BigC

Why not just use a finishing wax......

Well I wouldn't go that far Holly....lol Anyway, to matters in hand.... No pictures as yet but I managed to get the Quoins painted..along with the bottom cement block-work...now I'm working on the central pillars..all painted in Purbeck Stone (Farrow and Ball No.275)..Not a whole lot removed from my white sealer paint but a subtle greyish shade nonetheless. Quite apt and fits in well with the character I'm trying to create....It will surely need a light rubbing down with a very fine grit sandpaper and a second coat applied to really make it fizz..... Purbeck Stone

I think its all in the application of the product, I have used crackle paint quite extensively on projects of late mostly bath caddy's (dont ask me why folks flock for these of late)..but if you do some samples with varying degrees of thick thin applications I'm sure you'll find a solution....Regards C

Hi Guys, So sorry I haven't been around of late, as I said previously in the thread...The Mother in Law is comming for an extended visit (she's been at a low ebb of late) so I have to re-decorate a whole bedroom top to bottom including carpets and fittings, Upscaling all the furniture (as I dont want to have to buy everything new...Curtain poles, curtains, blinds etc etc etc..pretty much everything from scratch. I'm working on the iron bedstead now, revamping it a little with paint etc...I have been uber busy and would love to get back to the dolls house but I have to prioritize my time of late so that is why I have been under the forum radar...Normal service will resume as soon as possible.... Image below shows some of the furniture upscaling .....Hopefully by next weekend I'll be working on the dollshouse once again......Regards C

Seems pretty reasonable....I will carry on with this as is, whilst playing gallery catch up... then make the transition via gallery linkage. Regards C

OK I get all of this...This evening whilst trying to upload images or a image to be precise, I got so far on many attempts and the computer just went into hang mode..I tried on four occasions...4 white screens later I just gave up, but will try again later today...I will carry on with this thread though If I may...as the front facade is the only thing I'm interested in at the moment....Regards C

I've used 68% Sable, (Holly also mentioned this a while back)...so still got a little way to go yet...I have an album started but dont want to bore people with multiple uploads...I condense the image files as much as I can for the web from the originals, that's why I can get away with things on forums to a point...after which I usually start a "pt2" thread which seems to work with a reference link to "pt1" as a footnote within...now wither that works on this Invasion php board I dont know............ Not a problem Keith...If I find something worth sharing I will always do so...I thought this was really cool idea... probably a natural choice but not obvious. (to me anyway ) Regards C

That looks really cool Luanne....Well Done Regards C

Just a little tip to share with you all..you probably already know this but I'll share it nonetheless... Remember when I purchased the drainpipe components a few weeks back, they were too large... so I fashioned my own. I asked the vendor how she got the look of real lead on her sales image pipework and she relayed to me that after painting with deep grey paint, she rubbed soft pencil lead dust (I used a 10B) over the piece....Curious... I tried her methodology this evening, first heavily rubbing the soft pencil onto a sheet of paper to make the dust, rubbing my finger over this to transfer it and finally highlighting areas on the hopper by simply rubbing my finger into those areas..... to my surprise, it really does work.....giving the hopper a more realistic feel/look, complete with dull and shiny areas..I think it looks really well, what do you guys think?... Regards C

Thanks Holly. Hopefully it will look fine. The plan for the door furniture is to have a brass knocker at the top followed by a brass knob handle just above a brass letterbox (I want one with lettering on it)...not sure about door numbers may leave that for a pillar wall post (with railings) Regards C

Thanks Kathie, The door colour will be (Farrow and Ball "Studio Green") a really rich looking dark green...almost into a black.......I saw it when fitting a mansion house out in Jersey (Channel Islands) The guy had it on internal skirting boards and it looked very effective, so much so I fell in love with it straight away....So I will incorporate it into this build....I hope it looks ok with the rest of the house as I'm a long way away from being a designer lol Regards C

Its a Flat Matt Emulsion, Sable, but I will be going over certain parts with a soft sheen water based clear varnish when I near the end...(which is a long way off yet ) Incidentally...should I use the same rule of thumb when painting the door surround as you recommend for the window frames?? This may be stone back in the day...I have an Alabaster colour of the same make which I could use....any thoughts? Regards C

Thanks again guys.."White Clay" it is then.

Sorry Shari that I cannot offer you direct assistance but...... Maybe it would be a good idea for folks to scan copies of their instructions (.pdf file downloadable format) for future reference and make them available in a dedicated section on the forum boards....Shouldn't be too hard to get something like this started if it hasn't already been done...and I'm sure it would go a long way to helping folks with problems such as Shari has come across.... I hope you find something suitable soon Shari, and all the best with your build Regards C