Model Maker talks adding The Force Awakens to Star Wars Miniland

The official Star Wars website has released an interview with LEGOLAND California Master Model Designer Nik Ehm. The LEGOLAND California Resort is the first park to get a new addition to the Star Wars Miniland Experience from The Force Awakens, with six scenes from the movie due to be added to the area for the 2017 season. In the interview, Nik explains the process behind selecting the models and how the Miniland areas come together.

The LEGO expert discussed the choice of models from The Force Awakens.

Similar to how audiences were drawn to the movie, we wanted to draw in guests at LEGOLAND California to the new LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Miniland Model Display. We decided to represent the first 30 minutes of The Force Awakens in LEGO form by including key character moments. The scenes guests will get to enjoy include: Kylo Ren’s capture of Poe at planet Jakku; Rey’s rescue of BB-8; Poe and Finn’s escape from the Star Destroyer Finalizer; the wreck of Finn and Poe’s TIE fighter; Rey, Finn, and BB-8’s escape from Niima Outpost; and the escape from the starship graveyard. Lights, sound effects, and animation will further bring the scenes and characters to life. All these scenes will be on display in the center of LEGO Star Wars Miniland.

Building for the LEGOLAND California Resort has dampened Nik’s enthusiasm for his one time hobby, either.

We have just as much fun building LEGO models for LEGOLAND California Resort as we do building models at home, but we do use some additional tools when designing and building for the Park. The LEGO models for the Park are designed on a computer and don’t come from an existing set. We use glue and for larger models steel to make the models more durable and secure for guests to enjoy. Animation and LED lights are also incorporated in the models to help bring a scene to life. The great similarity is we use the same LEGO brick when constructing models at home and building the more than 30,000 LEGO models found in the Park.

The full interview is available at StarWars.com.