I do a lot of different crafts, and I'm currently working on a project that brings in a wide variety of techniques. I am building a 1/12 scale Slytherin Common Room - for those unfamiliar with miniatures, 1/12 scale means that if an object is, say, 12 inches long in real life, in miniature it will be 1 inch long.

To start off, I am going to post a picture of the miniature wands I have been carving, some of which will be included in the dungeon. I've included a ruler showing inches, so you can tell the size of the wands. Some of these wands are a bit big to be truly in scale, but as I've refined my technique, I've been making them smaller.

I carve the wands from toothpicks, using an Xacto knife and 600 grit sandpaper. Only one of the wands in the image has been stained (top right) but I will be staining wands different colours to represent different types of wood.





As the project continues, I'm hoping to post more images. I aim to have the dungeon finished by October, so that I can display it at the annual miniatures show organized by the club I belong to.

Wow, those are amazingly detailed! Toothpicks? Okay, I can't wait to see more of these miniatures, because I'm already very impressed.

These are absolutely AMAZING! Holy cow! :moo:

Seriously, if that's what you're doing with toothpicks....

Thanks for the kind words

The spirals are my favourite to make, which is why there are a lot of them.
I find the wands quite relaxing to make - except, of course when I cut myself. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it tends to be very gory!


I've taken a photo of the dungeon room - the walls and floor are just taped together with green painter's tape at the moment, as I still have a lot of work to do on distressing the walls - right now they are far too clean and shiny for a thousand year old dungeon. And of course I need to work on the staircase.



The walls are just over 11 inches tall - which is really a bit tall, CS describes the Slytherin common room as having a low ceiling. but I want the extra wall space to display various instruments of torture - purely for decorative purposes, of course! I got some rather odd looks at the last miniatures club meeting, as I discussed with another member how one might go about constructing a miniature torture rack....

I've got a lot of bits and pieces collected to go in the dungeon, and I'm also working on a crossstitch wall banner of the Slytherin coat of arms. I created it on Digistitch, and I'm stitching it on 32-count linen. I've only just started on that, so it will be a while before I have photos of it.

Woah...Talk about dedication. I admire people like you.

Everything so far looks amazing. I can't wait to see the end result! =]

Keep it uppp!

What do you construct the walls and floors out of? That is really going to be quite amazing when you're done. Have you made any other miniatures to date that you could share?

The base for the walls and floor is gatorboard - a dense foam core between two sheets of heavy duty card. It's much lighter and easier to work with than wood. I used half-inch thick gator board for the main walls and floor, and thinner grades for details like the fireplace.

For the stone effect on the walls, I used cardboard egg-cartons - torn into small pieces, lightly coloured with black crayon, then glued on. After it's dry, I used black paint to fill in the gaps between the stones. I tried painting the wall black before I glued on the stones, but I find that if I paint it afterwards, it looks more as if it's grout between the stones.

For the floor, I glued stone-textured paper to heavy duty watercolour paper, then cut it into stone shapes and glued them to the floor. To go between the stones on the floor, I mixed air-dry clay with water to the consistency of mud, smeared it into the gaps, and then scraped off the excess when dry. The scraping also contributed to the distressing of the floor.


I do have other finished projects - I can post some when I find the photos. If you want to see some of my individual pieces, there are pictures at:

MINIATURE ENTHUSIASTS OF TORONTO

It's the website for the miniatures club I belong to. All the items on that page were made by me (I do the club's website, so when I needed to put up some pictures, I just took photos of my own stuff.)

I can't imagine ever being able to do any kind of super intricate work like this, your talent and dedication amazes me! Wow, talk about talent, you've got it all!

Holy cow, this is amazing! I can't wait to see it when it's done!

Woah. Those are both seriously AMAZING

Really that stuff looks great...I can't wait to see it when it is finished.

Wow you have talent! Those wands are amazing and made from toothpicks as well? My hands would be shaking so bad if I attempted that. It must take hours and hours to finish something like that.

The dunegon looks great so far, the walls looks awesome and very detailed.

Those pics are fantastic!

I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work.

I certainly don't have that kind of patience (that's why I like crocheting with BIG hooks and stopped trying to learn to knit ) That is just beyond awesome. It must take a long time to figure out all those little tricks you've got for creating just the right effect. I'd classify this more as art than craft. Whoa. Awesome!

Moly Cow, you're a genius!

The toothpick wands just, they just - oh man, completely blow me away. I'm trying to figure out how you managed to make them so detailed, but it's just making my head hurt.

The dungeon is turning out so gorgeous, I can't wait to see the finished product.

You are SO cool! lol

Wow...those wands are amazing! So detailed that small...I couldn't contemplate trying to design those. I mean, I've made a jewellery box and sewing kit, and painted a landscape for my Mum's scaled Victorian doll's house, but those wands are fantastic!

I can't wait to see the finished room - the affect for the floor and walls is really clever, I want to reach out and touch it!

I. Am. Gobsmacked. You're a genius! I betcha JK would LOVE this. I wish I had the patience and creativity for a hobby like this haha.

I've added some distressing to the walls - they looked too "busy", and far too new to be in a thousand year old dungeon. A member of the miniatures club gave me some tips on how to do it - basically very watery paint brushed on in several layers until it reached the required effect. You can't see it in the pictures, but I also made rivulets of watery green paint here and there to simulate tiny leaks (the dungeon is supposed to be under the lake, after all!)

I cut a hole in one wall, as I'm planning a secret room next to the common room, full of Dark Arts stuff, and possibly a small black cat (all my miniature scenes include either miniature cats, or a trail of miniature paw prints somewhere). As you can see, the secret door will be hidden behind a large dresser.

I've completely removed the fireplace since taking these photos, as it's supposed to be a carved fireplace, and I'm working on a carved stone effect. It was just easier to take off the whole thing and start over, than to try and cover the existing one.

How cool! I love that you're showing us all your steps. It's so exciting to watch it take shape!

Oooooh that bookcase is gorgeous! I'm getting so excited to see it when it's all done, lol.

I love watching your amazing project develop in stages! You explain all your steps very clearly, too.

The bookcase is so amazing, I love the little curves you made at the top - very realistic!

Umm, I have to confess that I didn't build the bookcase myself , though I did have to glue parts of it back together and stain it... It's really just there to show how the door to the planned secret room will be hidden, sorry if it was misleading.

Not everything in the dungeon will be made by me (though I'm trying to do as much as I can myself), most miniaturists use a combination of things they've made, and things they buy at miniature shows/stores, or adapt from everyday objects. Most of us have at least one box (I have many) of things we've found and thought "I bet I could make something mini with that!"

You making this has inspired me to make one like this of the Gryffindor Common Room. I'm generally good at this stuff, but I could never compete with what you're doing! It's simply stunning!

Your toothpick wands are gorgeous!

Keep up the great work