OK. Time for some new pics! Not much excitement I'm afraid, just A LOT of upgrading and enhancing this year!
First up, Pirates of the Caribbean needed a better roof:
I've been using that tile roof texture longer than I can remember!
The new one looks better imho:
Of course, redoing one part of a paper model often leads to other things. So, one wall needed to be redone, the parapet on the roof needed straightening (which necessitated mixing paint to match the original red cardstock with a few years of sun fading) and while I was at it I replaced the original blue cobblestone base (which was so warped it looked like the building was on a hill) with a new red brick texture that's more complimentary than the blue. Here's a side-by-side with the original build photo on the left:
Considering this model has been in and out of boxes for 6 years it's holding up fairly well.
This one earns the "most obnoxious paper model" award.
Why? Certainly not because of the buildings. Nope. What's new is the tiny little town square plot which replaces this:
At first glance you might think the only paper model involved is the plaque at the base of the flag pole. But that overlooks the "death by a thousand cuts" fencing! Which is also a paper model!
Anyhoo. While I had Main Street out of storage I added signage to the storefronts.
I had planned to light them up but figured it would be too difficult to retro-fit them. Oh well!
Lastly, so far, I upgraded the trees on and around Tom Sawyer Island:
Lichen is nice, but not terribly durable for a model that has to be moved around so much. My new type trees are more forgiving:
And I uprooted and re-flocked the pine trees:
Today I started making new trees for Sleeping Beauty Castle enhancements.