Molly goes to Hogwarts

userd1402

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
This year I decided to make a 'book nook' for my wife for Christmas but rather than make it just the size of a large book I decided to scale it in line with the available space on our book case. I started with a laser-cut bay window kit for a dolls house (my wife loves bay windows) and then base a build of my own around it to create a finely detailed room filled with things my wife likes; an open fire, a load of books, a comfy chair by the window to read, the dog by her side.

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Then, after a quiet chat with her one evening about the subject (before she knows what I made for her) I found that she liked the book-nooks which were fantasy-based like some of the excellent Harry Potter ones we saw online so I decided to modify the one I'm building and create a Hogwarts Gryffindor common room. It's not going to be screen-accurate in many ways because of the space and materials I have but it will still have a definite Hogwarts vibe. With the bay window already made I created a back wall around it and spaced it a few centimetres off the back of my mdf box so I can insert a nice view of the Scottish highlands outside (maybe with a steam train going past) and some lights from above;

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Before going any further I checked that everything fitted on the book case. I may have to trim that front to get everything back from the edge;

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I found a vintage resin kit online for a big fireplace and I will add a sloping chimney breast over this with thin mdf offcuts and then place a Gryffindor crest on it (I found a 3D printed one on Etsy).

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I slapped on some off-white house paint to give me a sense of how it will look when finished and decided to add some detail up high with corbels and roof beams. I cut the beams simply from strips of 6mm mdf left over from another project. I put a layer of 2mm mdf sheet on top of the beams to enclose the space and also add rigidity to the whole construction. Then I used some more 2mm mdf to create a sloping breast for the chimney and fireplace;

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I got a second-hand 1/12 scale writing desk and chair from eBay and I am really impressed how detailed and fine they are. I will stain them a little darker to match the theme but they will be great in here. I wanted some pictures on the wall so I got a couple of resin picture frames and printed out pictures of Professor Dumbledore and the 'Fat Lady' from the early HP films off the interwebs, laminated them and fitted them into the frames.

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For the front wall I used 2mm mdf again and cut holes into it for a large arched door and two small gothic windows. These small holes were filled with laser-cut mdf outlines which, when painted over will give the impression of carved stone. The door was made from thin pine and required staining and the pins which it came with only allowed it to open to less than 90 degrees but I wanted it to open quite wide so the viewer can see all the detail on both sides of the room without having to remove the whole front. I went online and looked for small gate hinges...

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I decided to give the Harry Potter theme a bit of a twist. The book-nook diorama is now going to be titled "Molly goes to Hogwarts". Molly is our Jack-Russel terrier and she's the queen of the roost around here. This is her, looking a bit sheepish because I was demanding my warm seat back;

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I found a 1/12 scale Jack Russel terrier model which, with a bit of paint to match her spots, will make a fantastic tiny Molly and I also found a 1/12 scale 3D printed 'Dobby the house-elf' (look for him on Etsy, he's amazing!). These two figures will now adorn the book nook. Molly will be in front of the fire or on the seat and Dobby will be hiding in the corner of the room between the window and the fire.

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My eldest son is an avid table-top gamer and paints excellent Warhammer figures so I asked him to give Dobby life and the results are fantastic. Thanks Nick;

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With the main structure complete I gave everything another coat of household emulsion and then started detailing. The walls will be painted with acrylics to a sandstone colour and the fireplace has been painted with blues, greys and browns and dry-brushed with sooty blacks and greys. I also got a shed-load of inexpensive little extras to help with the detailing (mostly from eBay and Etsy) which can be dotted around the interior to give a cluttered Harry Potter vibe to the finished nook.

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Since it's freezing out in my workshop I will spend the rest of this week in the kitchen doing the detailing and, most importantly, weathering all these new things to look like they have been there for centuries plus finishing the walls and hanging pictures before finally adding some 'grain of wheat' lighting bulbs in the fire, in a hanging lamp and outside above the window recess to hopefully throw light through the window frames and create a shape on the floor as if the sun was high. For that effect I will be using some small 'bottle' light kits I bought a few years ago for a gallery window display (I knew they would come in handy again one day).

I will put some more information up when that's done. Thanks for looking.
 
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I decided to make a 'book nook' for my wife for Christmas but rather than make it just the size of a large book I decided to scale it in line with the available space on our book case. I started with a laser-cut bay window kit for a dolls house (my wife loves bay windows) and then base a build of my own around it to create a finely detailed room filled with things my wife likes; an open fire, a load of books, a comfy chair by the window to read, the dog on the seat by her side.

View attachment 1647357

Then, after a quiet chat with her one evening about the subject (before she knew what I was making her) I found that she liked the nooks which were fantasy-based like some excellent Harry Potter ones we saw online so I decided to modify the one I'm building and create a Hogwarts Gryffindor common room. Not screen-accurate in many ways because of the space and materials I have but still with a definite Harry Potter vibe. With the bay window already made I created a back wall around it and spaced it a few centimetres off the back of my mdf box so I can insert a nice view of the Scottish highlands and some lights outside;

View attachment 1647358
View attachment 1647359
View attachment 1647361

Before going any further I checked that everything fitted on the book case. I may have to trim that front to get everything back from the edge;

View attachment 1647362

I found a great vintage resin kit online for a big fireplace and I will add a sloping chimney breast over this with thin mdf offcuts and then place a Gryffindor crest on it (which I had 3D printed).

View attachment 1647363

I slapped on some off-white house paint to give me a sense of how it will look when finished and decided to add some detail up high with corbels and roof beams. I cut the beams simply from strips of 6mm mdf left over from another project. I put a layer of 2mm mdf sheet on top of the beams to enclose the space and also add rigidity to the whole construction. Then I used some more 2mm mdf to create a sloping breast for the chimney and fireplace;

View attachment 1647364
View attachment 1647365

I got a second-hand writing desk and chair from eBay and I am really impressed how detailed and fine they are. I will stain them a little darker to match the theme but they will be great in here. I wanted some pictures on the wall so I got a couple of resin picture frames and printed out pictures of Professor Dumbledore and the 'Fat Lady' from the early HP films off the interwebs, laminated them and fitted them into the frames.

View attachment 1647366
View attachment 1647367

For the front wall I used 2mm mdf again and cut holes into it for a large arched door and two small gothic windows. These small holes were filled with laser-cut mdf outlines which, when painted over will give the impression of carved stone. The door was made from thin pine and required staining and the pins which it came with only allowed it to open to less than 90 degrees but I wanted it to open quite wide so the viewer can see all the detail on both sides of the room without having to remove the whole front. I went online and looked for small gate hinges...

View attachment 1647368

I decided to give the Harry Potter theme a bit of a twist. The diorama / book nook is now going to be titled "Molly goes to Hogwarts". Molly is our Jack-Russel terrier and she's the queen of the roost around here. This is her, looking a bit sheepish because I wanted my warm seat back;

View attachment 1647399

I found a 1/12 scale Jack Russel terrier model which, with a slight bit of paint to match her spots, will make a fantastic tiny Molly and I also found a 1/12 scale 3D printed 'Dobby the house-elf'. These two figures will now adorn the book nook. Molly will be in front of the fire or on the seat and Dobby will be hiding in the corner between the window and the fire.

View attachment 1647370

My eldest son is a table-top gamer and paints excellent Warhammer figures so I asked him to give Dobby life and the results are fantastic;

View attachment 1647371

I gave everything another coat of household emulsion and started detailing. The walls have been painted with acrylics to a sandstone colour and the fireplace has been painted with blues, greys and browns and dry-brushed with sooty blacks and greys. I also got a shed-load of extras to help with the detailing from eBay and Etsy which can be dotted around the interior to give the Harry Potter vibe to the finished nook.

View attachment 1647372
View attachment 1647373
View attachment 1647379

I will spend the rest of this week doing the detailing and, most importantly, weathering all these new things as well as finishing the walls and hanging pictures before finally adding some 'grain of wheat' lighting bulbs in the fire, in a hanging lamp and outside above the window recess to hopefully throw light through the window frames and create a shape on the floor as if the sun was high. I will put some more information up when that's done.

Thanks for looking.
Beautiful job,love the detail !
 
Today I added some simple lighting to the Hogwarts diorama. I started with a small string of ‘grain of wheat’ LEDs which have an AA battery box on the end. These are usually stuffed into bottles to make window displays.

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I fed the end through a hole in the side of the box and balled up a group to give the fireplace a glow.

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I taped the wire onto the outside of the box and will eventually cover the entire thing in adhesive felt sheet to hide the wires. I fed the wire up to the top and pushed one of the bulbs down through the top into a dollhouse hanging lamp I got from eBay (but before that I added some ‘floorboards’ to the ceiling, printed on thin card).

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After the ceiling lamp I put all the remaining bulbs down one side of the bay window to give the impression of an early morning sunrise effect. I glued them down onto a line of clear silicone adhesive. The battery pack can sit on top of the bay window and I will make an access hatch on top.

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The effect is good and all it needs now is a backdrop. I propped some placemats at the back to photograph the lighting effect then piled all the bits and pieces I have collected into it and finally I put the front on to see the effect through the door

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More making tomorrow (when my wife goes off to work).
 

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I didn't get around to doing any more painting today (unexpected family visits) so I just did a little planning work on the view out of the window. I found a few pictures online of the Scottish highlands and photoshopped them into the window to see how they would look. I did find a picture of the courtyard at Durham Cathedral, which was used as Hogwarts, but it looked a bit dull so even though the horizon line is a bit high here I think the landscape will work better.

I also intend to print out the spines from the Harry Potter books and use them as the front ‘wall‘. The book spines will be padded a little and sticky-back-plastic covered and placed individually over the front of the box with windows and doors poking through to make it look like a regular row of books in the book case until you notice the door and the glow from within. I found an 'alternative' design for the HP books and decided to use this;

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I still have a gap beside the fireplace so I cut a piece of my 2mm mdf and filled it to stop light spilling out from the side. I also had some tiny Ivy vine made from wire and green paper which is too big in scale but I really don’t care so I wrapped some around the fire hood to cover another gap.

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I stuck the desk, chair, trunk and lots of little books and rolled paper scrolls to the floor with Gorilla glue then I used Scotch Spray Mount to stick my faux carpet down. There are loads of extras stuck around the room too; mice, a pewter tankard, candlestick, books, picture frames, wine glasses and a racing broom! I finally got around to adding a thin mdf back to the whole box and a ‘lid’ for the back with a hole to access the on/off switch for the lights or to change batteries.

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Before I cover the whole thing in felt I checked again the everything was stuck down and made sure it still fitted on the shelf.

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It’s ready now for me to blow some powdered charcoal stick around to the interior and seal it all up;

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I know I’m leaving this pretty late as it’s Christmas on Sunday but I should be able to get the front fitted on it on Friday morning. Hopefully…
 
Finally managed to get into the shed for a bit more crafting. I use a large roll of adhesive felt to cover the back of mirrors in my work so I covered the whole booknook in that to help it slide into place on the bookshelf and help hold it all together;

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I also left a hatch at the back to allow battery replacement for the lights with a switch access area;

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for the front wall I finally managed to get my book spines printed out and covered in clear sticky-back plastic. I cut each one in turn to fit around the architectural features and glued them down;

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Once they were all glued in place it gave a great front visage to the nook. Makes it look like a genuine box set (yes, ok, I know there are actually seven in the series).

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Final touches on Saturday morning and it will be ready to wrap for Sunday.
 
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Final touches to the Hogwarts book nook. This morning I used some blue acrylic paint to cover the cut edges of the mdf box and make it look more like the outer of the ‘box set’ I intended.

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Then I scraped an artist’s charcoal drawing stick with a knife to give me a mound of black powder and liberally daubed and blew and brushed it all around to give a dusty, faded aged effect to walls, windows and ceiling beams. I’m really very happy with the effect;

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Then I wrote a Hogwarts acceptance letter to our dog and added details in it such as doing a ‘Defence against the dark barks’ course and avoiding Duggles (non magical dogs). I had to run it through my little inkjet printer three times. Once for the text and once on each side for the parchment background.

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Finally I added a little medieval sword and shield in the front corners of the box to provide a ‘stop’ so the front panel doesn’t slide too far into the body of the booknook when it’s fitted.

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And that’s about it. I will give it to my wife tomorrow and fit it on the bookshelf at the top of our stairs where we can see it every evening when we go up. This was a really fun project and it makes me want to try proper diorama building next.

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Finished!

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Thanks for looking.
Merry Christmas.
 
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All done. My wife loved the book nook and our 18 month old granddaughter loved it too.
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It looks great at the top of our staircase.
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and just in case you fancy doing one yourself the same way I did here's a breakdown of the costs. There are loads of ways to make this kind of thing MUCH cheaper but since I'm a newbie to the techniques I have just bought stuff...

Pack of 2mm MDF sheets (lots left over) = £17.95
3D-printed Gryffindor crest = £5.00
Resin fireplace = £28.00
Arched wood door & frame = £15.15
Wingback chair = £23.81
Gold picture frames x2 = 4.20
Plaster corbells x4 = £5.98
Pewter tankard = £2.60
Lion door knocker = £1.99
Books = £2.69
Oval portaits x2 = £1.25
Gothic windows x6 (only 2 used) = £20.00
Desk & chair = £10.00
3D printed Dobby = £9.99
Brass fireplace fender = £6.50
Mini Molly dog = £4.99
Steamer trunk = £8.99
Wine table = £6.95
Racing broom = £10.00
Cushions x2 = £5.20
Medievel shield = £4.85
Wine glasses x4 (2 used) = £3.35
Carpet rug +£6.00
Scrolls x10 = £5.99
Candlestick = £3.26
Folding picture frame = £2.99
Telephone = £1.99
Parcels = £1.65
Hanging lamp = £7.99
Telescope = £3.49
Firegrate = £4.60
Floorboards A3 card = £2.28
Mice x2 = £3.20
Medievel sword £3.99
Acrylic paints set = £14.99
Blue felt sheet = £0.00 (old mirror stock)
Lights = £0.00 (old shop display)

Total = £247.01
 
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