Log Cabins.

I was reading some folks posts on The Miniatures Page, about their log cabins they made. It inspired me to post some pictures of a log cabin and barn I had made a couple of years ago for AWI Skirmishes in 1/72nd. Unfortunately I didn't take any progress pictures while I was building them so I can only show the end result. I started both buildings with a foam core shell. I marked out on the foam core where I wanted windows and doors to sit. I then proceeded to glue small pieces of doweling which I had purchased at the local craft store. Taking care to leave openings where the doors and windows had been marked. I also left an empty space on the log cabin where I was going to place the chimney. There I glued a block of balsa wood. The next thing I did was to take some teddy bear fur and cut it into rectangles each one the size of one side of the roof. I glued them down on the barn and the cabin and let them dry overnight. The next day I liberally applied some acrylic gloss medium to the teddy bear fur and used an old fine comb to brush the fur in a downward direction wile the medium was wet. Once I was satisfied with the look I set them aside to dry. I then fashioned doors from cereal box card. I embossed the plank lines in the doors using the back of an Xacto knife blade. The cross strips on the doors are more card, The slats on the roof used to hold the thatch down are bamboo skewers split with an Xacto knife and glued down on the teddy bear fur. I cut bases for both buildings from foam core and glued the buildings to them. Once they had dried I coated the bases with Duncan No Fire Snow for ground texture. I also used it on the balsa block on the log cabins Chimney. I Love No Fire Snow. I use it on the all my figure base for ground work, It hides the cast on base of the figure, adds texture and is very durable. Once the snow was dry I took both buildings outside and sprayed them with spray gesso as a primer and sealer. This was an experiment on my part to see if it would work any better than the cheap white primer that I buy at Wal-Mart or Canadian Tire. It worked fine but I found the results where'nt any better than what I already had been using, and it was almost 2/3rds more expensive. Live and Learn. Additionally I found the gesso took much longer to dry than the primer. After the gesso had dried I began to paint the buildings using craft paints. Working from a very dark, almost black brown to lighter browns. The Thatch I painted a dark ocher, working up to a light straw colour. The No Fire Snow groundwork I painted using an ochre coloured tan that I like for a soil colour. Once I had painted all the basic colours I did a wash with Future floor wax and raw umber paint mixed together. This shades everything and gives nice shadows. After that was dry I drybrushed The thatch and the raised areas on the logs to highlight them. I then Painted the chimney dark gray. Once the gray was dry I painted on individual stones with varying shades of light gray and tan. After that I flocked the bases with burnt grass flock and static grass. Then I fabricated split logs from bamboo skewers and dowel. Panted them and glued them down on the cabins base. I also made a saw and an axe from some discard of plastic strip, and found an 1/72nd scale wooden barrel in my bits box. After painting they where also glued down.
Hope you enjoy.
Cheers.
GeorgeD.