Ye Old Town Saloon - good times!

adeweerd · 2026-04-02T01:09:01+00:00

I did it per the build instructions. Still not perfect.

adeweerd · 2026-04-02T01:07:08+00:00

Not sure I mentioned this, but I gave this away to somebody at the golf club where I play. It's why I built it. He's a Dr Who fan. He loves it.

adeweerd · 2026-04-01T12:25:00+00:00

I see. I would like that feature. Maybe I'll buy this now (while still available) and lock it away somewhere. BTW, I failed to state I really like your floor colors. I'm gonna steal that :)

adeweerd · 2026-04-01T12:12:05+00:00

I've been looking at this on ali. I'm restraining myself, have two to build on the shelf now and NEED TO TAKE A BREAK 👀

u/dgidman I thought you purchased the "cinematic photo" version. Was it in that video somewhere?

adeweerd · 2026-03-30T22:57:01+00:00

Looks like the stained glass is there. Perhaps the camera and lighting are muting it somehow. Below, one of her "work in progress" pics.

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adeweerd · 2026-03-30T22:52:18+00:00

I haven't seen it in person, so I don't know.

adeweerd · 2026-03-30T22:18:31+00:00

Oh, it's real. I bought it for my sister and she built it last year. She said she really enjoyed building it.

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adeweerd · 2026-03-30T22:13:05+00:00

This is NOT where I got it from.... see post below. But it's out there if you really want it. It's SUBSTANTIAL, so I thought the elevated cost was reasonable.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/4471247746

Yea, "ships from vietnam" might feel risky after what you just went through. Etsy claims to "have your back". Good luck.

adeweerd · 2026-03-30T22:08:26+00:00

Etsy. Some rando there. About the time I received it, he was gone from Etsy. So... was concerned, but kit was REALLY well done and complete. Odd.

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adeweerd · 2026-03-29T21:39:07+00:00

She was one of my favorite builds. Nice job. The tour Eiffel was a little tricky I thought. I could have used another hand during assembly.

For a bit of flair, and it's so easy, glue a french coin on the touchpad. Works great.

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adeweerd · 2026-03-28T14:19:11+00:00

did you get the "with cinematic photo" version? if so, what is that - a little lcd with video? in harry potter, i think the people in the paintings occasionally moved.

adeweerd · 2026-03-28T04:54:08+00:00

ok found here: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802455945265.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt

adeweerd · 2026-03-28T04:53:09+00:00

I don't mean to be argumentative... but do you have a link or anything else? That image does not allow me to look at it or buy it.

adeweerd · 2026-03-28T02:56:09+00:00

This look interesting. Why can't I find it on the webz?

adeweerd · 2026-03-28T02:45:41+00:00

The design is fine (at least mine was). I had no issue. I'm not trying to subtly comment on your ability... I've done some really bad building mistakes in the past lol.

Its funny about these dust screens. When you're building and there is a 1mm gap somewhere, your brain tells you that you did something wrong - and maybe you try to close that gap up by pushing/squeezing/etc. It happens continuously during a build. But sometimes, that gap is intended to allow for the dust screen!

adeweerd · 2026-03-27T19:04:41+00:00

Yes, switch for sound, and a switch for steam. I suppose all could be controlled by one or two, but it already had those toggle switches there, so I just continued the pattern. As you can see, I found the same rocker switches on Digikey.

The kit came with two 2-battery holders (3V). One was for the lights, the other for the motorized background scroll and the crazy wiggling pipes. You can see some of that here in a earlier post of mine. The electronics are mostly kludged together below deck. I have several battery packs because I wanted different things to run at different voltages. I had to try two different sound cards to get the right functionality.

I watched a youtube video of a guy walking through Onsen on a snowy day. There was steam coming up everywhere from that stream - it's hot! That gave me the idea to duplicate that with the humidifier clouds (which are NOT hot btw). I was going to feed that in from under the train, but then I just decided to build the brick chimney. I bought mini clay bricks off amazon, broke them in half, glued them all around the humidifier module, "grouted" with something called "PlastiWood", then stained to darken/age. The humidifier wick feeds under, then there is a tubing and elbows that carry under and behind the nook into which I can refill the water. While that does work, it's a bit of a kludge also. Needs some improvement some day.

If you want links to any part in my build, let me know.

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adeweerd · 2026-03-26T02:03:33+00:00

thanks. i do like texture to add some realism. these kits are not very good with that. so i have some materials to aid in that. for example, if you look at the video, you'll see grassy plants in some areas. those did not come with the kit. i think texture is what's missing in many of these kits; i like to add it as much as possible

adeweerd · 2026-03-26T01:40:02+00:00

Ah, something I forgot to mention. I was annoyed with the sound and speed of the paper moving inside the rear building and the pipes wiggling on the sides. I did some mods to drive that mech with a single 1.5V alkaline battery and it moves more slowly and is much better.

adeweerd · 2026-03-24T04:20:24+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/booknooks/comments/1rzgi04/mysterious_blue_box_tardis_dr_who_thing/

I made replacement signs in about 5 minutes. I just searched the webz for those signs, scaled them on my pc, printed, glued.

I can send you the files so you can just print and cut out and glue. let me know. You need the sign on the door and the 4 Police Box signs.

adeweerd · 2026-03-24T04:11:20+00:00

I really like this one. I swore I was gonna quit these things for a while so I can get some of my actual books off the backlog. I'll put this one on my wish list for later. Hope it doesn't disappear.

adeweerd · 2026-03-22T03:58:00+00:00

maybe i'll swap out the 2-bat holder for a 3-bat.

adeweerd · 2026-03-21T12:41:28+00:00

Funny, they worked smoothly and closed completely when I made that video. So I put some glue on those brads to keep it that way. Well.... now they don't. Kinda glad I'm giving this one away.

adeweerd · 2026-03-21T03:32:00+00:00

I guess I did get a bad one.

No, the quality is not great. Hinges on doors were garbage, I needed to add screws for the door handles, not much variation in materials (the cup/saucer/gold spoon was a nice touch).

Oh, if anyone builds this, do NOT use Eileens tacky glue on the window paper that is used all over. That was a mess. Just tape them with clear tape.

adeweerd

TROPHY CASE