Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Progress on Glencairn Cottage


Life has been interfering with art lately, as it sometimes does, but I'm back to work again.

I've now finished the first floors of the Glencairn Cottages.

The floors are made from a single piece of model ship decking, which I stain and varnish.To ensure a perfect fit I make cardstock patterns, which you can see in the background. By cutting off the small extension, I can use the same patterns for the upstairs floors. This way both floors will be exactly the same size, which helps to keep everything square. This is very important in small scales, because even the slightest deviation means that the walls will be crooked.

I usually wait until the building is finished to furnish it, but it's easier to do built in features, like the fireplace and kitchen cabinets and fixtures, whiile there is still access from above. All items except the sink (a casting) were scratch built from strip styrene. The pulls on the cupboards are silver micro beads. I paint them white and then dot them with silver so they look less like beads. The refrigerator was inspired by a built-in refrigerator in my grandmother's house.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Glencairn Cottage


My first project for 2010 is Glencairn Cottage, a design I've made before. 

I keep detailed notes on everything I make in case I want to make another.  Usually, I keep them on 4x6 cards. However, this house requried the use of templates for several parts, so I used a large sheet of paper to make it easier to copy them all at once.

Taking the time to make notes and drawings can be challenging when you're in the midst of putting something together, but it really pays off later. Even if you don't make exactly the same thing more than once, design elements from one design can easily be transferred to another if you already have drawings.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Translator

I've just added a translator to the blog. You can go to the Babel Fish box near the bottom of the page and choose from the available languages.

I have taken time off during the holidays, and will be starting a new project on Monday.

Happy 2010 to all!

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