Sugarplum Cottage to Monarch Cottage 07

 Work on the porch and benches continues.

The timbers have been glued in place. The porch with its attached benches is also glued in place. 

I like using Aileen's Tacky Glue for this as the tackiness helps hold the bits in place while permitting some adjustments. Clamps or masking tape hold the pieces together while the glue dries. 

Sometimes it's hard to wait while the glue dries. It helps to remember that good things come to those who wait.

Here is a detail that shows some blemishes that need to be addressed. The slots and the gap where the back and side did not quite come together will be filled with Spackle to fill them. The same will be done on the other bench and anywhere else on the house where the tabs & slots are visible. 

I have the kind of Spackle that goes on pink and turns white when it dries. A flexible palette knife works well for this step. Once the Spackle is dry, a few dabs of matching paint will complete the cover up.

The pieces from this kit are coming out of the sheet with fairly smooth edges. If a piece of wood is dry or has started to delaminate beyond what sanding can accomplish, rubbing Spackled along the edges can make them nice and smooth.

When the touch-up paint dries, the benches will be aged with some brownish-to-dark greenish-to-blackish watercolor overlay. I like the green, but it is too bright, too new looking to blend with the aging cottage.