The weeks fly by when making miniature houses

Another week has gone, been very busy designing and building a new room box idea for our local miniatures group. As mentioned last week I am designing a helical Art Gallery of room box's. I ended up going with a double helix to keep the height down. It now stands at a little over 1400mm high and 1350 across the base. It includes a spiral staircase and working lift in the center of the building. photos below are of the first test box.

 

The glass is just sitting in for the photos and only some of the structure is painted as my credit card has been illegally used in Japan and we are sorting out with the bank so haven't gone off to buy more of the framing colour to paint the bottom frame and to make up an exterior colour yet. The 2 grey walls are curved to match the arc of the interior lift well and the end flat wall is connected to the floor to slide out as a unit to set up your display. The notch in the bottom of the floor in the top photo is to allow the box to connect to the box below by overlapping 2 segments. The large glass wall to the left lines directly above the last glass frame to the right so will end up as a set of glass steps. I have also come up with the idea for a variation to become a modern house miniature of 5 rooms around a central atrium. A bit different than the Art Gallery but based from the same source.

I finally did find a little bit of time to work on the theater, have been working on the drawings and have assembled the basis for the front wall and the box's for 3 shops. Picked up some more mdf this morning and the paint since I started this posting so that now I can continue cutting and assembling the theater and some more work on painting the Gallery. The shops are approx a scale 22ft deep x 16ft wide x 12ft high. The shop box's are designed to drop down through the table to be dressed and finished. I will want to finish the entire structure before starting on all the myriad of details to start bringing it to life. I intend that this will be a fine scale miniature when completed so their will be lots of detail work to follow.

 

The first shop (shop 4) as you can see from the photo above has a chunk out of it because of the entrance into the foyer. As I have said earlier I am trying to find out what the original shops where, but if not I'm thinking of a  barbers in the far left (shop 1) It was one according to a 1937 photo, a flower shop (shop 3), a sweet shop in the above room (4) and a " I've forgotten for now" in shop 2.

Yours in miniatures

I know it's about time I kept up with a posting, I've not been overly well so life has been on the back burner. All kit orders are up to date . I have had a lot of positive responses about them so far, so thank you all, I look forward to seeing peoples results with finishing them.

I joined a local dollhouse group on Friday whose work I had seen at previous Sydney shows and enjoyed. We have decided to do another joint display piece for next years show. I suggested a stepped circular building along the lines of a spiral staircase to the group and it was enthusiastically accepted. One of the other members went to her box of goodies and pulled out a book on one of the New York museums and gallery that she had been to and enjoyed, this suggestion was discussed and all agreed that this was a fabulous suggestion as each person had ideas of what display they would like to present on their floor.

I am in the process of designing the building at the moment and I feel I have the design direction right to take back to the group for agreement. Each level will be a separate room box that each person can decorate and dress, then they will all be joined together to create a larger, more spectacular display. I will be cutting the first level later today to confirm that I have the details right. For me, this is my concept model, because it allows me to fine tune the details and to make sure that my 2 dimension drawings works as a 3 dimension form. I am going with a very modern design, lots of glass, with a slide out floor and rear wall to set up your display.Their will also be a spiral staircase and working lift in the model. At the moment is is 1400mm across and 2600mm high so I may look at making it a double spiral to lower the height. More details too follow.

I havn't had time to get back on to the theater, but I will be tomorrow. I have been collecting 1/12 resin figures to use as starting points for the people who will populate the display and be used as part of my story telling.

These are some of the members of my happy family before they are cleaned up and redone to suit what I need from them. They will basically stay as who they are but accessories like the violin, flowers and vacuum will be removed and replaced with much more detailed versions as well as some modifications to the cloths to suit my period and repaints.

Have just finished cutting out a VW kombi bus kit for my wife to take to one of her groups, This is part of the makecnc.com collection of purchasable plans from Paul and Julie Campbell at their web store If you have access to a laser cutter or cnc router, this site is the one you want to check out. All drawings come with variations for different thickness's of material and basic assemblt instructions. My dollhouse kits so far have been based on his designs but with a full redesign to suit using them as dollhouses and to put my mark on them.

until next time, yours in miniatures

Warren

1/48th and 1/24th Concept models

Over the weekend I put some concept models together, Concept models are a simplified version of what you are wanting to build so that you and others can get a visual 3d view of your design before  spend money and time and you build all the detail. In this case I built a pair of rooms one in 24th and one in 48th scale of a french palace side room, The purpose being for a client and I to decide which scale will give the client what is wanted and for me to decide if I can do the required detail in a particular size. The room box's I made are both of the same room with a hallway to the left and a balcony and view to the right. I like where possible to extend rooms because then you have more of a feeling of viewing into a section of a building, not just a box.

1/48th concept box

1/24th in lighter print

1/48th printer colour corrected

1/48th with front surround

1/48th over 1/24 before reprinting small version

A concept model allows you to see what works and what doesn't, In this box the railing hides that I'm using a bent photo which means I can keep the box smaller, but I need to do something with the back wall of the hall, possibly a mirror reflecting the hall and a new print against the rear of the front of maybe a hall going around a corner.

Yours in miniatures

Some news for the week, and other ramblings

Hello all spent some time today making some soft safety knives for a TV show, always interesting making things out of other materials look like something else. The other news from this week that has had my head thinking is I've been asked to do, an up to 3 day workshop at the AMEA 15th Convention October next year. This has got me rather excited, the theme is "through the looking glass" which to me will be nothing about Alice, but more about a different way of looking at a miniature room or rooms and how our perceptions can be deceived between our eyes and our brains. I have a very clear idea of where I'll take this but I want to keep the details until next year. I will probably show some of the developmental work here but an illusion isn't the same when you see behind the curtains. It will be traditionally a doll house miniature but not like most have done before.

The other great news for me is that I'm off to New Zealand in October this year to attend the NZAME Dollhouse Convention in Richmond on the South Island. I have bought my airfare and booked my accommodation so all being well I look forward to how things are done in my homeland, I'm actually a kiwi in disguise in Aussie. It sounds like a great show and I'm really looking forward to it. I have also sent in my membership application form to become a member of NZAME. I also a little nervous about the possibility of seeing some of my kits finished for the show as a few have found homes in NZ.

The other big news of the last week or so is that I've been offered some dollhouse commissions which are a little out of my usual time period but that for me is half the fun learning more about architectural history and about why things were done the way they were and what that would say to people. In other words rooms or building have a purpose and they tell a story, from the over imposing very tall rooms of a palace to a small fire side nook, sometimes it's to impress with power or control or simply somewhere to snuggle, feel safe and secure and enjoy you and your family's world for a time.

Now with everything else going on I have to make sure to keep working on new kits, progressing with the Theater, which with the help of a head scenic artist friend, have come up with the base colours. So until next time.....

Yours in miniatures

A small error has been found in Tudor Mill Kit

Hello everyone,
my apologies,a small error has been found in the Tudor Mill Kit. On the deck level the slots that fit the end wall nearest the waterwheel are missing from kits cut and posted. To fix this at this stage  cut the tabs from the bottom of this wall as you still have the top and end tabs for alignment.
As you can see in the assembly manuals photo they where there for the sample built and photographed but went missing to wherever socks go on holiday.

Or if you require a replacement floor please contact me and I will arrange it.

Right hand end showing 2 inner slots that are missing in current kits

Yours in miniatures

When the works at bay my mind will play, After getting some parcels to the post office and the laser is busy cutting the first sheet for a Painted Lady, I thought I might try a little turning and game up with this 1/12 vase as a first attempt, It's ok but needs to be a little more delicate for my taste, but it was an attempt worth playing with and next one will be better which is always the way, you learn from doing.

Mind you Bill is still keeping an eye on the time I spend playing around, blooming slave driver, and he works for me, not the other way around.

Warren

Thank you

Firstly a huge thank you to everyone who's shown interest in my new kits, They have been exceptionally well received and so far this week have sent orders to New Zealand, NSW, QLD, and Spain with multiple orders to go out tomorrow to the UK, the USA, NZ and NSW. and orders awaiting completion to Tasmania and more to Spain. It has been a little more than I was expecting, but I know that these will go to good home builders and I do look forward to seeing the endeavors from around the world. I have been busy cutting out and boxing up 6 kits at a time on my bench which has been fun.

I would like to show photos of peoples finished houses on this blog, so as an incentive to anyone who sends me a photo of their finished house that I can post on this blog, I would like to supply a small laser engraved plaque with your house name, builders name and date built as a thank you. I will be finalising the design for this shortly and will post a picture of some options.

Yours in miniatures

Warren

1/48th Fairy Tale Villa photos

Have got some new photos of the Fairy Tale Villa, finally got this one assembled to take photos for the assembly manual.

 This kit costs $38.00Aud and weights < 1Kg for postage

Verandahs around 3 sides

6 Rooms and an attic

Gothic styling

  

 I hope you like the look of my latest kit, I'm pretty happy with it and am looking forward to seeing what others do with it.

Yours in miniatures

Warren

1-48th Fairy Tale Villa assembly manual

1-48th Fairy Tale Villa - Assembly manual.pdf