Ideation

When you commute a lot between Leipzig and Dessau, you quickly get to know DB's reliable unreliability. Standing around on station platforms waiting for delayed or canceled trains just becomes part of the routine. Out of all that hanging around and the time spent waiting there with friends, little pastimes naturally started happening. It quickly became clear: I want to make a game out of this. Born straight out of that whole train chaos, the fictional character Mr. Sir came to life as a humorous antidote to platform frustration. Drawing inspiration from all those hours spent waiting at the station, I developed the legend of Mr. Sir—a traveler whose legs just keep growing and growing the longer he waits for his train.

Sketches

Modeling

For the physical figures, I sculpted everything in clay step by step: first Mr. Sir 1, then the sitting version (Mr. Sir 2), and finally Mr. Sir 3. Since I had already come up with the story at the beginning—that the longer Mr. Sir waits for the train, the longer his legs grow—these three stages came directly from that idea. For the third version, I wrapped his long legs around his body so he would still work as an actual game piece, keeping in mind that these needed to be usable in a game. Since I didn’t have much prior experience with how complex mold-making would turn out later, it was actually a huge advantage. I didn’t overthink the technical limitations or worry about how the plaster molds would need to be split, which made finding the right limit for the design part of the challenge. Instead, I just focused purely on shaping the figures and bringing the character to life, which kept the whole sculpting process totally free and intuitive.

Mold Making

The casting process turned out to be one of the longest and most labor-intensive parts of the entire project. In total, I had to build eight molds. Even though the pieces were relatively small, each mold consisted of at least two, and sometimes three, separate parts to handle the undercuts. For Mr. Sir 2 (the sitting figure), I even had to detach a part of the figure so the mold could be poured properly. However, because the process had to be repeated so many times, the steps quickly became second nature, and the workflow got smoother and easier with every single mold.

Casting

Because the individual parts were relatively small, the casting process went quite fast, and they didn't take too long to dry. However, I had to rework and sand two of the molds because small cracks formed in the porcelain when opening them and removing the cast pieces.

Post-processing and Glazing

After casting, the individual parts were assembled using „Schlicker“. Each of the three Mr. Sir figures was completed by attaching its specific head and hat. For Mr. Sir 2 (the sitting figure), the stone base had to be attached and the leg had to be put back on, making this the most complex figure by far and the one that took the most time. I also smoothed out and cleaned up the seams and edges left by the mold splits.

Once assembled, the figures went through their first bisque firing in the kiln. Afterwards, I gave them a final once-over with fine sandpaper to smooth out any remaining rough spots. Before the high firing, the figures were glazed.

Always make sure the figures are standing completely secure during every step of the workflow—otherwise, accidents happen faster than you'd think...

Photography

The Game

The game brings the core of the experience to life: while waiting for trains that never seem to arrive, you dive right into the world of Mr. Sir.

The game set includes:

• 44 Playing Cards: featuring special categories

• 2 Dice: To keep things moving.

• 3 Playing Figures: The porcelain Mr. Sir characters representing the stages of metamorphosis.

• 1 Silk Game Board: Flexible, portable, and ready to roll out anywhere.

The Legend of Mr.Sir

To this day, people still tell the story of Mr. Sir, whose legs kept growing longer and longer from waiting at the station, until they coiled around him like an unbridled clockwork mechanism. Eventually, he was so tangled up in his own legs that only his hat revealed where his head had been — Mr. Sir was a human knot of pure impatience. When the long-awaited train finally rolled into the station, the conductor approached the tangled-up Mr. Sir, pulled out his tape measure, and shook his head. 'I'm sorry,' he said with a stern expression, 'according to Paragraph 4, Section 2 of the transport regulations, this leg-construction does not count as a passenger, but as its own federal state.' The conductor simply left him standing at the station, where he is said to still be waiting for his train to this day.

Rules

Objective: Reach Arrival and clear the „12-Minute Delay“. Roll two dice.

Star Fields: Land on a star → Draw an Action Card!

(Highest priority).

Shortcuts (Whithe path): Only allowed after an Action Card. Taking it lands you in Detention (black star field)

Detention (Black fields): „You‘ve done crooked things.“

Escape: Roll only the black die on your next turn. An odd number sets you free (3 attempts).

Bumping: If you land on an occupied field, that player moves back to the last star field.

Doubles: All other players move back 1 space. If they land in Detention, they must try to escape.

Final: 12-Minute Delay: Upon reaching Arrival, announce: „My train has [Number 2–12] minutes delay!“

Roll both dice: Number NOT hit? You win! Number hit EXACTLY? Back to the last star field.

DDS

Project Reflection

Looking back, bringing this project to life was an immensely rewarding experience. While it turned out to be far more extensive and time-consuming than initially anticipated—and brought its fair share of frustration, particularly when the porcelain insisted on cracking or when the endless weeks of plaster casting felt like a permanent career choice—working on it was genuinely a lot of fun. Overall, it was a wonderfully diverse project that introduced me to a rich set of techniques and processes that I look forward to using in future work.

Time management actually worked out relatively okay, especially considering this was my first time doing something like this, meaning I couldn't fully estimate the time required beforehand. In the end, though, I managed to get all the Mr. Sir figures finished on time. A practical issue with the third version is that he cannot really be played with during a game because he doesn't stand up well on his own. But aside from that, I learned a tremendous amount and am overall very satisfied with the project outcome—even if Mr. Sir stays seated. There were countless invaluable learnings along the way; I certainly will never forget to plan the casting spouts properly and correctly embedding the figures in plaster, among many other things.

It was also really nice how we supported each other as a group. A special thank you goes to Maria for her patience and support, and thanks to Martin and Hannes for the time and help along the way.