Wednesday 22 April 2009

Bread Oven started



So I was good and decided to wait until the oven was made before finishing the floor so i can work round it.
Made a really rough, ( and I mean really rough!!) oven out of card, foam etc, all glued badly together!! Then out camethe paperclay and yet again I think its something you get better at with experience as could i get the thickness right.......no!! Tried to roll it out like a pastry case over the oven shape but it kept sticking and falling apart!! Tried talc, etc but it still stuck, maybe its the heat?
So did it in bits, then tried etching in the brick shapes, where are my long cutters when I need them, had to use a ruler, so not too good at getting the imprints wanted but I can etch them out further when its dry. So dont look too closely, it has to dry, then be sanded, its abit bumpy!! then it will begin to look like the oven its supposed to be. Cut out a whole and lined with card and paperclay to make a little oven for the pies. Going to put in a shelf .
Too hot to do any more today, so may paint the roof tomorrow. Off to put it in the shop, so I can judge the rest of the floor
No dolls yet, where that flippin postman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11 comments:

Debbie said...

I think you've done pretty well for your first attempt Kate.
I bet your be snatching the postie's hand off when your Dolls arrive.. LOL

MiniKat said...

Great job with the oven. Can't wait to see it finished! :-)

nikkinikkinikki72 said...

Hi John and Kate. Looks great so far and will look fab when finished.
Nikki x

Tallulah Belle said...

That is excellent for a first go - well done :-)

I use a regular rolling pin and place the clay between 2 sheets of wax paper.

I put lollipop sticks on either side of the lump of clay...1 or 2 high depending on the thickness I want to roll it out.

Then so long as either side is resting on the sticks your clay will be a pretty even thickness...hope that helps.

I never roll straight onto what I am covering...roll it out then put it on.

Talc will dry it up , perhaps try a misting of water but not too much...it shouldn't stick then.

Either way...doing it in bits is fine....bricks aren't meant to be perfectly flat and even :-)

Whittaker's Miniatures said...

Thanks for the encouragment! I couldnt work it out, the clay, Jayne, your right when I added talc it made it all break up but on adding glue or water i could mould it better and also smooth it out, is that the knack with it, to keep it wet to be able to mould bits into other bits? as I was adding piecess here and there, ie the flue part, I couldnt get it to blend and look as one. Suppose it take practise. As its drying its looking better but i forgot it shrinks too so should have taken it round the back of the oven and then just sanded the excess, live and learn i guess! thanks for the advice, ill try that next time I roll it!
Kate xx

nikkinikkinikki72 said...

Hi Kate and john. If you have a stippling brush like what people use for stencilling it would be a great tool for future brickework.
I've been stippling the brick work on my witches house and it comes up a treat.nIts also goreat for rough textured walls.
Rather than a small brush go for the bigger one if can.
Perhaps an old cheap blusher brush trimmed down would do the same, but you can also use scouring pads and sandpaper too.
Once you have all your bricks layed and you stipple all over they lose their sharp edges and more or less blend into the grouting area.
Also if you have a pen that has ran out you can use this to scrape out and tidy in between you bricks.
I've tried other tools in the past but the old pen trick works best for me.
Also if you dont have much texture on your bricks you can still get some by stippling on a mix of pva and paint and doing a few light coats. Just dab here and there and build up texture. You could probably add something to this mix to make it so the texture builds up more.
Hope i was of some help.
Nikki x

Whittaker's Miniatures said...

Your sure are a big help Nikki thankyou! Probably too late now to stipple as its almost dry but the pen trick is great, and I could try mixing the glue with the paint and stippling it that way. My concern now is getting a good brick colour paint made up, tried last night and it was either too orange or too brown! Want it just right.
Thanks again xx

nikkinikkinikki72 said...

If you have red oxide or burnt umber start of with that and add reds, and browns. Never add white or black.
Once you have made the perfect base colour for the bricks using the same colour mix make two other seperate colours by adding more nrown to one and more red to the other then you can have three tones all from th same colour family, if you get what i mean.

Whittaker's Miniatures said...

Nikki, Johns going to me ' I told you Nikki was really helpful!!!' I didnt doubt it John!! Do you mean to spaint one base colour and then add the other colours to individual bricks or sponge the other 2 colours on to the whole area to get different colour tones? I cant do it today as its still really damp! Kate xx

nikkinikkinikki72 said...

When you clay is dry paint all the bricks with your brick base colour and stiple this on to get a rough texture. Do this twice.

Not everybody does this, but i would then paint your grouting lines in the colour of choice and allow to dry.

Then using the colours as suggested in my earlier comment and still using your base colour so you have 3 colours start to stipple these on here and there so its all random. Let this dry and then go back over it here and there where you think more tones are needed.

Then you will maybe have to tidy up your grout lines a little with the original grout/mortar colour and perhaps a little bit more stippling here and there on the bricks again to blend these in better. But this time carefully so you dont paint over the grouting/mortar lines again.

I think myself it works best if your bricks or stones are similar to your grout/mortar line colours.

I think its a case of following everyones advice but working it to how your feel comfortable. You may prefer to do each of these in a different order or alter the colours to suit you more.

Look at colour wheels and mixing colours.
A good idea is to work out your primary, secondary and tertiary colours and then whenever you need a colour you can get eactly what you want.

Here's a few links to colour and tertiary colours.
I think tertiary colours work best for witch and wizard scenes and would more than likey be suited to your Sweeney Todd house and kitchen.
Tertiary are much dirtier and not bright like primary and secondary.

http://www.colourtherapyhealing.com/colour/tertiary_colours.php

http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/colour_wheel.shtml
This one really explains well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPYV0Mt_UwA
This one is brilliant for the colour wheel.

When i make a tertiary colour i tend to always add a little bit of raw umber to darken again because it suits my work.

Hope this is of help to you both.

Whittaker's Miniatures said...

Great sites Nikki, I always add a touch of umber to everything to make it dirtier too. I may have a go at the floor today but this ovens taking its time to dry.