What's everyone working on?

[Anna]

6 hours ago, CheckMouse said:

Jodi, hopefully you can see it in person at the Puyallup Fair, at the Hobby Hall.  I've been making a lot of furniture to go inside. 

It is an womderful and I wish I could have been there to see it too! Good luck

 

[My Miniature Madness]

17 hours ago, CheckMouse said:

Jodi, hopefully you can see it in person at the Puyallup Fair, at the Hobby Hall.  I've been making a lot of furniture to go inside. 

If we are in town I will definitely hop on over to see you! I think we will be, as Russ' 8 week project starts tomorrow.

[rodentraiser]

Well, if anyone is planning to get a Majestic Mansion dollhouse, quality control is seriously missing. Don't get me wrong - I love this little dollhouse, But putting it together yesterday - next time just stuff me in a bag and throw me in the river.

Even though I had dry fit it together, I still had some major issues. I ran out of glue and only got to the third floor, but that still took me 4 1/2 hours. The staircases are still giving me a headache.

The house came with 2 staircases - one interior and one exterior. When I called the owner, he told me they were supposed to be different. They weren't. Both staircases were exactly the same. The exterior steps pushed beyond the window on the bottom, leaving an open gap and not following the line of the wall. I just asked the guy to send me another staircase with one step cut off. What he sent was the same staircase with some of the bottom step cut off, 80% of the top step sliced across, and a piece of wood to hide the gap. I tried, but I still didn't like it. I think I'll just cut off one of the steps from the one of the other staircases I got.

I can do that because neither staircase really fits the 9" ceiling. They only look good being placed about half a step above the floor. So I think I'm just going to replace the interior staircase.

The wall on the inside of the exterior staircase fit in far too close to the angled wall on the cellar floor. That pushed the angled wall out, so I had to cut the tab on the interior wall so I could shove it back so the angled wall wouldn't hang out over the base. That threw off the bay window, but it's not so bad because I can cover the gaps with trim.

The side wall next to the angled wall was cut off at the third floor instead of continuing up alongside the 3rd floor kneewall. So it looks like it zigzags there. My guess is that kneewall piece was cut too short, but the owner said he did that on purpose so people will be able to see into the room. Hmm....looks like I'm on my own for that one.

The sidewall on the other side of the house was cut too long and didn't have a 45° slant cut into it so the roof could lay down flat on it. I sawed off the end and was able to use my miter saw to make a 45° slant on it because the piece was only about an inch wide. I didn't bother to tell the owner about that one.

However, the largest piece in the kit, which was the back (opposite the open side), also had a missing 45° cut missing on it. I had told the owner that I had a jigsaw and he said if I could cut off 3/8" off the top, he could send me an angled piece that was cut to 45°. So I said yes and he sent the piece. My cut is a little raggedy, but it should work.

Meantime, I'm still thinking of just stuccoing over the outside. I guess while running the right side through whatever saw does the milling in of siding, the wood sort of slipped. I have a wave pattern in the siding the entire height of the wood.

I'm telling you, if I got one of the larger kits, I'd be a little concerned. Selling Bramble almost covered the cost of getting this house, but if I'd spent $800 on a larger house, I'd have been pretty upset.

People working there are very nice and the owner was very willing to help me, but some of those errors shouldn't have happened.

Meantime, I may get some more glue and finish the roof today. I cut a kitchen window and a doorway into the right side of the house. In the 3rd floor divider wall, I still need to move that door over about 2" if I can. I was too wiped out to do that yesterday. I'm also thinking of a dormer on the roof, but I'll have to see about that.

I also cut a stairwell in the first floor so I could have a staircase to the basement, or whatever floor that is.

Otherwise, that's the least amount of bashing I've ever done to a house before. I must be getting old.

[rodentraiser]

I think I'm going to name the house La Casetta, Italian for The Cottage or Little House.

[CheckMouse]

Which caliber bullet does the best job for suicide?  (just kidding - almost)  While working on the dormer windows in my little B&B last night, I noticed there was still a larger window glass in the tray. Shouldn't have been there as all the other windows were installed. Checked it out - I HAD LEFT THE GLASS OUT of the side window!     And, of course, I did an excellent job of gluing - couldn't even get an X-acto blade under the edge of the trim.   My two options are (1) to leave it and hope it's never noticed (yeah, right, as it is judged at the State Fair!)  or (2) glue the glass in the inside of the room, on top of the framing, then add a curtain. From the outside the glass would be visible, and the details would be less obvious on the inside. At least it wasn't one of the front windows!
 

BTW - I have never made dormer windows before and this house has 3 of them!  Still working on them!

Edited August 1, 2017 by CheckMouse
posted too soon

[rodentraiser]

I feel your pain, CJ!

It was cool in my room with a breeze blowing so silly me, I decided to go out and finish the third floor. All I needed to do was move the doorway in the third floor interior wall, cut out another window opening, enlarge the door opening to the third floor deck for a French door, finish the piece that needed to go against the kneewall, and saw off a step on the exterior staircase.

Took me about 20 minutes and I was dripping after I was done. There was no breeze out there and if I hadn't wanted to get the roof done so bad, I never would have finished.

Anyway, it's done, so tonight, maybe I can get the roof on.

[Tiaannabelle's Mom]

On 4/2/2011, 4:34:05, pdlnpeabody said:

I've been working all night on B&B's window trim and other details. I still don't have the juction splice and transformer for the fireplace circuit and the last light adapter needed to finish it before the show next week. I tried looking for mini shops on Google maps, but NONE of the shops listed actually appear when I checked the street view. The "mini shop" in Nashville turned out to be a "gentleman's club"!!! Are some of the staff at Google on parole? As much as I like shopping at Ron's, I don't want to spend 4+ hours driving, but I may not have any choice.

 

Are there any mini shops left between Hunstville, AL and Indianapolis?

 

[Tiaannabelle's Mom]

All of y'all and your projects are so cute--in reading about your difficulties, though, I find I'm so glad I built my Dura Craft Vic back in the YOUTH of my middle age (@ 41--in '84!)--I'd never be able to build now--I'm going nuts just finishing and furnishing at this old age! Don't know whether I'll even be able to build my "littles" (1/2 scale on down) or when (if!) the Vic will ever be finished! (I pray it's finished before me!)

Reading pdInpeabody, from 4/2--yes! We have a fabulous mini shop in Nashville--http://miniaturecottage.com/shop/ --and while gentlemen could "do" dollhouses, and could participate in the workshops occasionally held there, they certainly don't have a "club"!

Three Blind Mice is having a mini show in Nashville (Brentwood) Sept 8/9--info on the Miniature Cottage website!

Blessed day, 

mary helen

[Roxxie2]

I reupholstered a couple of half scale pieces today..........gave myself a nice headache but they came out ok I think. I need to neaten up the chair pillows and add some throw pillows or something.  I was going to paint the wood but I think the reddish stain goes well with the room so I let it be. 
The chapstick in the picture is for scale. 

 

 

[Debsrand56]

Nice job!  They turned out very well.  I like the reddish tone with the fabric you've chosen.

[tjb]

55 minutes ago, Roxxie2 said:

I reupholstered a couple of half scale pieces today..........gave myself a nice headache but they came out ok I think. I need to neaten up the chair pillows and add some throw pillows or something.  I was going to paint the wood but I think the reddish stain goes well with the room so I let it be. 
The chapstick in the picture is for scale. 

 

 

These are beautiful.  I can't imagine working in half scale--it's so tiny! I think my fingers are probably too big for such delicate detail work.

[Roxxie2]

Thanks.  Sorry for the dinky photo I was trying to reduce it enough so this editor would let me upload the photo.
I was pleased because I have never reupholstered anything before let alone half scale but I am glad I gave it a try.  My fingers aren't great either lately.  When I go back to 1:12 scale it is going to seem gigantic.

[havanaholly]

After making almost all of the furniture for my two Fairfields, including the Knowle settee and the upholstered side chairs I felt like making the furniture for the 1:12 farmhouse was almost cheating!

[Roxxie2]

That's probably how I will feel too.   Its hard to get things just so at this scale.........you know me.....picky picky   lol

[Roxxie2]

On ‎7‎/‎30‎/‎2017‎ ‎12‎:‎16‎:‎42‎, CheckMouse said:

Slowly making progress on my B&B - quarter scale.  According to my deadline calendar I have 10 days left to finish it. I am planning to submit it to our Hobby Hall at the State Fair. 

I 've done the GL Villages at this scale but only the exteriors.   I might have to work my way down to the scale though.  I love this building you are working on. 

[nuttiwebgal]

wow....you all have been sooo busy...it took me awhile to feel as though Im a tad caught up with mini adventures...

I had 6 weeks with my sister here...she helped me complete the moving into the niche and we did several projects in there while she was here...and then I had a week with the grans....but the house is now empty and I can go back to my own funs...first..non mini related(yet) Deb and I took one of those paint and sip things and kind of gotten bit...which was fed into a full blown love...especially after we discovered paint tutorials on you tube...YAY...so besides doing that...I started another project....I know shocking!?!.....I have taken 3 items that have been moved here and there for the last 10 yrs and combining into one kinda seems to be a pretty large structure...2 of the pieces have been meld already and awaiting the next step...which should happen in the next couple of days...Im taking lots of photos because there has been a bit of prep of each piece before I got to this stage...including stucco work on the Adams I once built as a shanty....I realised that I could maybe make a video of how I do it and how easy it is...its kinda a hoot...you can view it without joining fb at my public page Nutti's Niche....you may not learn anything but you might have a good chuckle....... 

I dont know when Ill be back to post but I do like to pop in and visit the goings on!

[rodentraiser]

I guess I'm limited to working on stuff for only about 30 minutes in the morning for the next couple of days. Hot, hot, hot here. I can't really do anything unless I'm sitting in front of the fan and tomorrow that will be blowing hot air. Kind of like me sometimes. harhar

 

[havanaholly]

7 hours ago, nuttiwebgal said:

...you can view it without joining fb at my public page Nutti's Niche...

I couldn't; all that came up was a page to join.  I wish you'd let Deb know how much I miss her!

[minikelli]

Today, it  has been super warm and humid. Took a trip to the hardware store, truly one of my favorite shopping excursions -- managed to find a new squeaky toy for my pup as well as get a number of paint chips so I can start trying to figure out how I'm going to paint my newest big project. I've had it for a few months but am only now getting to work on it. Started last night by removing a roof section and removing some very poorly applied shingles. I'm going to shoot for a New England grand mansion style home... but in the same breath want it to have a bit of a colonial flair to it still. Have three distinct sections so have decided to do clapboard siding on the main section, middle section will be done with stonework on the bottom and a board and batten look on top, and I think the last section of house I'm going to attempt to do an older shingle siding look. I have a number of the older cedar shingles as well as some from a birch that were homemade. Going to weather both and see which I want to use on the house for the siding, and which I want to use for the actual roof.

Have been playing around with the idea of using colors to complement the silvery grey tone I hope to achieve with the shingles. I have a color I found today that's a creamy yellow named aptly enough Nantucket, figure that will probably go on my board and batten section above my stone work. Just leaves me to figure if I want to go with a smokey blue color for the clapboard section, or go off the deep end with a really dark green. Anyone whom has had the pleasure of visiting the New England coast around areas like Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard -- please feel free to chime in if you think these colors/finishes sound true to the area or if you would change anything?

[minikelli]

I know I'm over-thinking this color scheme, but I've decided I'm definitely doing a North Eastern bent to a painted lady look on the exterior of this house! I've not really gotten to do that, and after having just perused my Painted Ladies series of books again -- I'm going to probably spend the rest of the evening playing around with color swatches and shingle patterns! lol

[Tiaannabelle's Mom]

I don't think you can overthink a color scheme--I spent months agonizing over the 3rd major exterior color of my dura craft Vic--with oak colored roof shingles--I knew I wanted periwinkle (I call it "jacaranda", because I wanted it to match the wonderful jacaranda trees we saw all over South Africa several years ago), pale aqua (my favorite color), and white (just for brightening touches here and there)--finally, after going through every color swatch at Sherwin Williams, I decided on pale peach--I think it's beautiful, but you really have to go through the process to decide on perfection for your little houses!

Enjoy your colors and shingle patterns!

[Thimble Hall]

M' well I have mostly been on the net finding stuff, bought a Fairfield plus extra stuff for it, ordered new shingles and porch railings for Victoria's Farmhouse and waiting for all those to arrive. I have stripped the Victoria roof so that is ready. Painting a sealing coat on my Grosvenor Hall inside and out but it is hard, It is so big and deep I can barely reach anyway I do a bit every day so it is moving but slowly. Soon I will be able to start the ceilings.. Giving myself camera lessons has been difficult but I think I am nearly there. went shopping for a new computer system yesterday so have that to try and set up today...When done I will be able to print again well .do the picture thing and hopefully work on a system that doesn't keep freezing. Fingers crossed this is the end of a nightmare,

[rodentraiser]

I got the roof together and right now it's sitting on the house with 9 pieces of duct tape holding the roof pieces together while the glue dries.

Naturally, this was not accomplished easily. If you remember, the back side of the house was supposed to have a 45° cut on top so the roof would lie nicely along it. It didn't, so the owner sent me a 45° cut piece and it was up to me to cut a section off the top and replace it with that. So that's what I did the other day. I also dry fit the whole roof just so it would all fit together nicely. That was two days ago.

So here we are today and the little wood elves have made the roof grow in that time because the back roof edge is now about 1/16" higher than the end pieces. I could either 1) drag the house outside and cut it down slightly 2) go downstairs, get the saw, bring it upstairs, cut the edge down slightly, bring the saw back downstairs, and then return to my room or 3) use Lisa's sander. I used Lisa's sander.

Her little sandpaper thingy on the end of the sandpaper kept flying off (once just missing going out the window) and so I'd sand for 10 seconds, watch the thingy go flying off, and then search for it for 10 minutes. After a while I began to feel like a CSI looking for clues.

By the time I was finished (and Lisa's sander likewise), I was so wiped out I just glued the roof together and set it on the house. I'll nail it tomorrow.

And after all that, there's still gaps.

I think I'm gonna cry.

[My Miniature Madness]

57 minutes ago, rodentraiser said:

I got the roof together and right now it's sitting on the house with 9 pieces of duct tape holding the roof pieces together while the glue dries.

Naturally, this was not accomplished easily. If you remember, the back side of the house was supposed to have a 45° cut on top so the roof would lie nicely along it. It didn't, so the owner sent me a 45° cut piece and it was up to me to cut a section off the top and replace it with that. So that's what I did the other day. I also dry fit the whole roof just so it would all fit together nicely. That was two days ago.

So here we are today and the little wood elves have made the roof grow in that time because the back roof edge is now about 1/16" higher than the end pieces. I could either 1) drag the house outside and cut it down slightly 2) go downstairs, get the saw, bring it upstairs, cut the edge down slightly, bring the saw back downstairs, and then return to my room or 3) use Lisa's sander. I used Lisa's sander.

Her little sandpaper thingy on the end of the sandpaper kept flying off (once just missing going out the window) and so I'd sand for 10 seconds, watch the thingy go flying off, and then search for it for 10 minutes. After a while I began to feel like a CSI looking for clues.

By the time I was finished (and Lisa's sander likewise), I was so wiped out I just glued the roof together and set it on the house. I'll nail it tomorrow.

And after all that, there's still gaps.

I think I'm gonna cry.

Oh Kelly! And this was supposed to be the kit that answered all the issues of space, functionality and design for you. I am sad for you, too.

Why didn't they just send you out a whole new kit? One in which they had double checked that all the pieces were correct? Don't they realize that these houses to us are like dreams come true and that $200 isn't easy for some of us to come by?

I think you may just be able to camouflage the edge with the barrel roof. Are you making your own or using the polystyrene sheet stuff?

We are lucky that we visited the model homes in our community in June of 2007. It was sweltering, so when we built the house I ended up with the air conditioner rather than the purdy staircase. I am grateful now, especially since we live less than a half mile from the fires at Fort Lewis. The smoke is ridiculous! 

In spite of all of the challenges this house is giving you, it is going to be awesome. Keep on keepin' on!

[rodentraiser]

Thank you, Jodi. Of course, it would help a lot IF I didn't try to put the house together at noon on a 100 degree day.

I don't have a TV, so I know more about the fires in BC than I do about the ones in WA. I didn't know there were any at Ft. Lewis. On top of all the fires, about a mile from here, a mechanic's shop had an accident today and a fire started. All the cars inside started blowing up and the house next door caught on fire. Like we needed more smoke in the air. Sheesh!

I think I'm going to try to get hold of some real mini barrel tiles. I have a bunch but not nearly enough for the roof. Anyway, if I get the roof on tomorrow and depending on the heat, I'll try to get some pics together. I still have to get the walls together for the bathroom and I'm disguising the staircases behind a wall of wood. And I'm thinking of changing the name from La Casetta to Ondata di Caldo (heat wave) since this house was born in a heatwave.