Who knew making tiny floorboards could be so satisfying
There is something inherently satisfying with making things from scratch. It is amazing how a piece of wood can be cut and shaped to become something special.
In the past my modelling was done with kits that I bought from the hobby store. Hours spent painting and gluing the create the object on the front of the box.
Recently I discovered I have a passion for making miniatures (making cool stuff) — the satisfaction that comes from deciding what you will build, the materials you will use and the reason for building.
Whether it be because you wanted something fun to do in your spare time to a prototype of a full-sized piece you want to build, or in this case my final year project. Miniatures enable you to nut out the process, the materials, the finish and like an orchestra conductor bring these ideas together to become the rendition — the completed work.
The floor is starting to take shape, however what I see and what you see are two very different perspectives of the same piece. Each board had to be cut, decisions had to be made about the colour to use, and before the first coat of paint is applied it is not known how it will look when complete, or if in fact it will work. When it does… pure joy.
Then we have the vision — the picture in your head of what you hope it will look like when complete — shiny dark floorboards that look warm, inviting and stunning. Floorboards that I would be proud to have in my own home.
So the next job in the process was to fill in the gaps — the tiny pieces of floorboard, each one needed trimming down to size because not one of the gaps was the same size.
At the beginning it felt like it would be a long slow process, cutting lots of little boards to size.
As a relatively new miniature creator, I have not yet developed my eye for perfect cutting. I create the first board, and use it to size the next, however each board comes out different no matter how hard I try to keep them consistent. But the joy that comes from making it work, tweaking, adjusting and finally achieving the result is what keeps me wanting to make more and more.
The actual process was anything but slow. It was the most fun I had had with miniatures to date. A series of pleasure moments as the right fit was found and the floorboards became a complete floor.
It took on an almost jigsaw-like process where you cut the piece and find the gap that perfectly took the piece of wood. Perfection was when the piece of wood fitted so snuggly that it did not need gluing. Soooo satisfying!
With that process complete and while waiting for the extra floorboards to dry (I miscalculated how many I would need), but even problems are not problems, I can just cut more.
The imperfections were sanded to ensure the boards look perfect when the final coats are applied.
This was yesterdays work in a day in the life of a miniaturist. My 15 projects in 15 weeks is now back on track. Floorboards was the first project. Today I hope to finish the floorboards and start on the arched window that will sit at the end of the room.