Chapter 102 & 103 - Arm rests, Tiling

A kyōsoku for inspiration.

September 19th - 30th 2014

Chapter 101 was done previously when I needed to construct and install lamps.  So now I am at chapters 102 and 103.  These both had parts to the little arm rests - the kyōsoku - that accompany the chairs without legs.  At first I thought they were overkill but checking some materials that came with the kit and looking on line, I guess these little arm rests were used even during the the 20th century.  Some even had little drawers in them so you could have a place to store things - like a bedside table.  Today they make them still but obviously with a more modern tilt. 
The kit had the armrest pieces split between the base and the “cushion” which is basically a piece of wood that would be sanded down and rounded.  I didn’t like the fabric that was included so I pulled out some fabric from my scrap box.  It says that the armrest is usually decorated to not take away from the design of the flat pillows of the seats.  But I couldn’t really find any fabric that I liked.  I had lots of different cushions.  So in the end, I opted for the kimono “fabric” I had made for my doll.  This is actually paper and I hoped that it would be easier to fold and attach to the “cushion”.  In fact, it was.  I then attached the bottom piece to the cushion and clamped it together for a bit.  Once that was dried, I attached the cushion to the base and painted a bit of varnish overall.  I think the final effect is more than sufficient.  I placed some in the music room and the other two in the firepit room.

Arm "cushion" before on left, after sanding on right

Using double sided tape on top and bottom to add the "fabric"

Attaching the "cushion" to its base.

Finished arm rests.

Back to the tiling.  I finished adding tiles to the side of the roof and now started on the center front section.  I used the same method as before, measuring from the bottom and using a 1cm piece to find the straight edge.  Once I finished that, I started on the back center.  Just like before, some of the tiles were either very bowed or a little “off” in not matching up.  I put aside the ones that were really off and left them to be used on the lateral sections.  I had to reglue areas where the bowing caused the tiles to lift up even after holding them for a while.  Those little weights came into use again to set some of the tiles since they were being so stubborn.  While those set, I started looking at the installation of the back left lateral tiling.

Right side tiling completed.

First row of middle section tiling.

Center section completed.

Back tiling section completed. Using the weights to fix the bowed tiles in place.

Even if I had measured the straight edge at the bottom, the tiles, being straight, really didn’t match up with the eave’s edges or with the tile I had installed previously.  So I had to come up with a solution to make them fit a little better.  And that was pretty much lining things up with the eave edge and dealing with the fact that the tiles will not be perfect.  But, that was ok.  I don’t suppose any roof tiles anywhere are prefect.

Adding the right side back tiles.

Thrid row of tiles. Very bowed.

Final tiling to complete the chapter.