Mini Stephen world - bottles part 2

[nid_dabeille]

Tonight I distressed miniature bottles.  Bet your evening wasn't as awesome as that.

(The oblong bottles have a tendency to fall over.  No matter - I'll use wax to hold them in place on the shelf in my dispensary.)

And I distressed the medical instruments too.  I'm especially proud of my bone saw on the right.  It took a lot of altering.  And I sharpened all the knives with a tiny emery board too.  And I have two different styles of trephines!  And I made the glasses with jewelry wire.  The black trephine is made from a nail and a carved toothpick.



These were the same tools before I started tampering with them - note the bone saw with its bright red round handle there, and its square blade!  And the trephine was a hand drill before I cut off the end of it.



I also found a way to paint with superglue to make it look like spilled liquid on the sides of the bottle.  I was doing that anyway with paint, but then I realized that superglue would stick to some of the really shiny slick smooth bottles better than my paint would - or would give the paint something to cling to.

And those little jars with metal lids open and are hollow.  I put sawdust in one, baking soda in another, and painty water in the third.



And for scale, and to give you an idea of my painting technique (which was primarily smear some paint all over the things with my fingers):

Up next: labels on the bottles, leather covered books and a bookshelf.

ETA: And look at this miniature model of a ship's surgeon's dispensary at the NMM site!  How I squeaked with delight when I saw it!

Linked at doll_houses.

Comments

[sakka.livejournal.com]

Oooohhhh, there's nothing cuter than miniature bottles. Looks like you have a great collection -- I'm glad the little scissors turned out from the scrapbooking charm ;)

Keep us updated if you have time! I'm certainly enjoying it! :)

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Nothing cuter?? Well hurrah, I'll be able to open a cute museum! Thanks! :D

And yeah, my naval surgeon just LOVES scrapbooking. I'm going to turn that part of the charm into a wall plaque for him, maybe have it gilded first.

Erm, not really.

(imagines the call "Beat to quarters! Enemy sail on starboard bow!" Everyone rushes to their stations, while the doctor sweeps his arm across the operating table, shoving aside the paper stacks, ribbons, stickers, labels, photographs, corner-rounders, edging scissors, colored grommets, turnbuttons, acid-free glue...)

[shecountscrows.livejournal.com]

Delightful! I think I'm going to enjoy watching this project progress!

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Haha, so will I! This is the first time I've really photo-documented one of my dollhouse projects. I sort of documented my actual dollhouse, but I wasn't very faithful in doing it. I wonder where those pictures are, actually? It was about 15 years ago, back in the days of cameras with FILM (gasp)! And I think I was still in junior high and had a PERM (double gasp!)

[kiramowett.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's just cool!

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's so much fun!

[elizabathory.livejournal.com]

Very impressive!

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Yay, thank you!

[tootsiemuppet.livejournal.com]

That is just amazing.

Little trephines!!! *love*

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

YAY! Would you like to be my first trepanning subject?

[tootsiemuppet.livejournal.com]

With those little things? Sure! XD

[ladybugjo.livejournal.com]

Your attention to detail is astonishing!! The bottles and tools really do like they've been living on a weather beaten ship.

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks Jo! They've been living on a cat-beaten desk.

[drezdyndawll.livejournal.com]

Terrific work!!! I can't wait to see your finished project! You will post piccies, yes? :)

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And yes, I'll definitely be posting piccies - I'm worried I'll be posting too many pictures in fact, spamming the doll_houses comm to death! :P But I'm glad you like them!

[derekcfpegritz.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, mate--you're lovely work has just made it onto Ectomo.com (http://www.ectomo.com/index.php/2007/09/21/sorry-jimyer-miniature-legs-got-to-go/)! That truly is some spectacular miniature work.

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I think... What?

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Say, does this mean you're an expert on historic medicine and antique surgical instruments and the like, and I can come to you with all my questions???

[derekcfpegritz.livejournal.com]

In fact, my dear, it DOES mean that. :) Feel free to add me as a friend and direct any and all questions you may have towards me--I love all things medical, nautical, and antiquarian (especially in regards to literature). I'll definitely be following your work, as it has impressed me--and, apparently, quite a few people--immensely.

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Of course, now that you're here I can't think of any questions to ask, but I'll know where to turn when they come up!

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

All right, I have a question now. (Do you have email notification turned on? That wasn't the question.) Does my naval surgeon need a scale for weighing out the medicines? Or will he use some other means to measure them, since the ship will be tipping and sloshing and it might (probably will) upset the balance of scales?

[derekcfpegritz.livejournal.com]

Historically, ships surgeons kept standard weights and balances aboard ship (though they were usually used on dry land at landfalls), but many medications were packaged or bottled in pre-measured dosages. For example, grains of opium were usually kept wrapt in twists of paper: if someone needed laudanum, you'd just bust out the high-proof liquor, pour a measure of it, and then untwist the wrapped of the opium to let the pre-measured grains fall into the rum or whatever and dissolve. As a matter of fact, by the mid-19th-Century, you started seeing the first graduated bottles with teaspoon, dram, and other such markings carved into the bottles themselves: if you need to pour out a dram of so-and-so, you simply poured the liquid out of the bottle until the top of the liquid settled at or slightly below the next lowest marking on the bottle.

[sharpiefan.livejournal.com]

Those look fantastic! The amount of detail they've got - if you don't know the scale, you'd swear they were full size! Mini-Stephen is certainly going to have a very well-stocked sickbay!

Huzzah!

Now, if I can tear myself away from my shiny new tech, I will start hunting out stuff for my own old-tech doll's house...

Ho hum.

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thanks! They're so fun and addictive! (I really should not drink from the miniature laudanum bottle...)

[larimoon.livejournal.com]

Absolutely fantastic, can't wait to see the next lot!

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[ladyhamilton.livejournal.com]

Wow. These are amazing- they look great, and I hadn't realized how small they are until I saw the scale picture. WOW!

No, my evening was definitely not as awesome as yours. =)

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Yep, they're pretty tiny!