Advent Calendar 2024 - Christmas Train - The Jill Project

[LASteve]

 

This year, the Project Manager decided that this year there would be no more Chocoloate, Wine, Gin nor IPA-themed Advent Calendars.  For 2024 she's going 2500-piece Train Jigsaw-Puzzle-3D-WTF-Calendar.

Here's the box and the Project Manager. Many more updates to come, I'm sure! Check back for progress.






This thing is huge and complicated, the pictures don't do it justice. When Jill saw James Street at TINGS (and York) and decided I needed to build a bigger layout, I didn't quite realize how much she doesn't have any truck with half-measures.

For now, Advent Calendar we can do - possibly


Cheers in anticipation

[crewearpley40]

Wonderful idea. Sounds novel. Is Jill designing the idea ?

Hope your well

[emjaybee]

Absolutely awesome! Aaaaand that's why she's Jill, always looking for a challenge.

Looking forward to updates on progress.

[jpendle]

The last time Sharon tried anything Lego like, she gave up with the immortal words.

"It's nice, but it'd be better if someone else put it together for me"   

John P

[joe cassidy]

In France Lego are currently advertising their kit for Notre Dame cathedral

The real one is due to re-open soon, after the fire

The pope will not be attending - he has a prior engagement in Corsica

[Trainfish]

In France Lego are currently advertising their kit for Notre Dame cathedral

Looks quite easy to build:

[jpendle]

In France Lego are currently advertising their kit for Notre Dame cathedral

Looks quite easy to build:

It's the re_building that takes the time 

John P

[LASteve]

Day 1.

A bag of bits and a 60-page assembly guide that makes a Dapol schematic look simple. End result is possibly a chassis of a wagon, but who knows?






That took about an hour. I think I prefer the gin calendar

Roll on Day 2!

[emjaybee]

Piffle!

Those instructions are superb, but then I did grow up with Lego. To this day I can walk barefoot across a floor of Lego pieces without flinching & be able to identify each piece, including colour, underfoot.

 

[LASteve]

Day 2 - another bag of bits. This one looks like it needed some liquid assistance in the form of a cocktail.



A wagon seems to be taking shape here.



22 more bags of bits to go!

[LASteve]

Day 3 & 4

Day 3 was a struggle and so had to push to Day 4 for a double shift. All good in the end! 



Day 4:



Looking like a wagon!

[LASteve]

A big bag of bits on Day 5, and now we're looking at a whole wagon (Caboose)? Clerestory windows and all. I'd guess there's maybe 500 pieces of Lego in this one alone.



Tomorrow is a whole new sub-project.

Lessons learned by the Project Manager:

1. If you drop a piece it either rockets across the room or bounces under the couch, it never lands gently on the table in front of you.

2. Sometimes you need a pair of pliers to gently squeeze things together, the finger-squeeze doesn't cut it.

3. A cocktail helps. A lot.

Onward!

[LASteve]

Day 6 - apparently another chassis to put together:



This one comes complete with dog. About 400 pieces so far and counting ...

[weave]

Hi Steve,

Looks fun. Also looks like you need a refill. What are the cocktails? We've seen a pinky red one and a green one so far.

Good work 

Cheers, weave 

[LASteve]

The pink one's a Vodka Zombie and the green one's a Cucumber Margarita (mezcal, not tequila, we're posh round these parts).

Cheers, Weave!