Tudor Cottage

These are the steps in constructing my Tudor Cottage.

Preparation

This cottage is the Tudor Aster. Pieces were all punched out, sanded and primed. Not showing in the photo are the seemingly hundreds of pieces for the 'beams'.

Beginning assembly

The main pieces were then glued and clamped and the cottage began to take shape.

Fireplace

Making the stone fireplace was a lot of fun. I used PaperClay for the base and included a narrow mantle.

Fireplace painted

I painted the stones using first a grey in all of the areas surrounding the stones. Then various combinations of tan, grey, white and a couple of shades of brown. An ash grey was painted in areas where smoke might rise against the stones. It was then sealed with matte sealer.

Roof

Next step was to glue the roof pieces. One trick I have learned for hard to clamp areas is to weight it down with sand bags which can adapt to any shape.

Outside of cottage

Most of the outside of the cottage has been completed. The neverending job of thatching the roof is almost done and the sides have been painted.

weathered door

This shows the door which has been aged with colored inks. The strap hinges are made using cardboard coated with white glue and burnt (the tecchnique will be demonstrated elsewhere on this site.)

Main room

In the main room of the cottage I have repeated the beam pattern from the outside. The walls are painted and colors are applied in patchy areas to simulate wattle and daub.

Loft

Mrs. Peasant spinning wool

The loft area was used for sleeping and for storing some foods that needed to be kept away from "varmints."

Mrs. Peasant is seated on a chest spinning with a 'roll' spindle. This is similar to a drop spindle but is rolled against the thigh. She is made of porcelain from a Jana Joseph mold which I slightly altered.

Mr. Peasant awaits his meal

The peasant man is a porcelain doll from a Jana Joseph mold which I have personalized. He is sitting at a trestle table which I made and he is awaiting his meal.

The peasants

The dolls are placed in the room although it has not yet been completed.