Who ya gonna call?
When there's something strange.... in your neighbour-Hub office... OK, I'll stop the ghostbusters puns now - but what if you do have something a bit unusual that you need help with? Especially if it's made of LEGO!
Around a month or so ago we got an unusual request from a usual customer. LEGO (UK) had a phone box in their central London office - but it needed to be on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Having been installed when the office opened, no-one knew who had built it, or how, or how on earth it could be removed. All they knew was that there was ‘some steel’ inside a ‘mainly unglued’ model. Well, we like a challenge!
Loading up our largest van, Stephanie, we set off on a trip to London. As we really had no idea what we'd need to do - we decided to play it safe and take everything we might need with us.
LEGO tools, woodworking tools, metalworking tools, access platforms, ramps, lifting gear, lots of PPE, packaging - it all went in the back of the van. We had no idea what to expect, so we just brought everything we could think of.
Following our own risk assessment, we even took COVID-19 tests with us, to ensure everyone stayed safe.
The phonebox in situ in London
Once in central London, it took us a full day to work out how the model was assembled, how it could be moved, and then to disassemble it and pack it for transport. We also found out that the base of the model was exactly 11mm wider than the lift doors. That was, shall we say, annoying!
Once disassembled and carefully packed, we loaded everything up for the trip back to Edinburgh. Now the fun part would begin.
Ready for her touch-up
Working with the production company, we came up with a plan to re-build part of the phone box at our studio and then install this and the rest in situ.
For those of you that don't know Edinburgh’s Royal Mile - about halfway up the most touristy part are three phone boxes. LEGO (UK) would add a fourth for a unique photoshoot. If you do know Edinburgh, then you'll realise the first problem. The Royal Mile isn't flat - far from it in fact!
The Royal Mile is also paved in stone which gets slippery when wet. Which happens quite often here. So, not only did we have to install the quarter-tonne phone box, but we also had to ensure that it would be safe to display. Dropping a model is one thing, dropping 200+Kg of LEGO in the centre of Edinburgh’s tourist trap is quite another!
Another thing on the to-do list then - create an invisible, non-slip, temporary levelling platform so that the phone box stays put during installation, the photo session and then disassembly.
Paperwork and slightly fewer tools packed, we were on site at 07:00am in Mia (yes, all our vans are named after LEGO characters!).
Model built, all that was needed now was for the sun to come out for that ideal photo. I guess we can't control everything!
Photo taken though, it was time to pack it all away, which also seemed to be the cue for the really heavy rain to arrive. Of course!
The glamour of ‘backstage’
It hardly ever rains in Edinburgh, honest!
