Philadelphia Flower Show 2025 - Miniature Settings

 There are usually two sets of miniature settings. This year they both had movie themes- one focused on films for children. Just a reminder that it's hard to get decent pictures because these are behind plexiglass and there are always too many reflections.

These were to "create a setting inspired by a children's classic movie."

Honorable Mention was awarded to Tangled. The intent was to show when Rapunzel breaks free with the help of Flynn and admires the sky lanterns.

The judges said it was colorful, but the structural elements were not up to high standards. I would agree with that. Most of what you can't see was more of the gray panels.

The other Honorable Mention went to The Karate Kid. The intent was to showcase the serenity and the balance between nature and discipline.

The judges thought there were so many design components that it detracted from the serenity. This is only a portion of the display, and I agree that it was stuffed with structures.

Swiss Family Robinson took third. The intent merely restated the story from the book- a family marooned in 1797 builds a home in a tree from salvaged materials.

The judges liked the tree and the plants, but noted there were issues with the scale. It was OK. I liked it better than the ones that took second place, but both had modeling issues.

Two entries were awarded a red ribbon. One is Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The intent says: "Step right into your whimsical world of sweet imagination."

The judges liked the plant material, but said the modeling wasn't up to snuff. I agree with that. Even using botanical contest standards, I think I could have switched this one with Swiss Family Robinson, or maybe that's just because I like that story and not this one!

The other second place was My Neighbor Totoro. The intent was "Totoro, the keeper of the forest, watches over the bus stop."

The judges said there was good attention to detail, but the lack of light obscures the effect. I didn't like this one much.

I totally agree with the Blue Ribbon winner, Alice in Wonderland. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get pictures that showed the depth of the model. There are more elements than the table, but reflections obscure them in all my pictures. The intent was "nothing is quite what it seems to be... and for Alice, growing up is just a state of mind."

The judges said it was a wonderful journey down the rabbit hole. It was lush with great plants, and as noted, there were more features in the corners.

I did a decent amount of work today. Then bell practice, shopping, a little walk. The trails are now icy, so I didn't get much mileage since I couldn't walk very fast.

Miles hiked in 2025: 47.9

Ludington School Forest. Various trails. 1.5 miles

See PFS 2020- Miniatures

It's a Small World

 I stayed home and worked hard on a lot of projects today. It doesn't feel as if I made a lot of progress, but if one keeps doing small bits, they do add up.

I'm still working on processing photos from the 2010 Philadelphia Flower Show. I found one of the miniature displays that didn't win any award, but it was by far the best job of modeling on any of the entries. I suspect the judges expected a better balance of the plants and other elements. Here's the long shot- an abandoned car with a tree growing through it beside a garage. You know it's a miniature because you can see my reflection on the plexiglas in front of the garage.



That looks very good, but take a look at the interior of the garage. This is modeling to perfection. Still some reflections, but not bad.

Some of you may remember that I love modeling. However, all my own stuff is packed away until such time as I either: 1) can't hike 2) have more money 3) have more space. Maybe I'll need all three of those. (ho hum, OK, probably time too)

Meanwhile, here are a few pics of my own modeling attempts. The first one I've shared before. Front of a gas station, year depicted about 1948. The building is scratchbuilt. That means it did not start as a kit.



This is a layout edge scene. I never got a backdrop behind it, but the "town barn" is made from cardboard and corrugated cookie boxes. The grader and bulldozer are kits, and the pipes and stuff are a combination of purchased modeling details and junk.

This is a night scene. All these buildings are from kits. Some of them aren't quite finished, but you can make kits look great if you are careful with paint and details. And "kit-bashing" is a good technique too. For that, you start with a kit and then change things around a bit. The tanker truck on the street is kitbashed. I took one truck chassis and added the tank to the back.

This is sort of kitbashed. It's really a bit too late for my chosen model time period, from the mid-1950s, but I hate to give it up because I think it came out really good. Keep in mind this truck is, in reality, just over 2 inches long.

This was a piece of my tiny layout that I was pretty happy with. Except the field is too small, of course. But I was experimenting with techniques. The plowed field looks pretty good, but it should be more level. The trees are all natural material. I sort of prided myself on realistic looking trees.

If you look in the upper right of the above picture, you will see a tiny house on a hillside. That is scratch built. My first such attempt. A lot of the structures I did I built as "modules" which means when I do a different layout, they can be dropped in (with making good transitions at the module edges, of course) and they don't have to be completely re-placed in the landscape.

For sure, if and when I get to take this out and play with it again, I will figure out some way to rig a dust cover over it all. HO scale, for those who care.

Meanwhile, I edited, I wrote a chapter in Vacation from DMS- 565 words that I'm not crazy about, but I can figure out what they need another day, I worked on pictures, I did some other stuff.

See Model Train Layout 2001-2018 See more pix of my small layout

Philadelphia Flower Show - Miniature Settings

 
You may remember that the miniature settings are some of my favorite exhibits at the Philadelphia Flower Show. They are also some of the most difficult to photograph because all are protected across the front with plexiglass which reflects all the lights and people, and there is always a long line to even see these. That means you only have a few moments at each one before the people behind you start to get impatient.

Anyway, these are my 4 favorites of the 12 entries, in two classes. Both classes were "Vacation Destination- Exterior."

Punting on the Thames. This one took a blue ribbon, and a special ribbon for an outstanding miniature setting. The description begins, "There is an iconic feeling of going on vacation seen through Kenneth Grahame's 'The Wind in the Willows.'"

The judges said, "Sophisticated whimsey." The plant list is huge; there are 42 different species of plant included. Sometimes that results in the judges saying things were overdone, but the modelers did such a good job it all looks perfect. For one thing the figures are large. Most of the modeling is done at about a scale of 1:20 or 1:24. This looks more like 1:8. That probably means they had to make the characters from scratch.

You can see that the painted backdrop has serious texture, and the foreground just seems to blend into it.



Here is a closeup of Mole. Look at all the plants in the flower box! I did not get it in a photo, but there were even "weeds" growing under the dock.



This is picking up reflections, but look how much attention was given even to the area where there were no figures. Definitely my favorite.


I also liked Everglades Adventure, which won the other blue ribbon. The description says, "Enter the unique subtropical world of the Everglades... the experience leaves you feeling like an integral part of this swampy world."

The judges said, "Forever - Glades." 23 different species of plant. The first thing that grabs your eye is the structure.



But look left, and you'll find the edge of the swamp.



The manatees really make it special.



Bellisima Tuscana also caught my eye. The setting is more formal, and it only got a 3rd place, but I thought it had a great amount of depth. Sometimes the more formal displays are harder to make the plants look right, but I think they did a good job. It just looks like evening along the Mediterranean. "Oh, beautiful Tuscany! Hillsides descending to the blue sea!" 19 different kinds of plant.



The last one I'll show you is Belize- Land of the Maya. This one is much more wild. "Ancient Maya in Belize is one of the world's most mysterious civilizations." Only 9 different species of plant, but it really works. The exhibit just blends into the background, and the light adds mystery. It also took a third place.



There were several other interiors that were very fussy, and took a huge amount of modeling work. They were quite wonderful, but just not my favorites.

In other news: Well, I didn't do much today. I read a book. It was supposed to rain. Instead, it snowed a little.

See Miniature Settings

Intro to the 2020 Philadelphia Flower Show

 
Today was Flower Show day. This year's show was great. Well, they are all great, but after you go often enough even the best flower show in the world has some years that are better than others. I liked a couple of the displays a lot. This year's theme was Riviera Holiday. The entrance was a Mediterranean street scene.



There was live accordion music!




And a street performer. She juggled, and danced.



The displays range from the vast...



...to the miniature,


with all of the neat stuff I usually share in between. I'll be in Philly a few more days, so I'll probably blog about that until I'm back home, and then come back to the Flower Show. Don't worry, I took my usual approximately 800 pictures, so you'll get a good sampling.

Although the international flower show last year had some spectacular displays, it took up a ton of floor space. I liked that there was more room for quite a few smaller exhibits on the show's actual theme.

And there were quite a few plants I didn't know, so that always makes me happy.

See 2019 Flower Show intro

Northlandz Model RR - Details

 
As you can imagine on a layout of this magnitude, not all the models were fully detailed. Although most of it was the work of one man, I believe that some sections were done by others, including Scouts. But I have no idea who did what.

These are just a few of the really nice details that I managed to get good pictures of.

This is a coaling station. It might be either a high-end kit that I'm not familiar with, or scratch built. Nevertheless, it looks very realistic.



The layout was filled with humor, often with accompanying "explanations" so observers would get the joke. I thought this farm tucked in an impossibly deep cleft of rock was funny.



The "ivy" growing up the walls of this building is exceptionally fine detailing. I want to do some of this when I get to do my layout.



This house undergoing demolition is an example of the kind of work that can take hours and hours, but results in a totally believable scene.



The bins at this gravel sorting facility are nicely done. Just paying attention to the fact that each bin would have a different grade of gravel is a small thing that makes a big difference.



There were also some historical scenes tucked into corners. This is a Civil War battle. My train buddy, Kevin, wanted to model this era. He is deceased, and I miss him.



It was a lot of fun to see what they had done with many of the kits I am familiar with. Most of the large buildings were scratch built. One is not necessarily better than the other. In my opinion, everything depends on how well you do the final detailing.

Tomorrow- some of the broader views that show more of the overall structure of the layout.

In other news: I worked on the book all morning and part of the afternoon until my brain was fried. I have a really busy weekend coming up.

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Philadelphia Flower Show 2019- More Miniature Settings

 
Here are the rest of the winning miniature settings. I have mixed feelings about the blue ribbon winner. On the one hand the modeling is good, but the level of detail that I would expect just isn't there. Of course, it's got railroad track, so I have to like that. It's on a larger scale than these displays usually are. The track is G scale, which allows for larger models that are much easier to make look lifelike. Actually I was surprised that it was allowed, but I don't know the actual rules, and I guess it's fine.

The thing that bothered me about it at first is that it didn't seem to follow the intent of the story. As written on the card, the weeds and moss and grass take over the forgotten areas of the city. But I looked the book up, and in the story a little boy actually discovers this and begins helping the plants, transforming the city into a garden. So the model actually fits with the book even though they got the description wrong. Apparently the judges knew the story.

The book is "The Curious Garden." 18 species of plants were used.

Judges comments: "Wow! Right on track."



Here's a detail.



Second place was a three-way tie! There was a huge disparity between the first and the next two entries. I'm amazed they were all awarded second. Perhaps the judges liked the novelty of the the two. Here's the best one. It's based on "The Glory of the Garden" by Kipling. Only 11 species of plant. Try to ignore the reflections.

Judges comment: "Gloriously redefined."



And a detail.



The next second place went to "Tea Time" from Alice in Wonderland. You'll see what I mean about the quality of the model. Only 9 species of plant.

Judges said: "Go ask Alice? Horticulture secondary to the overall scene."



A detail.



The other second place entry was "Hansel and Gretel." The pictures aren't good. Too many reflections. But perhaps you can see that the modeling is coarser as well. 17 species of plant. I'm also confused about why the judges couldn't find Hansel, unless they were trying to be funny. See the detail.

Judges said: "Incredible edible setting. Where is Hansel?"



The detail with Hansel in a cage.



I'm really unsure why "The Secret Garden" came in behind those last two. The judges didn't like that the display was sunk below eye level. I will admit that it made it difficult to see to model. But the modeling was much superior. There are 24 species of plant.

Judges said: "A beautiful refuge. Perhaps a little too secret."



Here's a detail. But you can tell that it's hard to see the front edge of the display.



In other news: I wrote more in the chapter I'm working on. It's coming along well. May be finished tomorrow, but the book is not yet half done. I walked five miles. Chilly but not bad. I read some more in the book I need to get through. I picked up a couple of things, but that isn't anything like what the piles need to make them go away.

	See Miniature Settings See Miniatures 2015- Part II
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