Hello Everyone! Winter Village Build

[Barnstar2077]

Hello everyone,

Although WW2 holds a great deal of interest for me, and I have made some simple tank and plane models from kits in the distant past, I am in the process of converting the smallest bedroom into a mini workshop area where I can work on making some model buildings.

My partner is Christmas crazy and I would like to make a Christmas village for her. Comprising of a small street, with a frozen pond and church. I'm not exactly sure how I am going to light it yet, as I am still in the planning phase, but have seen some videos on LEDs and am handy with a soldering iron. The scale will be decided by the size of the figures I end up using, and the figures will be decided by the style that my girlfriend would prefer (Dickensian probably.) I am leaning towards building the base and lighting as one part and then having individual buildings that can be removed easily for storage (which would potentially also allow the building order to be changed without affecting the lighting.) Buildings will be balsa/bassword and plaster for the Tudor style buildings and not sure about the church yet, but I have seen some impressive stone effects made from foam.

I have an awful lot to learn but am looking forward to the challenge.

I imagine I will be spending a lot of time in the Diorama and Buildings section!

If anyone has built anything similar, lit winter scenes, I would be very interested to hear from you and to admire your work.

Cheers,
Barn

[PaulTRose]

This should be good

Look forward to seeing it come together

[wotan]

Hi

This is a great idea. Whilst I haven't built a snow scene I have built a number of houses etc so here is a couple of tips.

!. you can see that this house is built on its own base so that the batteries etc can be concealed underneath. You could do this with your village and simply place the bases together when you wish to install everything but have each house separate for storage. This would also allow you to simplify the lighting by keeping each house separate with its own lighting details.
2. I constructed this house so that each storey can be removed giving access to each lighting installation.
3. This is built at 28mm scale (popular with wargamers and D&D players) you will find loads of figures available in this scale for all periods.
4. The main building is made from simple card board and wood such as coffee stirrers.
5. I use magic sculpt to add textures such as the big stones and the tiles on the roof. This is an epoxy type clay that dries in a couple of hours, doesn't shrink and sticks like the proverbial to a blanket.
6. Finally I would complete each building before adding the snow. There are lots of simulated snow products available now check out Woodland Scenics as an example.

Good luck with your project.
John

[Barnstar2077]

Hi Wotan! Thank you for the pictures and tips. Love how colourful and characterful your design is, and the lighting really brings it to life. I especially like the whimsical nature of the roof.

Just bought a board today to use as the base for the whole village. I will raise it slightly so I can conceal wiring underneath, then have each building sit over a literal light well. I am going to try and make the buildings sturdy enough that being stored or transported shouldn't affect them.

[minitnkr]

Amazing work.

[Barnstar2077]

The only thing holding me back at the moment (other than a 500 character limit on my posts apparently : ) is the cost, buying so many new tools, paints and materials etc, is painful for someone who is normally as frugal as I am! : )

It won't take too long until I have everything though, and I will then have the ability to work on new projects for a fraction of the cost. I hope to make it a regular winter hobby, with gardening and walking taking up most of my time in the warmer months.

[Barnstar2077]

I have ordered some old fashioned miniature figures to show my partner. Once they are approved I will start to work on the design of the first building (Which will be a very simple learning the ropes kind of an affair.) I am going to really make an effort to try and not to give it too many perfect lines though, as having observed many old wooden framed structures over the years, they all have the same thing in common, they are a bit wonky in places.

Thank you for everyone's well wishes, I will create a new thread in the Buildings and Dioramas section once I have something to show for my efforts! : )