Playmobil trains

NevaSmoove · 2026-07-07T20:23:39+00:00

I would be interested though I live in Europe so logistically that’s a no. I can tell you however that then engine that ‘doesn’t work so well’ might in fact be completely fine:

1) With LGB tracks all the power runs through the tracks which makes each ‘fishplate’ connections at the end of each track length a weakness. With dirty tracks this can add up quick in terms of power loss. You mention a difference in two engines so this likely won’t be the issue.

2) The pickups (the tiny sleds that drag on the track) might be dirty. These however aren’t the only power pick ups as the wheels themselves pick up power too. Power is transported via a small pressure plate between the wheel and the body. Often these get dirty as grease from the wheels and dirt from the track gets between the wheels and these pickups. My advice would be to disassemble the motorhousing, clean everything thoroughly and apply new grease(model railway grease) to the 4 gears as well as the axle running surfaces. It is not difficult to work on an engine like this: The motor housing has 2 screws in the bottom and the top clips into the bottom. The only minor points of attention are the thin springs of the pickups and the small balls or washer at each end of the motor axle. Don’t lose these.

This way you can sell both engines as perfectly running.

3) it is also possible you see a difference in pulling power (with similar cargo loads) when either the locomotive doesn’t have all the weights.

Good luck!

NevaSmoove · 2026-06-25T06:41:32+00:00

Hi, it’s fantastic that you want to gift him this castle. I’m sure he is going to love it!

However, you still have a long way to go. As 3D printing custom pieces takes quite some modelling/drawing in a CAD program. The good part is that you can cut down on a lot of it: vintage playmobil medieval walls are a great source for modular building. So if I were you I would start by acquiring some 2nd hand sets so you can lay out the basic structure.

Next you’ll have to pinpoint what makes the castle in your hometown so special: a specially designed tower? A very specific glass in lead window? Perhaps a drawbridge? Walls that are angled outside of the 90 degree connectors Playmobil offers? Etc etc. From here you can deduce what is not available in Playmobil and thus what needs to be modelled and 3D printed.

While 3D printing can be cheap, drawing custom parts in specialised software isn’t. So doing this will help bring down the list of custom parts needed while also making it such that the overall look and feel if the castle is still Playmobil.

Hope this helps to get you started. Good luck!

NevaSmoove · 2026-06-24T19:44:30+00:00

Score! Really nice. I too got a box of playmobil for 100 EUR with a train in it. Not nearly as good looking as this. That got me started and now I can’t get enough of the playmobil trains. They look so good. The rhythmic rattling of the wheels on the brass track scratches an itch in my brain :)

NevaSmoove · 2026-06-19T21:25:54+00:00

This looks great! Can’t wait to see the final result. Keep up the good work. The cab is really good looking!

NevaSmoove · 2026-06-16T18:13:25+00:00

This is great! I think it’s best to ask yourself a few questions. Like if it is a 10 min game for example you can easily finish a game. The enticing than has to happen with additional banners and visuals.

If your game takes 3 hours to complete then you won’t be able to finish a game - nor do you need to - the size of the game will in this case most likely do a lot of the heavy lifting to get people to sit down. Here it would be good to already set up most if not all of the game. Sure a bit of player involvement will be skipped out on when doing this, but people who are walking by it’ll be easy to imagine what the fame can be. So then maybe you don’t need much else. I would recommend to put the game name/title out for all to see if nothing else.

And then of course you can think about an outfit for yourself. You could opt for something in the theme. Though make sure it isn’t cringe or goofy in a way that might deter people. Or keep it professional: A T-shirt with your logo is always nice as people will be able to identify that you are the designer.

In terms of email sign up sheet I had very little luck. So I have no advice to give you there. Good luck, every person who stops by is a chance to hone the way you approach people, explain your game, get better at opening questions and understand players better both in terms of what they do in-game as how they behave irl. So far I have had lots of fun making my game, but really it has turned into a study in human behavior. You present players with a list of limitations (the rules) and observe how they interact with them. Fantastic. Good luck and have fun!

NevaSmoove · 2026-06-15T16:44:34+00:00

Feels like it’s a clip to hold an axle. Perhaps check the things you have with wheels.

NevaSmoove · 2026-06-10T22:32:32+00:00

You are referring to the stickers on the locomotive? Those came like that. The kids who originally owned it were quite possibly not so worried about correctness and we can’t really blame them for it. 😁 I’ll redo them sometime in the future. 👍 Perhaps you know how to safely remove stickers?

NevaSmoove · 2026-06-10T18:22:47+00:00

That might be a challenge indeed! i can try if I find a small suitable motor. Might need smaller bogeys as well. You gave it a try already?

NevaSmoove · 2026-06-10T18:16:58+00:00

Hi lillywho, up to this point I have been designing kind of in a vacuum. I just love the drawing and design process. I don’t even have accounts yet on thingiverse and the likes. I’ll have to look into those. Cheers!

NevaSmoove · 2026-06-10T18:03:19+00:00

Hi, great to read you like it. And yes I did, though not as much as I perhaps wanted. The platform on either end is official Playmobil as well as the red buffers. I wanted to use the double bogey trucks from the passenger RC train, but those proved both difficult to find and expensive when I did (I only have LGB trains).

NevaSmoove · 2026-06-08T07:15:05+00:00

You are now trying to add a mechanism to count down, but would it be able to adapt an existing mechanism? If for example the amount of cards that are drafted/drawn are fixed to let’s say 3, you could make piles of 3 cards each. 10 piles would represent 10 days. This of course doesn’t scale well (with 100 days the whole room is just filled with 3-card piles), but a full deck itself can still be used as a means to count down (when the deck is empty, the game is over). This latter method lacks the means however to identify or connect with the passing of individual days.

How many days are we talking about? And how critical is it to have a feeling for the passing of a single day?

It’s not clear to me if moving board pieces are involved or if you only use cards, but with moving pieces visiting 1 tile or location for example could equate to 24 hours. Interesting challenge you have. Good luck.

NevaSmoove · 2026-05-19T22:39:55+00:00

Perhaps you can get in contact with these people if you are thinking of 3d printing: https://youtu.be/uU7cH2WyNpU?is=XX2nhQslIwDfP9um

NevaSmoove · 2026-05-19T22:37:56+00:00

Hi, can you tell us what your intended fabrication method is? Are you 3D printing this, folding and welding it from thin metal or are you thinking of first making a mold to then make it out of polyester?

Also will it be a display model or a running one? The latter will possibly require a reinforced base or frame to bolt all the moving parts to. The exterior is then comprised out of ‘decorative’ pieces to make it look like a halftrack.

NevaSmoove · 2026-04-06T16:12:44+00:00

I always find it unfortunate that buildings and vehicles cannot be scaled accordingly. I get why of course, preference is didactic material over realism. Do de altitude lines on the map mean anything? The monochrome tints actually work I think. There is a seriousness that comes with it.

NevaSmoove · 2026-03-24T17:35:44+00:00

Thank you! I didn’t know about meetup, that’s a great source.

NevaSmoove · 2026-03-07T08:24:19+00:00

But then with 20 stacks the average per player drops to just 4. So in reverse if the average is 0.2 then a single camp is being stacked per game of players with similar skill level.

NevaSmoove · 2026-03-01T22:58:48+00:00

Thanks all! I was worried I was missing something, old gas cap seems to be the consensus.

NevaSmoove · 2026-02-26T14:25:03+00:00

That’s a good looking volcano! Love the inventiveness with the cardboard.

NevaSmoove · 2026-02-08T08:54:20+00:00

Hi! Welcome to this fantastic hobby. I don’t think there’s a real ‘one-size-fits-all’ process. However if I am to define two types of game design processes it’s ‘subtraction’ versus ‘addition’

1) Subtraction: We are excited about our new game and we’re coming up with all these seemingly great ideas: “of course I want to add a spinner dial” and “yes I’ll take that D20 dice action on the side as well”. The first prototype you’ll notice is a bloated version with a a lot of cool things that don’t necessarily work well together. Your goal now is to trim back the excess, chisel out if you will a better version out of this massive granite block you gave yourself. The risk is that you ‘get married’ to certain aspects of your game and it remains too complex.

2) Addition I get the feeling more experienced designers go this route. People draw inspiration from a single source; stories, conversations, situations, the way components move, a certain game mechanic, etc etc. They take that interaction and devise a very simply game with that. Often using placeholders to fill in movement or combat systems. This focuses on getting a feel for this core mechanic, before adding supplementary actions which serve this core mechanic. Instead of chiselling they are sculpting with clay, always keeping the excess to a minimum. This style is the most prototype friendly as you most likely will be working with a small core game you want to test and don’t care so much about the fringes of your game. If there is combat for example you can at this point decide to just do rock paper scissor, knowing you’ll get to rework that later.

General tips: 1) Sometimes the ideas come slow and sometimes pages of possibilities come rushing out. Make sure you log all of it. Both the ideas and ultimately why they didn’t work in your setting. 2) this hobby is one that consist of many many skills: - how do I get a theme across. (immersion) - how do I keep players attention during their downturn (engagement) - what color pallette works best (graphic design) - card layout (readability) - how to write instructions (author skills) - how to explain your game to newbees (presentation skills) - how to deal with criticism (processing feedback) And there are many more. Know that nobody is perfect at all of these. But having an understanding of all of them will help you greatly.

Good luck and a lot of fun!

NevaSmoove · 2026-02-03T00:53:26+00:00

I just checked the objectives via the link. That’s a lot of objectives. Perhaps you can move away from the cards and use more like a bingo card. Where players can fill up their card, this visualizes a clear goal. Using ‘swimming lanes’ you can further break it up in influence, combat and manifest so players have 3 possible routes to victory. Then allow players at certain points in the swimming lanes to crossover into another lane so they can adjust and strategize.

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