two-piece scene

last year I've shown a small squared sneak-peak of this almost finished and now it is!

scenes don't get more sober than this I guess ;). But I think it has all it needs.

obviously it's mostly the decal and the kit that make this scene, but what I did do was add veneer to the back of the mdf-lasered chairparts to add realism. Further it made more sense to make the center of the seat lower (it was level with the surrounding area) and in a slight bowlshape.

for the sign I had cut the thin metal to shape with small scissors, made holes and blackened it on the stove (always fun, must be my manly side that likes the 'playing' with fire ;) ) before I added the decal and finished with some rust. So don't you think it was all thanks to modernday-inventions and an easy win ;p.

and to see the holes better:

why this 2-piece scene you (don't) ask? ;) One day I was looking online for old metal sign-images to save for future 'replicating-in-mini' for the Oldtique Store, and came across this weathered one. I thought it was só great! The chair in the photo they used on the webshop where the RL-sign was sold, resembled the one I ordered not too long before in 2014 with some birthdaymoney (a kit of Arjen Spinhoven).

it's hard to see (and forgot to take a picture of it) but here you can see a sliver of the part of the back that comes out under the seat and goes into the slot of the backleg. After I'd glued the back in place - the only time that was possible - I added some veneer to that too, to finish off the woodlook

so I just thought it'd be fun to do the same setup. Because I like the combination of the elegant chair with the rough and industrial look of the sign. And they do so well just the two of them, without anything else like accessories, I didn't want to insult them with any.

just used my brickprinted background and wooden floor as a backdrop that make it slightly less a complete copy (besides the chairs already look pretty different).

the photo it started with (as you can see the sign is not as pale as mine turned out, has to do with my decalpaper - Sunny waterproof decal paper. That doesn't just make for a very sharp print as you've seen examples of before, but colours are also much brighter. So I always have to tone them down quite a bit and sometimes it turns out I've toned them down a bit too much, although in this case I don't mind the extra faded look at all):

the chair before and inbetween. I didn't know at first how to get the background of the wood'carving' a bit more realistic and what I'd tried hadn't worked. But solved that eventually with a thick layer of Golden gel medium mixed with brown paint (about 50/50). That at first seemed too thick and I thought I'd ruined it (couldn't get enought of it off before starting to dry), but once that settled a bit (didn't know it would do that) it turned out fine. It doesn't have the woodtexture or anything, but it did turn out how I hoped!

the way I apply the veneer is by putting woodglue on the mdf, stick on a piece of veneer and let dry with glueclamps. Then the tricky part comes, the cutting. I do this with fine tipped scissors and make some cuts with a scalpel for the rounded parts. But however I did it, it chips... veneer is just way too delicate, but of course that has to do with why it's so great ;). The upside is it gives this old chair it's character I think and therefore only repaired/replaced larger chipped-off veneer. Some seams you can't even see anymore (I challenge you to find the spot on the back I had to add a larger piece :D ) and others you can, but all add to the overall aged look and I like that.