Chapter 56b - The First Floor Stairs (lower section and landing)

March 27th - 28th 2013

This is the first of two chapters for the stair installation to the 2nd floor.  The structure is fairly complex (not just a straight forward stairway to the next floor) made up of landings.  So even if I only have one more floor to add, there are two sets of stairs and an intermediate landing.

The stairs go together fairly quickly.  Thing is that putting them together is easy but after when it comes time to fit them, they will probably have to be sanded a bit and then repainted again.

I have already painted and varnished the stairs so whatever ends up having to be fixed will require less painting since once they are in place, the fit is quite tight and hard to work in such a limited space. 

Stair risers....

...and treads being placed.

Heavy coats of lumpy varnish.

I noticed that my gloss varnish has gotten all lumpy.  I’ve had to add water to it.  I mean, I have used quite a bit of it and admittedly over a year has gone by so I suppose everything really does have a shelf life.  Whatever.  It’s still nearly full so I am not spending money on another jar.  Will just double up on coats of paint.

Lumpy gloss paint, thinned with water. Pretty yucky.

Chapter 60b - Right Side Porch Awnings, The Egg Carrier

March 12th - 26th 2013

The adding of the awnings has pretty much been documented previously.  It’s just a matter of making up the little shingles and slowly taking the tape off the back and sticking them on.  As simple as it seems, it’s very time consuming and boring.  Obviously you have to ramdomize the placement a bit.  I realised tho that at the end of the whole installment, I had made very few ultra-dark colored shingles so I had to just touch up some of the shingles with some darker brown to make the awnings match the other side.  Another change I made was that this time, I cut to size the smaller underside beams so that I wouldn’t have to go crazy afterwards trying to install the larger corner beams on the underside.  This way, I just installed the smaller beams, stained, put on the shingles, installed the awnings, tested the fit for the larger corner beams then stained those and painted the tips white and installed those.  They glued in perfectly.  DONE! (almost as annoying as making the tatami mats....)

Positioning the awnings and sanding to make sure they match up.

Glueing the small underside beams.

Preparing the underneath beams for later installment of the larger corner beams.

Adding the shingles one by one.

After staining, painting the end tips white.

Adding the corner beams. Easier once the smaller ones have been cut to accommodate.

Awning glued in place with corner covers as well.

Finished awnings after adding a few darker shingles by touching up with dark brown paint.

Of course in my internet travels I always come across interesting little details that I can add to the house.  Some months ago, I came across a picture of eggs wrapped in straw.  When finally I ordered some eggs, I wanted to make this little wrapping but of course couldn’t relocate the picture.  After digging around for over an hour on the net, I came across it.  It’s from a book about Japanese packaging.  Even if the book is entitled “How to....” there is virtually no explaination on how to wrap these eggs.  And of course, as I am discovering, I couldn’t find anything upon searching (using every term from macramé to wrapping).  It seems trying to find "how to's" for any Japnese minis is nearly impossible.  I did find the pic tho and figured, “I’m clever...I can do this.”  Ah....arrogance.

After two days of screwing around with these friggin eggs, I had to resort to glueing them in place then working the “straw” (in this case raffia) around the eggs.  Yes, I know.  The eggs are the wrong scale (1/12) but I don’t care.  I still like the final effect.

Inspiration for egg wrapping.

Started by bunching up some raffia....

...then adding the eggs.  I had to glue them in place. I used a piece of acetate underneath so I could easily remove the egg bunch once the glue dried.

Finished wrapped eggs.

Hanging in the kitchen.  They look like ostrich eggs !

And now, I can move on to a few new things.  I want to install the stairs next before actually making more bamboo blinds for this side of the house.  And I have been stressing about actually getting the house mounted onto its base.  I think another trip to Ikea for some kind of table/desk on wheels is in order ?

Intermediate Work - Back Pack and Basket

February 25th - 27th 2013

Over the past year, I have spent a lot of time looking for objects and inspiration on the internet.  I would search out anything that had “japanese” or “miniature” in it just to see what kind of objects were being sold or created.  I’ve come across lots of objects (some too expensive for me to purchase and in any case the wrong scale) and lots of tutorials.  With my latest hiatus, I warehoused in my brain, computer or pinterest a ton of ideas.  This idea came from a combination of a picture I came across and some experiences from my past.

First of all, this is the picture which I had saved to my computer.  By the info of the file, I found it in October of 2012 (during my Halloween break).  I cannot find who it belongs to so I am unable to give credit where it is due (if this is yours, please message me and let me know!).  I loved it so much but I do remember it was the wrong scale (1:12) so even if I wanted it, I couldn’t use it.  But I could use it as inspiration.  I wasn’t sure how exactly it worked till I was watching the film “The Ten Commandments” one night (classic) and during the Exodus, many of the freed slaves had these sort of wooden framed carriers to haul wood, food and....baskets full of stuff.

So, backtracking for a moment, many years ago while I was at University getting my art degree, we had a scupture professor who was a bit bohemian.  Long hair, soft spoken, work boots and a very large basket style back pack.   I had never seen anything like it.  My dream back then was to get my degree and get a masters in costume design.  I used to come to classes ready to throw on the ceramic wheel or chisel at my marble wearing angora sweaters, 3 inch heeled suede boots...well you get the idea.  I never ruined or dirtied any of my clothes but I was very much the complete opposite of the majority of my fellow students - not to mention professors.  Anyway, that damn back pack was so foreign to me it ended up being the way I remembered him through the years.  And by this link, it's not like it was inexpensive!  Recently he has even had a show at the Maine Museum of Art but all I can still picture of my memory of him was that damn bohemian back pack. 

So, I decided to make the basket and the wooden carrier.  My homage to Duncan Hewitt ??

The first thing I had to do was map out more or less the scale.  Since the humans in this house would be 3-4” tall, the carrier had to be fairly small.  The basket could be bigger than the carrier (testiment the Exodus slaves in the movie) but I had to figure out the size and how to lash the shoulder straps to the wood.  I had also decided to notch the small pieces of wood otherwise the carrier would be too awkward and bulky.  After that, a little paint, wood paste and sanding did the trick.  I ended up macrameing the shoulder straps as no other solution was plausable.  The scale is so small that the crochet thread was too tiny (my hands cannot work that small anymore, they kept cramping up) so I opted for the kitchen string which worked out better than I thought. 

Working out the proportions and cutting the pieces.

Notching the pieces.

Fitting them with a little glue and wood paste.

Fitting the center support piece.

Adding the straps using kitchen string and simple macramé.

Adding the basket/load support pegs.

Finished dirtied carrier

The basket was as a lot of fun.  I had checked out a few tutorials and one by “1 inch minis” was wonderful but I just didn’t have the materials to carry it out.  I ended up going with the tutorial for the shopping cart from “Collectors Club of GB”.  I liked this method for two reasons.  One I could actually print out something on photo paper (I went to a site and had “First House” translated to kanji - thus batptising my ryokan) and two, I could use the wire that I had on hand to work with. 

The method was pretty straight forward.  Only a few steps I changed.  I used double sided tape instead of glue to fold over the ends of the basket and I added a strip of rice paper on the top and bottom to reinforce it.  I painted it with a mix of glue and water to help the wire stick to the paper better.  Then, I painted the inside and paper strips on the top and bottom and finally varnished the whole thing.  Once dry, I could distress it as much as I wanted.  I’ve been using some old makeup eye colors and brushing layers on to finished pieces gives it a nice dirty used look.  Sometimes it gets a little sparkly, but just burnishing it a bit with your fingers removes any excess.

Wires cut and ready, printed "basket" with "First House" in kanji. My printer 

 ink was running out!

Measuring out 1/4" spaces to make cutting more precise.

Sliding in the wires.  No need now to glue as I did that afterwards.

Using a small piece of flat wood to facilitate inserting the wires. I then cut out the basket and folded and fixed the edges.

I used a travel size square lotion bottle to help keep the shape of the basket.  It was easy to trim to size. I also had a small square piece of balsa wood for the bottom.

After covering it with a mix of glue/water, the wires were fixed by adding a small strips of rice paper to both top and bottom.  Then covering again with the glue/water mix.

After painting the rice paper strips, I varnished it and distressed it using old eyeshadow powders.

I added the last braided strap to hold the basket in place (when attached to the carrier), distressed the carrier and the trick was done.  I really like the finished piece.  It was a lot of fun seriously.

Braided safety strap to hold the loaded basket.

My bohemian back pack.

March 2nd 2013

Added a small sewing hook painted black to the back wall to hang the back pack on.  The basket I placed below it as I figured it'd be near the back door for quick access when they need to go out and gather wood or something else.

Kitchen with the backpack hanging on the back wall.

April 3rd 2013

My sister found an old foto of me at University and lo and behold next to me is the infamous basket.  Forget about my derby, the basket is what kills me!  And on a side note, I am sitting on the ground in a Norma Kamali coat.  Fashion plate to the last.  So 80's !

Raku firing in a Kamali coat. How chic!

17th October Update!
I found the original back pack picture ! You can purchase it here.  So glad.

Intermediate Work : Some Miniature Food stuff

1/24 scale bread, 1/12 scale bento boxes

November 6th 2012

I started navigating to search for miniature food stuff a long time ago.  The thing is I’d like  to learn how to use my Fimo so I can make some stuff but I just don’t have the manual control I once had.  I’m not writing it off just yet but I wanted to see if I could find some finished food and at the right price.

I searched a number of different sites and came across the problem of scale.  This house is slightly larger than half scale and not quite 1/12 scale but some things can actually fit even if they are larger scale.  The 1/24 scale is really very tiny and depending on the food I have to be able to see the objects next to a measuring tape or ruler or a penny to gauge if it’s correct or not.  Another hinderance was that I needed Japanese food.  The house is supposed to be a Japanese inn so I really needed some oriental dishes.

I found one site that makes really lovely detailed 1/24 scale food.  But it was much too small (see the loaf of bread on the table above).  So I ended up searching on Ebay.  I found two sellers out of Thailand that had very nice ceramic and food products.  One in particular had the Coke cooler which I really wanted in the foyer of the inn.  It also had the bento boxes and the dim sum bamboo steamers so I purchased from them.  I think the scale is going to look just fine and the prices are very honest.

Bento Boxes

Dim Sum

I also made purchases from another Ebay seller who also has their own site.  I got mostly fruit and veg from them and you can see those in my kitchen shelving.  They also had whole fish and some knives so I bought these from them too.  The fish were essential if I wanted to have fish plates being prepared in the kitchen.  In fact they look pretty realistic sitting on the butcher’s block.

Apples, pears and some sweets which I will use with a tea set.

The final purchase was from a food miniaturist who is pretty famous.  She makes lots of food and sells them in slices or in canes (which can be sliced by you).  They tend to be more expensive as a food solution but I was able to get hold of some sashimi packets (50pcs) some shrimp, salmon steak and smoked salmon.  I then could create my own dishes.  I eventually want these dishes to be set out in preparation for bringing them to the guest’s rooms. 

Tiny sashimi and lemon slices.

Shrimp, salmon steaks and sashimi.

I used liquid Fimo to glue the loose pieces onto the cute dishes (purchased off Ebay together with the Coke cooler) along with some sliced sashimi pieces on to the tray.  I also got some ice off the same seller and fimo’d that onto the tray.  All you have to do is heat the pieces up in the oven on its lowest setting to fix the liquid Fimo.  I think it works better than superglue or other liquid glue solutions because you have to wait so long for the glue to dry.

Fimo Liquid

Fish prep tray, sashimi and salmon plate

Set up on the table

I’m not sure if I can afford to make frequent purchases from the Angie Scarr site so I may have to attempt some Fimo food on my own (thinking about a joint of meat or something - or even a Kobe steak!) but I’m pretty far from that right now.

Intermediate Work : A Hibachi Grill

October 18th - 22nd 2012

Still working on some Halloween decorations but in between waiting for glue to dry, I found this really cute free hibachi printie.  So I had to make it.

Just to explain, a hibachi is a small grill that usually in America is used outdoors but in Japan can also be found in a table version.  They are usually also made of cast iron (ghisa) so they are pretty resistant to rust.  But I had two ideas for my hibachi.  One would be a grill that can be used in a room but also that it has been well used!  I wanted a little rust and dirt on my hibachi.

The printie was scaled down to my 1/20 size more or less.  I then glued it together and painted it black.  I also gave it a second hand of water/glue to harden it up and make it a little stronger.  I used paints and some fine grain sand to simulate the ash filled fire worn interior.  I’m surprised how effective this was.

Fine grain sand and some white and grey/blue paint for ashes.  Terracotta color for rust.

I used one of the plastic sink strainers (the ones I found 6/1 euro and made a basket of one in a previous post) and cut them up to make the grills.  A little paint and sizing and the grills look pretty good.  The last addition was to make some coals.  I had bought some “coal” when I went to Miniatur Wunderland in Germany (instead of black gravel, it’s actually cut up rubber which is pretty cool because you can cut pieces smaller or larger as needed) so just needed to paint them a little to simulate hot coals. 

Glueing the coal to the grate.

Top grate - empty habachi

Removeable coal fire.

With the top grate.  Just need some food for grillin'!

Now all I need is some food for my grill !!! (my next internet order...till I learn how to use Fimo clay I suppose.)

UPDATE
28th October 2012

Added a fish and some steaks to my hibachi.