The Pacific Northwest Miniature Show Exhibits

Maybe I'll see some of you there in October! Click the title of this post to get details on this years show.

Egg Carton Slate Shingles for Garth Manor

I think I am going to use this method here for the roof shingles for Garth Manor as opposed to making them from clay. GREAT tutorial. Check it out if you have not already. I have never used egg cartons for shingles, just bricks and stones for pathways, but this tutorial inspired me to give it a try.

*Life in Miniature*: Making aged slate roof shingles

If you have used this method before, let me know how it worked for you and if you have any tips, even better! Forwarned is forarmed!

Help Needed!

I really want to cover some of the lower sections of Garth Manor with ivy. There are several reasons for this. One being that it would look super cool and the other will be to cover up bits of work I may not be totally satisfied with. The problem is, I have never done anything like this before. Any help or suggestions would be so much appreciated! I am a stickler for realism so using some of the "netting covered with green scatter" you see around is not going to cut the mustard. Thank you in advance!



Camping Trip and "Mini Eyes"

One of the things I love about living in Oregon is the incredible amount of almost mystical forests, rivers, and lakes we have at our fingertips. We decided to take a two day camping trip up on Mount Hood on the shore of the White River which is about an hour or so outside Portland. We were the only people for miles and had an incredible time. Just the sounds of the wild and the crackle of the fire. And the sound of many, many, many beers being opened.

 Aaaaahhhhhh

No hot dogs here! bacon wrapped filets with garlic grilled prawns. 

But I digress.......

Of course, as many of you probably know, if you have been doing miniatures for a bit, you develop "mini eyes". This is the condition where you look at buildings and say "future project" because you see them in miniature, or walk past a furniture store and only see 1:12 scale possibilities. I always snap pictures of random brick walls, interesting chimneys, etc because my eyes see them in miniature. Even scraps on the ground are seen as potential mini objects. I still digress.......

I am trying to read my book "Pirate Latitudes" by Michael Chrichton (GREAT book, btw) on the shore of the river when one of my eyes (just one!) wanders towards the shore line and I spy an interesting pile of rocks of various sizes. Next thing I know, I am on my knees picking through the rocks and finding perfect scale mini stones. Then I spy old peeled bark that has a very small pattern and think to use it on my mini trees. Then later, while on a short hike, I notice all the lichen and moss just hanging in the trees and laying on the ground. Needless to say, I came back with a whole bag of sticks, stones, pebbles, moss, etc. I can't even go camping without collecting bits of this and that!

The whole collection is now in my freezer being "de-crittered" in a plastic bag while I nurse a sunburn.

Time to head upstairs. Garth Manor feels neglected. Time to continue painting stone. And figure out what to do with all the things my "mini eyes" brought back!!!

Fun bits finally!

Yay!!!!!!! Finally get to move forward a bit. Started the basic coloring of the stonework. It is always such a challenge to get the various hues in the rock. Rocks have so many colors from blues and blacks to pinks, oranges, you name it! Here I show step one and tow. It will probably get 3 more steps before sealing and grouting. Then aging and moss.

 Step One

 Step two

I am really putting off the roofing. I am still kind of torn on just how I am going to do it.....



Mindless Cutting

I have been sitting here for hours cutting these damnable (pardon my French) bricks. Then it dawned on me. How many do i really need?

Well, suffice it to say that I have enough to do the porch, foundation, and even roof if I choose to do so (which wouldn't look right anyway). Wow, talk about mindless! Well, since I NEVER throw anything away (new show idea: Mini Hoarders), I will simply put the extras away for future use. Ya never know when they will come in handy!

I am at a weird juncture in the project where I really need to be careful not to skip ahead even one step. I am notorious for that. I can't install the bricks until I do the stone coloring but can't do that until I finish adding the door and window trims. Soooo tricky. I just want to charge ahead! But I have to move forward cautiously.

I also need to install the wallpapers and flooring before I install the custom windows which I haven't even started.

I am starting to sweat. Need a glass of Cabernet stat!

Michi

Starting the porch

I am beginning work on the brick porch as well as some accent stonework around the door and windows. For the porch floor, I am going to use egg carton to cut my bricks from and the "frames" around the windows will be a combo of clay and egg carton.

Here is an example of the bricks for the porch. The don't look like much now but you will see what can be done with them in the near future. There are some really great tutorials out there that will show you better than I how they use egg carton to achieve a level of realism that can't be believed until seen. While you will often see them cut with an exacto knife, I always use scissors. This is because it "pinches" the sides down when you cut and gives them a bit more depth. An exacto knife, especially with a fresh blade, makes too "clean" a cut and allows them to stay "flatter surfaced" which I feel isn't as authentic. You decide!

A great tutorial for creating egg carton bricks is here.
http://www.otterine.com/blog/blog1.php/cutting-egg-carton-bricks-plus

No detail is left uncovered. And seriously, spend some time around her blog. Her attention to detail puts the rest of us to shame. Seriously. To shame!