She Had A Dream...

As you may have noticed, I haven't posted in a while - November 1st seems like such a long time ago! But once I was finished with all the 3D printed kitchen stuff, I had to take a breather. I got my craft space ready for mini work again, and I began to think about what I'd like to do next. Finishing the Willowcrest kitchen seemed like the obvious choice (it's the project that sparked the 3D kitchen accessories to begin with), but I just couldn't muster any motivation to get going on it. In the meantime, I was contacted with a request to design and create a couple architectural elements for a very special project that had been waiting in someone's basement for a very long time.

You may remember my customer, Diana, from my doing her Breakfast At Tiffany's brownstone windows and door replicas last year. One of the projects she's been dreaming about since the 90's is recreating the historically significant Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery Alabama. Back then she purchased the Real Good Toys Country Church Kit at a miniatures show to house it in. Then she had custom stained glass windows made by a miniature stained glass artisan. But, like for many of us mini dreamers, other projects moved ahead in line and there the kit sat, waiting for its turn. The project was never truly forgotten. Diana collected a whole lot of lovely resin sitting folks all decked out in their Sunday best to add to the congregation over the years. When she saw the project on it's basement shelf a few months ago while looking for something else, these patient people reignited her inspiration!

What Diana wanted me to tackle was the elaborate carved doorway behind the pulpit, as well as the lattice panel behind the organ area. It was challenging, as the only details I had to go by were the limited photos found on the web. The proportions and measurements had to be estimated. Additionally, Diana only had 10" of  ceiling height (minus the height of her crown molding), and I estimated the doorway in the original church to be about 18 feet tall! I would need to find a way to pay homage to the original within the height limitations, while still balancing the proportions and ending up with something that was worthy of being a focal point in her project.

Challenge accepted! Diana and I traded ideas back and forth on three slightly different models before we both agreed the version below was perfect! It kept the proportions balanced, included as many of the carved details as space would allow, and finished up at 9-7/16" tall by 6-13/16" wide. 

I got to experiment with creating dental molding and fluted columns for the first time with this doorway, and I had so much fun figuring it out!

I am so fortunate that Tasha and Ande gifted me the bigger 3D printer for my birthday last year! My first printer would not have been able to accommodate this big job, other than in pieces needing to be assembled post production.

I think the doorway is so pretty, and I just love how the dental molding, fluted columns and corbels turned out! 

The lattice piece was pretty challenging, too. In scrutinizing the church photos online, I realized that it was created in three panels. The middle panel is slightly shorter which allows room for the wood molding of the lower organ area. It is installed in a raised position on top of and joining the other two panels. The lattice detail itself is done in four levels, not including the main frame and the stepped picture frame molding on top of that. It was a challenge not only to create, but to figure out how to engineer it for a successful print. I felt that eliminating the half circles in the homage version gives the piece more balance and accommodates better the measurements that Diana had to work with.

Level detail close up.

It was such an honor to be trusted with this piece of the job and to help Diana realize her longtime dream!

In other exciting news, I have been busy rediscovering cooking joy with our new Instant Pot! Even Russ has joined in the culinary delight around here! This is all thanks to our big hearted and generous son, Ande! He uses my Prime membership from time to time, and if I leave stuff in my cart and he sees it, he likes to surprise me with it! 💗 This time, it was the Instant pot and accessories I was considering. What a great kid we made!!! He and Lex and Tasha and Brent love theirs, too!

We have run out of fingers and toes counting our blessings, among them, going to Tasha and Brent's new home for their first Thanksgiving there! I hope each of you has more to be thankful for than digits, too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

xo xo,

Jodi

3D Printing The BAT Designs

The work continues in all my spare time on the Breakfast At Tiffany's facade project. In fact, so much work has been required, that I haven't had a moment to think about the Beachside Bungalow. I hope it's not worried that I have forgotten it!

The next step in the BAT project was to start the 3D printing. Most of the files took an entire day or longer to print, so it was a long process. I also had a four day conference to attend, so time has flown since my last post! I don't have a true step by step to share, so I'll just share some info about the process that I hope you'll find interesting.

For the pediment piece to the doorway entry, it took just under 14 hours to print. I did not get to bed until long after midnight that night. Luckily, the print went perfectly so the only hard part was staying awake!

The hour glass on the left represents how much time has elapsed and the one on the right tells you how long you have left to go. After four hours and fifteen minutes, it seems like very little progress.

After 4 hours and 15 minutes.

This is what you see if you sit mesmerized in front of the printer, as I often do.

A long while later...

And finally finished...

Once the main piece and the side trim and detail pieces were printed, I could see my design in the physical world. I really like it! This is going to be one grand entryway!

The other pieces went really well, too, and will require only minor finishing! Here are the corbels. I printed the file two times to make a total of twelve of them. The customer only needs eleven, but you can always use an extra fancy bracket somewhere in a house like the BAT house.

For the large window and all seven small ones, after printing, I had to test out my design. The cornice supports were easily pulled off with pliers and fit over the window frames perfectly.

I removed the wooden sills and trim and replaced them with the new 3D printed sill with attached corbels. I also added a strip of 1/16" x 1/4" basswood to each side of the frames to add an extra layer of detail. It mimics the BAT windows much better, now.

With all of the printing in progress, I concentrated on designing the front and basement doors. Here's a refresher of what the BAT doors look like:

To construct these, I will be cutting them in three layers of 2 mm chipboard: An inner core and a carved interior and exterior layer to sandwich it. The basement door will be solid, while the front door will have a panel of glass at the top like the original door.

To add the molding detail, I created an insert which will be 3D printed and slotted inside the carved top layer, interior and exterior.

My first test print of the molding inserts went fairly well, though one of the knobs fell off. A little revision to the design is in order.

I exported the pieces to be cut in chipboard as an .svg file from Tinkercad, then uploaded the file into Cricut's Design Space software. It worked like a charm, and the pieces are ready to cut. I just need the final design approval from the customer and then I can get started.

Once the door pieces are cut, I can assemble them and mount them into the door frames. I printed pediments to top the wooden door frames, too, so they'll need test fits and possible adjustments.

Hopefully, for the customer's sake and the Beachside Bungalow's, too, I'll be shipping this project out in a couple weeks!

Until next time, my friends!

xo xo,

Jodi