20 February 2011
General Course Feb 2011
24/02/11 09:26
Well, here we are back in the run of things. The first course this year has been a General Course which finished this evening and was really enjoyable. For me, it really got my adrenalin flowing and I’m really happy to report back to you all that folks did in the past 3 days.
We had 3 newcomers on the course and they all did brilliant work. Dot came on the course feeling really nervous and it took some time for her to realise that she could produce a really effective backyard scene with night sky.
Jan arrived with an anvil which she had been given by her son who is a blacksmith. What could she do other than a blacksmith’s shop? I found a great picture on the internet and Jan proceeded to produce it in miniature. She did a great job and at the end there was a real feeling of heat from the fire and it was all a bit seedy and mucky as was the intention. I think Jan learned a lot about aging and distressing which she hopes to use on later projects.
Jan’s husband Eddie came armed with a fisherman and fantastic boat ready to do a seaside scene. He liked my ruined doorway though, so decided to combine the two. Again a relative newcomer to miniatures, Eddie got stuck in and used the power tools like a pro to change the shape of his original base which transformed the appearance of his scene. His result was really effective and again, he learned techniques which he can use in the future.
My good friend, Mary was on the course - for the 28th time. She’ll soon have a CASE of champagne rather than a bottle!!
She did a 1/48th Georgian house by Petite Properties. Although she has done one of their kits previously, Mary found this kit to be much more challenging than the cottage kit in that there were tiny stairs with banisters etc. - very fiddly but it all looked superb when completed. Somehow though, I feel that it’s more of an achievement to complete a more difficult kit and Mary’s finished house certainly looked excellent. Unfortunately she left before the pics were taken the outside shot was taken and sent from her phone - hence the blurred image. I do think, however, that it does give an impression of how good the kits look when completed.
Teresa and David have been on several courses previously but have usually worked on their dollhouse. This time they did something very different. Teresa built her 1/48th cottage kit by Petite Properties. It is a lovely kit which several people have done on courses but of course they all end up looking very different. Not only did Teresa’s look different from the outside but she also put a light in a hallway with a staircase winding up from the door. It looked really super when she had finished.
David, Teresa’s husband, also branched out into new ground on this course. He built a miniature of their actual clock - turning the body on the mini-lathe and carving the rest with small carving tools. You can see by the pictures how well he did and when it was polished it looked amazing. The face of the clock was taken from a photograph of the original and printed on high gloss photographic paper. David is a relative newcomer to miniatures but what he has made on this course and previous courses leads one to believe that he is a ‘natural’ and I look forward to seeing his next achievements.
Dorothy and John have also been on a previous course. Dorothy arrived knowing exactly when she wanted to do and had prepared quite a lot of her railway scene. She meticulously constructed the double tunnel and followed up by landscaping the scene to complete it with old carriages and coal trucks and even had an old carriage with table and tiny cup and saucers into which the railway people could partake of their coffee breaks.
We had 3 newcomers on the course and they all did brilliant work. Dot came on the course feeling really nervous and it took some time for her to realise that she could produce a really effective backyard scene with night sky.
Jan arrived with an anvil which she had been given by her son who is a blacksmith. What could she do other than a blacksmith’s shop? I found a great picture on the internet and Jan proceeded to produce it in miniature. She did a great job and at the end there was a real feeling of heat from the fire and it was all a bit seedy and mucky as was the intention. I think Jan learned a lot about aging and distressing which she hopes to use on later projects.
Jan’s husband Eddie came armed with a fisherman and fantastic boat ready to do a seaside scene. He liked my ruined doorway though, so decided to combine the two. Again a relative newcomer to miniatures, Eddie got stuck in and used the power tools like a pro to change the shape of his original base which transformed the appearance of his scene. His result was really effective and again, he learned techniques which he can use in the future.
My good friend, Mary was on the course - for the 28th time. She’ll soon have a CASE of champagne rather than a bottle!!
She did a 1/48th Georgian house by Petite Properties. Although she has done one of their kits previously, Mary found this kit to be much more challenging than the cottage kit in that there were tiny stairs with banisters etc. - very fiddly but it all looked superb when completed. Somehow though, I feel that it’s more of an achievement to complete a more difficult kit and Mary’s finished house certainly looked excellent. Unfortunately she left before the pics were taken the outside shot was taken and sent from her phone - hence the blurred image. I do think, however, that it does give an impression of how good the kits look when completed.
Teresa and David have been on several courses previously but have usually worked on their dollhouse. This time they did something very different. Teresa built her 1/48th cottage kit by Petite Properties. It is a lovely kit which several people have done on courses but of course they all end up looking very different. Not only did Teresa’s look different from the outside but she also put a light in a hallway with a staircase winding up from the door. It looked really super when she had finished.
David, Teresa’s husband, also branched out into new ground on this course. He built a miniature of their actual clock - turning the body on the mini-lathe and carving the rest with small carving tools. You can see by the pictures how well he did and when it was polished it looked amazing. The face of the clock was taken from a photograph of the original and printed on high gloss photographic paper. David is a relative newcomer to miniatures but what he has made on this course and previous courses leads one to believe that he is a ‘natural’ and I look forward to seeing his next achievements.
Dorothy and John have also been on a previous course. Dorothy arrived knowing exactly when she wanted to do and had prepared quite a lot of her railway scene. She meticulously constructed the double tunnel and followed up by landscaping the scene to complete it with old carriages and coal trucks and even had an old carriage with table and tiny cup and saucers into which the railway people could partake of their coffee breaks.
John is an artist! You can tell by the way he has captured this landscape. The shapes, colours and the whole composition is brilliant - breathtaking even. John arrived with a polystyrene base with a few shapes cut into it and off he went. I am sure there is no need for me to comment further on John’s work - just look at it and I’m sure you will agree that it is fantastic.
Hope you enjoy viewing the rest of the pics in the Gallery just click on a pic and you can view all of them in turn.