Beginning my barn!

So, its only been a day since my last post, and here I am making another one!  Aren't you so proud of me!  The reason is.... I got my animals!  Yes, the Pegasus Animals in size 1/48 that I mentioned yesterday ended up chilling in my mailbox as I was typing up the blog post.  So, on my way in to work, when I stopped to grab the mail, I was gifted with a lovely surprise!  Ahhh.... nice and happy!

Now, I have begun the work on them.  So far, I've cleaned them up some (shaved away some flash, contemplated the size (friggin tiny for some of them) and so forth).  I have also made some awesome improvements to what I already had (the little shed that I wasn't quite sure what to do with.)

Animals, all cleaned and de-flashed.  

I know I said yesterday that I would probably be starting on the farm house for the human mini that I have, but now that I'm actually working on things, and add in the fact that I received my animals, I have begun work on my barn.  It will be somewhat slow going... I don't have all the supplies that I want, but we'll work around that.

Last night, I was so happy to have the animals and I was brainstorming on the half hour bus ride home on what to make.  I got to thinking, those little pigeons need an awesome home of their own.  So, I looked up some pictures and decided to go with one of those dove/pigeon houses that are on the tall posts.  And then I was thinking, how am I gonna make something small enough while still being round.  Then I thought.... Cork!  I have a ton of corks from various wines and beers hanging around the apartment.  Please note, I don't drink all that often.  So when I say a ton, that means six or seven that I've had floating around for a few years now.  

Pidgeon Loft, made from a cork (Ommegang Brewery to be specific, from one of the Game of Thrones beers.), with the single human miniature I have, as well as the soon to be goat pen gates.

 I took the selected cork, lobbed off a part of it cause it was too tall, and then carved six little 'doors' that will lead inside for the pigeons to go to their nests.  I then, in a very stupid move, decided to glue it on to the stick that I had chosen for its pole thing.  Now I'm shaking my head, cause I'll most likely take it off of it in order to paint and do more detail work on it.  But, as you can see in the picture above, it is mounted to a piece of cardboard with some grout, which has hardened very nicely.  I have an idea for a roof for it as well, but I haven't worked out how to do it as of this moment.

The next thing that I worked on last night was the goat pen.  I decided the shelter I had previously made would make a great goat pen!  So, I took the bottom of an Absolut mini box (hush... I work at a liquor store, so I can appropriate empty boxes to my hearts content.  Only empty boxes tho... Not the other stuff.  I have to pay for that just like everyone else hahaha).  I mixed up a nice mixture of grout and paint, like with the dung heaps, and painted the base so it is nice and textured.  While it was still wet, I added the shelter and the chopped up toothpicks to act as fence posts.

There is a little white glue around two of the posts that did not become as solid as I had hoped.  I'm sure that they will be nice and firm once they dry!  Hopefully..... 

 This I left to dry and become nice and solid.  Right before I went to bed I ended up putting a weight on all four corners, as the cardboard was starting to bend.  Waking up, it was nice and flat and completely hard.  I think it will work!  I took some pieces of coffee stirrers (I think, could have been chopped up garden markers) and made a little path that goes into the enclosure.  The rest of the fence will be added at the end, after all the paint, flock, etc are added.  I think it will be in the wattle style.

That was all work from last night.  Also, I painted some pigs.  I'll take pictures of them later and share them as well.  They look kinda awesome, if I do say so my self!

This morning the creative juices were working overtime!  It didn't help that I didn't have to go into work today (Easter, and while I am not religious, I still like to get together with the fam fam.  Also the boss lady has a new baby, and my co-worker is the boss lady's momma, and they are religious, so yeah.... we closed for the day!)  I ended up sitting my butt down on my couch, stuck Jumanji on the Netflix noise maker, and broke out the graph paper.

 I ended up with a lovely blueprint that I chopped the excess edges off of, of a nice barn.  It ended up being 14 inches long by 8 inches wide.  At the peak of the barn, it is a height of 8 inches.  The walls are 4 1/2 inches high.  Faintly on the blueprint, you can see where I have marked out where the stalls will be, where the barn doors will be, and where the posts holding up the hay loft will by.

Here is my base, and all four walls, and the loft all cut out of foam core board!  The 5mm thick type.  I adjusted the blueprint a little when I was at my sisters house earlier today.  It now has five stalls that are all the same (for the cows and bulls), one larger stall for the 'birthing' stall (the set of animals came with one cow laying down that looks fatter than the others, so I'm making her preggo, and I'm gonna have her in that stall).  There are two more stalls at the other end that are larger than the five regular stalls.  This is the difference that I made.  See, I have a problem.  Its called collecting miniatures when I don't game with them.  Also known as the 'I wanna make scenery and terrain for these random things that I really don't have room for but will make them anyway because I am stubborn and I like to be creative' syndrome.  So, those two stalls will be for two oxen that I ended up ordering form Eureka Miniatures.  I'm also getting their stag.  

So, that will be my quick update.  I am working on the 'blueprints' for quite a few things as well.  On the list of things to make for the farm(s) over the next however long it will take me:

Chicken coop

Pig sty

Turkey roost

Auroch shelter (Yes... the main reason I ordered from Eureka Miniatures.... I fell in love with the Aurochs the first time I saw them)

Sheep pen

Stable (it will most likely hold the donkeys and if I ever get some horses)

And now I'm gonna go watch Game of Thrones.  Ta ta folks!  Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease!