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I have also added a separate page to the blog for the Tower of Magic with a brief summary of all the rooms of the ToM in the one spot. The link is just below this and above the main body of the blog, or you can just click here.

Friday, February 19, 2016

The Workshop


The Workshop for the Tower of Magic is now finished.   There isn't anything particularly magical about it; in fact the clockwork gears under the table give it more of a steampunk feel than anything.  Still, I hope it will blend in well enough when it's put with the other rooms of the ToM.


In the back corner is an area for woodwork with a wall mounted rack for spare timber from which also hangs a range of tools.


Next to this is a painting station with a range of paints and brushes stored in a hanging shelf unit.


On the central table a broken orrery is being repaired.


The fire in the back corner is largely lost behind everything else in the room.


And my other current project, the 48th scale Woodnock Cottage, now has thatching on it's roof and is ready to have furniture added inside.  (And for an idea of scale, the blue surface you can see under the cottage is the top of the Workshop).


Thursday, February 4, 2016

A Workshop, a Cottage, and a House . . .


One of two new projects I've started work upon is yet another room for the Tower of Magic.  This is the last of the boxes I've been using for the ToM so unless I can find more to match this might be the last room of the ToM as well.  The room is the 'Workshop' where assorted magical devices and contraptions are built.


 The Workshop has an open stone fireplace which can be employed as a forge to heat metals for working.  In the corner beside the fire is a stone stair that disappears behind the chimney and provides the illusion of access to the room.


The furniture in the workshop has been painted in a range of different colours and for a change I actually like how the paints I've chosen are working together.


While waiting for paint and glue to dry at various stages in the Workshop I filled in time by starting my next Petite Properties kit.  It's another 48th scale property and is called 'Woodnock Cottage'.


Woodnock is another rear open job (I won't remind you again how much I dislike open at the rear houses) but in this case altering it to be front opening wasn't really practical so I've assembled it more or less as the manufacturer intended.  I really must be slipping.


The main room on the ground floor is going to be a country tea room.


The adjoining room will be the kitchen where the goods on offer in the tea room will be prepared.  


There are also two rooms upstairs.  At this point I'm not certain whether these will be an apartment for the operators of the tea room to live in or possibly a more 'commercial' space, say an art gallery selling local landscapes or a shop selling handicrafts?


One change I did make to the basic kit was to move the internal wall dividing these upstairs rooms across a bit so I get two good sized rooms instead of one huge and one small room.


Finally I went into the local Post Office the other day and found this child's dollshouse kit reduced to $20 from $90.  How could I refuse?  It's about 24th scale in size and very nicely finished for a basic child's toy.  Now the only question is what to do with it . . . ?