1/48th New Zealand Railway house. 1920s

Hi all, or is there anybody out there, Pink Floyd's "The Wall", brilliant album.

Have been busy with finishing the New Zealand Railway houses, have 2 versions almost done. Version 1 is the Dutch gable roofed version that I showed in the last post with further refinements and a change to the lattice work, Version 2 is the N/S gable version with the diagonal lattice. The window in the center of the first photo shows that windows can be installed open or closed during assembly.

Front and left side of  NZR house Version 2

Rear of Version 2

Left side open

Right side open

N/S gable roof

Right side

Front elevation

I will get some photos of the revised Version 1 on later today.

Yours in miniatures

1/48th 1920s New Zealand Railway House for NZ Convention

I've got the first of the railway houses designed and built and then I got the 1930s rear addition made, so feeling pretty good as I'm quite happy with both. I will probably do a second version with a different roof and porch as well as the outside coal and W/C shed. I am very happy with the lattice work on the porch which is as per the original drawings.

 These kits will be on sale first at the New Zealand Convention in October, which I'm really looking forward to being at. The kit is made of Mdf, basswood ply, acetate and R/C board and is suitable for beginners up. I will be bringing over some finished samples for display, because even for me this was such a fun house of one's I'm familiar with from my youth in New Zealand.
 

1/48th Painted Lady windows and trim Instruction manual

1-48th Painted Lady -windows - Assembly manual

Proposal for Australian Convention 2015

As mentioned in the previous post I've been playing with the French Art Deco department store for next years Australian Dollhouse Convention. After a fair bit of thinking and with discussions with other miniaturists I've decided to put that as a workshop aside for later. The project will work as a workshop but only in 1/12th scale which will make it rather larger than I want for next year. I have figured a way to make it as sections that can be joined together to create a display building of various sizes and complexities. This will be a stunning display box for any collection of items, as one miniaturist friend said she's been waiting for the right thing to display her Wedding collection in.

Instead for next year my proposal will be an Australian Art Deco theater frontage with vestibule and Milk bar in 1/48th. The original is a local to me structure that still retains its Art Deco details but is no longer a cinema. I've almost finished the working drawings for the design and have ordered the electrics necessary to make it stand out. The workshop will include the assembling and painting of the structure, how to replicate chrome and some assembly and installation of working Neon lighting, spot lights and interior lighting. Also as part of the original design is a small Milk Bar that you can dress yourself or we can do a 1 day workshop during the year at the AMEA. Finished dimensions are 455mm wide x 355mm high x 225mm deep. This will allow some interior for the shop, the entrance and stairs to the balcony, and a section of roadway to be able to park cars in front of the theater. It also keeps it to a reasonable size for those running out of room for larger structures.

An Update on Helical House.
The Helical House is coming together beautifully, I've laid a Tasmanian Oak floor in the first room and Designed and printed wallpaper for this room as well, I'm making use of the spring sun to get components painted and dry.

 

This room is not completed yet, but the house is coming together the way I want it to. This room will become the living and entertainment room, a working TV on the end wall and some comfy couch's, I'm currently designing a variety of modern light fittings to work in this house, light switch's are fitted, just nothing to control yet.

yours in miniatures......

Further Ramblings from inside my head.

Hi all, been a busy couple of weeks and wasn't sure what to post about as structures are being built but not ready for showing photos yet. Have been making the 5 rooms and stairwell for the Helical House, it is starting to look good as I assembled 5 partially built rooms on to a variety of center shafts to see if they where going to work the way I see them in my head. They look great and the house as a whole is pretty fun.

I haven't had any spare time for the Theater so it sits there and looks back at me. It may have to be disassembled though as I had a phone call about some commission work for filming of a commercial which includes building approx. 30 1/48th buildings and some 1/12th and 1/6th versions. I need the space. Quotes have been done and I will hear on the 12th Sept so between now and then will continue with the Helical House and get the NZ Railway house designed so that if the job happens I will still be able to get things ready to take over to the NZ Convention. My timetable is tight as I have to finish the job, then fly to NZ for 6 days then back to Sydney for filming as soon as I return.

The other thing I've been working on are ideas for a workshop for next years Australian Dollhouse Convention because that needs to be designed and built by the end of January. My head is playing with multiple ideas, from room box's incorporating mirrors to do some film type trickery to an exterior of an Art Deco theater or an interior of a French Art Deco department store that can be done in levels to assemble a multistory building and trying to put a twist on traditional ideas without taking it to far or making it unachievable in a workshop setting.

This is a scan of a page from a 1926 book about Art Deco, and I just love the symmetrical look of this image. I would love to just replicate this but size would be an issue for people. I have an idea forming about using the style of this, and setting it up as a display space that you could showcase whatever you wanted to in it.

Until next time,  yours in miniatures