I can't believe it's been almost another year since last time I put some work on this board. Again! OK, let's see if I can make some real progress this time. First of all, a recap picture:
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| This has been inside the closet since last november |
I think that, after five years of discontinuous work, it's time to give this a proper name. I cannot keep on calling it "the board" or "the mining town". So, until I find a better name, I think I'm calling this town Qala Debdou, which sounds enormously ethnic and fits my purposes. I'm creating the label and will update the blog accordingly.
Once I've settled that... what's the title about? A little bit pretentious, you may think. What do I mean by light and so on? Well, it's an idea I had last Christmas (yes, my last update was in november and I really wanted to keep on building this by december; but life happens, you know...).
I was saying...
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| Christmas lights! |
Right, I'm that insane. I thought it would be cool if I'd manage to add some lights to the board. Yes, in this stage. I could -no, I should have thought about it five years ago, when planning the whole thing. But it didn't happen then. The muse of bulbs visited me last december and then the muse of procrastination did the rest. But now summer allowed me some spare time and I decided to give it a go!
How on earth would I reach the inner parts of this model to put the lights in place? Well, I had to cut a hole on the back piece of foamboard...
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| Just enough for my hand to fit in... |
That way my arm got to the end, i.e. the front of the board. Punching some discrete holes I got this:
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| It works!! |
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| Placing some of them was incredibly tricky |
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| But they somehow work |
Ufortunately, due to the lack of planification, now there are some places that are totally inaccessible. At least without destroying wide areas of the board! But with some patience I got this:
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| Weirdest nativity scene ever |
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| All I got so far! |
If I had planned this from the beginning I could have reached so many more spots. Now these lights are kind of random, but I hope they give at least an impression. Again, due to the lack of planification, the setting of the garland is totally inefficient, but I couldn't make more with it.
As you can see, it roughly covers half of the board. It seems I need another set of lights!
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| And I need to carve more holes on the back of the thing!! |
I'll try to make some more progress on this, so I hope I'll be able to bring some updates soon!
I love this board: great to see it again. And those lights look so cool!
ReplyDeleteBill.
Thank you! I'm determined to put some more work on it, I'll try to make some progress!
DeleteThat looks fantastic Suber and the random spacing really suits the town.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm building some more stuff, we'll see if it all fits in!
DeleteReally enjoy seeing what you do with this board, great to see it back in circulation. Lights are very effective indeed.
ReplyDeleteAlan Tradgardland
Thank you! It's quite a challenge, once it all was assembled, but I'm getting pleased with the results so far :)
DeleteAbsolutely brilliant and just the sort of total madness that we love and respect. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm replacing my lack of planning with tons of enthusiasm XD
DeleteAgree! That's looking AMAZING!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's time consuming but rewarding :D
DeleteFantastic work Suber, I can fully understand wishing to plan it when you started, as I did the same on the cantina build, and that was only one level ! LOL Your work around is ingenious including having some of the cables exposed, makes it look authentic. I would suggest having a couple of spots with no light so it looks like no one is in, or asleep ! LOL
ReplyDeleteThank you! The good thing about this board is that everything can (or even must!) look chaotic, that makes some things really easier! Your cantina project is waymore difficult! I can improvise to some extent when it comes to some decisions, where to add wires, or even some structures. The good thing is that from now I can make a better planning. Still to be seen if that makes things any easier! XD
DeleteThis just gets better and better. It's looking amazing now, like a museum diorama. By the way, is that Isaac Asimov on that poster?
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, it's Asimov! Some time ago I downloaded like a ton of images of various kinds and I'm using them as posters. I think I got them all posted somewhere on the blog, I can look for them if you want!
DeleteYes! This is my favourite hobby project of all time. I know planning might have helped, but neighbourhoods in real life grow organically and ineffiently. I reckon your approach gives a wonderful layer of realism. Love the lights BTW!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much! Right, it's innefficient, chaotic and... somehow alive. I'm currently working on more structures, we'll see how it comes out!
DeleteJust wow!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was hard at the beginning, but increasingly easier once I got into it :D
DeleteWeirdest nativity scene ever really made me chuckle! Absolutlely love this - especially the fact that (even if it was frustrating) you couldn't get lights everywhere you wanted - looks so much more real and inhabited!
ReplyDeleteHaha, thank you! Right, the way it's all developing is kind of rewarding. There are places which are simply out of reach without damaging wide areas, but on the whole I think it's an improvement from the previous state!
DeleteLovely nativity scene! I like the randomness of the lighting, it makes it feel more natural I think?
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thank you! Right, I guess that the tiny chaos makes it slightly more believable. I'll try to keep it up!
DeleteYa tienes pensado dónde pondrás el nacimiento? :D te está quedando genial, aunque si sigue expandiéndose ya no cabrá en casa. :O
ReplyDeleteJaja, el trasto este va prácticamente al milímetro en el armario, pero es un problema serio ya :D
DeleteThanks for returning to this project and sharing it. It is a fantastic board and deserves every compliment it gets. Fantastic work.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much! I have to say that I'm enjoying it so much! :)
DeleteThe lighting really changes the look of the board. Gives it real atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was a sudden idea that just came out of nowhere, and it made this project a little bit more difficult, but on the whole I'm happy with it! :D
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