A Rainbow Warrior Escaping a Cage of Gray

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Colorful builds always grab my attention. For those who aren’t familiar with my own builds, color is a star character most of the time. That is what this bird build from Filbrick, (or Les Briques de Loïc) aka Loïc Brun, a finalist on LEGO Masters France, caught my eye. With all the colors of the rainbow, this bird is breaking out of a cage of greyscale.

I had the opportunity to meet Loic and we chatted about his creation.

Sam: Hello Loïc! I am curious, what was your source of inspiration for this build?

Loïc: I needed to build something surrounding the theme of “freedom”. Starting with a simple idea, a bird escaping from its cage, an idea came to me: why not be inspired by the elephant Elmer from David McKee’s book? Even if the message is not quite the same, the fact that the bird is multi-colored could represent the freedom of expression... in addition to the action of escaping from a cage.

I also wanted to make a MOC that uses “basic” parts that everyone potentially has at home to show what could be done with common parts.

Also a fun part of the story, I don’t have enough parts in one color to make a dove or another bird of a solid color, but that would have been less original.

Sam: The color really has a playfulness to it. Since you can see all the bricks, do you know how many pieces you used?

Loïc: I don’t really know how many parts I used for this MOC. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I put pieces in and take pieces out until I find a result that suits me—at the end of it all, it’s complicated knowing how many pieces I used. I guess I could have counted the pieces out of curiosity but unfortunately, I did not take the time to do it.

Sam: You said the idea came to you pretty quickly for this bird. Was the building time also swift? How long did it take you to build this MOC?

Loïc: I had very little time to create this MOC—It was built in the same period I was building for your BrickNerd cube contest. (That he won!) As soon as I had time, desire and inspiration, I was building without looking at the time, so I don’t know exactly how much time I spent, but finding a good idea takes the most time.

Sam: Taking a closer look at the bird, I particularly like the idea of using multicolored minifigs for the bird’s tail. Was that difficult or intentional?

Loïc: Thanks, that was one of the three constraints of this MOC. I had to include three figures. My original idea was to include one in the head and the other two in the wings but I didn’t like the result at all. The idea came to me when I was trying to arrange my workspace. (Like Ted!)

Sam: You mentioned that it HAD to include three minifigures. Was this MOC built for a contest?

Loïc: This creation was imagined up for a contest on the theme of freedom, organized by my local French LUG Puissance Brick. There were three rules: it could not exceed a 16x16 baseplate, it must include three minifigures, and it must include a flag.

Sam: You must enjoy being inspired from contests! You won the last contest on BrickNerd (Cube Your Enthousiasm) and now this. Do you enjoy building for contests and participate in them often?

Loïc: I can’t really explain this passion I have for contests. first I started participating in LEGO contests on LEGO’s Rebrick platform which merged with LEGO Ideas in 2018. I won my first contest in 2015, and since then whenever I find time and a contest that inspires me, you can be sure to find my name in the participants!

Sam: Speaking about contests, you were a finalist on LEGO Masters France Season 1 with your partner Guillaume Roussel. Did the show change your way of building at all?

Loïc: Yes, of course there was a before and after to LEGO Masters. The fact that you have limited time to conceive a creation encourages you to use techniques to save time, like using SNOT to build a building for example (the barn below). Moreover, building in teams of two helps you see new things from your building partner and thus potentially to learn new ways of doing things.

Sam: Want to share a little spoiler with BrickNerd? Will you make an appearance in Season 2?

Loïc: Unfortunately I can’t say much but anything is possible! But if it, happens you’ll have to be very careful since I’m always so discreet.

Sam: I can’t wait to watch LEGO Masters France Season 2 in December to find out! It was a real pleasure to have you featured on BrickNerd.

Loïc: Thank you Sam!

Sam: Thank you Loïc! To end our chat, here is a picture I have with you taken during La Brickadelle, the LEGO convention based in Besançon France. And taking a hint from your MOC, I’m now off flying off to my next MOC!

Do you want to fly high with color? Do you want more information about LEGO Masters France? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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