Extreme Kitbash: the stone walls...

I haven't been feeling that sporty lately, and hubby has had a touch of the flu. I think I have been trying to get it or a very bad cold but my body is fighting it off. I've been very tired and had a scratchy sore throat and had body aches. Today after I got some rest and pried hubby to give me his industrial dremel - mine is a wussy dremel, I wore out the carving tool on it, lol. I needed to finish the stone part on the front and do the two lower side walls.  The two upper mdf walls will be timbered and stucco-ed to give it the ye olde tudor - fairy look .
But let's look and see how I did the walls. 
First, I marked lines in one inch increments with my ruler and then marked them with the dremel. Then, I did random lines with the dremel, to resemble stones that had been laid, like a stone wall. 

Here's what it looks like with the 'stones' carved into the dremel. To make it look more realistic, take a blade or an exacto knife, and carve out little knicks of the stones, or sand it with a sanding block to make the stone look aged. When you spray paint it, the spray paint will 'eat' the foam in the insulation a bit and resemble the porous nature of stone and it will look like stone so do not spray too heavily as you will want to spray in light coats. This pink foam is quite heavy in color and it can be quite tempting, My pics are dark and not that clear, I was working in the afternoon and the light was not good inside or outside.

My last pic with Katniss showing off the stone looks the best. This had a good coat of grey spray paint and is one of the lower stone side walls. I am going to have to do something about the front door and building up the windows. 
See what I mean about the spray paint being porous?

Here is the front pinned together with the sides, and here you can see the part spray painted grey where the stones are. The lower parts and the upper part will be timbered and stuccoed . I have alot of more spray painting and work to do on these walls before that can happen.
I also attempted to spray paint the interior walls white, but that had to stop as it would be too much for the foam to take and it would dry.
Here it is, it's still pink. Might wait for a really hot day in a few weeks and/or use regular house paint. Like I said, spray paint really eats the foam

In the second pic, you can really see the foam sizzling. That is not such a bad thing, because it resembles the waub and dabble nature of those medieval cottages in England with the Thatch roofs and such. So I might just get out a big brush and use acrylic paint on this and spread it out on newspaper on a table outside if we have a sunny day. This week that won't happen as the temperatures are down in the teens and single digits. 

***One Tip...and this is from experience. I know some of my pics look bad. But remember- and this comes from my own experiences- when it looks bad- it will look amazing when you're done. I have had some of the worst pieces look awful=LaBelle's is an example,  and they turn out amazing if you have patience. Your diorama, room, or structure will have flaws but the flaws are what make the realism.  Don't freak when the foam begins to disintegrate- say hey that looks like crumbling plaster, stone, wood! I can throw some moss on that!( which is what I intend to do!) and some vines. voila! and aged fairy forest masterpiece made out of crap. The best part of the picture above me is all I now have to do is paint over it and the effects will stay there with my paint, crumbling plaster, and shade it a bit with paints and chalk if I want to for the look of a leaky cottage or white plaster. 

So hopefully I will be further along next time on another blog post. I haven't been posting pictures on my flicker as I am only going to be posting finished photos there when this project is done, so follow the blog to know more of how I progress here. ~Lisa

Extreme Kitbash: Progress & a Tutorial on Slate floors

Today is Saturday and I have made alot of progress, plus a little tutorial on how I am making realistic flagstone slate floors in my little Tudor cottage.

First materials I used. 

You will need-
Peel and stick tiles from Home Depot or Lowe's- mine cost .99 cents
an exacto knife sharp
ruler
pen
glue tacky or liquid nail
your base cardboard, or wood for your floor
and your mortar - this can be anything- caulk, drywall joint compound
damp cloth or rag
spreader tool- helps get mortar in the cracks
scissors

First, take your tile and measure off in 2 inch spaces on all four sides on the back

Then make a graph of 2 inch squares all over the back like the 2nd picture above. Now, score them with your blade, going over each line carefully, scoring, then 'breaking' the score

You will want to take your scissors and cut off the strips or use your exacto which may be more precise but be careful of cutting into the vinyl of the tile.You will then have a series of strips.

Now it is time to take your graphed strips and cut with the exacto blade along the lines and you will then have your slate squares for your floor.

Now you are ready to peel the backs and lay your tiles in a pattern on your base. You can add a dab of glue if you need to. Your base may be too wide or too small for the tiles, so the tiles may have to be cut down. This will give you an oppurtunity to make an interesting pattern for the floor.

Here are the photos of me looking at what it would be widely spaced, closely space and then done awaiting grouting. Kat is helping!Onto grouting or mortar!

At first, I chose a tub and tile grout/caulk. I didn't like how it shrunk. So I broke out the trusty sheetrock joint compound. This stuff is my favorite stuff besides paperclay to sculpt with. Right now I'll show you the pics I have.

It looks pretty good if I do say so myself. It will look better after it dries. When rubbing it across the tiles with your spreader, keep a damp cloth nearby to wipe up the excess off of the tiles like you see. you want to get alot of fill into those cracks and crevices. 

I managed to get the walls even today and do another better dry fit, with the finished floor. The windows and door have been cut out of the front wall. 

Not the best photos but I am really pleased how the walls came about when the floor was done. It really made this little cottage pop. It will be cramped but it is meant to be a prop and a magical place. The floor will probably get a weak dirty paint wash to make the mortar look worn and aged. I am really liking how it is coming together so quickly, but maybe that is because I have the finished product in my head!

Extreme Kitbash: Day 1- The walls

I have been fiddling with the design, going back and forth, back and forth. Sometimes when I have an idea for a diorama, it starts out as one thing, and then turns into a completely something else. This has been the way my building dollhouse hobby has been since I started in 2003-2004, when I started out as an enthusiastic dewey faced newbie, buying kits and working in the world of 1:12 scale dollhouse miniatures. I would painstakingly plan, each room and then, find one or two over the top pieces and the kit would change in its decor and landscaping in a red hot new york minute! LOL! It was fun and some of my best ideas and inspiration and creativity grew from those Eureka! moments.  Such is the case with this kit.

I originally thought this would make a wonderful cozy ski chalet or mountain cabin for Cruz. I thought of him as a secluded frustrated mountain guy who loved to live off the grid, on the range type of guy and needed a mountain getaway. I was wrong. Since ordering Lady of the White Woods From Barbie Collector (and having to WAIT for her on backorder!) I have in idle moments been amusing myself by trying to get a few closeup pics of her gown and reading the back story. The storyline made me even more enthralled and took me back when I used to create small wizard cottages and witchy cottages which are all the rage in the miniature dollhouse world.  My inspirations were 
Frogmorton Studios by Rik Pierce, who does the most fabulous workshops around at Chicago and Philadelphia Miniaturia shows each year,  as well as the wonderful collection of Sally Wallace at http://magicalminiatures.net/ and www.salssite.com  which has photos of Rik's Hogwart's castle!  These are some of the amazing miniatures that have inspired me over the years that I used to drool over. So I thought, why not turn this into a cottage that would look believeable in a fairy forest, with a Tudor picturesque Hobbit-Harry Potter- Merlin -Elf theme genre about it? And so I was onto something...

Ok, over with the rambling! I decided to just get on with it and cut the pieces with my measurements and see if it would work. I am using foam insulation and pieces of the kit in ways they aren't intended. Here is what it looks like pinned together. (it will be glued when I'm ready, lol) A whole lot of priming, dremeling, sculpting cutting and more than likely, cursing needs to happen before that takes place! My 1/6 articulated assistant, Kat is here to help.

Here we are with the unevenly cut front and the door and what is the 1:12 scale sliding doors that have become windows on either side of the 1/6 door. Pinned together at the bottom foam insulation sides with the mdf walls on top

The original sliding door of this kit makes great windows for the front of this cottage. Here I am attempting to show their placement in conjuction to the door and Kat. The windows do not look very Tudor or cottage looking- I will be altering them as well. I am thinking frosted glass and either black tape and /or liquid lead for stained glass might work. For this to be a magical fairy cottage in the white woods, it should be old beyond time, with a Tudor or olde ye Elizabethan dwelling look about it. 

Here is Kat inside on one of the tiles holding the window. The Tiles are regular tiles that look like slate with a sticky back. I like them because they will mesh with both Lady of the White woods' dress and the Faraway forest elf' costume. I will be cutting them up in 2 inch squares and putting them down to resemble a slate stone floor, then mortaring them. That will come later in a seperate tutoral after some work on the walls comes. 

To the left you can see the MDF wall piece on top. It slopes down in the back and has a window opening. It is originally made to accomadate the beams which are made of MDF wood too. I have to do some alterations on the front wall piece for these but I think I can make it work as I want to use the original piece of grooved wood that came with the kit for the roof. 

So far, that is what I have today. Not much but my problem has been time. Right now this haphazaard project is on my dining room table. I had hoped to be working outside but the severe weather has returned- today it has been 17 degrees! Brrr....

Another thing I am glad of....I am enjoying,, really enjoying, working on this project. I will probably also be working on another diorama project for my Barbie club meeting in March! The Theme is Mystical Ireland. Though it would be nice for this, I have a totally different idea in mind for that and thought maybe a small Irish croft cottage would be it, since I have more of this foam insulation and it would be easy to cut and glue and prime together. I have a few weeks so I may be able to get it done and take my time on this. Plus I can donate it as a prize for the ladies at the club meeting too. 

All for now!~Lisa

Extreme KitBash: The Beginning...

My kit and the crossbuck 1:6 door arrived in the mail today from HBS. I didn't even receive a tracking notice! That was quick!

The kit is shipped in its own box, the door is shipped in a priority mail box padded with bubble wrap with a free catalog. All of the components needed for this 1:12 kit came with it and it was shipped priority mail. 15% off, not a bad deal. 

So, here it goes. EXTREME KITBASH- FROM 1:12 scale to 1:6 scale!

As I thought, I would have to alter my design a bit just like I feared. The footprint is not an overall 20 inches interior but 15 inches interior, and maybe 19 1/2 inches exterior. 

These are some of the components- the two what looks like windows are actually the custom sliding doors to the left are side walls and below them is the base and underneath of that, the flimsy roof. Those sliding doors will make great windows. I wasn't sure until I got them in my hands and measured them. 
As usual, the directions direct you to dry fit everything and then take it apart and sand, prime, and wallpaper, paint it and then reglue it together. sigh. Obviously, 1:12 scale miniaturists never met us 1:6 scale customizers, lol.
(I laugh at these directions now but remember several years ago I used to read them as though they were messages from the miniature gods. Now I just read over them to study how the 1;12 scale construction is supposed to work for clues on how I can incorporate it into what I want my design to be. ) 

Below are the directions which do not come with graphics or diagrams just written instructions in case you're curious.

As you can see, in the back & on the sides, the side walls slope downwards. That will be a problem when enlarging the footprint and the sidewalls themselves. I think I can do it as well as make it interesting. Since it is only 15 inches deep, I need that extra 5 or 6 inches to make it believable. I have thought of keeping the footprint but then it would only have to be a garden shed or something. My plans are a little elaborate but I hope it will work. If not, I may have to go with a garden shed, lol. 

I now have to begin to get my extra materials to build up the walls. The walls will have to be prepared and I will also need the veneer for the floors as well. I want it to look as pristine and real as possible, and veneer laid floors are stunning. It may be a while before I begin to get the next entry up, as I will be getting space and materials together for this. 
All for now- Lisa

Extreme Kit Bash: From 1:12 to 1:6??

Many years ago (now) I started out as a 1:12 scale diehard miniaturist, with forays into the 1:24 and 1:48scale worlds. I belonged to the Greenleaf Dollhouse forum and a couple of forums for 1:12 scale building back in the day when I used to think nothing of creating miniature dollhouses. This was BEFORE Silkstone Barbie and Fashion Royalty captured my heart and building passion. I would say seeing the incredible dioramas of collectors who had very little in the way of readily available components and materials gave me new inspiration when I found I was getting bored with 1:12, even as a miniature dealer and custom builder. Same old farmhouses, same old themes, castles, witches, etc. with very little WOW factor. I think that is what made me embrace the 1:6 scale and larger scales.

So I get emails from Hobby Builder's Supply otherwise known in the miniature world as HBS, or to us dealers, Houseworks (Bill Bellamy owns Houseworks and HBS and miniature marketplace, quite a leader in the dollhouse component world. I just wish he would revamp his 1:6 scale components to fit proper fashion dolls) And to make a long story short, every year they do a Creatin' Contest.  The new kit- Denise's City Cottage Kit is speaking to me, but not in 1:12 scale. This just may be the kit I have been looking for to do an EXTREME kitbash on- from 1:12 to 1:6. Here are the pics of it. 

Its foot print dimensions would work for a small one room cottage/diorama scene 20 inches wide, 11 3/4 in high, 20 1/4 in deep the interior space is

19 in w x 15 in deep,, BUT I am thinking I may be able to improve upon that with a slightly different sized base. 

The only thing that may worry me is the door, but if it is a sliding door in 1:12, that usually means perhaps 5-6 inches wide which is a good width for a 1:6 door. 

My husband, who used to enjoy kit bashing with me, was definitely interested and to my surprise was not put off by it. He said maybe get the kit and let's play with it! (Be still my heart- who doesn't love being enabled?)

It has a sloping roof, exposed beans. This is what Ernie's resident miniaturist did to it for the promo shots from the HBS website-

Cute isn't it? An old antique junk store in 1:12 scale. 

I have already done some figuring, the interior footprint bothers me but that may be able to be altered. The biggest thing- it would be a permanent structure that wouldhave to have a 'space' in my home. (sob) Though I adore a building challenge. Space, the final frontier. Never enough of it in a doll and dollhouse miniaturists' home! 

SO: The big question- what do my followers think? Is this something you think maybe cool? 

Would you like to see it? One thing I would be hesitant to do is to enter the creating contest challenge simply because of time constrictions. I amnot sure I could accomplish this build in that amount of time as I like to take my time. I know, a year should be enough- but still. 

But...I am sorely tempted, yes, sorely tempted. Maybe reduce the doll buying frenzy this year- To date I have already counted about six dolls or more that have been purchased this year- it might be more with preorders from the W club..

When I look at it I see a mountain cabin at a ski resort for Cruz and his band of lovelies, or a mountain retreat or cabin for GI Joe. Or even a pioneer cabin. I'm thinking the posh mountain ski retreat would be more in line. lol...

One thing I used to do when I purchased a kit to 'bash' was I already had a storyline in place for the little people living there- it helped me as if I were designing for a 'real' family or person. Case in point for my dolls. I am already thinking Cruz goes beyond the beach bum and looks like a mountain resort type of guy who loves to curl up by the fire with a lovely model. lol....

This is one project that keeps drawing me in and will wreak havoc on my dollroom organization! 

Note- please give me your thoughts in the comments- I would love other's thoughts and opinions. I could possibly keep this bash in the dining room on a table with the trees in front of a window with the outside as a natural backdrop. The challenge is calling me and I would possibly put other dioramas on my list to the side until this was done. I would of course put photos here on the blog so everyone could follow along with my do's and don'ts if this is something they too would love to do to a kit they find. 

Looking forward to thoughts and opinions- this is one reason I haven't been taking alot of pics lately is because I have been sketching out dimensions and ideas.....Lisa