Elusive Illusions.....

 

 

The Wonders of Paint....

When I began this Castle, Dear Readers, all those years ago  (in 2010...!) with an abundance of Enthusiasm and next to no experience, it quickly became clear to me that the primary materials would have to be very basic. A structure this large would need to be sturdy, and the materials (so much required!) would need to be readily available and not too expensive. Plywood was the obvious choice (the Lovely Old Dollhouse was made of plywood, after all!...) and the "finish" would need to be paint. (Because who could possible use that much "egg carton stones" or paper clay to mimic the stone surface?) And it would be glued and screwed together (and there would need to be plenty of doors with hinges!) Beyond that it was all still a nebulous fantasy of possibilities in my brain. I had not decided about floors and windows and ceilings... and even the staircases were "figured out" after the framework was cut and assembled. But from the very beginning, I have relied on paint to produce the illusion of a large old stone castle! And just the two colors of gray that I already had in my "supplies" from other painting in my RL home. And I confess, I have not done a huge amount of "fretting" over the accuracy of the illusion... the shade of each stone has not been pondered very deeply. I have relied on a very theatrical "slap-dash" paint style. It is supposed to be like the back-drop in a play... you don't notice it once you accept the illusion it presents. All of that is a little easier to accept when looking at the interior. The exterior might be a different matter! In the above picture you can see the back side with the gray paint and the beginnings of "stone" trim around the windows. Having got this far while the Castle is all pulled apart, I didn't want to turn it back to the wall without completing it to a point. The windows had to be trimmed.... or it might never get done!

It is particularly difficult to make the illusion 

of thick stone walls when dealing with a plywood structure.

In a real Norman castle, the windows would be

 deep set with minimal ornate details.

But I wanted the arched windows to have

 a carved "toothed" edge typical of the era.

Using scraps of the 3/8th inch plywood, 

I cut out the arch to fit the shape of the window arch...

 none of which are exactly symmetrical 

because I cut them by hand..... all those years ago!

It took quite a bit of work to carve these teeth... 

the plywood is rather tough!

Because this is the back side...

 which will almost never be seen...

 I can feel free to try out the ideas 

and not worry as much about it being perfect.

I think it looks close enough to what I am envisioning...

It will work!

And the other windows on the back needed their trim too... 

and it needed to get painted to look like "rocks"...

And the arched windows needed their trim painted

 to look more like "stone"...

Here it is just started... 

the "mortar" lines will be added last.

And yes, I have decided to paint the "rocks" on the back of the castle!

Which starts by laying out the courses in the dark gray paint.

I got three rows done on a fairly even pattern... 

but the next row began to get off... 

and I needed to get out the measuring tape

 and be more disciplined! 

And I needed to get the vertical edges lined up

 before I had done too many courses.... 

to be sure it would look okay... 

and be spaced in a realistic way.

Once again, I am not sweating about the small irregularities.

 The "stones" will be slightly uneven here and there

 as they were in the early castles.

And yes, this was a surprisingly time consuming process!

The courses become a little  smaller the higher they are.

This will help the Castle appear more balanced, and not top heavy.

And the arched window stone has been painted and glued in place.

It will get more details later.

Of course, It is not done yet.

I have not "stoned" the crenelations yet! 

And I have not even begun to paint the "rock" details...

But Oh, my!, Dear Readers,

The Illusion is starting to grow!

Such is the wonderful Power of Paint!