The Pyramid - Week One

When I introduced the Pyramid in last week's post, I had only been working on it for a couple of hours, thus I am starting my count with this past week as Week One. The plan I had in mind for the Pyramid was to have a porch or portico at the entrance supported by a pair of Egyptian style columns. The trouble with this is that a 1/12th scale entrance like this is too large for the pyramid and there was no way I was going to make it look right. So I have pulled the portico off the front of the Pyramid and filled in the doorway to create a pyramid with four flat sides. The current plan is to add a pair of obelisks at the front to add some interest, I just have to figure out how to make them. To finish the exterior I gave each side a thin coat of pollyfilla and used the edge of a palette knife to mark out rectangular blocks. This created a nice fine line perfect for blocks laid without grout. Once the pollyfilla was dry, I gave it a thorough sanding, covered everything in white power and then gave the pyramid a couple of coats of paint (thus covering everything in white paint). The Pyramid was then given two more coats of paint, this time in a white pearl to make the stones gleam (hopefully) like limestone. The apex of the pyramid (the capstone or ben-ben) was covered in gold leaf and the stones of the base were painted in several coats of reddish brown with the goal of resembling red granite. With the exterior of the pyramid now finished, the next task is to start work on the interior. The original plan was for the interior scene to be in 1/12th scale, but it is a really small space and in 1/12th scale it will hold a sarcophagus and little else. If I drop down to 1/24th scale I will be able to include many more items and use half as much clay to make them. If only I'd thought of that before I finished off the exterior I could have added the portico back on making it half the size it was before. Dropping the scale down also solves the problem of exactly what is happening in the tomb. I can't add archaeologists in 1/24th scale because even if I find some 1/24th scale dolls, I could never dress dolls that small in the appropriate gear. So the tomb will have to be devoid of life.