selaineh

More progress on the RGT Bungalow kit--great practice for doing my own plan some day!

So I ultimately decided to start with my RGT classic Bungalow kit with only minor bashing--I will call this a practice run and then do my foam core mock up in wood after I've recovered from this one! So far have bashed in two extra windows on the living room wall to frame the fireplace and I've removed about half of the room divider between the kitchen and living room. I've built a lot of cabinets and the fireplace and have done the floors and tape wire on the first floor. I'm also almost finished building a coffered ceiling for the living room (will attach the ceiling after its done). Having a blast with this kit!

Thanks all! Am really enjoying this forum and appreciate the warm welcome and good ideas! Sharon

So now I have the RGT Classic bungalow kit (Christmas gift) and my foam core mock up for a completely new design...what to do, what to do? I think I will likely do the kit first and then decide what to do with my mock up.

So, I know the Westville is based on a craftsman style but I think I must be too much of a purist--the gables are pitched too steep for me. Even the classic bungalow seems a little off to me but I have seen other craftsman-style bungalows with similar roof lines. Sharon

Thanks--great ideas all. Especially the stickley home plans! I do have a plan book for craftsman style houses (real houses), but most are not horizontal enough for a dollhouse. As it turns out, I did get the RGT Classic Bungalow for Christmas so will likely start with that for a practice run. I also got some small woodworking tools (miter saw and a scroll saw) so I can practice furniture. The great thing about Craftsman furniture is that there are very few curves!

I also got the RGT Classic Bungalow kit for Christmas and am a huge fan of Craftsman style...I have given up on bashing it significantly, as far as adding space, but definitely want to put stone on the porch supports and may be the chimneys. I may change the roof supports and definitely the window designs. Should be so fun! I've only done one kit before and it was a Greenleaf so I'm looking forward to seeing the difference is assembly. Mk56, happy to compare notes and ideas! Sharon

Oh, I see what you mean--my mock up is actually a concept for a completely new house rather than the bash I was thinking of originally--the roof on the new house does run side to side. I just wasn't getting anywhere with my bash ideas and so thought up a whole new house. it's possible that I am already getting the RGT classic bungalow kit for Christmas, in which case I will need to go back to bashing and will try out your porch modification. Thanks for the idea! Sharon

Ah! Thanks so much. Here is my foam core mock-up. Still not trimmed out completely and now I think the gable over the door should come out further. And technically the angles of all the gables should probably be the same but I just couldn't make that work! On the interior I think the far left space with the little gable could be an attic space or I could take the floor out and just vault the room below. Any thoughts appreciated...particularly about translating to wood! (Ground floor has 10" ceilings and upper floor is 9" at shed dormer ceiling; width is 30" and depth is 10-12"). Sharon

Hmm...if I can figure out how to upload photos I will post. I uploaded photos with no problem on a different post but it wasn't a reply. Will go read the FAQ, lol. Sharon

Thanks Kelly--great ideas! I did consider adding a wing to the side or trying to pop up another floor (just didn't look right), but hadn't thought about enclosing part of the porch. That would certainly help. In the end, though, things have already cascaded out of control...I ended up mocking up an entirely new house in foam board based on photos in some books on bungalows--it's primarily from a photo of a house in PIedmont California but I added a giant shed dormer on one side. Now I just need to figure out how to make it in wood! I may even have room now for an inglenook, but at very least will definitely have built-in bookcases flanking the fireplace and two small windows flanking above the bookcases (love that feature as well). The mock-up house also has a double entry door--something I really, really wanted. Am still playing with trim and window location on the mock-up so that's why it looks somewhat half-baked right now. Hmmm...looks like I can't add photos to a reply(?) so I'll post them separately. Sharon

Thanks so much for the nice welcome! I think my next project will be a true bash because I'm trying to figure out how to enlarge the RGT classic bungalow--we'll see how that goes. Have asked for the kit for Christmas from my husband and am playing around this weekend with foam core to see if I can mock up an addition that looks "craftsmany" enough. I will be counting on everyone here for good advice! Sharon

Valerie--thanks so much--I will go try to find it! The standard house is way short on rooms... Sharon

So, I'm pretty new to miniatures (just completed my first project--a haunted version of the Orchid) and now I want to move on to a Craftsman style house so that I can try my hand at paneling and furniture-making. Yes, I have the bug pretty bad now. So, the only kit that I can find that really says "craftsman" to me is Real Good Toys Classic Bungalow. I love the outside but really don't like the plan inside--it's not big enough (size of rooms and number of rooms) and the top floor rooms flow into one another, which is always awkward I think (pretty much makes it a one bedroom by default). Which means that I need to bash it. The problem is that there is not a lot around to bash it with...I could buy another classic bungalow kit, but putting two of that plan together would just look pretty dumb any way I can think to arrange them. I could just build an addition (note the use of the word "just"--ha!) and have found an example in a book on bungalows that shows the same basic facade with another wing set back from the main house--gable in the same direction with a bump-out forward facing gable over a window. That would help with the downstairs but maybe not with the upstairs. Has anyone tried bashing this kit? Or, does anyone know of another kit that looks even vaguely craftsman-like in style? All the victorians have such steep roofs that I just don't think they would modify well. Sorry for the rambling post. I've been struggling with what to do for awhile. Thanks!

Hi all--I'm very new to this world. I just completed my first project, a haunted version of the Orchid, which started as kind of a lark this fall. My son wanted to turn our (real) house into a haunted house for Halloween and I gently suggested that we do a dollhouse instead, thinking to save myself some time. Ha! We selected the Orchid, thank goodness, because I didn't really know what I was getting into having never done a kit-built house before. Anyway, Halloween has come and gone and the house is almost finished and I am completely totally sucked in now...already planning my next project, which I think will be a Real Good Toys Classic Bungalow. The great thing about my haunted Orchid was that every time I screwed up I could shrug and say, "well, it is supposed to be a haunted house!" (or I put a piece of trim there). I did manage to successfully electrify the house, although I do have sconce cords showing in the bedroom thanks to putting the tap way too low on the wall. I may ultimately pull off the wall paper and just wire them in properly--still thinking about that. Some of you may also notice that the bay window is on the wrong side of the house...oops. I definitely learned a lot and am looking forward to learning a lot more from this group! Sharon