PVA Glue: PVA glue is poly vinyl acetate glue. In the US, we know it as white glue like Tacky Glue.

Tere Perry in Texas

PAINT SHAKER: I just invented a paint shaker for small paint jars! I saw one in Micro Mark for $100!!! Testors paint is notorious for settling. . I love that paint, but needed a way to mix it My husband has recurring muscle spasms and has one of those vibrator massagers lying by his chair. The one that you strap to your hand while using your fingers as the actual massage points. .(does the job on your hand too). I strapped the small jar of paint to the vibrator and watched in amazement as it blended and flowed beautifully. So..... find a cheap vibrator (Tell em it's for mixing paint and watch their faces) . Use heavy rubber bands to attach your paint jar if you have to... check the top.... That would be a mess!!! and in less than a minute, your paint is nicely mixed and ready to go. Outstanding!!

Judie - Daytona Beach, FL

Tiny Dishes (Painting): a trick I use to paint many tiny items is to keep a large block of floral foam handy (large is better so it won't tip over), with many toothpicks, needles, etc. sticking out of it. For something like a little plate, I would attach it to the top of a toothpick with whatever is handiest - a tiny wad of Fimo/Sculpey, a bit of white glue, or (best) some of that wax-like adhesive you can buy for attaching minis in place non-permanently. Then stick the toothpick in the foam, and voila! Hands-free painting. (When it's done & dry you may need to use a sharp knife to scrape the glue from the bottom if you used glue). For tiny soft wood items, I just stick a needle in the bottom & stick it in the foam.

Grace

Painting Small Objects: MicroMark has a product called Pic-N-Stic. Here is their description: 'This is the best tool we've seen for holding small model parts while painting or positioning. Originally made for the dental trade, Pick-n-Stick is a 2-1/2 inches long plastic stick with a waxy adhesive on one end. To use, just press the adhesive end against the part you need to hold. To remove, just twist. Adhesive grips tightly, but won't transfer to the part. Holds plastic model parts, cast metal ship fittings, miniature hardware and hundreds of other items'.Here is the URL for the part in MicroMark's online catalog: http://www.dxmarket.com/micromark/products/80339.html

Jonathan from Israel

Painting Small Items: When painting a number of small things, I put a strip of double sticky carpet tape on the bottom of and old box. The items will adhere to the tape and I can paint or spray at will.

Dave

Painting Small Items: To who ever wanted to hold down dishes to paint them -- use rubber cement. Put a little dab on the back of the dish and put it on card stock/index card. It will take a few minutes to set up. Go drink a cup of tea. Come back and they are set and ready to work on. Just peel them off when you are done painting.

Lisa Engler

FIREFLIES: I have simulated fireflies mechanically with fiber optics and electronically with bulbs AND with fiber optics. Frankly, I liked the mechanical system best. Here goes. I built an opaque drum (cylinder) out of aluminum (shiny side in) and powered it to be turned by a 4 RPM appliance motor. ATTENTION EVERYBODY!! Rescue timer motors from all and any abandoned laundry machines! These are the geared can motors that advance your timer switches. Hidden, they run on 110Volt (USA) and can be used for ceiling fans, electric model trains, revolving Christmas trees, and lightening bugs among other mini projects.

The drum is turned by the timer motor at one end and has a 6 watt clear light bulb inserted from other end. Rig a fire proof light block to keep most light inside except for flash slits to be covered shortly.

I softened thin brass tubing by heating to cherry red on the stove then quenching in cold water. Insert fiber optic strands into the brass tubeand guide from where you want your "bugs" to flash (pointing toward viewers) and the other end secured to point directly at the outside of the drum. Now for the magic. Cut a long thin slit in the drum exactly where the ends of fibers are pointing at it. Mark where first then take your drum out and lay it over a work surface to cut the slit. Ideally, The light should suddenly "Flash" directly into the fiber optic tube then the slit should turn away at a very slight angle so that the amount of light kind of "fades" just like the butt on a real fire fly. Several different slits to different fibers or several different fiber tubes at the same slit along differing parts of the revolution give you multiples. Three seems to be about the maximum number of fire flies in a single setting. Four or more tends to over do it (IMHO).

For reasonable brevity, I haven't pointed out all the little details but hope this will get you started. If you have specific questions or need for more explicit explanation, feel free to e-mail direct.

Mel K in LasVegas

Siding: There is no 'standard' size.
- In Colonial times, they were typically split from logs about four feet long, and the size of the boards was determined by the size of the log. The amount of exposure as they were applied to the wall, would vary from the bottom to the top.
- During Victorian times, the exposure was often 2 1/2" to 3" Today, most are vinyl or aluminum (not aluminium since they are made in the US). The exposure is often 4", 5 1/2", 12".
- Over the years, the edges have also been cut decoratively. The houses in Williamsburg mostly (if not all) have a beaded lower edge on each board.
- A good reference would be "Architectural Graphics Standards" by Ramsey & Sleeper

Tom

Camera/Software: I found Adobe's PhotoDeluxe 2.0 on my machine, there is a much later version now. It is simple enough for an idiot like me who had never used such software, with simple on screen prompts as to what to do next, but it trims, crops, color corrects, lots of stuff. I use it for every photo that I put on eBay (toy trains, so they are small like minis), and it is really easy and rather inexpensive. My camera is a Sony Mavica 91. I love it when I am using it, it stores pix on floppies, of which I had hundreds. However, at high resolution I only get 12-14 pix per floppy, so I usually carry about 24 with me. However, last July and again last month it refused to turn on. It cost me $90 repairs the first time and $165 this time, and they will not even tell me what was wrong (it went to Sony here locally). I would look at an Olympus next time, I think.

Barb Jones

Foam core: During the summer on the Craftscapes t.v. show, a miniaturist from Toronto, Can. was telling the enthralled host (Sue Warden) how she builds her roomboxes using TWO pieces of 1/4foamcore glued together (kind of glue-does it matter?) She said she had no trouble with warping when painting or papering the walls because the inside and outside were different pieces of foamcore. I think it is reasonably enough priced that you could afford to buy twice the amount. She also had a wonderful idea for keeping the room dust-free. Make the three-walled, no ceiling box with the 'inside box' smaller by the thickness of a piece of thin glass on the top and front, have picture frame glass cut to fit and hold it in with the mirror clips that wrap around the edge! Very clever.

Sunni Alberta Canada