Jane's attic update No LXVI: A sneak preview.

Hi All,

Here's a sneak preview of Jane's attic. It's still very much 'work in progress', but I'm slowly getting there!

The picture you see here shows a corner of the attic, and was published pretty much 'as is'. It is unique in that it shows a snapshot, a moment in time, because with the constant changes I'm making, the setting will surely look different the next time around. Hope you like it!

Thanks for visiting, and see you next time!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

Jane's attic update No XLV: A Pig from Hell!

It was one of the more challenging items to be added to Jane's attic: the head of a wild boar to be displayed as an old, hunting 'trophy' on a wall.

Initially, I tried to get a ready-made example online, but didn't really like the ones I found. So I decided to make one of my own...

Having no idea how to go about it, I got started by studying the anatomical features of wild pigs. Then I modeled a head from clay, and was quite happy with the initial results.

However, to my dismay, the head turned out to be too big for the wall! This was one big pig, a monster pig, to be precise! Disappointed, I briefly contemplated making another, smaller head. But then I thought: what's wrong with a monster pig? And why should I hang it on the wall? I could just as easily use this one and put it on the floor somewhere, amidst the other stuff in the attic.

My eyes brightened up again with the prospect of creating a true, mean, killing machine: a Pig from Hell! And so it happened, as illustrated in the below images.

After it was finished, I put the pig's head in a wooden crate and placed it in the attic. However, my 'weathering' techniques had created a thing so ugly, so evil-looking, that I was afraid it would even scare off the resident ghosts! And considering that I'm very fond of my ghosts, I couldn't let that happen!

So I decided to make the pig invisible by covering it with a cloth. Custom made, of course.. 

I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, that I made this pig's head because I couldn't find a suitable one. But seeing the result, I couldn't be more happy that things went the way they did!

Thanks for visiting, and see you next time!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

The Old Trailer.

Hello Everybody,

In this post I'm discussing the transformation of a trailer; from being a plain and simple decorative item to being a more 'sophisticated' and interesting one to look at.

It all began with a little trailer which was actually a Christmas decoration. Some of you may wonder what a trailer has to do with Christmas, but that's what it was. I got it from my girlfriend because she thought I could 'do' something to it, and, indeed, damn right she was!

Although the little trailer was quite cute on its own, I saw its potential to become something 'better'. Needless to say that adding some weathering to it  definitely 'enhanced' its looks. I also added three 'roof vents' to its roof for more detail.

The trailer included battery-powered back lights, which I thought would look very nice in a dimly lit environment. Yet I added two extra 'faux lights' underneath those, again, for more detail. 

Even though the lights look nice, I think that the trailer also looks very cool when they are out. The platform of a previous project (the Old Circus Wagon, which still needs to be published here) served as a temporary backdrop for the trailer, together with an old O gauge toy train station which I placed behind it.

This concludes this feature on the little trailer. It was much fun to do, and I must say that the pictures came out really well too. Mission accomplished!

Thanks for visiting, and see you next time!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

Jane's attic update No XLIV: an old wooden crate.

Hi All,

Today I'm presenting you with another finished item for Jane's attic: a beautiful, old  wooden crate full of books and papers.

The crate didn't look anything like this when I  bought it; in fact it was quite simple and unpainted. So... I basically trashed it, took it apart, weathered it, and put it back together again, but not nicely as it was, but rather rough, to make it look like it had had a long and tumultuous life.

Likewise, the books underwent a similar "José Torrejón" treatment that added years of use to them. I must say that it's not always easy to 'destroy' something nice and new, but it's absolutely necessary in order to achieve the intended effect. In any case, I'm very pleased with the result!

Thanks for visiting and see you next time!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

Jane's attic photography: lights and shadows I

A fleeting moment in the attic.. the rocking horse bathing in the pale light of the moon.

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

O Gauge - Industry.

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

The arrival of 19-1101

Last Friday saw the arrival of another steam loc at the Rust and Steel Train Maintenance Facilities. This time it's an old Märklin R890 clockwork engine and tender built in Germany between 1930-1950, which was offered to me for sale at a very friendly price by my friend Mitchell Bäcker.

The engine is not in running condition, but that's OK, since it's meant for static display. In the background you can see a glimpse of a very old and beautifully rusty Märklin train station that was also offered to me by Mitchell.

Above image: close up of the rear wheels of the tender, clearly showing their age.

Above and below images: a peek inside the locomotive's cab.

Needless to say that I'm thrilled with this new arrival, which got the serial No 19-1101 assigned to it. Thanks, Mitchell, for thinking of me when you come across a gem like this one!

Thanks for visiting and see you next time!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

Jane's attic update No XLIII: A rocking horse.

Recently I bought another wonderful miniature from the talented mister Han Goergen, the same artist that created the wheel chair which was posted earlier in this blog. This time, it was a beautiful rocking horse.

Normally I do perform what I would call some 'after sale' work on ready made items, to make them more 'fit' to their intended use. Usually that involves weathering, adding additional parts, or even getting rid of some. That's exactly what I did with the wheel chair. However, mister Goergen's horse was so totally perfect the way it was, that there really wasn't much for me to do on it! For starters, the weathering was just right, so I did zero work on that!

Yet, stubborn as I am, I still wanted to add something to it of my own, even when it wasn't really necessary. And that 'something' was a saddle. 

So I went about creating one, using all kinds of materials. The only parts that are actually miniature saddle parts are the stirrups. The rest, like the seat, saddle blanket and stirrup leathers were created 'on the go', in other words, I improvised. And I must say I'm really happy with how it came out! I do hope that mister Goergen will like this additions to his horse!
And, just in case you wonder: the saddle is not fixed to the horse, so it can easily be removed if need be! 

Above image: the rocking horse was already perfectly weathered, so I left it 'as is'.

Thanks for visiting and see you next time!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

Jane's attic update No XLII: The bone dome.

Recently I mentioned my intention of working on a miniature scale model of a glass dome full of animal bones which I have here at home. 

Of course it was not to be an exact replica, as such would be an impossible task, at least within a reasonable time frame, but rather an approximation, capturing the essence of the original. 

So I worked on some 'bones', big and small, as shown on the above and below pictures.

The bones were then placed inside the glass dome, filling it almost to the brim. The original dome has less bones (and does not include a cat skull!) but I thought it would be nice this way; after all, remember I said this was not to be a exact copy!

The dome was then placed on a small table which I painted for this purpose, adding a ragged tablecloth to it, as well as a bouquet of dead flowers. I think the flowers came out pretty well!

Above is an overview picture of the dome on the table with the flowers next to it. The below pictures show the miniature dome standing next to the real one, as well as on my hand for scale! I hope you like it!

Thanks for visiting and see you next time!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.