Sundeck part 2

... and other things---

TRARA! Done...

The sail softens the industrial look of the building ...

And the roof is on as well. My graphic artist friend Denise (who is the girl-friend of my one-line game buddy) works for a packaging company. I wanted large waves that were not sandwiched between two cardboards - she made it possible ordering some samples for me !!! 

Thanks Carol, Denise and Annina for helping me make the decision about the color. The 'ageing' bit will have to wait until you come to my place to do this, Annina :-))

Because I am really no good at painting, I used very fine real concrete to make the floor in front of the house ... had to cast a bit more to make the gully look real :-)

And then I noticed that the nano light in the ceiling at the entrance was greenish!! Horror!! There must be a bit of green in the wall paint - or maybe the light itself tends to give a green light.

I could resolve it to some extent by putting a brown parchment paper over the light. Now I can live with it. Hehe, and the entrance is finished as well! 

And here how I hid the electrical input:

First I tried the yellow ones used for model airplane building. But they were too tight - kept ripping the socket out when I wanted to unplug. Then I found these insulating screw joints - wonderful tiny and hold together perfectly :-))

At the end of a project, all of the sudden things come together very quickly - I thought that I had another 2-3 weekends to go. But there is not much more to do: looking for a bedspread in the right color, making the patio table, attaching the solar panels, a bit of vacuuming inside and cleaning the windows :-)

And then the photo shooting to make a short video again - this time on he beach. There are small patches of sand around our lake here - but do I really want to transport the model there??

Sundeck part 1

First weekend in a while thatI could spend some time on the container house.
The inside is complete (see previous blogs) but now comes the roof and the sun deck.

I decided that this house is at the beach - and made the most important thing first:



The grill plate is from Mini de Pierluigi and for the rust effect I found this great set:



The construction is starting to take shape...


Not much really - but enough for one Sunday :-)

Publication Doll's House Magazine Christmas Edition 2015

It has been a while since I sent an update. Been kind of busy at work and did not even get around to communicate this - and this really was my miniature highlight in December!!

Carol from Doll's House Magazine put together a great article about my previous project, the Swiss Log Cabin model:

She did this wonderfully - wrote a story and even gave some ideas on interior decoration items when furnishing a log cabin... just like in the 'big' magazines.

To see the full article

And for seeing even more - see the video on youtube.

Lounge corner, guest bed, dining area, lamps again... and finishing the inside

Loads of photos to show this time... ;-)

You probably noticed: designer lamps are really a passion of mine...
The first thing when I entered the venue for a birthday party last week, was looking at the lighting! I thought that these were awesome (Foscarini Tress) - and tried to make them in mini the next day. I got there - not quite as perfect as I wanted though - but after trying with string, fine paper, gesso, 2mm ribbon I settled for 60g paper, glue and gesso. And a tiny nano LED - after all it is just for ambience.

First thing I made for the lounge corner was the sofa. Not only did it have to have a 'light' appearance (heavy furniture in this small place would be suffocating ..) but it had to have the dual function of use as guest bed.

I shortened the legs somewhat because it was too high like this..

LOUNGE CORNER: Then there was the bookcase. I made one with foamed PVC - again as 'light' as possible but it turned out to be too solid and sturdy. So, I had these USM Haller 3D models I made a year ago (and never used): they looked perfect! Painting the chrome railings was a bit demanding because the base unit was not polished when printed and very porous... tricky. But you will have to look extremely closely to find the messy spots :-)

The bookshelf I made to look as similar as possible with 1mm foamed PVC. 

The printer is as well made from foam board. I enjoyed to finally use some of the loot from the Kensington Fair: vases from Ray Storey, wood bowl for the plant, baskets and a collectors item vase (on top) I found in at the Basel Dollhouse Museum two years ago.

The low table which Carol laser-cut for me from a design by Swiss Damian D, the candle from Roni, and this wonderful orchid from Petite Fleur (Gill Rawling): they all look great together. I printed the picture on fabric (thanks Annina) and did a bit of extra for the cushion. 

But I imagined sitting there and watching telly and doing nothing with my hands - not possible! So, how about a knitting project?

DiNING AREA: it took a bit of thinking to figure out how to hang the ceiling lamp above the dining table without attaching it to the ceiling, which I want to be able to take off. I fed it through the kitchen cupboards into a beam across the room - and I just see that I need to level this out ;-(

And I found a perfect place für Annina's shelf, filled with the wonderful pottery from French Elisabeth Causeret

With this, the interior is done now and I am ready to tackle the roof and the outside.

The ceiling with the spotlights is ready...

 

Kitchen

Things are moving slower than planned - but then life has its priorities.
Mine is the business at the moment. I am looking forward to the weekends with nothing to do.. but winter is in sight. Darn, I will miss the daylight for doing my mini stuff!

But I would like to show you some progress which dates back a while already. The kitchen turned out to be a real beauty:

Love the knives I bought at the Kensington Fair from Pierluigi Pirovano!

Details...

Looking in from the outside

... and sneak preview of the lounge corner ...

as long as the kitchen is tidy is is not bad to look at from the sofa either...

I did the kitchen fronts with foamed PVC, front for oven and dishwasher comes from Elf (ha, Roni and I now found out how to make these tiny knobs though...), lighting is nano LED, glass on the back of the working surface and sink&tap from my own 3D models on Shapeways (Evelin Klotz has an even nicer sink though..).

Once the bulbs are in the soil and we switched to wintertime - I am sure I have more time for my hobby again :-)

Next up is to complete the lounge/dining corner with all the deco stuff that goes with it, too.

BTW: I could do with a mini sewing or knitting basket - if anyone knows where I could get this...

Making the Entrance Door

I must have smelled that this entrance door is going to be a challenge! The amount of time I spent on it is staggering...

I wanted it to be a real one fitting into a frame and shutting tight. And I wanted the hinges to be hidden. And different on the inside and outside. And obviously open and close. Mhh...

I started by making an inside frame/door with 2mm foamed PVC with the idea of hiding the hinges between the the inside and outside frame.

In order to really secure the hinges in the existing 'steel' container frame there was only one thing to do: empty the house, turn it on its side and use the Dremel to cut grooves into the 2mm plastic wall!

I was nervous to mess up but it worked, sigh...

I used a 3mm foam board between the two doors so that I could press the hinges into the foam and the two door parts would really fit together without a gap. 

... now to modern door handles with a key hole...

I looked at these old fashioned brass handles it came to me in a flash!

 I took them apart, filed the knob flat on both sides, added a piece of silver band and spray painted it!

DONE!

Doing a bit of interior stuff: entrance and bedroom

Seeing the decorating concept coming together is fun and so rewarding! And I am so pleased to finally find a coat that looks perfect hanging, without the usual stiffness to it :-) It was made by Bette Jo Chudy of Shadow Box miniatures - a bit of find because there is not much of her work in the internet. My supplier was Kirsten Faust. 

The only issue in the bedroom was whether to have more storage space above the bed. But then - this house is so tiny that every possibility has to be used!

Storage even under the bed ;-)

'Dream' made by Carol Mitcheson

Cupboard fronts and shelving all done with foamed PVC 1mm

Candle in the jar from Roni Bailey

Taking photos in these small spaces is another issue - very few I can take horizontally.

But I don't think that this matters much...

Industrial aspects

Last week, I joined the two containers, did the wiring and the floor. I  found these great basswood panels at architekturbedarf.de and took a bit of a shortcut since I wanted a light and non-glossy floor ;-). Worked like a charm - except that not all of these boards were identical in color and it took a bit of fiddling around to give it a uniform look. If it was single boards this would have looked natural, but with 6 in a row it definitely looked odd! Next time I make a note to them when I order so that they select the panels according to color...

Centre unit not attached yet - but needed to see what it would look like ;-)

I then was able to measure the exact base frame, cut out the openings for the prongs of the fork lift and inserted the hooks for the closing things for the doors. 

Because I definitely was not keen on producing 16 identical 1mm thick (!) corners by hand I had them done in 3D printing a while ago - ready when the big day comes.

Here the parts I worked with

.. resulting in realistic lower framework

Next were the hinges and fittings on the (one and only) original container door. That took some thinking because I wanted it to open so that one can see the utility part with the electrical main board and boiler behind it. I put a socket in there as well for attaching the lights that will be in the roof part.

So, it now looks very impressive with all these fitting and rods :-) The opening next to it is for the house door - still undecided on what this should look like.

Just need the lock for the chain... I will eventually find one in the right size.

And just for the fun of it: the letterbox is ready for the postman!