Interview: LEGOLAND California with Master Model Builder PJ Catalano
Building San Diego, Making Minilanders, and Scale Building throughout a LEGOLAND Theme Park!
Miniland
Each LEGOLAND Park contains a Miniland, a miniature city representing several different cities from that country or from around the world. As you will learn, this collection of brick-built cities has a consistent scale which is larger than the size of a LEGO Minifigure.
In 2023, a large section of the original Miniland was replaced with a brand-new section dedicated to buildings and landmarks from San Diego. My discussion with PJ focused on this area since he and his team played a key role in building it.
Minilanders with fancy hats at the Del Mar Racetrack.
Brick Architect: What are Minilanders?
PJ Catalano: Minilanders are the 10 brick (or 30 plate) tall people that populate Miniland. They are 1:20 scale, so about four inches tall making them the right scale for the rest of our buildings.
Minilander putting on a suit jacket while running to the train.
Brick Architect: Can you highlight some of your favorite Minilanders?
PJ Catalano: One of my favorites is a Minilander holding his briefcase that has flown open while running to the red trolley in Miniland San Diego. The Minilanders at the Del Mar Race Track are also some of my favorites because of their fancy hats representing exactly what would happen at the horse races. It’s really neat to see what our builders can do with LEGO elements and their imaginations.
Designing a Minilander in the Model Shop using BrickLink Studio.
Brick Architect: Can you highlight some of your favorite stories about building San Diego?
PJ Catalano: One of our builders was a sailor and captain so he took on the challenge to design and build over 25 LEGO boats in Miniland San Diego! So every single boat in all of San Diego is built by one person! He’s also a welder, so he put the welding frames underneath them for support.
Rady Shell at Jacobs Park (2021), by Tucker Sadler Architects, San Diego, CA.
Brick Architect: How do you approach curved shapes like the Rady Shell?
PJ Catalano: One of the biggest challenges with any LEGO builder is to make a round object using square LEGO pieces. How do we make it not blocky? There are a few ways to help us with those challenges, from graph paper to the LEGO design program Stud.io, to just our eyes and visual guidance. Being able to see it in your mind and then map it out to build is challenging yet also very rewarding as you can see all the curves through all the cities of Miniland which gives it a more realistic look.
Every project is different, which also makes it fun and challenging. You might be building and have to change methods halfway through … it looks good on paper and on the computer, but it doesn’t read well in real life. So how can I adjust that? We’re constantly adapting and that is the fun challenge in my opinion. I love doing that part.
Brick Architect: Is everything in San Diego built digitally before you started snapping bricks together?
PJ Catalano: Every project will be different. Some have been digitally designed first while some have been built on paper.
A rare aerial view of Minilanders enjoying a concert behind Petco Stadium (with Blankets and Beverages).
Brick Architect: What’s an example of something you added later?
PJ Catalano: We’re always adding new elements inside Miniland! After Petco Park was finished, we decided to build a stage because bands play there often!
Then we populated it and thought, alright, let’s add in a crowd! It’s best, in my opinion, to go experience something in real life and go there. Then you can say, okay there are a lot of blankets, not as many lawn chairs. A lot of beverages and pretzels and hot dogs, so they’re all carrying pretzels and hot dogs. You want it realistic; Google’s one thing but you can do so much better when you see it in real life before building it.
Brick Architect: How do you take care of LEGO models throughout the park?
PJ Catalano: LEGOLAND California opened in 1999, so we’re about to hit 25 years in March . Some of these models are 25 years old, and some of these models are one year old.
The biggest thing that damages models is the sun, so if a model is inside, it’s going to last forever. If a model is outside, it really depends on the amount of sun or shade it gets. We put a UV coating on our models to protect them.
What you see from these models that look older, it’s not the LEGO — it’s the UV peeling off. As it peels off, we sandblast it using crushed walnut shells. … A model will last about two to three sandblasts before it doesn’t represent LEGO anymore because the studs are fading and the edges are cornered. It’s kind of like resurfacing a hardwood floor. By the third sandblast, it’s not going to last any longer.
Parkwide
In addition to Miniland, there are hundreds of LEGO models scattered around the park. Most of these are built out of LEGO bricks, but there are also oversized LEGO parts and Minifigures (Smooth models) decorating the park and as part of the many rides. I was especially eager to learn about the different scales used for these oversized LEGO objects.
Brick Architect: I’ve noticed there are oversized LEGO elements throughout the park. They seem to be all kinds of scales.
PJ Catalano: If a larger LEGO build is of an actual LEGO element from a Minifigure set, then we build it 18x the size and this would be the same with a brick-built LEGO Minifigure. Smooth Models are 25x the LEGO element.
An example of a brick-built Ghost minifigure.
Brick Architect: Can you tell me more about these large minifigs that aren’t made out of bricks?
PJ Catalano: We call them smooth models and those are 25x scale. Smooth figures represent the actual element itself.
Smooth Models are oversized LEGO Minifigures.
Brick Architect: With all the oversized figures and elements, it sort of feels like you are a minifig walking through the park — is that intentional?
PJ Catalano: That’s exactly what we are trying to do. LEGOLAND is geared for children ages 2 to 12 and is designed specifically for them but it’s fun for all ages.
It’s designed for them to say, ‘I know that building, I’ve seen that in real life!’ An adult might be looking eyeline or lower, but a kid is looking up … that’s what it looks like in real life.
Inside the Model Shop
In addition to our interview while walking around MINILAND, I had a chance to see inside the Model Shop, where Master Model Builder PJ Catalano and his team create many of the models found throughout the park. I’ve included a few photos showing how LEGO Parts are organized within the workshop.
The extensive selection of parts is sorted by color then part.
Brick Architect: You have a ton of bricks at your disposal here in the Model Shop. How do you approach building with a constantly changing selection of parts and colors.
PJ Catalano: There are over 17,000 LEGO elements, over 62 colors, 100 in history, and that number has continued to grow over the years. In the original buildings, when the park opened 25 years ago, builders only had so many elements and colors to work with, and now we are able to access so much more.
With the introduction of new pieces, new brackets, new snot techniques, studs not on top, we get to get more and more detailed and intricate, making builds look very realistic. We love how it challenges us, and it shows families visiting the Park all of the incredible builds you can create using LEGO.
We want to push the limits, and we want people to come in and say like: ‘wow, that’s cool’! Not just, ‘oh neat’. And we think we hit that with Miniland San Diego , because it’s one of our best ones yet. Our whole shop is proud of it. Our whole park is proud of it. And you can see the detail and the passion that went into it.
PJ Catalano showing a custom tool that was made to get bins from the top rows.
Brick Architect: Other unique challenges you face in the Model Shop.
PJ Catalano: Space is our unique challenge! If a building isn’t able to fit in and out of our Model Shop door, we have to design it in another way to accommodate our space restrictions.
Sometimes parts are designed to come off because we hide the speakers … we have access panels, and sometimes you can take tops off or sides off. Our job is also to hide those.
Specialty parts like this drawer of minifig hair is sorted by shape / mould.
Great article Tom! I will be visiting LEGOLAND California for the first time in a few weeks and appreciate the insights shared.