My Winter Village Project

sid3windr

I just followed the docs so the IR receiver is in the train itself... :-)

Also yeah, suddenly it's almost Christmas - just yesterday finished the Winter Village Market, and still have the Fire Station to go. Although I don't really have space for it anymore on the table :-/

milamber

Switchfoot55 said:

I've been hitting my head against the table for a bit too long now and figured I should just come here for a bit of help. 

Can anyone who has placed the battery box and IR reciever in the tender for the Winter Holiday Train confirm a few things for me?

How many studs long is your tender now?

What does the construction of the base look like between the motorized base's pin and your train base?

Has anyone modified the engine and tender with the magnetized buffers on the engine/tender and battery box/reciever in the tender?

I've been sick the last couple days and my brain clearly hasn't caught up. 



.... anyone else feel like your Village setup time has slipped away at lightning speed?

My tender base is now 14 studs long. That fits the battery box and IR receiver perfectly. No room to spare.

For the base I used a 6x6 and an 8x6 plate joined together. I couldn't see any way of incorporating a hole for the motor pin (I had very few surplus parts at that point) so simply drilled a hole in the right place, towards the end of the 8x6.

I kept the connections between the train/tender and the tender/carriages as originally so the magnetized ones are on the rear of the the tender. There was a bit of trial and error involved in getting the train/tender connection right, but it's fine now.

Happy to send any close up photos if you want them.

And yes, I was looking at the village this morning thinking it will be down and packed away in under a fortnight!

eMJeeNL

milamber said:

For the base I used a 6x6 and an 8x6 plate joined together. I couldn't see any way of incorporating a hole for the motor pin (I had very few surplus parts at that point) so simply drilled a hole in the right place, towards the end of the 8x6.

You did WHAT? ;)

And @Switchfoot55 : I know what you mean; actually, I have bricks incoming for more (Mouseketeer's) expansion of the WV. Unsure if all the BL-orders will be on time.

Anyhow, I've found space to exhibit the WV (and got some LED-strips for lighting):
 
(the two lower wicker baskets in the lower photo have since also been located somewhere else). Only downsite to this setup is het limited height; my church has lost one floor of the tower and some ornamental pieces in the top (can be seen next to it)...:
Maybe will revert to the original (and much compacter) design as can be seen in my avatar; also have to winterify it too.

Will post new (and much better) pic's when done (still have to build 4 sets and some of Mouse's stuff).

Switchfoot55

@bandit778 and @milamber , any photos you could send would be MUCH appreciated! I'll likely have to settle for something less than what I originally desired, but in the interest of actually having a complete WV this year, it'll have to do!

@milamber, may I ask how you got the wire from the motorized base inside the tender? That was of particular frustration to me in trying to figure out my plan. 

I obviously need to start planning in July next year!

@eMJeeNL, I like your church. My wife is set on having one next year, so I'll be doing some planning in the coming months to put it together and will likely be stalking the bulk tables at some family owned Lego/Brick stores nearby to keep the costs down. 

I should be able to post some pictures of the complete (or semi-complete) table tonight or tomorrow. I'll wrap things up with the Fire Station tonight and tinker with the train tomorrow (much to my son's chagrin). 

milamber

Switchfoot55 said:

@milamber, may I ask how you got the wire from the motorized base inside the tender? That was of particular frustration to me in trying to figure out my plan. 

That will be the illegal and scandalous hole that I drilled in the base.........I'll need to dismantle it a little to take some photos. I'll try and do it later

Switchfoot55

I had just about reached my wits end last night and contemplated busting out the drill. Cooler heads (my wife's to be precise) prevailed. 

milamber

I know it's not really the done thing, but it's only a tiny hole and completely invisible when built. Not like I was cutting bricks in half or anything.......I'm sure there's a Lego solution, but I only had a limited supply of parts at that point. I could probably do it properly now, though frankly if it works I'm not that precious about it.

bandit778

@Switchfoot55

Pm'd the pics so not to clag up the thread.

Has absolutely nothing to do with the fact I take shite pictures. ;)

datsunrobbie

I used a 1x2 brick on each corner of the motorized base, then a 1x12 plate on each side, rather than drilling a hole. I'm planning to make shells that slide down over this assembly, to match whichever train I'm using it with, instead of modding different engines.

Still tinkering with the base

Switchfoot55

@datsunrobbie, that's the layout of the battery box and IR receiver I was playing with last night. It was just a matter of cord management. 

I like the shell idea to make the base multi-functional. 

Thanks for the photos @bandit778!

Switchfoot55

Well, I'm quite happy with the outcome! It was a learning experience for me to say the least. 

Thanks to all who gave input and suggestions. A massive thanks to @bandit778 for busting his train and tender apart to give me some amazing ideas!




Next up is the passenger/dinner car. I'll save the engine expansion for next year!

Switchfoot55

I've been working right up to Christmas Eve and still feel like there is so much more I want to do! Like last year, this year has been quite the learning experience in city/village layout. Next year will be bigger still!

I'll post some more close up pictures soon.

BillyBricks84

@Switchfoot55 Looks great! The only problem that I can see is the lack of additional space for next year's additions. I hope you found a new table under the Christmas tree this morning that can be used in the future. 

eMJeeNL

@Switchfoot55 : just wow! Looks terrific; wish i had a table like that to set up on. Maybe when the commode leaves the living room in a couple of years...
Also finished building (lay-out/furnishing requires some time though, but ill kids advise early bed for now):

Switchfoot55

Thanks @BillyBricks84 and @eMJeeNL! 

I decided before I placed a single building on the table that I need at least another 2' of table for next year. My wife agrees as well, so it shouldn't be a hard sell! 

It was crazy how quickly things filled in and how fast my plans had to change. I'll likely head toward more of a modular style layout. I've seen a few examples on Pintrest and other sites. That way I can have one 32x32 section set, focus on the details, then move on to the next. This should help get me to the eventual place I want to be with my scene. 

That said, I'm thrilled with the end product. I'm still adding little details here and there. Texture, plants, people, etc... I've been given the green light to leave it up through January, so I might as well keep it going!

PJ76uk

Had to place my Winter Village with other Xmas sets on the shelves out of the reach of sticky little fingers! The Winter Train under the tree required emergency repairs daily during December due to the constant interaction with the kids. Thought I would upload a pic before its all packed away...

tamamahm

@Switchfoot55
This is why I change up my display every year. I simply do not have enough space to put everything out. This year I went more classic winter village, on the left, and a train leaving the village to like a polar express experience on the right. 
It is also why in a few days I will change thing out for a pure winter display instead of Christmas village and that will stay up until right before Valentine’s Day.

It gives me options every year and I do not need to expand the display area.

Speedman29

I'm in the same boat as others, my WV train was around the base of the tree and the wheels slipped at times. If I removed the gear driving the tree round it was much better, but I'd like it running properly so plan on making a tender driven unit.

Can I cheekily request photos of the build from @bandit778 or @Switchfoot55 I want to get it remade ready for next Christmas

eMJeeNL

i accidentally got the wrong motor, so had to improvise; didn't really feel much for the tender-option as I deem it to be to massive, even behind the enlarged locomotive of @mouseketeer , so went for a different car:


I put it in the train as the 3rd carriage, after the tender and the christmastree-car; this make for acceptable speed and slippage (as I only have a motor and a batterypack; control of the train (switching it on and off, that is) is done via the hole in the roof). 

It really needs the friction of the christmas tree in there to reduce the speed as to not push the locomotive off the tracks, though. I'll get myself a remote and speedcontroller next year, I promised myself. Was very little use for it this year as I only finished the train the 25th. 
It looks okay, i'd say (motor is below the batterypack, so under the green part of the carriage):



For next year, thinking of leaving it this way (only replacing the 2 1x12s in LBG to red and adding some leafy bits as per #10254), or moving forward and using Mouseketeer's postal-carriage design. For this year, I was a bit done with checking what pieces I had and what i didn't have and go back and forth to BL; build this with what I had left from my 2nd #10254.

Guess I'll be putting away the WV in a couple of weeks; it has been a very cool experience getting to where it is now, with the new MOC's of Mouseketeer in there, and getting all the parts for them. Already looking forward to next year, but I will probably not break down the sets this time, as it just takes too much time to build again (fun though).

Only casualty:

PJ76uk

All packed away awaiting their retrieval in November...

Definitely need to rethink the layout now the kids are more curious and the collection keeps growing.

Switchfoot55

@Speedman29, I'll try to get some photos this weekend of my tender car. It matches pretty closely to the design of the original. However, getting the motor to connect correctly with the base was my biggest struggle. It'll definitely be staying put together during storage this year. 

Speedman29

Cheers @Switchfoot55 that would be great. Bandit has sent some photos too. I think I'll be playing around to get the neatest cable solution with good weight for traction.

stlux

The Lego Christmas decoration remained out long after the other Christmas decoration had been taken down, but it's time to finally put it in storage. I realised I hadn't taken a picture of it yet, so here goes:





Just 9-10 months and it can come out again!

Switchfoot55

^Looks great! 

I just finished packing mine away a few nights ago. Sad to see it go into storage again. 

BTW, I envy your winter promo sets in the second picture. I was too slow or too poor for all but the Mr./Mrs. Claus. 

Switchfoot55

It seems like it's the right time of year to pull out my old thread to see what people are working on. After rushing to get all of the previous sets, my village took somewhat of a back seat. But I've recently had several projects on my mind that I want to get working on before it gets too late in the year.

I've already touched base with @milamber on the size of their church constructed last year, but was curious what others think about the scale of the model I have working right now.

The footprint is currently 22 studs wide by 34 studs long by 34 studs high at the peak of the steeple. Or, 6.8" x 10.6" x 10.6". Or, if my metric is right, 17.2cm x 26.9 cm x 26.9 cm. That conversion should be right?

The tower and steeple could likely go 2-6 bricks higher in the end.

Anyway, I don't have any of my other builds currently built, so I can't manually compare the scale in person. Does that sound about right for scale? Obviously the Cottage is way out of scale to the other buildings (along with the Fire Station really).

I have a very rough model (solid bricks, roof, and steeple) together, but will polish it up to post for input. I've never really done MOCs much, so any insights would be appreciated.

tamamahm

Well, I just got my Halloween/Fall display up yesterday, so.... a holiday season, just not quite the same season. 😁

Most building MOCs I have done have started with a base lego set, which has helped my sizing.

One holiday idea I have been toying with... with the Big Bang set and Friends set... it could make for an interesting set-up to decorate those indoor spaces for the holidays. Most holiday displays show the outside buildings, but it could be interesting to do a holiday display showcasing the inside of buildings. I have not gotten any further, though, than that. 

milamber

Switchfoot55 said:

It seems like it's the right time of year to pull out my old thread to see what people are working on. After rushing to get all of the previous sets, my village took somewhat of a back seat. But I've recently had several projects on my mind that I want to get working on before it gets too late in the year.

I've already touched base with @milamber on the size of their church constructed last year, but was curious what others think about the scale of the model I have working right now.

The footprint is currently 22 studs wide by 34 studs long by 34 studs high at the peak of the steeple. Or, 6.8" x 10.6" x 10.6". Or, if my metric is right, 17.2cm x 26.9 cm x 26.9 cm. That conversion should be right?

The tower and steeple could likely go 2-6 bricks higher in the end.

Anyway, I don't have any of my other builds currently built, so I can't manually compare the scale in person. Does that sound about right for scale? Obviously the Cottage is way out of scale to the other buildings (along with the Fire Station really).

I have a very rough model (solid bricks, roof, and steeple) together, but will polish it up to post for input. I've never really done MOCs much, so any insights would be appreciated.

I still haven't managed to get up in the roof to look for you. I'm hoping to do it today and will try to find the church and one of Lego's own buildings like the post office )or whichever I come across first) and take a photo of both together for scale. I can check the size of the church too.

tamamahm

So, based on the latest info... 
I think my display going into the holidays will have the Santa’s workshop, the new set, maybe the toy shop, part of the winter market, and then maybe like what I did last year where I had the front part of the train arriving at the station.. Sort of like a polar express train. The train came out from behind a building, so from a display standpoint one did not have to have the entire train and track set-up. Now I wish I had more gingerbread men... I think I have at least 2.. perhaps 3.

milamber

Switchfoot55 said:

It seems like it's the right time of year to pull out my old thread to see what people are working on. After rushing to get all of the previous sets, my village took somewhat of a back seat. But I've recently had several projects on my mind that I want to get working on before it gets too late in the year.

I've already touched base with @milamber on the size of their church constructed last year, but was curious what others think about the scale of the model I have working right now.

The footprint is currently 22 studs wide by 34 studs long by 34 studs high at the peak of the steeple. Or, 6.8" x 10.6" x 10.6". Or, if my metric is right, 17.2cm x 26.9 cm x 26.9 cm. That conversion should be right?

The tower and steeple could likely go 2-6 bricks higher in the end.

Anyway, I don't have any of my other builds currently built, so I can't manually compare the scale in person. Does that sound about right for scale? Obviously the Cottage is way out of scale to the other buildings (along with the Fire Station really).

I have a very rough model (solid bricks, roof, and steeple) together, but will polish it up to post for input. I've never really done MOCs much, so any insights would be appreciated.

Here you go. Bit of a struggle getting to anything in the roof and I'd packed it all away last year without labels on any of the boxes which was stupid.

Church is 47 studs long, 23 wide (massive error there, needs to be an even number to centre windows etc, but was too far into the build to correct when I realised). Tower is 12x11 and approx 34 bricks high, plus a few plates. The first set I found was the bakery which is probably the smallest building of the lot from memory, but I've put them side by side for comparison. I still think the scale is ok. Also attached a photo of the horse and cart in front of the church which also seems to be to scale.

Suitcase backdrop not ideal, but getting them down the loft ladder is tricky......

Switchfoot55

Thanks @milamber, that definitely helps put my project into perspective. I'm not going for a small church. I want it to be a bit larger and a central focus point of the village. I think I'll stay the course with what I'm working on. 

@tamamahm, I'm definitely feeling like I might need to add a few more Gingerbread men to the party this year. I have a couple of others. We need the WV Gingerbread Battlepacks to build armies of elves and gingerbreads!

We have a local Christmas event that lasts all of December that is overly fantastical. A Christmas Lane of sorts. I think the new set plus Santa's workshop, my motorized Santa's sleigh, the small GWP gingerbread house, and a few other odds and ends will make for a nice "Christmas Lane" layout.  

eMJeeNL

Anyone seen the ‘expand your WV’-books by Charles Pritchett?

 https://www.amazon.de/Expanding-Winter-Village-Charles-Pritchett/dp/1091708533/ref=as_li_ss_tl?__mk_nl_NL=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=K6L4WJUSIZXH&keywords=lego+winter+village&qid=1568092070&s=gateway&sprefix=lego+winter+vi,aps,143&sr=8-4&linkCode=sl1&tag=wwwbouwsteent-21&linkId=897d31c4bd3730a32ef3fa24693afb2a&language=nl_NL

Of the 12 designs I like 5 or 6, divided over the two. I think the author would’ve made more €$£ when selling them as PDFs, as i think the books are a little expensive, especially if you take into account the fact I do not like them all.

Switchfoot55

^I've never seen these books specifically, but I believe all of these are available for purchase on Rebrickable? I've "Favorited" several of his designs.

eMJeeNL

Hmmm i rarely check rebrickable, so very well possible.

in the meantime, i started creating a little bridge for my WV using my stash:

stlux

@eMJeeNL You can find most (but not all) of the MOC's in those books on Rebrickable here and on the creator's own site.

I have already bought several of those instructions and can confirm they are great. I built Santa's Grotto last year:

Fizyx

stlux said:

@eMJeeNL You can find most (but not all) of the MOC's in those books on Rebrickable here and on the creator's own site.

I have already bought several of those instructions and can confirm they are great. I built Santa's Grotto last year:

It took me about 30 seconds to realize that the Unikitty was supposed to be made out of snow, and wasn't some soulless child-eating demonic being preying on easy pickings.   I still feel like it's staring at me from the picture <.<

eMJeeNL

Thanks guys, I found them indeed. And the one you build is indeed one of my favourites; including indeed quite creepy UniKitty... Maybe replace it by a small deer or something. Also cool is the little gazebo; might BL that one too - or build myself something along the same lines. Believe there is one in the Winter Cottage set too, right?

panchox1

stlux said:

@eMJeeNL You can find most (but not all) of the MOC's in those books on Rebrickable here and on the creator's own site.

I have already bought several of those instructions and can confirm they are great. I built Santa's Grotto last year:

great stuff! Fantastic resources for developing my own Village! Super excited for it. But can't start actually building till mid November.

milamber

Worth considering #70425 Newbury High School as the basis for a winter village moc. The colours and style really lend themselves to the Christmas theme. Minus the scary bits of course.....

Switchfoot55

Great idea @milamber! I hadn't considered that. I could easily see a town hall coming from those bricks. I'll have to watch for some of those discounts I've heard mentioned. 

Russell844

Along those lines I'll be using the town hall from #10184 as a visitor center.

Switchfoot55

@Russell844, that's an awesome idea! 

I was recently talking through building ideas with my wife ann's she mentioned wanting to add a theater. I may have to use #10184 as inspiration too!

milamber

Switchfoot55 said:

Great idea @milamber! I hadn't considered that. I could easily see a town hall coming from those bricks. I'll have to watch for some of those discounts I've heard mentioned. 

It's already at a third off over here. Can't see any way it won't hit 50% at some point given how early and heavily the range has already been discounted.

JasoMac

This thread is amazing, I came to look for inspiration and ideas for expanding my own Winter Village with my son this year and it did not disappoint. I've got all the Winter Village sets from 2013 on and a lot of the smaller and promotional sets from that time period but we pretty much maxed out my son's play table in his room last year and will be taking over the dining room table after Thanksgiving this year which is going to be a ton more space.

Even last year I was thinking about adding a ski hill and it seems Lego (with Snow Groomer and Ski Resort) had the same idea. I want the train to run through a tunnel under the hill on one end of the table while the main Winter Village sets are at the other end. The Ski Resort will be on the hill while I plan to put the more "fantasy" sets like Santa's Workshop and the Gingerbread House on the other side of the hill from the village. I've never a made a large scale project from scratch like this, does anyone have suggestions for how to get started and how to figure out how many and what kind of pieces I will need?

eMJeeNL

Hi @JasoMac, have you ever tried digital building? Stud.io (from BrickLink), or Lego Digital Designer (official Lego, easiest (imho), but no longer supported) both offer you this possibility. You can design using as many bricks as your want, import pre-build digital official Legomodels (eurobricks is a great source) and easily export bricklists to source you brick from Lego (PickABrick or BricksNPieces), or secondary sources like Bricklink or Brickowl.

any more questions - just shoot!

JasoMac

@eMJeeNL I have not, can I put in the dimension of my "playing space" so I know what fits where? From what you're saying it sounds like I can import my existing models and lay out my town, am I understanding that correctly?

JasoMac

I've been looking for other existing buildings to go add, has anyone tried incorporating Mountain Hut 31025-1 or Log Cabin 5766-1? How do they scale with the other pieces?

tamamahm

JasoMac said:

I've been looking for other existing buildings to go add, has anyone tried incorporating Mountain Hut 31025-1 or Log Cabin 5766-1? How do they scale with the other pieces?

I definitely have mountain hut incorporated, not sure about the log cabin, however....
I vary my display sets. The mountain cabin is part of my display after Christmas. I make it a part of an overall winter display. I added far more snow into the mountain hut. I also have a ski hill and modified the friends ski set. Since I was really going for more of an overall winter/snow/cabin forest look, instead of just simply adding it to the winter village line, it really made it easy to incorporate. 

milamber

JasoMac said:

I've been looking for other existing buildings to go add, has anyone tried incorporating Mountain Hut 31025-1 or Log Cabin 5766-1? How do they scale with the other pieces?

#41323 Snow Resort Chalet works extremely well with some small colour adjustments if you can pick it up cheap.

eMJeeNL

JasoMac said:

@eMJeeNL I have not, can I put in the dimension of my "playing space" so I know what fits where? From what you're saying it sounds like I can import my existing models and lay out my town, am I understanding that correctly?

If you simply define your space in baseplates (which are 25x25cm/10x10”), and create an base in the modeling programs accordingly, you’re set!

and indeed, you can import models by importing a small file you can download from e.g. eurobricks. Simply search the sets number + ‘LDD’ (or ‘LXF’, it’s formatname) on Google and you’ve got them.

JasoMac

@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. 

@eMJeeNL That sounds amazing, I just downloaded it and I will have to start playing around with it when I get a chance. 

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?