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Volume 03 is focused on Little My, and we will be building the Front Porch Roof and starting the Stove.
The parts for Volume 03, including a Little My figure.
This volume starts off with building the roof of the front porch. This is a pretty straightforward process, but it can be tricky to keep the top of the roof angled properly. As the sides overhang the base, the easiest thing I found to do is prop the whole thing up on something. In my case, I used a bottlecap (somehow I'm always using bottlecaps when doing crafts).
The roof of the porch, propped up on top of a bottlecap.
There is a small tip in this Volume that suggests sanding the porch stairs to make them look more like they have been used and walked on. I feel like this ends up having a pretty nice effect.
The porch stairs have had some spots sanded to look worn down.
Next is starting the assembly of the Moomin's stove. This part can be tricky, so pay attention to the labeling of the stove parts to get them in the right order, and pay attention to the base and its orientation.
I do have one quick thing to mention about the stove. After finishing this month's kit, while I was trying to get everything put away, my puppy (ironically named Little My) managed to grab the stove I had completed and chewed it up. I was able to halfway salvage the parts, but the middle section was pretty much demolished. I contacted DeAgostini explaining what happened, that the damage was my fault, but that I was hoping to purchase this kit separately to replace my loss (since most of the stove pieces are in the parts for 03, and the ones in 04 I was able to salvage). To my surprise they just sent me a replacement free of charge. I don't know if this is to keep me happy as a customer they want to keep paying them for months on end, or if they just misunderstood that my package did not arrive damaged, but either way this worked out well. Anyway, the below photos are a combination of the new and old kits.
The sides of the tiled stove set out on the table.
This was not prompted in the instructions, but I decided I'd like to weather the stove a bit to make it look used. I had some old Citadel paints (that I'm shocked are still usable), so I took some sandpaper to the stove, then applied some Nuln Oil (a dark paint wash). I wiped the excess wash off, then opened up a pot of white Citadel paint I had. It was largely goopy from years in storage, but this actually worked out well. I sort of just dry brushed it over the stove, kind of ignoring the parts that would be more ash-covered from use (around the doors, the bottom rim, etc.). I'm happy with how it turned out, though I feel like I've now committed to somewhat weathering every object in the house now. I may have to go back and do some work to Moomin's bed now, but I think a later stage adds a duvet to the bed so I can worry about it then. If you want to keep a more cartoony look, you're better of skipping some of the optional weathering/details and keeping the sharp colors. I do recommend getting some black paint and following the tip in the book about painting the inside of the stove black so you see it when the doors open, but be careful when applying the black paint as the stove is not fully glued yet and it's easy for the paint to get through the cracks and be visible from the back. A paint marker is a good option here, but a brush is also just fine--I actually ended up doing both methods since I had to do two of these, no real preference as long as your paint marker isn't running out, as mine was, hence the brush the second time.
The stove, which has been weathered and washed a bit.
This volume also includes a basket, which will have some sort of fruits or something added to it in a later pack. You do not have to do anything with it at this point, but I added a little Nuln Oil to this as well to make the textures pop a little.
The basket, which has had some wash applied for a little shadow.
Volume 04 is focused on Moominpappa, and we will be finishing the Stove and adding the posts to the Front Porch. Volume 4 also includes a large wooden piece that makes up part of the Ground Floor, however, this will not be used in this month's kits. Set this aside somewhere for next month.
The parts for Volume 04, including half of the ground floor base.
The parts for Volume 04, including a Moominpappa figure.
We start this Volume by assembling the porch posts. I ended up using my brass clamps again here, as you have to glue small wooden rectangles to the sides of the post. No matter how you glue it, be sure that the rectangular strips stay in position, as they shift around easily. The strips, despite what the photos in the instructions show, have unfinished wooden edges. I used a white paint marker to fill these edges in and it makes it look significantly better so I recommend this. I apologize in advance for how gnarly my fingers are, I tend to get glue and paint all over me doing model kits. I just live with it.
The rail parts with the unfinished wood edges.
The rail parts with the unfinished wood edges painted white.
When assembling the rails, you may find the little wooden pegs connecting everything are a little too long. I find these easiest to shorten with flush cutters instead of a craft knife, they do not need to have perfect flat edges, the glue will fill in the gaps. The brackets on the top of the rails that connect to the roof can also use a little bit of white paint on the edges. It is kind of hard to get the rails on straight while glue is drying with the roof on. Try your best to keep them from twisting, but the whole thing is very tall and awkward.
The porch roof has been attached to the stairs by the rails.
This Volume finishes up the stove by adding a cap to the top and the crown. It's pretty quick, you're just inserting the pegs at the loose top into the cap, just be sure you have it oriented correctly. I technically posted the photo of the finished product a little early to show off the weathering I did. At this point, this month's volumes are complete.
