Tower Support and Fireplaces

This weekend I really wanted to get the tower done as much as possible.  There are a few more things, like roofing and attaching it to the cottage that still need to be done but for the most part it's finished.

I started by plastering the inside of the roof, using the same method that I used on the outer walls.  That took a bit to dry, and while it was drying I sanded down some of the more obvious out of scale plaster inside the tower room and added more on top with the antique white color so it would look more scale appropriate.

I don't know that it's super noticeable but it makes me feel better to have it done.  I didn't take any pictures of either of those things.  But once they were dry I began the process of gluing my roof support beams in place on the roof.

Thankfully the glue dries clean so it isn't as much of an issue as you might think.

And while they were drying I cut, stained and glued the rest of the beams.

I glued them in and then used toothpicks through the walls from the outside in strategic places to hold them in place just in case there was any unplanned shifting of the walls.  You never know. And I really didn't want to be gluing them back in with the roof in place.

Once again I was in the position of waiting for glue to dry.  I took the opportunity to sweep out any dust from my tower floor and then started on the supports for underneath the tower room.

Here's a picture of them with the glue drying on the two pieces stuck together.

The tricky thing was spacing them out, not bumping into the windows or gluing them to the underside of the tower room on the moving wall of the staircase portion of the tower.

Moving the wall out a bit so I remembered that detail helped.

By the time I got all that done the glue on the roof beams was mostly dry.

I used wood putty on the top of the walls to give the illusion of them being made out of something besides cardboard.  And then glued the roof to the top of the tower.

The magazine is heavy enough to keep it in place but it doesn't totally squish the peak of the roof.

Not an angle most people will have a reason to see very often but I like how it looks.

I found some tiny magnets on Amazon for a very reasonable price and used them in the beams to hold the roof together.  And by the time that was done the glue on the supports was dry and the tower was pretty much done.  Except for the slate roof.  Which I'll do when I do the rest of the roof.

Not the best picture but you get the idea.

Then I had to spend a bit of time cleaning up my workspace because I knew I needed to start on the fireplaces.  That's always a good time.  (Not really.)

But I spent some time figuring out how big the fireplace should be and used the furniture for the first floor since I had the sink done.  I think I could do a fireplace about two and a half inches deep and almost ten inches long.  That would take up most of one side of the kitchen.  So I couldn't put the settle where it is now.

I got out the resin Tudor fireplace I got on sale and put that in the bedroom.  Here's a shot through the window.

Obviously I'll paint the fireplace out, most likely I'll plaster part of it, make a mantle and put stone on the inside.  I'm not sure about the Welsh dresser next to it though.  I might want to put a settle there instead.  It makes it look a bit crowded back there.  I want a tapestry over the fireplace though.

Once I'd figured out how big I could make the fireplace for the kitchen I drew it out.

I got most of it cut out.  I was researching old kitchen fireplaces and the top of the fireplace would be pretty wide so you could put braziers and cookpots over them.  So the chimney will be set back a bit from the front edge of the fireplace.  I'm also planning on a more squared off main hearth rather than the angled one I drew.

I've got most of my wood cut for the fireplace, but I need to get my stone done for it and I'm not sure about the look I want.  Most likely something similar to the outer walls.  But I also need to do my floors because generally a fireplace didn't have a raised hearth.  The fire was on the same level as the floor.

I figure I'll get everything cut out, mostly glued together and by that point I'm hoping I'll have figured out the stone.

Speaking of which, since I'm not in my workspace (my dining room table) I'd better resume cutting out my stone.

Hope you're all having a great weekend!