Milo Valley Farm – landscaping, part 4

Continuing work on the landscaping. The grass mat I will be using is Wild Grass in Dark Green by Heki from Scenic Express (they call it Summer Green TurfGrass on their website). It has high dark green grasses with some variegated coloration to simulate a wild but well-kept lawn. Just because there’s a barn find car inside doesn’t mean the whole property has to be an eyesore.

The grass mats are pricey, but the look is spot on in scale. The sheets are only 6″ wide, though they are 17″ long, so there are places on the landscaping board that will need to be pieced. I bought four to have enough, though I wasn’t sure I would need all of them.

The backing of the grass is a clear, rubbery substance though not sticky. This makes it more flexible than the paper-backed grass mats, which will be good for the uneven landscape I need to cover. I peeled the grass sheet from the protective paper.

I pinned the paper template to the grass mat — there’s my sewing background coming into play.  :D

To make the divide between the grass and the dirt look less planned, I tore the grass mat backing along the edge. I checked the fit and made further adjustments. I decided to cover the bare dirt patch I originally had planned.

I spread Weldbond glue on the base board and on the edges of the grass mat.

I pressed the grass into place, using a scrap of strip wood to fine tune the edges so I could press the grass into place without flattening it.

Any bare spots are easily pieced from the saved excess.

The material backing is what makes this type of seamless piecing possible. I’m not worried about any of the backing showing at the edges right now. All of this will be addressed in the final detailing.

I continued the process until the entire surface was covered. And, yes, this is a messy process. :D

Categories: Milo Valley Farm
February 15, 2016 | 0 comments

Milo Valley Farm – overhead light

I’m using a Meyers Wall Light for the front of the barn. I used pliers to bend it outward a bit, which removed some of the paint. That’s fine for an old light, and I brushed on flat black paint to remove the gloss shine. Once that was dry, I dry brushed on dark brown to make the finish appear corroded and dirty.

Since the door frame sticks out, I added a square of scrap wood to serve as a base for the light.

On the inside, I connected the lamp wire to the 12V wire I fed during the overhead light installation.

I covered the wires with channel molding. I didn’t bother adding knob and tube wiring for this lamp since it would have been hard to see and just make a mess of the work I did previously. :]

Just a few modifications and it looks like an old barn light that’s been there a long time.

Categories: Milo Valley Farm
February 14, 2016 | 0 comments

Milo Valley Farm – barn doors, part 4

Finishing up the barn doors. Glue will be the main support for the tubes. I used The Ultimate by Crafter’s Pick supplemented with dots of super glue gel, leaving a slight gap in the middle. I’ll explain why in a moment.

I added strips of wood around the rest of the door opening to help with the slight gap between the door frame and the doors. This won’t block all of the gap, but it will help. This might not have been necessary had I planned better, but let’s just say this is a replacement set of doors tacked onto the front after a wayward tractor mishap. haaaaaaaaaaa!

I added brackets to either end. These are black craft paper not zinc since they are mainly for show not function. Plus, it was easier to make them from paper and get a good fit.

I faked the tiny nails with paint.

Moment of truth! I slipped in one door and then the other. The gap allows the pin head (hahaha – it never gets old) to fit in between.

The door slides in the track until the other pin head can slip into place. It took a few tries to fit the doors well. I bent the pins until they hung properly in the track. They can’t be moved using only the handles; I have to grip them by the sides to slide, but that’s just fine with me. :]

I added the final bracket in the middle to cover the gap. If I ever have to work on the doors, I can peel the paper bracket loose.

Hooray!  :D

Perhaps there should be a handle inside, but…I kinda love it as is. One of my art professors once said it takes two people to make a work of art; one to do the work and one to hit that person over the head when it’s done. :D I going to hit myself on the head concerning the doors. We’ll just say there’s enough of a gap to get a hand in there to pry them open.

Categories: Milo Valley Farm
February 11, 2016 | 0 comments

Milo Valley Farm – barn doors, part 3

Continuing work on the barn doors. I brushed Testors black inside the plastic tubes as best I could. I let it dribble through from each end and soaked up the excess with a paper towel. It didn’t need to be perfect, just to hide most of the white plastic.

I then spray painted the plastic tubes and bracket hardware flat black. I stippled on dark brown to simulate aged and corroded metal. It’s a subtle finish.

I made door handles from brass tubing and sprayed those and the sewing pins with Rust-Oleum Self Etching Primer to help the paint stick better. I taped the pin heads (hahaha I said pinheads) to keep them free of paint. I then sprayed them flat black and added the stippled brown paint. The etching primer did not matter on the pins — the metal is too smooth. So, they will require touch-ups for life. =shrug=

I drilled holes through the door and glued in black brads to finish the end holes. I added aging washes to the surrounding wood and painted the brads to look like corroded metal. I installed the handles at an angle, because I liked the look of it. :] Here you can see the back of one door and the front of the other.

I drilled pilot holes in the brackets for tiny nails. I glued the brackets in place and supplemented the hold with the tiny nails. The fronts have four nails and the backs have two so they wouldn’t interfere with each other.

I used The Ultimate by Crafter’s Pick (thanks to Keli for recommending this glue for attaching metal to wood) for the brackets and dipped the nails in super glue gel.

The nail heads varied in size in the packet (noticed after they were glued in place, of course) but once painted to match they weren’t noticeable.

I will let all of this dry before installing the doors.

Categories: Milo Valley Farm
February 9, 2016 | 0 comments

Milo Valley Farm – barn doors, part 2

Continuing work on the barn doors. I cut new upper reinforcements from basswood since I didn’t like the texture of the plywood edges. I marred the basswood pieces to make them look like old wood.

I added all the nail detailing I needed to finish the overall look and then installed the pieces.

As noted previously, I will be making a rail that will extend past the end of the building on either side. I saw this setup in real life at a wedding locale — Proven Ground Farm. The real life version has a round metal pipe that houses the top part of the hardware attached to the barn. My best guess is there are rollers inside the pipe.

I’m using rectangular plastic tubing to have a larger surface to attach to the barn itself. The first order of business was to cut a track opening. I sandwiched the tube between two boards and taped everything together. I clamped the boards to my cutting table.

Using a sharp X-Acto blade and a metal ruler, I made a tiny channel in the tube.

I left the tube long so I would have enough leverage to hold onto it. After the channels were in place, I cut the tubes to fit. Each tube has a channel that is closed on one end and open on the other.

Bill sent me some zinc metal sheet awhile back. He likes working with it to make interesting minis. I haven’t worked with metal a lot, but this is a fine time to start! I cut four strips 5/16″ wide by 2″ long. I wanted some extra length since I was making things up on the fly.

I bent the zinc over the tops of the barn doors, two per door. I marked and cut the excess, using nail clippers to smooth the corners.

I marked the brackets for tiny brads on each side. The nails are on order and I have to paint the hardware anyway, so the slight delay won’t be for too long. I drilled a hole in each top center. This will hold a ball-top sewing pin, cut to fit.

These will serve as the rollers inside the tubing.

Next up, painting the plastic, hardware and installing the doors.

Categories: Milo Valley Farm
February 6, 2016 | 0 comments