I'm thinking ahead to the time I work on the study / library / workspace in the WAHM. I really wanted the scientific gentleman of the house to have a nice terrestrial globe (among his other instruments) and decided to refinish a store-bought one to look more 17th century.
STARTING POINT
Here's the 3 inch (7.5 cm) globe and stand I bought -- it's by Euro Minis and it's dirt cheap :) Typical faux-mahogany stand, and a pretty garish globe, but the basics are usable.
INSPIRATION!
Here's my inspiration -- two 17th century globes and a Mercator projection circa 1665. One thing I love about miniatures (particularly working with a specific historical period) is how much I learn as I go along. At the time of this Mercator map they knew where western Australia was, something I didn't know. So recreating the inspirational globes led me to this process:
1. Take the globe apart (this was surprisingly easy, besides it's fun sort of wrecking stuff :)).
2. Paint the wood of the base a combination of burnt and raw umber to mimic walnut. Paint the legs black to mimic ebony. Give it two coats of satin varnish.
3. Paint the globe's support brass/bronze.
4. Repaint the globe itself, which took a while :) I painted the whole globe a dirty parchment colour, then roughed in the continents using the Mercator projection as a guide with a darker colour. Then I did a more detailed outline of the continents with a black pen, and finally cleaned up the sea/land meeting points and sketched in some "lettering".
5. Reassemble the globe, with axis straight up and down (as in reference images of globes). Since I had to break the original wooden stick that held the globe in place in its support, I used a length of brass wire as a replacement and I added a little flat brass spacer and bead just for detail.
And here's the finished piece!
Sandra's Spring Collection....
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My long-trailed Mignonette Doll Presentation Box Kit is now available!
Full details and photos can be found in this PDF file, along with several
other g...
18 minutes ago
Great make over!:)
ReplyDeleteIt certainly looks a lot better dulled down. Excellent makover.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing. A globe was top on my list of dollhouse needs and I'm not too happy with the one I bought. Maybe it will get a makeover as well!
ReplyDeletelooks like the one in my college library! fantastic work!
ReplyDeleteNina has struck again!
ReplyDeleteI find your work of recovery very successful: when things are not there, you must create them :-)
Mini hugs, Flora
Perfectly perfect! Don't you love it when a plan comes together? ;-)
ReplyDeleteA wonderful makeover! Very inspiring!
ReplyDeleteMakeover Queen!! This is so much of an improvement on the original - brilliant!!
ReplyDeleteNina, I love your globe make-over! The change to a vertical axis is something I never would have thought of! It looks just right in the WAMH. I look forward to seeing this Gentleman's room!
ReplyDeleteTu inspiración ha sido acertada, ha quedado estupenda.
ReplyDeleteUn saludo
Maite
Amazing miniature! Great work.
ReplyDeleteWonderful!!!
ReplyDelete