G and David with Monday night’s winning challenge – constructing a bridge in 10 hours across a two-metre canyon with no centre support.
Camera IconG and David with Monday night’s winning challenge – constructing a bridge in 10 hours across a two-metre canyon with no centre support. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Perth team compete for Lego Masters title

Tanya MacNaughtonEastern Reporter

IT is not often that a workshop mechanical supervisor and a mechanical fitter will be familiar faces to the public but David (Kewdale) and G, short for Gerhard, (Dianella) have changed that with Nine series Lego Masters.

From David being recognised coaching his son’s football team to G being a subject of conversation while buying Lego, the mechanical mates from Perth who work together in the exploration drilling industry have had to get used to a few double takes from people with the show’s ratings success.

Hamish Blake’s building for fun on Lego Masters

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“I had a funny one yesterday where I was taking the kids to get a haircut and I was sitting next to a dad and son watching Lego Ninjago cartoons on their phone,” David said.

“I wondered if they watched the show.”

G and David.
Camera IconG and David. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Hosted by Hamish Blake and judged by Ryan ‘Brickman’ McNaught, reality show Lego Masters has seen eight teams of two go head to head in a series of Lego build challenges for the chance to win $100,000 and the title of ‘Lego Masters’.

Like many in the competition, David and G have been preparing for a TV show like this since childhood.

“I grew up on a farm (in South Africa) and didn’t have many toys,” G said.

“With Lego, every day I could have a different toy when combining the two or three kits that I had. I got my first set when I was six in 1972, so that’s 46 years of building Lego now.”

Hamish Blake, David and G.
Camera IconHamish Blake, David and G. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Meanwhile David got his start during the early 1990s when his parents gave him Lego sets Space Police and Ice Planet 2003.

“I’ve always been someone who liked to construct and build things,” David said.

“I like having a project on the go.”

David heard about Lego Masters through his involvement in Perth’s Bricktober convention and after being chosen for the show, knew there was only one person he was interested in competing with him.

“I asked G and the rest is history,” David said.

“Our teamwork all comes down to our training over the years – assess the job, break it down to sub-assemblies and steps, divide the work up and go from there.”

G said although it was every Lego builder’s dream to go on a show like Lego Masters (with unlimited access to bricks), the Lego experience was very different with time constraints and a driving force to win instead of building as a hobby.

G and David.
Camera IconG and David. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

“There’s all the competition part with the stress and the not wanting to fail,” G said.

“And it’s different to see yourself on TV; you’re watching and question why you said or did something.”

David, a fan of Lego Technic, and G, an enthusiast of ‘real world builds’ and Lego Minifigures, said the success of Lego Masters with viewers was the show’s ability to entertain.

“It’s not dumbing people down and it’s making them interested in a kind of art form which you see come to life,” David said.

“And it’s something the whole family can watch. I compare it to like watching a Disney or Marvel movie; it has adult humour and children’s humour where everyone can enjoy it.”

Lego Masters continues Tuesday night on Nine.