Lesson 5 - scale furniture - Study Task

Creating scale furniture

Shezlong

Bookcase









Rococo Armchair

The example to the right is a template of the rococo armchair. I obtained this template from David Neat. The construction of this piece is much the same as the construction of the shezong. To construct this piece of furniture I would first shrink down the image to the correct scale before printing it out and spray mounting it to foamed PVC. I would use foamed PVC due to its toughness and and ability to maintain its shape without fraying even when the individual pieces are fairly small, such as the arms and front legs. Mount board would be too floppy and weak. 

After cutting out the pieces I would trace down the seat of the armchair on KAPA line foam board. The KAPA line foam board will serve as the cushioning for the chair. One the KAPA Line has been glued and sanded to the correct dimensions I would glue the seat to the back of the chair. Following this, I would trace around the back of the chair with the foam cushioning for the seat being flush against the side. This is to ensure that once cut, the cushioning for the back will sit nicely on top of the cushioning for the seat.

After this step has been completed it is time to add the front legs and the arm rests. The legs should be added at the same angle either side for symmetry and a more natural looking chair. Additionally, the arms should jut out slightly. 

Bed
- Version 1

This bed was created using modeling wire, mount board, fabric, KAPAline foam board and a glue gun. The first step is to create two basic frames out of a length of modelling wire. This is most clearly seen in RI1. When creating the frame it is easiest to create the curve first and then glue in the bottom rung. The bottom rung is what the mount board will be glued to. Once this has been created individual sections can be added on for additional detail. Once you have two frames, a piece of mount board is cut to the correct dimensions and is glued between them. This gives the bed the basic shape.
You are now ready to start creating the mattress and pillows. The mattress is simple a section of KAPAline that has had its edges sanded down to give it a slight curve. The pillows follow the same process but with a much greater curve and a much smaller size. The bed is then covered with a material of your choosing.
Top Tip! When creating furniture it is often much better to create combined legs rather than attempting to stick on individual ones!

Reference Image 2

Reference Image 1.

- Version 2
Another way I have found to make a bed makes use of KAPAline foamboard, tissue paper and mountboard. A range of different headboards are easily swapped in but I decided on a quick triangular one to keep the set simple. One problem with the example below is that i failed to take the width of the KAPAline into consideration. This meant that both the toe and head board come off as slightly more unnatural looking.
To create the bed, the legs and base are cut out first. The shape of the base is traced onto some KAPAline, which is then cut out and sanded down to size. The pillows are cut out to the required dimensions and are once again sanded down to size.