My latest project "The Mill" a limited edition Grand Design home now available to order.

Article courtesy latest AIM Imag. To download a copy of current or past magazines visit

http://www.artisansinminiature.com/index.html

or click the Scribd link on the right hand side of this Blog.

Yours in miniatures

Warren.

1/12th Gypsey Caravan kit photos

As promised, photos of exterior of Caravan,

Yours in miniatures.

Warren

Where are things up to.

Hi all,

first their has been no mega finalisation of Rose Cottage,Yet. 3 reasons, first is that I was swamped with the success  of the WW3 Urban Terrain Table, it is on schedule to go into the post by mid October, the laser cutter is running some days constantly cutting kits to be sorted and bagged, and second is that I've purchased a new resin 3D printed.

So what's that got to do with delaying Rose Cottage, well lighting, have you ever tried buying light fittings to suit a Craftsman house, there is nothing available that I like that would suit this house, so that means making them. I have some beautiful catalogues that show a lot of the styles that I can put (some of ) into this house and one way to get them is to 3d print them. The drawing up of simple 3d drawings is reasonably easy but the trick has been in learning how to get a printer to actually print accurately. Resin printers can print astonishing detail but are not plug and play and so between rebuilding the printer to actually print accurately (still not there yet) and learning new programming to be able to create supports etc to allow it to print and not fall apart during printing, take time and mental energy. Of which I have a lot but never enough. to be continued....

But in the meantime, while never having enough to do, I have been playing with a couple of designs for some new simplified laser kits that will sell for under $40, these are based on plan designs from MakeCNC.com but with my own alterations to design, scale and build-ability.

The first is a 1/12th Gypsy Wagon, a test sample has been made, but I have more alterations to make to the exterior design before showing you more, a few days away. It has an easily removable roof for access with internal dimensions of 273mm long x 184mm wide and 195mm high at the peak of the ceiling. It comes with 2 shelf units, a bed and table which can be used or you can create your own interior.

The other is a 1/24th house based on the house from the movie Up, Elizabeth Barnes has been working with me on testing assembly and she is decorating a sample. Again, after making a sample I find lots of things that can be done better and so they get added to the redesign. I have new kit components cut but not assembled so no pictures of the assembled kit, but.......

Pictures of Cad drawn house in 3mm

Both these items will be available for pre order in October for delivery at the AMEA AGM in November or for postal delivery after that. And the third thing, there are only 24 hours in a day which is just not enough to get everything done.

Until next time, hopefully with more photo's

Yours in miniatures

Warren

Rose Cottage: an update

Rose cottage is back in the works after not being able to work on it at the level I want to put into it. Due do my illness I was unable to finish it and have it at the May Sydney Dollhouse show. But I did invite Rosie who had travelled up from Tasmania to the show to come up and check it out.

She arrived and came into the house and was saying hello when she spotted her dollshouse from the kitchen doors "Is that mine" then no chance stopping her as she rushed down to have a look. I wish I'd taken some photos but I was just struggling to hold it together. Just to say I think she liked it, I believe the tears were of joy.

The plan is now that meds are finally working, is to have it ready for next month for pick-up and delivery to Rosie in Tassie before a particular special event.

Yours in miniatures
Warren

A New and Different Direction ?

2 Posts today, The first is to let you know about my New Kickstarter campaign for a 15 - 20mm Modern Urban Wargame Table.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/364110685/15mm-20mm-ww3-cold-war-urban-tabletop-wargame-terr

Not giving up Doll houses, but after 9 months of  neuropathic pain in my face (and a whole lot of different drugs to settle it unsuccessfully) and struggling to mentally keep up with what I need to do I had to find something that was smaller and of less mental requirements to keep me going. I started with one building and currently have what's here but have lots of other options on the go.

The other film prop that I was able to build is a replica of EMI Redd-37 audio mixing desk from Abbey Road Studios for a local TV show about the Easy Beets.

Made of MDF, plastic Knobs and paint.




Yours in miniatures (and other sizes)
Warren

A short update.

I've had 2 people today ask where my shop has gone. The answer is due to lack of patronage, I closed it. I didn't have the ability to keep it open with the number of sales happening and the costs associated. I primarily work as a props maker in the film and TV industry and this along with some large commissions has taken my time away from producing new kits. A catch 22 situation. All kits will still be available when I am not buried under with other work or health issues and new ones will still be released from time to time. I will be at the Sydney Dollshouse and Miniatures Fair in Sydney this weekend, but for the first time in 5 years not have a sales table. I will have an almost completed commission on display before it goes to Tasmania as well as the Alien Cinema.

Kits will be available through this blog or my E-mail from time to time when my health and commitments allow it. To those who have contacted me lately about kits, apart from the NZ Railway House I have no others in stock and I won't be able to cut new ones until later this month at the earliest. From experience I have found that if I try to make up kits when I'm busy with other work, the kits end up with missing pieces so I have found it better to leave them at the moment.

I'm not going anywhere and while their is an interest in what I do, I'll keep doing it.

Yours in miniatures

Warren


P.S.

 

1 of 3 marquetry gun cases for a Chinese TV production. 

Rose cottage update.

Just to show that even us experienced modellers can stuff up and have serious problems with our work, with all the extra rain and humidity over the last couple of weeks, the floor boards started to swell. 😒😒😒😒. I wasn't 100% sure of the reason but obviously the glue wasn't holding properly. This is not acceptable so the only way to fix it is to rip it up and start again. I am glad it happened here and not after its delivered, sometimes things go wrong, deal with it and fix it. My words of wisdom for a Sunday morning.
Fortunately when I started stripping the floors I found that the glue used hadn't gripped the veneers like it should have. The glue used, I think was the end of a can which was then thrown out, so it must have just been on the end of its usability and it was an extremely hot day when laid (40+), which could have contributed. A new container of glue and both levels of flooring done. They are looking beautiful again and stable.

But on a brighter note, the kitchen is starting to look like a room and apart from a couple of pieces of trim it and the smallest room in the house are done.The lower Half of the walls are tiled, the upper area painted and the ceiling is done as painted planked boards, it all adds character to a simple room.

No it's not the toilet but the space under the stairs.

So apart from skirting boards and lighting, the entrance, living room and  master bedroom are basically done.

Until next time.

yours in miniatures

Warren

The Grosvenor Hall has left the building.

The Grosvenor Hall commission has now left the building. This is just a short post as I'll do a more detailed post about this kit, my feelings about it and what we got done in the not to distant future. But for now I thought you'd like to see what we were able to accomplish to get this out. The house wasn't entirely finished as the film company only had funding for a weeks work, they got a bit more than that out of me and I also had assistance from Elizabeth Barnes (President of the Australian Miniature Enthusiasts Association) and my wife Elizabeth. Thanks for all your ongoing support.

We had determined to only decorate and dress 9 rooms in the available time and the house was picked up prior to all the furniture and dressings arriving so in the above photo the rooms are a little undressed.

Hope you enjoy. I'm now back working on Rose Cottage. Ceiling beams in the Living and Dining rooms, (a little hint to Rosie)

Yours in miniatures

Warren

"Grosvenor Hall" with Basement doll house kit

The second commission I'm working on at the moment is to assemble, decorate, light and dress a "Grosvenor Hall" with basement doll house kit for a film client in Sydney. Due to budget constraints we have had to cut back from decorating all 17 rooms to 9.

Sometimes constraints actually lead to a better solution, which is what has happened in this case. In the script there are a couple of actions requiring reaching into the main body of the dollhouse, the dollhouse is actually on display in an important location for the film. The suggestion I put to the set dresser was that if I left the basement and roof closed  and only have the main body open, the dollhouse would look more imposing and more like a dollhouse rather than a dressed bookcase. I assembled the photo below from a couple of photos off the net to show what I felt would work better, and this also saved time in decorating and finishing as well as the need to not dress 8 rooms.

 

The photo is only a proof of concept and it is not a guide to room layout or colour etc.

Unfortunately when the kit arrived, the basement had been glued together including all the doors, windows and trim, a litre of methylated spirits later and most of the trim has been removed ready to be sealed and painted.

Yours In miniatures

Warren