Mod Pod: The Roof

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I knew I wanted to install ceiling lights in the ModPod, and I figured the easiest way to do that was to create a false roof over the ceiling to hide the wiring.  You can the ceiling as it was, below.

The first thing I did was to find some more foamboard to create the roof.  This time I used thinner, 3mm foam core board from my stash.  I considered just painting it black, but I liked the thought of using something that looks a little more industrial, to go with the converted shipping container feel of the Pod.

I knew I had some A5 sheets of corrugated cardboard in the craft stash, so I painted four of them black to match the Pod.

When they dried, I glued them onto the 3mm pieces of foam board I used for the roof, which sits on top of the wiring.  I now needed a frame to keep the roof on the Pod like a "lid" (so that I can still gain access to the lights if required), to cover up the gap at the front between the ceiling and the roof, and to cover the joins between the pieces of corrugated cardboard.

I covered the joins with strips of 2.5mm x 2.5mm balsa wood, and made the outside frame from "L" shaped angle timber (from the local hobby shop).

Now painted black, it's starting to look more like a roof!

A little bit of balsa wood trim along the front...

 And voila!  Roof done :-) 

Pretty happy with it so far.  I think once I get the glazing on, especially the sliding 'glass' doors I am planning for the front, it will look pretty cool (if I do say so myself, lol).

ModPod: Interior Walls

Hi peeps!

I was finally able to get hold of some more balsa sticks, so I continued lining the interior walls.

Once I had done that, I couldn't help but to have a little "play" with some of the accessories I have purchased for the Pod!  Loving that little "cow hide" rug :-)

The, on to the painting and staining!  I wanted to have white walls and ceiling in order to make the Pod seem more spacious and clean - and modern, of course! - so I painted the back wall and the bedroom walls with the thin coat of Titanium White (so that you can still see the "boards", which is so trendy right now).

I knew I wanted to stain the floor and feature wall and I went back and forth over which colour stain to use - and whether I should just seal the wood with a clear sealer instead!  In the end I went with what I was hoping to be a light brown.  The test pieces looked good, but as you can see, the final colour ended up being very orange!!

You live and learn, LOL.  I don't hate it at all, but it's not the super modern look I was originally after.  I do wonder if I should have just sealed it with a clear coat, but I'm certain that I would never get it back to the original colour if I sand it back, as the balsa is thin, and soaks up so much stain.  Next time ;-)

Anyway, I think it's a nice contrast against the black exterior and white interior.

At this point I added the bedroom wall piece to see how it looked, and to decided whether it needs cladding too?  I was vaguely thinking of painting in faux concrete, but one feature wall in such a small space is enough.

Just for fun, I popped the lights back in to see what the ModPod looks like all lit up now :-)

Now we are getting somewhere!

ModPod: Feature wall and lighting

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am really liking the "timber" effect of the balsa sticks, today I continued the sticks up the lounge room wall.

I've decided I will line the rest of the walls, but at this point I ran out of balsa sticks, so I moved on to the lighting!

I was originally thinking of using some LED light kits which I have, but after looking at lots of pics on Pinterest, I decided that simple is often the best and decided to use a string of ready-made battery powered LED lights.  I bought a set for $3 in a discount bin and removed the plastic heart-shaped covers from the lights, leaving the bare bulbs.

I then measured out 10 equidistant spots on the ceiling - 2 rows of 5 - and made holes with a drill bit, just big enough to poke the lights through.

And voila!  Downlights!

For durability, I am looking at lining the interiors of the holes with large metal eyelets, but I haven't been able to find any the right size yet.

ModPod: WIndow Trim and Flooring

After the cladding was finished and the paint was dry, I moved on the trimming out the modern slit windows and installing the floorboards.

I trimmed out the windows with 3mm x 3mm balsa sticks.  The foam board is 5mm thick and I will use 2mm thick clear perspex as "glass" in the windows, so I aligned the trim with interior walls.  Later, I will push the perspex up against this trim and glue it in place.

The flooring is made from balsa as well; I used a packet of pre-cut sticks (a similar size to coffee stirrers) and cut them to length.  Since the Pod is so narrow, I ran them from front to back to make the space appear a little larger.

I'm quite pleased with how the wood looks after a light sanding, and I think I might actually line the rest of the interior walls in this manner, although I will probably paint the walls and stain the floor, and maybe a feature wall on the lounge room end of the Pod.

After that, I painted the window trim black to match the cladding.

Making slow but steady progress :-)

ModPod: Cladding

After finishing the basic frame, I moved on to gluing on the cladding.  I used 9.5mm x 3mm x  915mm balsa sticks cut to length and glued them on using a spare piece of balsa as a spacer.  I also allowed for an extra centimetre in hight, as I will be adding a false roof later, to hide wiring from the lighting.

{Forgive the before photos as I had started painting before I remembered to take pics ;-) }

After  the glue had dried, I spray painted the exterior with Rustoleum 2X paint + primer in matte Carbon Black (which I had on hand after painting some chairs).

{Yes I will cut that piece in the middle of the second window out when I finish the cladding off!}

As you can see, despite being careful, I still managed to get some drips!!  Nothing that a light sanding and a second coat didn't get rid of however ;-)

The ModPod: the beginning

So, I have two mini WIPS but I haven't been working on my minis for one reason or another for over a year now.  Mostly because we moved around a few sections of our real-life house, and then painted and did some minor renovations, during which my minis were buried behind other furniture, and my yarn stash was exposed for all to see! Feeling guilty, I have been merrily knitting and crocheting for the past 6 months or so, trying to run my stash down a little, but now I feel inspired again to dig out my mini tools.

Since a) A lot of my stuff in still difficult to access, and b) I have been recently drooling over some super cool modern miniatures (chairs especially!), I decided over the weekend to make a small 1:12 scale "pod" house, based on the trend for small, prefabricated or shipping container-style homes.  I know it's been used frequently elsewhere, but I am going to call my build the ModPod!

I had two A2 sized sheets of 5mm foam core which I could easily access, so I used those as my base. I cut one into a section 8 inches wide, which I used as the base, leaving the other section approximately 8.5" wide and 23.5" long, which I used as the rear wall.

 I then cut two side walls out of the second piece of foam board, and the roof.  The front of the Pod will be windows and sliding doors.

I decided to add some narrow slit windows in the rear wall and one side:

And a narrow wall between what will be the bedroom on the left end, and the kitchen in the middle.  I cut it out of 1mm foam core board which I also had on hand.

Now I have begun gluing the frame together.  Next I will be cladding the exterior!