See LEGO on a cosmic scale

AND WE'VE GOT A NEW DESIGN!

Jun 27, 2020

CREATOR SPOTLIGHT
~ Wonderfully Massive LEGO Creations ~
Tim Goddard, aka Rogue Bantha

I've only recently dived into the world of massive original LEGO builds — and I'll never come back. Flickr is brimming with creations you can get lost in for hours, days, maybe forever. It was great knowing you!

Tim Goddard, operating under the handle Rogue Bantha, is one of the folks producing these mind shattering dioramas and sets. Tim builds marvelous LEGO space ships, scenes, fantasy visions and sci-fi worlds. Everything I imagined as a kid playing bricks, Tim does to perfection. If you’re remotely interested in LEGO and space, the links in this email will ruin your chance of getting anything done, ever.

Before we dive into it — we’ve got a new design. We’ve moved to Substack for publishing, which immediately generates a website where people can read these emails later. Hope you enjoy the new design; let me know at Matt@biggiantinc.com.

We'll highlight Tim's work throughout the post, but you can lose the rest of the day right now at his Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tim_goddard928/

Let’s dive into Tim’s history. . .

BIG GIANT: Thanks for answering our questions Tim! Can you tell us about yourself? Did anything in life prepare you for these massive undertakings?

TIM:

I'm Tim Goddard, an analytical chemistry laboratory manager, located just west of London in the UK. There is nothing in my background other than a lifetime of LEGO building that has led me to do what I do with plastic bricks. It’s my only artistic outlet so maybe that’s the reason I have persisted with it through my childhood and into adult life. In the LEGO community there is a thing called a “dark age,” where a person stops building with LEGO for a few years, often through the late teenage years, and then returns to it in later life. I only really had a grey age as the quality of Lego sets declined in the late 1990s and I became interested in other things.

Tim’s take on Star Wars ships.

I think it was the introduction of Star Wars LEGO that prevented full darkness and a few years after that I found the AFOL (Adult Fan Of Lego) scene and the public displays that were put on. I wanted to be a part of that! It is great fun as you get to hang out with likeminded people for a weekend and talk with amazed members of the public as you explain for the tenth time that this is something I have created, it is not a set and no I do not work for LEGO!

An atmospheric hallway shot.

BIG GIANT: What's your main focus for building?

TIM:

The main theme I build in is Space (with a capital S). This ranges from stuff directly inspired by old LEGO sets and themes from the late 80s and early 90s to Star Wars models to original creations with a sci-fi futuristic feel. I browse a lot of concept art and sometimes use that as direct reference, but more often as general inspiration. Starting a new model is the hardest part, you put a few bricks together and it looks kind of rubbish but you need to persist. Building with LEGO is a lot like sculpture, you can add and subtract as much as you like and there is always a brick combination to achieve what you want. I very much work with trial and error, I keep changing and modifying until I like what I see. Sometimes this means a finished build is not exactly what was in my head at the start as a chance brick combination takes me a new direction. Building Star Wars is a bit different; you’re trying to recreate something that already exists (at least in a galaxy far, far away) and people know what it is supposed to look like.

A charming fantasia. . .

With Star Wars I often work in micro scale (anything too small for a minifig) so the placing of every piece is important. I also dabble in other things, animals are always interesting to build and I worked with a few guys who recreate moments in British history in LEGO with massive dioramas for a few years (Brick to the Past, look them up if you are interested). Mixing things up occasional helps broaden your skills and stops you falling into a creative rut.

Very strong Homeworld vibes here.

BIG GIANT: What's your dream creation?

TIM:
I have worked on a number of spacey collaborations, these are always grand in vision but because of real life, money and time constraints they often do not reach their full potential. So I guess it would be something like that but that did match the original vision! It would be a settlement on an alien world with brick build landscape, monorail, lots of landing pads, a giant control tower and underground base with lots of Thunderbirds style moving lifts and functions. It would be under attack from marauding bad guys with ships on wires dog fighting against a starfield background. I am getting excited just thinking about it! I am currently involved in a couple of collaborations, a cyberpunk London build with the London AFOLs which will have lots of neon and mechs (I’ve already build a Fifth Element style taxi) and a Space Station collaboration with Brickish, the biggest UK wide LUG (Lego User Group). That one is a bit up in the air as to details at the moment!

BIG GIANT: What's been the biggest headache?

TIM:
The Goliath drop ship was a massive project for me. It took about 6 months and spent a few weeks sitting on a shelf when I could not face working on it! The two main challenges were completing a full interior whilst keeping such a big build structurally sound. It was worth it in the end and got a great reaction. There is nothing like having something like this on show at an event and having people look at it amazed, and then you open up the rear hanger door and show them the interior and then remove a section at the front so show off the bridge with computer consoles and ship wheel. The chins hit the floor! Big dioramas are always a challenge, whether a collaboration or build alone. The challenge of transporting Lego should not be underestimated! I try to make it them as modular as possible but often the build takes over. I have never yet failed to get them into the back car yet though!

The Goliath, in all its glory.

BIG GIANT: Tell us a bit more detail about how complicated it is to build these things?

TIM:
I talked a bit about the Goliath above. One of the reasons it was so challenging was the cross section, it is an irregular hexagon. It would be reasonably easy to build something this size (if you have the parts) with right angles but it just does not look as good. It would just look like a giant box that flies — so a hexagon it had to be! LEGO offers plenty of options to brace this kind of shape but I wanted an interior so it had to be as open and hollow as possible, plus I wanted as much detail as possible inside and out. I got there in the end, partly though making the structure part of the greebling.

BIG GIANT: Where should people go to learn more about building their own creations?

TIM:
Instagram and other sites are great for picking up tips and meeting like minded people, I have yet to meet a member of the LEGO community who would not be happy to help others out if you are stuck on something (Remember, we are just normal people, we have lives outside of LEGO!). Try and find a group who meet up in person (once the world returns to normal). They may be part of the LUGBulk scheme where you can buy certain parts directly from LEGO cheaply (be warned it normally takes the best part of a year before you have the parts in hand). There are various sites to buy Lego from. Bricklink is the biggest and best.

It's not all space!

BIG GIANT: Any resources on Instagram our readers can look at?

TIM:

There are so many! Many have a design or artistic background and create some visually stunning models. Here are a few you really should check out on Instagram if you are into Lego: @inthert @jasonallermann @blakefosterafol @thomas_jenkins_bricks

There are also plenty of accounts for that highlight the best in the community, such as: @brothersbrickoffical

And for building tips try: @tipsandbricks

Finally, if you are a parts monkey like me you need: @newelementary

BIG GIANT: Tim, we always ask our creators to tell us what they think about fantasy worlds and the imagination and what good these things can do in our lives. You mind taking a spin?

TIM:
I have always found building an escape from everyday life. That’s more important than ever right now. Put your phone to one side, turn off all screens, put on some music and just build.

Some choice picks from Tim's Flickr
More Homeworld-esque ship designs
Classic Space revisited
Incredible Star Wars Diorama