Danish house, part 5

 Read part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4 of this story. 

Once again, I am renovating this house for a specific purpose, and a true collector would probably be horrified, because many authentic details will be lost. I bought this house extremely cheap, and I won't ever sell it as a vintage item so I can do whatever I want with it. 

And I want a roof that looks like a house roof, not like a dollhouse roof. It's fine when the house is a toy for a child to play with, but a single-sheet roof does not look natural. So it's not just that the roof was damaged - it needed a new look. 

I carefully studied period-correct roofs (there was a very interesting discussion thread, in Swedish, about various options), and I considered using corrugated cardboard for tiles, but finally decided on plain black slates. 

I have done this before, and this time I didn't use cereal boxes, but rather recycled binders from my old students' theses that I had been saving for this purpose. They have just the right colour and texture. 

I marked the tiles with a bone folder - an indispensable tool that I originally acquired for book binding, but that proved extremely versatile. Then cut the sheet into horisontal strips and glued directly onto the roof, shifting every other strip. 

I think this picture very clearly illustrates the difference - and I almost forgot to take it. I turned some of the tiles upward a bit, to make them look more realistic. I may also sand them slightly to age them. 

It took the time it took, but I am very pleased with the result. I will probably paint the ridge black, but will keep the wooden beams. I don't like the look of the chimney but haven't yet decided what to do with it. 

Next, and as a little side project before embarking on floors, I made curtains for the living room. I wanted something unusual, and I remembered that my mother-in-law, who was very much into modern design, had curtains matching wallpaper, and this felt exactly the kind of thing a functionalist designer would do. 

It took some thinking and a few trials-and-errors, but finally I figured out how to do it. 

First, I printed out the Jacobsen wallpaper in very thin, 45-gram paper. Then I cut two bits of corrugated cardboard (the one I had discarded for roof tiles) and glued on the wallpaper to emulate folds. For rod I used a skewer, hung the curtains into jewellery jump rings and attached with eye screws. 

Of course you cannot fully draw these curtains, but they look much more realistic than most dollhouse courtains I have seen, including those in museums. 

Well, now I have no further pretexts to avoid dealing with floors and the ground-floor wallpaper, but it is a serious decision, and I need to think it through. Meanwhile, I will focus in some details, like period-correct ceiling lights. I can also make some kitchen items. Come back soon! 

Tudor restoration

After a long break in house restoration I felt I should turn my attention to my other houses since Womble Hall is more or less presentable. The Tudor house hasn't suffered as much as Womble Hall, and the worst damage was totally my own fault. After I had unpacked the house, I left it unattended overnight, and it was attacked by wild beasts who managed to pull it down from the table onto the floor, during which the roof went off.

I feel strong affection for the Tudor house, because it was found in a dump, and I restored it and added a lot of details both inside and outside. I did extensive research on various period-correct features, and although I would never say that a project is finished, the Tudor house was as complete as it can be. It was even featured in a dollhouse magazine.

Just as with Womble Hall, this is an excellent occasion to revise and improve some things. It has been eight years since I did the main work on the Tudor, and I haven't done much on it once it was sort of done. There are many things I would do differently and probably better today, and there are things that simply need repair.

The first thing was to mend the roof, and fortunately all shingles were somewhere inside the house, and I had spares from when I first made the roof. So it was first a matter of gluing loose shingles back and then fixing the roof on the house.

Before going on with interior details I decided to do something I had been planning all along but never got round to. The house clearly used to have a front that could be closed and opened. Right now it is more important than ever because it needs to be protected from wild beasts, but hopefully also keep off at least some dust. 

I cut the front from a large piece of board which I otherwise use for bookbinding, another hobby I have. It has an irregular shape because the three stories of the house go over each other, as they did in Tudor times to diminish land tax. The board is very thick, and cutting it is always a pain. 

I could not mix an exact match of the yellow paint, but I don't think it matters. Then I made timber frames both on the outside and the inside. 

I used cardboard boxes for "timber" - I am a recycler. 

There were hinges left from when the house had a front, but because my front was made of board rather than wood I could not use the metal hinges. Instead, I made hinges from pieces of leather. The hook that kept the front in place was still there, and I had an eyelet. 

I must admit that I had not noticed the hook before. 

Now I can close and open the house which is both convenient and neat. 

Next, I had to mend the interior. 

At some point, I installed display lights in this house. They weren't working, and I decided to remove them altogether. I wasn't quite happy with them even when they did work, and nowadays there are better technologies in case I want display lights again. 

I started with solar - the upper floor with the great bed.

It was in a better shape than I had feared, but the bed itself was broken. It was, however, easy to mend, and I also added side curtains. 

The solar was thus finished. I didn't add or change anything for the time being.

 

With the great hall and the kitchen I wanted a few more radical changes.

In the past weeks I have been making food from polymer clay. I have already shown my bakery and my greengrocer stall. I borrowed some bread and some veggies to go into the Tudor house. Tudors ate lots of bread, in all social groups. They were not too keen on vegetables, and at that time what was available was mostly cabbage and onions. 

But they were all the more fond of meats. I had meats in my old Tudor kitchen, but as I develop better skills in clay sculpting, I started replacing old meats, mostly made in air-drying clay, with more elaborate ones in fimo. I have used several books for instructions.

I started with ham, steak and leg of mutton, then made a variety of sausages.

 

These hang in front of the inglenook in the kitchen. I have removed objects from the middle and front for better view. 

Yes, there is a pig roasting in the fire!

I made pies and cheeses. 

 

I know the Tudors made cheddar. Not sure about stilton, but it's visually gratifying so it will have to be inauthentic.

Then I had a great test of confidence. The mandatory piece on a Tudor fest table is a boar head. If you told me even a month ago that I would be bold enough to make a boar head from polymer clay I'd say, no way. But I considered it for a while and thought: What do I have to lose? If I fail, I will just knead the clay into a ball and make something else. Again, I followed instructions from a book, telling myself that the artist is after all a human being, working with the same materials and tools as I, so why wouldn't I be able to make it? Judge for yourself. 

 

With these new additions, the great hall has become much more impressive. 

The chicken is the only thing I haven't made myself, but after boar head I am sure I can make anything. 

The full view of great hall: 

 

What I suddenly became aware of, which I believe is the result of my recent evolution as a miniature-maker, is that the furniture looks improbably new. Which of course it is. When I made it, eight years ago, I had no idea how to distress furniture and also would never dare to. So this is something I will need to do next: age and distress the table and benches. Now I have the necessary tools and skills. This is the exciting thing about going back to an old project: you see how much better you have become.

In the kitchen I knew I had to make some sacrifices. I have lots of lovely antique pewter stuff and lots of things I made to look like pewter, some even before I had the Tudor house. For many years I just kept squeezing everything into the house, and in the end you cannot see anything properly. So I deselected almost half of the objects that used to be in the kitchen, on various criteria: size, authenticity and also how they fit in with everything else.

I re-assembled the trestle table and arranged the remaining items on and around it. 

I will stop here for a while. A project is never finished, but at least I won't be ashamed to show this house to a visitor. 

House restoration: roof

Mending the roof is a huge project, and I have realised that it was a piece of good luck that it had come off because it is much easier to do the necessary repairs on a table rather than reach over balancing on a ladder.

The roof is covered with slates that I made from card. I am full of admiration for people who make individual slates or tiles from clay, but I think my method works fine.

Some of the slates appeared to be missing.

But on closer inspection they have just shifted.

Not a single one was missing, all because they are strips rather than individual slates. So it was just a matter of gluing them back.

By the way, I have found a perfect tool for the kind of repairs I am dealing with.

I think it came with my cellphone, to attach protective film to the screen. It has proved handy for spreading glue under unstuck paper or card.

As I was looking at the roof contemplating possible improvements it suddenly struck me that I should have made scores between slates. Isn't it the most obvious thing? How come I had never noticed it before? So I went all over the roof with my bone folder and metal ruler. Yes, it took me an hour, but look at the before and after and see whether you think it was worth the effort.

I have already spent 2000 hours on this house (yes, I do keep a log) so another hour is not a big deal.

At some point I may rust a few slates here and there. And maybe let some moss grow in between. But it is another project.

Now that I was finished and happy with the outside it was time to turn the roof over and inspect the inside, that is, the attic ceiling.

All three attic rooms have Adam paper ceilings, which were badly damaged. I considered removing the paper altogether and leave the ceilings bare, but it would be a shame. As you see, two window sills are missing in the dormers. The sills were not part of the original design, but I added them to be able to put flowers and ornaments and even lights in the dormers. I never got that far so now is a good moment. Of course, these will need to be permanently attached so that the roof can be opened without the objects falling out.

Actually, one dormer had come off, so this was the first thing I had to mend.

I now see that apparently I used double-sided tape when I attached the ceiling paper, which was probably the wisest thing to do then, as I was working inside the rooms. Now I can do it easier.

Remembering the pain of gluing on the roof, I scratched and sanded the grooves. Then I glued back the paper.

As I mentioned, two window sills were missing, and I found one, while the other was definitely lost, so I made a new one. I wanted the sills to put some objects on them that would be visible from the outside. They need to be firmly attached, upside down.

So when the roof is on and closed, you can see objects through the windows.

Unfortunately, I cannot glue on the roof yet because I need to do some work on the back, and I cannot move the house on my own. Since I am self-isolating*, like all responsible citizens, it may be weeks before I can get help. But it doesn't matter. The house looks really nice now. Nobody would guess it had been broken.

I will now move inside again. Come back soon.


* In case you wonder why, we are right now, March 2020, in the middle of a pandemic.

Barbecue, part 2

Read the first post about this project.

Following from where I stopped: I painted the fence green, let it dry, painted over white and wiped it off with a cloth.

I remember a comment from a facebook friend about aging miniature objects. Why are people so obsessed with aging, they said. When things were first used, they were new. That's absolutely right, but a perfectly painted mini-fence just doesn't look natural. Or maybe you need a different kind of paint. Chalk paint? I need to learn how to use it.

Anyway, here is the fence, and it's time to make a backdrop. Since the focus is on the outdoor scene, I won't bother to make a whole house, just a front, but it doesn't mean omitting details.

I started with a piece of cardboard, matching the size with the yard.
  

  

The door and window will be fake, so when I painted the wall, I wasn't very particular.

 
However, I didn't like the smooth surface. I didn't have sand paint, but if you use coffee grounds the effect will be similar.

I had some left-over slates from an old project. I have since then learned how to make roof slates, but at some point I need to use these left-overs, and there isn't enough for a larger house, so I decided to use them.

 

I painted them rusty red.

 

As you see, I have also started making a door. I cut it from a cheese box and painted in the same technique as the fence. For the little window, I used a lid from a spice jar, cutting half of it and inserting "frosted glass" (plastic file holder) and a dark background behind it. The door knob is a paper clip.

This is as far as I got today, and I will save some fun for tomorrow. I have an idea about how to make the window. Come back soon!

Yes, there is a lizard under the swing.

Roman turret, part 5, in which roof beams are raised

Read the previous posts about this project: part 1, part 2,  part 3 and part 4.

I ended with a cliffhanger yesterday, and I genuinely didn't know how I would solve the roof problem.

With some anxiety, I cut off the top of the shoe box.

However, by now the walls have been enforced by several layers and were absolutely steady. I then realised that I should have cut the back panel to include the triangular back gable. Too late! But if you want to replicate my project, make sure that you cut the back piece with the gable. I simply had to glue on an additional piece.

I then added a fake beam made of card to which I glued a piece of wooden strip. I borrowed it from another project because it was just the right thing.

Another large beam went on the back wall, and smaller beams along the side walls.

I then had to add some beams inside the roof that probably won't even be visible, but it's a matter of pride.

The inside of the roof is cardboard (but you can also what kinds of materials I am recycling. Modern archaeologists would be mighty surprised to find Felix kitten food in the remains of a Roman turret).

I painted it over, although it won't be visible from the outside. I then added some crossbeams, made from coffee stirrers, that I stained dark.

The roof is still not attached, and I am still not quite sure how exactly I am going to do it. I don't want to glue it until I am confident that it is the way I want it to be. So this is another work-in-progress picture. You may think I haven't made that much progress, but I have. Come back soon.