Outtake
I don't do 'shop talk' here often, but this was just a perfect bit of accidental Murphy's Law humor. Recently mentioned my long-lasting and artistically satisfying project to model the Nelson Dream Village tourist lodge. It's reached the point where I'm about ready to submit the set to online graphics stores for testing and sale. So I decided to rig up a series of demo pics to stir up some interest, and maybe get a couple of acquaintances to run a beta test before submitting to the store.




First a nice outdoor shot, with the Musical Fountain emphasized. The fountain was the centerpiece of the real Dream Village, and the truly unique part of Colonel Nelson's dream. Lots of tourist lodges in the '30s had charming rock-faced cottages; only the Dream Village had a music and light show every evening in the summer.

Apparently the original mechanism ran the fountain and lights through a standard 'ringing the changes' pattern, while Colonel Nelson's granddaughter Beth took charge of the turntable, favoring Strauss waltzes. I've done the Colonel one better in digital form, with an animated mechanism that 'dances' the fountain and lights to the music.





Second, the interior of the cottage looking toward the kitchen and bath. Since no interior pix of the actual Dream Village are available, I've used appropriate period furniture, as seen in other motels of the time.




Third, we'll turn toward the front window and wait for the fountain to start up. I activate the water and lights, and ....





CUT!

Apparently the water was improperly centered on the house instead of the fountain.





Obviously we're not ready for testing and sale yet, if Murphy's Law can bite me so easily. An unsuspecting buyer would have even worse problems!

= = = = =

Much later note: Most of the Dream Village set has ended up as part of my free Route 66 packages. The cottage is here and much of the furniture is here. The fountain isn't part of either set; I decided it wasn't up to the same quality standards.
  ¶ 11:36 PM