The Hobby Lobby Petition

One of the great things about miniatures, as a hobby, is that it's an escape from the real world--and a chance to create your own, better world.  Nobody wants a political rant.  And, while I'm certainly not trying to keep my own views a secret, I also don't think it's appropriate to preach at people.  We're all different, we all have different beliefs, and diversity is a wonderful thing.  The last thing I would ever want is for someone to feel like they can't be my friend, because we disagree.

But, for informational purposes only, sometimes it's good to share.  And some of you might not know about this petition.  I, personally, like to know what stores, distributors, and manufacturers support so that I can make my purchases accordingly.

Thoughts?

The Tools I Use

I thought about going around and taking pictures of all of them, but then wondered, does anyone even want to see them?  Plus, too, my newest toy isn't yet out of its box.  Jim and Jackson went to Home Depot with me yesterday before work, and we got some MDF panels, too.  They're pretty good sports.

Jackson in his jumperoo; he turned 5 months two

London feels left out.

Yesterday, I purchased a Rigid 10" 15 amp table saw with a portable stand.  Due to my oft-discussed space issues, I'll be using it outside.  

I also have a MicroLux Tilt Arbor Table Saw, which is what I do most of my fine cuts on.  I bought this to replace the PREAC.  I had two PREAC saws for years, and was not happy with them.  My biggest issues were vibration and lack of variability.  I found it very difficult to achieve precise cuts, because the PREAC just wasn't calibrated right.  My MicroLux, however, is accurate to within 0.03 mm, which makes a huge difference to the final product.  Also, because it tilts, fits larger blades, has a variable speed motor, etc, it's much more versatile.

The only thing I miss about the PREAC is Pete Boorum's jigs, but jig making isn't that hard and you can always make your own.  Micro-Mark sells some pretty good accessories, including a nice feather board.  I also have their anti-vibration pad, which works great and is worth the comparatively small investment.  My workbenches are kind of old and warped--they came with the house, which was built in '38--and the anti-vibration pad even works in that less than ideal situation.

After experimenting with several different Dremel products over the years--I've owned an embarrassing number of tools that didn't quite work out--I settled on the Dremel 4000.  Not all Dremels are created equal, and the less expensive, less powerful ones aren't always up to the tasks I have in mind for them.  I love dremelling, and most of my projects, large and small, feature some.  I used my Dremel to create the arches in the greenhouse; I cut two arch pieces, placed them back to back, and used my Dremel to create the actual arch shape.  It's a lot easier to create a composite Gothic arch out of two pieces of wood, than try to get that perfect little point.

I have both a MicroLux electric mitre saw and a regular old box-style mitre saw.  I use the cheap one more.  Spending a lot of money on a mitre saw is, I've discovered, like spending a lot of money on a bottle of champagne or a serrated blade knife: past a point, not worth it.  Korbel tastes better than Veuve Cliquot, and our OXO serrated knives work great.  Our Shun knives, however, are worth every penny.

I love 3M sanding sponges.  The best sanding supplies are made for the automotive industry.

I don't have an airbrush, but I'm seriously considering getting one.

I like X-ACTO #11 blades, #2 pencils, and metal rulers.

I stopped using T-squares awhile ago.  Even the really expensive ones are often slightly off-angle.  But speed squares still rule--and, for some reason, are generally cheaper and better made.  Huh?

I only use Olfa self-healing cutting mats.

To be honest, my favorite brushes are the synthetic bristle ones available at Michael's.  It's all about the quality of the bristles and the actual construction of the brush, not the brand name.  A set of several costs about five bucks and, on the whole, they're better brushes than some brushes I've paid twenty times that for.  

Q-tips rule, and that is all.

Everything I make, I make with these tools. 

Model Cars That Should Exist

Spending quite a bit of money I don't really have to spend, I (with my husband's encouragement) made up for a truly horrible day by purchasing a few model kits.  I already have a 1:16 Phantom II in my closet (along with my Franklin Mint dolls--tell no one), just waiting to be put together.  And, well, the 1:12 Datsun was calling my name.  I think it'd be an awesome addition to my Horrible Rural Shack.

Which brings me to my first question: why are 1:12 scale models quite so expensive?  I mean, sure, they're larger so they'll cost more...but hundreds of dollars for a box of extruded plastic?  Really?

Second, has anyone else used 1:14 or 1:16 scale cars (or bikes, or trucks, or whatever) in their scenes?  Has it worked?

And, finally, on a really mostly unrelated note, there should be better (or existing at all) kits of the following cars:

1. Tucker Torpedo
2. Stanley K Raceabout
3. Delahaye Cabriolet (the 135 would be OK, too)
4. Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic (or the 735 B)
5. Daimler-Maybach 1889 "Steel Wheel"
6. Phantom Corsair
7. Edsel Corsair (an ad running in "Life" proclaimed that "the Edsel is here to stay!")
8. Jaguar XK120
9. Stutz Bearcat (Mr. Burns owns one, as do Dirk Pitt and several of Anne Rice's characters)
10. 1958 Plymouth Fury
11. 1936 Ford Siebert combination ambulance/hearse (um...great)

What I've Learned From My Mistakes

Don't spray paint in the rain.  Or in the almost-rain.  Or in 99% humidity.  Your metallics will be dull and blotchy, your stoves will fog over.  Although, as we've seen, sometimes mistakes are a blessing in disguise.  In fact, I'm pretty sure this is true in almost every area of life...

The same day I did the blue cook stove, I also sprayed some copper pots.  Which, well, came out looking like something one of my neighbors might dig up out of his root cellar and sell the tourists as an "antique."  So with a little creative craft paint ("Americana" brand craft paint in burnt sienna and lamp black), I went with the "old and gross" theme.

USE MULTIPLE FINE COATS!!!  I thought I already knew this advice.  I mean, duh.  Most of us have been at this for years, and "fine coats" seems like really Mickey Mouse advice.  DO NOT BE FOOLED.  When it comes to spray enamels, flat colors are very forgiving.  Gloss colors are not.  And, I've discovered, the lighter the color, the worse the coverage.  My first few tries with the Testors light ivory were disasters; my paint came out gloppy, or obscured the detail.  I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.  Then, after wasting about 20 bucks worth of paint, talking it over with some of my hobbyist friends, and visiting a hobby forum, I learned the following rules:

1.  Shake the can for at least 5 minutes.  I'm not kidding.  Shake that baby like there's no tomorrow, then shake it some more.  And start with a new can.  If you've got a can that's, like, half gone and you haven't been mixing things up, well, um, it won't ever mix properly.
2. MIST COATS, dude.  This shouldn't take you two coats, it should take you more like ten.  The finer and more frequent the coats, the happier you'll be with the results.
3. DO NOT SPRAY ON HUMID DAYS.

Face it, sometimes you just need to use spray paint.  Like, take the pot belly stove, for example.  The sprayed-on enamel more closely resembles enameled cast iron, so you're going to get a better result.  Comparing these two pot belly stoves, I think the ivory one looks a lot more realistic than the green one.

The hair-thin black edges and slightly pebbly texture add realism.

Even with a spray coat over it (Testors "glosscote"), it just doesn't look quite as good.

Oh, yeah, and it's counter-intuitive, but glossy varnish looks better than matte varnish.  It also contrasts much more nicely with the flat black.  Or, at least, I think so.

If you don't want your finish to look pebbly, well, there's a sanding sponge for that and I'll talk about it (if anyone's interested) when I do the parlor stove.  Also known as The Kit From Hell, but that's another story.  Anyway, moving on...

Speaking of which, some mistakes are liberating but some are just depressing.  If it's become a stone around your neck, don't be demoralized; throw it out.  I've thrown out quite a few kits, but I can't really say my money or time was wasted.  I learned a lot.  If every project you try comes out perfect, then you're not stretching yourself and you'll never get better.  Don't be afraid to waste materials, screw up, and look like an idiot.  Within reason, of course; I don't think this stove would make much of a hat.  Or work well as underpants.

Think outside the box, color-wise.  This is your house, do what you want with it.  Just because the folks at Dee's Delights who now produce Chrysnbon made it out of black polystyrene, doesn't mean it has to be black.  Back in the day, people were, I think, a lot more creative with color.  Some of this had to do with the fact that, sans electric light, duller colors were really just lost.  The reason why all that wallpaper was virulently red, black, etc was so it'd show up in gaslight.  And people weren't afraid to go all out, either.  Why can't your pot belly stove be purple?  I've seen antique examples that were aqua, blue, every color under the rainbow.  And even if nobody ever painted it that color before, who cares?

Sometimes gluing two already-painted pieces together causes an ugly colored blob to ooze out.  You can get rid of it by dipping a small angled brush into thinner, then carefully brushing out the seam.  Quickly brush off any excess thinner, to prevent it from eating the surrounding paint.  Repeat the process until it's all gone--and, if all else fails, remember that you can always sand it out and repaint it if you have to.

Wet sanding is key.

Don't spray paint outside.  Even if you're not near a tree--and I can't tell you how many little tree parts I've found embedded in my projects--you're still not safe.  Dude, a bird pooped on the red cook stove.  Invest in a hood, if you can afford it, otherwise try to spray somewhere that's well-ventilated but at least somewhat covered.

One trick I used, when I had to spray outside, was to, as soon as I finished spraying, immediately put a piece of cardboard over my spray box.  Gloss paints stay tacky a LOT longer than flat paints, so keep this in mind.

Stay organized.  All those little bits and pieces can take over your work area, room, and house really quickly.  My family's really tolerant but, um, still.  In college, one of my roommates painted Warhammer figurines and everyone was always stepping on something.  I got out of the shower, put my foot on the mat and got a spear through the webbing between my toes; he was furious that I'd ruined his guy.  What I wanted to know was, why was it in the bathroom in the first place?

Chrysnbon--Fixing the Wood?

Here's another unexciting, picture-less post.

As I mentioned, I'm going into town this week, and plan on picking up some of my Chrysnbon kits from my studio there.  If I had room, I'd rather have a studio up here--it's much more conducive to creativity, I think.  Maybe some day.  At any rate, thinking about Chrysnbon has gotten me to wondering what I can do with it.  Although I've been putting together the kits for years, this next effort will be my first time trying to actually modify them in any meaningful way--I mean, beyond gluing different pieces together, Chrysnbon Cut-Ups-style.

I've seen others achieve some wonderful results with paint, etc so I'm going to give it a try.  I have some experience with (other types of) model kits, so painting, metalizing, etc aren't new ideas to me.  But what I'm completely lost on is...what do you do with the wood?

As wonderful as the pieces themselves are, I find the "wood" portion of these kits horrible.  Something that's supposed to be porcelain, metal, stone, etc, that's easy enough to fix--but, even beyond that horrible dead beige color, there's the wood grain!  It's enormous, totally out of scale--especially in such dainty pieces.

Has anyone else pondered this issue?  What solutions have you come up with? 

How To Make Your Own Medieval Or Tudor Salamander

Many of skills have been motivated by desperation.  I've learned to make things simply because there was nothing even approximating what I wanted for sale.  My window adventure is one example, and this is another.  I've always wanted salamanders (not the bed warmer, a representation of the actual animal) for my medieval and tudor dollhouses...but where are they?

If you look closely at historical architecture, really spanning an enormous period of history (anywhere from post-Roman to post-Elizabeth I) you'll probably see a salamander worked in somewhere.  They don't always look terribly lizard-like; as Durer's woodcuts demonstrate, most people, including the very well educated, had no idea what many animals looked like.  Salamanders have been represented as everything from lizards to snakes to gryphons.  

Salamanders were used as a charm against fire.  It was believed that they lived in fire (or, at least, were born in it), and, thus, were immune.  By representing the salamander somewhere on the building, medieval builders (and homeowners!) hoped to "borrow" some of its magical protective abilities.  Fire, then as now, was the single greatest danger a home--and city--could face.

Considering all this, it's sort of bizarre that there are no commercially available salamanders hanging about.  Oh, well.  Once again, it's Richard Stacey to the rescue and I decided to make my own.  While there are more complex ways to achieve a salamander, this is one I can actually manage.

I started out with...

1. Richard Stacey modeling dust in "gault".  You can obviously use any color of modeling dust you like.  For my next salamander, I may, in fact, use stucco powder.
2. A piece of wood for a base.
3. A salamander.  Mine was purchased by my husband at a craft store for 99 cents (about 50p), in the "make your own jewelry" section.  For true historical accuracy, you could go with just about any animal you like and call it a salamander, since that's essentially what our medieval forebears did.  So, if you really fancy that frog (or lion, or gryphon), use it.
4. PVC glue (I use Aleen's Tacky, but I realize this can be difficult to find outside of the States and Canada).
5. A few fine detail brushes.

First, I cut a piece of wood down to size (the size of your wood piece is the size of the finished plaque).  Then, using some glue (epoxy works a bit better than PVC, but it doesn't really matter), I affixed my salamander.  Above, I messed him about a bit until I approved of his placement.  Then, let everything dry completely.  Note that, if you're concerned about warp being an issue, you can lightly coat your wood piece on both sides with varnish and let it dry.  If you're really concerned about warp, you can let it dry wrapped in wax paper and sandwiched between two books.  The wax paper is to protect the books.  You would do this, of course, before you affixed your salamander.

I took some of my regular gault mixture and added more gault powder until it'd formed a thick paste, somewhat the consistency of marzipan, and used a detail brush to work it in around the larger crevasses. There were places where, due to the salamander's shape, it didn't make contact with the board.  This is something of a preliminary step, wherein you prepare your salamander for its actual coating.  Note that, if you're making a plaster salamander instead of a stone salamander, you can perform this same step with stucco powder--just thicken it up a bit first.

I feathered it out a bit at the edges, just to give myself an even surface on which to work.  If your mixture is being stubborn, you can use a bit of water at the edges (load your brush with water and then feather it).  Then, I let it dry completely before moving on to the next step.

Here's my salamander after the first coat.  Here, I'm using gault powder at regular strength.  It's a bit shiny, as it's still wet.

And here it is after its second coat.

And here's my mate tiling my kitchen floor.  Just wanted to see if you were paying attention!  He's doing a bang up job, I think.

Here it is, almost dry after the last coat.

And here's the public ovens, done except for some sort of ground treatment.

I really do love this fountain.

I was thinking gravel would work in here.

After my salamander dried, I glued it in place with epoxy.

I'm quite pleased with how it came out!

And there we are, done but for the hardware and ground.

What do you think?

A Word On Mortar

I had a horrendous experience the other day, with a so-called mortar product.  Previously, I'd always used plain old mortar--you know, for full-sized people.  In fact, my favorite brand has always been plain old Home Depot store brand pre-mixed grout.  I favor "Delorean Gray" as a color.  So-called "dollhouse grout" tends to be too sandy for me.  

However, the house I'm working on now is the nicest thing I've done in awhile, so, as I was preparing to grout the walls, I began to wonder: am I selling myself short, here?  Will plain old store brand grout make my project look less than exciting?  Is there a better product I could be using?

I did a little investigating, and it turns out that Greenleaf stucco powder can also (supposedly) be used to create grout.  I mixed the powder with a little gray paint and--breaking one of my own cardinal rules--slapped some on.  Luckily, I'd begun this miserable experiment on a movable piece.  I spent the next ten minutes running it under the faucet, trying to scrub off the horrible goo with a toothbrush.

First, the stucco powder turned my gray paint blue.  I realize that's not what's supposed to happen, but oh well.  Second, it was like tar.  It absolutely would not release from the bricks--which had been properly sealed, and which I've never had any trouble with before--no matter how hard I scrubbed.  Second, it was shiny!  And I don't mean shiny because it was wet, either.  The surface was all wrong for grout; honestly, it looked and felt like plastic.  Whatever applications this supposed "grout" may have, they're not among the traditional.

So, after letting everything dry--and there are still a few areas on the fireplace I'll need to touch up, most likely after it's installed--I returned to my old standby: real grout.  I must say (and I'll be posting pictures shortly, if anyone's interested) I'm extremely happy with how it's come out.  It seems a shame to muck up something as painstakingly realistic as Richard Stacey bricks with a grout that doesn't pass muster.  Incidentally, Richard Stacey sells their own line of mortar, but I've never tried it.  I actually began using Richard Stacey bricks years ago, after purchasing a packet at a local store.  The carry costs were too high, the store owners had concluded, so they were selling off the last of their stock at a cut rate.  I took it home, made a fireplace, and was overjoyed.

Since, at the time, I was unaware of Richard Stacey's complete line of products--indeed, the only association I had was rather negative.  A teacher of mine, a real wank, possessed the same name.  Having no notion that other types of grout existed--but knowing, from previous experience, that so-called "dollhouse grout" was all awful--I used the regular stuff.  And I was pleased!

So there you have it.  Maybe some of you have had good experiences with this product, in which case I'd like to hear about it.  What sorts of grout do you favor--and why?

Fun With Modular Finishing

When you're working on a complex project, one of the biggest issues is time management.  You never have any time to work on your project, and when you do, your project isn't ready for you.  Sometimes it can seem like, from beginning to end, your entire dollhouse is one...long...wait.  Years of frustration have led me to develop (adequate, if not excellent) time management skills.  I try to work on different aspects of my project at the same time, so I can, by rotating through them, take advantage of down time.  Right now, I'm working on...

1. The downstairs floor,
2. The "stone" sections, and
3. The remaining woodwork.

Here's my woodwork, laid out and ready to go.  I'm using the same finishing techniques I used for the floor.  It's time consuming and, in the midst of our heatwave, even more time consuming than usual.  Drying time is...well, nothing's drying too soon.

In the meantime, I'm also working on laying out the floor.  Here, I'm using yet another fabulous Richard Stacey product, yellow sandstone blocks.  And, as always, you can find all the information you need on all the products I use under the "shopping list" section.  Or, you can leave a question for me in the comments, and I'll do my best to answer it.

This is the main "oven".

Personally, I think nothing looks as good as real stone.

In the interests of uniformity, I'm using 1/32" strips (from my abundant scrap wood pile) as spacers.

Let every row dry COMPLETELY before moving on to the next row!  Otherwise, it's way, way too easy to accidentally mush everything together.  So, on to other activities...

This project will necessitate cutting some pieces in half.  I soaked them first (make sure you soak your pieces for at least an hour), then scored them with a (sharp) x-acto knife and split them by hand.  I tidied up any rough edges with 60 grit sandpaper.  While I waited for the pieces to soak, I worked on the woodwork.  An hour is just about enough time to give everything a thorough sanding.

Invest in a good t-square, and plenty of extra blades!

I prefer to sand the rough edges while the stone is still wet.

Wrap some sandpaper around a piece of scrap wood for a straightedge.

Then, it was time to work on the wall.  Now, there are a couple of ways you can make a wall.  I wanted a brick wall with pieces of sandstone placed along the top.  Now, you can do this the hard way, or you can do this the easy way...

I built the actual wall, that'll be faced with brick, out of balsa wood.  I like balsa for models I'm going to clad, because it's extremely light, easy to work with, and much less prone to warp.  Then, I cut the pieces (also out of balsa, but out of a thinner strip of balsa) that'll form the sandstone topper, and glued them on whole.

I notched the edges, where they'll fit against the side of the building.

Then, using a pencil, I drew on grout "lines".  See, I'm using a couple continuous pieces for my topper, but I want it to look like a bunch of smaller, individual pieces.  That's more realistic, and more true to scale, too.

I used my trusty PREAC saw to cut 1/32" wide channels, thus simulating separate pieces.  Isn't this easier than measuring and individually placing a bunch of actual separate pieces?  This way, everything's perfectly lined up--without all the effort!

Here are the separate wall sections, resting on the mantelpiece (away from the cats).

For added realism, gently sand around the edges of each "block".

After that, I put another coat of varnish on the woodwork, and while I was waiting for it to dry, I used this silicone mold (purchased on Etsy) to form the fleur de lis for the upstairs fireplace.

While those were baking, I went back and installed another row on my floor.  I've been slowly adding to the floor in my spare minute(s).

Make sure to leave room for the hearth!  Here, I've been counting out how many tiles I'll need.  I like to dry-fit everything together before I glue, so I know what I have, need, and want.

Uniform grout lines make all the difference.

I'm almost there!

I'm prepping everything that'll get the gault treatment so I can do it all at the same time.  This will produce the most uniform effect, as well as save on materials.  I'm almost there!

When you're making up your pieces, be mindful of the shapes and proportions common to your period.  Flat peaks and half moons say "tudor".  Plus, too, the same old corners get boring after awhile.

Here, I've dry-fitted the pieces of the upstairs fireplace together.  I won't put everything together until much later (and there'll be a separate post on that).  Total cost of making this fireplace: free.  Everything I used was a leftover from another project.  Save, catalogue, and neatly store your remnants--you'll save a LOT of money!  Also, some of my best ideas come from playing around with odds and ends.

I have high hopes for the finished piece.

When I'm cladding the inside of a chimney column, I like to peer at it from different angles to make sure I've covered everything that'll reasonably be seen.  Sometimes, you can't quite reach into every nook and corner, and one solution I've discovered for that is black paint mixed with a little silver powder.  I buy the little tubs of metallic powder sold for mixing into polymer clay.  They're cheap, and I can buy them at Michael's.

Now, while I'm waiting for the epoxy to dry, I can get back to work on the floor, and the woodwork...

My Workshop

As the saying goes, it ain't pretty, but it's home.  I thought someone out there might be interested in seeing my workshop, and hearing about how I've managed to contain a very space-consuming hobby in a very small space.  I've really struggled, in the past, to contain my craft supplies--they're always threatening to take over the house--and it's been difficult to come up with a workable solution.

We were very fortunate in that, when we moved into our new house, the basement possessed two qualities: it's very dry, and it came equipped with a workbench.  That saved me the trouble of building one.  It's a well-made workbench, too, which is a bonus.

Here we are!  My workshop area curves around the wall to the left.  As you can see, it shares space with the laundry area (my folding table is behind me as I'm standing to take this picture).  It's a small space, but it's worked out really well.

My two PREAC mini table saws, as well as some wood, and a variety of organizational aids.

My workbench area.

Another view of my workbench area.

My tips (learned through unfortunate experience) for creating--and containing--your mini space:

1. Pick a space and commit to it.  I do bring things upstairs for natural light, more space, etc, but they always go home at the end of the day.  The problems start when multiple rooms become "homes". When this situation has happened to us in the past, the culprit has been lack of organization.  As my piles of stuff have grown, so has the space required for it.
2. Stay organized.  I know where everything in my workshop is at all times.  I try to tidy up as much as I can, and do a full-on reorganization at least once a month (or as necessary).  Lack of organization leads to missing items, multiples, and general squalor.  Not to mention, if you're anything like me, you end up hanging on to bits and pieces you don't really need--and making room for them in your workshop, along with the things you really do need.
3. Throw things out!  I apply the same rule to my workshop that I do to the rest of my house: if I haven't used it for six months (or a year if it's seasonal), throw it away or give it away.  With a few obvious exceptions (my grandmother's candlesticks), anything I haven't used...I don't need.  Just knowing that I'm not keeping it forever--unless I'm using it, anyway--prevents me from buying unnecessary supplies.  If I see something incredible, and I can afford it, I buy it.  Maybe it'll be five years before I find the right house for it.  But, let's be honest, lots of things seem "incredible" in the heat of the moment.
4. If at all possible, develop three discrete areas: one for tools, one for your current project, and one to actually work on.  My space is tiny, and yet my big tools are always on one table, my houses are always on another table, and there's always a section of my workbench clear for actually working.
5. Trays are your friend.  I have lots of small rubber bottomed trays from Target.  They're meant to be drawer organizers (each is about 6" x 9"), but I use them to keep my projects separate.  Once I've cut all the pieces for a particular item--say, a highboy, or the pieces I need to make a window for one of my houses--I keep everything together in a tray.  That way, when I'm ready to work on something, I can just take the tray out--and put it back--without losing anything or getting any pieces confused.
6. Keep your half-completed projects separate.  I have a wire shelf unit entirely devoted to housing half-completed projects.  They're out of the way; they don't get eaten by the cats; they're ready and waiting (and unmolested) when I need them.
7. Invest in organizational aids.  I love rolling drawer carts, map trays, etc.  They help me keep everything in pristine condition.

I find that, with minis as in real life, a little organization early on can go a long way.  It's easy to get your things (and yourself) in place before you start a project; it's hard to stop, and impose some sense of organization mid-stream.

Do you have any good organizational tips?