I was pulled into numerous arts and crafts shops by the little lady this weekend and noticed they sell lighted buildings by Lemax. Has anyone used these villages for their Christmas Layout? I couldn’t tell what scale they are though. Anyone know?
A lot of people use them. To estimate the scale, measure the door on a building. If the door is about 1.75 inches tall, that’s 7 feet in O scale, which is roughly the height of a typical door.
Yes, I use them and they look very good on a layout. If you check out Jon’s layout from this forum, he has a spectacular layout done by himself and his wife.
Dennis
I found Jon’s layout and it is very impressive. I think I will go to Michaels or Garden Ridge more often with the wife!
In our area, this sort of item is also available at this time of year at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Jo-Ann Fabrics, K-Mart, Lowes, Menards. At least I’ve been tempted to pick up an item or two at this locations. They can be fixed up a bit with markers and paint. They fit right into a layout - not just Christmas-themed. For me, they are far more affordable than Dept. 56.
I’ve got a couple of Lemax buildings, a grocery store and pool hall. They fit right in. I go by the doorway dimensions also.
LocoPops
I love the LEMAX stuff. I’m currently useing the carnival items to built a carnival on my layout and I just love the sounds and detail
Hey welcome aboard Anthony! Finally someone with less posts than me!
Thank you so much for the welcome. And don’t worry, I’m sure I will be posting a hole lot more
Anthony
Lemax makes a decent looking holiday train, too.
I am using a Lemax fountain in a roadway turnaround.
Do these buildings have a lot of snow on them? I’m not knocking it if it does, it’s just that snow would suggest winter and I have an “endless summer day” layout.
Thanks,
George
Unlike Dept 56, most Lemax buildings have NO snow…which makes them usable year 'round.
I have also found this year not only do some of the buildings etc have no snow some have a small Christmas wreath that is not that noticeable and can be painted
Anthony
I don’t have any of their buildings, but I do have lots of Lemax trees & accessories. The trees can be bought at Menards for pretty affordable prices (75 cents per tree for starters, with the giant trees being about $6). They really make my Christmas layout look amazing. Add some batting for snow, and it looks like a storm just blew through! I also have some lighted fence that I have set out on my permanent layout all year long.
I know I’m getting off the mainline and heading down a siding… but what do you guys use for snow?
FYI, a place called “The Christmas Tree Shoppe” (it is an all year round store that only sells Christmas items at Christmas but the rest of the year sells just about everything) also sells ceramic building very similar to Lemax at about 1/3 to 1/2 half the price and they have the people, cars, trees… like Lemax too. I think the name is Ceramic Collectables.
Mike
rockn77 - I use FLORA-CRAFT winter snow. Joann’s sells a similar product under BUFFALO SNOW. It’s fine styro granules (avoid the coconut looking stuff). Get some cheap gloss white paint, work in an area of 1 x 1 feet, and spread the snow down as you go. A wisp of clear sparkles will add a frost look to it as well.
I just use regular quilt batting for snow. The batting I recently bought comes in bundles of 90" x 104" sheets for $13 at Pamida. To make it look more like snow, I’m going to have two layers of it. Once set up, it looks pretty good.
I got white felt and just worked over it. The only thing is when I have to drill a hole I have to cut the felt away so it is wood. Otherwise it spins around the drill and makes a mess on the layout