Meanwhile, back in Japan...

I've done a bit more on the samurai house and have made a few decisions about the roof. Also in this post there are a few other Japanese items that I've been (or still am) working on.

The shoji are done as is the woodwork, basic groundwork and wall panels. The shoji were laser cut from thin acrylic and then thin paper (from Japan) was applied to the rear with very thin superglue. This allowed the light to come through and for the whole sheet to be stuck without any lifting.

The groundwork was painted in the normal way and when the fencing is in I'll apply the 'growies'. The photo to the left looks a bit dark but you should get an idea of the wood colour and shoji together.

The panels were painted with masonery paint first and then just highlighted with pure white. This gives a pleasing subtle effect and isn't too overpowering.

The woodwork was painted with my standard brown and drybrushed with three levels, each getting progressivly lighter.

For the roof I will be reverting to normal roof tiles as I'm not comfortable with the thatch experiments I've made so far. I'll still be putting lighting into the roof space and the effect with the shoji should be quite an eyeopener.

The roof style will be quite low, hipped but with a small gable at each end. I'll make a mock up first to make sure that the angles and tile spacing works.

The stones under the veranda were painted a grey/green/brown and will get a light highlight.

The fence will be made in the same way that pretty much all the fences on my Japanese works have been done, there will also be a simple gateway.

I'm still struggling with the tate but shouldn't be too far off from getting them right, I'#m also working on a few interior details that I might cast and have on the website.

One slight annoying thing is that the base plate has warped ever so slightly on the underside (even though it's acrylic). I can sort it though.

In preperation for Salute next year I'm making more building bases to enlarge the town that I had at this years Salute. This one is using the two story shop from the catalogue (JP08) and the soon to be released small kura.

The reason why the groundwork is not done yet is because the small kura is actually the master that will be getting moulding very soon, it's not stuck down and is only there for the photo. I'm debating whether to have a small field or even a rice paddy at the back, or maybe something else...

I'm going to put a couple of small tables out the front with some produce on display but to what this might be I haven't decided yet.

I mijght add a gate to the side entrance but have it as an openwork bamboo one instead of a solid wooden one.

To finish off for today I've got two repeat models that I've made for a very nice chap recently (in fact, they'll be in the post tomorrow) who liked the originals.

It's a roadside signpost and a rural toilet. Basically the same as last time but with a slightly different profile for the toilet. Lastly I've made a planted paddy field. Quite time consuming but I think the effect is worthwhile. I'll leave you with a few final picutes.

ttfn