Notes and references from the IP partner for the LEGO Ideas Tintin set were monumental in filling in the gaps of the rocket model.
The IP partner for the LEGO Ideas Tintin set is a new face for the LEGO Group, leading to some interesting stories from development. A recent roundtable interview with LEGO Design Master Ellen Bowley revealed that the partner's many notes and references were incredibly helpful when the source material was lacking.
One of these areas in which the original comic wasn't particularly helpful for the LEGO Ideas team was in the colour scheme, where no two colours are completely the same.
"We had a meeting with three of the Tintin team designers," shared Ellen. "They were saying that no two images in the comic are the same colour. So if you look at the colour of Tintin's hair, and if you look at the colour of the rocket on every single page, it's slightly different. They were saying that they don't actually know the true colour of Tintin and that we can just go with what feels the best, or looks the best, or is closest to the main reference."
That decision gives the LEGO Ideas team a lot of responsibility to pick the correct colour for the rocket and the minifigures, especially when there is no right answer. Fans would likely have had plenty to say if the colour was too off, though. This mindset helped to shape the design of the rocket build throughout development, leaving the team with one big question.
"That was one of the things when we were discussing, the colour of the space suits versus Tintin's hair, they're not the same colour, but we have a very limited palette. So how do we differentiate them?"
In the end, the answer to that question was to use a different colour. While the spacesuit of the minifigure is orange, the hair is closer to yellow. It more closely resembles the live-action Tintin from the 1961 movie, rather than his appearance in the comic.
The notes from the IP partner continued, and the wealth of reference material available to the LEGO Ideas team was helpful when trying to design a 3D model of a 2D image. It is also one that isn't comprehensively pictured in the comic.
"There are so many different angles and pictures of the rocket, but you never really see it from underneath, only at the very edge of one shot do you see what's happening underneath and where the fire comes from when it's launching," Ellen continued. "There are some angles that you miss, so you can never fill in the gaps. You've just got to look at tiny pictures trying to find the most accurate one to represent the angle that you're trying to capture.
"Because the rocket is so simple, you can fill in those gaps a little bit yourself. Then they have their resin and die-cast models, which we also use as reference, for the control panel at the top, because it's quite a poignant scene in the comic; there are quite a few pictures of what that room looks like, so we could take quite a lot from there."
By having access to 3D models of the rocket that were already made, the LEGO Ideas team were able to properly sculpt a LEGO version of the red and white vessel, available in
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