Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Making haste slowly

I've spent two days trying to make a quarter scale cauldron. Do not try this at home. Aaaaagh!! Having come to the point of whimpering 'life's too short for this . . .' I got out some 1:48 kits and relaxed by putting this furniture together.
They're next to a 1:12 scale chair :) It's surprising how quickly you get used to working with smaller scale - it was a real shock to hold the huge 1:12 chair, lol.

The gothic chair is from Karen Cary's Miniatures. I stained it with a mix of two parts raw umber and one part raw sienna acrylic paint. This was diluted with two parts water, painted on and then wiped off with a rag. The dilution means that you can repeat the application if you want to change the depth of colour. I used a piece of leather for the cushion.

The bench kit is from The Quarter Source. It's stained with a mix of one part raw umber to two parts raw sienna, applied in the same way, to look like newer oak wood.

Both kits are great - good instructions and fun to make :)
And here is the kitchen so far. I've aged the floor a bit, and added soot stains to the wall. The ash pile on the stove top is made of a mix of coarse texture gel, PVA glue, pale grey paint, and a few bits of larger texture (I used dried chopped rosehips - smells nice too!). After making the little pile, I grated chalk onto the wet mix and let it dry. It helps to mask the rest of the room when you do this to stop the chalk accidentally being rubbed in anywhere. When it's dry, rub the chalk into the pile and shake the rest off

More things I'm learning about quarter scale -
* don't cut your fingernails too short, you'll need all the help you can get, to pick things up!
* don't drink too much coffee!!! Even a little jitter is horribly magnified
* get the very best tweezers you can find, and keep them thoroughly clean
* keep all bits in a container - they get lost very easily
* anything wrong with a mini will definitely show up in a photo - I just enlarged the pic of the chairs, and the leather cushion looks like a slice of cheesecake, lol :D

Still enjoying it!

Glenda

12 comments:

  1. You need a lot of dedication and patience to work with a so small scale! Good luck ... I'm curious to see the finished work.

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  2. Oh my gosh! That 1:12 chair looks fit for a giant!! The little ones are super cute, and the kitchen looking fabulous. However I'm still not sure whether I should admire you for tackling it or send for the men in white coats ;)

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  3. I admire you for having a go at this scale. I'm sure it must try your patience!

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  4. OMMMMMGGG!! So cuuuuttte! No tiny scale for me for sure. No coffee??No way!

    I like them for the saving of space but they are so small, I will need a magnifying glass to work on them. I can't imagine what a blob of glue will look like on that chair :)

    So you are amazing, Glenda!

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  5. Thank you so much for this photo with 1:12 chair - I knew 1:48 is much smaller but not THAT much LOL! Love the kitchen so far and I love the tips you wrote, dear Glenda:) They made me smile:) I wouldn't have a problem with coffee but loosing all these tiny parts would be the easiest part for me ;D

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  6. Glenda gracias por tus consejos.
    Tiene que ser imposible (para mi desde luego) trabajar en esa escala y que te quede tan bien, la silla es una maravilla.
    besitos ascension

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  7. This are the things that I learned reading your posts about quarter scale:
    NOT FOR ME
    NOT FOR ME
    NOT FOR ME
    But you are great :-)
    Mini (quarter scale) hugs
    Flora

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  8. Fantastic - you do all the work and I can sit here and simply enjoy... Your experiences, trials etc. are so interesting - and so much fun. You're doing a stunning job, and that pic is amazing. Very impressive to see the difference that way!

    Greetings
    Birgit

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  9. Glenda you must have nerves of steel to do this small a scale :) The furniture shows amazing detail for being so tiny.

    Hugs
    Victoria

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  10. Love the photo of the quarter scale furniture next to the 1:12 th scale chair!!! It is sooo tiny!! And looking really good!

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  11. Glenda, You are doing such a fantastic job on this tiny scale! I look forward to seeing more!

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  12. Love your work. I thinks is fantastic.

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