Landmarks come to life with Lego
Wellington landmarks are coming to life in Lego, as enthusiasts build intricate models, including a moving replica of the cable car as part of a three-week competition.
The Great WellingtonNZ Brick Challenge gives kids and adults a chance to win prizes by creating a Wellington scene with Lego. The competition began on April 8 and the three winners for week one are: Remy Boswell (5-9 years category) for ‘‘Wellington sign’’, Lily Watson (10-15 years) for ‘‘Maranui Cafe’’, and Tina Ng (16 and over) for ‘‘Boatsheds at Clyde Quay’’.
Chris Lepper is hoping for a prize this week for his moving model of the cable car, which he used to take every day to work.
‘‘I had planned to make just the cable car but I suddenly had the idea to . . . make the whole track. The idea to motorise it was just the next logical progression.’’
He printed out a map of the cable car and made a few measurements for scale. The first day was spent making the working track and laying out the scale, the second day installing the tracks and programming movement, and the third and fourth days adding detail.
Lily Watson, 12, said she started out making her local beach, Lyall Bay, and then Maranui Cafe became the centre of the build. The hardest part was getting the walls to stay up while trying to put the roof on.
Her family was meant to be taking a holiday to Denmark to visit Legoland before their travel plans were halted by coronavirus, and the trip rescheduled for next year.
Ng found out she’d won when a friend messaged her. She was preparing for a Zoom meeting for work at the time. ‘‘I was actually pretty shocked to win as there were some pretty nice entries.’’
Each week, a new winner for each of the three age groups will be chosen to receive a box set of Lego. From the weekly finalists, a grand winner will receive a giant Lego Star Wars set valued at more than $1000.
Weekly winners are chosen by Weta Workshop’s Sir Richard Taylor, and the grand prize-winner will be chosen by WellingtonNZ marketing and communications general manager Anna Calver.
Taylor would be looking for interesting, unique, and unusual sparks of creativity in the models.
Check out the entries and how to enter yourself on the WellingtonNZ Facebook page.