Standing Guard

An armored truck stands guard at a steam engine plant in what it seems to be a conflict situation. Ominous and silent, it sits immobile behind a wall like a predatory beast. The men inside the vehicle hoping that they will not have to show their teeth.

 

© 2022  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.

Rust & Steel: a little vintage cooker.

Hi all, as always, I hope you're doing well!

Today I'm sharing a few pics of a vintage little metal cooker, measuring only 6.5x4.0x7.5cm (2.5x1.6x2.9inch). They were taken inside one of my 'abandoned' dolls houses, simply to give the cooker a backdrop.

The little gem came with two pans glued on top of it, a blue one with fixed lid, and a black one containing boiled potatoes; well, miniature ones, that is! The cooker itself is very simple, and does not contain much detail. It has no opening doors or anything, but I love it because the way it looks!

There is not much else I can say about it, really, or even what brand it is, so if anyone can provide any info, I'll be most thankful! 

So enjoy this small pictorial tribute to the old, little cooker, and see you again soon!

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Thanks for visiting!

© 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 LV: an old pair of boxed leather gloves.

Hi all, I hope you're well! 

The other day I came across a miniature that I thought would be perfect for Jane's attic. And although the attic project is done, if I see something that fits, I'll just add it to it. So in a way it's an ongoing thing of sorts.

The item I saw was a pair of gloves in a box, and my mind immediately created a mental picture of them in the attic, as a memento of the old lady that once lived there.

But the gloves didn't look as you see them in the above image, in fact they were brand new. So...., you will understand that I had to take care of them..!

This image and the below one show the gloves in their original state. Much too clean for my taste!

And below is a close up of the gloves after my 'treatment', sitting on my hand to give you an idea of their size.

Although I was done with the gloves, I got the uncomfortable feeling that something was still missing, that something extra needed to be added. Somehow the box looked too 'bare' to me, so I decided to add a piece of very thin paper, much like you will normally find in boxes containing shoes, ties, and shirts. The paper was weathered to match with the box and gloves. Below you can see the end result...

Now the box was truly done, and ready to be added to Jane's attic. The below pictures show the box sitting on top of a pile of old, hat boxes there.

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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.

Black Friday 2018.

Black Friday has a totally different meaning for Jane and the Baby... Below is a pic of them looking out of a window in their big, old house. Outside the night reigns supreme, as the shadows cast light on more shadows, previously unseen. The air carries the cool, bitter-sweet breath of the swamp, mixed with the sound of the precious whip-poor-wills that live in the woods nearby... Enjoy your day, while it lasts!

If you're curious to know how a whip-poor-will sounds like, please click here.

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.

Metal lever make-over.

I got my hands on a metal lever, to be used for a bathroom. The thing looked quite 'cheap' and ugly, to be honest, painted in a bright golden color which hurt my eyes. This made me wonder if, instead of the usual protective glasses, I should be using sunglasses while working on it!

First thing I drilled a hole in the lever's handle, then removed the 'knob' on it, because I thought it was 'too much', and sprayed everything with a coat of primer. The hole was meant to sustain a chain hanging from it. Drilling it was particularly challenging, as the metal was very hard, and the object very small and 'slippery'. But, in the end, I managed to do it without sustaining any wounds, resulting in the below image.

Then I applied several layers of paint, to make it look weathered and corroded, as you can see in the image below. I hope you like the little metamorphosis!

Below are some images of the lever and the chain hanging in place. The cistern and toilet bowl -which are made of metal and wood- I purchased 'pre-owned', and although they will need a tiny bit of additional weathering, they already look very cool (never thought I would ever say that sanitation looks 'cool', but ok), specially now that it's complete with a nice lever and chain (which look cool as well!). They will be used in a future project.

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.

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© 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 XXI: an upgrade for mister Goergen's wheel chair - SPECIAL HALLOWEEN EDITION.

Celebrating Halloween 2018, here's a special, extra edition of my Rust & Steel blog. 

Earlier this month I posted some pictures of an awesome 1:12 scale miniature wheel chair and crutches, hand made by the talented Dutch miniaturist Han Goergen, and destined for Jane's attic. Today I'm sharing with you the changes I made to it, and hope you will like the end result!

The wheel chair and crutches after the 'make-over'.

Although the chair was perfect, I still wanted to make a few 'cosmetic' changes and additions of my own to it, not many, but still important to me! I mentioned my intentions to mister Goergen, who said he was looking forward to see what I'd do to the chair!

For starters, I wanted to work on the handles to push the chair along. These were rather basic, and their shape and color a bit 'at odds' with the chair..

One of the original handles.

So I replaced them with more elaborate wooden examples, which I weathered together with the metal rod to which they were attached for a more antique and robust look.

The new wooden handles, including a 'crack' to suggest heavy usage.

Then my attention went to the wheels and leg supports, which looked too 'factory fresh' to my taste, hence not 'in line' with the chair itself, for which mister Goergen had used old wood and beautiful, vintage olive drab vintage fabric, which is at least 60 years old! Below are some 'before and after' photo's to illustrate the changes.

This image: One of the wheels prior to the 'weathering'.

Wheels and rubber tires after 'weathering', looking much more antique. Note that a cap was positioned on top of the head of the screw to hide it from view.

The leg supports were also subjected to 'weathering' to remove their 'factory fresh', pitch black look, and make them look old and used.

The crutches and underside of the chair didn't escape my attention either, and looked more used and worn after I was done with them..

I also decided to add something extra; something of my own design, which wasn't part of the original chair and crutches set. The idea was to create an old oxygen bottle standing on a trolley. This would not only add an interesting feature to look at, but also an extra 'layer' or story line to the developing 'Jane of the Attic' story. 

The oxygen bottle and trolley were constructed using all sorts of parts, and were quite a challenge to do, specially the trolley. I studied several designs, past and present, but in the end I went for a design of my own, simply because none of the ones I came across came close to what I had in mind. And, actually, I'm glad I did, because, to be honest, I'm quite proud of the end result: A one-of-a-kind, bad ass and creepy looking old trolley, supporting an equally impressive oxygen bottle, all in 1:12 scale! By the way, the beautiful rust on the bottle's body is totally natural, and I chose it for that very reason. Only the valve on top of it was added and weathered by me. They do match, don't you think?

Finally, here are two pictures of the wheel chair and crutches, together with the oxygen bottle and trolley, plus a special 'Halloween card' with my best wishes to you!

Thanks for visiting, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

© 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.