Steeple Church - Work in Progress - Day 4 - Door

Today I worked on the door and had a pleasure to spend some time installing the hinges, :))).

I added some laser cut ornate brackets to the inner side of the door

I also added 2 little angels and handles that were treated with a layer of Copper

and Blue Patina on the top

The door was stained with Red Oak stain

to match the walls

However, I am not sure I like how the door blends with the walls right now...

This is an outside look of the door

I started painting the walls inside the church and for now I have this look

Are you excited about coming Thanksgiving? I am! I love this family holiday! More than that I am about to announce a Thanksgiving Giveaway! So, keep in touch!

All the best,
Natalia

Steeple Chuch - Work in Progress - Day 3 - Grain

The walls of the church that I prepared last time didn't convinced me. I decided to enhance the grain of the wood to bring it as close to the scale as possible. On the picture below you can see the difference between 2 walls. On the left side the wall BEFORE and on the right side - the wall AFTER I worked on the grain. Don't you agree this piece looks older? The look I am going for...

Close up of the non-sanded walls with enhanced grain

I used a soldering iron

and blades, that I purchased from Micro-Mark, to enhance the grain.

I also managed to cut out pieces for the door today

Hopefully, tomorrow I will have more free time to dedicate to the Church, :)))

Natalia

Steeple Church - Work in Progress - Day 2 - Walls

Since last April when we moved to a new house, my workshop is located in the garage that makes it so uncomfortable for me to work - I like comfort. It is more unpleasant to work now, when it is so cold outside and the door of the garage preferably should be opened. So, last Friday, when I cut the main parts for the Church, spending just a couple of hours in the garage, I got cold.

No, seriously? How ridiculous is that? Cold knocked me down not just for the rest of the day, but for the whole Saturday as well. Somewhere in a midday, when I finally understood that I will not get rid off horrible headache, weakness and dizziness on my own just "meditating" and building plans on how I want to finish the walls of the church, I finally took a decision to take medicine. I stuffed myself with horribly tasted liquids and fell asleep. I woke up Sunday morning feeling much better and ready to work.

So, in spite of the fact that Saturday was wasted, I managed to finish the inside walls of the church.

The inside walls of the tower will simulate the wood finish. I use the birch plywood for the project and want to cut the lines simulating the planks of the wood. I took the walls and marked each 0.5" on them.

First I decided to cut the lines using my big saw,

but after trying to cut one line on the waste board, I understood it is out of the scale, the groove is too big...

Yes, I had to use a little table saw, hoping the pieces of the walls are not too big for it...

It worked pretty well, and I liked the result

I stained all 3 walls with Red Oak stain,

and did the same with the roof

I also applied some paper clay on the walls of the hall and they are drying now.

I put a base for the church together,

the walls look like this now.

You've noticed a piece of wood on the base. This is a back panel for the top of the tower. The stained side will go inside.

While I am waiting for the paper clay to dry, I probably will go to stitch.

Happy Monday!

Natalia

Steeple Church - Work in Progress - Day 1 - Base

I prefer to have a couple of projects to work with at the same time. Sometimes I stumble upon something and while I am trying to solve the issue, I still can work but on something different. While I am trying to figure out what I want to do with the ceiling and the second floor in the castle + doors, I started to prepare pieces for my new project. It will be The Steeple Church.

If you follow my another blog www.memyselfandscrollsaw.com, then you saw I prepared pieces to cut out using the scroll saw.

Today I cut out the main pieces of the structure: floor, walls, roof. I did a rough dry fit and here you can see the front of the future church

the sides

the roof and inside the church

I still need to do some corrections and will start cutting out more intricate parts for the windows and a door.

Have a great weekend!

Natalia

Castle - Work in Progress - Day 4 and 5

I almost started crying when I saw the non-working resin doors that were in the kit for the castle.

This is one of the "pros" and "cons" of a workshop: you don't know what to expect, but you always have expectations for the best, almost like gambling... I didn't like those doors and wanted them to be made of wood.

I took a piece of wood that was supposed to be a second floor

and cut 3 doors out of it:

The doors will remain non-working and they are not finished yet. I am working on the hinges and the door handles. Why I decided to leave the doors non-working? I really don't know who's castle it is and who lives there. I think I will go with an idea of an abandoned poor thing...

I finished applying the paper clay on the inside walls, I have to correct some spots, and paint the walls, ...and since the second floor piece has been used for the other purpose I have to make another one.

For now my abandoned castle looks like this

As Rick Pierce keeps saying: "The most important part is if YOU like it..." I like it and I like working on it!

Talk to you soon!
Natalia

Castle - Work in Progress - Day 3

I must admit, I am not lucky with cameras at all! Last summer I sank my camera in the lake (not in purpose of course, :))) Bought a new one (was not very happy with it!) and broke it. It took me a couple of days to become an owner of a new camera. Who knows how many of them I will own in future!, but it explains why I didn't post pictures of the progress on my Castle.

So, back to the Castle.

The floor is finished, sanded and sealed, looks very beautiful and smells fresh. You asked me where I bought the marquetry kit for the floor. I found a website of a wood artist Christy Oates, whose artwork is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She has a nice collection of marquetry kits that can be suitable for the flooring in 1/12 scale. Her website is www.digitalwood.com

As you have noticed, the fireplace is painted,

dragons and stands they are sitting on were highlighted with an antique gold.

However I haven't put white veins and didn't seal it yet. To give a marbleizing effect I used the acrylic paint and Faux Glazing Medium. I don't have marbleizing colors handy right now.

I finished painting all windows and doors

and did a little mock up to get a sense of how it will look like

This weekend I am planning to finish applying the paper clay on the inside walls. Here you can see the wall where the fireplace will go. Time to form the stones.

Talk to you soon and happy Sunday!

Natalia