The Witch’s Keep – A Haunted House
A Saturday-Sunday workshop with Bob Francis
Scale: 1:48
Price: $125
(adapted from an original design by Suzanne & Andrew’s Miniatures)
In this class, we will construct, paint and age this 2 story Second Empire Victorian as a haunted house. If you choose, you can make this a pristine, beautiful home rather than a haunted house, but you will need to decide paint colours, etc. to make it less grungy and bring those colours with you. I will also need to know in advance if you decide to go this direction as I will need to do the siding in a white base, rather than black, so the colours are not so dark and also so that I can provide the traditional porch support without the Jack O’Lantern and Bat cutouts.
We will be concentrating on the construction and aging of the structure and interior. We will not be wallpapering during the class, You may, however, bring wallpaper if you choose and we can skip a couple of steps during class that will make wallpapering easier and still be able to complete afterward.
Although not shown in the photos, I will provide a plain MDF base (7″ x 9″) for the house to sit on but won’t allow for much landscaping. I will also provide a choice of design of Widow’s Walk railing for adding to the house (not shown on prototype model). I plan to complete my house on a raised hill base carved from that crunchy Styrofoam stuff. We will not have time to deal with this during class and it would be difficult for me to transport for class. If time allows, I will explain how my base is completed.
And, shhhhhh … there might be a couple of surprises during class … but don’t tell!
Tools
Please have the following tools and supplies available:
- Wood glue, “Yes” or Grandmother Stover’s glue, extra thick tacky glue, and regular tacky glue ( I prefer Weldbond.)
- Toothpicks for glue application
- Optional: glue applicators with fine tip or glue syringes (I use one for each of my tacky and wood glues.)
- Masking or painter’s tape
- Pencil
- X-acto knife with spare fresh blades
- Tweezers
- Sprue cutter (if you have one; if not we can share)
- Metal ruler – 6″
- Assorted paint brushes and a paint palette (Dollarama has decent cheap brushes and palettes.)
- Acrylic paints in the following colours: black and white (you may want to get the larger bottles available at Dollarama for cheap) We will use the black as is and mix the two to create our grey.
- India Ink (art supply store or Amazon are best bets) – you only require a relatively small amount to create the aging solution
- Rubbing alcohol, 70% or higher (Please note: If you have a sensitivity to the smell, you may wish to bring a mask.)
- 220 grit sandpaper
- Cutting mat
- Gluing jig (large if you have it) or Legos to create an L-shape to help keep pieces square
- Magnification if you find it helpful (I use triple strength reading glasses when doing minis.)
- Work light and extension cord, if needed, since room lighting is not always optimal
Kitchen Island with Faux Marble Top
A Saturday-Sunday workshop with Judith Blondell
Scale: 1:12
Price: $100
Everyone would love to have a kitchen island to collect the prepared food (birthday, Christmas, Thanksgiving) ready to be served to the dining room table. Assembling the countertop high island, you will learn how to cut accurate 45° angles to the 1/16″ thick cove moulding. This technique is also useful for making wainscoting, picture frames, and the finished edge of a shelf. For the faux marble top, you will use several paint colours with a sponging technique.
Tools needed:
- Cutting board with measurements on it
- Square jig
- Pointy tweezers, used as third hand
- Flat artist brush, approx. 1/2″ wide
- Medium sized scissors to cut wood strips
- Pointed pencil (retractable works well)
- Emery board
- X-acto knife with sharp blade
- Wood glue
- Toothpicks
- Blow dryer
- Wax paper
- Work light
The paints and some other tools will be provided.
Food display is not included, but just to give an idea.