Creepy Dollhouse for 11" Monster High Dolls

[FichtenFoo]

Yeah, you read the subject right. My girls, 5 and 9 love creepy stuff and movies like Coraline, Corpse Bride, Addams Family, etc... They collect and play with the Monster High dolls as well... a lot. So I'm making them a creepy Addams-family-like dollhouse for them. Using basswood for details and have ordered some birch shingle and clapboard products for the exterior.

My question is since this is larger, is on paint chipping/peeling/crackling for that older look. I have a good method for the small-scale projects, 1/35-1/20 but this is much bigger.

Any recommendations for a crackle medium or something that would work well with "Apple Barrel"/Liquitex type "jar" acrylics?

Also attached is a photo of the door I constructed. Need to take some of the house structure, but havent cut out dor/window holes yet.

[NE Brownstone]

I don't have any info on techniques for that scale, but I can relate to the Monster High fanaticism.  My daughter (grand-daughter we raise) and her cousin love to play with them, but i don't think I'll ever get around to building them a house. 

I'll be watching this thread, just because.

nice door BTW

[Gordon Ferguson]

I would just use the standard crackle medium you can get at most art/craft stores.  The type I have used for picture frames was clear so you could use it over any colour ...... you then brushed a thinned paint/ink over it when dry to emphasise the crackle.

If I could find the instructions ? it would help but sure it gave different techniques for changing size of the crackle effect .... one of which was to alter the drying time thro use of heat ..... hair dryer ,etc.

[Malachi Constant]

Neat projects!  I have a couple of nieces who have a surprising affinity for zombies and such ...

I remember seeing a shown on distressing old furniture (faux antiquing) a while back and they used PVA (white glue) as a base for crackling ... you might do some web surfing ... maybe you-tube and or furniture diy.

Dallas

[FichtenFoo]

Thanks guys. I admit I think the dolls are pretty cool and might pick up the upcoming "Robecca Steam" (a steampunk MH doll) one for myself.

Gordon: Did I read correctly that the medium you use is brushed over the paint? I'll definitely look up some instructions and such.

I recall that someone here was experimenting with crackle mediums (a year ago?) so wanted to see if that was ever figured out and if it would be applicable here. Need to search around all over and usually do before posting, but figured I'd ask the experienced first in this case.

Whatever I find or end up using I'll of course share the results here. I have plenty of scrap to test on.

[FichtenFoo]

I went to Michael's today and they had two crackle mediums. Folk Art and Martha Stewart. I went with Martha because let's face it... old ladies would get pretty cranky if it didn't work so I figured it would do nicely. I did a test on some boards I stained last night with black acrylic/water wash and so far so good. Nice small crackling and with a little light masking tape I can achieve some great and realistic chipping.

The odd part was when I went to apply a dark water-based wash over it. I used white acrylic over the black-acrylic washed wood. I went to apply the wash and the paint started to smear a bit... never happen with acrylic so I assume that A: it wasn't dry enough (10 minutes after I started) or B: the medium had an affect. Either way I like the effect as it gives it more of a whitewashed look.

A few hours later and the tape wouldn't remove anything and the water doesn't "wash" the paint so that's good news. I'll just have to (like Marc Reusser said) do a little at a time. I'm going to test more washes on the "cured" stuff in a few.

I'll post pics and such later. Thanks for all the info!

[FichtenFoo]

Here's the window flower boxes for the creepy Monster High dollhouse project. The Martha Stewart Crafts crackle medium worked well. Brushed over the stained wood, let dry, brushed on white paint, let dry to touch... thicker the paint the more it crackles. I then used blue painters tape to pull chips away from the wood.

Finally I weathered it with some AK-Interactive Green Slime, Fresh Mud, OIF Wash and Streaking Rust. Thinned/blended these with white spirits.

Many steps, but really simple and effective.

[FichtenFoo]

More pics

[Malachi Constant]

Beautiful!  Er ... well, it's nice to see a creepy, weathered dollhouse for a change ... and you've got some real nice results with that crackle.  Thanks for the report!  -- Dallas

[FichtenFoo]

Beautiful!  Er ... well, it's nice to see a creepy, weathered dollhouse for a change ... and you've got some real nice results with that crackle.  Thanks for the report!  -- Dallas

Thanks! I'm happy to have little girls that like and appreciate this sort of thing. Definitely more fun than a traditional dollhouse. This is kinda fun too... I'm tempted to do a steampunk dollhouse as some point. That could be a LOT of fun. Maybe in the same scale as all of my usual 1/35 releases so I can use it as a backdrop. ;-)

[Ray Dunakin]

Really nice results with that crackled paint!

[FichtenFoo]

Thanks Ray!

[mad gerald]

Michael,

any progress on this topic ... ?

Cheers

BTW: Robecca Steam is already available over here ... raises the interest of the family ... 

[FichtenFoo]

I've got the siding and shingles on finally, but had to et it aside for a bit to finish Frankenstein. Will probably get back to it next weekend if all goes well.

We got Robecca here, although my girld don't know yet. We tend to get a stash of things when we can on sale, etc for xmas/birthdays. If they ever find that stash, we're going to be in for a LOT of whining!

[mad gerald]

I've got the siding and shingles on finally, but had to et it aside for a bit to finish Frankenstein. Will probably get back to it next weekend if all goes well.

... I do not intend to build something similar myself, but I'm very curious about any progress of this project ...  

We tend to get a stash of things when we can on sale, etc for xmas/birthdays. If they ever find that stash, we're going to be in for a LOT of whining!

... same over here ...