Last year, LEGO fan Jason Allemann (a.k.a. JK Brickworks) designed a motorized base that expanded the #10245 LEGO Creator Santa’s Workshop set to animate Santa’s sleigh and the four reindeer pulling it (see: LEGO Winter Village Additions & Modifications). At that time, Jason only provided instructions for the core mechanics, as he figured others would use whatever white slopes and tiles they had to add the snow effects. However, he received many requests to provide instructions for the entire model, including the snowy base, so he recently made those available as well. In addition, this year Jason decided to expand the scene to include eight reindeer, and he included alternate instructions for a larger base to accommodate them all.
One of the highlights of the #10245 LEGO Creator Santa’s Workshop – the 2014 addition to the LEGO Winter Village Collection – is Santa’s sleigh pulled by four brick-built and very cute reindeer. Some LEGO fans have the sleigh driving through their Winter Village delivering presents, while others place the sleight on the rooftops, so Santa can fly through the sky for an even more magical effect. Jason’s idea of motorizing the sleigh to make it look like the reindeer are running and the sleigh is moving has become a very popular customization option as well. We talked about this model last year, but for your convenience, I’m including the video again below. You can find the parts-list and instructions here: MOTORIZED SLEIGH & REINDEER INSTRUCTIONS
Once you motorize the sleigh and the reindeer, you can incorporate them in your current LEGO Winter Village landscape for a seamless setup, or you can follow Jason’s instructions for a custom base that can be placed anywhere in your layout. Parts-list, instructions, and some helpful building tips for both the four reindeer and eight reindeer versions of the base can be found here: SLEIGH & REINDEER BASE INSTRUCTIONS
Jason also put together a really well-edited video showing how he customized the set and his previous setup to accommodate eight reindeer. You can watch it below. The video also works well as building instructions for the model that can follow along with – you just have to stop it every now and then to catch up with the steps.
Setting up the LEGO Winter Village collection has been a favorite pastime for many families around the holiday season. The #10245 LEGO Creator Santa’s Workshop from 2014 is no longer available from LEGO directly, but if you don’t have it already, you can still find it on secondary marketplaces like eBay. Here are the current listings: SANTA’S WORKSHOP ON EBAY. The #10249 LEGO Creator Winter Toy Shop from 2015, the #10254 LEGO Creator Winter Holiday Train from 2016, and the newly released #10259 LEGO Creator Winter Village Station are all available under the LEGO Creator section of the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? Do you collect the LEGO Winter Village series? And do you have Santa’s Workshop? How do you display it in your layout? Are you considering motorizing it, or have you done it already? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below!
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
