LEGO Rivendell_16125000049_l A little while back, we featured a story on a 120,000 piece Lego replica of Weta’s rendition of Peter Jackson’s Rivendell from The Hobbit.

Here, the designer and builder — Ben Pitchford — chats with us about his enormous creation, and how Lego has since asked him to submit a smaller, potentially commerciable, version to their Lego Ideas site. (If you’d like to see it become a reality — it needs 10,000 supporters to move to the next stage and is already almost halfway there — then head over to Ben’s page on Lego Ideas and add your backing.)

Tell us a bit about yourself. The cliff notes version, if you like!

Ben P: I’m a big fan of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit books and movies. I also enjoy building LEGO with my kids and as a creative outlet after work.

How long have you been building with LEGO, and what inspired you to start doing it seriously?

Ben P: Like most LEGO fans I began building at a young age until my early teens and got back into it three years ago (before my oldest kid turned two). After discovering websites like Mocpages and The Brother’s Brick I realized the potential for building custom models instead of following the instructions on store bought sets.

15696652326_87092da06d_o

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.