It’s been a while since I did a Schmidt puzzle, and was reminded again what an excellent brand this is. A few years ago I did a Schmidt where the fit was looser than usual and the precision of the cut wasn’t all that good, but this was fantastic. The fit is a bit tighter than Ravensburger or Heye, which is fine when working on the puzzle, but a bit annoying when taking it apart, unless you’re prepared to leave it practically assembled for the next puzzler.
Anyway, this was enjoyable from start to finish. Great image and great quality!
View from the Conservatory by Dominic Davison, Schmidt, 1000 pieces. Completed on January 20, 2021.
Funny how it all looks so clear when you’re finished, but this was quite difficult, actually. Still, it’s a lovely painting, and I enjoy doing fine art every now and then, even if it’s not easy. The painting is from about 1880, and it’s often called Luncheon of the Boating Party, but it says The Oarsmen’s Breakfast on the box. The breakfast / lunch looks largely liquid, with some fruit thrown in.
The Oarsmen’s Breakfast by Renoir, Clementoni, 1500 pieces. Completed on April 24, 2021.
I have to say I lost faith in the rebellion some years ago, and I expect there are one or two Star Wars movies out there that I haven’t even seen. The puzzle was enjoyable regardless 🙂
Star Wars: Dark Side vs Light Side, FX Schmid, 500 pieces. Completed on January 20, 2021.
No pieces were missing, but one has been torn in two. Looks like it could have been done by a dog.
Very enjoyable 500 piece Clementoni. I like doing water, especially stormy seas, so this wave was fun. Would have been difficult in a larger piece count.
Dolphins, Clementoni, 500 pieces. Completed on January 25, 2021.
This is my final (and 22nd) post about Paradise Sunset. I managed to place all the sections together, although I was too lazy to actually connect them. Also, it was impossible to get the whole puzzle in the same photo, but here are a couple of photos:
Paradise Sunset, Ravensburger, 18 000 pieces. Completed on April 9, 2021.
I started the first section on April 19, 2019, so it took me about two years, although I did a lot of other puzzles between the sections. All in all, I worked on this for about 25 weeks. The first section (top left) took the longest, 11 weeks, but that was because I spent at least half of that time in Dortmund. The second section (bottom left) took 3,5 weeks and the third (top right) 3 weeks. I started on the last section straight away after I finished the third, and was a bit unmotivated, which is why it took me 7,5 weeks.
I actually think that this would have worked better as a smaller puzzle, because some of the photoshopping looked pretty bad close up, but from a distance, it looks very nice. Also, I didn’t really enjoy puzzling on the felt that I had to use in order to be able to roll the completed sections up, I’m very happy to be able to puzzle directly on the table again.
Working on this also made me think about the large puzzles I still have in my to-to pile. I have the 18K Ravensburger puzzle with four old maps, and the 40K Mickey Mouse puzzle (also Ravensburger) with 10 different images. I’ve decided to treat these puzzles as 4 and 10 4500- / 4000-piece puzzles, and I’m not going to connect the sections. I’ll just do one section and then take it apart. There is one puzzle where I will still use the felt roll-ups, and that is the 9K Bombardment of Algiers (also Ravensburger). That’s a beautiful image, and I will want to put it together. All of the other puzzles that I haven’t done yet will fit on my table in Helsinki (the table in Dortmund is a bit smaller and 5K puzzles won’t fit on it). I do, however, have two puzzles that I would like to do again one day, the 8K 2000 Years by Heye and the 10K Garden of Earthly Delights by Educa, and when I took them apart, I didn’t do it sections, so that the pieces are now mixed. Originally the Heye was 2×4000 pieces and the Educa 5×2000 pieces, and I’m not sure how I’ll be able to manage now that they are actually 8000 and 10 000 pieces…
I finally managed to finish the last section of Paradise Sunset. Took me almost two months, as I’ve spent less time than usual puzzling. It was probably the easiest of the four sections, but I was feeling a bit unmotivated.
I managed to lose another piece, that’s a total of four missing pieces in the whole puzzle.
Now I have to move some furniture to put all the sections together.
This puzzle has a thin layer of cork on top of the cardboard. I certainly preferred this to the “wood-effect”, but it doesn’t age well. You can see some white dots on the puzzle where the cork layer has been worn away. I bought it used, so I don’t know how many times this has been completed, but the cork layer seems really fragile. Clementoni probably also decided that cork wasn’t a good idea, because I can’t remember seeing any other puzzles like this.
Old Map, Clementoni, 500 pieces. Completed on January 10, 2021.
Puzzler1909 