Intricate 6-wide british Models: An Interview with Isaac Smith

Enrico interviews Isaac Smith about his experience in the LEGO hobby, and to learn more about his amazing 6-wide builds.

BMR: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your MOCs.

My name is Isaac, I live in the UK and have been back-and-fourth with Lego for as long as I can remember! Back when I was 13 I started exploring Stop-Motion Animation, and what better resource could I hope for than the mountain of Lego I’d accumulated as a kid! I must have caught the Lego bug without knowing it, because once out and started University, I realized I was still very much hooked on building Lego.

The MOCs I’ve built are all British locomotives & rolling stock, 6-wide. This is quite an off proportion for a lot of people, but I’ve found it to have become a unique (and slightly cheaper) style that I’m extremely happy with!

BMR: What got you started with LEGO trains?

I went to University in York, where I worked at the National Railway Museum for the best part of a year. Legends such as Mallard and Flying Scotsman were regularly visiting or on display, so it didn’t take long for the railway bug from my childhood to take hold again. By that point I already had a lot of the Lego, so the rest was a no-brainer!

Isaac’s 4468 Mallard speeding on the track.

BMR: What is your build process for making a new MOC?

It can depend on the build. For a lot of my bigger projects, like Mallard or the Gresley P2, I designed the model on LDraw before printing a parts list for Bricklink. In other cases I will attempt to engineer a locomotive with my existing pieces. This is how the LSWR O2, Midland ‘Spinner’ 4-2-2 and Class 48 Diesel all came about.

BMR: What is your go-to place for inspiration?

There are many – the museum was certainly a great place – but If I had to name one other, there’s a chap on Youtube called Chris Eden-Green who creates mini-documentary profiles on classes of Steam Locomotive. They’re accessible, well-shot and delight informative, and I’ve got many ideas for locomotives to build from them. I hope you don’t mind the shout-out!

BMR: What are your latest projects?

My builds are on hiatus at the moment as I take on a full-time job and work on several animation projects. By no means am I leaving the hobby, but I do think a break from the same thing can be healty once in a while! That said, I’ve been working on some rather interesting stop-motion puppets using Lego pieces as the base for the skeleton. Purists might not like it though as it involves a lot of snipping and drilling!

BMR: What is your dream project?

Some kind of representation of Dawlish, but in Lego. A mainline running along a sea-wall beneath dramatic cliffs, then entering a small seaside town with a station before disappearing into a tunnel. Maybe throw in a castle on the clifftop for good measure. Probably impractical and definitely heavy on the wallet, but… What a sight it would be!

BMR: You have a lot of cool and interesting YouTube video’s about your MOCs. What inspired you to make these?

Thank you very much! I’ve been making YouTube videos for about 10 years now, so when the Lego Trains came along it was by far the best way for me to share them with people. Film/video making has always been in competition with Lego for my greatest passion, so combining the two was always going to be inevitable.

BMR: What is your favorite show that you have attended with your MOCs so far?

Shildon Brick Show (At NRM Locomotion, Shildon) was where I met the wonderful fellas at the LNUR. I’ve been to many shows with them since and it’s always been a wonderful time, but it doesn’t beat where it all began.