Winter Village: Kodak moment with Santa (Contest Entry)

[NoEinstein]

I present to you my entry for the Expand the Winter Village Contest IV (2013): Kodak moment with Santa.

Since this years set was a market with a carousel offering lots of fun for children, Santa decided to visit and give the children a chance to get their picture taken with him, his holiday helpers and his trustworthy sleigh. Word got out and quite a crowd turned up.

Just the vignette:

Showing the details on the left for a better view of what is under the tree:

Back and right side of the sleigh (updated, see post below):

Overview without the minifigures:

I had a blast planning and building this and gave me a great way to apply all the new building techniques I learned this year after getting out of my dark ages.

The (somewhat rough) LDD version I used to plan everything can be downloaded here. As you might notice it is not quite up to date and as complete as the photographs. Feel free to use it to build your own version.

C&C is appreciate.

Edited, typo's (sled for kids, sleigh for Santa?)

Update:

The above linked LDD is quite a mess so I decided to make some manuals using Kristel's excellent guide.

First up is the christmas tree. I added yellow plates to make it more clear how the branches should be placed on the axle. Please replace them with green plates when building the tree. If you have suggestions for improving the manual do not hesitate to contact me.

And here is the sleigh.

Both manuals are free to use. If used a photograph is appreciated.

Update:

Replaced first image with a picture including a waiting line.

Update removed "right view" because it did not show anything extra and replaced it with the view without the minifigures.

Update:

It is great to see that there are people who appreciate my first try at a vignette and take some time to express it by leaving a comment. Thanks again!

Edited December 17, 2013 by NoEinstein

[lightningtiger]

The sleigh totally rocks 'NoEinstein'.....though I think the photographer is meant to be on the 16x16 as well but I don't think that really matters.

Cute Christmas scene indeed.....good luck and Brick On 'NoEinstein' !

[NoEinstein]

Thanks.

I interpreted Rick's remark as being allowed to place some minifigures outside of the 16x16 baseplates (bases). The photographer is more of a .

Edited November 24, 2013 by NoEinstein

[lightningtiger]

Thanks.

I interpreted Rick's remark as being allowed to place some minifigures outside of the 16x16 baseplates (bases). The photographer is more of a .

Yeah, fair enough plus where else is the guy going to take a picture eh ?

[eurotrash]

Great looking sleigh and Tree. A perfect looking scene!

[CM4Sci]

Sudden burst of entries!

That Yeti is trying to get into the picture!

-Sci

[NoEinstein]

Thanks for the kind words .

That Yeti is trying to get into the picture!

Yes, not so camera shy after all . One of the prank additions.

[Paperballpark]

This is really good! There's been a sudden burst of entries this weekend!

[TheLazyChicken]

Wow! This is really great! I just noticed that Yeti. Keep up the good work! :-)

[rodiziorobs]

The photobombing yeti is a nice touch, the whole build is really well designed and executed.

Feeling nervous about my planned entry now...Gotta start building!

Edited November 25, 2013 by rodiziorobs

[Kristel]

This looks great, particularly the way you've built the tree. Great idea for the contest. Good luck!

[timmyc1983]

'.....though I think the photographer is meant to be on the 16x16 as well but I don't think that really matters. ...

Rick has actually said minifigs only are allowed off the 16 x 16 base. (Thank goodness)

But what a great entry, the tree is the highlight for me, but the sleigh is awesome too! I love the yeti making a sly appearance too

Good luck for the contest!

[NoEinstein]

Thanks everyone for all the compliments.

Regarding the tree, I combined the toy shop, cottage sets and decorating the tree polybag's trees into 1. I loved the fullness and size of the toy shop tree, but did not like the 2 stud wide branches. The cottage version was a bit too step like with just the sideways plates but it would look great as top part of a tree. Then I build the polybag and thought hey if I loose the slopes, replace them with plates and add more layers that would be a great tree. And as they say, the rest is history . Maybe this type of tree has been build before, I did not try and google for ideas on purpose so not to copy something on purpose, just steal ideas from the LEGO group.

It is somewhat sad that Santa cannot park the sleigh as good as he tends to tell on birthday parties. HIs helpers visited lightningtiger's stall for a chain saw so they could remove tree branches in order to free the right side of the sleigh .

This coming weekend I will try and post an additonal picture of the back and left side of the sleigh. I realized that my current pictures do not show the side of the sleigh and it is a shame not to show it off somewhat (it contains all the SNOT stuff I picked up the past year).

[kermit]

Love this very funny. Strange than no one is crying being so close to santa.

[NoEinstein]

Thanks Kermit. Amy Pond is almost as tough as those Friends girls in dr_spock's entry and one would think that the elves are used to Santa . Not sure what the Yeti thinks of Santa though.

Edited November 25, 2013 by NoEinstein

[NoEinstein]

As promised I took a picture of the back and right side so the sleigh.

Sadly the yellow 1x4 tile construction would not play nice and I did not want to destroy the vignette by pressing harder (it is not LEGO approved play quality) so there is a gap visible at the sleigh entrance.

I threatened the LEGO with glue (empty threat, please do not tell) and now the tile fits nicely (the sleigh side was a bit torqued).

So here is the update

Kodak moment with Santa 7 by NoEinsteinNL, on Flickr

Edited November 30, 2013 by NoEinstein

[wonderpuddle]

Very nice execution of a really good idea. Love all those details in there, especially the elf apparently opening up presents. Well done, and good luck in the contest.

[NoEinstein]

elf opening presents. Well it can go either way can't it? Would be sneaky though behind Santa his back.

Thanks for the kind words wonderpuddle.

[gazumpty]

Hey Einstein...this is a cracking entry. I love how you have built the tree and the sleigh. For such a little 16x16 MOC...its so full of life. Great work and good luck in the contest!

[NoEinstein]

Thanks for the compliments gazumpty, much appreciated.

[Ashell]

Thanks for LDD version. Its first what i thinking about when i see your christmas tree. Now i can built this with my daughter.

[NoEinstein]

My design is good enough for some quality build time with kids? Awesome!

Thanks alot for sharing Ashell, I hope you have as much fun building it as I had.

[LukeClarenceVan]

Lovely build, and quite the crowd! Good luck!

[NoEinstein]

Thanks alot.

Yes it is quite busy, maybe it is related to no money being asked for the digital pictures .

[emilstorm]

Awesome work on the tree and presents!