Chippendale desk on frame

Some time ago I made another incredible bargain on ebay: one more bundle of Chippendale furniture kits from House of Miniatures. If you haven't seen my Chippendale furniture, have a look at the cabinet, candle stand, canopy bed, night stand, desk, chest, another chest, chairs, wing chair, sofa, and not least the magnificent table.

I knew there were more pieces in this series, but if you buy them one by one it can get quite expensive, especially if you buy from the USA because the shipping will be more than the price. You can get a small selection of modern copies from Minimundus, but they are really expensive. I browse ebay every now and then, and here is what I found at a very reasonable price:

Of all these pieces, I only had the candlestands before, and you can have several of these.

Since I have been fully occupied with my big project I thought I didn't have time for cabinet-making, but suddenly I felt that the smoking room needed a proper desk. This will be another case of infidelity, because the old desk is one of the very first pieces I made. I was proud of it then, not least the tiny knobs, but now it looks crude as compared to the other delicate furniture in the room.

This is a very sophisticated desk, and if I hadn't made other Chippendale miniatures I would have been intimidated.

To be honest, I was intimidated when I opened the box and placed all details on the layout sheet. They were so many and so tiny!

Luckily, I remembered some of my previous experience. For instance, against the instructions, you must stain the wood before glueing because stain doesn't work on top of glue. If a minuscule drop of glue remains on the surface there will be ugly white patches. So I stained the parts and lay them out again.

The instructions for these kits are excellent, and if I made three stupid mistakes it was my own fault. I didn't take step by step pictures because I thought they weren't terribly exciting to look at, and I had shown the process before. Plenty of patience, sandpaper, waiting for glue to set, good tweezers. But now it's done, I think I should have taken pictures after all. With each step, the assembly became more and more amazing. Here is the final result.

 

 All drawers can be opened, and side slides that hold the writing surface can be pulled out as seen in the picture. I think it is still more gorgeous when open:

 

 The green fabric was not included, but this is what would be used for such a desk.

I think this is the most beautiful piece I have made. Or maybe it is like with so many other things: you love the most recent creation best.

Of course it cannot stand in the middle of the room like this, but I haven't yet decided where it will be best. Come back soon.