How To Make Your Own Medieval Or Tudor Salamander

Many of skills have been motivated by desperation.  I've learned to make things simply because there was nothing even approximating what I wanted for sale.  My window adventure is one example, and this is another.  I've always wanted salamanders (not the bed warmer, a representation of the actual animal) for my medieval and tudor dollhouses...but where are they?

If you look closely at historical architecture, really spanning an enormous period of history (anywhere from post-Roman to post-Elizabeth I) you'll probably see a salamander worked in somewhere.  They don't always look terribly lizard-like; as Durer's woodcuts demonstrate, most people, including the very well educated, had no idea what many animals looked like.  Salamanders have been represented as everything from lizards to snakes to gryphons.  

Salamanders were used as a charm against fire.  It was believed that they lived in fire (or, at least, were born in it), and, thus, were immune.  By representing the salamander somewhere on the building, medieval builders (and homeowners!) hoped to "borrow" some of its magical protective abilities.  Fire, then as now, was the single greatest danger a home--and city--could face.

Considering all this, it's sort of bizarre that there are no commercially available salamanders hanging about.  Oh, well.  Once again, it's Richard Stacey to the rescue and I decided to make my own.  While there are more complex ways to achieve a salamander, this is one I can actually manage.

I started out with...

1. Richard Stacey modeling dust in "gault".  You can obviously use any color of modeling dust you like.  For my next salamander, I may, in fact, use stucco powder.
2. A piece of wood for a base.
3. A salamander.  Mine was purchased by my husband at a craft store for 99 cents (about 50p), in the "make your own jewelry" section.  For true historical accuracy, you could go with just about any animal you like and call it a salamander, since that's essentially what our medieval forebears did.  So, if you really fancy that frog (or lion, or gryphon), use it.
4. PVC glue (I use Aleen's Tacky, but I realize this can be difficult to find outside of the States and Canada).
5. A few fine detail brushes.

First, I cut a piece of wood down to size (the size of your wood piece is the size of the finished plaque).  Then, using some glue (epoxy works a bit better than PVC, but it doesn't really matter), I affixed my salamander.  Above, I messed him about a bit until I approved of his placement.  Then, let everything dry completely.  Note that, if you're concerned about warp being an issue, you can lightly coat your wood piece on both sides with varnish and let it dry.  If you're really concerned about warp, you can let it dry wrapped in wax paper and sandwiched between two books.  The wax paper is to protect the books.  You would do this, of course, before you affixed your salamander.

I took some of my regular gault mixture and added more gault powder until it'd formed a thick paste, somewhat the consistency of marzipan, and used a detail brush to work it in around the larger crevasses. There were places where, due to the salamander's shape, it didn't make contact with the board.  This is something of a preliminary step, wherein you prepare your salamander for its actual coating.  Note that, if you're making a plaster salamander instead of a stone salamander, you can perform this same step with stucco powder--just thicken it up a bit first.

I feathered it out a bit at the edges, just to give myself an even surface on which to work.  If your mixture is being stubborn, you can use a bit of water at the edges (load your brush with water and then feather it).  Then, I let it dry completely before moving on to the next step.

Here's my salamander after the first coat.  Here, I'm using gault powder at regular strength.  It's a bit shiny, as it's still wet.

And here it is after its second coat.

And here's my mate tiling my kitchen floor.  Just wanted to see if you were paying attention!  He's doing a bang up job, I think.

Here it is, almost dry after the last coat.

And here's the public ovens, done except for some sort of ground treatment.

I really do love this fountain.

I was thinking gravel would work in here.

After my salamander dried, I glued it in place with epoxy.

I'm quite pleased with how it came out!

And there we are, done but for the hardware and ground.

What do you think?

Finishing the Fireplace Column

At long last, I was ready to finish the fireplace column...

It was somewhat challenging, figuring out how to clad this.  Luckily, the bricks fit perfectly on the front face without any shortening.  The sides were a different story...

The brick corners tend to "twist" slightly when you glue them on...

Here's the chimney column at the halfway point.

Everything's drying...

Here it is!

Everything fits!

Not too shabby.

It's important to seal the bricks, whatever brand you end up using.  Richard Stacey recommends using a 50/50 ratio of water and PVC on theirs, but I tend to prefer a slightly higher concentration of PVC.  I also usually apply two coats (leaving some drying time in between).

I left it alone to dry overnight.

Then I grouted it.

I touched up the "stone" areas that'd gotten a beating throughout this process.  They're lighter, here, because they're drying.  I'm quite pleased with how everything came out!  This is my first "stone" fireplace.

Then, I used some slightly thickened "stone" mixture to touch up the gaps on all the "stone" sections, the fireplace as well as the ovens, etc.  I'm showing you the ovens, here.  They're still drying.

...And more drying.

No more gaps!  I removed excess "stone" goo with a detail brush dipped in water.  This is the same technique I used on the stucco.

And there's more to come...

The Dollhouse Tudor Roof

I've always struggled with roofs.  Traditional kit-type roofs never seem to come out quite right.  With this house, my problem was twofold: create an authentic-looking tudor ridge line, and cover up the edges of the balsa.  After examining a few real tudor roofs, I came to the conclusion that three things, in particular, identify a roof as tudor: the thickness of the roof itself, the presence of gable, eave, and ridge line carvings, and, of course, the roofing material itself.  I'll be roofing this house with slate, eventually, but in the meantime...

I created the apex angle, glued my triangle, then taped it in place so I could measure the lengths of the eaves.

I tried dry-fitting several different combinations of carvings.  This is one I rejected.  I usually design my pieces by playing around with different component parts and seeing what happens.

Ultimately, I preferred this corbel.

I started gluing everything in place, from the apex out.

Here, I'm holding up a corbel so I can figure out where, exactly, I want to put it.  I've drawn a light pencil line in the background, indicating where I want to cut.  Creating these pieces was something of an organic process, as I wasn't sure, initially, what would look good.

I taped the piece in place.  It looked good, but something was missing.  I decided I needed something else...but what?

I looked at it from another angle.

And realized I needed to make the piece taller.

While the stain was drying, I put a first coat of copper paint on the drain pipe.  I carved this little piece to hold the pipe in place next to the house.  It'll connect to the gutter at the top.  Once I've had a chance to sand this piece, it'll look a lot smoother and more metal-like.

Here's the drain pipe, posed next to the gutter.  It'll only traverse the length of the first floor.  I taped the top to something so it could dry in place, with nothing fuzzing up the paint.  This is oil-based paint, and it takes forever to dry.

A copper gutter isn't strictly tudor, but this is where the "tudor fantasy" aspect of the project comes into play.

Miniature Bricks and the Tudor Dollhouse

I'm finally ready to grout, but first...

Please ignore my laundry basket in the background.  This picture marks where I left off last time: starting to clad the house.  Putting things in perspective, these pictures chronicle DAYS' worth of work.  By the time I'm done cladding everything in the house (I still need to do the chimney column) I will have glued on almost 3,000 individual bricks.

It's really important to keep your lines parallel!

The ends of these rows (this is on the right-hand side) are an example of the "not quite half" bricks I was talking about before.

These end bricks are about 3/4 of a brick.  I cut and sanded the ones I needed as a batch, all at the same time, before I started gluing.  Personally, I prefer that approach, as it speeds things along.

I did the entire left-hand side before gluing on a "bridge" row and beginning the right-hand side, working, this time, from the top down.

I glued rows on the bottom at the same time as I added rows to the top.

The completed front.  As I'm sure you've noticed, there's a gap above the door.  Unlike in real life, you'll sometimes end up with funky shapes that don't quite fit together.  In real life, you can work around these problems by framing to specific door and window sizes, but the dollhouse world isn't that standardized.  So, well, what to do?  Here, I'm going to cover the gap with a pediment.  It'll add interest to the facade (and remember, the fountain is coming, too!) and draw attention to the front door.  Which still doesn't have any hardware, but I'm working on that...

I started cladding this side in the middle, because I measured from the top so the rows would match up.  The ground on the bottom is uneven, because I've already glued in the tiles for the hearth.  Then, basically, I finished this side the way I did the other.

It was a little tricky working around the columns!

I dry-fitted the bottom section of the ovens, to make sure everything looked good.  I clad the entire back wall behind this lower section, because, due to the size of the grate opening, you can see most of it.  So far, I'm happy with how everything looks.

However, I left some of the back section, that no one will ever see, blank.  3,000 bricks are enough!  Not only do these bricks (and slates, and sandstone pavers) add expense, they add weight.  Less is (sometimes) more!

So far, so good!

I used a piece of scrap wood to lay along my cross bridge, to help me make sure everything was aligned correctly.

I need all the angles to line up.

I think the courtyard itself will be gravel.

I may add some urns, for greenery; I haven't decided yet.

Most of this wall will be invisible.

Here it is!

The last major thing, on this wall, apart from the stucco and the mortar, is the roof of this little oven.  I'm still debating what to do, here.  Any suggestions?

I attached one half of the shutter.  Cladding around the shutter supports was nigh on impossible.  I'm fairly pleased with how it came out, but one row is slightly uneven.  It's possible nobody will notice but me, but trust me, I will always notice...

Almost done with the bottom part!

This, right here, was the hardest part.

Cutting the bricks for the left-hand side was no joke, either.

I did these with white glue, since I ended up having to mush them around a bit.

Finally, victory!

I haven't finished antiquing the upper shutter, but I wanted to tape it on to get a sense of what it'd look like.  I'm sort of at a loss for how I'm going to rig up some shutter hardware.  I really wish there were a better selection available for purchase!

I'm fairly pleased so far.  I can't wait to see it with the stucco, and the final roofline--which I have to carve today.  That'll be my next project after finishing this blog post.

Just picture it with a pediment...and mortar.  And landscaping.  And a roof.

I haven't yet decided if the turntable will be part of the finished project.

I might landscape it?