Just a Quick Update and a welcome to the new ones

Good Evening, well it is here , first welcome to my new followers and I have looked at all your blogs and to be honest it great to see the wide variation of talents that you all have. I am taking a lot of interest in in the way you artisans finish and the multitude of ideas that you guys have and plan to tap into a few for when I come across similiar scenarios ...if you don't mind that is ...hahaha . Well when I come doing the interiors you guys far exceed me I can do wood, plaster, brick ..in fact anything that is solid ..but when it comes to Fimo and soft furnishings well I give up.
Well as an update I have had to put the model aside for the time being as commercial reasons dictate I do some income generating work ...but saying that I am also talking to the authorities and powers to be and they are very interested in my project ..so fingers crossed . I will blog some photos on progress which has been interesting and the results are starting to come ... meanwhile my other project is my very first 'folly' house and I am really enjoying that ...great when you don't have to follow a plan and make it up as you are going along ..at the moment it it is a cross between Lord of the Rings and Disneyland ....
Well just to let you know I hadn't forgotten you guys and will photo blog V. soon ......promise

Well I'm humbled .....

Wow ..... so many followers in a short space of time ...welcome all and thank you for the encouragement and very rewarding posts and thank you Lainie for the advertising ( fancy a job doing all my my PR ... hahaha ). I know I am supposed to post all followers links but please forgive me as I am new to this game , but I will respond to each posting made by the individuals .

Well as an update to what has been happening I have been playing with finishes and colouring to get the original finish just right , difficult from black and white photos actually but there splotches on the current castle to get a pretty good idea. Apart from that a lot of phone calls and networking , so sorry no new photos but there will be tomorrow I promise , meanwhile I'll blog a few of my research photos ... hope you like them.

Top left fire place in the main entrance made of Mumbles marble, top right inside the central tower, bottom left inner court yard and bottom right the tower is the castles brewery ... 

Internal Pictures of Margam

As promised to Lainie a few pictures of the internal workings of Margam essentially there is only 2 rooms that have been restored to partial formal glory, the entrance hall and the staircase .The entrance hall has a vaulted ceiling and stained glass window and the staircase ceiling is similar to the entrance hall.

The rest of the castle has mixture of these walls left and red brick as can be seen in the left of the picture , so photos and research is required. It's fun for a few years I suppose ..

Well its started .... front entrance facade

Thanks for the great comments suppose I have to deliver now so ...... to let you know I've started firstly on a mock up to see how things will go together and also to account for the 3D scaling side , I've started this off in 1:24 but already it shows some promise my intention would be to scale it up to 1:12. This is created from sheet polystyrene 2" thick then carved for the depth perception then coated in plaster, to this I will then add the odd solid extrusions i.e. ledges, plinths, major stonework and finish off with the intricate pieces and final finish. Some of the plaster is still wet hence the shine and the right hand side has been profiled awaiting final coating and finishing. It's fun so far ......... will let you know ..... also included a photo from the valley including my snapped clothes line sorry !!!

Latest Project and Welcomes

Good Evening and firstly welcome to my new interested people I very much appreciate the interest that you are all showing and to be honest a bit stunned. It does give me more reason to blog a bit more often I do apologise if I am missing some blog etiquette along the way.

So let me tell you about my latest project, well no point in starting small it's a Gothic Romatic castle that goes by the name of Margam Castle Wikipedia Information for those interested . It is a fantastic place and some of you may remember from Rachels blog that was where we had our first display , the picture on the left shows the front entrance and I am currently doing a mock up of it from this photo as any detailed plans are not available due to them being either stolen in 1941 when the army occupied it or further archives being lost in 1976 when the whole house was gutted by fire. I will blog a few of the stages as I am doing them but I see this as project for at least a few years as the main castle is shown in the second photo and the serving quarters and stables in the third . I just love this place and yes for those interested it is haunted , the interior is just bare bricks so that is going to be a real challenge. Anyway we will see how that gets along.

Wow Followers !!!

Thank you for my followers , does this mean I have to keep blogging I suppose it does ...yippee !! Anyway I can't promise the same frequency as Rachel 'Minimaid' she has a lot better control of the discipline side than I do  I tend to wander off in all directions. Well back to what we do best then blogging , I am in the middle of doing a Greenleaf MacKinley for Rachel and am trying a cotswold stone effect. The effect is created by placing a coating of plaster on the plywood then washing with a water colour wash, then scratching a random stone pattern after it has dried. I think it works quite well but I working on a better way to create more depth but as a facing it seems to work, I'll let you know if any more thoughts become evident.

A New Face on the Block

Greetings All Well starting a new business in this enticing field of miniatures is a real challenge , I am setting up everything at the moment and it is really quite amazing how bureaucratic things become on the legalities and requirements. Still never mind I've completed another model and this has been kindly displayed in Millys Miniatures in Cardiff, so the process begins now I am just mulling over my next project several keep bouncing around each with their own merits either way I've got to start one as I am itching to get grubby again. Attached are a couple of photos of the last project which was really enjoyable to do and new techniques and processess acquired ......