This and that...

I am a bit stuck with my beach hut: Pierluigi (Pimini) from Italy has not sent me the two-plate gas hob yet. Because I cannot get to the kitchen area once I glue the house together, the walls are just taped together, at the moment.

Bildunterschrift hinzufügen

With all the goodies I got in Chicago this hut is more than full... 😏. Not quite my usual style - but then my son reckons is looks like a perfect hang-out for the surfers! He added the binoculars and got me to make a weed plant ... a must have for the boys 😉

Outside shower has still to be installed

Please note the beer crates - a rare find!

Not only did I learn how to make a boat and carve surfboards - but with excellent tutos I made as well a fishing net and glass floats!

Another issue is how to photograph this properly? I mean, Switzerland is not exactly known for sandy surf beaches 😏 I know quite a few sandy spots at the lakes but - surprise - there are always mountains in the back!!
Any ideas are welcome!

But I was busy with other things as well. I added more chairs to my Shapeways shop - mainly modern ones. They turned out great but sanding and painting them does usually take some time...

Sturdy Softshell Chair - difficult to cover with fabric so I opted with chalky paint

Dainty...I am amazed how they can print this!

This is as is with legs and all

This model is 'seat only' and I attached real wooden legs - took me a while ;-)

The industrial lampshade is great as well and I want to try this asap. Because it can be printed in metal it should hang perfectly.

Printed in matte black steel - a bit too rough for my liking,
I will try a different polished metal next time

And then I started my next project!!
More about this in my next blog...

And yes - it is definitely not a room box!

Here what I would like to share with you though:

Just dicovered wood veneer fabric from Halbach!
This opens new possibilities...

For minis the 'stone' s best because of the fine grain

Not sure if you know this tool - but I simply could not do without it!
Measurement marking ruler -- also available in metric version

So, enough for today!
Regards, Marion 

Chigaco Mini Shows 2017

Not only 1 but 3 miniature shows were running during 5 days and all of them within 20km distance!!

- 3BlindMice was your run-of-the-mill stuff, but excellent for 1/2" and 1/4".
- The Miniature Show was of excellent standard with a manageable amount of exhibitors (... it was possible to find the table again where I spotted something earlier..). See lots of photos of artists at Facebook site
- Tom Bishop Show was huge with some extremely high-end minis and artists. Seeing these high standards is challenging..

What I learned:
- Always book for previews in order to have first choice!
- To go home straight after the dhow because I am ready to try all new things

Here what I collected for my contemporary style during the past days

Dorota from MiniFanaberia

Yukio Kawai in Tokyo, Japan

From Dorota of MiniFanaberia, and the sewing machine and, and....

Lidi Strout Basketcase Miniatures - the best!  ..filled with fruit from various artists

English quality with real bristles, best toothbrushes I have ever seen

...and Marie  Michael Creutz from minis2you have great ice skates, too...

Exquisite raku pottery from Hairy Potter

Yukio Kawai in Tokyo, Japan

kitchen tools collected from various producers

and Ulus Miniaturas has not seen the last of me...

Stunning! From Pia Becker - Lamis Minis

Unfortunately Kari Bloom was sick and not there with her stunning furniture - I would have loved to see this in real...

My bag is not only with lots of ideas but as well with material from Michaels, Blick, HobbyLobby and other shops where I spent hours browsing and hunting.

This was as mind blowing as it can get!
And it was great meeting some remarkable mini artists and making new friends 😎

Vacuum Forming a Miniature Boat with Styrene

Every Beach Hut needs at least a rowing boat!

After countless trials making this with thin balsa strips I was a bit at a loss.
But then I chatted with Dorota from Miniafanaberia about styerene and this got me onto the right track!

I made the shape of the boat with foamboard layers and after thorough google video research about vacuum forming, I gave it a shot because I had a few glossy 2mm styrene sheets anyway (stashed away because I thought I would never use them..).

First I made the vacuum box using a plastic box, made a hole big enough for the vacuum sucker, and closed the box with wood and plenty of wholes in it.

I tried with two kind of frames.

Sheet tacked onto the frame and sits on TOP of the box: good for small items because there is less styrene waste

Sheet is clamped between two frames and is LARGER than the box: good when you need the entire sucking area of the box

The great thing though: it worked first time!! And this with rather thick 2mm styrene....

Only with the surf board the first try was not ok because the styrene was not long enough in the oven

I made three of them because it was so easy 😀. Cut them into three different heights.

Added 2x1mm rim on top with super glue. 

And here the finished product (anchor and fishing net missing..)!

Beach Hut Kit

After all these large house I built during the past years, I am running out of storage space!!

So, this is a smaller project using a pre-fab (mdf) from the dollshousebuilder in the U.K.

Bashing it and covering the walls with siding still offers plenty of room for creativity...

As a first I covered the inside and outside walls.
I used a 'plank' for the inside. Only 0.8mm thick!

The overlap clapboard outside siding I could only find in the U.S., 2mm thick.
Both are great because they are so thin!

And I covered the floors with veneer.

Making these sash windows was a 'first' for me: I used 1mm thick wood to make them look as dainty as possible.

For the round window I found something suitable in the plumbing section of the hardware shop...

I was so excited to finally find a local wood supplier in Switzerland after all my mini building activity! And not just online - he even has a shop about 50km away! And he has the full range of Everlast plastic products are well.
Rummaging around there was like being in heaven :-)

Now busy trying to integrate basics in this tiny inside space..

I keep you posted.
Marion

Tutorial wooden folding chairs

Once I found the right drawings and measurements making these chairs was quite easy.

They do not really fold but it is easy to make a folded one with the these drawings.

Materials needed:

• Wood strips 3x2mm
• Round 3mm wooden sticks or skewers
• Wooden U-shape profile with 2mm inside measurement
• 7x1mm wood for back rest

Download drawing with measurements



Construction

• wet back rest, bend and let dry round  a bottle or so
• cut the wood pieces and sand them lightly
• make the seats with the u-profiles and wood strips

glue side pieces together using a fram of some sorts

glue seat onto the one side

place chair upright against a straight wall and glue on other side

glue backrest and foot rests between sides
- paint or varnish but don't spray them accidentally with a primer instead of varnish like I did 😏. Well, they are now in for a color rather than looking like wood..
- stick 'metal' hinges onto sides

The only fiddly part is the assembly. But with forms and guidance bits it works just fine.

Enjoy -

Marion

Provence House Videos

Here the summary of a year's mini passion!
Enjoy!

Video of the model

Video of 'behind the scenes'

Provence house patio with tree

The last project was the garden - and that is now blooming with lavender and has a large plane tree. It turned out just the way I wanted it to :-)

After straightening this branch of wood for a couple of months in the vice, the stem is much straighter now. Glueing some 2500 leaves on the tree was actually very rewarding. Nothing one could really do wrong. I don't think I ever 'heard' so much TV in a long time...

Just spray painting the paper for the leaves had its suprise: one of the cans left lots of dust, which creeped in everywhere in the room! It took me some time to clean up my hobby room and every shelf...Lesson learned: only spray outside!!

'Tree planting' was not about getting the shovel out! The tree needed to be removable. Drilling straight into the stem and getting this alu rod straight was very interesting... 

A bit of lawn in front of the pottery studio - could not find pebbles the right size...

I bought the garden furniture at the Paris fair earlier this year. After a little work on it (it was an awful blueish green and the table top was not in proportion with the bench) I am happy with it. For a moment I fancied the furniture from Catherine Ferouelle but it would have been a bit too shabby-chic for this freshly renovated house ;-)

Basically, this house is now complete!
Video summary to follow...

Marion