aakos12

Christmas diorama

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Great set-up!

I love the mountain with the tunnel.

It's really fun doing this, isn't it? We put up our village every year, too.

We're now working on lighting and base plates, to click them all together.

Hopefully, next year we can make some pictures.

Keep clicking those bricks together!

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Very nice, it's quite similar to ours. I love the tunnel, I think every train track, no matter how small, looks better with a tunnel! :classic:

Edited by Crossbones

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Great set-up!

I love the mountain with the tunnel.

It's really fun doing this, isn't it? We put up our village every year, too.

We're now working on lighting and base plates, to click them all together.

Hopefully, next year we can make some pictures.

Keep clicking those bricks together!

Thank you! :classic: Yes, I was thinking about whether to use base plates, but without them I've had more flexibility, maybe next year! For lights I used optical fibres, because these are so thin that they can go into the lamps easily without any drilling or other "modifications" on the bricks.

I'm looking forward to your photos! :classic:

Very nice, it's quite similar to ours. I love the tunnel, I think every train track, no matter how small, looks better with a tunnel! :classic:

Thank you and I couldn't agree more! :laugh: Can I find photos of yours somewhere?

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Thank you and I couldn't agree more! :laugh: Can I find photos of yours somewhere?

Sure thing, thanks for asking. I posted a thread over on the Train Tech forum: link

You will notice I cheated and did not use Lego for my tunnel. I am not sure I have that many pieces.

I guess the latyout does cross themes, so could have been posted in Town as well. :classic: And since the kids have invaded with Stormtroopers, Orcs and Hobbits, maybe in the licensed section? :tongue:

Edited by Crossbones

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Sure thing, thanks for asking. I posted a thread over on the Train Tech forum: link

You will notice I cheated and did not use Lego for my tunnel. I am not sure I have that many pieces.

I guess the latyout does cross themes, so could have been posted in Town as well. :classic: And since the kids have invaded with Stormtroopers, Orcs and Hobbits, maybe in the licensed section? :tongue:

Thanks for the link, it does look quite similar, even the train! Very nice tunnel, too!

A tunnel with skiers was a huge dream of mine, so I decided to build it with lego bricks only, I think it consists of around 800 pieces. It took me some time to collect all of them from bricklink, but I'm very happy about it.

One additional thing that could be great is a bridge, but I have a very limited space for that, unfortunately. Well, again, maybe next year! :classic:

I think snowtroopers, hobbits or orcs can fit into such a scene, easily! :laugh: Maybe you can tag your topic with these, even if you posted it in Town..?

Edited by aakos12

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One additional thing that could be great is a bridge, but I have a very limited space for that, unfortunately. Well, again, maybe next year! :classic:

Absolutely! I started off thinking I'd built a huge table - it was twice the size of last year's display and it dominates the family room... but after putting out the track and buildings it's already looking a little cramped. :blush:

So, I did what any Lego loving maniac would do. I resolved to build a permanent layout in the basement! :sweet: First step is cleaning out the space, which will hopefully begin in the first few weeks of 2016. I will start a thread in Train Tech to document the process.

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Absolutely! I started off thinking I'd built a huge table - it was twice the size of last year's display and it dominates the family room... but after putting out the track and buildings it's already looking a little cramped. :blush:

So, I did what any Lego loving maniac would do. I resolved to build a permanent layout in the basement! :sweet: First step is cleaning out the space, which will hopefully begin in the first few weeks of 2016. I will start a thread in Train Tech to document the process.

Haha, well figured, it makes me want to have a basement! :head_back: Is it going to be winter related?

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Haha, well figured, it makes me want to have a basement! :head_back: Is it going to be winter related?

I think I'd like to have an area where the WV buildings can be set up permanently, to be moved to the family room each Christmas. But it all depends.

Step 1 is clear the area and measure how much space I actually have. Step 2 will be layout and track planning, and a rigorous look at what I want and what I can fit! :wink: I read a model railroading article a long time back on planning, and the author suggested making a list of things that you were not willing to compromise on ("givens") and things you'd like but that could potentially be modified or left out ("druthers"). That made a lot of sense to quantify those things, so now for any project I start, I have a list of "givens" and "druthers" to help me plan and guide the project. Making that list can be tough, and I almost always have to moce some things from "givens" to "druthers" as reality dictates.

For example, in the layout I want to start, one "given" will be a passenger station, since I want to run the Super Chief and have to have a place for passengers to get on and off. :classic: When I measure my actual space I'll detail the list and post it. I often find getting other's opinions helps me solidify and refine my own thinking.

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I read a model railroading article a long time back on planning, and the author suggested making a list of things that you were not willing to compromise on ("givens") and things you'd like but that could potentially be modified or left out ("druthers"). That made a lot of sense to quantify those things, so now for any project I start, I have a list of "givens" and "druthers" to help me plan and guide the project.

This sounds great, I like the method of givens and druthers, it seems to be a good way to make a list of priorities, nice! Do you use any tool to plan the whole layout? Or you're just putting there the buildings and see how they'll fit?

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This sounds great, I like the method of givens and druthers, it seems to be a good way to make a list of priorities, nice! Do you use any tool to plan the whole layout? Or you're just putting there the buildings and see how they'll fit?

I found a link to an article that describes "givens and druthers" in more depth, if you are interested: link. To give credit where it is due, that method of thinking about layout design was developed by John Armstrong, a legend among model railroaders for his track planning wisdom.

As far as my own plan, I have not yet decided. I'll likely use BlueBrick to lay out the basic track plan, after I carefully measure to see how much space I'll have. As I lay out the track, I will leave space for structures, even though I do not yet have specifics on how much space I will need. Fortunately, it's Lego, so changes can be made! :classic: I also need to decide if I will follow any sort of "modular" structure that would let me take parts of the layout to exhibits and such and work with other Lego fans, or go my own way.

Edited by Crossbones

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I found a link to an article that describes "givens and druthers" in more depth, if you are interested: link. To give credit where it is due, that method of thinking about layout design was developed by John Armstrong, a legend among model railroaders for his track planning wisdom.

As far as my own plan, I have not yet decided. I'll likely use BlueBrick to lay out the basic track plan, after I carefully measure to see how much space I'll have. As I lay out the track, I will leave space for structures, even though I do not yet have specifics on how much space I will need. Fortunately, it's Lego, so changes can be made! :classic: I also need to decide if I will follow any sort of "modular" structure that would let me take parts of the layout to exhibits and such and work with other Lego fans, or go my own way.

Ah, thanks for the links, I've never heard of BlueBrick before! On the other hand, I don't have so many tracks or trains and I have a mac.. :laugh: But I'll definitely check it out somehow! I'd be interested in how to plan the structure of the diorama if I go for base plates. Some times I draw on paper some form I'd like to achieve and then try to figure out how to build it, maybe the same works for a whole layout? :classic:

Really really beatiful!!

I love the train set up :)

Thank you very much, I'm glad you like it! :classic:

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