False Book Project...
By Dave Williams of Dolls House Paintings...
Fill the gaps on your book shelves… for the cost of a few pence.
Start by marking segments with pencil, roughly 5mm wide, although the finished product looks better with a few different widths. See Photo 1
Now make a couple of passes with a saw along each line and then the same across the top, I have used a general saw, but be careful to saw lightly, heavy pressure can cause the wood to splinter. See Photo 2.
Note I have shaded some sections, for these saw down the side of each one.
See Photo 3.
Now take a small screwdriver and as seen in Photo 4 gently push down on the shaded sections, these should easily push out.
Next you should gently pass a couple of saw strokes down the sides of the sections you have just knocked out. See Photo 5.
Your block of wood should now look similar to Photo 6.
The next step...
Next step is to sand it down to as smooth as you can get it, although you can use a file, or a nail file, I have cut down an emery board, I used the rough side at first then finished with light sanding using the fine side, don’t forget to lightly sand down the edge of each saw cut.
Now you are ready to paint, first though spray or brush some black undercoat. As I use acrylic based paints I have used an acrylic undercoat.
It should now be looking something like Photo 7.
The rest now is down to your own artistic skills, take your time and give each book 2 or 3 coats, just paint to the edges, the black finish down the saw cuts will give added depth and makes the finished books look more realistic.
The finest brush you have can be used for painting a few lines or squiggles to make it look like lettering.
See Photo 8 for my finished set.
For 1/24th scale just halve the size (see Photo9) Go on, have a go, with practice you will be surprised how realistic you can get them.
You can make them any size you wish, so no longer do you need to have gaps on your book-shelves.
© Dave Williams 2008
