Miniature News from Around the Web

Over the past couple of months I have come across several interesting artists and craftspeople creating miniatures. These projects have been doing the rounds on the web, but it is nice to see them in context, rather than in isolation on someones Pinterest board.

First is the UK based children's charity KIDS, who late last year organised a very original fund raising idea. They invited prominent architects to create dollhouses of their own design. The resulting houses were auctioned to raise money and awareness for children with a disability. Some big names in architecture took part, including Coffey Architects, FAT Architecture and Zaha Hadid Architects. Below are a small sample. 

This dollhouse by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris was one of the more "traditional houses", in that it resembled what one might normally consider to be a dollhouse. 

The house by Lifeschutz Davidson Sandilands (above) was in 1:6 (barbie scale).  

Some were a little bit more meta than others, such as this one by Guy Holloway Architects (above).

 Others played with colour and natural wood grains, such as this house by Coffey Architects (above).

In other dollhouse news, US artists Joe Fig has created a series of room boxes in 1:12 scale depicting a series of influential 20th century artists at work in the studios. These well executed miniatures are very detailed and would have required a great deal of research. Here are a selection of some of these beautiful rooms.

Finally, some pictures which you may have seen around the web or on Pinterest. These are the work of US photographic artist Thomas Doyle, whose fascination with snow globes eventually lead to these marvellous creations in 1:144 scale (or there about).  

Another 1:144 Scale Project - Little Toy Dollhouse

I haven't made many posts in the past few months, so here is an update of a little project I have had going. I have been doing more 1:144 scale houses lately mainly because my apartment is so small and they are manageable projects!

I wanted to make this little house look more like a toy dollhouse one would have, rather than an authentic house in miniature.

 I made the house from stiff card and coloured paper.

It looks right at home in my dollhouse bedroom. This is an adult's room though, so I'm sure it would look even better in a nursery. 

    

I got the small pieces of furniture from SDK Minitaures. They were more than a bit fiddly to put together!

1:144 Dollhouses Off to Market

This week I decided to sell some of the little 1:144 dollhouses I have made in the past few weeks. If you are interested, you can find them for sale in my Etsy store.

1:144 Window Boxes: Easier Than They Look!

I decided my little terrace house needed some finishing touches, so I decided to try and replicate the window boxes of the real house.

I decided to make them in white, because this would stand out better on the miniature house. I used a hobby plastic strip which was square and hollow.

I cut it into small lengths. Then I cut one of the four sides off so that the lengths were three sided and open on one side. Then I cut small squares of paper to block up each side and make a tub. 

Then I filled the tubs with clear drying PVC hobby glue and stuck in some little bits of shrub and flowers I bought from the hobby shop in the model train scenery section.

This part required tweezers.

The result was quite effective and realistic.

I also added a red front door for good measure. I have ordered some window shutters from a model train hobby supplier, so when they come along, the house will be quite complete!

North Melbourne in Miniature - Another 1:144 House

I decided to make another little 1:144 house this week. There is a pretty white terrace house on my street and I decided to copy it. 

I bought some fittings online this time from Grantline to give some more realism. 

I printed off wallpaper in the same way as last time. In the comments on my last post I was asked what type of printer I used. I used a standard large commercial office printer, the type they have in copy/office supply shops. It isn't the best finish (a little shiny), but the detail is good enough.

I completed each of the rooms before I slotted them into the card shell. That is I folder and cut the wallpaper, made the fireplace and did the architraves. It just gets too difficult to work inside a tiny room with these details.

I used some plastic hobby strips for the architraves and fireplaces, cut them to size and painted them brown. This looks more real than brown cardboard. I made the rest of the house from 1.5mm white card and grey paper (for the blue stone bottom half and sides). 

For the urns on the parapet I searched for an appropriate shaped object, and found earring backings. They were perfect for the purpose so I glued them on and painted them white.

Im still waiting on some shutters to finish it off (which I have ordered) but here is a  compare picture in the mean time. 

A Tiny New Side Project

This week I have discovered a new scale: 1:144. This size is a house which could be a dollhouse for a dollhouse. I was inspired by the little houses in Hobart, Tasmania. 

I made it out of 1.5 mm card. 

I wanted a realistic interior, so I found some wallpaper images on the internet, saved them, scaled them down and printed them off in the correct scale.

I cut the paper out and folded it in to shape for the rooms. 

I made the fireplaces, skirting board and architraves with brown coloured paper.

The tiny dormer window was a bit of a challenge. 

Perhaps I will try some furniture, though I think that will be a little more difficult!