Chimneys on and front of kitchen wing almost done

I glued the big chimneys on to the WAMH yesterday -- I still have to do the lead flashing round the base, but they add so much to the look of the building! I do love the extra height of the chimney pots.

And I pushed ahead with the brickwork and finished the bricking on the kitchen wing front. I have to make and finish the "stonework" waist of the building, which will be applied at the top of this wing and around the middle of the whole building.

I decided I wanted a little detail for the tops of the windows, so I used three of the quoin stones above the lintel of the windows to add some interest.  I think this motif, repeated across the facade of the house, will look quite nice.

I'm almost through slating the front of the roof, and then the roof will be well and truly done!

Sandstone modelling dust and starting the brickwork for the front

So yesterday afternoon I started playing with the sandstone modelling dust from Richard Stacey. It's actual stone dust, which you mix with PVA glue and water. The instructions suggest mixing equal parts of water and glue and then experimenting with the amount of dust you add to the mixture.

I found if I added too much dust it got weirdly gloopy -- too little and there's not enough texture. I ended up putting on many fairly thin layers and building up the texture on my window frames and the door surround. There are still places where things glooped but by and large I'm pleased with the results especially after I sanded down some rough places.

My door surround used to look like this, back in the day when I was going to have grey stone trim:

Since I'm changing all my trim to sandstone, I reworked the door finish. I used coats of the modelling dust and PVA/water mixture, but because this was being applied over the dark grey, it wasn't matching the window surrounds, which had their sandstone applied over the raw wood. So I cheated a bit, and touched up the colour with paint :) Now it looks like this:

 I also made a start on the kitchen front, having applied my quoins. I started with the bricks, and really love how warm this is looking!

Janet Granger's January sale is still on!

I just bought some silk gauze and a kit to make an embroidery on a needlepoint stand from Janet Granger, who has a sale going on.

If you've ever wanted to start doing 1:12 scale needlepoint, this is a great chance to pick up a kit for less. I started with a cushion kit from Janet, and haven't looked back :)  She also has kits on silk gauze for people who want more of a challenge!

And her postal rates are great -- my order is shipping for 1.50 GBP to Canada.

Chimney pots and sandstone quoins from Romney Miniatures

I'm so excited!  My order from Romney Miniatures in the UK has arrived at lightening speed and it's just perfect.

First of all, I ordered six large chimney pots for the main chimneys on the WAMH.

I applied a layer of tacky glue to the tops of the chimneys and then a layer of spackle/crack filler (because it was clear the spackle wasn't going to stick to the wood on its own). I applied glue to the bottom of each chimney pot and stuck them in place into the spackle, and then smoothed things out a bit.

I still have to paint the spackle grey to resemble the bed of mortar it's impersonating, and I need to blacken and soot up the pots themselves, but I'm so pleased!

And my quoin stones also arrived. These are separate sandstone slips, with bevels on three sides, and are sold in packages that will cover roughly 1 m in length.  They're really beautiful and are going to make this house pop!

Now to figure out how to use the sandstone modelling dust I have!

Knole settee for William and Mary house!

The amazing Kris Compass has done it again. She's created the most perfect Knole settee for me, to live in the blue and white room in the William and Mary House, and I can't wait to see it in person!

These photos will give you some idea of her exquisite work:

Thank you, a million times, Kris! You're a true artist and a wonderful person with whom to collaborate.

You can visit Kris's amazing blog, 1 inch Minis, which has tons of tutorials by the artist herself. You can also check out her page at CDHM Miniatures, where she posts items that are ready to be sold and takes commissions.

Front of roof coming along

I'm so pleased with how the roof is progressing. I work at the slating a bit every night!

I'll be away from home for the next five days, so I hope to get caught up on some of my neglected posts :)

Much to catch up on!

Happy New Year! I've been doing lots of mini things and taking photos but they just haven't made it as far as blog posts :). I'll catch up soon!

I wanted to get the ball rolling just by telling you that what I hope will be the last lot of slates from Richard Stacey has arrived. I spent a couple of hours this afternoon cutting a batch of matching slates from emery paper, and I think I've now got enough to finish.