Tips to Display Your Lemax Village Collection

Animation

Any movement or hint of movement can add that "something" to your village. This may be simply done by adding an electic train to your village. Provided this is done using a tunnel to hide the train from view at some point in it's travel, the effect can be amazing. Or you can always check out our huge selection of animated buildings and table pieces.

There are also many other ways to induce movement, small electric/battery motors can be mounted below the base board, above a fisherman can cast his line, an axe man can cut logs, a painter can paint a wall.....Simply moving a figurine left and right by having the shaft of the motor glued to the base of the figure will give the impression of life in the village. More intricate animation can involve boats moving on their anchors in the breeze to cars moving on roads, it's up to your imagination and your ability to see a small motor or gear and think of an alternate used for your village. Be sure to checkout animated pieces of Lemax that we sell in Sights and Sounds or Vehicles and Trains.

Landscaping your village

We carry a whole line of landscaping pieces for the Lemax villages. Whether its landscapes, trees, display sets, or even facades we carry it all. But, there are more options available to you. Model Railroaders have been using polystyrene for years and it is possibly the best and quickest way to get your basic shapes formed. Available from hardwares and specialist hobby shops and sold by small sheet sizes, you can cut it, form it and glue it quickly and easily. But beware, some glues will react with it and cutting thick stock can be slow, not to mention the mess. A hot melt glue gun or a specialty glue is recommended, and cutting /shaping can be made much easier with a hot knife cutter.

If you are using "water" we suggest covering your base board with polystyrene except for the water area. This gives your layout a three dimensional effect. The polystyrene may be only 12 or 19mm (1/2 to 3/4") but the effect of rises and falls on your landscape will be rewarding. these undulations can be made with a file, saw or blade dragged over the surface. Don't be afraid to dig in...you can always re fill the area by gluing more polystyrene back in. To get the mountain effect just create the height you require by gluing layers or making box sections with the poly. Once the desired shapes are made cover with either newspaper and water/PVA glue mix or use a commercially available plaster material which just requires wetting. Paint and apply ageing effect to the rocks, apply grasses and trees and your village will be more lifelike.

Lighting

Black light or ultraviolet lights. Combined with flourescent paint applied to buildings, fences, car headlights etc can make an incredible effect for your village scene. We carry the whole line of Lemax lighted adapters and accessories. Generaly the ultraviolet lights are tube-type available from Electrical and Hardware stores. There are several sizes depending on the size of display you want it on. try mounting the light above or at the rear of your display. Or make a hill to conceal your light in your display. Caution...the effects on your display is addictive.. ..paint stars on the backdrop, in the night sky........timed daylight to night scenes...

Water Effects

We carry a whole line of Lemax products to make a whole nautical scene. Be sure to check out our whole line of Lemax nautical accessories. In addition to nautical accessories, here are some tips on water effects.  Clear silicone like those used to seal bathroom basins and showers etc can also be used to imitate the ocean waves and ponds. This can be applied directly onto your village base board. Simply apply the colour for your water scene to your base board (use two or three colours to get the effect of different depths) and place beads of silicone clear caulking in rows to represent waves. Experiment with the distance apart to get the effect you are after. You can shape the waves using a flat stick...it pays to experiment with the effects. On the shore line place some PVA glue and sprinkle sand and you will have instant beach....don't forget the driftwood washed up on shore. If a pond or river scene get some aquarium stones which are available in a good range of colours and use these on the edge of the silicone and up the river bank.

Animated Fisherman

Be sure to get all your figurines and the fisherman from our Lemax Figurines department. Glue a bolt or shaft under the base of the Lemax Fly Fishing figurine. Put this through your display base so that the threaded bolt protrudes through by about an inch. By using two nuts lock a circle or lever to the bolt and fix two smaller bolts to the outside circumference and one in about1/2" from the outside edge. This is hard to describe but you then have a figurine fixed to a shaft passing through the display base, at the bottom of this shaft is a disc or lever with a small bolt fitted to the end. The second bolt is attached to a rubber band (elastic band) and becomes the "return spring". At this point what is required to make it "animate" is to use the newly purchased motor after fitting a similar disc and trip bolt. By mounting the motor in such a way that the two discs overlap and the two "trip bolts" come into contact with each other with every revolution of the motor. Now when the motor is run the motor disc revolves and makes contact with the trip bolt on the figurine disc, as the two discs move the rubber band stretches and when the motor disc looses contact with the figurine disc, the rubber band returns the figurine to the original position.
So in practice the fly fisherman slowly moves back in his swing and then suddenly springs back to his original postion ( casts his rod). Hey Presto! Movement! This is difficult to explain so if you are still not sure please ask me to fill in the grey areas. This type of small movement adds life to your scene, it is not an attention grabber but will delight those who see it in action. The amount of times he casts is dependant on the diameter of the two discs (your choice so a bit of experimentation here) and the speed of the motor.

Lemax Village Collections

Lemax makes many different styles of villages. Whether you are looking for the classic Caddington Village, the nautical town of Plymouth Corners, thinking of fall with Harvest Crossing, or looking for a Spooky Town Halloween scene, Lemax Carries them all. Learn more about your favorite Lemax Villages.