Hiya!
Back in 1979 I went to Walt Disney World for the first time and immediately became enamoured with the place. So much so, that my brother and I set out to try to model it in miniature on our ping-pong table when we came home to Ohio. Needless to say since he was 11 and I was 9, our first attempt was pretty bad! But I never gave up on the idea and by 1988 I had built a much bigger model on my own. Most of it was made from trash but there were a few HO scale structures. The model was taken down in 1988 and few pieces remain.
In 2006 I set up a simpler "Disneyland" as part of my Christmas display. I had gotten into the new realm of downloadable paper models earlier that year and I even designed a few of my own.
Flash foreward to June 2011. This Christmas I'm bringing back "Paper Disneyland" in a big way! To start things off, here's Sleeping Beauty Castle, entrance to Fantasyland and centerpiece of Disneyland.
On the left are the TWA Moonliner, Ledo horse drawn streetcars and my incomplete Cinderella Castle paper model. On the right of the castle are the Mark Twain sternwheeler, 2 versions of the Disneyland sign and one of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad trains. The BTM train, Mark Twain, Moonliner, Disneyland signs (marquees), Sleeping Beauty Castle, Moonliner and many other models can be downloaded for free at the Disney Experience website. (Note: The BTM train and Moonliner models I built are mini versions. The usual kit versions are 3 times larger.)
Heading down Main Street....
Most of these structures were kitbashed from models I've found all over the net. But the 2 primary sources were http://www.state.il.us/hpa/ps/construct_mainstreet.htm, and http://www.bigindoortrains.com/primer/buildings/store_fronts/store_fronts.htm. The fire station is a modified model of the Ghostbusters fire house. While these aren't accurate models of real Disney structures, they make for a reasonable facsimile.
Over now to Adventureland...
This is the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, which is the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. I finished raising the main structure today (it's almost 2 feet tall!) and started building paper palm trees for the jungle which surrounds it. It will be part of a larger module which will include the Jungle Cruise. Again this is a Disney Experience kit that you can download and build for free.
On to Frontierland...
Haunted Mansion number one,
Haunted Mansion nuber two,
And Haunted Mansion number 3! Or if you like, Walt Disney World Fla. Liberty Square, Disneyland Ca. New Orleans Square and Eurodisney Paris Phantom Manor.
Using triple expanding spray foam, I'm planning to create a Big Thunder Mountain Railroad diorama using two, 3-car trains, these dionosaur skeletons and other details.
In Tomorrowland...
The Astro Orbitor is moving right along,
As is Space Mountain.
Near Tomorrowland, the Nautilus will cruise the lagoon where Monorails and Matterhorn Bobsleds flash-by. The Matterhorn will be a corner-hugging tunnel over the O gauge mainline.
The "Monorail" will be constucted using Marx M10005 cars like the one seen here...
I'll be fabricating new parts and using an MPC 4 wheel steam motor for motive power. 3 of the 5 cars I purchased have arrived and I'll start stripping away the rust soon. (most of them are really rusty)
Seen here fronting my 2010 Stand Gauge and G scale Christmas layout...
Is the Main Street Train Station. The model is about 4 feet long and again can be downloaded for free at disneyexperience.com.
So, that's where the project currently stands. My best guess is that if will need a 5 by 6 foot minimum footprint with the Lionel James Gang 4-4-0 doing the DLRR honors on O27 or O31 curves. Many modules will be built and there's a lot of scenery work to be done. But considering I built more than half of the models seen above in the last 3 weeks, I've got a pretty good head start. The Temple of the Forbidden Eye for example took me 3 days while the Haunted Mansions only took 2 days each. I build A LOT of paper models! Maybe I need to get a life!
More to come!
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
All I can is wow it looks great. Want to come help me when I get ready to build in about 3 years lol
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
That is some truly amazing work!
Becky, terrific project, looks great. Ya need to get one of those Disneyland monorails. Nothing says Disney more than a monorail.
Bill T.
We're not worthy... We're not worthy...
Becky,
Your projects goes beyond remarkable results. I thought you might enjoy this link to plans for a paper GG1 project using something like 500 pieces. This guy does remarkable work.Check out the ships.
Bruce
http://cp.c-ij.com/en/contents/2027/gg1/index.html
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
Oh yes, I LOVE the Cannon site! But there's often better stuff on the Japanese version since the models get released there first. Check out this one: http://cp.c-ij.com/ja/contents/2027/toytrain/index.html I built that beauty (the day it came out) and the D51 and C57 steam locos and also the E55 electric. But I've had trouble with the compound curves on the GG1's body so I set it aside to work on another time. I've also done many of the buildings in their architecture series and all 5 lucky cats. They also have a lot of great pop-up cards which I've done more times than I can count!
I only have one word to descrbe your skills: AWESOME.
From the Hey CTT, Re visit some layouts!!! Thread I don't know about the "average Joe"; but I would sure be interested in an article about or by the amazing Becky "Penny Trains" (who seems to be way above average!). I agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, How about it Penny???
From the Hey CTT, Re visit some layouts!!! Thread I don't know about the "average Joe"; but I would sure be interested in an article about or by the amazing Becky "Penny Trains" (who seems to be way above average!).
I don't know about the "average Joe"; but I would sure be interested in an article about or by the amazing Becky "Penny Trains" (who seems to be way above average!).
I agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,
How about it Penny???
I couldn't agree more with you folks
Banks, Proud member of the OTTS TCA 12-67310
You have my support!
Banks From the Hey CTT, Re visit some layouts!!! Thread I don't know about the "average Joe"; but I would sure be interested in an article about or by the amazing Becky "Penny Trains" (who seems to be way above average!). I agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, How about it Penny??? I couldn't agree more with you folks Bruce
Aw gee.... blush blush....thanks y'all!
But like I say, starting with great kits makes a good builder better. At least 75% of your accolades belong to talented designers like Robert Nava at the Disney Experience and Ray Keim at Haunted Dimensions. They're the ones who are most responsible for the excellent model kits you see here. Mr. Nava made the kits for Sleeping Beauty Castle, Snow White's Wishing Well, the Nautilus submarine, the Skyway Gondola, the main dome of Space Mountain (I added the blue base), the TWA Moonliner, the Big Thunder Mountain trains, Main Street Station, Temple of the Forbidden Eye and much more you haven't seen yet. Ray Keim designed all 3 Haunted Mansions and the Tower that's at the entrance to the Pirates of the Carribean at WDW. Without their expertise in the realm of virtual modeling, none of this would have been possible.
And I also have to give credit to the thousands of model railroaders whose works have been featured in magazines, on the internet and at train shows. Without them, I wouldn't know a thing about scenery and construction techniques. So give yourselves a big pat on the back too!
Now, I'm not ALL about being humble ya'know! And speaking of scenery, the Temple of the Forbidden Eye is a bit closer to being overtaken by the jungle:
A Jungle Cruise boat is getting ready to float down the river along side the temple:
And the clock tower for It's A Small World is under way:
I like to do a lot of things silmultaneously so in case I get tired I can go do something else for awhile! Making paper palm trees is sooooooo booooring! Also, all 5 cars have now arrived and I'm busily thinking about how to make the neccessary conversion parts. BTW I've decided to do the original 1959 Mark 1 style train in red and chrome. Here's a pic I found on the net:
I think the look of the Marx M10005 cars fits best with the Alweg Mark 1 body styling. And also they look really cool!
More to come from the "Beckiest place on Earth!
The Small World clock tower and James Gang General.
Monorail development is proceeding. Here are a few pics of the test builds I've been doing.
This first version was jthe initial "proof of concept" build in which I tested my theories of jointery on thin gauge aluminum, namely a Coke can. Overall the process worked well enough that with a bit of practice I'll be able to use it with slightly thicker metal on the final prototype. The shape of the nose assembly was created by gluing paper printouts of my original paper model monorail parts to the exterior (labeled) side of the Coke can and then following it as a cutting and folding guide. Here's my 2006 paper prototype:
...and the pop can version with the Marx car:
This first buid had a "busted nose" and was initially too short to be compatible with the Marx car. So, in 3D model land I revised the nose assembly to make it less complicated to build, and altered the overall size of the parts. I use Metasequoia, a freeware 3D modeling program to create my parts, but one of the downsides is a lack of true real world measurements. I have to guess and hope my estimations are at least close enough when I unfold the 3D model with Pepakura, another free to download program, which turns the 3D model into 2D parts that can be printed. In the Pepakura realm however, I at least have the ability to match at least one measurement to what I need. So I picked width at 51mm to match the Marx car and got lucky on the other 2!
Here's the next test build using 67lb cover stock rather than aluminum:
The simplified nose and new scale worked much better than the original version. This build also had a new bottom piece added which improved the overall look. What I hope will be the final test version, is underway as I type this. I've added a few parts and I'm adjusting the way their laid out in on paper in Pepakura to suit what I learned as I built the first 2 versions. With a bit of luck, I'll have the final workable prototype in the next day or two! Then all I have to do is acquire a Marx motor since my MPC motor doesn't fit, strip the cars and get it all repainted in the new scheme, red, white and chrome with black windows. Oh, there's also a dome window that sits on top of this style monorail that I'm making out of half of a fishing float!
This will never be a true "model" of a Disney monorail. The nose assembly I'm using isn't what Alweg used on the 1959 Mark 1's, nor is it perfectly accurate for any subsequent generation of Disney monorail. But I think I've captured the "look" and I'll be using the paint scheme of the Mark 1 which will hopefully simulate what I'm trying to accomplish. After all, if I wanted perfect I'd buy the modern battery operated Mark V and VI monorails Disney currently sells at their parks, or the Schuco set from the 1960's that perfectly emulates a Mark 1. But those are both smaller than what I wanted, and in the case of the Schuco especially expensive and difficult to acquire!
So, there's my latest update on the monorail. I may start calling it a "Trirail" since that's in fact what it'll end up being! O31 track on stilts!
Very nice, Penny. I'm impressed with your craftsmanship. I can't wait to see the finished product!
Dennis Brennan
Penny,
I have to agree. Nicely done and fun project. Thanks for posting it.
Lionel made a Disneyland RR 4-4-0 locomotive in 1990 and you can usually find it pretty easily (#18008 Disneyland Railroad 4-4-0). Unfortunately they never made any of the open air passenger cars.
Here is a nice article on Trainz and the Disney 4-4-0 is shown.
http://local.trainz.com/articles/general.html
Regards, Roy
You've inspired me to add a Disney Marquee to my layout. Even I can probably build that!
Fantastic work. many thanks for sharing.
I wish they had a model of the old Penn Station in paper!
Super work, just way too cool!
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
pdxtrains You've inspired me to add a Disney Marquee to my layout. Even I can probably build that! Fantastic work. many thanks for sharing. I wish they had a model of the old Penn Station in paper!
Thanks!
A couple of suggestions? If you print the main section of the sign (where the name is) twice, once on plain paper and the other on cardstock, it's fairly easy to light it up using grain of wheat bulbs. Vellum works well too, but Inkjet printers produce a crisper image on plain (20lb) paper. Just cut out the lettering on the cardstock (outer) version and place the paper one behind it. An application of self stick laminate on top will make it look even more realistic. Use solid black cardstock as a backing to the "frame" of the marquee, the front piece, so it will block the light from seeping through. Hide the wire nuts or whatever connections you use from the bulbs in the section of the sign below the "Happiest Place on Earth" box. That's what I did with the modern style marquee model and it lights up beautifully! Including the little castle logo at the top!
If you build the original style sign, I'd recomend using dowels in place of the paper tubes that hold the sign up. The paper parts are fine for a shelf model, but adding dowels will make it more durable which is what you want for layout use.
Give it a try! You may surprise yourself at how easy it is! And if you need any help, drop me a line!
If you want to form compound curves using aluminum, you need an English wheel. The aircraft, automotive and motorcycle guys have used them for years to form aluminum and steel. I don't know if you can find one small enough for what you are doing.
BB
Today I'm working on the Wicked Wench. This is the pirate ship you see inside Pirates of the Carribean attacking the old Spanish fort. For my layout, it will be taking the place of the old Jolly Roger, Captain Hook's ship, which was a restaurant in Fantasyland from the 1950's till 1982.
The model at top is what's left of the one I built in 2006. I had hoped to salvage the hull, and save all that red ink, but it's just too far gone. So, I started over. Like most of the structures I'm working on, the ship will sit on it's own landscaped module. The Jolly Roger was anchored in "skull rock cove" so somehow or another that's what I'll make a model of. I need to get the hull finished so I can start building the module up to the model's waterline. I'll worry about the masts, sails and rigging after I get the hull in the "water".
Also, I now have two, three car trains built for the Big Thunder Mountain RR. Here are some of the elements of that module:
Using the basic tunnel as a base, I'll build the desert scenery encompassing the small western town. I plan to use expanding foam to create the buttes and rock formations, and I'll embed the dinosaur skeletons in it as I spray it on. Then I'll color and flock it using the standard techniques we all know. The trains are close to S gauge and I'm not entirely sure yet how I'll end up making the ride track. S gauge tubular wouldn't bend very easily to "roller coaster" grades and curves so I doubt I'll be able to use any pre-made rail. The best Idea I've hit on so far is heavy gauge wire like that used in clothes hangers hot glued to balsa ties. At any rate it's one of those projects I've been wanting to do for years!
And finally, here's that lighted Disneyland sign I mentioned above:
There's lots going on here at the "MAPO of the midwest", so keep your mouse ears peeled!
Well generally I just use dowells or whatever's handy, but I'll look into that! Thanks!
I got the hull of the Wicked Wench finished enough to work on the "lagoon" it will sit in. Since I couldn't cut a hole in the floor where the layout will be set up, I had to build the landscape up to the waterline. I set two pieces of foamcore up 6.5 cm apart with a hole in the upper one for the hull. I packed the voids with newspaper and used masking tape to create the outer shell:
I used acrylic craft paints, navy blue and ivy green, swirled and smudged together to create a nice deep water color. I "caulked" the edge of the lagoon and around the hull with hot glue and poured in polyeurethane:
In a couple of days when the poly hardens, I'll finish the scenery and raise the sails!
I was able to do a bit of "twiggin" in the woods yesterday, so I finished the landscaping around the Haunted Mansion:
The Mansion itself is closer to S scale than O, but the MTH lamps work well. And I think it's sufficiently foreboding in the dark.
here is a really fun and interesting fact about Disney... the castle that you see in the beginning of all the movies they make is modeled after the Spanish castle in Segovia Spain. It is also the castle that Queen Isabella gave Columbus the famous jewels
Sleeping Beauty Castle. I started this model 3 years ago and today it finally got mounted to the board which will have the moat and gardens.
I did several simple modifications to the original kit so I could have this lighting scheme. Most basic of all of them was the backing of the walls in the lighted "rooms" with heavy black cardstock to keep the lights from illuminating the entire wall instead of just the windows. The windows were printed on 20lb paper which gow bulbs illuminate very well. The light fixtures in the tunnel and rear alcove and foyer areas are also just paper with gow bulbs inside them. The 4 streetlights are MTH while the 2 floodlights mounted at ground level are home made fixtures. On the roof of the lower level I installed 2 peel and stick lights to better illuminate the upper portion of the castle and provide contrast not available from the cross-moat floods.
She has a long way to go, but finally getting to turn on the lights after 3+ years of work is like icing the cake! Before it's out of the oven! The next steps are to finish laying the brick paper pathways, cover up the hot glue I used around the base of the structure and finish the landscaping before I pour the polyeurethane water.
SLEEPING BEAUTY CASTLE
And, at twilight
When the polyeurethane is "just poured" is when it looks most like water.
Top down.
The biggest piece of realestate to be sure!
As a component of a themed layout, your castle has to be at the top of the list of creative projects brought to a really impressive conclusion. The lighting is wonderful. Walt Disney himself would be impressed, no doubt about that. Walt was and is one of my childhood heroes who has not lost his luster, and I just recently became acquainted with his love of trains. One of his "old men" said that Disneyland was an excuse to build a 1:1 layout, and once I heard that comment, it made perfect sense, and so when I saw your progress, it was, in a sense, a model layout of his dream layout. Keep us posted.
That's no lie! Take a look at this very early map for a park that was originally to be built accross the street from the Disney studios:
It bears very little resemblance to the 600 acre park that became Disneyland in 1955, but it did have 2 separate train rides.
This later concept drawing by Herb Ryman shows that the park had evolved by the mid 1940's much closer to what we know today:
One of the most interresting features is that the original plan was to build a scale model of Neuschwanstein castle and have all of the Fantasyland rides within it's walls. Adventureland is on the opposite side but in it's place was an operating roundhouse, backshop and turntable! Clearly Disney wanted to teach kids about the importance of railroads and how they're maintained. The trains are also traveling in the opposite direction from what they do today by the way. Sadly the demise of US steam had become so great by 1955 that the Disneyland Railroad's importance had been downgraded to a simple around the perimeter ride.
But that's not to say Disney didn't keep trains at the forefront at Disneyland. The Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad is still the first thing visitors see on entering the park. And Casey Junior has plied the rails of Storybookland since opening day. In 1957 the Viewliner arrived in Tomorrowland only to be supplanted two years later by the Alweg monorail. The latter is arguably the most recognized train Disney ever built. Even moreso than his Carolwood Pacific live steam railroad that Ward Kimball helped with. And we can't forget Disney's Omnimover system. The railroadesque propulsion system that's been moving guests through dark rides since the 1960's. Or the Mark Twain for that matter! it runs on rails too!
I also heard that for a time, for entry into the park, the railroad was to be the main conveyance for this purpose, from a remote parking lot but this concept was discarded as impractical. Did you see the documentary on CNBC on Disney where he and Kimball went out to the Chicago Railfair? There are scenes of them in the diesel cab en route and it looked like Walt was in 7th Heaven. Building a layout in the Disney offices by Walt Kimball was another interesting short segment. I wished I could do a screen capture to have gotten a better view of it. That would be neat to recreate.
Yeah, as near as I can figure they must have decided that railbound parking lot transportation would have been too big of a hassle. Too many traffic tie-ups with grade crossings and all, that sort of thing. So they developed the trackless tram system instead. Still, it would have been cool!
I don't have pay TV, just a couple sets of rabbit ears. (No cable, no cell phones, dial-up internet...what century am I living in anyways? ) Too bad the layout isn't still at Disney!
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