Before I started cutting the Elizabethan Birdhouse I thought it would be fun to stack most of the ingredients on the counter and list them as if this were a scratch cooking blog rather than a scratch miniature building blog. So exactly what does go into a project like this?
Lumber:
1 sheet of 7mm marine plywood
1/4 sheet of 9mm marine plywood
4 board feet or so of Black Cherry
1 board foot of Western Red Cedar
Bricks and Chimney:
Block of raw red clay
Glazing stains
Grout
Polyurethane adhesive caulk to stick the kiln fired pieces to the structure
Windows:
Antique style, seedy (little bubbles) glass with an iridescent coating of gold tone with glows of blue, green, red. Helps obscure daylight view into the structure but lets light shine out at night
Roll of narrow copper foil tape
Solid core solder
Flux
Chemical patina solution to darken the solder
Window Glazing Putty
Door hinges:
Brass Sheet Metal
Brass Screws to secure hinges to door frame
Brass Brads to clinch the strap hinges to the door
Chemical patina solution to turn the brass black
Stucco:
Bucket of exterior grade, elastomeric "Venetian Plaster"
Artist acrylics to add aged detailing to stucco
Primer paint
Roofing:
Marine Plywood
Thin Fiberglass cloth and epoxy with filler to seal and reinforce roof joins
Copper sheeting to be cut into shingles
Solder
Blue-Green Chemical Patina Solution
Birdhouse Hole Entry:
Copper Plate from recycling sources
Blue-Green Chemical Patina Solution
Solder
Polyurethane Adhesive
Adhesives:
Acrylic adhesive caulking for the wood to wood joins
Polyurethane adhesive caulking for metal to wood joins
Misc supply:
Noel and Pat Thomas "Bug Juice" to stain the Black Cherry wood a dark gray
bronze screws
galvanized brads
LED Lighting:
Not shown as I have not purchased the LEDs yet
Instructions:
3D CAD Model for reference and to generate measured parts drawings
There are no assembly instructions for the more than 1,000 pieces most of which will be fabricated out of that stack of materials.
There is no point in asking me how many hours this will take to complete as I have no idea. It is a labor of love and will be going to my brothers house. There is no deadline which is a good thing as I lost most of last year's labor time to due health issues and this year I can only put in time on my "better" days which means it is a slow cooked recipe. But perhaps the flavor of it will be all the richer for that fact.
