Castle Starcaster - Week Five

Welcome to the newest follower, Sussexpaula! There's no blog listed for Paula, but if you have one and would like the link posted here, just let me know Paula. Thanks for following. Over the past few posts have you received the impression that work on the outside of the castle has been driving me a little nuts? If not, perhaps this photo of what I've done to the inside will convince you. All those steps are a little crazy, right? Well, the Entry Hall has doors all over the place, kitchen door on the right, large open arch on the left, front door on the front (well, naturally) and a door to the rear as well. All that traffic from all directions meant it had to be a walk-through room rather than a proper room like a sitting room with lots of furniture, so to make it more interesting than just a big empty space I raised the floor heights of the two adjoining rooms and had fun creating curved steps with polystyrene foam. Eventually, the foam will be covered with clay tiles or maybe stone. Modeling the steps is a new friend of mine called Arthur. He's another Heidi Ott but with a different face to most. He's not as handsome as the others, but has more character. And by the way, the urm . . . toga he's wearing is just temporary, a scrap of fabric artfully tied about him. I'll get him some proper clothes . . . eventually, but at least for now he doesn't have to face the world in the raw. (Um, back on is a different story however.) Mostly this week was spent on painting the remaining bits for the outside; the windows and crenellations. The original plan was to paint these in a lighter shade than the main body of the castle, but a test of a lighter shade and a darker shade proved the the darker looked better with the stone of the walls. Each of the forty-two pieces of crenellation and window was given two coats of dark grey and then "washed" with watered down light grey which was mostly sponged off to give the grey a bit of variation and interest. Then at long last I got some much needed shelf and bench space back by attaching most of the crenellations to the top of the castle, along with the bay window and front door surround. The windows won't be glued in place until the inside of the fronts are finished and until I decide whether to go with the basic "glass" that comes with the kit for the window panes or with something more . . . unique. Even with the unglazed windows just sitting in place, the castle has suddenly started to look like I'm winning the battle to finish the outside. And to Cyndy, winner of my giveaway prize, you now have less than two weeks to go before I hold a new draw for the prize, so please get in contact with me soon!