1:12 scale Garden Bench

This is a 1:12 scale customized Falcon miniature Park Bench.

The slats happened rather sooner than I thought.  I used lollypop stick wood for the new slats, which was treated with Pepper's magic silver wood solution, and then stained with Rustins Antique pine.  I was going to add bolts to the end of the slats, and also add some old flaked off paint and maybe a touch of lichen (as though it has been brought in from outside) but I haven't made my mind up yet...

The lollypop stick wood was a bit warped, which I think adds to the effect, though one slat was a little more warped than the others, so it casts a bit of a shadow. I wasn't too worried about precision, so the gaps are a little irregular, though it has been lying outside in all weathers! ;)

Think I'll have a cup of tea and a biscuit now! :D

Er..yes, I went against my own advice and messed about with that metal CONTAINING LEAD... I did sand it slightly here and there too. I got the jewellers saw out and (awkwardly) removed some of the "ledge" on either side of the bench ends. The metal is almost like butter to saw through, which is great, but you also have to be careful not to bend it, as after a few bends, it would snap right off.

I then painted it with Humbrol matt black paint, and didn't bother using primer :D

Next stop, tomatoes!

Thanks everyone for your encouraging comments in the previous post :)

Take a seat... but not for too long!

I know..long time no see! :D

 I'm just back from a slight case of miniature burnout. I've been burning the candle at both ends for the past few..*ahem* years :D Mountain of unfinished miniatures and non miniature work in my wake too, so I'm trying to organise myself better these days.  I work in a very small work space, so it doesn't take much to become a bit overwhelmed either. Gradually sorting myself out now...and the printer broke, which nearly sent me to the asylum :D

...please tell me I'm not alone in this madness...

I haven't actually made anything...but I have bought something. I was going to make my own cast iron park bench, but when I saw this one I thought I would cut that corner, and save time and sanity... This one is a "falcon" miniature bench, a little pricey, but it is based on a real Victorian design ( google Lion head antique park bench, and you'll see it's life size twin amongst the image results ). 

I think I will keep the ends black, but I am planning on replacing the slats. Although they are perfectly acceptable as is, I want them that little bit more refined..plus they're a bit orange. 

The ends are metal, and a bit bendy. I'm not going to remove the paint, at all, as the box it came in stated that there is lead in the product. I may go over it with a matt black paint though.

And there is her underbelly, so if you remove the slats, you don't have to worry about putting it back together again, as each end is connected with a rod.

And the slats pop off, fairly easily. I think I will sheer off those bolts and stick new slats straight on to the ledge. 

Yes..summer is definitely on the horizon :D Sods law, it was only like this when I was taking photos, sky clear before and after, but not during the photoshoot!

So hopefully next time I'm here, I will have the finished bench and possibly a finished one year old tomato plant..or is it two years old! :D Wish me luck.

Back up your blog.

 After reading Peppers recent post about reasons as to why people delete their blogs, I noticed a few people had mentioned some blogs had "changed", and were now flogging sunglasses, cameras, etc. I'd noticed a few blogs like this in the past year, this happens when a blog is hacked to steal the followers, basically they gain a free audience on the back of the hard work of the original blogger, nasty.  I also wondered if the host site might accidentally delete a blog, that does actually happen occasionally according to angry bloggers I found in a google search. So I thought it would be a good idea to backup my blog regularly, replacing the last copy with a new copy etc.

  It also means if you delete your blog for whatever reason, you'll still have a copy of it.  I've gotten rid of things in the past, and there is nothing worse than regret...Someone else is sitting on my great grandmothers chair right now!

Here's a little handy pictorial guide for those who need it.  I wouldn't be surprised if I'm the only one who has never thought of backing up my blog, and you've all been doing this for ages, but if I can reach one blogger like me, it's worth it :D

Starting from your blogger dashboard, where the reading list is etc, follow the arrows and click

Export blog.....Delete option is FAR too close for my liking, it should be on the other side of the page somewhere in the corner! Keep a steady hand on the mouse...and click on Export blog, wear glasses if you need them :D

The download will contain each post consisting of all words, photographs and comments but not the template. ie, your background, etc.

After you download your blog, it will be somewhere on your computer, you might even want to rename it so you can find it easily. Hopefully you will never need it, but...at least it's there for peace of mind.  I feel so much more relaxed now! :D

P.s. The file will be in XML format, and won't make a bit of sense, but if you were to import/upload it to blogspot, they will reconfigure it back to sense.

1:12 scale Wire basket tutorial

Ray Storey Glass bottle, Mini Mundus washstand kit and Daffodils kit by Bonnie Lavish

Before starting, you will need straight wire. You can use a dremel tool and vice to straighten wire.  You will need to run some wire wool down the unstraightened wire first, put one end of the wire into the drill and the other in the vice, then pull the wire taught, wait for the twang to end then briefly switch the dremel tool on. Run your finger and thumb down the wire to make sure it isn't kinked, and wear goggles whilst the tool is switched on...or like me, close your eyes and hope for the best!  There are other ways to straighten wire, but this is the way that works for me.

You will need:-

• Wire (suitable for soldering)
• Solder and flux
• Soldering iron (preferably one with flame)
• Wire snips
• Wooden block or similar (something that you don't mind getting burnt..)
• Wire wool
• Graph paper
• Masking tape
• Stainless steel tray

To work out the length of the wire pieces needed, place them against your block as shown, the parts touching the wooden block will be the base of the basket, and the overhang will be the sides.

To work out the number of wires needed for each side, place the block onto a piece of graph paper. I've chosen to use each 1mm square as the spacing guide. The blue lines indicate the other wires needed, that aren't shown. Make sure to leave a small space at either side, as indicated by the red arrows.

You will need to do this again, with the other side of your block (if you're using a block with equal sides, then just double the number you got originally)

Once you have all of your wires cut to length, carefully wash them in soapy water and leave to dry, and only handle with tweezers afterwards.

Let's try and explain this... You have to stick down strips of masking tape on to the back of a stainless steel tray, with the STICKY SIDE UP!.  The horizontal strips have to be parallel with a gap slightly less than the height of one of the wires...and the same for the vertical strips, with the other length of wire... The following pictures will probably help to make sense of this..moving on..

By the way, you have to do all of the above so that you can slip this little bit of graph paper under ;)

Use tweezers to place the wires as shown, using the graph paper as a guide to keep everything straight and evenly spaced.  

Then lay the other wires on top as shown...

Use a paintbrush to apply flux under the wires, being careful not to dislodge or bend them.

You will need two strips of masking tape to hold down the top wires, at either end.  This helps to make sure the top (horizontal) wires are all in contact with the bottom (vertical) wires. Be careful not to tack them down too tightly though, it's mostly to make sure they don't move about when applying the solder.

Use a craft knife to slice off little bits of solder. You can try using them at that size, or you can be mad like me, and cut each slice in two, as the red line indicates.

Welcome to the most awful part! You now need to carefully place each bit of solder so that it "might" be touching the upper and lower wire at the same time... HAVE FUN! You can actually lift the solder pieces by touching them with your tweezers or even a tapestry needle, they're that light, thankfully the flux on the wires causes them to stick on quite easily, no balancing act, you'll be glad to hear.

Once they are all in place you can use the flame of your soldering iron to melt all of those little bits of solder...and hope everything goes to plan.

And then you will be left with something like this.. I burnt mine slightly!.. but the show must go on., and a few bits of solder did NOT join the wires either..luckily it does the job regardless....And I'm not doing all of the above again for aesthetic purposes! :D

To make the rim of the basket, get a length of the straightened wire, and bend it around the block. You will need to twist the ends together, which is a bit tricky.   And I only had one hand at the time to demonstrate this, the other using the camera, so this is a mirror image of one half of a picture. You use your index fingers to push the wires together so they cross over close to the block, this makes it easier to twist them. Hope this weird picture helps!  P.s. You don't want to make the "wrap" too tight, the vertical wires of the basket mesh need to fit between the "wrap" and the block.

Make two small twists by hand..

Then use pliers to twist them a bit tighter and closer to the block. 

Use pliers as shown, and then clamp tightly.

..Now both sides of the wire meet in a straight line, then you can snip the excess of the twist as shown. Don't snip the twist off!

You can now remove the wrap from the block, and clamp the twist in pliers, as shown.

Now you have a lovely straight join. Lovely!

Place the mesh over the block.  It was at this point, I realised a wire was missing from the vertical section of the mesh..whoops!

Using your fingers to firmly hold the base of the basket mesh to the block, use a ruler or something similar to carefully bend the wires over each side of the block. It helps to  roll the ruler over the wires, so place the ruler slightly back as the red arrow indicates, then roll it towards you. Don't worry about them not being straight as you bend them, you can tidy them up later.

Just wanted to stick this extra photo in, in case the above one didn't make much sense... I'm not Martha Stewart by the way! :D

Now with the wire mesh formed over the block, you can carefully shimmy the wrap down, until you have it where you want it.

Due to that missing wire from earlier, I've decided to fan the wires out slightly on this side, but they should have been vertical. I quite like it though! Anyway...Use your paintbrush to put flux on the wires as shown.

In order to get a good join, all of the vertical wires, need to be touching the horizontal wire. You can use a bit of folded tin foil or tea light foil, until that is achieved. Then place a sliver of solder as shown, and blast with the soldering flame. Work one side at a time.

Er..having technical problems.. Don't forget to flux and solder the twist! It is important that all vertical wires have soldered properly to the horizontal wire, unless you don't mind having a "vintage" basket.

When you remove the basket from the block, snip off the excess wire, including the twist, and carefully file the edges.  Make sure to clean the basket with soap and a toothbrush or wirewool, to remove the flux residue. I would imagine you could paint these, Tamiya spray paint would probably work very well.

Click here for a great tutorial by a Japanese miniaturist, for making an umbrella frame, which should be very useful for people with more advanced miniature wirework ideas.

A quick trip to the Ulster folk museum.

I'm still around!!! Haven't made anything to show..Nothing....I was at the Ulster Folk and Transport museum a good few months ago, for inspiration and daydreaming, nothing much changes there as it is stuck in the 1900s. Anyway, I thought I would share my bad quality pictures from that day. They have a facebook page if anybody is interested, and flickr is teeming with much better photographs than mine, plenty of inspiration available for those doing an Irish/Victorian/Edwardian era miniature project.

And in, absolutely no order...

The Rectory, 1717. My favourite house at Cultra!

Cobbler's shelves.

A life size version of Colin Birds chair!  I love the little basket table.

Interior of an old wardrobe, note no rails. My mum had a wardrobe like this when she was a child....due to her parents frugality and not her age!

An unusual children's toy.  They used to have a dollshouse in this room, but it wasn't there that day, it's probably in hiding, don't blame it either!

Nobody can resist pushing the pram...look at that floor.

Over the sink shelf rack inspiration...dreadful photo quality...

...it has rustic charm. Looks fairly easy to replicate in miniature eh?!

A Victorian drapery shop.

...it wouldn't fit me either.

Irish Crochet Lace collars, Made in Ireland

I thought this was interesting, it's a display case showcasing small bolts of Irish textiles and linen threads. Unfortunately I don't know anything more about it, but wouldn't one of those be a nice addition to a miniature drapery shop! I have a 1:12 scale embroidery silks tutorial here, if anybody fancies making something similar.

The basket workshop. All of the baskets are made by local man, Bob Johnston. You can see more of his work here, don't miss his Willow Sculptures!

Pig "Mummers" mask by Bob Johnston.  Sorry about my hand being in the way!

Coshkib Hill farm. This farm house actually started out as a single storey thatched dwelling in 1850, and as time passed the owners made many changes to it, adding bits on, taking bits away...sounds familiar doesn't it?:D

Just in case you ever have a "window placement" space problem, this house says it's ok to squeeze one in any way that you can...

Deep window sills.....alas a rarity in miniature.

Drumnahunshin farm circa 1830, another building that started life as a single storey build, reading their bios sounds rather like some posts I've read..."raised to two stories, the kitchen was subdivided to create a separate dining room and the original ground floor bedroom became a parlour...." You all know who you are! I won't name names :D

At the back of the drapery shop, a lady (Dianne Shaw) wearing period costume weaves tweed cloth using a loom dating from 1901.  As far as I am aware it is possible to buy some too.

A typically dreary Irish backyard...a trip to a B&Q garden centre wouldn't go amiss...Great brickwork though. My mum had a mangle like that too...

Tea lane. With a lovely old sweet shop on the corner (that you can actually buy sweets from, new ones you'll be glad to hear..I hope so anyway)

Edwardian Irish Crochet lace bolero jacket...I covet thee!

Victorian/Edwardian needlework. Look at those little dolly clothes! 

Hopefully there will have been something of interest in there for anyone reading.

I want to get a tutorial up for soldering wire baskets next, and I have to put that in stone here, so I actually do it..and soon! :D