This leads me to modify the sets more and more extensively to the point that they are more MOCs than MODs. Almost all purchases are modified to better mimic the real machine: I put a wheeled chassis under the 42006 crane, gave the dirt-bike a one cylinder DOHC motor, designed a new chassis and interior for the 41999 so it becomes a musclecar (no RC), modified the width and proportions of the 8110 Unimog, etc.

In 2014 I will take it a step further and focus on MOCs. Several sets have inspired me and although I reused many parts, they will be completely redesigned, build in LDD and eventually built in real life. I have got plans for my 42025, 42000 and two 8053 sets. I can'wait!

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