More painting

Hello again,

Well I managed to get the exterior colour correct, it is now a lovely shade of turquoise and I’ve chosen colours for the inside which will be a sort of rich buttermilk yellow but oh dear... I had this huge dilemma with the furniture that comes with the caravan, I don’t want it lol. I have swapped it about and changed it and toyed with how I wanted the inside to look and have settled for the stove unit modified, the bed unit also modified and the benches that I will make top cushions for but the other big wall unit had to go because it just took over the place.  

At last a colout I'm happy with :)

Needs another coat of paint but I like it.

A longer shelf is needed.

I have decided that I will bring the shelf above the stove forward and have a wider edge so that I can properly tile around the stove.  On top I want a little metal guard so I can place ornaments there etc.  I need the cupboard to open and I want to be sure that the chimney reaches the roof when it is in place, I don’t want any gaps.  All these changes are down to my both personal taste and of course my research, I love to see how the real thing looks and take away ideas to use in miniature.

Still not made it to the shops to buy paint for the stove, I’ve been poorly-sick so had to stay in for a bit :(  still I’m getting on with orders and updates etc between headaches and feeling ‘ugh’ lol.

I got all my beads out last night so I could make a curtain and didn’t get any further haha, I wanted to make a pattern in the curtain but i may be pushing my luck here, perhaps stripes is a little easier because a pattersn would mean purchasing more beads, we shall see.  I had another thought too, I wondered if I should weave my own blankets and rugs... I’m surely getting ahead of myself but that’s me, a brain full of ideas that my hands may never get the time to make into tangible objects.  

  

Did some hand painting of the chicken cages and the rack for the back, it’s got a proper name but I can’t remember it, begins with a C I think, oh well... I used a sort of 'burgundy-red meets purple-dusk' colour, quite nice and then I tried my hand at the decoration with the thinnest brush on hand.  I gave that up and used a cocktail stick instead lol.  It looks fine but I also thought I might see how some printed images look too.  I still need them to look hand painted though, I’ll print some off and cut them out later and see if they look any better to me.  It could all still change into something else if I change my mind... hence I’ve used all matt colours so far as these are easier to sand down and paint over if need be, I’ll add varnish to the whole thing once I’m happy.

Look how the flash changes the colours in these pictures, will have to take the whole thing outside for proper pictures once its complete. 

With luck, next week will see me making some of the furnishings for the caravan so things will liven up then.  I also have a giveaway planned... well about four actually so I’ll get up details as soon as I can.

Big hugs

Gill xx 

The painting and gluing has begun

Painting and gluing has begun.  I have to say, hats off to Mr McQueen because this caravan is very straightforward to put together and could be put together in a very short time indeed if one did not have to endure time consumed while waiting for paint and glue to dry.

I tried painting these plastic windows, I believe it will work but not for the door windown which must be re-made a-new.

I buy up lots of cheap tins of paint from the locak DIY shop and mix my own colours, saves money.

This is around four shades darked than I'd like, more painting required I think.

This and the pic below are the main body coming together.

I chose the turquoise colour because so many caravans are in beep red and while I love this colour I wanted something different, also my caravan’s inhabitants will be on the 'hippy/alternative' side so a unique colour scheme is a must.  So far the bare wood is sucking up my paint so the colours have come out around 4 shades darker that I want, but it will lighten up with a second or third coat me thinks. 

   

As always there are a few things I’d like to change or modify.  As you will be aware if you read my other blogs, I like ‘working’ parts and ‘realism’ wherever possible so having researched this caravan and found that each real size caravan in the same design has a three-way split door, I can’t very well leave mine with its two piece door now can I (grin).  Besides the window for the door is one of those plastic ones that will look great in the walls once painted but in the door it is a little over powering so it has to go.

I began to make the stove, it is a Phoenix miniature and is metal cast.  While the stove is a very detailed one, sadly it lacks in my much loved ‘working parts’ characteristic.  The doors can be glued open or shut but one cannot have the choice of opening and closing them at will, such a shame but hey-ho I guess there will be very little space to move inside eventually so this detail I will let slide and settle for gluing a couple of doors slightly ajar.  I think I make my own light up fire to go inside later on.  The unit where the stove sits does not have an opening wodden door just a piece of wood that should be glued in place, I'd like a cuboard so with the help of some sanding down, a door knob and a couple of pins I will be making it open up for storage.  I don't know about you but I always find I actually do need storage spaces in my mini dwellings, for things such as seasonal objects or odds and ends I'm still working on but don't want to loose etc.  

The stove in its many pieces.

the gluing has begun. I used evo-stick, mainly because its great for sticking everything that no other glue sticks and I don't have to mix it.

The little stove door.

The stove unit in bits.

Testing for fit.

 

So for now, this is where I’m at, undecided on the interior decoration and feeling as if I need to get to grips with my inside colour scheme asap.  I have great ideas I just need to put together a design board so I can pinpoint exactly what I want.  I need to buy some wood too, a few thin strips should do it, they will be used for the modifications and in the exterior design.

Well I better get back to it...  see you soon x