Thanks for the kind words guys. CS78, come on over, bring the eggnog, I have the little something extra to mix in. Jay, haha, you are right, maybee a custom figure at this scale is in order. Clint, thanks buddy, and yes we are hosting a holiday meal for our family and friends. Shawn, Lux, Doc, Ron, and JM I am glad you guys like the set up and thanks for the great replies! Pat, funny you mentioned decorating for others. That is exactly what I told the wife I needed to start doing. She wants to send pics to our local TV ststion and the paper to try and drum up some of this type of work for next year. Also we went to our local mall to see a train dio set up in HO scale. As I was looking at the awesome little world they had created she was telling the operators, "Oh you should see the things my husband makes." "Do you guys buy all these little houses and sets? He could make all of this out of household trash and styrofoam!" They got a good laugh and were intrigued at the same time. Then I met them and talked about my early days of collecting Lionel trains and that I still have my dad's Lionel set from the 50's. Needless to say they want to see some of my work and I am invited to their next meeting for their club.
If you can believe it, this is just one section of our holidat display. You can say we are a bit obcessed with decorating for the season and there is quite a bit more going on in our home. If you are interested/can handle more pics I will take a few of the other displays we have going on.