Heritage – front bay window, part 3

The bay window is shaping up nicely, but I still have more changes in mind (of course). I glued the exterior frames onto the walls and began the painting process to match the rest of the house.

I decided to pad the interior walls of the bay and adjacent walls. I just find the connectors to be intrusive and a pain to wallpaper around. This meant I had to do a bit of experimenting.

It was all made much easier by the fact that I had eliminated the side bay window and therefore had twice the parts for one bay window – minus the two exterior frames that I used to build the chimney. But, it was the bay wall pieces that really mattered, and I had three extras, the exact number I needed.

I cut these wall pieces to fit inside the connectors on the interior.

I left a little wiggle room since any minor gaps will be covered by wallpaper.

The interior trim will then sit on top of these extra walls once I get to the interior. To be honest, the plywood trim is pretty shoddy, so I’ll likely end up cutting my own interior trim. For the exterior, poor wood condition works well for this particular build, but the interior wouldn’t be quite this bad.

I think the padded walls give this bay a much cleaner look.

The adjacent walls are also padded using waste wood from the die cut frames.

This evens out that entire wall. I’ll pad the wall to the left, too, but it requires thinner wood.

I’ve heard from others who have built the Heritage and other Dura-Craft houses that once you get the windows and frames painted, the windows no longer work. It’s not a terrible disappointment to me that this might be the case since I don’t plan to keep opening and closing the windows.

Besides, the kit wood is not the best for this kind of wear and tear. One of the windows needs to be glued shut simply because it’s the only thing holding the assembly together. The other two I will glue in place partially open. Who doesn’t like a bit of fresh autumn air?

Categories: The Haunted Heritage
September 17, 2011 | 0 comments

Fireplace for the Heritage

I started with the Parlour Hob Grate kit. This was my first time working with a Phoenix Model kit, though I had heard of them and had seen many other miniaturists make wonderful things from them. I have to tell you, this kit went together in about five minutes! :D I used Quick Grip glue and it held very well. (Note: I now recommend epoxy for metal kits for longevity and stability.)

I spray painted the grate Burnished Copper Metal by Rustoleum, first the back and underside, then the front and top.

Once that was dry, I was able to wipe on layers of black and grey acrylic to get the aged look I wanted. Perhaps a shame to dirty it up so bad since it looks so pretty in the copper, but a shiny new parlor grate just won’t do in an old house. Maybe I’ll need to make another of these and leave it shiny, beautiful copper. :D

My main inspiration fireplace is this beautiful Lawbre fireplace. Even if I could afford the splurge, this piece would be too big for the parlor. So, I set out to make an interpretation of it from bass wood with a few changes in mind. I used some of this 1/2″ Alle trim from Heritage Laser Works. It’s similar to the circle link design of the original.

I’m not a huge fan of the rope detailing on the original, so I substituted other trims for that portion of the design. I made my fireplace shorter than the original and eliminated the portions of the base that angled toward the opening.

I built the structure in layers, since that seemed the easiest approach using the materials I had on hand. I started with a basic 1/2″ foam core board base with outer measurements are 4 7/8″ wide by 4 1/4″ tall.

In order to figure out the size of the fireplace opening, I lined up the various trims I planned to use in order to measure accurately.

I ended up with an opening 2 3/8″ square.

I then covered the foam core board frame with 1/16″ thick basswood on the sides and then the front.

To build the top, I started with 1/4″ decorative trim, lining it up with the fireplace opening and using mitre cuts to wrap it around the sides.

I glued on two rows of the circle link trim separated by 1/16″ x 1/8″ strip wood glued in place on its short edge. I used mitre cuts on the strip wood but the circle trim is cut straight and nestled inside 3/16″ wide corner trim since there wasn’t a good match in the circle pattern at the sides.

I added a layer of 1/16″ thick basswood to build up the surface above the circle trim. I used scraps since it wouldn’t show anyway.

Over that, I added a row of the same decorative trim that I had used below the circle trim. I then used 3/8″ routed trim to build up the top and topped it all off with a 3/32″ thick bass wood mantle (I left the mantle separate for now until I decide on a finish).

I added the front base detail to the lower edges on either side using the routed trim, though I still have the sides left to cut. On the sides of the fireplace opening, I used the same 1/4″ trim as I had on the upper portion. On either outside edge, I added the 3/16″ corner trim.

I won’t be adding the circle trim in the open areas like the original. I have other ideas. :D

I also need to think about finishing.  I have a few ideas for stone and marble colorations.  In the meantime, I can move on with the new parlor wall and finish the fireplace later.  I’ll need a firebox soon, though.  I wonder if I have any egg carton bricks around here anywhere.  Ha ha!  ;]

Categories: The Haunted Heritage
September 15, 2011 | 0 comments

Heritage interior staircase, part 3

Evelyne’s suggestion from my last stairs update to dry-brush some metallic paint onto the laser cut trims to bring out the detail also brought on another idea…painted risers.

I used a scroll design clear stamp by Recollections (bought with a coupon since these are expensive).

You’re supposed to peel these rubbery stamps off the sheet and stick to a clear acrylic block to use them. I didn’t have an acrylic block (also expensive and only one coupon allowed per day) so I used the glass insert from the front door! :D

I spread some Pure Bronze paint by Apple Barrel in a pie tin with a brush and then pressed the stamp into the paint.

I touched up any sparse areas with the flat side of the brush.

I then pressed the stamp onto the riser. The glass insert worked better as a stabilizer since it was small and I was able to line it up with the stairs as I went.

Voilà! :D

With some further practice, I probably could have gotten more even coverage from the stamp…but this worked well for old worn out stairs.

Using the same flat brush, I stippled some paint onto the laser cut trims. I must say, it looks even more fabulous! Thanks, Evelyne, for the fantastic suggestion!

Once the stair detailing was good and dry, I used some coarse sandpaper to wear down the front edges of the treads and put in some minor indentations mimicking years of parallel footfalls.

I then used fine sandpaper to even out the obvious scratch marks and to soften the painted risers.

To fill the color back in, I used a wash of Bittersweet Chocolate by Americana and black paint. This toned down the deep black and made it look as though the heavier stain had worn away over the years. Here you can see where the red base layer comes into play. That dark stain would have penetrated the wood into the deep layers. Leaving it all light wood underneath would be out of character with worn dark wood.

And there you have it…fabulous stairs made better and older!

Categories: The Haunted Heritage
September 14, 2011 | 0 comments

Heritage interior staircase, part 2

I wanted to figure out a way to make a straight, narrow staircase look interesting and perhaps a bit spooky. I first took a page from the Newport book and added laser cut corners to the side of the stairs.  These are by Judy’s Create-a-House purchased from miniatures.com. The quality isn’t bad, though they were not as uniform in design and thickness as other laser cut trims I’ve used.

I had to remove portions of the pieces to get them to fit together uniformly along the side of the stairs.

I think the result looks planned and natural.

I started with a base coat of Barn Red by Americana on the risers and treads. This was mainly to keep any bare wood from showing through in the next step. It looks creepy already! Perhaps a bit too creepy. :D

Since painting laser cut trims with a brush takes forever and I planned on making the whole thing black anyway, I taped the assembly to a board and sprayed it with Krylon flat black. Interestingly, flat black ended up satin black, so no added sealer was necessary.

This left only minor touch-ups in smaller areas of the laser cut pieces to do with a brush and regular acrylic paint. Much easier and faster with the sprayed based coat!

Here it is with Turquoise Gothic Stripe paper by The Paper Studio. I’ll use this paper in the foyer and upper hallway.

The area behind the stairs will be in the parlor and will be the deep glittery green paper by Recollections.

I wasn’t sure about having such dark stairs, but I think they’ll work wonderfully.

Categories: The Haunted Heritage
September 11, 2011 | 0 comments

Front door coach lamps

These are Clare Bell Brass Coach Lamps.

There’s nothing quite like adding light to a dollhouse to bring it to life!

They are shiny and new and will need to be weathered, but they have a wonderful old time look about them.

I need to get to work on the glass inserts for the front door to finish off the spooky mood! :O

As I was trying to capture a detail shot of the coach lamps, the macro setting on the camera focused on the paint instead. I cannot believe how well the crackle paint effect mimics old, lifted paint – especially right below the light. It’s so exciting! :D

Categories: The Haunted Heritage
September 7, 2011 | 0 comments