Saturday 4 September 2010

Miniature finds!

I am always on the lookout for things with a miniature potential. This week I have found a couple of lovely items. Firstly, a box I found for £1.50 in a charity shop by 'Handcast Designs Ltd'. The lid is beautifully detailed - I think it's cast from a kind of resin. A quick google on the company when I got home revealed that the main sculptor for the company was previously Vaughan Williams, now of V & R Miniatures, so although this isn't intentionally a 1:12 scale miniature, there is a connection! I think it will make some kind of decorative wall carving for the caravan, possibly painted to resemble wood.


Next I found by chance a sandalwood fan on ebay for a very low price. They are sold as scented wedding favours - I immediately saw the possibilities and ordered one straight away!


When it arrived I was really impressed by the detail for something so cheap - what a bargain! Once taken apart there are a huge amount of lovely fretwork panels of very thin, easy to cut, sandalwood (laser cut?) with slightly thicker panels on either end with a more ecclesiastical looking design. They reminded me of Cynthia Howe's laser cut miniature kits. I'm going to have fun trying to make something from these. They will be used partially as ornate carved decoration on the exterior panels of the caravan - there is even a cartwheel shape within the design.

2 comments:

Norma Bennett said...

Using these pieces of fan as 'fretwork' or similar is a super clever idea!

Caseymini said...

Becky, I am working on a Russian cottage and am using the fans for a lot of the carving both outside and inside. Please have a look. caseymini.blogspot.com They are great for all kinds of things.