The Dollhouse Tudor Roof

I've always struggled with roofs.  Traditional kit-type roofs never seem to come out quite right.  With this house, my problem was twofold: create an authentic-looking tudor ridge line, and cover up the edges of the balsa.  After examining a few real tudor roofs, I came to the conclusion that three things, in particular, identify a roof as tudor: the thickness of the roof itself, the presence of gable, eave, and ridge line carvings, and, of course, the roofing material itself.  I'll be roofing this house with slate, eventually, but in the meantime...

I created the apex angle, glued my triangle, then taped it in place so I could measure the lengths of the eaves.

I tried dry-fitting several different combinations of carvings.  This is one I rejected.  I usually design my pieces by playing around with different component parts and seeing what happens.

Ultimately, I preferred this corbel.

I started gluing everything in place, from the apex out.

Here, I'm holding up a corbel so I can figure out where, exactly, I want to put it.  I've drawn a light pencil line in the background, indicating where I want to cut.  Creating these pieces was something of an organic process, as I wasn't sure, initially, what would look good.

I taped the piece in place.  It looked good, but something was missing.  I decided I needed something else...but what?

I looked at it from another angle.

And realized I needed to make the piece taller.

While the stain was drying, I put a first coat of copper paint on the drain pipe.  I carved this little piece to hold the pipe in place next to the house.  It'll connect to the gutter at the top.  Once I've had a chance to sand this piece, it'll look a lot smoother and more metal-like.

Here's the drain pipe, posed next to the gutter.  It'll only traverse the length of the first floor.  I taped the top to something so it could dry in place, with nothing fuzzing up the paint.  This is oil-based paint, and it takes forever to dry.

A copper gutter isn't strictly tudor, but this is where the "tudor fantasy" aspect of the project comes into play.

Some Highlights From My Artisan Miniature Collection

I designed the interior of the Wizard's Eyrie around a few of my favorite pieces, so, in celebration of finally finishing it, I thought I'd share a few of them with you.  Introducing them to their new home is only the start of what, I think, will be a long furnishing project.  I still have to find, or make myself, the wizard's bed, desk, work table, etc.

The chairs are hanging on the wall, upside down, so they're out of the way until they're needed.  Anyone who needs to furnish a small space--of whatever scale--should take a few cues from the American pioneers.  The wizard's bed will go along the right-hand wall, his desk under the window, and his work table in the middle of the room.

These chairs were made by Pete and Pat Boorum of Smaller Than Life.

A chair flanked by two gathering baskets.

I collect Al Chandronnait's baskets, as well as fill them for sale, and wanted to give some of the pieces in my own collection a good home.  Like most wizards, ours is very hardworking, and must grow or gather most of his own supplies. He, thus, has a range of baskets for various jobs: small baskets for gathering herbs, big baskets for gathering his neighbor's pies.

Mr. Chandronnait's work is truly extraordinary, requiring a fine and steady hand.

On good days, these baskets might be filled with apples.

I purchased this piece at Molly Cromwell's Sturbridge Miniatures Festival several years ago.

This bellows was made by Al Chandronnait.

This is another piece I purchased at a show.  Sadly, I don't know the name of the artisan.  If I did, I'd buy more of her work!

It opens!

This is my small but growing collection of wizard's implements.

This is a piece I actually purchased for a different project; it's an historically accurate medieval rat trap from SP Miniatures.

I pity the poor rat!

I made this shelf to hold the wizard's prized potions, and other supplies.

So there you have it: a few highlights from my small but growing collection.  Now that I'm finally building (and finishing!) a few homes for my own collection, instead of to sell, I'm hoping it'll really have a chance to grow.

Wizard's Eyrie: Landscaping!

I'm now at the point with the Wizard's Eyrie where I can't do anything further until my Richard Stacey brick slips and thatched roof materials arrive.  Today, I finished the landscaping--what there is of it.  My biggest challenge, when creating this, was figuring out how to give it a realistic-looking stone base.  The eyrie itself is made out of slabs of styrofoam, which are attached together with foam glue and dowels.  A couple of dowels run right through both sides, from top to base.  This adds a kind of stability that simply gluing everything together can't.

I got the "stone" effect by first painting the entire eyrie with several coats of "stone" paint.  I actually used a brand that's now gone off the market; I got a huge discount on all the tiny little bottles I used--and, believe me, this was sort of a wasteful project.  When I started it, I had no idea how much paint I'd end up using.  First, just coating a material like styrofoam isn't that easy.  Second, this structure, with all its crags and plains, has a lot more surface area than you'd think.  Third, getting rid of the "styrofoam" effect took a lot of work.  I wanted the "stone" effect of the paint, not the texture of the underlying armature, shine through.

Then, I spray (very lightly) painted the "rock" with a different kind of "stone" paint.  By using basically an airbrush technique, I was able to achieve light flumes of color across the surface of the rock--just like in a real rock formation.  I grew up on the beach, and I've always been obsessed with rocks of all kinds.

The next step is landscaping...

I added colored sand to simulate "dirt", and architectural landscaping "foliage" material to simulate small clumps of greenery.  Since this is supposed to be a windswept tumble of rocks, there wouldn't be too much in the way of growing things.  I just added a few details here and there.

Once I've finished facing the hut with bricks, I'll add more clumps of greenery around the rest of the base. 

A close-up of the greenery. 

Another close-up. 

In real life, this would probably be a combination of scrub grass and moss. 

Most of the greenery is concentrated around the cleft in the rock, which--eventually--will have a little trickle of water dripping down. 

The (forthcoming) natural spring provides just enough moisture and humidity to support some small growth.

A close-up of the stream bed. 

Another close-up of the stream bed. 

The base from the back.

A close-up of the cleft.

When planning a miniature scene, the interaction between "inside" and "outside" is always a challenge.

I took a few pictures with the flash on, so you can see the detail on the rock face. 

A close-up of the rock itself.

The almost-done facade!

I'm really excited to finish this.

Here's to hoping the rest of my materials arrive soon!