Beams and Candles

 Oops...I skipped a weekend... sometimes I end up doing that when I don't feel like I've accomplished much. 

But I did do some work.

First, candles. I used my old tried and true drilled out dowel method, although this time I cut the tops of the 'candles' at an angle. That seems to help direct the light and also looks like the candles are burning unevenly. I painted them with Ceramcoat Antique White and once that was dry added my hot glue 'wax drips'.

The smallest hot glue gun nozzle I had but it worked pretty well.

And I added an extra step. A watered down black paint, 'Wrought Iron' to give the wax a burnt look. I let it drip down the sides and on the tops and used a dry paint brush to soak up any excess. It gives the candles another layer of realism and the dark paint makes the 'drips' show up better on the candle.

And now for the buttons, because there's a reason I have them near the candles.  I have a huge stash of buttons from when I used to sew (and also extras that came with clothing I bought) so I got a few that could pass for candleholders and drilled into the top and sides. 

Then I used aluminum wire and crazy glue to attach the 'loops' of wire to the buttons.

I used my Dremel sandpaper attachment to make narrow channels on the bottom of the buttons. And then I primed them with gesso. Once that dried I painted everything black and added black metallic paint over that.

The result has enough texture that it looks like iron work to me. Everything is drying in the picture above.  But once dried, I added candles to some of them and put them in place.

I'll 'set' one on the stairs too.  The lights are some of the LED lights from Miniatures.com. Five will run off one twelve volt battery. 

I did one other thing, also involving buttons. I got some wooden candle 'cups' from Hobby Lobby. The little things that'll hold one candlestick that you attach to a bigger candle holder. They're just the right size for jars and they paint up very nicely. With a little effort anyway. But if they're jars then they need lids. That's where the buttons came in. And a few beads for lid handles. 

As you can see, I stained one and then painted the rest. They'll look pretty nice on the shelf near the stairs.

There was a lot of sawdust in the past couple of days. Mostly because I was cutting and sanding and staining in order to get more beams added to the exterior of the front and rear upper walls.

I have a couple more to add to the last picture, and then I'll add the beams to the interior as well. But since the glue had to dry I moved on to add the structural beams and ceiling to the dormer.

And after that...well I had a few life size house chores to do.

But what a difference a couple of weeks makes for cats. Anthony, whom we are testing names for, among them Dante and Raider, has moved beyond the living room in his explorations.  He's very snuggly (and a hot water bottle of a cat) and wants attention a lot. See below:

Those are from when I was working on the dollhouse. And one from me being on the couch with the laptop. He doesn't care about sawdust on the floor, or anything else. He just wants me to pet him. He also jumps on the back of the chair and leans over my shoulder to see what's so interesting.

Miho (such a sweet girl) is being remarkably patient with him and she's getting used to him.

Princess... well. In cat years she's 84 and she doesn't like him or Miho, but she likes my husband and me, and she wants human food. Like she'll take a swipe at another cat if she thinks they're getting some and she isn't. No, no one on four legs gets human food but that doesn't stop her trying.

She'll eat near the other two and she's come up on the couch to sit a few times. She likes my husband a lot though. And she really enjoys the window shelves we've got. 

She came with her collar and bell so we've kept it on her. We figure it's hers and she's used to it. But even though she's a little overweight she knows how to move without making the bell jingle. Unless she's in a hurry because Dante/Raider/Anthony is chasing her.

Miho isn't meowing and looking for her orange brothers anymore. Maybe because Dante/Raider/Anthony likes to go around the house meowing (discussing) to test the echoes (or whatever) in all the rooms. He's an interesting character and at least Miho isn't lonely and confused. Even if she doesn't like the new cats too much, she's got something else to think about besides the ones who are gone.

And so do we.

And I got a couple more things crossed off my list, or at least partially crossed off.

Anvils

Tools

Whetstone

Finished goods

Forge Roof/ceiling

Forge Bargeboards

Second floor/ceiling beams

Second floor/ceiling

Second floor walls

Second floor fireplace

Second floor railing (so no one falls down the stairs)

Bed

Candlestick

Dormer

Windows

Forge Chimney

House Chimney

Roof

Bargeboards

Tree

Landscaping?

Second Floor Pieces

 I'm using up my PTO so I don't have to take it all at the end of the year so I had two days off last week before Memorial Day.

So I started working on the walls, fireplace, beams and windows for the second floor.  I also wanted something that I've seen in several pictures and thought would be perfect for the build.

I've always wanted a cupboard bed!  I made it so it would fit between the wall and the fireplace. It took most of a day and a half to build, paint and seal.

There was a lot of dry time to fill with other things though. So I worked on the fireplace and the forge chimney.

I added stone to the foundation as well so when I take off the front wall we don't see bare wood. And made some ashes and set up logs for a fire in the fireplace.

Figuring out the windows for the second floor took a bit of doing but once I decided how many I needed and where I still had to make them.

I forgot to show you before but I also made a handle for the front door.

I also added a chain to the shutters so they stay level when customers come up to buy stuff.

That was harder than it looks. I needed an extra hand.

But I primed the upper walls and painted them so I have a base coat under the plaster. I also cut support beams for the roof.  

Listing everything out like this it doesn't look like much.  But it took up four and a half days.

The beginning of last week didn't start out so well. Captain Jack wasn't feeling well and when we took him to the vet they told us his liver was failing. My other two cats were older but Jack was only eight and a half at the most.  

So we lost Jack.  

Our Siamese Miho was like a mother to Jack and she kept wandering around looking for him. We figured that if we got a couple other cats that would give her company (besides my husband). And they'd also be a distraction.

I went Friday to see the cats at the Animal Shelter and today I brought them home. No pictures yet because they're both adjusting and a little skittish. Princess (a sixteen year old Siamese is hiding in the closet). Anthony, a one year old black and white little boy is exploring the living room but is highly suspicious of other locations.

Miho is annoyed with us, pouting and doing her best to show the other two that we're her humans. Princess doesn't care and Anthony is ignoring her mostly. So we'll see how everything goes.

I did get a few things marked off my list though.

Anvils

Tools

Whetstone

Finished goods

Forge Roof/ceiling

Forge Bargeboards

Second floor/ceiling beams

Second floor/ceiling

Second floor walls

Second floor fireplace

Second floor railing (so no one falls down the stairs)

Bed

Candlestick

Dormer

Windows

Forge Chimney

House Chimney

Roof

Bargeboards

Tree

Landscaping?

 

Ceiling, Floor and Fireplace

 During the week my order from Amazon arrived. I got Brass Black and Aluminum Black.  I wanted the hinges to be a little darker because they looked suspicously shiny and anything near a Blacksmith's shop wouldn't be terribly clean. 

I made three more hinges and darkened them, I also darkened the ones on the shutters.

For extra hold I used tiny screws for the door hinges.

I'm also lucky that I have a lot of tongue depressors because they're the ceiling and floors. 

I got the first floor ceiling glued on. 

Stained it and then added the beams. The boards are stained with Minwax Chestnut stain gel and the beams are Minwax Dark Walnut.

Making sure everything fit in properly was pretty important. And before I could do the floor for the upstairs I had to figure out how much space the fireplace hearth would take. 

So let's build a fireplace for the upstairs.

Obviously no stone added yet which would soften those edges and make it look a lot less modern. But it gives me the hearth size so I could start the floor for the second level.

More tongue depressors with nail holes. I stained them with Minwax Dark Walnut. It's drying a bit still so I'll sand it down and put another layer, maybe chestnut over the dark walnut. 

The pieces of wood lying on top of the floor are exterior beams to hold up the second floor. They'll go around the edges to support the walls. Purely decorative but they'll look like they're functional.

I took a picture of the inside with the ceiling, it looks pretty good I think.

I'm going over different ways to trim out the roof edges and I've got the chimney tops cut. they obviously need stonework too. I'll probably do all the stone at once. 

So far so good. I need to figure out window placement for the second floor but that shouldn't be too hard. I think. 

How are all of you doing?

Anvils

Tools

Whetstone

Finished goods

Forge Roof/ceiling

Forge Bargeboards

Second floor/ceiling beams

Second floor/ceiling

Second floor walls

Second floor fireplace

Second floor railing (so no one falls down the stairs)

Bed

Candlestick

Dormer

Windows

Chimney

Roof

Bargeboards

Tree

Landscaping?

Adding Character & Experimenting With Hinges

 Sooo...you remember how I hinted at this build having something in common with the WQRC?  Besides the time period of the build and the door?

I really loved the chimney pots on the WQRC and I wanted to do something similar on this build.

I cleaned up the seams and primed five of the plastic dragons with gesso.  It worked really well. The dry time kills me sometimes though because I need to do a couple of layers to prevent any color from the plastic showing through.

But gesso, a layer of black paint and then doing my 'stone' effect with the same shades of grey I used on the stone of the walls and floor of the forge and living quarters.

They don't look terribly friendly do they? But they are working dragons so some solemnity is normal for them.  Some individual shots.

Then it was a matter of attaching them to the forge. Glue and clamps with a strategically placed pin or two for insurance.

In the above picture you can see my bellows as well. Always tricky to figure out the order of assembly with out of the normal builds. 

I let the glue dry overnight and then fed the wires for the forge through the wall and glued everything into place.

As you can imagine there was a lot of wait time involved with the dragons and forge.  So while I was waiting for gesso, paint (and more paint) and glue to dry, I worked on hinges for the shutters.

I started out with an empty tin can and found that it was wonderful for getting interesting shapes. Very easy to cut. 

Too easy. Once I bent the hinges to fit the shutters they tended to break completely at the bending point. So... back to the drawing board.

Part of the reason I need to make the hinges myself is that 'crank' hinges are hard to find and expensive.  And I need them because the shutters are set on the outside of the window frame. So the hinge has to bend around the edge of the shutter and then sit flat on the surface and flat to the wall.  Minimum World has some but as I said, expensive considering I need at least eight hinges.

I thought about paper and bead hinges, because I could bend and shape them easily enough with glue but I worried about how sturdy they'd be.  They need to actually work or there's really no point.

So into my stash of odds and ends to see what I had that would fit the bill. A lot of the dry time was spent looking through boxes.

And then I found them.

I'd almost forgotten I had these.  But they were definitely strong enough and would bend (with some help from my jewelry pliers. 

So far so good. Even if they are brass they still have the look I want. So I glued them onto the shutters.

And even with strongest glue I had, they then fell off. So... I got a nail and hammer (and smashed them to bits; no, not really). I used the point of the nail like a punch to get some holes through the brass for nails (ie cut down straight pins). I'm hoping this will hold better. If they don't, then I'm punching bigger holes and using some of the tiny screws I have. 

The pin for the hinge is a toothpick cut to length. I'm going to see how the nails and glue hold up to movement before I attach the second set of shutters.

But I like how they look on the house.

And now we have the list of things to do:

Anvils

Tools

Whetstone

Finished goods

Forge Roof/ceiling

Bargeboards

Second floor/ceiling beams

Second floor/ceiling

Second floor walls

Second floor fireplace

Bed

Candlestick

Dormer

Windows

Chimney

Roof

Bargeboards

Tree

Landscaping?

Undoubtedly I'll add more to it and revise it a few times but it's a beginning.

The Forge and Furniture

This week I didn't work so much on the structure as things to go inside it. A couple of pieces of furniture and making the forge look more realistic and used.

First I made up some more ashes and added them to the empty working portion of the forge. Mostly on the sides to serve as a base for the coals. I took a picture but it's so blurry it's next to useless so, no visual aide on that. Sorry.

For the forge, I needed coals and fire.  Since actual fire would be counterproductive I made up more of my spackle, glue and paint mix and colored it red and orange. 

I let it set for a bit then added a bit more glue and sanded red and orange chalks over it for some texture.

I also had some 'coals' left over from a previous project and I added some red paint to some for a more three dimensional look.

Once it dried a bit more I added it to the forge. Put the 'red' coals on top and threaded one of my red bulbs through to give the forge a hot spot.

More glue and some more coals on top of the 'ashes' for dimension.  Then red gallery glass to give the coal a fire look.  And on top of the gallery glass I sanded grey, red and black chalk for ashes again. 

It gives the forge the look of hot coals cooling slightly (I think). 

I also added the reflective 'fire' film to the back of the forge where the coals are super heated before being raked into the working portion of the forge. Once all the glue is dried I'll add the flickering flame bulbs. I had to order some because the ones I had got a wire loosened somewhere, so one is not working and the others won't flicker.

I think once inside the work area with some shadows it'll look more like hot coals.

As you might imagine there was a lot of waiting involved in that process so I worked on some furniture during the waiting portions.

First I cut a portion of my cabinet off the top and removed the decorative scallop so it would, a) look a little more rustic and b) fit under the stairs without going over the window.

Then I painted it black and added a dark brown wash over it. It's very dark now but it contrasts with both the stairs and the floor. Flat brass knobs for the drawers pop against the dark color.  And anything brighter that I add to the shelves will show up nicely.

Depending on the light it looks much darker, as you can see, so once the ceiling is on, I may add another layer of lighter brown.

I also made a few bags of coal. They need a bit more dirtying up and some fixative to keep the chalk from smearing but so far so good.

Behind them you can see my in progress bellows. I need to build it a frame and handle, so the blacksmith can pump the bellows while working. That way he doesn't require an apprentice to keep the fire super heated while he works.

And since every table I found was either too big for the space or too finished looking, I built one.

I did the opposite with the paint on this, brown with a few streaks of black for depth. And I'll likely sand it some and then add either stain or more paint before I put a flat poly finish. 

It's not huge, so it could easily be moved closer to the stairs if need be, but it allows for a chair or stool and a place to put goods for sale, or food.

I'm working on an idea for the shutter hinges. I also need to make my windows for the upstairs. 

I might try making a pot of pease porridge, depending on what I can find in my stash. We'll see how it goes. 

I hope you're all doing well!  I'm having issues commenting on blogs still. It seems like sometimes I can and other times, no go. I am reading and very excited for the progress I see. I'm apparently just stricken with laryngitis on the internet.

And I have an idea to give the forge a little more character...I still have my gesso and I'm getting better at making plastic look like stone. Any guesses? Hint...if the door indicates a relationship to Cecelia Alyce...what else might the buildings have in common?