Roman turret, part 3, in which flagstones are cut

I finished my Roman turret project yesterday with rough estimates of how to insert the horizontal partition, add ladder and other woodwork.

But first of all I had to "whitewash" the interior walls again, and I also decided that at one place, whitewash has come off and some of the stone masonry is visible behind. Details like this add the sense of authenticity.

Remember that I had run out of egg cartons, and once again, I don't go shopping exclusively for something that will be recycled. But I still wanted to move on with the project, and the next step had to be the flagstone floor. In the absence of egg cartons I had to do with what I had, and yet another way to imitate flagstones (apart from clay and egg cartons) is a specially treated card. I think it used to be the back of an old college notebook.

 So first, obviously, cut strips of card and distress edges, as I did with the outside "stones".  Then moisten them between two layers of kitchen towel. Wrinkle up, then flatten and let dry. They will dry almost flat, but the surface will be slightly uneven.

I very deliberately left gaps between flagstones that I then filled with filler.

The dirt in front is real dirt from my garden. Just experimenting.

While things were drying, I started on some woodwork.

I showed the ladder yesterday, but I now I aged it by staining. I used Rustine's antique pine wood dye. The door is, like the ladder, made of coffee stirrers and stained. The floor was a bit more complicated with the opening in the middle, but it is so much smaller than the floors in my large house so it was quick to make. The simple rule is: sand until you drop dead.

I haven't even considered what scale it is because the shoe box was my point of departure. It is definitely smaller than 1:12, but larger than half-scale, so something in between, like Lundby or Playmobile. I will adjust all details as I add them.

The door must of course have hinges and a knob.

It will be a fake door, at least for the moment. Technically it leads out to the wall. If I add a bit of wall I may make a real, opening door. There should be two doors leading in both directions, but I will start with one and see how crammed the upstairs will look.

Before I move on I need to cut out a window in the back wall because it will be very awkward to do after I have added the partition. That's what keeps happening: I discover that I cannot move on until I have done something else. This is why instructions are helpful, taking you through the project step by step. And this is why I describe my project in so much detail.

But for now, with all the faults and incompleteness, here it is.

 

To be continued.

More door knobs

I have shown how I made door knobs in the basement. I could have easily made similar knobs for all doors, but there isn't much challenge in this. I have made some knobs from paper clips and other stuff, but I have been waiting for something special to come my way. And it has. On today's round of charity shops I bought this bracelet for 50p.

I didn't have door knobs in mind, rather chest drawer knobs. But when I came home and started looking around I saw that the pieces would be perfect for the double doors on the first floor.

 

That obviously took eight pieces, leaving me with a handful, and I realised that I could have these pretty, unique knobs on every door on the main floors. Here are some pictures.

I removed all temporarily fixed paper clips and even some permanently attached knobs, and it was worth the trouble, don't you think?

Door knobs

Apart from an infinite number of windows, my house has nineteen interior doors. Doors are not really necessary in a dollhouse, and they take a lot of space, but they certainly add to the natural look. In theory, your dolls should be able to walk from any room to any other room.

Doors are almost as boring to paint as windows, but you can so some interesting thing with them. Some of mine will be stained rather than painted (or so I think at the moment). Some may be other that white. I have distressed the four doors in the basement by painting a thin layer of green on top of the white and wiping it off immediately with a cloth.

To look natural, doors need door knobs. I am not going to pay a fortune for door knobs from dollhouse suppliers, and I have already tested some intresting methods in my previous projects. I had a vague idea what I wanted for the basement doors, and as I rummaged in my nail och screw cabinet, I saw a perfect solution.

I found these brass screws that I have no idea where they come from (and that possibly cost more than dollhouse door knobs). I bit off the top of the screw, drilled a hole in the door and fixed two knobs on each side. This is what it looks like in its environment - the door frame still unpainted.

I will have the same door knobs for all doors in the basement, but I have many other ideas for door knobs that I will implement. Luckily, there are so many doors in the house!