Saturday At the Park
This silly project was born out of a need for someplace to put a whole bunch of crazy animations I'd done over the last few years, starting with the kiddie train ride. They're not really meant to be taken seriously; I did them mostly for fun. The 11" x 22" diorama features the following:
- Kiddie train ride
- Combine ticket office/gift shop with opening door and world's smallest layout
- Kite flying
- Model airplane
- Model helicopter
- Playing frisbee
- Playground:
a. Carousel
b. Seesaws
c. Swings
d. Slide - Chaser light sign
- Picnic grove with cooking grills
- Field of fireflies
The lighter grey rectangles show the size of the mechanism, while the darker shapes are the actual animations/structures. The railroad track in the upper left corner is abandoned, and serves to disguise the slot needed for the model helicopter animation.
Control
The diorama has a built-in control panel and power supply, the latter being four C-cells in a holder mounted behind the front fascia (below left). The supply is wired to provide 1.5, 3, 4.5, and 6 VDC, as needed by the animations. Except for the model helicopter and model airplane, which have their own controllers/power supplies, everything on the diorama is controlled from a panel mounted on the front fascia (below right).
Milestones
5 September 2022: All of the animations are finished and functional, and most of the scenery is complete. The earth is premixed colored sanded grout (Custom Building Products SimpleGrout, Haystack color). The dark rectangle right of center is the kite flying mechanism waiting for me to re-install the kite in June when this photo was taken.
23 June 2022: I was hankering to add fireflies to another diorama, and my first pick was the drive-in. But after completing the scenery along the back edge of this diorama, I changed my mind and added them to that band of weeds and brush.
19 November 2021: Most of the mechanisms are installed.
13 November 2021: Completed the Gatorfoam base, and got the openings for all of the animations cut.
As of December 2022, the project is dead. Many items needed to finish it were lost in a move. This is how it last appeared:
