Duncan Titmarsh
LEGO Builder
What I do
I am the UK’s only LEGO Certified Professional, so I get to build with LEGO all day every day! There are only 15 in the world, so I do feel very privileged.
How I got my job
I loved playing with LEGO when I was a child and that never went away, so building with LEGO became a hobby as an adult. I started to build my own models like the London Underground map and a huge castle. These started to get noticed and I was invited on to BBC radio to build a studio on air – it was only a small job but good fun. The following week I was contacted by another company because they heard me on the radio and after that more jobs kept coming in. I was then asked by LEGO to join the LEGO Certified Professional programme.
What I love about my job
Every build is different. One day you could be building a replica of a caravan and the next week you will be building a skyscraper or a Hulkbuster for a movie premiere. We also go out and do workshops and live builds. The live builds are great because we get to meet the public and they get to see what we really do and how we put models together.
What is difficult about my job
Some of the builds can be quite complicated and take longer than expected. Really big builds often require steel framework to ensure the build is robust. Sometimes when it’s getting a bit tricky, it’s a good idea to have a break from it and then go back to it the next day.
What skills I need
Patience and a passion for building! When it comes to the big builds like a replica bus stop or Santa’s sleigh, it’s all in the planning. The builds have to be very well planned; you need to know what sort of bricks you will need for the build and what scale the build will be before you start putting bricks together.
The design is sketched out on paper or designed on the computer.
Where to start
Practise different builds and copy real-life objects. When you practise building you are looking for shape, so don’t worry about the colour. I tell children to go to the kitchen cupboard and build a mug or plate as these are round and a good way to start.
