Tuesday 29 September 2009

The Olde Abbey ~ Part 3





















Before I start rabbiting on about the exterior stonework, let me first apologise for the lateness of this post. I had said I would be posting part 3 of the olde abbey on the weekend and it is now tuesday, but I have been busy with the 'bill - paying' job!! and have been too exhausted when getting home at 9.15 pm to sit and concentrate on this post!!

Anyway, here it is, I hope it will be of use to those of you who want to give stoning an exterior wall a go.

The stone compound we use is from Bromley Crafts, their website is,
http://www.craft-products.com/dolls-house-brick-stone-tiles.asp

You will need fast tack positionable glue, (which we buy from our local store) a brick or stone stencil and the brick or stone compound, both available from Bromley crafts. The compound arrives in a dry state and you mix it with water to form a paste. You then spray the stencil and lay it on your piece to be stoned. Hywel uses a decorators wallpaper scraper to apply the compound and then once you are happy with the cover, you gently pull the stencil upwards and away. After a quick wash and dry of the stencil, you repeat the process again until you have finished your piece or need a tea break!!


















When all the pieces are covered, we leave the compound overnight and then give it a light sanding down, which can be dusty, so it's best to do it outside. The finished stone can then be painted or aged as you wish. You can see from the top photo that I have started to age the stonework on the Olde Abbey. I used acrylic paints to add the darker grey stone and moss effect. Then, when you are happy with that, you give it a little coat of clear varnish to seal it and your done!

A little tip, use non-yellowing clear varnish if you don't want to darken the finished stone colour.




6 comments:

  1. Wow you had alot more luck with your stencilling than I did! I did our Sweeney House with the brick compound and just could not get the hang of it! Everytime I took off the stencil it had weeped into the grout lines so i had to start again! Tried making it thicker and still no joy. Was really dissapointed with the look as alot of my brickwork merges into itself! yours looks fab! Love the stone work. If I could do it like that id try again but it was costly to buy to make the same mistake again. Quicker than paperclay though and great results, love it so far!
    Kate xx

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  2. I think it looks fab too! I tried once with a brick stencil and had the same sad results as Kate. I love your Abbey sooo much.

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  3. It looks fabulous. I used that brick compound on my fair stand. Its fiddly at first but its very effective.
    Debie xxx

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  4. Wow, I've not thought of using a stencil to make a stone effect, and can understand that it could be fiddly. I've painted stone and brick effects before, but never tried a compound. Your Abbey looks so good.

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  5. These miniatures buildings are certainly what I like!
    I almost bought that same stencil at the BMEA Open Day on 20th Sept but I thought too long about the $17 it would cost and left it there.
    I sure would luv to do some maybe on my next house

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  6. Hi Kate, Kim, Debie and Dollmum,
    I have been using this compound for a couple of years now, so I have got used to it, but it was fiddly at first. A couple of tips, the leaflet says to spray the stencil with repositional glue, but I spray the house wall/MDF as I find it holds the stencil better and the compound sticks better. I make the compound up to a thick paste consistency, so that it doesn't run into the grout lines. Before I took the stencil off, I make my brick or stone face pattern, I use the tip of a knife to make the stone/ brick face and once dried I sand it lightly.

    Hi Deni,
    The stencil is expensive to buy, but I wash it between each application in water and towel dry it gently. Then when I have finished I give it a quick wash in paint cleaner, dry it off and store it flat. I have re-used my stencil countless times over the last two years and it is still in great condition.

    I am a great fan of this compound as it looks so realistic, if I can help anymore, please let me know. Thanks for all the great comments.

    Hywel.

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