Totally Analog

You may have noticed that during the whole trunkhouse portion of the Fairytale Treehouse project, in spite of having a wonderful "Machine Park" (Birgit's name for my Cricut Maker and 3D printers) at my fingertips, I haven't used any of it. It isn't an oversite, and in fact, has been totally intentional. You see, an important goal for me on this whole adventure was to reconnect with the joy and freedom that came with minis in the early days of my miniature passion. Before my need for tougher challenges and perfectionistic aspirations faded that joy a little. Before adding in so many complications and steep learning curves. I wanted to concentrate on creativity, whimsy, exploration and analog ingenuity. I wanted to use up good things from my stash, utilize recycled materials and to enjoy many aspects of making minis that I hadn't for a long time. One of those "old loves" was making minis from kits. 

There are some fantastic old time kits that are still being made and/or sold as New Old Stock, many of which I've had in my stash but had yet to experience. The majority of Roz's fixtures and furnishings will be made from kits. Chrysnbon, House Of Miniatures, and Calico are among them. Some I have had in my stash for a very long time, and some are new arrivals. Some I will reimagine in order to suit her personality (and to accommodate the trunkhouse's particular round room challenges). Others, I will simply play with products and finishes that sound fun. 

I started with the Chrysnbon kits. A Parlor Stove, Cook Stove, Dry Sink and table and chairs for Roz's kitchen. I also had a table and chairs for Alice and Goldie's kitchen so I decided to get it done at the same time. I love the compact scale of these kits as well as the detail and accessories that come with them.

I've gotten the tables and most of the chairs assembled (two more are on the way after a "mind change"), but I have many more rounds to go with all of them while I experiment with aging techniques. Nothing I've tried so far is "It", but I'm far from giving up yet. 

For the parlor stove, I didn't like the way that the provided acetate fit into the kit's windowed pieces, so I played with another option. I blocked off the openings from the back side with masking tape, then carefully applied UV resin to each of the windows in the grid from the front side. Once hardened, I applied another layer of the resin over the back where the tape had left a bumpy residue. It seemed to smooth it out and clarify it better.

Taped back side.

Resin to be applied in each square.

Before the application of additional resin over the tape texture.

After applying the resin over the tape texture.

I sanded the "chrome" pieces a bit before assembly to take down the intense shine. I like the way it seemed to age the pieces and leave some black wear marks behind. I had a particularly troublesome time assembling the "chromed" kit pieces, even after carefully scraping off the glue joint areas. I ended up assembling the base surround onto the stove rather than as a separate assembly because of it. It worked out okay in the end, but boy are those "chrome" pieces slippery! 

For the stove's interior fire light, I wanted it to be very subtle. I didn't want it to be the first thing you noticed when you looked into the parlor and I didn't want it to seem like it was too hot in this tiny room. Just a feeling of warmth is all it needs. It is so hard to tell at this point if I have achieved that, so I'm not going to actually install the stove until the last thing. That way I can adjust the lighting, if necessary.

Should the light spill out the bottom?
Should more "flame" appear in the windows?
More research is needed...

That was also my goal for the kitchen's cook stove fire light. To start with, I only added one orange LED chip light. 

Placed inside the cap of Cricut blade packaging to keep
it from moving around inside the stove.

The LED's resister needed an enlarged hole.

Seems pretty bright with a 9 volt battery.

Light is only supposed to peek out of the baffles on the side, I guess. You can see the flame reflected on the wall, and that may be enough - we'll see. If not, I suppose I can punch a few holes in the wall separating the oven from the fire.

Other than starting on the kits, I was able to get the front and balcony doors affixed to the trunkhouse. I am super excited to see them once they're nestled into the bark of the tree! But that is going to be a bit farther down the road.

Roz's front door.

From inside the parlor.

The bedroom balcony door.

Seen from inside.

Current status of the exterior of the trunkhouse.

What comes in the next few posts will probably be a mixed up jumble of things. Hopefully, in a few weeks, everything will come together and I can get Roz and Rozario moved into their house in time for... 

Brace yourself... A four letter "f" word is coming... 

Fall!

That's right! Time flies, especially Summer! And for those of you living through the record breaking heat, fall will be most welcome!

Hope you're all enjoying your time whatever the season!

xo xo,

Jodi