Having Fun Now!

I finished sculpting the rest of the foundation and the trim around the door and window yesterday. I rolled out the clay to the same thickness as the walls. Then I cut it into strips and glued them to the existing walls. I did each element one at a time.

Here's the door trim. It was put on in three pieces. One on either side and one in an arch across the top. Then I just took an exacto and trimmed out pieces here and there as I went to make the stones uneven. I used the trusty credit card tools to make the cracks again. You have to work fairly fast when doing this part. The strips of clay dry out quickly because the dry clay underneath leaches out the moisture. It helps some if you wet the clay underneath. After that step, I let it dry.

This morning when I got up it was ready to paint. This is the part I like best. I mixed up a jar of paint to use on the body of the house using Ceramcoat red iron oxide, antique white and just a touch of yellow and golden brown. I used this combo with a lot of water and made sure that the paint didn't go on too thick. It is really all washes. If you look at the larger photo you can see a bit of golden brown washed on around the bottom. That is where there would be some discoloration over the years. I may still add more. I need to let it dry to see how it is going to look.

Meanwhile, I started the trim by painting all of the cracks between the bricks with a mixture of trail tan and white. I let that dry and then I started with the bricks on the step. First I washed them with straight trail tan and then used dry brushing to add a little more color and some antique white as the last layer. The bricks are just a little redder than the stones of the foundation and the trim.

Next I started with the door and did a solid wash of trail tan. I let it dry a little and then used a very dry brush with antique white to skim over the high spots. In turn, I then did the window trim and the foundation blocks.

After taking a couple of close ups, I can see where I need to go back in and do just a slight bit of touch up to the rock part.

Overall, I think that the finish is coming out pretty well. I am very happy with the imperfections in the plaster. The cracks are just about right for making it look old. If you poke the close up, you can see better what I am talking about.

I am going back now and do some touch up and maybe add a little more color over all. I have to wait for it to dry completely to see how it looks.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.......See you tomorrow.