Walls, Roofs and Tubs

Most of the past few weeks I've been working on the exterior of Orchid Cottage.  The walls are clad in balsa wood weather boards painted in lavender grey and for the roof I used the wooden shingles that came with the kit.

Surpriseingly, the kit came complete with enough shingles not only to cover the roof that came with the kit, but also the side extension and filled in back roof.  Despite this generosity of shingles I can't really recommend them.  The shingles are so thin that every type of glue I tried on them made them curl up.  Double sided tape actually held them down quite well, but I worried how long this hold would last.  Eventually, I used hot glue as recommended by the manufacturer.  This allowed me to fix the shingles in place without them curling up or distorting, but come next summer the hot glue will melt in the heat and the shingles are liable to start falling off.

I've also been continuing to work on the furniture for the ToM's bathroom.  The re-purposed hall stand makes a convincing sink unit while the stove beside it has been repainted in white.

The storage cupboard and dressing table have had gold accents added.

The central bath tub has acquired four posts that will hold up an overhead canopy.  I just need to figure out how the fabric of the canopy will be draped for the best effect.

Finally, I'd like to warn those of you in the market for a hip bath.  I bought this Streets Ahead bath (code D2230) to use upstairs in Orchid Cottage.  In this photo it looks pretty fabulous doesn't it?  But look what happens when 12th scale Harry tries it out:

There is no way Harry will be able to get himself clean in that.  This is sold as a 12th scale item, yet it is too small for a 12th scale doll to ever use.

On the other hand it is a little too large for a 24th scale doll.  All I can think is that it is intended for use by a 12th scale child rather than an adult.  Gee, it'd be nice if the website said that before you bought it.  My advise to anyone else in the market for a tub like this is to avoid the Streets Ahead tubs (assuming they are all the same) and get the measurements of the item before you buy it.

The tub you see in this photo of the nursery in Preston House is at least half as big again as the new one. . . . And it's in a nursery. . . . . So my current plan is to swap the tubs and use the child size one in the nursery and the large one in Orchid Cottage.  This isn't ideal as I didn't want a tub full of used water in Orchid Cottage, plus the colours won't be the best compliments to the rooms they'll be in but to use a little tub in a grown up's house would just look plain stupid.