Hogsmeade model diorama from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

The amazing Hogsmeade Village from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Islamds of Adventure Theme Park has inspired me to make a Harry Potter themed section in my Train Room! We recently made our first visit to Universal Orlando and I came back excited to get a Hogwarts Express Train Set and to accessorize it.

Hogwarts Castle will sit on the cliffs above my Hogmeade Village while the Lionel Ready To Play Hogwarts Express circles. Construction underway from recycled styrofoam and found craft items. 

The fanciful architecture of Hogsmeade Village at the Universal Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida.

Concept sketch of Hogwarts over Hogsmeade

Honeyduke’s Sweetshop and 3 Broomsticks Restaurant at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Harry Potter Honeydukes and 3 Broomsticks playsets

Honeydukes on the workbench with Hogwarts Tower. I added carved styrofoam surrounds to the Honeydukes and 3 Broomsticks playsets. I use a hot foam tool to cut and carve into salvaged packing foam inserts. Some cutting is done with a box cutter, hit glue gun to put it all together.

Starting using cut up cereal boxes for roofs and shingles.

Hogsmeade Entrance to the Hogwarts Express attraction at the Wizarding World of Harry Potterat Universal Orlando Islands of Adventure Theme Park.

Had a great piece of packing foam from a TV box that mde a great platform for the the Hogwarts Express. Carved it with the hot tool to be reminiscent of the entrance to the Hogwarts Express Attraction at Islamds of Adventure at Universal Orlando Resort.

A model homage to the WDW TTC

 The Mostly Magic Kingdom has its own Transportation & Ticket Center inspired by the real one at Walt Disney World. The Mostly Magic Kingdom uses a lot of spatial compression to fit so much Disney Parks magic in what is basically the size of a Monorail Playset loop. I made a canopy for  the station provided with the WDW 50th anniversary Monorail Playset. The roof is a recycled piece of packing styrofoam with 3 fruit cup containers I set in it to recall the famous bubble skylights of the real TTC! At the mostly magic kingdom the area below the station is used as the drop off area for our parking trams and a place to board busses. The Station is also where you will find our version of the Walt Disney World entrance arch; which is made from legos, figurines and a souvenir magnet of the iconic sign.

The Mostly Magic Kingdom

I decided to rename my Scottland Kingdom Castle Railroad monorail playset/model railroad layout…introducing “The Mostly Magic Kingdom: A Disney monorail toy & HO scale model railroad layout”…or The Mostly Magic Kingdom for short. This seems to be a slightly less clunky descriptor.  The layout is filled out pretty good and I have been mostly adding landscaping. But I still have a few projects to paint…most notably Star Wars Land and the Epcot Mexico & Canada pavilions. What started out as something to do during the pandemic has just grown and grown.

 

I “fixed” the Cinderella Castle Monorail Toy

A toy of Cinderella Castle was released as part of the accessories for the Walt Disney World Monorail Playsets. It was a variation on a previously released Castle playset that opened up to reveal an interior with furniture and figures. 

But this version is a static prop that does not open and contains no furniture or figurines…it is simply a building for running your monorail around. It has been a mild annoyance of mine that this version of Cinderella Castle does not quite have the majesty of the real thing. For starters the central spire is much too small and located in the center of the Castle instead off to one side.

 As part of my “Scottland Kingdom Castle Railroad” layout I finally decided to modify the Castle to more accurately reflect the real Cinderella Castle…I “fixed” the Cinderella Castle Monorail Toy Accessory!

Cinderella Castle is depicted at heroic scale in many illustrations and I wanted my layout and my version of the Castle to match the spirit of how it towers over Walt Disney World.

Promotional art, and souvenirs over the 50 year history of Walt Disney World portray the central spire at an exaggerated scale; it was very important for my alterations to capture that feeling.

The Castle on my “work bench” after I had mocked up the towers.

I carved additional towers out of styrofoam, added bamboo skewers for detailing and applied a base coat of gesso. I used some scrapbook paper to sheath the picture window tower and drew some roofing pattern over the paper.

I think the original grey and blue paint scheme is classic and elegant and I wasn’t interested in painting the entire castle to match the current 50th anniversary version. I applied gold paint to the spire and and the tips of the turrets. I used hot glue drops, gessoed, and painted to detail the spire and topped it off with a Lego banner.

The real Castle looming over the Magic Kingdom.

From Seven Seas Lagoon the Castle looks enormous.

My modified Cinderella Castle reigning over my “Scottland Kingdom Castle Railroad”!

My version seems to look quite a bit like this portrayal in the guide maps.

“Scottland Kingdom Castle Railroad” is never completed…plenty of imagination at work with several attractions still in process for our enjoyment!