Michelle’s Miniatures: “The Mulberry” Art Deco Dollhouse. Art Deco and Craftsman Style, 1:48 Scale. Part 2

Oh! Click here for the link to Michelle's Miniatures' "the Mulberry"! 

Moving on.......

Exterior Workings

As much fun as working on an interior is, the exterior is just as important to get done before the house assembly. I’ve already learned it is much easier to have them both done before glue up, and besides, that’s what Michelle’s directions say!

Right and center - adding texture and age.

I made a few tests and came up with a method to add a little texture to the exterior. I used craft chalk paint in a baby blue, and applied it with a stiff brush in a swirl pattern, not unlike what you might see on a real stuccoed house. I then diluted some brown craft paint and with a cloth, dipped it in the brown mixture and washed over the dry chalk paint texture. Its very subtle, but it did enhance the texture. After the brown dried I went washed over it with diluted white pearl metallic paint. That gave it a lovely glow.

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Gluing the Tops and Bottoms Together

The 1st floor walls and the 2nd/3rd floor walls are separate pieces in this kit. For my purposes I needed them to be one piece; the left wall as one piece, the right wall as one piece and the 1st and 2nd floor fronts as one piece. So I glued them together and used wood putty to fill in the cracks on the exterior, sanding them down after drying. I then painted all the exteriors using the three step exterior painting method I had come up with.

Glue those walls together!!

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Creating “Glass Block” With Gallery Glass™

In my online research of the Mulberry (I always try to find other examples of finished kits), I came across a completed one where the little square window holes had been filled in with some sort of clear plastic. It’s such a cool effect! I was able to track down the artist and she shared how she did it, a product called “Gallery Glass”. It’s usually used to create stained glass effects on glass and windows but she had successfully used it on her Mulberry. So I bought some clear Gallery Glass, set up the wax paper and began filling all those little holes!

Weighting down the wall pieces to discourage the liquid Gallery Glass from overflowing.

It took about 24 hours to dry completely clear, and I should have removed the wax paper about 10 hours in while Gallery Glass was still tacky. Oh well. Once it completely dried I was able to get the wee fragments of stuck waxed paper off with a cloth dipped in H2O and a gentle scrub. Next time I’ll use parchment paper.

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Front Wall Workup

Since the front of the dollhouse is to be front opening, I had to do something with the entrance that pushed into the home. It is a cool effect for the open back Mulberry, but mine is a front opening. I decided to make the front entrance flat with the rest of the front wall. A bit of modification, some extra trim and I’m happy with the look.

Modified front for a "front opening" Mulberry.

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Family Value!

The walls above the lovely wainscoting offered a wonderful space for scenic murals so I started scouring the internet for Impressionist art and came upon Monet’s “Water Lilies”, and decided to use it for the 2nd floor bedroom. 

The 1st floor mural was more challenging but then I remembered my dad’s photography, and all the wonderful natural scenes he posts to his Flicker account. Sure enough, there was a desert scene he took near his home that he had tweaked with some photo software that was perfect! I asked him for it and a couple of other files and the 1st floor had it’s focus!

"Mural" artwork and mantle artwork by Carl F. Berger, Sr. A lovely Utah landscape!

I cut up a laminate floor tile sample from Home Depot for the fireplace stone and used the parts from SDK Miniatures' quarter scale Arts and Crafts Fireplace for the fireplace itself. 

I then used software on my computer, sized and "mirrored" Dad's photo to create this lovely desert"mural". I also resized a photo he took of my mom in their sweet home, for the mantle artwork.  Very Craftsman indeed!

So far so good, I'm pretty pleased with the look! Stay tuned!