1:12 Lean to conservatory

It has been awhile since I have posted, simply because, my camera died. I now have another camera, so I am finally able to update my blog. I have been working on this conservatory for a good few months now, since October 2012, it was a spur of the moment decision. All of the kits, were too big, and I wasn't keen on them anyway, and the basic structure (excluding the wall/floor tiles) cost about the same as a basic kit, in the region of £60 I think. I used wood from wood-supplies. This is their catalogue http://www.wood-supplies.com/downloads/catalogue2012/complete.pdf. The perspex I bought on Ebay, in A4 sheets, and the lead tape is for golf clubs. The MDF base was cut to order, by Spalding DIY, also on Ebay.

Now for the bit, that upped the budget. I used Richard Stacey York stone flags, these all had to be cut in half. The Victorian floor tiles, are by http://www.dollshouse-tiles.co.uk/. The design I used, is called Stevenson, with a Kingsley Border. I have been looking for an excuse to use the tiny tiles this company makes, and this small floor space was the perfect excuse. Slightly nightmarish to lay, but so pleasing in the end.  I had to redo this floor, so I am so glad I used their advice to lay on a piece of card (though I used graph paper) then glue in place, as I made a mistake and had to soak them all off and start again, which would have been impossible to do if they had been stuck straight onto the MDF. Always follow the instructions!!! :D

The conservatory is based on a bespoke one that I saw on the Victorian Greenhouse website. The interior ceiling is not finished, and there a few holes need filled, and other bits and bobs to do, but my blog was neglected, so here is a work in progress.

The roof is one sheet of perspex, held in a frame using wood supplies no. 287. The lead tape is self adhesive, and normally used for weighting golf clubs. I used some 1:12 scale dado rail underneath it and the copper glass clips were made using strips cut from medium, Art Emboss copper.

The door was made from scratch, using wood from wood-supplies.  The quadrant piece (around the windows, for example) is not the boxwood quadrant available from wood-supplies, as it was much too expensive for the amount I needed, so I used square pine dowelling, and sanded one edge down. The door handle, is a fluted vintaj bead and pin. The oval eye brass shape, is from A Miniature marvel.

Stevenson pattern, with Kingsley Border, tiles from dollshouse-tiles.

The rim lock is made from wood, card, thread (edge detail), and painted black ,  the handle is a fluted Vintaj bead and a tiny bead cap, on a pin.  The plant stand is made from coffee stirrer sticks, lollypop sticks and square dowelling. It has an intentional broken slat, based on a real French one that I saw online. The tub is a bought one, with a wash of white primer. The plant, is paper, carefully cut into long thin triangular strips, painted, then glued onto a cocktail stick, with the surplus cut off.

View through the door, you can see the ceiling is not finished. Still working that part out.

The hanging shelf, hopefully, the picture helps to explain. There are two tiny drilled holes behind the link. I used a "U" shaped piece of copper wire to hold the link in place, held with tweezers and using superglue on the ends of the "U", to "staple" the link to the wood.  The U shape was formed against a needle the same width as the space between the holes, then the ends trimmed.  Since attaching the chain is quite fiddly, its best to mark out which link needs to be attached, by laying the four chains out flat, pinning either end with a fine needle, be careful not to open the links, like I did,  then count the chains, marking the ones that needs to be attached, using a little spot of paint, rather than said needle. Even one chain out, you could end up with wonky shelves.  By the way, it is surprisingly strong, I don't have anything on it for the photos, but it has been piled high with stuff, whilst I was playing around with it. It will need to have the chain anchored though, as it swings a bit. I used a fine 24 LPI brass chain and 1.5mm wood, which made it quite fiddly, but I think it would look great with a thicker chain and thicker wood, which would definitely be less fiddly. I was going for the ethereal look :D

I used Richard Stacey tiles for the wall. Each tile had to be cut to fit, which I did by soaking the tile in water, then using a stanley knife to scribe a snap line. The snap line was then tidied up using various grades of sandpaper. This wall took forever to do, but I am pleased with the result. Once each tile was in place and grouted, I sanded the surface, to give it a worn, softer appearance.

I used a Tamiya scribe to cut the perspex. I highly recommend this tool, for anyone working with perspex. I had tried using a stanley knife, with disastrous, perspex shattering results. This tool, cuts cleanly, as you can see from the perspex sheet it is sitting on

It started off looking like an aquarium. The perspex is held in a frame, like the roof, using no.287 and no.242 from wood-supplies, which has a groove along the length that the perspex fits into, and the window panels were created by sticking double beading no.305 directly onto the perspex, front and back. The door, seen in the background to the left, is also made using wood-supplies wood.

The MDF wood base, cut to order by Spalding DIY. I don't have a table saw, so thought this was a great service for anybody in the same boat, in the UK.

I also bought some glass beads to fill cushions with. I saw someone else had used these for stuffing, sorry, can't remember who they were, but they are perfect. These are used for weighting reborn babies, the size I  have used is 0.7 - 1mm.  Any smaller and it might go through the weave. I got a 400g bag from Mohair bear making supplies on Ebay, but you can buy them from all over the place. They are quite cheap. .

The glass beads make the cushion heavy, and you can "dent" them. And they are delightfully squishy.

Spindle Back Arm chair by Colin Bird... and a bit late / very early Christmas tree.

I first saw Colin Birds chairs on his website. And although the pictures show how amazing they are, it isn't until you have one "in person" that you realise just how dainty they are. When I saw them all sitting together at his stall at Miniatura, I put one on my Christmas list, though I had to order early, as there is a waiting list, not surprisingly, and the chairs are made from scratch so they take time to make. Colin Bird explains the details of his craft on his website http://www.colinbird.co.uk/about.html. He has also written an article, for AIM, about bending wood, which I will definitely have a go at sometime. http://www.artisansinminiature.com/photo2_3.html

I haven't taken as many pictures as I would like to, as the light levels here have been bad, due to the cloudy weather. And it is hard to photograph the chair well, without distortion.  I have used lamps for lighting today, which I hate to do, but they haven't come out too badly.

Spindle Back Arm Chair by Colin Bird http://www.colinbird.co.uk/index.html.  Made with Cherry wood and Laburnum (seat).  The Cherry wood is sourced from a Cherry tree in Colins garden. The chair is incredibly light, yet strong with a beautiful sheen and depth to the wood. You can see the spindles reflect on the seat in this photograph. So much time and skill in this tiny chair. The chair is signed, discreetly on the underside of the seat.

No Christmas presents, except the chair of course, which my dad bought for me.   I made the tree using pipe cleaners, cocktail sticks, dowelling and acrylic paint. The star is cut from a brass sheet, using a jewellers saw.  Pot is temporary. It is a miniature terracotta pot, painted silver.  The tree is a magnet for cat hair and fluff.  Little presents for next year maybe.

Handmade Christmas decorations. Cut out of wood and perspex using a jewellers saw.  The robins are handpainted on both sides,  and each ornament has a tiny hole drilled, with the cord and wire glued in place.  The silver chain I bought on Ebay.

And the rug is almost finished, sort of. 

Christmas in the new conservatory, which I've been busy with lately. Almost finished. The outdoor scene is a magazine page, which is just there today for fun.

Happy Belated Christmas and New Year!!

1:12 Camisole, bloomers and hangers.

1:12 camisole and bloomers. Handsewn with Gutterman silk thread. Cotton lawn and lace are from Little Trimmings. The buttons are from The Dolls House Mall, which are painted with humbrol. The waist band is the selvedge from the cotton lawn. To keep the seam allowance small without fraying, I carefully applied nail polish along the edges.  In hindsight, I wish I had made the "placket" slimmer, it is the only bit glued on and is staying that way. The placket is the bit with the buttons on it. 

1:12 camisole and bloomers reverse.

1:12 Hanger  jig. Self explanatory diagram I think, red line indicating wire.  I used 3 dress makers pins ( heads cut off) at the top, to hold the wire in position, while using pliers to twist the ends. The V cut at the top makes it easier to manipulate the wire tails. Then cut off one wire tail above the twist, and shape the other around something round (I used a screw) to form the hook, any excess then cut off. The two brass nails are in drilled holes, so that after the coat hanger is formed, I can remove the nails and the hanger can be lifted off. The wire is actually 15 amp fuse wire. I didn't have any wire that gauge, so until I get some, I have to make do with just the one coat hanger. 

1:12 sofa, just needs feet!

1:12 sofa made from wood, dowel, fabric (Brodnax prints - Oakwood cotton), felt and padding. Another miniature project that has been lying around for months. The design is based on a Howard and Sons sofa of the Edwardian period. The feet are only temporary, they are much too bulky. Either I buy a lathe and make them myself, or commission someone to do it for me. The sofa was quite tricky to make. Whilst the base was quite simple to make, I had to make it smaller to compensate for the padding and fabric which would add bulk. Then the upholstering, which I can't even begin to explain without a lot of pictures and diagrams etc... I regret not doing that, but I was too busy making it. Definitely a learning experience, this one.. I hadn't remembered to keep the fabric lined up with the base and the back, that was a complete fluke, very lucky, as the fabric was £10 with very little there for error. 

I used a piece of formed wire under the fabric, to clamp the fabric around the arm,  and to prevent uneven bunching. The side piece is slightly too long, but this mistake isn't too noticeable, I hope. 

Quite a deep sofa, plenty of room for cushions and throws and hopefully, miniature cats.

Sofa base, wood and balsa wood. The arms and back have a length of dowel glued on, sanded into shape, and then covered with felt and then plain fabric. The patterned fabric was glued on to card (cut to fit and with a layer of padding in between) and glued in to place.



Finally getting somewhere. I think I have about  15000 stitches left to go!



Christmas Wreath. Etched brass "Ivy" from PPD ltd. Each leaf was bent into shape with tweezers, painted with water paints, then lightly varnished and bent around a small brass hoop, and held in place with wire. 

1:12 shopping bag and stoneware jars.

 I made the shopping bag from a 5p sample and  plain fabric (from an old pillowcase). The rope is made from waxed thread (I ran the thread over beeswax, it makes it easier to handle and hold a shape too).  There are videos on youtube for a rope braid (hairstyle tutorials).  Easy to do, once you get the hang of it.



And the jars are painted, varnished and ready to be placed, placed where though, Im not sure.

And my break from this, didn't last long. Comparing to the last photo I took of it,  Im slightly shocked it hasn't changed much, after the hours I put into it. This is going to take a very long time. 

1:12 Butcher's Block

After looking at a lot of antique butcher's blocks online, I liked those with the brackets and those with the bolts, so I came up with this version, incorporating both. I made the block from scraps of wood, cut into small pieces, glued and layered in a brick pattern, which I then sanded down to "wear" the surface, as well as score it . The bolts are made from pin heads, small bead caps and round discs of metal ( which came from an old broken mobile phone I took apart years ago) and bought brass nails. The brackets are made from a thin tarnished metal sheet, cut and bent to size, with punched holes for the nails. The legs I bought, and the rest is made up with scraps of wood. I don't know the name of the company that made the hen, it may be Falcon, it was bought along time ago, and I don't see it online.

Butchers block with the oblivous pet Hen.  The block is only for vegetables!!

Authentic brick pattern. Only took a day and a half to make this alone......



In situ, filling the gap between the cooker and sink. Cooker and pump are Phoenix miniature kits.  Clothes airer is by Black Country miniatures.



Whisk experiments using wire, jewellery findings and model ship parts (wood). And superglue.

Paper jugs unpainted (2 pence for scale). Though I think the two on the left are quite convincing as they are.  I got the idea for making  jugs out of paper after seeing this tutorial online, though I used scrap paper instead of quilling paper, as I have yet to buy that...   http://1inchminisbykris.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/How%20to%20make%20paper%20pottery
Also its a fantastic blog for budget miniaturists, tips and techniques.



I would like to put up a photograph of my needlepoint rug progress, but it was taking over my life, nothing else 1:12th related was happening, so I have taken a break from it, hence no progress of that...

Lollypop stick shelves



Shelves are 2cm deep. Cup hooks are by Phoenix miniatures. The brackets are also made from  lollypop sticks, and a  bit of 24th scale coving to add detail.  I have drilled a small hole in each bracket to put a metal pin through, which will help secure it to the wall, without needing to use too much glue, as I may need to take them down at some stage for redecorating.

The lollypop sticks were cut to size and sanded. I used a Walnut stain to darken the stick, then used liming wax  to  lighten the stain and give a soft sheen to the wood. I was lucky to find one lollypop stick in the pack (craft pack of lollypop sticks for about 99p) that had a knotty bit, which runs through to the underside, as can be seen in the photo below. 

And here they are on the wall, and nothing broken. Not the most artistic arrangement, but I  couldn't resist setting  bits on to them.  I drilled holes into the walls and set in small metal rods, which are then inserted into corresponding drilled holes in the brackets. These will be glued into place, but not until I remove the pencil lines on the wall, where I worked out the positioning. The shelves are slightly wonky, but I dont think it is very noticeable. 

Rug progress, this week.  When I finish this rug, I will be able to look back on all its photos with horror at the time it has taken to do. And then start another one, as petit point makes really convincing 1:12 rugs.