Brick and Windows

This weekend I decided to bite the bullet and brick the tower.  I decided to go with the Magic Brik and while I like it, I think its very vague and requires a lot of trial and error to get right.

I'm curious to see how using the same stickers with drywall compound would work.

First I painted the tower grey.



Then I started with the Magic Brik stickers.  Those things can be very annoying.

I bought the white powder because I wanted to mix my own color.  But I made sure I added a lot of Elmer's glue to the mix since crumbling is a common complaint.

It looked a little weird but I figured I'd be able to layer some paint on top of it if I was careful, to get the look I wanted.

I made sure it was very thick and then I spread it all over.  My biggest issue with this part is getting an even coat.  That is not easy.  And a lot not easier with a cylinder rather than flat wall.  But I persevered.  I waited a few minutes after I'd gotten the whole thing coated before I began to pull off the templates.

It worked pretty well.

You can see not all of my bricks are uniform but that's okay.

Since I had to wait for the bricks to dry before I could do anything else I decided to work on finishing my tellurion.  That's what the little device with the candle and earth and sun is called.

After that I really didn't have much time to do anything else.  Bricking the tower had taken a long time.

So I started back up again in the morning.  I watered down a couple of my reds and brushed them over the brick to give it a slightly varied effect.  Then coated everything with satin polyurethane.

While that was drying I mixed up some mortar and added the same grey paint I'd used on the tower to the mix so it would be a similar color.

Then I started to add it and wipe it off in small increments.  It makes the tower look a little more realistic to me.  The bricks look a bit more irregular which I like.

The red isn't as glaring and I like the muted look.

I coated that with another layer of satin polyurethane to seal it.

While that was drying (lots of waiting for things to dry this weekend), I looked around and the Building Inspector was exploring the little table where my equipment lives when its not clamped down.

Nothing escapes exploration by the building inspector.

But once the poly was dry I was able to glue the windows onto the outside of the tower.  You can see my incredibly high tech method of making them stay in place.

That's pretty much it for the weekend.

I figure next weekend is when I need to get the timber onto the third floor inside and then add the lights.  And then I can also put the support beams under it.

Hope everyone else had a good weekend? 

Here's my list... slowly getting checked off.

Drill & Route out channels for lighting wires.

Finish shutters & interior trim for all windows on main cottage. 

Build Fireplaces & chimneys

Cut bricks and stone for outside of lower walls and tower.

(Test Magic Brik) - in progress

Add brick/stone to fireplaces.

Plaster upper walls and third floor of tower.

Add timber to upper walls and third floor of tower. (testing)

Paint stone.

Add grout to stone and brick.

Ceiling beams on first floor.

Ceiling beams and roof support for lofted ceiling on second floor.

Ceiling beams and roof support for the tower.

Build furniture:

          Make sink

          Make curved table for tower room

          Make loom

          Adjust tables for lab

          Make stool

          Make telescope 1/2 done

          Make orrey 1/4 done

          Make tapestry

          Make rush mats

          Make bedding

          Make books & scrolls

          Make paper pottery

Furniture in place finalize lights.

          Make candelabras

                 Standing Candelabra

                 2 small Candelabras
Add flooring

Plaster inside walls

Inside window trim & shutters

Build base for house.

Create 'slate' roof

Create front garden

          Make tree?

          Make stream?

          Make lake/river to go alongside house

          Make stone wall to go around garden

          Iron front gate.