CYBER MODAY SPECIAL!

Free shipping on all orders from my web site - TODAY ONLY!

This offer includes finished houses (For Sale #1 and #2) and 1:144 resin furniture.

Go to: https://nellcorkin.com/

Smallissimo!

Have you discovered Smallisimo yet? It's an exciting new web site for all things miniature.
You will see familiar faces, and discover new artists as well.

smallisimo.com

Check it out!

The Beach House

Inspired by an upcoming vacation, I made this little beach house. I've been wanting to use that Grandt Line lattice gable trim for quite some time!

I have a few new pieces for sale on my web site - have a look! Just click on the "For Sale" 1, 2 and 3 buttons.

https://nellcorkin.com/Harvest_Cottage.php

Mass Production!

Well, as close as I will ever get to mass production, anyway! Since these were all based on the same plan, I thought it might be more efficient to make them all at once. As it turned out, this approach didn't save any time at all, so I probably won't do it again,

Here they are, all finished. The one in front is an order; the other two are going to be on my table at Chicago International next week.

Carpenter Gothic Cottage - 2

 

I had planned to post some more "in progress" pictures for this one, but became so involved in the process, I didn't want to interrupt the flow. I'm pleased with the way this has turned out. The deep eaves help to showcase the fancy barge boards, just as they do on real houses in this style.

 

 

 

Here's the interior, with cottage style furnishings. Tea things on the table in the living room. The master bedroom has a tiny porcelain dog in a basket by Sylvia Mobley; the smaller bedroom has a dollhouse that doesn't show in the photo because it's tucked under the eaves.

 

 

Carpenter Gothic Cottage - 1

 

I'm starting on things for the Chicago International show in April.

 

I wanted to do something new, so my first project is a small house in the "Carpenter Gothic" style that was popular in the U.S. in the mid-1800's. Homes in this style, which sought to evoke the romance of medieval times, feature details such as tall, pointed gables, elaborate roof trims, and board-and-batten siding. The result, if not an authentic medieval look, was fanciful and charming.

 

The house I'm making will be similar to the pictures in the background, but not a copy of any existing building. I always find it more fun to design my own. It will have a fancy porch, and a bay window in the right hand side. There will be two rooms on each floor.

Packing the Studio

Something that I don't see discussed much online is shipping miniatures.

Good packaging is essential, because even though miniatures are small and therefore easy to box up, they are also fragile.

The best way to make sure things travel safely, in my experience, is to make sure they do not move around in the box and to surround them with lots of protective packaging.

In the case of the studio, I needed to come up with a way to keep it stable inside the plastic box. There were too many fragile surfaces and things sticking up here and there to simply wrap it in bubble wrap. I designed a cardstock insert (on its side in the photo)with attached pieces of soft foam that apply gentle pressure in just enough places to keep it from moving up and down or sideways. The insert lifts straight out of the box, and the sides drop away, so it will be easy for the customer to unpack - or repack if necessary.

The plastic box then goes inside a considerably larger box, surrounded by foam peanuts. The foam which not only helps cushion it, but also provides a certain amount of insulation, which is not a bad thing during times of extreme cold or heat.

It's on its way as of this afternoon.

Thomas Studio #6

The Rooftop Studio is finished, and I spent a large part of the afternoon taking pictures.

 If you compare this to earlier pictures, you will notice that the skylight has changed. My original was about 1/64th inch too small, so I made another one. That may seem like a tiny difference, but in this scale, every fraction of an inch matters, and I'm nothing if not a perfectionist!

In addtion to the garden in a box at the left, I added plants in pots in the front to add texture and color. The pots are real terracotta, and are made by Braxton Payne.

The interior is a potter's studio, with a wheel under the front window and a bench with finished pieces on the back wall.

The other exterior details (the vent pipes and the electrical lines) match the 1:12 original.
Here's the other side:

 

 

The 1:12 table is by Joanna Scarboro. I've had it for ages, and thought it looked nice with the house.

 

 

 

The Thomas Studio #5

 

It's been a busy few days! The metal roof is on (but not yet weathered), the back wall is finished and the "tarpaper" (actually 320 sandpaper) is laid down. The wooden walkway is finished but won't be in place until after I weather it and the tarpaper. The skylight is so small that there was no metal thin enough for the details, so its mullions are painted on.

 

 

 The front window is ready to be painted, but won't be installed until after the interior is finished.

 

At the request on my client, I also am going to build a planter box for a roof garden, which will be positioned between the back wall and the skylight.

 

There are also lots of small details still to be added to both the roof and the building.

The Thomas Studio #4

The roof is attached. I have added the rafters, non-working flourette lights, and the radiator and shelf from the 1:12 scale original. I will be adding some more interior details specific to my client, so the finished interior will be a bit different from the Thomas' version.

 

 

The roof exterior is metal, but I am going to do that later.

Next: the front window.

The Thomas Studio #2

I've finished building the side and back walls and have amost finished the interior walls and floor.

 

The walls are 1/64" birch plywood; the battens are .010 x .020 strip styrene. Because the grain of the plywood is on the large side for my scale, I painted the walls with acrylic craft paint rather than using the famous Thomas "Bug Juice." The weathering is done with watercolor pencil - wet or dry, depending on how dense I want the color to be.  The doorknob and the exterior shelves won't be put on until later so I won't knock them off when I'm working. Here is the left exterior:

 

 

And here is the other side.  The pieces on the plastic lid at the upper left of the picture are the legs and top of a shelf that will go next to the door on the inside.

 

 

 

Next: the roof.

 

 

 

 

A New Project

A customer has asked me to make a 1:144 version of Noel and Pat Thomas' "Rooftop Artist's Studio". (Pictures are propped up in the back) It's going to be a fun - and challenging - project.

The original 1:12 version is quite small - the studio is only a foot across on a base that's 19.5" wide. This makes the 1:144 version very small indeed! That's the base befind the ruler in the center of the picture.

Luckily, the customer took the class from the Thomases, and has been able to provide me with the instruction sheets and samples of the materials used. This will be a big help in making my version match the original as closely as possible, although of course I will have to use different materials in the smaller scale.

I plan to start with the building itself, and then move on to the front window. 

Guild School Class 2013

I will be teaching this colorful artist's studio at the IGMA Guild School this year.

The studio is a fun project, and will offer the opportunity to learn many tecniques for adding interesting details to 1:144 scale projects, including furniture and landscaping.

There are still a couple of openings in my class. I would love to see you there!
Here's a link for more information: http://www.igma.org/guild_school/index.html

P.S. If you have never been to the Guild School, be warned - it is absolutely addictive!