Saturday, 31 May 2025

Winter Building Number Four...

Well the days after our return from Singapore have been rather pedestrian. Partly because of some mixed weather, but more because I have been under the weather with that bloody awful cold that I brought back with me.

But I've never been one to sit around doing nothing I have launched back into the winter buildings. This is another peasant house and the basic structure again was to be wooden. A common practice was to coat the timber with clay not as a decorative feature but  as additional insulation. It wasn't like a stucco surface found in the Mediterranean countries that completely conceals the bricks, the clay was just slapped on and the outline of the wooden walls was visible, as in this image...


I also like that chunks of the clay could break off, exposing the timber beneath, like this model...



I like the idea of some walls being clay finished and some not.

I also want to get away from the rectangular shape so this building will have a small covered porch to the right of the front face, while an extension will be on the opposite face. Around the base of the building will be a narrow band of stone.

The roof will be thatched, BUT because the rectangular core is the same size as Building Number One, the roofs between the two buildings can be interchanged. 

So here is the basic build with the timber cladding in place and painted where it will be exposed, prior to the application of the 'clay'.




For the clay cladding I have used an artist modelling paste. I found that one coat didn't cover the wood enough, so a second coat was applied, using a paper towel to get the daubed effect. A thinned wash of sepia dirtied up the clay cladding.

The roof for this model will be thatched, but the material I will be using for the thatch has not arrived, so it will be a week or so before I can get started on it. All the same you can get an idea of the basic shape from  the form.




And these shots demonstrate how the roof from Winter Building Number One can be interchanged.



Also completed in this batch is an outhouse and a crane well.








18 comments:

  1. Great work Mark, and the outhouse and crane are also spectacular pieces. I would have been a bit daunted about the possibility of mucking up the model if I didnt get the right clay effect, but the way yoú have done it looks perfect.

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    1. The little pieces are really fun to do and help to dress a table. I have another couple to do yet. I did do a bit of a trial first with the clay effect that avoided any disasters on the main model.

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  2. More great work Mark! I have not really started my copying as yet, but I really like the way you have done the crane well! I must say, I thought of your models when looking at the image I put on my recent post of one of the earlier scenes in the movie "T34"!

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    1. Sounds odd, but I did a lot of research on that well and the first attempt was not that great. I have a couple more buildings under way.

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  3. Super looking models and an interesting tutorial, the outhouse and well are also lovely little models and will dress the table very well, superb additions to your collection.

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    1. Thanks Donnie. I have a few more little pieces to add to dress the table more.

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  4. Another great building there Mark, as well as the well:). Some years ago I saw a programme where the old lady was putting clay into the joints of here log hut before Winter, to seal all the gaps. Maybe the clay layer as shown on your model also helped to keep bugs out if whitewashed, which I believe I've read somewhere that that's what it was for...

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    1. Agreed the clay was a common gap filler...the article I read said they used a mixture of clay and moss as a gap filler - I guess that the moss helped to bind the clay. But you may well be right about bugs, but the additional clay it probably had a number of benefits.

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  5. Lovely bit of daubing! The crane well and outhouse are great too!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain...a second daubed building is done now.

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  6. Fab work on the buildings Mark. I'm taking lots of notes!

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    1. Thanks Ray. I have a few more pieces in work now.

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  7. I love it. Really well done. but in the freezing cold whose gonna use the outhouse? 😁

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    1. Thanks Stew...I suppose it depends on the level of desperation...

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  8. Lovely work as always Mark…
    I think the outhouse looked particularly bleak…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. I was thinking the same thing as I was applying the snow to it!

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