Victorian Chimneys

[wormwoodz]

Hi everyone!

I have been thinking about possible designs for my Fairfield's chimney and I'm feeling inclined to try a victorian style with miniature bricks. Something like this, either square or rectangular shaped, or other designs that could work in this scale.

I was wondering if anyone has a link for a blog or tutorial about building dollhouse brick chimneys, I like this kind of design on top and I've seen it done in dollhouse pictures. I've found this blog which shows the kind of look I'm going for but the process for making the bricks seams a bit too complicated for a newbie on a smaller scale, so I was wondering if there are other alternative materials or techniques I can use to achieve the same effect. I've seen this kind of chimney on tudor style houses as well, so if you have built one like this or similar I would be interested in any tips or advice on how to achieve that look. If you know anyone who has built this sort of chimney and have a link to their gallery or blog that'd be fantastic as well  

[havanaholly]

I used sandpaper for bricks on my Fairfields' chimneys:

[wormwoodz]

1 hour ago, havanaholly said:

I used sandpaper for bricks on my Fairfields' chimneys:

That's an interesting idea, can sandpapper be painted? What paint/sealer should I use if I try that?

[havanaholly]

I find that chalk pastels color sandpaper nicely.

[Elsbeth]

I saw a tutorial in a book where the author painted sandpaper with acrylic paint--kinda dry brushed it on --and blended many shades of reds and browns and smudges of black. Then she cut it up into bricks and the variation/mottling of color was fantastic. Good luck!

[havanaholly]

The chalk pastels also give a nice color variation:

[Debsrand56]

Here is a tutorial on making bricks from sandpaper:  http://liduina88.blogspot.com/2013/01/brick-wall-part-1.html  This person put gesso on the sandpaper first, then used acrylic paint washes.  I just tried this technique, and it worked quite well.  Before cutting my brick, I sprayed the dry sheets with clear Krylon.  Let's see if my picture inserts.

 

[wormwoodz]

Thanks for the tips on the sandpapper and the link to the tutorial, those chimneys look fantastic! I have tried something similar already with another kind of textured papper while I was testing my options for the foundation bricks, however I wasn't very pleased with the result so ended up not using it. My problem was it looked a bit too flat next to the siding and porch tiles, I needed something a bit thicker maybe.

On UK sellers I've found pre-cut 'brick slips' for 1:12 dollhouses, they come in materials such as sandstone or clay. For the amount I would need I could probably order them at a reasonable price, however I am not sure how the texture would look on a smaller scale or if they can be easily cut to fit. I'm giving this option a consideration mostly because I'll have to buy several shades of paint for the papper tiles and I might end up spending a lot more to turn the gesso into something resembling bricks. 

 

[claireliontamer]

Have you looked at the egg carton bricks? There are loads of tutorials online and it's easy, cheap and very effective once painted.

[Dalesq]

On 10/7/2016, 4:20:18, wormwoodz said:

That's an interesting idea, can sandpapper be painted? What paint/sealer should I use if I try that?

I've painted sandpaper with acrylic paints and sealed with spray sealant after it dries.

[wormwoodz]

On 08/10/2016, 07:38:51, claireliontamer said:

Have you looked at the egg carton bricks? There are loads of tutorials online and it's easy, cheap and very effective once painted.

I have seen those yes, we don't have egg carton at home but I might be able to get a similar kind of cardboard at the arts supply store.

Thanks very much for your suggestions, I'll test both the sandpapper and the cardboard. I also thought about trying cork, I guess I'll assemble and paint a small portion of each before gluing to test the result.

[shannonc60]

There are also stencils which you use with a spackle type material: http://www.craft-products.com/dolls-house-articles.asp

They have articles on their website on how to use it.

[KathieB]

Brae (Otterine) did a marvelous Victorian chimney on her Haunted Heritage. 

Here is a link to the chimney in progress. It's not painted or grouted, but the brick pattern is quite clear.

Here is a link to details of the finished chimney.

Here is a link to the finished chimney.

Here is a link to Brae's method of making bricks from egg carton (or any kind of rough-finish pulpy paper)

[wormwoodz]

12 hours ago, shannonc60 said:

There are also stencils which you use with a spackle type material: http://www.craft-products.com/dolls-house-articles.asp

They have articles on their website on how to use it.

Thank you! That looks interesting, I'll have a look at materials and tutorials.

 

12 hours ago, KathieB said:

Brae (Otterine) did a marvelous Victorian chimney on her Haunted Heritage. 

Here is a link to the chimney in progress. It's not painted or grouted, but the brick pattern is quite clear.

Here is a link to details of the finished chimney.

Here is a link to the finished chimney.

Here is a link to Brae's method of making bricks from egg carton (or any kind of rough-finish pulpy paper)

 That looks fantastic! I have grouting material for houses at home, is that viable or would I need to get a special kind of mortar mix for dollhouses? 

[KathieB]

4 hours ago, wormwoodz said:

 That looks fantastic! I have grouting material for houses at home, is that viable or would I need to get a special kind of mortar mix for dollhouses? 

There are different textures of grouting material. The kind that is smooth -- no sand -- works best in miniature.

[Sable]

26 minutes ago, KathieB said:

There are different textures of grouting material. The kind that is smooth -- no sand -- works best in miniature.

The grout that comes in small premixed tubs has sand in it. I use it but would prefer sand free which needs to be mixed by hand with water. I just like the convenience of the sanded.

[lolli28147]

On October 9, 2016 at 2:34:30 PM, wormwoodz said:

I have seen those yes, we don't have egg carton at home but I might be able to get a similar kind of cardboard at the arts supply store.

Thanks very much for your suggestions, I'll test both the sandpapper and the cardboard. I also thought about trying cork, I guess I'll assemble and paint a small portion of each before gluing to test the result.

I needed "stone" for my witch cottage. All of my egg cartons are styrofoam, too, so I used McDonald's drink trays. The underside has a nice bumpy texture and they are a good thickness. You can very easily make bricks out of them as well, just by cutting them into nice, rectangular shapes. A bit of advice, paint the trays before cutting them. I used acrylic paints in various shades, then I sprayed them with a coat of clear, matte paint. It blends the colors very well. What I really like about the drink trays, is they are practically free. I imagine if you were to go into McDonald's and ask them if you can buy 10 or so, they will probably let you have them for free or very cheap. Pictures of the "stones" I made are in my witch cottage/ butter cup album.

[lolli28147]

13 hours ago, wormwoodz said:

Thank you! That looks interesting, I'll have a look at materials and tutorials.

 

 That looks fantastic! I have grouting material for houses at home, is that viable or would I need to get a special kind of mortar mix for dollhouses? 

I used tile grout, sanded, for the mortar between my stones. Add in a good dose of white glue, as it tends to crumble once it dries. The glue seemed to help quite a bit to keep that from happening.

[wormwoodz]

On 10/10/2016, 22:17:29, lolli28147 said:

I needed "stone" for my witch cottage. All of my egg cartons are styrofoam, too, so I used McDonald's drink trays. The underside has a nice bumpy texture and they are a good thickness. You can very easily make bricks out of them as well, just by cutting them into nice, rectangular shapes. A bit of advice, paint the trays before cutting them. I used acrylic paints in various shades, then I sprayed them with a coat of clear, matte paint. It blends the colors very well. What I really like about the drink trays, is they are practically free. I imagine if you were to go into McDonald's and ask them if you can buy 10 or so, they will probably let you have them for free or very cheap. Pictures of the "stones" I made are in my witch cottage/ butter cup album.

Thanks for the tip. I bought some sandpapper sheets but after getting back home the grain on it seamed a bit out of scale for my house, I'm still going to give it a try but cardboard might be a better option in this case.

On 10/10/2016, 22:19:47, lolli28147 said:

I used tile grout, sanded, for the mortar between my stones. Add in a good dose of white glue, as it tends to crumble once it dries. The glue seemed to help quite a bit to keep that from happening.

Thanks for letting me know, I've never tried to use it on miniatures, I'll try to mix it with a bit of glue.

[havanaholly]

Ashley, 120 grit and higher sandpaper is a good size for 1:12 scale.

[madtex1967]

Have you thought about using the Grandt Line Chimney?  I used it on my Victoriana and really happy with the way it looks and turned out.  I painted it with 3 colors of acrylic paint to achieve the look I wanted.  It adhered beautifully.

 

[wormwoodz]

13 hours ago, madtex1967 said:

Have you thought about using the Grandt Line Chimney?  I used it on my Victoriana and really happy with the way it looks and turned out.  I painted it with 3 colors of acrylic paint to achieve the look I wanted.  It adhered beautifully.

 

These are styrene right? I've tried their products before and they are quite nice, my front door is made out of two bashed Grandt Line doors. Did the chimney come pre-cut and ready to assemble, or was it styrene sheets in brick pattern you could cut? My problem would be that I have already instaled the chimney structure, it is part of the house assembly, so something like this would need to be a perfect fit to cover the wood structure. Thanks for reminding me of their products, I had forgotten they also have eave brackets for this scale which is a bit hard to find.

I could go for a more 'smooth' looking brick as the textures I've tried so far look a bit off in scale, the sandpapper looks nice but the textures I've tried seamed more scaled for asphalt than masonry (at 1:24). I got 150 grit I think, for plaster/walls. The wood sandpapper I have here has a wave like pattern that doesn't look good in bricks :/

[Elsbeth]

I love the Grandt line chimneys - but what scale is the one in the photo? I am used to seeing their O and HO scales - which are tiny.

I love that chimney.

[havanaholly]

I have used HO scale culverts for 1:24 chimneybreasts in my Fairfields:

[wormwoodz]

5 hours ago, Elsbeth said:

I love the Grandt line chimneys - but what scale is the one in the photo? I am used to seeing their O and HO scales - which are tiny.

I love that chimney.

If I'm not mistaken that's their 1:24 scale chimney. I noticed some of their 1:24 scale components seam to be designed with G scale trainsets in mind, which is not exactly the same as 1:24 in dollhouses but they can work together. 

 

42 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

I have used HO scale culverts for 1:24 chimneybreasts in my Fairfields:

That's a lovelly idea! It's great that train components can be repurposed for dollhouse building bits :)