My Winter Village Project

milamber

JasoMac said:

@milamber I ordered that one, Changing Seasons, Lakeside Lodge and Modular Winter Vacation through Bricklink, along with a few collectible minifigures that seemed appropriate. I will definitely have to change some colors around on that one, I really dislike the Friends color scheme, at least as it interacts with the Winter Village one, but I've seen pictures of others doing the same thing on here. 

This is my version, but there's lots of options

tamamahm

Yup. I also modified my snow chalet, and it is part of my winter scene (the after Christmas one) along with the mountain hut. 

Fauch

JasoMac said:

I'm assuming most of these multi-level villages that I've seen aren't built up entirely out of Legos, what do people use under them to support the weight above without being super heavy itself?

Dunno, but you could try cardboard, it's light and pretty sturdy. my ninjago city is just sitting on cardboard furniture.

Switchfoot55

^I've built my scene up (about 10 posts down on page 9) with some 2x2 stilts screwed into the wooden board on the bottom and them an elevated platform on the top. Then I cover the wood with a "snow blanket" (a white semi-fluffy decorative item from Target). I put my buildings on top of that.

I've also seen full on Lego-built structures, tunnels, hills, etc... It's really up to you and your budget.

Also, as with others, I've repurposed several non-winter sets into my village. Most I've redone the roofs in white (same photos referenced above). Nice way to fill out the village at a somewhat more affordable cost.

mtpelepele

I like white styrofoam insulation to build up a bit.  Comes in 16"x1"x4' sheets at your local home improvement store.  You can buy a hot wire cutter for a few dollars on Amazon, it cuts really easily.

bandit778

Have started the installation of #10267 into my Christmas display.




Prime real estate, just round the corner from Santa's place but only a five minute walk to the station. :)

May have to think about some fencing now the little one's out of the oven but should be okay for a bit.

milamber

Nearly got mine out last weekend when it was wet and windy, but managed to restrain myself. Decided it was a little early

panchox1

^just a little. ;-). I'm shooting for having it up the night of the 30th. though mine will be very modest.

Switchfoot55

My village got off to a fast start, but some recent family emergencies have put it on hold for now. I'm excited to get back into things shortly! I have all of my modified buildings built and ready, the small/older Gingerbread House, several additional shops and vendors for the market, and the Carousel. 

I'll likely work on the Cottage and Post Office next. Both are fun builds and will help bring some calm to my mind right now!

KungFuKenny

Thanks to @SumoLego my village will now include the WV Fire Station - here’s hoping that the firefighter’s services will not be required and that they can participate in the festivities!

LittleLori

I plan to modify #5766, #31025 and #31048 for my village this year. I have done the log cabin before but not the other two.

Switchfoot55

^I'd love a copy of both the Log Cabin and Mountain Hut to add to my village. I likely have most/all of the parts for them in my bulk bins. I'll have to do some sorting. I found it pleasing to my eye last year to have added more living spaces to a village with so many people wandering around. That Cottage can only sleep so many...

SumoLego

KungFuKenny said:

Thanks to @SumoLego my village will now include the WV Fire Station - here’s hoping that the firefighter’s services will not be required and that they can participate in the festivities!

Somebody has to light the fire for smores!

bandit778

milamber said:

Decided it was a little early

Wifey loves the festive time of the year so it's never early enough for her.
As she puts up with my hobbies for 10 months of the year, 2 months of tinsel and fairy lights is a small price to pay especially as I get to incorporate LEGO into it anyway. :)

mtpelepele

I mentioned using white Styrofoam insulation panels for snow earlier.  Here's a picture from a couple years back (I haven't set up yet this year).

evantyler

@mtpelepele I really like the look of the beveled edges on the Styrofoam pieces--nice touch! I may have to steal this idea...

KungFuKenny

^ I had the same idea- already looking at styrofoam cutters on Amazon... 

mtpelepele

Also, if using the styrofoam, it's easy to anchor pieces if needed.  The carrousel, for example, tends to slide when the crank is turned.  I simply put a couple 2x2 bricks under the base plate, and cut corresponding holes in the foam.  This picture was pre-train, but to secure the track, I use the pins that hold the track pieces together when you buy them.  Just shoved one through the hole in the track into the Styrofoam every so often. Super easy to make hills, too.  If you want the bevels to line up, just cut through multiple sheets at once.

bandit778

Now fully integrated into my Christmas Lego display.
I really like this set and it makes a great addition to the whole thing.

panchox1

@Switchfoot55

wardm

This years lay-out! 

Switchfoot55

Everything is looking excellent already! @panchox1, thanks for sharing the photo. I'll definitely have to pick that set up and do the swap over with the roof pieces. It'll fit right in. 

Due to some recent family emergencies, my WV has been on hold. However, last night things returned back to a more normal status, so I was able to build a few things. I should have my larger base board to build on by tonight and can start posting some pictures of my progress as well. 

I still need to enlarge my train's engine, add another cargo car, and expand the dining car on top of everything else. 

...oh yeah, and start/finish my church...

flightrisk

@wardm     Very nice layout.   I had been wondering how the gingerbread house was going to look with the other sets.  Turns out - It looks great.  It adds some nice background colors.  Thanks for posting.  

milamber

Started mine this year. Haven't put the lights up yet and I have the Fire Station to build. Lots more room this year though with the two tables broadly 2m square. I'll take some more when it's done

Switchfoot55

@milamber, in the top picture, what is the brown building in the bottom right? A MOD? MOC? Is this the Friends Chalet doubled up/modified? 

Looking forward to seeing it come together!


I went out last night and bought a new piece of plywood to have a larger base than last year. I have about 60% of the sets built and ready to go. I'm hoping it will really take shape over the next couple of days!

milamber

Switchfoot55 said:

@milamber, in the top picture, what is the brown building in the bottom right? A MOD? MOC? Is this the Friends Chalet doubled up/modified? 

Looking forward to seeing it come together!


I went out last night and bought a new piece of plywood to have a larger base than last year. I have about 60% of the sets built and ready to go. I'm hoping it will really take shape over the next couple of days!

Yes. Modified and slightly enlarged version of the Friends Chalet. I can send you some more pictures if you want?

Switchfoot55

^Sure thing. I love seeing how people modify stuff. 

panchox1

monkey_roo

Got the village out this weekend. Still need to build the Gingerbread House, it will be going next door to Santa - they seem like ideal neighbours. It will be a long month for the residence though - lots of little hands on it this year...

KungFuKenny

@monkey_roo
Nice set up!  I am struggling a bit to figure out the Tardis Ostrich connection— I know Lady Cassandra had an Ostrich egg, but...

monkey_roo

No connection - it just struck me that an ostrich is the sort of animal the Dr would ride :)

now with added Gingerbread House

Switchfoot55

@monkey_roo, great setup! I particularly like the church/town hall you've built (assuming that's what it is?). 

I moved everything off my table briefly yesterday to shift some stuff around. Both of my daughters swarmed the sets within seconds and busted half the village to bits before I knew what had happened. Your layout on the floor makes my eye twitch a little from the memory of what I went through. Best of wishes...

monkey_roo

yes it’s a church.

Switchfoot55

^Awesome! Definitely a manageable size for a WV church. I'm realizing my need to scale back a bit...

First pictures for my board this year. Took me awhile to get to this stage. The rest should come together fairly quick. 



The base dimensions are 6' long by 40" wide (less the corner cut of course). As I don't have the budget or the will to build all of my mountains out of Lego as well this year, the elevation is plywood platforms (OSB for those who may be bothered by me calling it plywood). The back and left platforms are 6" off the base to allow room for the train (I had to keep checking for clearance, hence the engine on the table). The far back left corner platform is 10" raised and the lowest one in front of it is at 3". I've found my brain tends to like a multi-tiered village. 

The base is covered with two layers of "snow blanket" purchased from Target. The two layers seems to obscure the surface below it. I've since added it to the platforms, but will need to mess with it a bit more until I'm happy with the look. 

I'll hopefully be able to construct two Lego-built tunnels at either end of the platforms. I also have plans of adding a "Wampa Cave" on the back in the larger supports gap to allow a small peak-a-boo for the passing train and the Wampa. Hopefully Luke won't mind hanging out for a month or two...

The highest platform will host Santa's Workshop and Motorized Sleigh, along with a few small builds/elves/etc.... The left-most platform will house the Cottage and either a modified Lakeside Lodge or the Friends Chalet set. The lowest platform will be the new Gingerbread House and the previous Winter Promo Gingerbread house. The back platform will be a mix of other modified houses I've put together. The main baseboard will hold all of the remaining office WV sets and a large city square. I have five 48x48 baseplates that will fit under nearly all of the town/square. 

Lots and lots to do still, but so much fun ahead! 

evantyler

@Switchfoot55 I love the shape of your various surfaces, and the sheer size of the entire footprint!

benbacardi

This is fantastic, I can't wait to see it progress! Please post regular updates 😃

milamber

Started lighting mine. Not very ambitious this year as have had other things going on and going away before Christmas. Ideally I'd place a platform along the back with some of the sets on and have the lights shining up the wall a bit more in a Northern Lightish sort of way. 

Always the same though. Don't want to start Christmas too early, then run out of time!

Hopefully have more time to plan next year. Sorry about photo quality - rubbish old phone

Switchfoot55

@milamber, what are you using to light your village?

milamber

@Switchfoot55 These are the fairly lights, if you can get the same/similar in the USA. They are tiny LED bulbs, perfectly scaled for the a Lego Winter Village. Battery operated with very thin, but so far pretty strong, wires which bend and grip around bricks or which are thing enough to go under a 1x2 tile on the roof between the studs, for example. They aren't as bright and fuzzy as the camera makes them look.

Cheaper and more colours available since I bought them a couple of years ago. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EV4I9VS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

In the church I simply have a couple of battery operated candle tea lights built into the rafters. I could probably do better for that, but didn't want anything to harsh and these are designed to simulate candles and are pretty atmospheric

Switchfoot55

Awesome! I did the same in my village last year. I had intended to swap them all over from batter powered to USB plugs as the batteries ran out fairly quickly. A project for next year hopefully. 

Always interested in what people can think up!

vanvonfull

I’ve been lurking this thread since you started it, looking forward to the progress. 

My 23 month old is preventing me from setting up a village this year. 

SilverLove

Perhaps slightly off topic - I just noticed Lego will release white 32x32 baseplates next year. Will some of you use them for your winter villages in the future?

(Curious about how people reason.
I like baseplates, easier to get things to stay and possibility to pose figures without them toppling over causes by vibrations or such, while at the same time i sometimes dislike the more rigid/gridlike way (at least i) then tend to place stuff.)

panchox1

I currently have some aftermarket ones. They are thicker than the Lego baseplates. I like that. but it's hard to attach some things too. I also dislike the gridlike look sometimes. I've placed 2x3 white plates to the feet of some minifigs to keep them from falling over and allowing them to be placed more organic looking.

speaking of my village, my grandsons came over for the day on Tuesday, so I broke it down Monday night. having a chuck of it on plates made it easy. Took the opportunity to move some things around and add some embellishments and elements from the first few days of the advent calendars. Gonna put it back up tonight.

The grandkids come every Tuesday so I'll be doing this again a few more times.

SilverLove

panchox1 said:

I currently have some aftermarket ones. They are thicker than the Lego baseplates. I like that. but it's hard to attach some things too. I also dislike the gridlike look sometimes. I've placed 2x3 white plates to the feet of some minifigs to keep them from falling over and allowing them to be placed more organic looking.

Thats a good idea! Reminds me of how miniature wargaming figures look like.

Ive sometimes used 1x1 round plates (? studs?), just one per minifigure, under either foot in the same colour as the legs or as the ground plate in order to attach minifigures on the diagonal, especially the short legs that arent bendable.

alexwil

alexwil

Decided to go for something a little different this year! More of a winter tree then a winter village! 

evantyler

@alexwil That is MAGNIFICENT! Wow. Love it. 

PJ76uk

alexwil said:

Decided to go for something a little different this year! More of a winter tree then a winter village! 

Utterly awesome! I've been thinking for a while of doing something similar but full circles so that the Holiday Train can ride around the lowest "branch". Love it but hope the wife doesn't see it otherwise she will be nagging me to get my tools out and start building one!

Cymbeline

@alexwil What a wonderful display shelf for all your Christmas LEGO. I really like how you arranged all the sets on each shelf. Did you design and build this yourself or did you modify something already existing?   

alexwil

Cymbeline said:

@alexwil What a wonderful display shelf for all your Christmas LEGO. I really like how you arranged all the sets on each shelf. Did you design and build this yourself or did you modify something already existing?   

Thanks! The only problem was it wasn’t quite big enough!! 

Pleased to say it’s all my own work with a bit of input from the wife and daughter as to what to include!!