PlaymoFriends

Creative => Photography & Graphics => Topic started by: JPSA on May 21, 2020, 12:44:35

Title: Spy Team HQ
Post by: JPSA on May 21, 2020, 12:44:35
Below is an illustration — a 'collage' panorama — I did in Photoshop of the "Spy Team Headquarters".

Navigation: You may need to download the images to see them whole, as previews may be truncated, depending on your screen resolution / browser zoom setting.  Although, if you click on an image, it should zoom you in, and then you can click-drag on the middle mouse button to pan around.


The only sketch I did, before giving up on that strategy and figuring things out in Photoshop instead:

(https://i.imgur.com/IpQUDmn.png)


Here is a cropped view of the Spy Team HQ, only:

(https://i.imgur.com/vMZ4ec8.jpg)


And here is the entire panorama ( 28Kx2400 ):

(https://i.imgur.com/Db5Fh4A.jpg)



Spy Team HQ is located on Playmobil Island ( a paracosm I developed with — and largely for ;) — my 9 year-old nephew / no relation to the Playmobil Movie ), due east from the previously mentioned Future Valley ( see "Space Patrol HQ" thread ).  The panaroma is a north-to-south slice of the island.

To the south of Spy Team HQ lies Serenity Valley, which is bisected by a wide river called "The Tomorrow River", flowing westward across the entire width of Playmobil Island, toward the 'future' — except once a month during the full moon, from midnight to 4:00AM, when the river inexplicably reverses its course and flows 'upstream' ( east ), all the way to Jurassic Valley, aka. Playmo B.C.: not a good place to find yourself in the middle of the night, should you take a full ride on the river at that time!

Spy Team has a very efficient, secret ( naturally ), bullet-train underground network, allowing them to get in the vicinity of any theme / location on the island within minutes.  They also have secret access tunnels to all the known jails, everywhere ( including Space Patrol's, who are frenemies — they are in good terms, at present — ), should one of their guys get captured.

Spy Team employs trained wolves, dolphins, whales, penguins, squirrels, owls and seagulls, for various tasks.  Wolves are usually used for security ( ‘Wolf Patrol’ takes turns guarding the railway tunnels ), and for scaring people away from sensitive spots — though they also use animatronic monsters ( ex: Yeti ) for that purpose, from time to time!

Spy Team has a special arrangement with Captain Blackheart, whose pirate ship is anchored in the big sea cave, to the south: "Don't try to break into our base, and we won't confiscate your ship — and your treasure ( we know where it is )!"  A deal which Captain Blackheart, ever endowed with a keen sense of self-interest ( and self-preservation ), promptly accepted!  Spy Team does keep an eye on them, along with all the known bad guys in the area, of course:  Dr. Devil, Megalomax, Dr. Drone, Team SHARK, Ice Pirates, and Arctic Rebels — though none of these guys know where the Spy Team HQ is located.


Notes:

Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: tahra on May 21, 2020, 18:50:40
That's amazing, again :love:

What's with the stuffed animals under the treehouse, and the dogheaded boy with the handcart near the stables? ???

Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: JPSA on May 22, 2020, 00:24:16
... Thank you, Tahra.  :)

What's with the stuffed animals under the treehouse, and the dogheaded boy with the handcart near the stables?

Funny you picked-up on them; they are so tiny!  It's a — very — long story.  These characters are all stuffed animals belonging to my nephew, and are all part of Spy Team in our fantasy universe narrative ( which blends toy lines; ex: Playmobils can talk to stuffed animals and vice-versa ).  The characters under the treehouse are a married couple — both officers of Spy Team — called Spot and Wolfie ( female ).  The dog-headed stable boy is the Playmobil incarnation of "Blue Dog", who is a cadet at "Spy Team Academy".  He doesn't have clearance yet to know where the base is located, but he's itching to find out to prove he is a 'real spy' and boast to everybody ( hence the squirrels and detector jet keeping an eye on him ).  He's got no idea there is a secret access tunnel below the Ponyhof!  I have been animating him and doing his voice since my nephew was 31/2 ( he does Spot ); he's become quite a 'character' over the years!  He is totally earnest, megalomaniac and egocentric in a buffoonish and credulous way ( kind of — seriously — daft, to put it mildly ), and always the butt of jokes.  Oh, and he died 6 or 7 times, but he keeps showing up at the door the next morning, as a new iteration ( like: "Hi, I am Blue Dog 7!  Who are you?!" To which my nephew would answer: "I am your owner." :) ).  Here is what he looks like, irl ( brand: Piccolo Bambino ):

(https://i.imgur.com/Bp58Ssm.jpg)

The time when he 'borrowed' ( stole! ) my Spy Glasses — my nephew and I are part of Spy Team ( he is a General ) —, and broke onto my computer, before running away from the house ( ...with my iPad! ):
(https://i.imgur.com/VyKiZTu.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/FtCbfgI.jpg)

He did some serious time-out for that ( 14 days! ):
(https://i.imgur.com/yVoUdo2.jpg)
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: tahra on May 22, 2020, 08:42:42
That's great :)

A lot of our older klickys have their own quirks too.. I think these are good to remember and keep. I also think it makes things a lot more interesting - I mean backstories and such, instead of just pics.

Thank you for sharing :)

(and amazingly, he looks kinda down behind bars! :o )
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: JPSA on May 22, 2020, 09:36:59
I also think it makes things a lot more interesting - I mean backstories and such, instead of just pics.

Thank you for sharing . . . and amazingly, he looks kinda down behind bars! :o )

Thank you, Tahra.  I agree.  Playmobil are primarily designed for narrative play; that's how most kids play with them, anyway — making up stories.  Regarding Blue Dog: I added a bit of shading to give him a downcast frown, along with the Liquify filter in Photoshop to pull-down some of his features and make him pout.
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: tahra on May 22, 2020, 10:54:19
Regarding Blue Dog: I added a bit of shading to give him a downcast frown, along with the Liquify filter in Photoshop to pull-down some of his features and make him pout.

:o

(well, so weren't just my poor eyes deceiving me!  ;D  )
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: Tiermann on May 22, 2020, 18:48:15
Great giganto-diorama! Very interesting uses in some places. Thanks for posting it
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: Luftgaengerin on May 23, 2020, 10:47:58
This is very impressive, what a world, so much to look at.  :) Thanks for sharing!  :wave:
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: playmovictorian on May 23, 2020, 11:07:19
What an amazing project !  :love: :love: :love:

Your panorama is really impressive !

As always, I love the eagle eye for details of our very own Tahra !  :lens:
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: Macruran on May 23, 2020, 18:33:45
The spirit of childhood play is alive in this picture.  :cloud9:
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: JPSA on May 24, 2020, 04:26:21
The spirit of childhood play is alive in this picture.  :cloud9:

Thank you, Macruran!  This is the greatest compliment I could wish for, regarding this piece.  That's basically what I tried to do: capture the archetypal essence of the 'fortress', particularly from a boy's perspective, who are usually very keen on war games and 'defend-the-castle' type of scenarios ( 'territorial defense', shall we say ) — a place where they would want to project themselves, and play, mentally.

Note: The fortress is a recurrent motif in boy toys and paracosms.  Elements one can typically expect inside such toy- or 'pretend' fortresses, whatever their form ( castle, base, actual 'fort', etc. ), are: 1) a detention area, 2) a secret treasure spot, and 3) some kind of command / decision center   ...and 4) loads of weapons ( + occasionally, traps ), of course.  Like many — most? — boys my nephew's age ( he is 9 ), I used to draw these kinds of things as a child ( sci-fi bases, mostly — cross-sections! —, filled with weapons and counter-measures to defend against ubiquitous 'bad guys' ), and also build them as toy dioramas ( action-figures, Lego, Playmobil... ).  Age 9 happens to be the peak age for worldplay ( a.k.a. 'paracosm play' ), according to child development research.  Thankfully, that worldbuilding spirit never left; though spending time around my young nephew definitely inspired me to formalize some of the elements we had talked and played about, checking with him from time to time as I went, to gauge his reaction and make sure I got it right.


(https://i.imgur.com/wBCsPgk.jpg)
MARX TOYS Navarone Playset ( 1976 )


(https://i.imgur.com/dzX1mLF.jpg)
LEGO Nexo Knights — The Fortex ( 2016 )
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: Macruran on June 07, 2020, 19:24:45
Oh man I remember those plastic toy soldier forts! Amazing nostalgia. And yeah I built/designed a few forts or bases in my time too...I remember I made one side cutaway drawing of a multilevel underground base staffed by Pac-Man ghosts  and being invaded in real time by Pac-Man commandos!

I note the one thing left out of the fort elements is a restroom - best invest in some of those portapotties!  :lol:
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: Redmao on June 08, 2020, 16:00:10
Fantastic!
As a big fan of the Top Agents theme and spy action, this thread hits all the right buttons.
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: JPSA on June 10, 2020, 08:39:59
I remember I made one side cutaway drawing of a multilevel underground base staffed by Pac-Man ghosts  and being invaded in real time by Pac-Man commandos!

I note the one thing left out of the fort elements is a restroom - best invest in some of those portapotties!  :lol:

...Awesome!  'Love the idea of the invading Pac-Man commandos!  So the ghosts were the good guys?  :lol: ...Do you still have it?

Re. restrooms: Yes, you're right; I remember always putting restrooms in my cross-section bases, as a kid.  I should have mentioned them in the list of key fortress elements.  Call it 'waste disposal', broadly speaking.  Though, in the Spy Team base, they are included ( inside the barracks containers: set 5051 / 3260 ).

Re. Navarone playset: it was a source of inspiration for Mattel's Castle Grayskull playset ( see: The Toys That Made Us series / He-Man episode, on Netflix ).

For laughs, here is a self-burying base I did 4-5 years ago, to inspire my nephew into thinking about drawing his own, reminiscent of the kinds of base/fortresses I used to draw as a child.  Though back then, I'd draw them in 2D and with weapons.  Note: I initially nearly put a canon at the top, instead of the radar, but changed my mind in an attempt to set a good — pacifistic — example ( I was wrong! )  ...Toilets included, of course!  :lol:

(https://i.imgur.com/6hw7xIB.png)
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: tahra on June 11, 2020, 16:51:27
:love:

Wow. I admire people who can draw...
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: Macruran on June 13, 2020, 17:50:55
I no longer have my drawing, it's looong since gone, though I can still see it in my mind's eye. As I recall I came up with the idea because I had acquired an alphabet stencil on which the C and G made acceptable Pac-Mans - I think the ghosts were stencilled too somehow. I used colored pens. I think the Pac-Men were the good guys actually as they were getting the better of the ghosts. The Pacs were definitely on the road to victory.

Great drawing of a mobile base, and interesting info about the Grayskull castle.
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: GrahamB on June 14, 2020, 09:10:39
 I love these small insights into the childhoods of Playmobil collectors!  ;D
Title: Re: Spy Team HQ
Post by: Janilew on October 25, 2020, 16:08:33
Goodness gracious you drew that?!  :o My, my are you talented!  :love: Makes me wanna revisit my old pirate ideas more! I'm now starting to show interest in another theme I formerly slept on...Top Agents. Curse those Playmobil shorts!  :loco:

Also, have you considered placing this in the "Brainstorming" section? Just so it won't get lost! :)