Truly Madly Tiny
Tuesday 5 March 2024
The Irresistible Peg Doll
Saturday 24 February 2024
Restoring a Tri-ang DH/7 Townhouse - Part Three
Again, I used wood filler to fill the gaps between the original wood and my repair and sanded it all smooth once the wood filler was dry.
Friday 23 February 2024
Restoring a Tri-ang DH/7 Townhouse - Part Two
Friday 9 February 2024
Restoring a Tri-ang DH/7 Townhouse - Part One
At the end of January this year, I took delivery of a once grand but now down at heel Triang DH/7 "for restoration", as it said in the listing.
These houses were amongst the first ever produced by Lines Brothers Limited (Tri-angtois/Tri-ang) when it was formed in June 1919. It's believed that this model was only produced from 1919 to 1921, having never appeared in any of the catalogues or price lists after 1921.*
It's a big old lady at 55" (1.4m) tall, 34"(0.8m) wide and 23½" (0.6m) deep (including the base).
Not only was the house thick with grime and dust when it arrived, but it also had some serious condition problems (which, I have to say, is why I got it for a very reasonable price).
Outside, the lovely turned finial on the top of the roof is missing and I believe there would have been two little chimneys, one on either side of the roof, but they are both missing too. I'm not entirely sure what the roof would have looked like originally, but it has certainly been over-painted.
The railings of the central balcony and a section of the left-hand balcony, both on the first floor, are missing and none of the original glass window-panes have survived.
Though clearly unloved and neglected in more recent years, the evidence points to the house being very much loved throughout most of its one hundred years of existence, with each new generation/owner making it their own. I have found no less than four layers of paint and/or wallpaper on the inside and five layers of paint on the outside!
Only two of the original fireplaces have survived, and the cooking range and dresser are both missing from the kitchen.
Happily, there are odd patches of the original wallpapers to be found (the hexagon wallpaper in the photo above is the original kitchen wallpaper), though these are in varying [mainly dreadful] states of repair - of which, more in a later blog.
Undoubtedly, the worst news was the base. This is what happened when I pressed down on it!
A closer examination of the underside revealed that the plywood top was rotten from both damp and a heavy dose of woodworm. At some point this had spread to the bottom edge of the plywood back of the house too and that was in a similar state of decay.
A few deep breaths were taken - I had never had to tackle anything like this before - but a 'sort of' plan was soon hatched.
Luckily, there was no sign of recent woodworm activity (no fresh-looking holes or frass), nevertheless, the top priority was to remove the base and dispose of the rotten plywood piece.
This proved to be quite a tricky operation because the base was nailed to the sides of the house which have become rather brittle with age in places. Thankfully most of the nails had suffered from damp too and many of them simply snapped, so with some gentle persuasion from a hammer and a pair of pliers, it eventually came off with minimal damage to the body of the house.
And here is the [sort of] new base reattached to the house - again, glued and screwed - and I have to say that I'm really quite pleased with it!
It's nice to have the original sides as they still have their original oxblood paint - somewhat surprisingly, given the number of makeovers the rest of the house has had - and hopefully I will be able to match it up.
Well, I think that's enough for one post. There has been more progress but I think I need to break it down into reasonably small posts to avoid sending even the most interested of readers to sleep!
Until next time,
Zoe
*Information from The Book of Tri-ang Dolls' Houses 1919 to 1971 by Marion Osborne.
Friday 20 October 2023
Halloween Preparations - Part Two
My non-spooky Halloween room box is finished!
Friday 29 September 2023
Halloween Preparations - Part One
Last Halloween, I decided it was about time I made some sort of miniature diorama to put on display for visiting Trick or Treaters. I didn't have time to do it then but I've been busy with the project over the last couple of weeks and will definitely be ready for Halloween this year.
Naturally, it being Halloween, I had some sort of ghoulish scene in mind but I found I couldn't get excited about that. It just didn't feel like me.
She did a brilliant job. Instead of a ghoulish scene, I decided I would make a mouse kitchen in which to display the two mouse children preparing to go out Trick or Treating. This felt much more up my street.
Nothing much happened for several months - only a bit of plotting and planning - and then in June I found the perfect glass-fronted room box at York Dolls' House Fair.
It was very cheap and had previously been used to display a butcher's shop diorama, so I started by stripping off all of the papers both inside and out.
It worked well. Next I painted the floor with a dark oak wood stain, making sure that plenty of the stain went into the cracks to emphasise the gaps between the boards: as this is a mouse house in an imaginary hole in the ground, I want it to be a little on the rough and ready side.
And finally, I gave the floor a coat of Humbrol Matt Cote (my favourite matt varnish for miniatures) and a light sanding to age it a little once it was dry. I'm very happy with the rustic finish.
Next up was the ceiling. To create an underground feel, I shaped some 3D 'roots' from brown paper soaked in wallpaper paste. These took an age to dry but that at least gave me an opportunity to get on with some of the furnishings.
I didn't really know where I was going with the furniture but decided just to crack on and see where it took me.
I started with a fairly modern sink unit I had in my stash. Initially I was just going to rough it up with some sandpaper but I was soon pulling off taps and doors and generally getting stuck in with a full refurb!
This is it with three of the cupboard doors removed, taps gone, lines etched into the draining board and doors, and distressed all over. I liked the colour so that stayed.
Next step is to add all of the bits and pieces which bring a scene to life. I want it to be a warm, welcoming, homely and quite cluttered little kitchen. We'll see how that goes in Part Two!
Until next time,
Zoe