It's the ultimate career dream - turning your childhood passion into a paid living. John Lewis talks to Weta Workshop supervisor Rob Gillies about what it's like creating cool props and special effects for Hollywood movies.
Unlike most children, he would go another step further and build his own costumes and props - things like samurai swords, crossbows and armour from his favourite shows.
Since then, not much has changed. He has turned his childhood play into a career.
These days, the 36-year-old former Dunedin man is the workshop supervisor at Weta Workshop in Wellington, and is responsible for many of the props, armoury, sets, prosthetics and 3-D models seen in Hollywood films.
''I grew up watching a lot of old westerns with my granddad, and I also got extremely into ninja movies and horror movies at a young age.
''I was just fascinated with ninjas and samurais, as well as superheroes.
''That whole fantasy realm was really exciting to me. I wanted to be a part of that, so I made costumes and props and weapons - anything to try and replicate the characters out of the shows.''
His family had a full garage workshop with countless tools, which enabled the Opoho Primary School pupil to turn his television fantasies into reality.
''We weren't allowed to use any of the power tools until we were in our teenage years, but we certainly made samurai swords, go-karts, flying foxes. You name it, me and my brothers had a go at it.''
When Mr Gillies was 8, he spotted a samurai sword in a glass case during a visit to Otago Museum.
He went back with a notebook and pencil and used his arm and his eyes to draw a scale replica of the historic Japanese sword.
Then he went home and built it.
''I found a piece of metal in the shed and hand-filed it down into a blade and fitted a piece of wood as the handle. It took me about three days to file it down because I wasn't allowed to use the power tools.''
As young boys do, he and his brothers re-enacted scenes from many of their favourite shows. Surprisingly, some of the weapons they built did not kill them, he said.
''We've all got a few scars from some of the creations out of the garage. Being hit by crossbows and bows and arrows are particularly painful, as I remember.
''Growing up in the 1980s, we certainly weren't pulling any punches.''
Mr Gillies said there were plenty of hospital visits as a result. The worst was after building a go-kart and crashing it in a terrifying downhill thrill ride.
''I don't think we quite got the calibration of the wheels right. It got a wobble on whenever it got any kind of speed on. We never broke any bones - just cuts and bruises. We usually got patched up and then we were back into it again.''
His passion for building film props continued through his years at Dunedin North Intermediate and Logan Park High School, and he exercised his creative mind by studying art, drawing, drafting, painting and later sculpting.
After a gap year in Australia, he went on to study for a bachelor of arts degree at Otago University, but at the end of his first semester he realised a BA and student debt was not where he wanted to go in life.
So he left to find a job where some of his skills could be put to use, and he found his feet working intermittently as a builder, among other jobs.
''I didn't have a direction in life. I didn't really know that I wanted to work in film at that stage.''
Then, out of the blue, a friend who had moved to Wellington to work for Weta Workshop on the first Lord of the Rings film gave him a call.
He said Weta needed ''capable hands'' and suggested he move to Wellington to work for the company.
Being away from familiar surrounds and not knowing where his next pay cheque was going to come from was a frightening prospect for the 20-year-old.
But the idea of working in an artistic and creative environment also excited him. He camped on his friend's floor in Wellington for six months before he got an interview with company founder Sir Richard Taylor.
''I was prepared to hang around for as long as it took to get into the building.
''And, as luck would have it, they needed hands at that stage.''
That was in 2000 and he has been there ever since, working on a range of films, including all three Lord of the Rings films, two Narnia films, Avatar, King Kong and the first and upcoming Hobbit movies.
At the moment, Mr Gillies is working on Thunderbirds Are Go!, a remake of the much-loved 1960s classic television series that is set to return to the small screen for the 50th anniversary of its first episode going to air.
Twenty-six episodes are being created by ITV Studios, Pukeko Pictures and Weta Workshop, blending modern computer-generated animation technology with traditional live-action models.
The new show will air in 2015. If you want any other juicy inside snippets of information about what the revamped show will look like, they won't come from Mr Gillies. His lips are sealed.
Mr Gillies started at the bottom at Weta Workshop and has worked his way up the ranks across all departments.
Now he is the supervisor and is responsible for the team leaders of 12 departments at the production company - something he only dreamed of as a young boy.
Not surprisingly, it is another boyhood fantasy he has managed to bring to life.
It is also a life lesson that he hopes will teach young people across the country to follow their aspirations, especially if those are in the film industry.
''It's a great industry to work in. We get new challenges every single day without fail. We never build the same thing twice.
''It's very rare that you can find that sort of creative outlet where you can really be the master of your own destiny.''
