Hello !

I'm very soon going to begin a dio that takes place inside a house in WWII. So I'm going to need furniture, and I'm in the mood to scratchbuild it !
There's going to be drawers, picture frames, table, chair, bed...
Does anyone have councels... techniques... or any info to share ?

Hi,
The best way I have found, is to get some books from the library, with pictures ofthe type of furniture I want. Then I measure my own stuff, ,and work from there. I used actual woodworking books, borrowed from my father, and used the same patterns. I reduced them to 1/25 scale, and went from there. (My dio was in automotive scale) remember, scratchbuilding is pretty easy when you break everything down to its simplest shapes. I got a "Most humorous" award with my dio, and I don't think it had to do with how funny all of the furniture looked, so I figure I did okay. I built mine out of styrene, and some metal, and then painted it to resemble wood. Real wood gets tricky to work with in those scales. If I had to work in wood, I would use a tight grained wood, like Basswood, or Jelutong. Then I would dye and polish to finish it.

Good Luck,

Dave

Micromark Sells mouldings and stuff meant for Dollhouses.
Go & brave a dollhouse section of the hobby/craft store.

Matt

Most of the furniture in my home comes from IKEA or equivelent, so i know what is needed to make wardrobes, drawers, tables etc, etc. That part is the easy part.
I bought lots of different sizes and shapes of balsa wood and little items from a hobby store, but as Dave said, woodwork on a small scale aint easy. I think its time to invest in some plastic card and strip.
I have built some pews and small tables for my church ruins and have mixed thoughts on it. I am wondering if its worth it to try again in plastic.

I tried to make those from wood (balsa) in the past, but in a small scale like 1/35, styrene looks a lot more real. Get a sharp blade and a metal ruler, and you're up and running.
Please note : Ikea furniture is more easy to make than the average Louis IV cabinet.

All great pointers.
I am doing the same right now. I am employing all those ideas. Measuring my furniture and scaling down. Taking plans from wood working mags. and scaling down. Using all kinds of meduims.

Really?? #:-)

I would say its safe to say, in the early 40s more city and country houses had pretty average square type furniture than they had crafted furniture of that type. So with the simple IKEA type set up, scaled down of course, it shouldnt be too difficult to make some realistic type pieces. That is what I meant!
Have you any tips on making Louis IV cabinets General? I think I´ll only build peasant houses!

HA ! The only way to make a decent Louis XIV cabinet, is to make one in a ruined house. After the ceiling went down on it, it may just as well be an IKEA cupboard that went FUBAR !
(if you want to scratchbuild a REAL Louis XIV, you better reschedule your holiday planning with a few extra weeks !)

Hirst Arts has a decent mold for making wooden planks out of plaster or resin. While the mold is a bit pricey ($29), it can be used to make wooden floorboards, planks, and (if two pieces are glued back to back, beams.

If one was making some rough hewn furniture, as might be found in a cottage community, this could be a good source for ideas. Below is a link to suggestions from Bruce Hirst on ways one might use the mold: Small Cottage, Hangman's Gallows and a Guillotine.

http://www.hirstarts.com/plank/plank.html

I'm thinking about maybe using it to make the roof joists/beams for my project.

Just a suggestion, go with what works for you.

If you want wooden beams, why not use small wooden beams such as bass wood. It comes in many sizes and dimensions. Look for it at hobby shops around the R/C aircraft area. If you want it to look like wood, then use wood!!