Playmobil teepees

[Marco_4124]

Playmobil teepees

Well, what is a Indian without his teepee. After a long day on the prairie it is nice to come home in your teepee. On the website of Petit-fernand I found paper DIY teepees that are fun to made. Don’t panic if you don’t speak French, the website is also available in English, Spanish and Italian. Click in the upper left corner of the website on the corresponding flag.
After you have filled in your e-mail address, you get after only a few seconds in your mailbox a link, from which a PDF file can be downloaded. The PDF file is in A4 format, but due to the fact that the pictures goes as far as the side of the paper, you can better print the PDF file on A3 paper. I did it at my local printshop, because their printer is much better, and they have a great choice of paper.
The only thing you need now is some wooden skewers, a little work and a bit of patience. Follow the instructions on the website, and you will find out that the teepees are easy and fun to made. A campfire and some cactuses are added as a bonus and complete the scene.

There is one thing I didn’t quite like: the flaps at the front of the teepee are not in the middle, and partly consist of two layers paper. For that reason, I have made the following adjustment:



All in all, great fun to make and a nice home for my (and maybe yours) Playmobil Indians.
Oh, and as Playmobil Flagmaster, I also made some native American flags. If you want them, send me a personal message. Also if you want to decorate your own teepee, I have made a blank template (PDF file).



A small Indian settlement, the totem is also from Petit-fernand.





A few impressions.

[Marco_4124]

@ Macruran:

Many thanks for the Indian family and the bison. If the bison really is true to scale, I now understand why the Indians much respected those large animals.

[leefert]

They look fantastic!

[playmofire]

The teepees look very effective and the camp fire and cactus are a clever idea; they have something of the childlike innocence of Playmobil and fit in well with the Playmobil figures.

Thank you, too, for the amendment to the design of the teepee for those who make them on Playmfriends and for the flags.

[Ismene]

Well, what is a Indian without his teepee.

Properly speaking, most tribes did not use teepees. But they are iconic, so much so that our local state fair always has a large teepee as the centerpiece of the "Indian Village" section (where local Native Americans sell food and artisanal goods and perform music and dancing) every year, even though we all know the local tribes didn't use teepees. 

Many thanks for the Indian family and the bison. If the bison really is true to scale, I now understand why the Indians much respected those large animals.

The scale looks about right. Bison are quite large (and not bad tasting either).

[Macruran]

Properly speaking, most tribes did not use teepees. But they are iconic, so much so that our local state fair always has a large teepee as the centerpiece of the "Indian Village" section (where local Native Americans sell food and artisanal goods and perform music and dancing) every year, even though we all know the local tribes didn't use teepees. 

And the teepee using tribes didn't use totem poles, and vice versa! And I believe neither culture used birchbark canoes, though I could be wrong on that.

Basically lots of very Indian things have been smushed together in the European imagination to make one overarching "Indian" culture. It's normal though, it's what happens when you're far away in time and/or space from the original.

Marco, I'm glad that family found a home, and I hope they feed well when they bring down that bison! 

[GrahamB]

And Indians always run convenience shops.

Those are great teepees tepees tipis Indian Tents Native American temporary dwellings Amerindian wigwams Aboriginal American wickiup First Nation wetu...

Those are great, Marco.

[Macruran]

And Indians always run convenience shops.

[GrahamB]

We should of course blame Columbus for starting the confusing habit of calling Native Americans "Indians".

A firm of builders in Bradford once advertised their services under the slogan

"You've tried the Cowboys, now try the Indians"

(people in the building (construction) trade who promise a lot but don't actiually deliver are known as Cowboy Builders, at least in the UK).

[tahra]

Those are great teepees tepees tipis Indian Tents Native American temporary dwellings Amerindian wigwams Aboriginal American wickiup First Nation wetu...

Those are great, Marco.

(but so true  )