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dkumpula

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dkumpula last won the day on December 28 2016

dkumpula had the most liked content!

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About dkumpula

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Fort Mill, SC
  • Interests
    Raising my Daughter, Laser Projectors, DMX Lighting, Home Automation, Gardening, Home Improvement & Projects, Writing automated light and laser shows

Previous Fields

  • Dollhouse Building Experience
    One
  • Real Name
    David
  • Country
    United States

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  1. Thank you both for the kind words! Bugatari, I use strip wood from miniatures.com I prefer the 1/16 thickness as it is easy to cut. They only sell these two widths: http://www.miniatures.com/Strip-Wood-12-Inch-Width-P17850.aspx and http://www.miniatures.com/Strip-Wood-14-Inch-Width-P17847.aspx but you can always double up or cut the pieces to smaller widths as needed. I stain a bunch of lengths at a time; two light coats followed by a light sanding and then one final coat waiting one day per coat to dry. After installation, I touch up any bare edges with a tiny paintbrush and steady hand. ;) I am also not afraid to rip up a section as I go if I find that things didn't align properly. I use a tiny flat head screw-driver or a straight razor (carefully) to remove pieces that are glued and dried. Have fun with your build! -David
  2. Your stairs are looking great, Wormwoodz! I like the modifications you are doing. As you can't easily access those stairs once they are installed, it is good to pay attention to details early. (I wish I had.) FYI, I also found putting in wallpaper challenging after the primary build phase was complete because I couldn't see what I was doing on the first set of stairs. Again, I wish I had more patience and knowledge when I was starting out, but "live and learn". :) -David
  3. Thanks, MOTE! It's not talent though. Its making the same mistake over and over and eventually getting something that's OK in the end. There's still a lot of work to do, of course, but at least its fun. -David
  4. Wow WyckedWood, that is strange. Other than the personal items you described, I would be generally complemented if it was an amateur that just wanted to replicate poritions your great work. I know I went through thousands of pictures looking for inspiration, although never directly copying anything. A professional or serious mini builder copying an entire mini is at a minimum unprofessional and impolite, akin to copying a Monet and casting it off as you own work. -David
  5. Well, even if my investment in time alone is worth just current US federal minimum wage, my BH would be worth US$14.5K . . .
  6. You are probably right. That said, a heavy brick-faced miniature is unlikely to be stolen!
  7. This is really beautiful, but now I'm thinking I should replace the siding from my Beacon Hill with fancy brick work. My chimney work took a week to do, so I'm afraid my daughter will be an adult before I truly finish this build! ;) -David
  8. Heehee! Mommy's house is the 1:1 scale and it already takes me more time than the little one's 1:12 scale. I suppose my house is the 1/144 scale Beacon Hill that's been sitting on my desk for 3 years now waiting to be painted and assembled. -David
  9. Thank you for the kind words! Working on the parquet floors while my daughter plays with the house is a nice way to spend time together (its been a work in progress for three years now). She's been massively patient with Daddy sitting in front of the interior of the house much of the time. The roundwire with templates looks more time consuming and difficult as compared with tapewire. Other than one room's too thin wallpaper, the tapewire has worked out well for me, but I'm sure there are advantages to going with other approaches as well. For the first floor parlor area, I saw other folks taking out one or more sections of this wall and liked their approach. Copying ideas from experienced masters such as KathieB or MikeUK is easier than me coming up with things myself! ;) In my experience, the stability of the Beacon Hill did not suffer by removing these interior walls. Good luck whatever direction you go and be sure to share pics! -David
  10. Hi Wormwoodz, I used tape wire for all the main wiring in my build and installed it after main construction was complete. There are several pictures of it in process below and in my gallery: http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=browse&album=6890 Its easy to slide the stuff through the slots where the walls attach to the floors, which is ideal for running up walls. I chose to error on the side of too much wiring as opposed to too little. Unfortunately some cheaper thinner wallpaper doesn't cover the wiring adequately. Thicker wallpaper especially the stuff with the built-in adhesive does a good job of covering up the wiring. My attic is currently detachable so I'm working out a connector system so that I can get wiring up there too. If the pictures don't show it adequately, I ran wiring above the front door and drilled through the wall to get wire to the porch light. And regarding the question on access after the front walls on the Beacon Hill is complete, yes, the access to some areas is very limited. I suggest leaving off the second floor patio door until the interior is complete.
  11. Thank you. I debated this decision for quite a while myself. I have looked at pictures of your builds and others in this forum for inspiration innumerable times. There are so many great ideas and beautiful examples to guide newbies like myself.
  12. Thank you! I'm still learning myself, but one of things I've learned to do includes removal of my errors with a straight razor blade. Assuming the glue has already dried on a section you just laid, you can remove it with a razor blade scraper (they come in packs of ~10 at the local hardware store). By carefully inserting below the pieces you wish to remove, you can get them out without damaging adjoining pieces. I learned this the hard way after ruining many pieces with a small flat head screwdriver.
  13. Thank you all for the kind words! (Also apologies for misspelling parquet everywhere.)
  14. Agreed! I'll pull this floor out shortly and replace it with something better.
  15. Thank you, Emerald! I've enjoyed making the floors, despite the long hours its taken. I think I could have done this in 1:1 scale in about as much time! ;)
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