what i think is whimsy…
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this might be whimsy as well
I kept thinking that having a garden railway was the whimsical pursuit until this years Dave Taylor’s MIK challenge was to make something whimsical for your whimsical pursuit railway.
Now of course, we are discussing what we define as whimsy. I of course thought whimsy was defined as “does it make me smile?”. I had to shelve that idea this year as I was smiling with every entry.
Who would have thought:
- A boot?
- A dog park?
- A golden chook?
- Jules Verne?
- Mad Max(s)?
- A gym?
- A Japanese cartoon?
- A mini-streamliner?
- Back to the Future?
- A passenger car to steam engine conversion?
Am I missing anyone?
Every entry showed skill and prowess. They made me smile. I really smiled when I thought about this years entries being entered into a serious competition attended by rivet counters.
I still feel like I have a whimsy deficiency. But wow, hopefully this won’t be the last You Got Some Splaining to Do! contest.
Interestingly if I was asked which of this years entries met with the most You Got Some Splaining to Do!, my answers would have been quite different… hmm.
as i’m not a native english speaker, it might well be, that i got somethin wrong.
but my understandding of “whims(e)y” needs not only a “strange” factor, like SF, Mad Max or other factors, but needs to laugh or grin about itself.
yes, it is definitely MIK just MIK - ish to try to make models with little or no money.
MIK was not whimsy, he was mainly strong-willed and willing to go against bad odds.
the most whimsical part of our competition, in my eyes, are the napkin sketches.
whimsy basicly seems to be making/saying/thinking/doing things, that are in a friendly way absurd. humorous bending of reality. exaggerated cartoonish images of what exists or could exist.
well, as i wrote, as no native english speaker, my impression might be wrong.
to vote this year, i woud have wished at least two categories.
good execution and weird or fishy ideas.
Interesting that the whimsical category is the most controversial MIK. There is indeed some splaining to do.
Guys;
The Egg-goes I made last year would better fit this year’s theme, but that is just the way it goes sometimes.
Best, David Meashey
Dave,
That’s different.
That’s egg-splaining.
We are talking about ‘splaining.
Whimsy, but no GHA…needs just a touch of GHA so CapeCodTodd can feel at home.
I think we all are looking forward to Todd exploring GFA too after this MIK.
i’m tempted, to call this whimsy too:
I’ve never felt the need to join in with the fine Friends on “the Annual MIK” (Competition)
I’m not much interested in any form of competition.
However, I do see others sharing in the fun, and promoting FRIENDSHIP.
So, I offer a thought, after noting the “Egg -goes” that young Dave has pictured…
Using left over stuff, normally discarded in the trash or even recycled where re-cycling takes place; Old style Sardine cans come to mind…
…the rather flat ones that you opened with a key used to peel back the lid.
Using those old obnoxious offset Kadee couplers, and a simple flat piece of Styrene for a base, along with some old throw away plastic wheel sets, could set the stage for a car or three of Play-Mobile off duty workers going off to a picnic along the line…!!
Yes, the “MIK” can sure set your imagination into action, on a late SNOW Storm day in February or even March… !!!
Some were log and oval in shape and others were square with curved ends...you just have to blunt the sharp edges to prevent cutting your fingers.
Fweddy
I think I have a broader definition of Whimsey. To me Whimsey is anything out of the ordinary that is still positive and even possibly humorous. It needn’t be absurd. I remember many years ago, seeing two figures on a layout. It was an ordinary looking little girl with a dog leash. Except the dog leash connected to a massive gorilla. Everything else was normal. It was a very small piece of Whimsey that was unforgettable. So for me, Whimsey doesn’t need to be in your face (although I think that’s the most fun). An engineer having a pet frog rather than a dog is wonderful Whimsey! Just my Humble opinion.
thanks.
that was, what i was aiming for. other’s point of view about whimsy.
and, as i have seen many of your works (as pics), let me refer to some of them.
there i see a difference in our viewing points.
i would not count everything out of the ordinary into the “whimsy” corner. (horror like Stephen King’s extra ordinary stories come to mind)
positive and still more or less friendly - yes, there i fully agree.
but concerning humorous, i thought, that should be a must.
for me some of your figures were a reason to try my hands (in vain) at whimsy as well.
the fat woman and her boy on the railcar - the “engineer” of the little engine, the English traveller, the miner with the kitchen helmet… were the first to come to mind.
these more or less slightly exaggerated figures are for me (living in red neck country) what i understand under “whimsy”.
Guys;
Just one more, then I will quit. PreWar toy trains made from tin-plated steel and enameled or lithographed as a finish were frequently called “tinplate trains.” I decided to reuse an old folding metal drinking cup to make a Tin Cup car " the perfect companion for TINPLATE equipment." Not a MIK entry, just for fun.
Best, David Meashey
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Whimsy to me is anything that is fun and out of the ordinary. I think our trains in general are whimsical. They are toys that we setup in our yard and they should never be taken to seriously.
You can have the most detailed scale model of a engine and operate it according to NMRA and follow all the regulations of the Federal Railroad Administration and then you derail on an acorn.
When it comes to model railroading and whimsy the little worlds we build are basically caricatures of the real world and the more wild we make it the more whimsy is employed.
The GHA and now the GFA plus the Blue Crew on my RR certainly is Whimsy.
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i never saw it from this side.
but, yeah, i can understand your point.
so we are all whimsers…
edit:
but don’t tell Bob, that his switchboard is whimsy… 
finally found it!
another one, that i think of as whimsy…
This was on the Del Oro set-up.
They have lots of whimsy, especially back when I used to bring my module. It was an automotive repair/body shop with lots of animation including a '62 Corvette doing a burn-out (with smoking tires) and getting stopped by a cop. There were nearly a dozen different automations going on.
do you have a video of it?