MaineYankee

Thrift stores and yard sales are great places for sweet deals on minis. I found an LL Bean log cabin house at a flea market. The lady knew what she had, but was letting it go cheaply so that she could hook me with a bunch of other minis... which she did! :-D It was about the best Christmas gift ever for my little girl who simply adores log homes. I don't much care for visits to the thrift store, but I sometimes go just to poke through the toys for minis. For some reason my wife never thinks to look for them on her many trips to Goodwill.

Don't fear the Pierce! :-) It is a bigger house, and it does have some quirks, but many of us have done it. We've blazed the trail and everyone here is happy to help. We're like Santa's elves: we'll happily help any way that we can and let you have all the glory ;-)

Welcome! The Pierce is a great kit. It might seem a little daunting as a first build, but this is the place to come for tips and encouragement! The main staircase in the Pierce, for instance, has been the subject of many intense discussions, so be sure to do some searches into our archives for tips, too. You're in for some great fun and hopefully some great new friendships here, as well. :-)

Back to the original question, it would be common to see very detailed molding in the "entertaining" rooms, such as parlor and dining rooms, and more plain details in other parts of the house. If you have enough to do entry and parlor with one fancy design and enough to do the rest of the house in something not quite so fancy, then your situation would be much the same as builders of new homes in the Georgian, Federal, and Victorian eras :-)

Most of the paints that we use with miniatures are formulated to maintain the contours of the wood so that detail is not lost. That's why the paint sinks into the divots. It's a surface tension thing, I guess. My answer is to use wallboard primer or other paint that is formulated to fill sanding marks, etc. It is usually listed as a feature of the paint right on the can. With a light sanding it gives a really smooth base for top coat. I know one lady who swears by Zinsser as bare MDF primer, but I find it rather pricey.

The book about the White House done in 1/12 scale is a fun read and full of great eye candy. Just the logistics of moving that display! And they did it fifty times :-) The White House in Miniature: Based on the White House Replica by John, Jan, and the Zweifel Family

Thanks, people. I've been reading up on stuff and looking at eye candy. You've been busy here! I'm starting a new roombox project, a Federal Bedchamber. Making plans now. I'll start a blog entry soon and announce it here for feedback. I thought I'd get it started this past weekend, but all I managed was dusting it off and looking at all of the little imperfections :-/ We've had a sick kitty to worry about the last few days. Hopefully the vet will help her today, but since she is 20 years old I'm kinda worried :-( -C

So, I wander off for a couple of years at a time, for one reason of another. Then I come back. Today I am back and interested in talking about room boxes, especially. I have several to build and two new designs that I'm working on. With minis on my mind again, I naturally thought of you guys :-) I see many old faces, which is great. And TONS of new faces, which is wonderful. I even see a couple of guys, which is encouraging. My name is Colin and I'm a mini-holic. :whistle:

I've built a number of houses and I still switch up the order of painting from project to project. These days I usually get most of the interior done before I do the second coat on the exterior. I like to spray primer and first coat of color if possible, then get done with interior painting and any ceiling treatments. When I no longer will have to lay a house or box on its sides. The big exception is when I'm staining the exterior of a piece, like a roombox. Got to get that stain done and a coat of poly on there before any other paint or glue comes near it :-)

Wow, I remember that! Yikes, that's an old one. I'm thinking it was one my 35 year old sister watched when she was little. I can remember being rather miffed about the cats even though the girls laughed.

Got the new Dremel oscillating Multi-Max tool. I'll be doing some serious sanding. I also got a new knife from Pampered Chef. I love tools, no matter what kind <_<

It is the weirdest thing, simple actions set it off. Like driving with my arm propped on the arm rest or sanding siding on a dollhouse. When the injured thingie gets aggravated I compensate by using my trapezius in a wrong way, that get's stiff and throws my neck out of whack, which then causes pain in my ear, eye, lower jaw, and teeth on that side. Then it's ice, a sling, and a trip to the chiropractor to get things right. I have PT exercises to do to minimize the problems, but I guess surgery is going to be required at some point. That means several weeks with no right arm. Thankfully, I can operate the mouse with either hand :groucho:

I sign my furniture and room boxes with a little engraver bit on my Dremel. The first few times I did it I wrote with pencil and then used that as a guide for engraving. Some small furniture items I just do with the "wrong" side of an X-Acto knife.