Meet Chris Dee

Name:	Chris Dee
	[cwdee]
Age:	65
Country:	UK
Role(s):

Name: Chris Dee (Username: cwdee)

Age: 65 (as of 2021)

Location: Devon, UK

History with LDraw:

Chris discovered LDraw in 1997 or 1998 after abandoning a similar project to build a LEGO parts library in PostScript. The initial motivation was to create replacement instructions for second-hand sets he had acquired, and to produce instructions for the alternative models - this was in the days before the existance of internet resources like PICSL and its predecessors. Frustrated at the very first hurdle by the omission of part 4080 (Tipper Bucket 4 x 6) he set about authoring it and was amazed to see it released in the 1998-03 update. More parts followed, and circumstances found Chris concentrating on the patterned minifig torsos, which had largely been overlooked at that time. The intellectual challenge of part authoring and the then lack of functionally rich model creation tools (like MLCad) overtook the instruction creation idea. He soon installed Steve Bliss' LDraw Add-On program (LDAO) and with L3Lab as a renderer found an efficient toolset for part authoring. More recently he prefers LDDP and LDView. Appointment as the a second LDraw Library Admin followed in 2003. After managing the release of over 30 Parts Updates comprising over 12,000 new part files, he stood down from this role in early 2022.

Related interests: Chris didn't really discover the versatility of LEGO until his 30s, having been bought only Airfix Betta Builder as a child, one presumes on the assumption that it was British and thus a superior product. It was not. But his youth was a heyday for contruction toys and he was probably privileged to own rubber Minibrix from an early age, the excellent Bayko, Spears BrickPlayer and of course the inevitable Meccano (all of British heritage, note). Why those Christmas and birthday presents never included LEGO, not once, is a mystery.

Unrelated interests: Chris combines his LEGO interests with natural history and environmental conservation - more specifically birds. He regularly participates in and organises bird survey work and is an active bird ringer.

Chris is semi-retired running his own IT Consultancy business, mainly involved with website development and data management for conservation related charities and not-for-profit organisations.