'Building' a tree

Yes, that's right - 'building' a tree :)  I went to the model railway shop hoping to buy an autumn tree the other day but they didn't have any that already had their foliage on them.  I did manage to buy a variety of different colours of autumn foliage however, and since I had some kits for constructing trees already at home I thought I'd use those.  You can see them in the photo of the house and beginning of the garden from yesterday's post.  I started by spraying the trunks with plastic primer, then painting them with a colour that is similar to the branches of autumn foliage I had bought the other day.  Here is one of the tree skeletons painted.  You can see the original colour on the circular base bit.

The problem with them however is that they have nowhere near enough branches. even twisting them in different directions doesn't give enough branches in all directions and they certainly don't have enough small divisions.  So part of the foliage I bought was a large packet of these ready-flocked branches in autumn colours.  This is one of the lighter ones and there were also some that were a darker rust colour.

Now super-glue and I are not good friends but I figured that I would need to brave the monster if I was going to be able to glue the branches to the plastic tree.  By the way, if you are using superglue, cover up your good cutting mat first.  Wonder why I say that!  Anyway, I started by bending the ends of the longest branches and hooking them around the trunk of the tree, gluing them into place with the superglue.  Sometimes gluing my fingers too, as usual for me.  I did a sort of framework all over the tree then filled in with more branches, grading the size so that the shorter ones were at the top and the longer ones further down.  As I managed to glue more and more on it became easier because there were other branches already hooked around and I could just tuck the ends of the new branches into nooks and crannies.  There are still more to put in to fill empty spots and cover up places where you can see the wires of the added branches but here it is so far:

I've left this side a bit higher so some paving and a seat can go underneath it. 

the colours are richer in reality than they look in the photo, the flash has faded them somewhat which is disappointing, but you get the idea. I have also trimmed a couple or errant bits off since these photos were taken, but I haven't tried to make it even all round - after all, real trees aren't.

I also bought some 'crazy paving' pieces the other day at the model railway shop, and cut a bit out of one of the pieces for a paved area to go under the tree.  It's only around 2 inches long by 1 1/4 inches deep, with a small area jutting off one side for a bird bath to sit on.  

I sprayed this also with the plastic primer then sponged it with different shades of tan and brown to give a mottled stone effect.  Those methods I learned from the Petite Properties books come in so handy for so many things!  Here's a photo of the paving sheet in its original state plus the piece I have painted for the paving.  The colours aren't quite right in the photo because of the flash, but once again it gives you an idea.

The paved area will have a bit of a garden around part of it, and I've already made a garden bench and table to sit on it.  Maybe a couple of pots of flowers?  What a nice spot to sit and enjoy the autumn sunshine filtering through the trees.

This tree has taken virtually the whole packet of autumn branches that I bought, and it was quite a large packet.  I'll probably add some of the foliage clumps that I also bought as well.  I had planned on doing a second tree too but don't know now whether I will.  It means another trip to the shop if I do, plus I'm not sure whether it would be too much.  But I might do one and just see what it looks like anyway.  Here it is at the moment.

Having a good look at the tree i can see quite a few areas that need work but it's a start.I just wish the colours would show up as pretty as they are in reality.

Spring has sprung...

The grass has riz, I wonder where the birdie is?.....Well spring has definitely sprung in Sydney at least. I know it's not officially spring until next month, but someone forgot to tell the weather and as usual it has arrived during August.

But for the Avalon it is Autumn, and will be permanently so.  Here are the pictures of the first part of the garden.  There is still a lot to do of course.  I was going to do the trees with autumn foliage from the railway shop but I don't think I'll use these after all.  I think I'll possibly make my own armatures from wire so that I have more branches.

Looking in more detail, there is a nice little patch of sunflowers at the side of the house, with a ground-cover softening the earth between them.

At the front of the house there is a flower box in front of the chimney.  It is filled with a vine that is spreading up the chimney, and some calendulas have been planted to provide colour in it as well.  The chimney is flanked by two camellia shrubs, in full bloom.

At the front corner is a small tree, resplendent in autumn foliage.  For this tree I took a small tree and removed the green foliage, added lots of little 'branches' made from wires left over from the flower kits, twisted together and glued on with super glue.  I then stretched a layer of rust-coloured 'foliage' over the branches and dabbed small spots of glue onto that, adding small pieces of coloured foam over the canopy.  It's come out quite effective, I think.  I'd quite like to have a similar effect for the two trees on the left of the house.

So that's the result of over a week's work.  It took four days to make the camellia shrubs.  It is very time consuming to make flowers but I do find it really rewarding and take great satisfaction in knowing that I've made the contents of a garden.  

As I said, there's still a lot to do but I wanted to show you the progress.  Hope you like it.

Wiring complete - and it all works Yaaaay!

Well, it did until the very last step when I attached the battery switch to the base.  But to start at the beginning - the beginning of the final phase that is!

The other night my darling husband cut another piece of plywood to extend the base in order for me to have a tree beside the house.  He also purchased some moulding to go around the sides of the base and cut it to fit. This took rather longer than I had hoped, but finally it is all together and the house is glued in place.  

I extended the wires whilst waiting for the base to be ready, had them nicely in their shrink tubes and labelled so I don't get them confused when attaching them to the switches.  By the way, make sure that any plastic surface is well protected when using a heat gun on the shrink tubes.  What makes me say this?  The photo below might give you a hint.

Oooops!

Uh oh!  Reminder to self: heat doesn't just melt shrink tubes!  So I will have to order some more windows to replace these.  You live and learn they say but I guess I still have to learn not to push on with things when I am really too tired!  

The wires that were brought down in front of the house in the two groups needed to be extended as they were too short to be taken through the base.  So the set from the verandah were joined to one set of wires and the set from the interior lights were joined to another set of wires. 

This meant that for the verandah, two red wires needed to be joined to one red wire; two green wires needed to be joined to one black wire.  For the interior, four red wires were joined to one red wire, and four green wires to one black wire.  For extra strength I did solder these joins, though that isn't really necessary.  But I just wanted that peace of mind because this is a much more complicated wiring setup than normal and there are lots more joins than normal.  I promise I will show you a more straight-forward setup next time I do one :)  After the joins were soldered I folded the joined pieces flat against the wire and slipped the shrink tube over them, then used my heat gun to shrink them.  

The wires were then fed down through the hole in the base - just four wires now instead of that large bundle 

Then they could finally be joined permanently to the short wires that lead to the battery itself. Because the small moulding around the base wasn't quite deep enough for the switches to be inserted into them after all, I cut a shallow area into the base itself to insert the switches into.  They are held in place with double-sided tape.  I prefer that to the original plan now - it will keep the switches a bit less accessible to little grandchildren's fingers and to curious onlookers at mini fairs but will be still easily reached by the older grandchildren or by me.  

Wires through base, joined to battery holder wires.  Note the groove on the right for the switches (no the photo isn't upside down)

Heat applied with heat gun to shrink tubes - notice difference in size between the two on the left and those on the right.

The batteries are also held in place by double-sided tape and I have just used painters blue tape to hold the wires down neatly.  The whole thing except for the switches will be covered with brown paper or something, like the back of a painting, to make it all neat and tidy.  

So I tested the wires and everything worked.  Then added the shrink tubes and stuck the batteries and switches in place.  The interior lights worked.  Good.  Tested the verandah lights.  Nothing!  Fiddled a bit.  Still nothing.  Changed batteries.  No luck.  After trying everything I could think of I cut out the join and redid it - with another battery holder just to be sure and everything worked! Whew!

The chimney is sitting in front of the wall of the house, also held in place by double-sided tape to allow access if required.  I know this photo looks as though it has snowed but that is the sulpt-a-mold.  But I keep looking at it and thinking it would make a great Christmas house!

While I was waiting for the base the other night I also went through my collection of flower kits and dug out any for flowers that bloom into the early autumn.  I know I'm pushing the boundaries a bit to have autumn colouring on the trees and flowers blooming that finish with the first frost but that's what we have in Australia so I'm sticking with it.   And now I am working on the garden.  It has taken me three days to complete the camellia bush - not working on it constantly of course, but a lot of the time.  I have also made sunflowers, gerberas, chrysanthemums and some yellow flowers that are just from left-over petals I had.  Now I'm attempting some more.  Pictures soon I hope. You can see a bit of the camellia bush in the photo above but it's not positioned very well.  In reality it has a lot of flowers on it.  And in fact I have a lot more flowers made up too.  Maybe I'll do some more leaf stems and make a second bush.

And now the shingles are done!

We arrived home yesterday after a long drive.  Six hours actual driving time, plus breaks every two hours.  We shared the driving but were both still tired, and today I didn't feel like doing much at all.  We slept in until 8.30, and sort of dawdled through the day.  I fiddled with a few bits of furniture, mainly a Quicker Wicker kit.  I bought this for Miss Marple's Cottage way back, then thought I might use it in the John F Craig sunroom, and now I think it's perfect for the verandah on the Avalon :)  I still think the wicker furniture is perfect for the other two locations as well, so it looks like I'll be buying more.  I have been somewhat intimidated by it up until now - my efforts at doing wicker have not been successful prior to this.  But this is easy - it's basically just winding waxed cord around the legs, covering the seats and making some cushions.  Even I can do that.

But this evening I became enthused and brought the house and the shingles from the caravan into our house - and the shingling went so smoothly I couldn't believe it!  I probably would have preferred tiles on the roof.  Shingles are not familiar to me, but that is what is supplied in this kit so that's what went on.  they are the same lovely ones as supplied for the English Cottage and they just go on so beautifully. 

And here it is:

I just have to join some longer wires to those bits coming through the hole in the front of the house, then I can run them down through the hole in the base, glue the chimney over the wires and add the small chimney on top of the roof - and the house itself is completed.

I also used the Sculpt-a-Mold supplied to make the front yard a bit raised instead of flat, and will leave that to dry overnight.  Tomorrow hopefully the moulding  can be attached to the sides of the base, the wiring fixed into place and the house glued down too.  And perhaps I can start the landscaping too.  I at least want to start making the plants and things for the yard. 

So what's the verdict? Do let me know what you think.

What a difference a roof makes!

Getting close to finishing the house itself now!  On Saturday night I finished off the verandah and attached it to the house.

I didn't complete the exterior windows at this stage because I needed some clear plastic to put between the two frames and that wasn't supplied.  It was only later on that I remembered that I had some overhead projector sheets in a folder with wallpaper, here with me.  Bother!  That meant that when I did do the windows later on it was much more fiddly to fit the ones facing onto the verandah.

A bit of a dirty wash on the floors of the attics then a brush-over again with grey paint aged them nicely.  And a thin wash of 'dirty water' (water with just a drop of black paint) dirtied up the rafters well too.

I departed from the instructions a bit here and glued the old newspaper print over the rafters next instead of putting it on the ceiling.

 I was really happy with progress by bedtime.

It was such an enjoyable day on Sunday.  I ended up spending a large part of the day working on the house.  In the morning I papered the roof pieces for the bedroom and glued them on.  I found it a bit tricky working out where the paper was supposed to go for the roof, which is why I had papered the rafters in the attic rather than trying to judge where the attic paper ended and the bedroom paper started.  I'm not very happy with the wallpapering in the bedroom though.  I wish I'd left a bit on one of the sides of the roof to overlap underneath the second side and make a neater join.  Also the edges where the roof joins the pointed wall are not to my liking.  The edges between the straight walls and the roof will be covered by quilling paper strips.

I  drilled a tiny hole right in the apex of the roof once the join was dry and inserted a light in the bedroom (right at the top of the photo) The wire was then taken down over the roof, through a hole

Then across the floor of the roof cavity and through that hole in the external wall along with the other wires. You can see the bedroom wire under the painter's tape.

One set of wires was short (the set from the dining area) so I had to join another length of wire on.  The chip LED wires are joined the same way as the standard LEDs.  The wires are twisted together: red to red and green to black.  A shrink tube is supplied for each wire and this tube is slipped over the join and then heated with a heat gun.  The heat shrinks the tube securely around the join to keep it in place.

wires twisted together

shrink tubes heated over join

I tested the lights (again!!) and made sure that they all worked (they did) and that the wires for the verandah lights were twisted together and labelled, and the inside lights were twisted in another bundle because I want to work them from separate switches.

I was then able to put all the rest of the roofing on.  And what a difference a roof makes!  All those pieces at the front join together to make a continuous roof-line. I know this photo shows everything taped together with painter's tape, but it is holding it secure.

 Once it was set I was able to do the exterior windows, and it looks so much better with those in place.

Finally I filled the joins in the roof pieces with wood filler to make them less obvious and also to strengthen the joins a bit more - just for some added peace of mind.  Then I left it to set firmly overnight.


I couldn't wait to try out those long-awaited stain pens, and to start on the sdk miniatures furniture kits I have for this house. I started with the Arts and Crafts fireplace kit

then did the sideboard (haven't put the handles on the doors yet)

and the dining table

The dining chairs are stained but not yet assembled.  Tonight maybe.  And I want to start the shingling tonight as well.  

Hope this helps those of you who were asking about wiring with LEDs, at least showing you how I did this one.  It is more complicated than most houses I have done - often the wires can just be run across the floor and out the rear wall.  But this house presented challenges that I was pleased to be able to meet and I am happy with the result.

Nearly to the end now, ready to attach the house to the base after shingling.  Then I can show in detail how I complete the wiring, attach the chimney to hide them and put the switches on the edge of the base.  And then I can landscape - and of course finish the furnishing and decorating. Yaaay!

Ground floor interior complete

The colour of the dining room walls still looked good in daylight so I stuck with it and gave the walls another coat of paint, added the quilling strips for the skirting boards and the sunflower border across the top.  Then with the windows glued in the ground floor was was complete.

Dining area

Living area

Ground floor

Next, I trial fitted the ceiling/floor piece and marked where the walls for the first floor were to go.  Then I removed the piece and sanded off the floorboards in the attic spaces on either side.  I thought the nicely stained and polished boards were a bit out of character for an attic :).  I gave them a good sanding but when I dusted them off you could hardly see any difference except that the sheen on the boards has lessened.  I will go over them with a dirty wash to tone them down a bit, later on.

Then I glued in the ground floor ceiling/first floor.  In this photo you can see the three spacers Debbie provided to support the floor and ensure that it goes in straight and even.

Before the glue set I tested the lights again to make sure they worked.  They did - whew!

The wires go across to the hole in the front wall.  Here's a view from the floor side

Wires going across to the hole in the front wall

Wires in roof cavity

Then I was able to start on the first floor - yaaaay!  The bedroom walls are papered before gluing them in place.  I had had reservations about the wallpaper for the bedroom but felt that I could trust Debbie's judgement and I'm glad I did - it looks so much better than I thought it would.  And I love the detail of the old newspapers on the attic walls.

Holding walls in place to dry - using lego to keep them square while drying

You might see in the photo below that I've fed one of the wires across the bottom of the rear bedroom wall.  The two wires from the living room are fed along the side and back walls of the attic and through the hole in the rear wall.  They are covered by wallpaper.

Bedroom done - note wires across base of wall

The wire that goes across the right attic floor (from the dining room) has to go the furthest distance and I couldn't run it all the way along walls.  So it will be covered with something 'stored' in the attic.

Right side attic

Left side attic

The wires from the battery will have to be extended to join these wires in the front roof space. That will probably be in the next post.  And hopefully the roof will be going on as well.  So stay tuned - the finishing post is in sight!