Hepplewhite table

The piece I had thought would be very difficult actually turned out to be quite straitforward. In Russian, this type of table is called "a centepede", for obvious reasons.

As usual, I started by sorting the pieces on the layout sheet. The instruction says: "Be certain you understand each step before proceeding to the next one". It may sound patronising, but is very helpful. This is my third piece in the collection, and by now I have understood several important principles. Step-by-step and let-dry-before-going-on are essential.

Alignment is something I have learned by now. It is not just helpful, but also makes me contemplate how these things are done in 1:1 scale. Which is what makes this kit-building exciting and new as compared to anything I have done before. Even furniture I have made after instructions from dollhouse books was cheating. You covered everything that wasn't done properly. As you see, I started with the two end sections. I have made half-moon side tables from cheese boxes, but I never reflected that there are two boards on top of each other. This will be useful if I ever make a table of my own.

The middle section also has two layers. Now you would think that for a miniature, you could just take one big table top, but that's not how they made table tops in full scale. It's three pieces that have to be assembled.

As usual, masking tape is indispensable. 

This is what the table top looked like when it had dried.

Then it was time to glue on the legs. Fourteen of them. If you wonder why there is a square of white card, it is not accidental. It is the alignment square, used to make sure that the table legs are straight. I wish I had known this simple trick before.

This definitely looks like a dead centipede.

This is what it looked like 24 hours later, when I also had given it a coat of varnish. You cannot help noticing that it is now in a room. The floor is probably wrong for the period, and also perhaps too conspicuous. It's still at an early planning stage, but it looks so much better in a room.

The smart thing about the Hepplewhite table is that it can also be used in various configurations: as a dining table or as a round table. 

This piece was a huge fun to make, and it gave me a lot of confidence.