The Boring Kind...
Way Back at the beginning of Summer, Dear Readers, I mentioned that over the years I had come to think of Summer as "castle building season". This is mostly because the light is better at his time of year, and the windows can be opened to easily ventilate the paint fumes which arise with the larger painting tasks. Some of you might remember that it was a few years ago already that I realized the plywood exterior of The Castle really needed to be painted to protect it from becoming too dry and brittle... and even so, I was not able to accomplish painting all the walls inside and out that summer nor the next and so on! The last two completely unpainted rooms remained in the "Lady's Tower" above The Chapel, as you can see in the above photo taken last June. July was spent working on the Great Hall windows and August saw much progress on The Chapel interior. September was mostly consumed by travel (preparing, going, returning and recovering!) and suddenly here we are in Autumn. The days of open windows were quickly disappearing....
Sorry about the dark photos....
it was hot and the blinds were closed...
As you can see, The Towers get used for storage
and I had been avoiding clearing it off...
But I wanted to paint the crenellations too....
The placement of the interior stairs wall was going to
be too close to the back window...
and I was resisting the idea of fixing it....
I decided to paint the rocks while I debated.... first the rock outlines.....
But the window would have to be reduced in width!
Fortunately, I still had the original cut-out
and was able to reshape the opening.
For both windows!
And with primer on the inserts....
And the rock texture added....
Every now and then a flash photo...
here with the smaller windows...
And finally painting the grout lines!
And the grout lines on both walls!
And the whole exterior with the doors attached...!
Well, Dear Readers, it would appear that I did have time to paint the two remaining rooms... even if I was not able to paint the exterior of the Tower's last side wall. That wall will need to have the wiring and a buttress added before painting it. And since I have not been able to figure out blogger's line spacing problem.... I will leave it here... Just the boring kind of painting!
This kind of painting may be boring for you, but it's sure looking nice! Your painted rocks add such a nice touch. What a beautiful castle!!
ReplyDeleteI always like the thrill of a blank slate and imagining what the space could look like. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteHas hecho un gran trabajo, a pesar de que te aburra, pero seguro que el resultado será fabuloso!!
ReplyDeleteBesos.
Hi Betsy! Yes, time flies by, I fully agree! We now find ourselves in autumn already.....:O
ReplyDeleteSo, you've got some paintwork done, good of you, and yes, blogger is often teasing me too in making lay-outs of a blogpost, so familiar ;).
"Crenellations" is a new word to me, so I've used (as often) Google translator for explanation ;).
But the trouble the stairs gave you is a problem you've hacked quickly. And I think a castle didn't have that large size of windows, the result looks great now.
It looks as if it wasn't much work but we, miniature builders, also know that it's timeconsuming to do so. Plus days are shorter now. The outside of the castle looks much better now, all painted in whilte. But we all know that all small things together do make great progress.
Hugs, Ilona
I have said it before and I will say it again. I love your painted stonework. They really give that roughly hewn feel that seems so fitting by a castle of this size and age. And you are right, the paint helps seal the plywood and lengthens its life considerably. Another step in this great project!
ReplyDeleteHuibrecht
I'm wondering now... should I introduce myself first??? *blush* I'm sorry for visiting your blog so very late that even regarding my usual poor standards it's in fact extremely late. My, I missed all your October posts!!! The Halloween tale!!! One of my most famous events in my personal calendar - the epic Halloween tale (one of the best told and visualized stories ever been published) and so far even the Deadly Nightshades!!!
ReplyDeleteBut I have a confession to make... I was dropping by to have a fast read but without commenting on your posts so I already know what is awaiting me now - next to many more twists of this beloved story, meeting old friends and watching some of them being brave during their adventures there is also the thing always makes my day: The Cloud Palace gang! *sob* And even a very unexpected visitor... you could never guess how much this touched me.
So why am I so very late? Because my RL was very busy, apart from the garden work mostly because of some tasks related to that special holiday at the end of the year which shall even not be mentioned at Halloween yet. I really needed to get ahead with my You-know-what-cards and even more with the calendars. The company which prints them for me usually offers a 30 % discount at the end of October and as you might have an idea how many calendars I'm giving away this is for sure something I can't miss. *LOL*
So I lacked the time to really enjoy your posts to the fullest and I only did some fast reading. I really want to take my time for reading your posts slowly, for enjoying your settings, meeting old friends and appreciating all your talent and also the work and time you put into all of this. Regarding all your effort I could never come over with just leaving a comment like "Wonderful story"... you know me... that's not Birgit-style! ;O)
So after apologizing and explaining why I'm so very late this time let's start with commenting. Chapeau for taking the courage to still start the necessary paintings although you were wondering if it was already too late at this time of the year. Your courage paid off... the paint will do the wood good over the winter months and even more: What is done is done and doesn't need to be done anymore! Yessss... just imagine how happy you will be when returning to the castle work next spring with the good feeling that these time consuming and not very creative tasks are already finished.
I will never stop to admire all the work and time that goes into the painting of these stone walls - and I have even more admiration for the results. I will always be in awe with how realistic and 3-dimensional your stonework is. And I'm always happy when seeing the castle in total. Of course I know like all the others how incredibly huge this project is... but whenever I see it in total at your photos I'm reminded once more how extremely huge it really is. Which btw also gives a good hint of how many stones you already have painted - and reminds me well of how much progress you made especially in this year. Another good reminder of the dimensions was seeing the chapel looking so small in the whole big building.
But the best thing to me was another proof of the good old theory "Never throw anything away - the day will come when you'll need it again". So good you still had the cutouts of those windows - it was a good solution to make them smaller, now the stair wall will look more realistic. And if I spotted it right you also tested the dimensions of a fireplace... well, whenever you'll find the time to work on this masterpiece project again I will certainly enjoy every progress you make.
Hugs
Birgit