Window Construction

During the afternoon I applied the base coat onto the two windows. I planned to use the same colours that the doors had been painted with. This includes the first layer of blackwash, a mixture of watered down paint.

Next I covered the surrounding wallpaper that was touching the edges around the window. I used polyfiller to level the join between the mdf liner and the sill. I also filled any holes made by screws and sanded it down after.

I was finding it difficult to secure the sill into place using pins so I used 8 by 12 screws. These longer screws secured it to the wall and didn’t spilt the wood, which was happening when using pins.

So far I think the style of the windows work well with the delicate patterned wallpaper. The layered mdf adds an extra depth to the architrave, making it fit better within the room. I repeated the shape of the top section on the support section under the sill.

Once I had added the top and two sidepieces onto both windows I decided to take out the screws and pin it to the wall instead. I did this because the screws would be much more noticeable once the windows were painting than pins.

The next stage was to screw the sidepieces of the architrave in place. I found matching the angles difficult. This may be a result of using the metric saw that isn’t as precise as the band saws.

Firstly I screwed the top piece onto the wall making sure the bottom of the piece lined up with the edge of the liner.

The next stage in making the windows was to make the architrave to go around the windows. For this I used my original design that features the top piece curved showing my inspiration from the decorative style Art Nuevo. I started by cutting the top section out of mdf. For the moulding I measured out another section to be applied on top of this piece. This extra piece will add more definition to the shape and add another dimension to the design. For this I used the band saw to cut the shape out, I then used the sanders to make the edges smooth and even. To attach the pieces together I used a glue gun, and then I pined it to make it more stable. For the side sections I need to cut four pieces of mdf measuring 5cm in thinness.  For this I used a metric saw, I also used it for the angle cuts. For the sill I used a thicker veneered piece of wood which would measure 2 and half inches away from the edge of the architrave.

For the frames I cut two 2.8 ft. long pieces out of the 2 by 2 wood. For the bottom of the frame I cut two pieces of the 1 by 2 mil measuring, I decided to construct the frames separately as the individual pieces needed to be made fit exactly.

I am going to add pictures to create the illusion of inhabitants outside the set. I will put these images behind the persecutes which I will be adding after the beading. 

To fully secure the frames I screwed small rectangles of mdf between the joins.  I did this to all eight corners which strengthened the frames.

The next step was to assemble the frame to be routed before it could be put in the wall. First I had to attach the 1 by 2 pieces of wood together, because of the thickness of wood I have used for the vertical pieces. I did this for both the bottom and top pieces for the windows. I screwed the frame together using cordless drill, starting from one corner and working round clockwise, making it easier to maker the frame straight. I also used at setsquare to check they were right angles.

This drawing of the window from the outside imitates the expressive style I saw in my research of the art movement expressionism. I wanted to highlight the glass using yellow representing light. This colour has been used to suggest from the outside the appearance is average and normal creating an illusion conveying Gregor’s parent’s attitudes to wards their son’s situation.

 This is another set design I did whilst doing the others. This room shows the interia and distressed look of the walls I imagined representing Gregor’s presence seeping through the cracks and doorways. Around the windows and doorframes I used a mixture of oil pastels, charcoal and chork to recreate the appearance of mould, reflecting my research the colours and pattern in the photographs captured.