1/12 scale doll house miniatures and decorated eggs
(updated sep 04).
These are some of the work of the very industrious lady of the manor, Melody.
Please be aware that the photos have been compressed for use on a web site and lose quality in some
cases. Sorry. I have used my shiny new digital camera to make some of the latter ones better, ( I
hope! ) They may take a little longer to download. By the way, computers are wonderful for
correcting colours and the perspective distortions you can get with camera close ups.
First the 1/12 scale ( traditional inch to the foot) dolls house efforts.
The Tool Shed
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Melody first constructed a scale timber frame and then installed most of the interior. It was clad with corrugated cardboard, which though not accurate for scale, looked well when weathered and brought to life by the man of the manor. The rest of the toolish artifacts amazed the said man who also helped weather some of them. The roof was added I think after the interior was finished. It was a gift from Melody to a close friend. |
A 'box' bedroom with sewing equipment. A single room in a box, rather than a complete house, is a common trick of the enthusiast, used so that something actually gets completed! Gift for a patchwork fanatic. The windows have pictures behind the plastic glass. Usually works alright.
Another box room for a young friend.
Melody makes all those books ... they open. She is brilliant with calendars.
Here are some more examples that have been made since this web site started.
First a miniature table I noticed when going past her actual work bench. (I think it is rather amusing)
Then we have a classic basic (slightly old fashioned) room.
This next item was based on the ground floor of a particular shop with an 'art deco' style. It has
at times been full of many pieces of china. Many were hand made. It was a 'rush job', taken to a
NZ wide exhibition but sadly, because the inbuilt lighting unit was not taken ( in the belief that low
voltage power was to be provided), the china and interior was largely hidden from view. I
particularly like the windows and the lettering on them ( thin perspex not glass) . And the 'stained
glass' effect.
There is a sandpaper ( colour washed) footpath outside the shop, but the straw lady is not part of it ..
it just happened to make quite a good street scene by accident as the writer tried to photograph
something without knocking over all the surrounding .. er.. material. The wallpaper in the shop is
real wallpaper of suitable fine design.
The 3D bricks used a magazine idea, with randomly brickish painted sandpaper cut into vertical
strips. The strips being as wide as each final brick was to be long. The strips were glued - ( spaced
apart by the width of the mortar between the final bricks )- on another thin mortar coloured sheet.
This sheet was cut horizontally into strips whose height was the final height of one brick . See?
Then the resulting strips of bricks were offset randomly as they were applied to the mortar coloured
wall. Then the disgruntled husband applied a greyish / oldish wash of colour , with downwards
running patches of water/ grime discolouration.
Here is the same building complete. The sign inside the top storey window says- " OFFICE SPACE TO LET". The cottage next door has been around for a while, and will have thatching when finished. It is pure chance that they make a nice street effect. In fact it might be quite a good idea to finish it properly as a street. There is visible at the top left of the picture, a corner of a printers type holding box. The rest of it is gradually filling with many small models and bought miniature bits. Come to think of it, nearly all the rest of the room is filled with little bits and 'resources'! It used to be my art studio and is the sunniest room in the house ... sigh.
This next one was originally an invention by this writer as a present for Melody. He hoped the
french doors would make it look as though there was real garden outside a basically edwardian
looking (?) room. It is all in one box to fit a recessed shelf in the 'lounge' of our house. The
wallpaper is actually real size again, but is amazingly fine and convincing. The picture of trees in the
right third of the box is curved around so that there is no angle at the corner - hoping to hide any
change of perpective to most viewing.
The exterior picture is mounted on a removable cardboard insert, so that in theory it can be
replaced with other 'exterior' views. In fact nothing has happened. Instead the room has acquired
various ( changing) furnishings and inhabitants over the years. The small child is perhaps a little too
small but is one of the few really nice and affordable 'people' to be found from time to time outside
official miniatures suppliers. The girl stands up by having clear plastic glued to her feet.
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While I am writing, here are some comments as a vague observer of the miniature hobby.
I am annoyed by the low standard of 'inhabitants' that are available for miniatures at a modest price
.. the faces usually look like blank china dolls. There would be nothing wrong with having cheap
moulded models the same as everyone elses .. but I just wonder why the originals for the moulds so
rarely have a natural human expression.
Also, the best photographs of miniatures ( and model trains and such like) all seem to use natural
light. A flash is usually too 'glaring' and reflective. Real diffused light or direct sunshine is best. A
spotlight to the side could be alright.
Another suggestion ( as a one time artist) is that at reduced scales, colours should be reduced in
intensity slightly if you want the work to appear natural. This is because at 'real' human size the
atmosphere reduces colour intensity quite quickly with distance. If you make a scale model this
effect of distance should also be scaled by using quieter colours.. . well, that's what a fussy artist
thinks. On the other hand, if you like bright things, then a scale model lets you make them look
brighter ( to your 'pyschological' eye) than any real thing could!
End of comment
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The next two pictures are of a very small garden centre. I'm told it is 1/48 scale - the items inside are impressively small. The photos are larger than life. I particularly liked the watering can in the inside view .. it was made from slightly stiff aluminium foil taken from a tin seal. Sorry it doesn't show better in the photo. I thought the bonsai trees were pretty good as well.
In 2005 a nearby city miniature club held an exhibition to which Melody contributed. The facade is roughly similar to an english antique shop depicted in a jigsaw puzzle. I really liked the curved window and the convincing original 'stone' construction and details Melody came up with. I helped by adding a shop sign, painting stone effects, footpath, and general aging of the supposed antiques.
Decorated eggs.
Well, I can see these can be quite interesting. Melody turned the wooden stand on a sort of lathe. There are others on the way. The right one was for a bee keeper and that was actually a very realistic bee, don't know what's gone wrong. Light reflected off the plastic wings?
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David Lawrence. Sep 2004 Link to home ( index) page 