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Grandpa's new project


BigC

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I don't envisage the walls will ever be "hard" placed Sable.

I'm possibly thinking, that for the opposing sides and rear at least using skirting and coving on the outside walls to act as runners for the floors, thereby allowing me to still slide the internals in and out of the main box, not sure how this will work in reality but that's whats in my head...It will be a little tight in there as space is at a premium and I need a way of getting the sectional structure in and out should something need changed or altered, which would make life a whole lot easier....Regards C

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Saw this picture online when I was looking for something else and thought of you Colin. Thought you could use it for inspiration on those potential dormers. :) 

Your house is every bit as lovely as this beauty by the way.

Philip-Nimmo-Georgian.jpg

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That sure is one mighty fine house Samantha..it looks very large..I like the dormer idea and the make up but would need to adapt it to suit my shallower roof..those being 12 pane Georgian windows I suppose I could go to 6 or 4 to keep the thing in scale......Thank you for taking an interest in my thread and for posting idea provoking image...Regards C.

PS...How is Brissie this fine day..I have relatives in a township just up the road...We have been over a few times now..would love to live there...I'd up sticks in a heartbeat.

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18 minutes ago, BigC said:

That sure is one mighty fine house Samantha..it looks very large..I like the dormer idea and the make up but would need to adapt it to suit my shallower roof..those being 12 pane Georgian windows I suppose I could go to 6 or 4 to keep the thing in scale......Thank you for taking an interest in my thread and for posting idea provoking image...Regards C.

PS...How is Brissie this fine day..I have relatives in a township just up the road...We have been over a few times now..would love to live there...I'd up sticks in a heartbeat.

:) Brissie has officially moved to the surface of the sun.... that is to say, it is HOT! I think the humidity is hanging around one thousand percent.  :blowup:I may spontaneously combust at any moment.... I'm hanging out for my annual ski trip in a few weeks to escape the heat if only for a little while. :D 

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6 hours ago, havanaholly said:

Are  you going skiing next door in NZ, or further north?

No, further north Holly. Park City, Utah this trip. :D

I'm not sure if they have much snow on the ground this year but I'm just looking forward to cooler temps. 

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Looking out my dirty old window

OK..Today I managed to cut out the apertures for the front sash window frames...Looks kinda grande now :)

I'm probably gonna have a tussle with the internals at a later date but we'll leave the practicalities of that for another day...(hence separate thread and thanks to kind folks for offering solutions)..I have enough work to finalize the exterior to keep me happy for some time....Hope you like the view....

Regards

C

front-facade.png

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19 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

I hope you're going to wait to glue in the doors and windows until after you have primed, painted and/ or wallpapered...

Rest Assured Holly...:) The door and windows are held in place with tape on the reverse side of the front facade..I wont be fixing anything until all the painting is done and the bricks are adhered...I'm priming the MDF with Zinnser Bullseye 123 and going to use Farrow and Ball paints (sample pots) for the exterior stone work and base behind the brickwork.

 

farrow and ball.jpg

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Thank you all for your kind words.

Moving along I will be sealing and painting this all up pretty soon and applying the brickwork, and I'm just thinking about a comment Holly made on this very thread regarding weight. My original intention  was to use real brick slips which would be the ultimate but there are downsides, so I'm weighing up the options again and have come across some 3mm thick Cork Landscaping Mats on the Bay of Fleas. The kind Model Railway enthusiasts utilise for laying track on. I could cut these into brick shapes (labour intensive I know) and save lots of cash in the process...lets look at the pros and cons for each course of action

Real Brick Slips. pros

  • Aesthetically pleasing on the eye
  • Correct Texture
  • Already cut to one twelfth size

Real Brick Slips. cons

  • Could be difficult to cut correctly, need a fine tiling saw
  • Weight, not forgetting I'll be cladding the front and both sides
  • Very Expensive, to cover the large area mentioned 
  • Colour matching if I run out

Cork Matting. pros

  • Inexpensive to buy
  • Pretty good texture rendition to mimic real brick
  • Ease of cutting and workability
  • Might bend around corners easily (i.e. Chimney stacks etc)

Cork Matting. cons

  • Labour intensive
  • Not sure about texture, seeking advice below
  • Multi processes to bring it forth (painting, grouting etc)

OK that said, my main concerns would be Expense and Weight, but can the cork slips, when cut, be really made to look like brick after all the necessary processes have been performed?... would I have the look that I seek?...I am almost convinced on this idea but just throwing this out there to inquire if anyone has utilised this method for creating a natural brick look and were happy with the results.

Once again I would like to thank you good people for your time and trouble and advice..it is truly appreciated :) ...Regards C.

 

cork-roll-4mm-15m.jpg

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16 minutes ago, BigC said:

Real Brick Slips. cons

  • Could be difficult to cut correctly, need a fine tiling saw

I asked this question a little while ago when I was using real dollhouse bricks for my San Franciscan's basement floor and Matt told me about jewelry nippers. They worked a charm for cutting little bricks. No need for a saw.

https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/sis.html?_nkw=Expert+Quality+4.5%22+Mini+Precision+End+Cut+Nipper+Beading+Cutter+Jewelry+Pliers&_id=201546670371&&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2658

You can also get brick corners for the corner issue on real bricks

Now the weight I can't help you with other than to say I've seen amazing things done with bricks made of egg carton. One of our members Otterine is the master of egg carton bricks, but you could probably apply her principles to cork just as well.

http://www.otterine.com/blog/blog1.php/cutting-egg-carton-bricks-plus

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WOW! Ain't that egg box idea something else.. :) love it...My son's girlfriend saves empty eggboxes for her grandmother...not anymore for a while atleast hahahaha...Thanks Samantha..that is very cool, although Otterine sure makes it look easy....Regards C

 

P.S. Eggbox stash secured by way of Facebook Messenger hahahahahaha. No expense spared :) Now where did those sharp scissors go! Note to wife "Darling we need more eggs, I've taken a passion for Omelettes" :eatyum:

 

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There are also easy recipes for making your own paper mache to cut into bricks.  The "bricks" on my pub are sandpaper:

The sun changed the roof's color56f06074ae838-brickplasterdetail.JPG

In fact, the "bricks" on all my  builds are sandpaper, and you can thank Beryl Armstrong (How to Make Your Dolls' House Special) for that one.  And yes, the cork once painted will look bricklike.

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Another Idea (been thinking about myself for a while not too) what if you were to make your own Papier mache and use one of these cookie/fondandelar utters to creat the indicvidual bricks? large.IMG_1003.PNG.36cf3ade528c467837e60

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:) Aint this forum something else...Thanks Holly also for your suggestion...Sandpaper would also be a good medium to work with...but I think I'm going to run with the Eggbox idea, If I can pull it off....Seeing as everyone (friends and family) have just been given notification to save the lowly things from the trash can via Social Media outlets hahahaha....Thanks again peeps you are a wonderful crowd, I cant thank you enough....

  • Real Brick Slips.... Expensive
  • Cork Matting ....In-Expensive
  • Eggbox....FREE!

What a result...Only problem now is..I can see a glut of these things landing on my doorstep hahahaha.

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Regarding the egg boxes .... the ones that work well are made of papier mache. The plastic foam versions have too smooth a surface to be realistic. This is apparent in Otterine's blog post, but I'm reiterating it here in the event someone reading this thread does not click through to her site. Be sure your sources are aware that you are not interested in the plastic ones. 

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I was wondering if anyone has tried to cut the egg-cartons with a rotary quilting cutter?  I have cut similar sized cardboard and foam board with a rotary cutter and quilting ruler and that worked as long as your blade is sharp, but fabric doesn't cut well with a dull blade either and blades are cheap compared to the frustration.  It seems like you could get nice even cuts with the rotary cutter.  Colin, I get a glut of egg cartons at my door anyway, since I have 50 chickens, it was even worse when I had 200 chickens, I get home sometimes and there is a pile of them sitting at my front door lol

It seems like they would make good rocks too, but that would be more difficult to cut correctly....

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3 hours ago, KathieB said:

Regarding the egg boxes .... the ones that work well are made of papier mache. The plastic foam versions have too smooth a surface to be realistic. This is apparent in Otterine's blog post, but I'm reiterating it here in the event someone reading this thread does not click through to her site. Be sure your sources are aware that you are not interested in the plastic ones. 

Most of the eggboxes over here are of papier mache, bio-degradable, environmentally friendly...so I should have a good collection in no time...the word is out there lol.

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Question..

What painting utensils should I use...small brushes, sponges...cotton buds....I know the experts tend to stipple the egg box tiles rather than brush, What would a good all round painting setup include?

Regards

C

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