Library room box, part 4

Read the previous posts about this project: part 1, part 2 and part 3.

As expected, I didn't have much time to work on this project during the week, but I made some progress during the weekend. My initial intention was to build a book case myself, and I even had a daring design involving a chocolate box, but I changed my mind and bought two unfinished units.

I didn't take pictures of every stage of the transformation, but it took fifteen coats of stain, sanding in between, and three coats of varnish. I am used to high quality House of Miniature kits, and even those need a look of work. These were cheap, but I didn't give up, and I am quite pleased with the result:

I put the cases inside the room tentatively, just to test. The books are also cut out in haste, so they will be improved.

What you see here is a perception trick. Because some books are real, single 3D objects (although they don't open), the eye is tricked to believe that the fake books are real too. I haven't decided how many books will be real. If I go for single books, I will need about a hundred. It doesn't take long to make a non-opening book, and they doubtless look better. And if I do a dozen every now and then it won't get boring.

I considered two option for the bases. It is now clear to me that there is no space for a filing cabinet, so it would be a good idea to make fake index-card drawers. But I also tested metal embellishment.

 

I even consulted a library assistant. She said the embellishment was pretty, but the drawers were more authentic. Drawers it is, then.

 

It was quite a lot of work. The drawers are fake, that is, they don't open. The fronts are made from coffee stirrers. I glued them on, trying to space them as evenly as possible - I am not very good at it. Then I drilled holes and inserted leftover metalware from House of Miniatures kits.

I obviously need a desk, and I have a Duncan Phyfe library table that I made some years ago. It was used in a different project, that, however, is not dependent specifically on a library table, it can be any sideboard, while I think this will be perfect. These drawers do open, so I need to think about what to put in them. What would librarians have in their desk drawers?

 

 

This is as far as I got this weekend. I will need library steps to match, and so far I haven't figured out how I can make them. I have some ideas about ceiling lights. And of course, books, books, books.