playkingdoms' Xmasy dio 2015 - a slice of town

[tahra]

playkingdoms' Xmasy dio 2015 - a slice of town

Well... today I FINALLY finished the dio pages. Hey, xmas is whenever we want!

So, here it is...



This is the first dio in the playmoroom (well, not counting the romanish fort - LINK - in its very incomplete state).

Features also my first system X building.

Possible making of after...


I can't believe how long it took me. Really. The VERY FEW people who saw it loved it, but they are not playmonuts (they even got genders wrong! )

Anyways...

The dio itself (picture heavy pages - duh): playkingdoms' Xmasy dio 2015 - a slice of town

Finally the site has an update! 

Feel free to comment... hopefully next one will be better...

So far.. lessons learned:

• next time I decide to do a dio for a certain date, I will start four MONTHS before said date. Not four weeks.
• having furniture stored together (by set/room) is not handy at all. Needs redoing: chairs, tables, beds..
• when hanging stuff on the flypoles, make sure it's at the right height - BEFORE having the dio almost finished

Hope you like it!

[leefert]

Love it! And yes, we've discussed this whole idea of how it can be anytime of the year that we want it to be in playmoland. I love all of the various little details you add, like all of the school children from the bus wearing the same hat, and then the Animal Shelter's fundraising campaign.  It's very detailed!  And I'm sure I'll look through it multiple times to see what I missed.

[Salamander]

Wow, worth the wait!!

That's a huge amount of work! Very well photographed and a ton of fun scenes within it! 

[Daniela]

Ooooh! 

Sooo beautiful!

Perfect!

It´s after midnight and I am terribly tired from packing all your Heinrich der Loewe parcels, but I can´t stop looking at these pictures.

I love it! Really love it! 

Off to bed now! 

Daniela

[Tiermann]

Wonderful diorama, lots of great details! Very inspiring. Are the reindeer glued in place? Mine flop around terribly, even on the ground.

[Raven]

It's brilliant!  So much thought has gone into it; there's so much to see; so many clever details (right down to rubbish in the bins); and so beautifully photographed too.  I loved all of it, but these are my very favourite parts:

- The bikers
- The schoolchildren in their matching orange hats
- The older schoolteacher
- The birds eating the discarded food
- The flowers on the rubbish bin
- The lights on the trees
- The water under the bridge (it really looks like it's flowing)
- The bottles with bottle tops
- The WC sign
- The big Christmas tree
- The flying Santa sleigh and the struggling elf
- The 'Is that a Yes?' couple
- The statues with lights, and one with a pigeon on its head
- All the various types of food people are eating
- The Christmas tree in Jim's Café
- The dogs' drinking bowls
- The dolphins
- The unexpected 'visitors from very far away'

Looking at all this has been a wonderful way to start the day!

[Klickteryx]

Awesome diorama, well done. The water is very good and love all the details in it. With so much going on there is still lots of space and I liked the alley scene with the cats and the fence between the buildings, a peaceful respite from the busy seaside goings on. Is the elf in the sleigh trying to stop the box falling off or is he sending it down gravity express? 
Will have to go back and look at it all a couple of times to see everything there.

[Mr Raven]

What a wonderfull dio! So much detail and so much thought went into it. I really love the wc sign! 
And for a first, your system x building looks great!
I wonder what's underneath it all, i mean what's under the streets.
Oh, and that worn wood at the other side of the bridge.
And where comes that notepad with pencil holder in the caretaker's office come from?

[tahra]

Thank you

I love all of the various little details you add, like all of the school children from the bus wearing the same hat, and then the Animal Shelter's fundraising campaign.

Kids were like that in ancient sets - and after abandoning the idea of a full uniform (boring) I decided for matching hats and backpacks. Orange + yellow is the classic approach   (in the case of the backpack, would be the only option, I don't think we have others in numbers)

That "bell thing" from the school reminded me of Santas asking for money. It would have to be a worthy cause. So there   (it is embarassing the time it took me to do the signs/leaflets  )

Are the reindeer glued in place? Mine flop around terribly, even on the ground.

No. We are stupid that way. No glue allowed. There is that white thingy to put posters on walls? For the signs (Jim's + bathroom) and the birds that are perching here and there). No named birds are perching like that. I was afraid the thing would mess up the names...

The reineers ARE attached to a structure my dad made (I had a different idea, but then he figured another way) to be able to hang it... I am confused about the way they are supposed to fit in the harnesses. I am ALMOST sure in the first box we had they were like this. Which means the lead one doesn't easily fit there. I had to make up a custom piece for it 

[tahra]

(right down to rubbish in the bins);

  I messed that up several times in the house!

and so beautifully photographed too. 

Thank you. Really. It is not a strong point with me... and worse, I dislike taking pics... 

- The bikers

At least where I live, the bikers always do a "parade" as Santas, taking toys somewhere.. as soon as it was decided that there would be a recent scene, that was in.

- The schoolchildren in their matching orange hats
- The older schoolteacher

Kids in "classic look" (see above).. And the teacher was the kept version of the figure.. I think she REALLY looks like a teacher - you know, the stereotype.

- The birds eating the discarded food

Based in real events. All the birds are. Actually, there are FAR too few of them to match reality.

- The flowers on the rubbish bin

I wanted more color... and found out those fit there...

- The lights on the trees

That was one of the first things too - the fairy lights look great, imo. And when we turn off the lights, there's these bright spots...

- The water under the bridge (it really looks like it's flowing)

Water was a lot harder than I imagined. My sister helped with that - and fortunately was a lot handier at it than me! But it proved a lot more complicated than I thought!

And fortunately, looks really good, especially in pics.. though the "joins" kinda show.

- The bottles with bottle tops

Uhm?

- The WC sign

REAL one, that I ADORED, in London - near that wheel thing.  When I figured I'd need to make a custom one, I decided to go for that one, instead of a boring one 

- The big Christmas tree

When I put one of the existing ones near the rest of the trees.. well... meh. So after consultation with my sister, I spent the rest of that day poking holes in a pine tree...

- The flying Santa sleigh and the struggling elf

The sled was among the first decisions.. to have a present almost falling was my sister's idea...

- The 'Is that a Yes?' couple

Tom-Cruise and Nicole-Kidman, I think...

- The statues with lights, and one with a pigeon on its head

The metal ones are the LAF klickys.... with the CALHAU (something like "rock")...

- All the various types of food people are eating

A LOT from sylvanian.

- The Christmas tree in Jim's Café

I wanted to put a xmas tree in one of the "houses"... didn't fit

- The dogs' drinking bowls

Civilized countries. We saw that MANY places in Germany when we went for the PCC tour.

- The dolphins

The initial idea called for river cruises..  No space   Then I figured dolphins. They appear in the rivers here sometimes... so ... why not?

- The unexpected 'visitors from very far away'

There was supposed to be a fantasy element somewhere on that wall... which became rocks.. when I went to the fairy box, they were there... well....

(gah, I blab )