Shingle Time: Will it ever end?

 Hello Readers,

Well I was determined to try and finish shingling my house before the end of January and I'm not too far off achieving my goal.

They are split cedar shingles that came precut and ready to lay. As you can see there is quite a variation in their colour but I'm happy with the look.

 Tips:

1. BOTTOM EDGE: Most miniaturist recomend you start by gluing a small (about 1/4) of a shingle long ways along the bottom edge of your roof. This enables the shingles to lay flatter. If you don't do this your shingles will stick out.

2. SCISSORS: The cedar shingles are easily cut with scissors (please don't use your best craft scissors for this project....hide them....hide them!!!!!)

3. DRAW LINES: Draw lines for shingles to line up to!!!!!! (I didn't do this so well in this project so its a little wobbly)  Take a look at my old post and you will see what I mean.
http://tailsofadventurewithindyandpoppy.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/the-roof-is-on-but-not-complete.html

4. GLUE: Choose your glue: I used wood glue....according to some miniaturist it's a big no no. But I had minimal problems using it. The main thing to remember is to take your time. Glue on a few...leave it for ten minutes...then do another section. Too much at one time will lead to shingles moving...falling off or drying crooked.

5. MIX IT: If your shingles came in separate bags. Mix them up before you start. The shingle colours very so much but if you don't mix them it will stand out.

I hope this helps: It is a bit of trial and error, but if you take your time you will be suprised by your results.

Well its time for more shingles

Talk soon, IndyPoppy

More Painting.

Hello Everyone,
What a difference paint can make. I've actually started to get excited again about the house as it now looks like a house.


As you can imagine there has been hours of work in painting. 2 undercoats and at least 3 colour coats. The windows have been painful also. The paint seems to disapear and takes several coats to get any coverage at all. (I have used good quality paint for this project and it still has been painful)

Getting closer to shingle time.

So for tips:

1. Paint: It is worth getting a good quality paint. I figure you want your house to last a long time, ( and it does go a long way)

2. You can use a big brush but I found a brush the same size as the cladding.....I had hardly any drips and didn't miss to manyparts. It also can get into those fidly areas that a big brush can't.

3. Sand, sand and sand. Before you paint.....sand between coats as well.

4 If you can purchase window that have removeable glass (plastic) buy them. A great way to guarentee clean windows.
IndyPoppy

Happy New Year. Time to Paint.

Happy New Year: Ok so I'm a little late with my greetings, but I've been a bit busy. This time last year I was rushing around painting my real life house so I had very little time for minis. This year, I'm set. My goal is to get going, hopefully painting and shingle-ing the house before I start back at work.

I was really unsure about my paint choice but I really like blue, so the cedar cladding has had a coat of paint with "duck egg blue". I plan to trim it in white, but would also like another colour. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The chimney has had it first coat of paint and Im pretty chuffed with the effect so far. You may remember from a previous post that I used coffee stirrers to make the individual bricks.  See it here:

http://tailsofadventurewithindyandpoppy.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/chimney-almost-complete.html

I really like the effect so far....Im actually hesitant to put another coat on. Both paints are acrylic.

Anyway...its time to give the house another coat! So its off to the shed for me.

IndyPoppy