Jump to content

What's everyone working on?


Recommended Posts

I'm so obsessed with my new dollhouse build that I'm making everything, tiny pillows, perfume bottles, vintage house of Miniatures kits. My husband and I leave on a mini vacation to the coast, and since it will be stormy and we'll be inside the hotel a lot of the time, I'm packing a collection of things to work on. I just printed out some beautiful tiny paintings so that I can paint them with gel medium so that they have brush strokes. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm glad you are having so much fun Carla. Your hats are beautiful!

I see you started an album, you'll be glad you did. This way you will always know where to find all of your photos, and everyone will be able to see your work. :-)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 17 February 2016 at 16:03:26, kathi17 said:

Beautiful Mike, I was thinking you really needed some sawdust!

I'm keeping you in my thoughts and prayers that everything goes well tomorrow.

 

On 17 February 2016 at 16:32:02, Sable said:

Best wishes for you, Mike!

 

On 17 February 2016 at 17:38:51, claireliontamer said:

Love the mini cup of tea Mike :)

Hope all goes okay tomorrow.

 

On 17 February 2016 at 17:51:45, suej said:

Mike, you can make sawdust look good.  I walk away from your pictures shaking my head in disbelief.

Best of luck and my prayers go with you.

 

21 hours ago, pawsplus said:

Hope there isn't bad news, Mike.  Hang in there!!!

 

20 hours ago, havanaholly said:

Mike, DH just walked in as I was drooling over your workshop and commented that it didn't look like a mini.  I pointed out the roof opening.  The mini man who uses that shop sure didn't generate as much sawdust turning all those pieces on that lathe as I did with DH's big lathe turning four kitchen table legs for my pub.

I pray that all goes well with your CT scan.

 

20 hours ago, chapchap73 said:

Mike, I'm hoping your CT scan is all clear. I see your mini woodworker has a fine dust collection system :)

I can hardly believe I'm posting in this thread two days in a row! I got the window frames painted and the inside ones installed. The porch beam is in, and the ceiling of the downstairs is finished. I've put the first coat of paint on the lower portion of the house. It's a lovely blue/gray called French Colony. Although this house is Craftsman, I can't put it too much dark wood for fear of making it hard to see inside. I'm really pleased with how the interior is coming along so far.

 

16 hours ago, stickyfingers said:

Mike, I'll be cheering for you! The workshop is just perfect!

Thanks all so much for the thoughts......I did the scan and I learn more Monday I hope...........Thanks again!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 17 February 2016 at 16:25:06, jaxenro said:

Wow is that lathe functional? It looks like it could be and I will be needing one to do some turnings on. I never thought of using a 1/12 full size for miniature work and that one looks perfect :)

 

A working 1/12th Lathe! Now that would be fun to do!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, MikeUK said:

A working 1/12th Lathe! Now that would be fun to do!

And you look like you could do one based on what we see here :)

if you do let me know where the line starts to buy one. I need to turn some feet that are about 5/16" around by 5/16" long for the chest of drawers I am making and a mini lathe like that would be perfect

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On February 17, 2016 at 10:01:05 AM, MikeUK said:

My last day of freedom for a while I think.......I've had an urgent request from my oncologist to get my...........self in tomorrow for a CT scan................and just when you thought it was safe to get into the water again!

Anyway I've finished (for now!) the workshops..........I did end up doing a little judicious 'mucking up' but these are tidy guys so only a bit!

TH059s.jpg

TH060s.jpg

Amazing.  It looks like they just stepped out to greet some clients!  Hope all went well today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've decided to show my Stone House at our Boca show next month. So I'm finally going to have to bite the bullet and grout all the marble. Easy enough but I'm insisting on making 'V' grooves in the grout. That will be the real challenge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Sable said:

I've decided to show my Stone House at our Boca show next month. So I'm finally going to have to bite the bullet and grout all the marble. Easy enough but I'm insisting on making 'V' grooves in the grout. That will be the real challenge.

The backside of a small crochet hook?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your chest on chest looks great. Just think of any mistakes as being a learning experience! That HOM hardware really is a pain though Trying to get those little "U" shaped wires into the holes in the backplate, and then into the holes you drill into the drawer front takes forever!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't found anything in the 1:1 world to be perfect, so "nearly" perfect seems perfectly acceptable to me.  I'm far happier if something looks real.  Considering your piece is 1:12 scale it looks lovely. 

Kathi, the HoM drawers I've applied hardware to already had the holes; I just occasionally have to reopen them with a straight pin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

I haven't found anything in the 1:1 world to be perfect, so "nearly" perfect seems perfectly acceptable to me.  I'm far happier if something looks real.  Considering your piece is 1:12 scale it looks lovely. 

Kathi, the HoM drawers I've applied hardware to already had the holes; I just occasionally have to reopen them with a straight pin.

Wow, every HOM kit I had, you had to cut a template out, and hold it over the drawer front and drill through the little "+" things. It is really hard to get them lined up just right so they aren't too high or too low.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, pawsplus said:
12 minutes ago, pawsplus said:

Mine did not have holes in the drawers for the hardware.  OMG I nearly died getting the holes in the right places, but the worst was honestly getting the handles into the tiny holes in the backplate.  A few of them took me upwards of 30 min.  I couldn't believe it was that hard.  They looked like they were totally lined up and then one would go in and the other wouldn't. And Jonah (evil permakitten) always seemed to come by and thwack his tail in my face JUST as I was about to succeed. A real test of my lack-of-patience LOL!

 

10 minutes ago, pawsplus said:

I didn't cut the template out--I measured the template and then measured the drawer and then used a push pin to get the holes in.  The template idea is much better.  Did the instructions suggest that?? If so, I missed that and made it even harder on myself!

The same things always happened to me. I could always get the first one in, but even when I tried holding part of the drawer pull with needlenosed pliers, I still couldn't get the second half into the hole. I had one take me an hour!!!

The template idea isn't better, it's really hard to get it lined up top to bottom. Your hardware is nice and even. Your way of doing it probably makes it easier to see the whole drawer, so it was probably easier to line everything up and make sure the holes were in the right place!

Holly, you were very lucky!!!

6 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

I must have lucked out with older kits.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, pawsplus said:

Note to self: Look for old kits LOL!

Don't look for older kits with the sofa or wing chair, the older kits didn't notch the legs and spreaders, and they are a royal pain to put together that way!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, pawsplus said:

It took a while, between waiting for coats of this and that to dry, but I've got my HOM Chippendale chest-on-chest done! Pix in my Furniture album.  It isn't perfect, but I learned a lot making it, and I'm mostly pleased.  The main mistake I made was that I pre-stained (with water-based) most of the chest, but neglected to pre-stain the side pieces (not sure why--just an oversight, given the many pieces in the box).  I realized this as I was assembling it, and, patience not being my strong suit, I figured I'd just be really careful with the glue and went ahead.  Of course, there was a little glue spillover anyway.  I tried sanding that off, but couldn't do that with the grain because of where it was, so the sanding against the grain shows a bit, and there were still some places that took the stain differently.  But it isn't terribly noticeable, given where it's going to be sitting in the bedroom. 

Matching the chest's finish match the bed wasn't easy, because if you recall, I used oil-based stain on the bed, only to find that this impeded my gluing efforts. So I switched to water-based, but the water-based mahogany looked NOTHING like the oil-based.  So I got some walnut as well and put that over the mahogany.  That was a close-to-perfect match. :) 

You did a nice job. Water based stain doesn't do a good mahogany just like they recommend not to put water based poly over mahogany stain

what did you finish it with for a clear coat?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used that on my HoM kits seems to take a lot of coats. Sanding each one off then put on another one. Finally it fills the grain but I am thinking maybe 6 or 8 coats before the final one. Then I am waiting a month to polish it out

I just got a stack of oak and walnut seet to make my next chest out f

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I put a thin base coat on to soak in and seal the stain then when sanding make sure to keep it flat and stop sanding before I reach the stain. You can tell by the color of the sanding and holding it to a light at an angle to see the reflection

I don't like the hardware the staples don't look authentic. I have the houseworks ones with the 4 parts (the handle wire is separate and the two posts are as well) so we will see how those work.

For the campaign chest I am thinking I will need to make them from brass as no one makes them in this size. Just for the little silver chest I am starting with that's 6 handles, 4 L brackets, and 8 corner brackets. The bigger two part chests are double that

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After not working on anything mini for a long while due to RL breaking in, I am happy to say that the bug is as strong as ever:banana:What is also true is that houses change their minds at will. My bungalow was perfectly happy with her living room color...until the second floor went on. Now she thinks it's too light. Did I mention the crown molding is in? Oh well, I'll get some good practice in painting in tiny spaces. The upstairs side walls are up and painted/wallpapered. I also got the dividing walls trimmed out with paper.  I cut window holes in the upstairs to let in a little more light. Love the look, but it's going to make furniture placement a little trickier. Plus one of them will need frosting of some kind since it's in the shower :p

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm always surprised to see clear glass windows in showers/over tubs in real homes. Really? What was the architect thinking? I'm glad you'reconsidering frosting the glass in your build!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...